Ch.205Side Story: Time Reset – 1
by fnovelpia
About ten days had passed since my return to Earth.
On the very day I called my parents, I went back to my family home with my sister. My parents’ reaction upon seeing me again was, well, not something that needed to be put into words.
As expected, they absolutely refused to believe my story about being unable to return for seven years due to certain circumstances. I was only able to convince them after my sister stepped in to support me.
Even then, they didn’t fully believe it but seemed to reluctantly accept it. When my sister, an A-rank hunter from the Eternal Guild no less, insisted there were circumstances that couldn’t be explained, their thinking seemed to shift a bit.
That shift in thinking made them suspect I was some kind of secret agent from a movie, which wasn’t entirely wrong if you really thought about it.
“Just wait, I’ll definitely collect on this debt later.”
My sister, who had been smacked several times on the back for not telling our parents sooner if she knew about my situation, gritted her teeth and vowed to collect on this debt for helping her brother.
Well, that was one of the things that happened.
“Nika, about your summon—”
“I have nothing to say.”
After the S-rank gate subjugation, interest in me grew endlessly, but Nika sharply cut off such attention. Thanks to that, curiosity only intensified, but she didn’t seem to care.
Instead, side effects appeared elsewhere.
“It’s unbearably noisy. Why ask me about Nika’s summon?”
“I feel the same. Telling them I know nothing is of no use.”
“I can’t even go outside anymore. I went out briefly at 3 AM, and three cameras followed me. Does that make any sense?”
The side effect was that the other women around me were suffering from endless questions along with Nika.
“Maybe it’s because you’re all guild masters?”
“Well said. Since we’re all guild masters, why not share you as a common resource? We could just say Nika summoned you alone, but since she couldn’t handle the cost by herself, we all pitched in. That’s technically true anyway, since you’re communal property.”
“Wait. Your choice of words is concerning.”
Nika meekly objected, but she couldn’t handle the onslaught from all seven of them alone. That very day, I went out with Leona and received tremendous attention.
It was only natural, given that I was already the focus of much interest, and now I was being escorted by a guild master other than Nika, my supposed owner.
“Powerful summons require an equivalent cost.”
Leona declared that the rights to me and the cost were equally divided among the seven of them, explaining that it was too difficult for Nika to bear the cost of using me alone.
“The public reaction is better than expected.”
“That’s because the cost of using a powerful summon like you couldn’t possibly be cheap. Any hunter with summoning abilities would understand.”
Everyone seemed surprisingly accepting. They understood that the cost of controlling a summon capable of easily subjugating an S-rank gate alone couldn’t possibly be ordinary.
Occasionally, posts would appear suggesting that since I had a male form and all the guild masters were women, it was “obvious” what the “cost” might be.
Such accounts would typically be deleted within hours. Other community members would comment that they had it coming, asking why they would dare mess with the Eternal Guild of all places.
“The price of trying to face the truth.”
Though the reason seemed somewhat different from what people imagined.
“What’s wrong, child?”
There was something I had realized recently while going around as a summon not just for Nika but for the other women as well.
“It’s nothing.”
I was truly grateful that Earth had changed this much.
Looking at the two enormous masses hanging right beside me, I couldn’t help but think that. Even while sitting perfectly still, they bounced dramatically with every slight movement of her body.
Being so large in many senses, even the smallest movements appeared greatly magnified.
“That doesn’t look like nothing. You can’t fool my eyes.”
Erestica slightly pressed her breasts together with both arms. Far from disliking my gaze, she seemed to want me to look more openly.
“I just think I understand why—”
“Erestica.”
“…why people suspect that you, Erestica, aren’t human.”
I’ve faced countless monsters larger than the Chairwoman. Among demons, many species averaged over 3 meters in height, and the dragon Mahvat was a monster the size of a small mountain.
But I had never seen someone massive in a completely different sense like Erestica. Even Astaroth, who had been the Succubus Queen, couldn’t compare. She was fairly large, but nowhere near Erestica’s level.
“I’ve been this way from the beginning. Though this form was created from a slight misunderstanding.”
Erestica’s appearance in this polymorph form was decisively influenced by her indifferent personality.
Having no interest in humans whatsoever until she found an abandoned child, she didn’t properly understand human height when she first tried changing her form.
The mother holding the baby seemed too small, which she dismissed as simply being “underdeveloped,” and the humans she briefly passed while burning through the outskirts weren’t observed long enough to help her estimation.
In the end, after pondering an appropriate height on her own, she settled on the towering figure of 230cm.
“Have you considered operating with a reduced height?”
I had always been curious. Even after learning that her height vastly differed from the human average, why did she continue to maintain this form?
As a dragon, couldn’t she change her height at will?
“…This is the form I had when I met my first child. For that child’s sake, I don’t want to change.”
I flinched and closed my mouth. When she put it that way, I had nothing to say. Erestica, with momentary melancholy in her eyes, gently caressed my cheek.
“And this is also the form I first met you in. Since both of my precious memories are embedded in this form, I have no intention of changing it. Of course, if you strongly wished for it, I might consider reducing it…”
“No. That’s not necessary.”
As if I would be crazy enough to ask for that in this situation. After my firm refusal, Erestica embraced me with a face full of smiles, looking as if she couldn’t contain her happiness.
With a tight squeeze, her breasts, clearly larger than before, pressed against me from all directions. After being held like that for quite some time, I was finally released and asked:
“…I hate to ask this myself, but is that size also intentional?”
“That? What exactly are you referring to, child?”
“The things you’re supporting with your arms right now.”
Due to her physique, Erestica had a habit of supporting underneath her breasts when sitting, either with one hand or both. This only emphasized her already enormous chest, which was happening now as well.
