I got into school for nothing - 244
I got into school for nothing (244)
Lesson 47. Reversal of Reversals - 4
Lower-rank dimensions were nothing more than convenient playgrounds, or training grounds, or factories, or mines for higher-rank dimensions.
The humans of lower-rank dimensions were their toys, educational materials, components, miners.
From the moment they were born, insurmountable giants looked down upon them from an unimaginable height.
Every time those beings playfully stomped their feet, thousands, tens of thousands of humans died like insects.
An unchallengeable order, an inescapable cage.
They could not even despair.
Since hope was not granted from the moment of birth, they had no right to lose it.
Yet, even in such a world, miracles sometimes occurred.
“Y-Your Highness. That mana... could it be the choice of a Constellation?!”
“No, this is my power. ...It is our power.”
Such was the existence of Cartro El Fassis.
In a world where the low mana density prevented even decent ability users from being born, he was blessed with the unique Authority to lend his strength to those who believed in him.
“If you have no strength, I will give you strength. If you have no future, I will give you a future. Come to me. Cartro El Fassis declares the Liberation Army here!”
“Mana... mana dwells within me!”
“This can't be, that I can fight...!”
“Follow His Highness. His Highness Cartro El Fassis will grant us tomorrow!”
The young prince of a ruined minor kingdom, swept away by the whims of higher-rank dimensions, abandoned everything he was entitled to at his age. Instead, he bore the will of countless people.
He united people who, lacking their own will, were merely swept along like reeds, forming them into a legion. He repelled monsters to create a homeland.
He rescued those subjugated by higher-rank dimensions, reinforced their weapons and power, defeated monsters, and brought down dungeons.
Over several years, he painstakingly built an environment where humans could finally live—.
—only for all of it to be obliterated by a single monster wave.
“Ha, hahahaha.”
The higher-rank dimensions didn't even bother to move directly to catch the annoying, rampaging insects.
They merely administered a drug.
A drug that artificially triggered a monster wave, causing humans with mana below a certain threshold to be unable to resist and simply mutate into monsters.
Humans who had already awakened to resistance and could no longer be turned back into livestock were thus neatly rounded up and annihilated.
How he survived that hell... he didn't even want to think about it.
“—Right.”
He thought he should die.
No matter how much he tried, no matter how much he resisted, there was no way to oppose them.
There was no way to overturn the established order—.
Struggling desperately felt foolish.
It was then that he learned of the existence of dimension pirates.
More precisely, he encountered a ship from Exodus that had come to his world—now a completely abandoned dimension due to the monster wave—perhaps hoping to find something left to plunder.
“You want to die? What a waste, after barely surviving so magnificently.”
“Magnificently...?”
“Hey... glaring at me is missing the point, isn't it?”
“Then, who?”
“Right, I was about to tell you that now anyway. So, let's go hit those guys with a punch together.”
The man who called himself the captain, Kuran Luchato, was a pervert who liked to say the most cringeworthy things with what he thought was the coolest expression.
But he was strong, and the organization he belonged to possessed power that didn't lose out to higher-rank dimensions.
For Cartro, who had nothing left but hatred for the dimension rulers, whom he couldn't even specifically identify as individuals, Exodus felt like fate itself.
“As expected, you're a guy I like. So, how about we talk specifics? To land a punch, you first need to know who the opponent is, right?”
“Opponent.”
“Right. Not those idiots whose greatest achievement in life was being born in a good place, who wield what they have without even knowing what it is. I'm talking about the ones who made the world like this, who split the dimensions apart, the masterminds who manipulate the Constellations.”
“Who are they?”
“Union.”
Kuran pointed to the distinctive emblem engraved on the clothes he was wearing and said.
He learned later that Kuran was a dropout from Union Academy.
“We will bring down Union and restore everything to how it should be. You'll have to be the vanguard of that great operation.”
Not long after, Cartro was selected for Union Academy through the Special Admissions for Lower-Rank Dimensions.
Although from a lower-rank dimension, it was only natural that he, who had gathered and led all the humans of one dimension and exerted strong influence, would catch Union's eye.
