Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

Correction of typos made on 2017/2/13.

Partial revisions made on 2017/2/13.

This is Satou. It seems that things received for free or given before even asking tend to be treated somewhat carelessly. Surely, things obtained through effort tend to have a psychological “effort cost” added to their perceived value.

◇

“Well then, I’m heading out.”

“Okay, be careful.”

I told my companions this and teleported to the destination using unit placement.

“...It’s cramped.”

I opened the hatch of the small pod that I had previously sent a mouse into and stepped outside.

Before teleporting, I had cast the “spacesuit (astro suit)” magic, so I’m fine in any environment.

— A desolate world of death.

That was my first impression.

The ruins of collapsed skyscrapers lay hollowly scattered.

“Oh, I can still use skills properly.”

Even though the skill menu was grayed out, I was able to materialize the demon blade at my fingertips.

Still, compared to usual, using the demon blade felt strange.

Since the skill display was grayed out, maybe there was no skill support available.

“...Magic power isn’t recovering?”

The magic power that had decreased wasn’t recovering at all.

This wasn’t about my normally abnormal recovery speed; it was more like a typical human rate.

Apparently, this land has almost no demonic essence to mediate magic power.

The mini gargoyle unit I sent ahead had their magic power drained—it must have been because of this.

The magic menu was still displayed in white as usual.

“Well then, the full map exploration—”

Though a large amount of magic power was drained, it properly activated.

Even in a world without ley lines, it seemed to gather information through that world’s own ley veins.

Also, the “Appraisal” skill took longer to activate, but given enough time, it worked just like in the original world.

“The map’s name is ‘Mth World Line, Planet Earth, Site of the Japanese Empire,’ huh.”

As the term “site” implies, no one lives in this area.

— No, “nothing is here” is more accurate.

A full map scan revealed that within this country, there were no humans or even creatures larger than small animals.

I had secured several means of return, and it was a relief that my menu was functioning normally.

I tested returning to the “Isolated Island Palace” via unit placement before visiting again.

“Hmm, probably because the world is different—”

I murmured softly, hand on my chin.

There seems to be a slight load when moving between worlds using unit placement.

Maybe it’s best not to overuse inter-world travel.

◇

I orbited Earth visually with unit placement, confirming there was no one on the surface.

This world seemed to use fusion reactors rather than fission reactors, but there were many glassy craters on the ground, and the terrain was quite different from the Earth I knew.

Probably, a Third World War-like nuclear conflict had occurred.

“How much madness covered this world...”

Several large underground shelters had been destroyed by special crust-penetrating bombs, and no survivors were found.

Though it was around Tokyo’s latitude, thick snow piled up as if in an ice age.

“No survivors in space either, huh.”

A massive amount of debris floated in satellite orbit, and lunar bases were all wiped out.

“No traces of unknown aliens or mysterious demon world creatures attacking either.”

If it was just humans killing each other, that was within expectations.

I silently prayed for the Earthlings of this doomed world.

The mini gargoyle unit’s survey had already picked up on this from radio conditions, but I wanted to be sure no indigenous people remained before settling.

I summoned a giant ship equipped with many large Sacred Tree Stone Furnaces from storage.

Receiving magic power supply from the furnaces, I cast a spell from my magic slot.

— Planetary environment modification (terraforming).

A rainbow-colored light, similar to my spirit light, stretched into the sky, covering the planet like an aurora.

If left for another month, the ice age-like temperatures, lethal pollutants, and radiation would all be somehow mitigated.