Everyone Else is a Returnee

"Erta?"
[Yes, Yu IlHan, what is it?]

Erta"s voice that replied to Yu IlHan"s call was calm. It seemed like this team was not aware of what had happened to Earth yet.

"Can you ask Miss MiRae to create a gate so you can come back to Earth first?"
[So it"s urgent. I understand.]

Erta had countless good points about her, but her best points were that she was wise and was quick to start working. Yu IlHan cut off the communication there, and looked around the world before putting mana into a clap to gather everyone"s attention.

"As you see, the mankind of this world, Earth, were scattered across various other worlds. We don"t know when they will be able to come back, but I can"t let you live in their original habitats. However, there are plenty of locations where the population was wiped out due to dungeons or large-scale monster attacks, so I"m planning to choose one of those places for all of you to live in."
"Thank you for your consideration."
"I"m planning to work on fixing Earth immediately due to an unforeseen error. So, in the meantime, I hope that the members of Suppression will be able to help Miss Han YeoRang……."
"As you wish."

Major-General Yoon DaeHan nodded with a bright smile as soon as he heard that. It seemed that he thought that Yu IlHan was being considerate of them. Well, let him misunderstand alright. Yu IlHan immediately moved the fortress to the place he had thought of, which was none other than Venezuela.

"This place is……."
"It"s the only place where I was shamed, I was unable to help them in time …… one of the things I still have regrets on."
"Mr. Yu IlHan……."

All 30 thousand got off there. The citizens of Venezuela in the past numbered 30 million, but all of them had died. It would be more than enough for 30 thousand people to live in. Even considering the time needed for them to continue with their unique culture and prosper, this kind of environment would be enough.

"Fighting the monsters will be a little tough, but the current Suppression should be able to handle it. Oh.""

Yu IlHan brought the unique-ranked artifacts piled up in Vanguard warehouse and distributed them to the members of Suppression. The equipment they were using right now were good items, but they were all ma.s.s-production models he had made when he had inferior abilities to now. Just by switching equipment, their fighting power would increase by 3 times.

"This is really amazing."
"Don"t feel bad about using it. I"ll clean up the vicinity first."

Yu IlHan gave Han YeoRang and Yoon DaeHan a communication device each.

"Give me a call whenever you"re in danger. I"ll come immediately."
"……Thank you."
"It won"t be easy but…… do your best."
"We should be fine as long as you"re here, Mr. Yu IlHan."
"That"s not what I meant…… *sigh*."

Yu IlHan only sighed at Han YeoRang"s firm att.i.tude.

They still didn"t seem to be aware what a higher world signified. He still had lingering thoughts that he should have just left them in Guundia.
But what was he to do now? They were the ones who followed him as they couldn"t endure the situation Guundia anymore. Perhaps Helièna was right. Humanity was just struggling to escape their status quo, heading to their destruction.

"……Though, I won"t let them."

On his way back from Venezuela, Yu IlHan set up the minimum amount of safety devices. He first wiped out the monsters, and installed various traps and automatic weapons made from the materials gathered from those monsters.
If above "ordinary" monsters, for example, the perverted demons, appeared, they"ll activate automatically and even signal Yu IlHan. Before Earth leaped into a higher world, this much preparation should be enough to protect them.

[How kind.]
"If I was really kind, I wouldn"t have brought them to Earth."

Yu IlHan snorted at Helièna"s remark, and moved to the Korea, the clearing where the gate to Kiroa had once been. Of course, that gate had disappeared, but this area was Yu IlHan"s land before. And he had scooped it out to make the Flying fortress.

[My…… how beautiful.]
"It really is spectacular."

A lake had formed in the place where it was once like a crater due to a large ma.s.s of land being scooped out. Moreover, the surface of the water was glowing faintly, and from time to time, sprouts of water shot upwards to create special shapes - all this implied that the lake was formed from the influence of magic power.

"Yu IlHan, I"ve arrived. …… oh."

Erta had also arrived at this time through the gate, and also saw the scene. Not only that, the only conclusion she could come to after seeing the current state of Earth, where the lands, skies, and sea were all being twisted apart.

The transformation of Earth into a higher world was in progress. And this was happening very, very rapidly.

"Didn"t you say it would take a few years at least?"
"Yeah, I hoped so anyway."
"Well, there"s no way a human like you can accurately predict the transformation period. But it"s good that we found out before it was too late. And so? You"ve prepared something right? The reason you called me should also be related to that."
"Indeed."

Yu IlHan thought back to the time when he borrowed Paté"s power to bring Helièna"s body back to life, and explained his plans. The magic he was planning to cast on Earth was fundamentally not that different.

"I"m planning to slow the time and s.p.a.ce applied on Earth by borrowing mom"s magic. The mana needed will be supplied by the mana being generated from the Earth itself."
"Uh……."

Although it was like always, this was one of the most absurd declarations by Yu IlHan. Erta couldn"t retort and only turned her head around to Kim YeSeul.

"Just from words, it sounds absolutely impossible…… so how is it, Kim YeSeul? Does it seem possible?"
"Wouldn"t my son be able to do it? I believe in my son."
[This will be interesting. I want to hear the specifics, darling.]
"Good, I"ll explain it to you in steps."

If possible, he wanted to get Kang MiRae"s help as well, but he could only do with these members as she had other important things to do. Yu IlHan first put a boat on the lake and rowed to the center with the others.