Upon entering Union Academy, Cartro feigned incompetence, fearing that his excellent unique ability would draw too much attention.
Among the other students selected through special admissions, few understood their own abilities as clearly as he did.
To lower himself to their level—he had no choice but to package his personality.
For a person whose world had been annihilated because of actions that caught the eye of higher-rank dimensions, it was a natural choice.
...However, the packaging was a bit excessive, he now thought to himself.
As he became directly involved with the humans of higher-rank dimensions at Union Academy, he realized that his thoughts, and Exodus's resolve, were by no means mistaken.
Even when facing them as individuals, they never properly evaluated humans from lower-rank dimensions.
Disregarding their personalities and treating them as mere tools was commonplace; they even detested being in the same space as them.
If the world had been one, without dimension grades, they probably wouldn't have naturally perpetrated such discrimination.
It was Union's fault for dividing dimensions and creating different mana densities.
“Don't think of me as your comrade just because I'm cooperating with you bastards.”
“Of course, we understand. Thank you for your cooperation, Professor.”
“Then, let's get moving, Senior. So that our comrades can infiltrate the Tower safely this year—.”
Union Academy had quite a few collaborators from Exodus.
They would help Exodus's active units, who were after the Tower's secrets, enter the Tower of Babel, avoiding the Chancellor's watchful eyes.
They would also test other students from lower-rank dimensions in their own ways and arrange for them to join Exodus.
Cartro moved closer, step by step, to his objective.
It was quite smooth.
Until Ban Yuwon appeared.
“I was going to test them properly and then let them join, but they were ambushed and died? Why on earth did you have to rush so much?!”
“Calm down, Senior. It's regrettable that a comrade died... but fortunately, it was the weakest among them. The remaining members have all successfully infiltrated and are exploring the back side of the Tower.”
“Fortunately? Fortunately, the weakest? Are you saying they were thrown as a sacrifice?!”
“Cartro, Senior.”
Woohyeolrin was a junior who had been selected for Union Academy through the same Special Admissions for Lower-Rank Dimensions and was also a member of Exodus.
Unlike Cartro, who disliked standing out, Woohyeolrin boldly displayed his power, and in every aspect, they didn't quite see eye to eye.
He had a habit of justifying everything if it meant achieving his goal.
His ability, Geas, was truly well-suited to his personality.
“Calm down. The dead cannot return anyway. Right now, what's important is how we deal with them—Rebellion.”
“...Right. If we can use them, we should. Let's observe them a little more, and then... make contact.”
“I can't get heavily involved. As you know, I'm focusing on other matters.”
Cartro, reading the faint hint of pleasure rising on Woohyeolrin's cold face, replied gloomily.
“I pray you safely get the Fairy Princess into your hands.”
“It's to thwart Crimson Spear's plan. It's also for the future of the fairy race. If Mira can be saved by a temporary hardship, I will do anything.”
“Don't react so sensitively. ...A Constellation who personally steps forward to cast curses on people for a contractor, I merely thought it was quite convenient.”
“Are you still suspicious of the Gravedigger of Purgatory? Even if he doesn't side with Exodus, he is unequivocally on my side.”
The conversation they had at that time, from start to finish, was revealed to be a lie when Ban Yuwon later intervened and snatched Mira away.
The incident, which, along with Woohyeolrin, clearly contributed to Exodus's hostility towards Rebellion—and numerous other conflicts—eventually led Exodus to define Rebellion as an enemy.
Approaching him with the common denominator of "lower-rank dimensions" was impossible because he was overly friendly with individuals from higher-rank dimensions, and unlike Exodus, Ban Yuwon confronted them on equal footing—making his existence an overly obstructive factor for Exodus.
Furthermore, he was excessively amicable towards Union Academy.
Considering Exodus's objectives, he was an existence they could never ally with.
Thus, Cartro met Ban Yuwon with a clear purpose.
However, the moment he met his gaze.
The moment those eyes, seemingly piercing through everything, made contact with the fragments of Authority flickering beyond Cartro's pathetic mask.
