Collapse, Showdown, the Spell for Crossing Worlds – Part 01

The Forestia Federation was a coalition of seven small countries, and the leaders of one of them, Jarazack, had gathered in a single room.

“I never thought the labyrinth could fly, but now that it’s in our territory, it’s a real pain,” grumbled a muscular man with slicked-back red curls.

Despite the snow falling outside, the man’s chest was bare, and his sleeves were rolled up, exposing a thick layer of body hair.

The room was warm, thanks to the fire crackling in the fireplace. But that wasn’t the only reason.

“But isn’t this an opportunity? If the labyrinth lands, we could explore it thoroughly.”

“Wasn’t it near the Quinbrand border?”

“No one lives around there, and that border’s barely a line on a map. If we get there first, it’s ours.”

The large men gathered in the room were generating so much heat that the windows had fogged up long ago.

“We sent the recon team out three days ago, didn’t we? They should be near the border by now.”

“The snow’s not deep enough for dog sleds, so it might take them a bit longer.”

“Ah, I wanted to be the first to storm in.”

Jarazack was known for its rough-tempered men who loved a good fight. They often acted before thinking, so the Great Labyrinth of Runay-aas was too tempting to pass up.

“Where do you think they are now?” one of the men asked.

---

The next morning, the Jarazack reconnaissance team was riding their cold-resistant horses through the mountains. They knew how brutal winter expeditions could be, but these mountains were manageable on horseback. Finally, they spotted a tiny floating island in the distance. Just as the Adventurers Guild had reported, the Great Labyrinth of Runay-aas was airborne.

“What now, Captain?”

The fifteen team members stopped their horses. They were dressed in thick pants, fur coats, hoods that covered their faces, and masks to guard against frostbite.

They had stopped because they just saw a white beam of light shoot toward the floating island. The first shot had missed, but in the predawn darkness, it was clearly visible. The watchman had woken everyone, so they all witnessed the second shot hit the labyrinth, only to see it deflect the attack upward.

The floating island was moving north, but after being struck by the white beam, its flight became erratic.

“What’s firing that white beam? There’s no one around there,” the captain said.

“Could it be a dragon?”

“That makes sense. There’s been talk of a Fire Drakon appearing in Ponsonia again.”

“I don’t really buy that. There’s no way a country like Ponsonia can fend off a Fire Drakon. They’re not brave like us.”

“But the intel on the floating island is accurate.”

“Grr, that’s true.”

The men began to argue, but no one had any concrete answers.

“Hmm. The labyrinth is picking up speed. If it doesn’t land, it’ll pass right by us.”

“And head to the northern sea.”

“Yeah. Either way, we need to find out what’s firing that white beam.”

The captain’s words were met with unanimous agreement. Something was definitely out there, and if it was a dangerous creature—which was the only thing that made sense—it was the recon team’s duty to investigate.

They urged their horses forward again. As the sun began to rise, their breath and the horses’ snorts came out in white puffs.

“Halt!”

Just as they started moving again, the captain ordered everyone to stop.

“Wh-What is that?!”

A white light was gathering at the peak of one of the mountains, growing brighter and brighter. The warriors of Jarazack instinctively knew it was about to be fired.

The floating island changed too. Distorted air seemed to gather in its path.

“Is it firing?! It looks like the labyrinth has a shield.”

As they watched intently, the light was unleashed.

It was an entirely different, far more intense light than the last one.

---

For Hino, the sight never lost its strangeness no matter how many times he’d seen it—a rift connecting Japan to another world. Each time it appeared, the girl who caused the phenomenon wore a look of dissatisfaction, loneliness, and sadness. The rift opened into a jet-black abyss before quickly closing.

“So, latest 3D animations can be rendered in real-time, huh? This has got to be one of those hyper-realistic videos,” someone mused.

“Is this geezer still trying to pass it off as fake?”

“No, Tom. As scientists, we’re duty-bound to unravel the mystery of this inconceivable but very real phenomenon, and he wants to turn away from that duty, even for a moment.”

“Show me the measurements! How can there be no change in spatial mass and atmospheric properties? This defies all known laws of physics!”

“Magic is outside the realm of physics.”

“Who invited this newbie, anyway?”

Despite the early hour, the number of participants was staggering.

In the online conference, voices from around the world chimed in. The conversations were in various languages, but with the volume on the laptop turned down low, they were barely audible in the lab. The chat was buzzing with lively discussions, mostly in English.

These online meetings had become a daily occurrence, and the number of participants grew each time. It started with a scientist bringing along a colleague, saying, “Sorry, but my friend insisted on joining,” and the numbers snowballed from there. Now, the screen was filled with the names of scientists, many of whom were at the forefront of their fields.

At first, Hino was concerned about the growing number of spectators, but since Lavia, the person behind the experiments, didn’t seem to mind, Professor Arai allowed them to join. The actual number of people physically present in the lab remained the same.

Of course, every scientist wanted to be there in person, but Professor Arai didn’t allow it. Since the facility wasn’t public, they couldn’t just show up unannounced. Professor Arai seemed to relish the fact that he had the top minds in the world in the palm of his hand, and the university president, who had lent out the facility, didn’t mind either.

“Lavia, maybe you should take a break,” Hino suggested.

It was early morning, and Hino was the only one in the observation room overlooking the experiment site. Down below, Professor Arai was talking with Lavia. Lavia was determined to cast the spell for crossing worlds, while Professor Arai was intent on scientifically proving the existence of another world. Though their goals seemed aligned, they were slightly out of sync. Professor Arai initially appeared to be a collaborator, but he had devolved into an annoying, time-wasting presence who kept bombarding Lavia with questions based on the experiment results.

Lavia was making adjustments daily, as simply executing the spell as usual would only result in the same failure. She made improvements to the magic circuits that Hino found completely incomprehensible and added magical energy during the execution of the spell.

Hino had once asked Lavia if she understood the principles behind it, and she said, “I don’t fully understand it. But he told me that magic and sorcery are fundamentally the same. By tracing the flow of mana, you can create effects similar to magic. As someone who can use magic, I should be able to understand sorcery.”

To Hino, who had only recently learned about the existence of magical energy and had no idea how to use magic, her words were utter gibberish.

“She’s really pushing herself,” he said.

Apparently, there was no magical energy in Earth’s atmosphere, which greatly reduced Lavia’s magic potency. Despite this, she was pouring her mana into sorcery, which was clearly exhausting her. It might be akin to high-altitude training for a marathon, training in a low-oxygen environment to increase lung capacity. She was leaning on the table, breathing heavily.

Hino left the observation room and took the elevator alone back to the surface. When he stepped outside the still-unmarked building, the fresh morning air from the forest filled his lungs.

“Phew.”

Breathing out the clean air as a tainted sigh, Hino reached for his smartphone. It was flooded with missed calls, emails, and message notifications. About 95% of them were from the society department’s editor.

Messages like “Give me a call,” “Where are you?” “Get back here,” “You can’t just take leave out of nowhere,” “Stop fucking around,” “Hey,” “Hey!” “I’ll chase you to the ends of the earth,” and “Are you really picking a fight with the guy nicknamed Snapping Turtle?” bordered on threats.