"I"m going to make a magic formation here."
"On this lake? Would that suffice?"
"No, of course not. I"m going to use the artifact I created to draw a magic formation over the entire Earth."
[My, making a magic formation on Earth with an artifact?]
"The entire Earth!?"

Erta remembered something after hearing that.

"The ancient elven magic formation in Dareu. My G.o.d."
"Yes, this is the enhanced version. So…… I"m going to make what Miss Han YeoRang said, not that far off from the truth."

If he was the only one that could take responsibility for Earth, all he needed to was to conquer it. Yu IlHan was planning to become the ruler of Earth. No one permitted him to, but he didn"t plan on getting their permission either.

Noticing what he was thinking, Helièna"s face blossomed into a smile.

[Fufu, you"re doing well even without me telling you anything, darling. Perhaps our hearts are already synchronized? How joyful.]
"Quite the unpleasant woman, I must say."
"I agree, but this is no time to be quarreling. Focus."

Yu IlHan was not proficient in magic that manipulated s.p.a.ce and time. So, he would require Kim YeSeul"s help even in the process of making the magic formation.

By creating an artifact that could realize all of her powers, he would etch the magic formation over the Earth and activate it. Finally, he had to finish it off by adding a feature that could maintain the effects of the formation.

"The environment is not that bad. There is a lot of mana in the lake too."
[My.]

When Yu IlHan shook his hand, the surface of the lake shot up according to his lead, and froze in the form of a delicate statue.
A beautiful angel with two pairs of wings extended. It was none other than the figure of Liera when she was a 6th cla.s.s high angel. Kim YeSeul was curious what kind of magic tricks he used when she saw him and realized that her son had become slightly different.

"My, when did your armor change, son?"
"Blizzard Tyrant"s Mixed bone fullplate armor. It"s an artifact that allows me to wield water and make it into ice. I"m going to create the artifact by extracting the feature of this armor."
[That"s neat, darling. Can"t you make a statue of me too?]
"If I feel like it."

When he swung his hand again, the statue changed into water again and fell back into the lake.

"That"s why I need the help of the people here. Is it possible to transform mom"s ability into the form of a magic formation?"
"It will be difficult for me alone."
[I"ll try, darling. That seems interesting.]
"I shall also help. Fortunately, magic formations are my area of specialty."
"Okay then. I"ll leave that to the three of you. As for me."

Yu IlHan took off his armor. Then, he took out a 5th cla.s.s magic stone and extracted all the features relating to water manipulation from the mixed bone fullplate armor. The fullplate armor immediately became dust and scattered with the wind.

"I"ll make this lake into an artifact."
[You destroyed a legend-ranked artifact so easily…]
"What I need is the ability to manipulate water, not the armor."

At this point, Yu IlHan did something unbelievable. He just dropped the higher existence"s magic stone with the power of water into the lake without any hesitation. Even Helièna couldn"t help but tilt her head at that scene.

[Darling…… are you alright?]
"I"m going to concentrate. Don"t touch me."

Yu IlHan slowly closed his eyes and put his hand on the surface of the water. What he was trying to do right now was extremely simple. Using the magic stone that would control the entire lake as the foundation, he would tie all the water in the lake into a single ma.s.s and enchant a thought-soul into it!
To put it easily, he was making a water golem. Of course, this would be impossible without the magic engineering, mana crafting ability, and soul-enchant that had respectively reached the peak of their fields.

"Activate mana crafting and soul enchant at the same time. And a suitable thought-soul would be…… yes, you"re the best."
[Are you, serious……?]

The voice that replied to him was extremely low, and was filled with curses. However, to Yu IlHan, who had experienced countless fights even after fighting it, this much was cute.

"Yes I am serious. If it"s about protecting the Earth, you should be the strongest."
[What I want more is to rip you apart to shreds.]
"You"re mistaken if you think I"ll back down to such a meagre threat. You should have watched from inside me didn"t you? Do I have to put it in easy words for you?"

Yu IlHan snorted towards the thought-soul that could do nothing to disturb his mind no matter how much it shouted, and spoke.

"As long as I don"t permit it, you cannot do anything. If you do not accept, I"ll only look for another one, and if the protective power over Earth becomes weaker as a result, you can only writhe in despair and curse me as you always did. No, in fact, I can just feed you to another thought-soul."
[You aren"t particularly skilled in threatening, or perhaps, you really don"t care if I comply or not.]
"You get it. So, what are you going to do?"
[I…… want freedom.]
"You are already dead. You are already no longer you, and whatever you thought when you were alive no longer relates to the current you."
[Despite that I…… want freedom.]
"Then very well. Negotiation is over."
[However.]

The thought-soul held Yu IlHan back.

[If I could live on in a different form, if I could escape my current state…… I shall follow your words for a short while.]
"You really aren"t good at negotiating either."
[I was always watching you. If I am not skilled in negotiation, then it is your fault.]
"Hah, who are you blaming? Very well, then. Let us begin."

Yu IlHan activated the Rule skill that had reached its peak and made a smirk. He voiced out its name, the "concept" that was embedded in the Akas.h.i.+c Record.

"Chaos Will, become my subordinate."
[……I accept.]

The worst loner and the most brutal being joined hands.

Author"s notes

Translator"s notes

Translator: Chamber
Proofreader: Koukouseidesu