He was certain that he could never defeat Ban Yuwon.
‘Ambiguous, huh? That's a description that fits me perfectly right now.’
Cartro smiled bitterly, staring blankly beyond the barrier at the Exodus fleet, which seemed to have been waiting to cross the dimension wall and now surrounded their spaceship.
‘I knew we'd lose if we fought, so I tried to somehow retract the plan. If Ban Yuwon had pushed us away, at least this confrontation wouldn't have happened. But I couldn't betray Exodus, so I couldn't speak openly. I felt frustrated that he didn't understand, but it was I who was frustrating myself.’
To think he had known everything and led them to this point.
Perhaps it was even his will to structure the special club competition in such a way, making it easier for Exodus to make their move?
If that were truly the case, Cartro's judgment on the day they met, that he couldn't win, had been exceptionally accurate.
“The moment you move with hostility, everything will end.”
Woohyeolrin declared in a cold voice, gripping the purple chains.
In response, the chain around Cartro's neck tightened with a clatter, but it snagged and rattled against the barrier Ban Yuwon had created in between.
‘The Authority was activated, and all conditions of the contract were reversed. The contract, fulfilled by betraying Ban Yuwon, grants power to Woohyeolrin and constricts Ban Yuwon. ...If only I had retrieved the Talismans beforehand, I could have prevented the weakening of our comrades.’
The Talismans, imbued with Cartro's power and distributed to all club members, also contained a curse that reversed upon the activation of the contract. Thus, any member holding one would have to face their enemies in a strongly suppressed state, let alone experiencing an amplification of their abilities.
Of course, Aire's intervention was unexpected, but she alone wouldn't be able to turn the tide of the battle.
He had contacted Exodus as soon as he confirmed Aire's participation, but the conflict between Ban Yuwon and the organization had already become too severe to be halted even by Aire's presence.
This was the result.
‘How many will die, allies and enemies combined... Damn it, damn it!’
Cartro bit his lip hard.
Trapped in the barrier, he could no longer exert influence on either side.
Ambiguous.
Ban Yuwon's words resonated with him anew.
“Ohh...”
Meanwhile, Ban Yuwon's eyes sparkled as if recognizing the Authority's threads connected to dozens of Exodus warships, with Woohyeolrin at the center.
“It's quite impressive. So, if the conditions are met, such widespread influence can be exerted?”
“Just admit you 'didn't expect it.' You're just like those pig-like bastards from the higher-rank dimensions. You probably looked down on us, even while anticipating our true nature.”
“No, I did expect it. But I didn't imagine you could wrap that Authority around the entire fleet.”
Ban Yuwon clapped his hands, then spread his palms apart.
Golden strings of characters stretched out long, as if playing cat's cradle.
“Ten won't be enough. Let's make it thirty. The amplification of Giwon Sword should handle it somehow.”
“Don't move!”
“No.”
As Ban Yuwon unleashed the concepts, Yugi frantically intertwined, conjuring familiar concepts.
[Amplification], [Curse], [Judgment], and [Domination] became intricately intertwined.
Soon, Ban Yuwon's unique martial art, Giwon Sword, which read and controlled all concepts, rearranged them, greatly expanding the domain of his Authority in an instant.
Woohyeolrin, understanding the nature of the power at the center of the Authority, opened his eyes wide.
“—?! No, that's impossible.”
“Changeling.”
Thirty Concept Conversion were consumed.
Everything that had been reversed now inverted to how it should rightfully be.
Pulling on the golden chains that had somehow appeared in his hand, Ban Yuwon declared proudly.
“I am now setting the price for breaking the contract. Simultaneously, I am consuming it as a sacrifice for Changeling.”
“Impossible!”
“Well, you get the gist, right?”
—KWA-A-A-ANG!
The Exodus fleet could not withstand the barrage of magic bullets fired by their own allied fleet and exploded.
Ban Yuwon shrugged and said.
“Now, kill each other.”
Hearing the sound of firecrackers raising the curtain on an execution, Cartro once again bowed his head.
It seemed only their own allies would be dying.
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