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Chapter 90

Esther nodded as though she had expected it, although she couldn’t completely hide her disappointment.

“Ugh, I was curious if I could separate the core with magic. But I guess someone else would’ve done it already if it were possible.”

A Rift’s core was capable of collapsing the walls between dimensions and taking over the gap that formed. There weren’t any magical formulas that could replicate such a phenomenon. If it could be brought back to the workshop for research, even the Towermaster would come running barefoot. Only mages understood what it meant to study a Rift’s core.

“...The spirits despise it,” Ninian spoke up, glaring at the core. “That crystal is a materialized form of something that goes against nature. It’s a foreign substance that shouldn’t exist in this world, and prolonged exposure will cause contamination.”

“Contamination?”

“It’s true that orcs are highly adaptable to their environment, but the Sea Orcs are an exception. If they had purely mutated into marine creatures, they wouldn’t need to live inside the Rift. They could have just made a new home in the sea.”

Her words made sense. In terms of size, the Sea Orc Den was classified as Rank C, the size of an island that could be fully explored in a few hours. It wasn’t large enough to house the thousands of Sea Orcs. The fact that they stayed inside suggested that they had become unable to survive outside the Rift.

Had they already completely mutated into otherworldly creatures?

If the core was the cause of their mutation, humans also had to avoid prolonged contact with it. Of course, stronger individuals could likely withstand its influence for longer, but in the end, no one could resist the dimensional power of the core indefinitely.

“Hmm?” Leonard’s thoughts suddenly took a darker turn.

...What if there are humans already contaminated by the core, roaming this world?

It was a possibility he couldn’t ignore.

If the secret drug provided by Pablo, the leader of the Rift Preservation Faction, originated from a hidden Rift... And if they’d been in contact since before the destruction of Aquamarine, even those in the Transcendence Tier could be contaminated, right?

Calling it a conspiracy would be a huge stretch, with only his intuition as evidence. However, if it was actually true, it could be catastrophic.

Leonard couldn’t talk to anyone about this; he couldn’t reveal his past life experiences, nor could he keep using the Cardenas family as an excuse forever. Relationships built on lies would eventually collapse from a single mistake or coincidence.

“What’s wrong, leader? You don’t look well,” Galano asked, peering at Leonard’s face.

“It’s nothing. Just looking at the core makes me feel uncomfortable. Let’s destroy it and return to Aquamarine.”

“Yeah. I feel like being exposed for too long to these unsettling waves will drive me mad.”

“Waves?” Leonard asked, puzzled. “You feel some kind of waves from that crystal?”

He hadn’t felt anything himself.

Galano, misunderstanding his question, scratched his beard and replied, “Of course. I’m not on your level, but my senses are also pretty keen. It feels like I’m getting pricked by a sea anemone. I’d be weird if I couldn’t feel it.”

“Sea anemone? I feel like I’m being stung by a cactus,” Ninian chimed in. “It’s going to be unbearable if we stay any longer.”

“Is it because we’re so close to the core? I didn’t feel anything when we were outside the cave.”

“Probably. In any case, it’s best we leave quickly.”

Listening to them, Leonard learned about another hidden ability of the Cardenas bloodline: resistance to dimensional contamination.

No one interacted with the Rifts’ cores as frequently as the Seven Great Orders, and yet they had never had any issues with contamination. This implied that they were either immune to it like Leonard or were highly resistant to it.

It’s not a bad thing for me, but I need to be cautious when I’m with the team.

If a low-level Rift like the Sea Orc Den could cause this much discomfort, only Masters could withstand the cores of the major Rifts. With that in mind, Leonard drew his sword.

“We will now destroy the core. Esther, prepare the levitation spell.”

“Got it.”

Ensuring there wouldn’t be any mishaps like when they had entered the Rift, Esther clasped her hands and began rotating her Circle. Seeing this, Leonard raised his sword.

And then...

Swoosh!

A lightning-fast strike cleaved the core of the Sea Orc Den into two pieces. Instantly, the cave and the entire space began to fracture and collapse. Unlike when crossing a spatial portal, these cracks revealed nothing but pure darkness. Beyond that void lay another dimension, governed by completely different laws.

Leonard stared calmly at the terrifying sight, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.

...Someday.

Hoping he could one day cut even through the boundaries of the world, Leonard and his team were ejected back to their original dimension.

* * *

Four hours and twenty minutes had passed since the four Aquamarine members ventured into the Sea Orc Den. Frances, Marianne, Vivian, and Jack Russell were waiting on the deck for their return.

They had established that if none of them emerged after five hours, Jack Russell would go after them, but no one believed it would come to that.

Staring at the entrance of the Rift open above the sea, Vivian cautiously asked, “Will they come out through that hole, like when they went in?”

