Chapter 858: The Membrane Overlaid
“You’re Roland, aren’t you?”
He surfaced from his thoughts. Lan had not turned to face him — she was looking somewhere past the crystal, her back still to most of the hall. Her voice had not been loud. He had heard it clearly.
“That’s me.” He pulled himself back. A flash of Garcia’s earlier words: she doesn’t like irresponsible people, or people who aren’t punctual. He braced for it.
“Garcia’s mentioned you,” Lan said. “Several times. She says you’re a rare sort of awakened — not pulled by desire or ambition. That’s genuinely uncommon, and it’s made her glad you joined the Association.”
”…Is that so?” He answered carefully.
Independent almost certainly meant wild in the taxonomy she and Garcia shared. But the second half — Garcia glad? He remembered clearly: Garcia had been perfectly expressionless when she’d handed him the application to fill in. Not gladness. A form.
“I don’t like unpunctuality,” Lan continued, still facing away. “But I find it’s a common failing. Some people can’t feel time passing, can’t hear it tick. For a certain kind of person, it’s not an unforgivable flaw.”
There was something in her voice at that moment — a quality he could not name. Not exactly warmth. Something that had once been warmer and had been compressed into this more contained shape.
“Special people exist in quantity,” she added. “But they’re still uncommon enough that wasting that particularity is genuinely costly. People who don’t develop what makes them singular get eliminated eventually.”
Is this a lecture about working for the Association and not causing trouble? He didn’t particularly like being preached at — a reaction that had grown considerably since becoming king. A man who dispenses sovereignty learns fast which things he will and won’t accept from other people’s mouths.
“You can leave when you’ve finished,” Lan said, finally turning. “Listen carefully to what comes next. It may be relevant to you.” A pause. “Next—!”
He twitched his mouth and dismissed the conversation. The irritation passed. Something she’d said lingered: it might help you. He turned that over as he returned to his seat, unable to find the mechanism of it. If he wanted to fight Fallen Evils, knowing the origin of the Erosion was useful. If he simply wanted to understand the world — yes. But what Lan seemed to mean was something more specific, and he couldn’t isolate it.
Then: the Bloody Moon connection resurfacing, more insistent.
The underground civilization’s research had established the Bloody Moon as the mechanism that transformed magic power — the background process, the thing that the Dreamland’s existence depended on. An entity, or a system, that functioned like infrastructure. If the Erosion’s red light was the same phenomenon, or related to it, then what had he just watched? Were the two worlds closer together than he’d assumed, even here in a space built entirely from his and Zero’s memories?
A Dream World that generated material he did not have the knowledge to produce.
That was the piece that would not sit still.
“So you believe it now?” Garcia said, quietly, looking at him. “That thing can’t exist in normal reality.”
“I never doubted you.” He shook his head. “Your master wasn’t as frightening as you described.”
She blinked. “Was something wrong with her?”
“She said quite a lot about how exceptional I was, and how much you’d been hoping I’d join.” He watched Garcia’s face, anticipating the response. Denial? Deflection? Either would be interesting. “You were elated, she said. I couldn’t tell.”
Garcia gave him the look of someone who has found a particularly elementary error in an otherwise competent piece of work.
“What exactly are you talking about?” she said. “When you were at the platform, the master didn’t say anything to you. I was watching. I’m a martialist — I can count your beard hairs from this distance. Do you think I’d miss someone talking to you?” The flat note of experience: “You’re too inexperienced to try to deceive me.”
He stopped.
Didn’t speak.
He held that alongside his memory. He had heard her clearly. A conversational tone, close — not a whisper. And yet Garcia had seen nothing. No one in the hall, apparently, had shifted their attention to look at two people in conversation at the front of the room. Not even the defenders nearby.
Something had spoken to him in Lan’s voice. Something that was not Lan.
Before he could push the thought further, she had returned the crystal to its case. A clap — the hall’s attention snapped forward.
“Our world isn’t flat. It’s a membrane.” Lan spoke with the patience of someone who has given up requiring her audience to follow immediately. “Some of you will understand this and some won’t. That’s fine. Just listen.”
The screen behind her lit with diagrams, formulae, the visual logic of something that should have been abstract but somehow wasn’t. “A membrane has curvature — like an arc in simplified terms. If another world exists beyond this one, these worlds can intersect. That intersection is the Erosion.”
She raised a hand before the protests could organize. “This is a model, not certainty. But it’s the only model that accounts for what you’ve seen. Since the Erosion was first documented, every nation has studied it. The rules that operate across the intersection are completely alien — standard methods of detection fail, matter brought through the boundary destabilizes. You saw the iron bar.”
“What does any of this have to do with Fallen Evils?” The voice was aggressive but genuinely curious beneath it.
“Their strength comes from the other membrane,” Lan said. “The overlap creates a temporary connection between two worlds. I don’t know what effect this has on the other side. For us, the result is: energy moves from concentration to diffusion, producing phenomena that appear impossible. Not just the Fallen Evils — every awakened person’s ability connects to this energy.”