“…This.”
Erestica’s face showed rare confusion.
“I too have noticed they’ve grown larger than before, as you say. However, I find I cannot reduce them at will.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. While I can change all other parts as I wish, strangely, I cannot reduce my chest. Since healing magic doesn’t work, I don’t think I’m ill, so don’t worry, child.”
Erestica casually kneaded her own breasts as she spoke. Each one, about 2.5 times the size of a face, changed shape under her fingers like dough being molded.
If she didn’t know the reason, there was nothing to be done. I turned my eyes away from the incredibly suggestive sight, thinking that while it might be fine now if healing magic didn’t work, I hoped it would continue to be fine in the future.
“Besides, don’t you prefer them large?”
With a feeling of “you’re asking that now?” I looked to the side. Erestica was intertwining her gaze with mine, her expression both innocent and seductive.
“…I don’t dislike them.”
“I see.”
Erestica released her hands from her breasts. I couldn’t quite understand her intention. It didn’t seem like she was hoping for me to take things further.
“Erestica, are you there?”
A knocking sound came from outside the door.
The reaction was swift. I instantly returned to my form as a summon, and Erestica put on a thick coat and hid her horns. Her vertical pupils returned to ordinary yellow eyes.
“Come in.”
“Excuse me.”
After confirming that I had stood up, Erestica gave permission to enter. The door opened, and a woman with Latin-looking tan skin paid her respects in fluent Korean.
“We’ve almost arrived at the specified location.”
“I understand. Get ready.”
With a nod, I drew my dragon-fang sword. For a brief moment, an ecstatic look crossed Erestica’s face when she saw me holding the sword. It was so fleeting that no one but me noticed.
We left the cabin and went up to the deck. We were on a massive cargo ship of about 500,000 tons. Behind us, nearly a hundred similar-sized cargo ships were following.
This was probably a once-in-a-lifetime sight—a fleet of around a hundred 500,000-ton cargo ships traveling together.
But this time the circumstances were special, so it couldn’t be helped. After all, all the guild masters of the Eternal Guild had personally come out. Even ships just heading in a similar direction had to follow us.
“…It’s coming.”
The reason why they had to forcibly follow us was approaching from the distance. The Latin woman assisting us muttered in a tense voice.
It was a shark with a fin rising about five stories high above the water’s surface.
‘It is big.’
Supposedly, it was estimated to be 250 meters long. It might be nothing to me, but to the hunters on Earth, it deserved to be called a calamity.
It was a boss that emerged from an S-rank gate that appeared in the middle of the ocean two years ago. Laura and Elisier somehow managed to destroy the gate by combining their powers, but they ultimately lost this creature.
It escaped the moment it encountered the two of them.
Since then, it had been traveling between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, selectively attacking vessels it deemed incapable of capturing it, and being fundamentally a monster, it couldn’t be stopped simply with large ships.
Once, S-rank hunters from around the world gathered to try to subjugate it. But it hid in the deep sea over 10,000 meters down for more than half a year, and the effort fizzled out.
As soon as things quieted down, it would emerge and resume its activities. Judging by that, it was an incredibly cunning creature.
“…It’s running away.”
“I know.”
Just like now.
Despite being several kilometers away from the ship, it immediately changed direction and began to flee. It seemed to have abandoned any intention of attacking as its fin sank below the surface.
“Now, begin.”
Of course, we had no intention of letting it escape. That’s why all seven of us, including myself, had come this far.
Massive amounts of mana began flowing into me from the other cargo ships. Each of them had one guild master aboard. Erestica also channeled mana to me from right beside me.
Though it was far less than what I possessed, to nearby hunters it would seem like enough to make them worry about drowning in mana.
I deliberately absorbed mana until they were on the verge of depletion. Erestica staggered as her legs gave out. Female hunters nearby hurriedly supported her body.
‘That secures our excuse.’
The other six would be in the same state, but I could return the absorbed mana later.
After pretending to absorb all the mana, I created a massive spear in my right hand. Just the appearance of the spear made the 500,000-ton cargo ship sway significantly.
I cast reinforcement magic to prevent the ship from breaking apart from the recoil and took a throwing stance. The tip of the spear, made of pure mana itself, aimed deep into the sea.
I launched the spear. A blue light penetrated the ocean, traveling deep down to precisely pierce the head of the fleeing shark.
A mushroom cloud rose from the sea.
“—!!!!!!”
The surrounding hunters collectively panicked and hurriedly formed defensive barriers to disperse the incoming tidal wave.
Even then, they couldn’t completely absorb the shock, as one person was seen vomiting blood. The cargo ship rocked as if it might capsize at any moment.
If it actually came close to capsizing, I would secretly help, but otherwise, they needed to handle it themselves. That’s what defense-type awakened ability users were for.
‘Was the scale too large?’
I looked up at the mushroom cloud rising high into the sky. Actually, I just created that effect myself.
If I had simply pierced and killed it, the visual impact would have been too minimal. This way, everyone could immediately understand how insanely powerful the attack was.
I deliberately hid my body with concealment magic, pretending to have used up all my power. The Latin woman supporting Erestica pointed at where I had been with a startled expression.
“He’s temporarily disappeared. He used so much power that he couldn’t maintain himself.”
Erestica gave the pre-arranged answer. The Latin woman immediately accepted this and stopped making a fuss.
This should be sufficient reason for all the guild masters to remain secluded together for the time being. After all, we had killed the boss monster called Leviathan, which had been considered humanity’s worst enemy for the past two years.
‘I wonder what Latina is doing. She said she was going to try something.’
Given the ominous flow of time detected in the Sanctum, this was an unavoidable choice.
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