“Hmm, I guess so?” Frances replied. “To escape the Rift without sealing it, they have no choice but to use the entrance.”

Rifts were completely isolated from the outside world, and escaping by manipulating space was impossible. One could attempt that in the Corroded Realm, where the boundaries between this world and the other dimension had collapsed, but in a Rift, it was absolutely impossible.

It didn\'t matter whether it was Class 7 or Class 8 magic. Only those who had reached Class 9, tapping into the realm of dimensional magic, could risk escaping that way.

“What happens if they escape by sealing the Rift?”

“Then the entrance to the Rift would be crushed, spitting out everyone inside. In the other world, we are perceived as intruders. Once the core is destroyed, the connection between the two dimensions disappears, and everyone is sent back to their respective dimension.”

If any Sea Orcs had escaped from the Sea Orc Den, they too would be forcibly summoned back.

Vivian nodded in understanding. She then pointed with her finger and asked, “Like that?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Frances turned to look in the direction Vivian pointed, watching with uncharacteristically wide eyes.

The entrance to the Sea Orc Den above the water was warping and distorting. Having grown up witnessing Rifts being sealed, Frances immediately realized what was going on.

Leonard and his team had actually sealed the Sea Orc Den!

“...If I had known this would happen, I would have followed them,” Jack Russell muttered, so absorbed in the rare phenomenon that he didn’t notice his glasses slipping down his nose.

Sealing the Rift meant they had located the core and destroyed it along with the Rift Guardian. To a mage, both were fascinating subjects for magical research.

As the four watched, the Sea Orc Den shattered like glass, expelling the intruders.

“They’re out!”

Vivian jumped with a bright smile, and this time, Esther cast her levitation spell without delay, lifting the team onto Aquamarine’s deck.

“Levitation!”

Vivian ran to Ninian and embraced her, while Frances greeted the rest with a smile.

“Great job! I can’t believe you actually sealed it. Once again, you’ve greatly surpassed my expectations!”

“Eh, the opponents weren’t that difficult to deal with. Besides the Rift Guardian, we also defeated a Chaos Demon Tier monster. You can confirm it later and submit the report to Bermuda.”

“Oh? Really?”

Leonard pointed to his three comrades lined up behind him. “While I dealt with the Rift Guardian, these three took down the monster. They deserve credit for their achievement.”

“Understood!”

Though Leonard had done most of the work, the three accepted his kindness with some embarrassment.

“Shall we move to the meeting room? I hope you’re not too tired.”

Indeed, they couldn’t stay on deck forever.

Leonard agreed, suggesting that the rest head to the training room before resting. They needed to reflect on the valuable experiences from this expedition while everything was still fresh in their minds.

Ninian, enjoying Vivian’s affection, and the other two paled at the suggestion, but they had no say in it.

“The leader alone should be enough for the debrief of the expedition. Let’s do that,” Jack Russell agreed.

“...Alright, I’m off to training, leader,” Galano sighed.

“...Vivian, let’s go together.”

“...Uh, excuse me? Master? Aren’t you curious about the core and the Rift Guardian? I can describe it in vivid detail!”

Esther sought an escape by clinging to her master, but Jack Russell was not one to relent.

“We’ll save that for later. I’m looking forward to it, my student.”

With his curt refusal, the dejected Esther followed the others to the training room. Frances, leading the remaining members, moved to the meeting room and took their seats as they had a few hours earlier.

Frances, Marianne, and Jack Russell—all three watched Leonard with expectant gazes as he began recounting the mission. Starting from their entry into the Rift, landing on the sea, breaking through the defense line, and defeating the Sea Orc defense leader.

“...”

“...”

“...”

At first, they listened with excitement, applauding and cheering at the heroic tale. But as Leonard’s story progressed, Frances and Jack Russell’s expressions grew more serious. Only Marianne remained enthusiastic about their coordination and combat techniques. The other two were focused on something else entirely.

They couldn’t help it.

“...This is just my speculation, so I apologize in advance,” Jack Russell intervened, raising his hand as Leonard neared the end of his report.

His unwavering gaze was proof enough. He wasn’t hiding anything. Leonard’s story had been a clear message.

“The Sea Orc Den is a relatively small realm, but it should be impossible for the four of you to search the entire island. Inside the Rift, things like detection spells don’t work, and even a Transcendence Tier warrior needs to be quite close to the core to sense it.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“And yet, you found the core in just three hours. Judging from the path you’ve taken, it seems that you arrived at the core’s location without once straying from the shortest possible route.”

Anyone with half a brain would understand what this meant.

Facing the calm Leonard, the Chief Elder of the Atlantis Magic Tower asked, his voice trembling slightly, “You... can you locate the cores in the Rifts?”

Leonard had led them to this exact moment.

“Yes.”