The hall broke into noise.
My power belongs to me. It has nothing to do with a membrane.
Is the Association calling us the same as Fallen Evils?
Lan waited. Not with impatience — with the stillness of someone who has said the difficult thing and knows the reaction will run its course.
When it had: “Of course there’s a difference. We can direct it; they can’t. But I want you to consider something: if awakened people can freely use the Force of Nature and can’t be damaged by conventional weapons — why haven’t we ever dominated the entire world?”
Silence.
“Because the Erosion doesn’t last forever,” she said. “As the curvature changes, the overlapping membranes gradually separate. A short cycle runs for a day. A long one runs for millions of years. We can document one cycle that began around 2000 BCE and lasted less than a century. When the membranes parted, the Force of Nature vanished without residue. Even a civilization that achieved total dominance during an Erosion would have two thousand years of separation afterward — enough for any empire to dissolve entirely.”
“How do you know what happened two thousand years ago?” Still skeptical, but the edge was gone from it.
“I don’t,” Lan said simply. “This is inference. There was no scientific methodology in 2000 BCE. To verify the model, we would need to wait another two thousand years. But history accumulates coincidences. Compare biographical records and histories across different regions and you find an unusual concentration of legendary figures, mythological heroes, during that same window. Most of those myths involve catastrophe and salvation. Is it unreasonable to suggest that an Erosion caused them?”
A pause below. Then: “Even if that’s true — if it ends on its own, what is the Association actually fighting for?”
“The Fallen Evils,” Lan said. “That’s what I said at the start. The energy has no malice. It follows rules, moves where concentration is highest, and produces effects. But the people it creates can have malice. We are still at the beginning of this overlap. The loopholes will keep expanding. Fallen Evils will increase in numbers. Only those who carry the same force can defeat them — this is survival, and only one side can remain. If we cannot stop the Fallen Evils, the destruction will not be limited to the awakened. It will consume everyone.”
Chapter 858: The Membrane Overlaid
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
“You’re Roland, aren’t you?” When Roland was contemplating the “Erosion”, Lan suddenly spoke.
“Ah… it’s me.” He recovered from his solemn thoughts and Garcia’s words flashed across his mind… “Hang on, would she be trying to find trouble with me for having stood her up?”
“I’ve heard Garcia mention you several times.” She did not face Roland, so he could not see her expression. “She said you’re a rare and independent awakened who’s not disturbed by desire and ambition. This is very rare for the average person, so she’s very happy that you’ve agreed to join the association.”
“Uh… Is that so?” Roland replied reluctantly.
It was clear to him that Lan must have been implying that he was a ‘wild’ Awakened when she said ‘independent’, but he wondered why she said that Garcia was elated when he agreed to join the association. He clearly remembered that Garcia had been expressionless when she had let him fill out the application.
“Although I hate people who aren’t punctual, this is a common problem for many. After all, you can’t feel the change of time nor can you hear it ticking, so for some special people, it’s not an unforgivable flaw.”
Inexplicably, Roland felt that there was a glimmer of emotion when the Chief Disciple said these words.
“There’s one thing you should know about special people. Though they’re uncommon, there’re still quite a number of them. If they don’t treasure their special feature and maximize it, they’ll be eliminated sooner or later.”
“Is this a warning that I should work wholeheartedly for the association and not cause problems like the other wild Awakened ones?” Roland secretly frowned as he really did not like this kind of preaching. Perhaps he would not have minded it before, but after he became the King of Graycastle, he had also changed his mentality.
“After you’ve finished watching, you can leave,” Lan finally turned around and said calmly, “listen carefully to what I’m going to say next as it might help you. Next—!”
Roland twitched his mouth and did not take this brief conversation to heart.
He was overwhelmed by a cloud of confusion.
Whether the Martialist Association could defeat the Erosion and save the world was something he did not care about.
After returning to his seat, he still frowned.
What are the “deities” thinking about?
According to the research data of the underground civilization, the Bloody Moon is the key to transforming the magic power, and also the basis for the existence of the Dreamland—in a certain sense, it’s the equivalent of the mastermind behind the scenes, existing like a background. Even if one wanted to annex the Dream World, there’s no need to show their original appearance, right?
The witches can see the real body of the Bloody Moon because that’s the real world, yet this Dreamland is a domain purely founded on his and Zero’s memories. Wouldn’t this mean that the mastermind had seen the circuit signal operating behind the world?
Or could the speculation be wrong? Or maybe I had misunderstood some information that had pointed me in the wrong direction?
“So do you believe it now?” Garcia glared at him. “That’s definitely not something that can exist in reality.”
“I’ve never doubted you.” Roland shook his head and tried to suppress his distractions. “But your master wasn’t as scary as you’d described.”
“Was there something wrong with the master?” She was a little surprised.
“She said quite a lot about how special I was and how the association thought highly of me,” Roland said sarcastically, “by the way… she said you were elated about me joining the association. Was that so? I really couldn’t tell at all.”
He looked at the ex-Princess Garcia in anticipation, as he wanted to see what kind of expression she would reveal. Would she deny everything completely or attempt to conceal herself hurriedly? No matter what she did, it should be very interesting.
But he never imagined that she would portray a look of “you’re really such a fool”.
“What’re you talking about?” said Garcia as she rolled her eyes. “When you were on the platform, the master didn’t speak at all… Do you think that I’m blind?”
Roland could not help but be stunned.
“This distance might be considered far for ordinary people, but I’m a martialist. I could even see clearly how many strands of beard you had on the stage. Don’t try to lie to me. You’re still too inexperienced,” she said with a note of disdain.
Didn’t… speak?
Just as he was about to ask more questions, Lan had already re-closed the glass chest. She clapped her hands and made everyone focus their attention
on the podium—this time round, there was much less talk in the hall.
“Our world isn’t flat, it’s a membrane. Some can understand this and others can’t. But it doesn’t matter. Just listen to me.” She turned around so that the screen behind showed what was being said. “The membrane has a curvature that, in popular terms, is like an arc—and in some places, this change is even more pronounced. If there are other worlds beyond this one, then there’ll be a possibility that the two worlds will intersect, and this intersection is the Erosion.”
“Of course, this is only a speculation, but it’s the only explanation for the vision that we saw—since the Erosion was discovered, all nations have kept up their research on it, but unfortunately the world there has completely different rules. Any means of detection are declared null and void, and even the matter here can’t be stabilized beyond the borders. As you’ve seen for yourselves, the iron bar was the proof.”
“Huh? What’s the connection with the Fallen Evils?” someone asked.
“Of course there’s a connection. The strength they gain comes from another membrane—and that’s why the Fallen Evils aren’t afraid of ordinary weapons in this world. The overlapping membrane temporarily connects the two worlds, and I don’t know what kind of effect that would have on the other world. But for us, the rules still work: the movement of energy from high to low creates a series of phenomena that is incredible.” Lan raised her voice and said, “To be exact, not just the Fallen Evils, any Awakened person would be related to this energy.”
“What did.. you say?”
“My power belongs only to me. It’s not related to any goddamned membrane!”
“Does the Martialist Association think that we’re the same as the Fallen Evils?”
The hall suddenly burst into a commotion.
This time Lan did not say anything to stop the commotion but waited until everyone became silent by themselves before she went on to say, “Of course there’s a difference, we can control it, yet the Fallen Evils can’t. But we have to admit that in some sense were quite similar to the Fallen Evils— especially on this point about being able to resist injuries caused by ordinary weapons. Has everyone considered another point? How come the martialists can’t dominate the entire world even when they can freely manipulate the Force of Nature and can’t be hurt by ordinary weapons?”
“Well… ” The crowd started to whisper.
“Because the Erosion won’t last forever,” Lan said straightforwardly, “as the curvature changes, the overlapping membranes will gradually separate until the next reunion—the cycle can be long or short. A short one could be a day while the long one could be millions of years. And we encountered the Erosion about 2000 B.C. and the overlapping lasted only less than a century. Once they separated, the Force of Nature will disappear without any trace. Given that, even the Awakened ones managed to dominate the whole world, two thousand years of interval would be enough for this empire to vanish.”
“How can you be sure about what happened thousands of years ago?” Although someone still questioned her theory, his attitude was much less aggressive.
“I don’t know,” said the Chief Disciple, frankly. “It’s just an assumption. Even 2000 years ago, there wasn’t even a scientific way of observation and recording. If you want to validate it, we’ll have to wait until 2000 years later. But we mustn’t forget that history is always full of surprising coincidences. By comparing the biographies and history books of different regions, you’ll find that many epic heroes and legends were born during that period, and then further on the myths emerged—and most myths were related to doomsday and the salvation. Can we assume that it was the Erosion that caused this?”
There was a brief silence below the stage, and after a while, someone asked, “And even if those epic heroes are the Awakened ones of the Force of Nature, what does that have to do with us? According to what you said, the
Erosion will end by itself, so what’s the purpose of the propaganda of your association against the Erosion?”
“Don’t forget that apart from us, there are also the Fallen Evils,” Lan answered quietly. “This is what I said at the beginning. There’s no evil force. The energy just spreads according to the rules. It has no malice, but that doesn’t mean the affected people will also have no malice. We’re just at the beginning of the membrane overlap, so such loopholes will continue to increase and expand. The Fallen Evils will also increase in numbers. And only the Martialists that use the same kind of force can defeat them—this is a competition of the survival of the fittest, and only one party can survive. If we can’t defeat the Fallen Evils, not just the Awakened ones, but the whole human existence will be completely destroyed by them.”