The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 281

A large magically engineered device was placed on the ground before the cabin.

Zellan said that after looking at its internal structure, she believed that it was most likely the device that Glockt had made to observe other worlds. Zellan, Wilhelm, Ed, and Lucy all stood around it without saying a word.

“In theory, it’s less likely that something will go very wrong. After all, we are just observing another world. There are few chances for things to go south,” Ed Rothstaylor said to Lucy with a serious expression on his face.

Even though Lucy was capable of Celestial Magic power herself, she was unable to use it at that moment. That was why they had to rely on Ed Rothstaylor to gather his own Celestial Magic power.

Once he gathered his magic power, Lucy would be the one to use it. After all, no one in the world was better than Lucy when it came to utilizing magic power.

“Magic power must have an innate reaction with something else. Given that there shouldn’t be anything in that world capable of reacting to our world’s magic power, nothing bad should occur.”

Zellan agreed with Ed. However, the problem was just how much Celestial magic power was necessary.

“If you feel like the device is taking too much of your magic power, stop right away. I don’t want to go so far as to sacrifice you two,” said Zellan in a serious tone.

Ed and Lucy stood in front of the large device, nodding their heads. The device was about half the size of them and covered with all sorts of gears and springs. Ed placed his hand on a part that appeared to intake magic power, then he slowly gathered his dark red Celestial Magic power.

“That’s…Celestial Magic power…”

Maybe because it was the first time he had seen Celestial Magic power in person, Wilhelm had his eyes wide open as he watched. After all, it was rare for a regular person to ever see Celestial Magic in person.

Ed drew Celestial Magic power out of his body, letting it swirl through the air. Since the Velbrok subjugation, he had been studying and training in Celestial Magic quite regularly. He had already reached the point where he could handle intermediate Celestial Magic with ease.

Ed gently closed his eyes as he concentrated on gathering the Celestial Magic power into one point.

Lucy, who was holding his sleeve, raised her other hand as she absorbed the magic power. Lucy concentrated on slowly gathering all of Ed’s magic power. She then focused on the magic engineering device to help properly guide the magic power toward the internal circuit.

Lucy, who had grasped the complex internal structure of the device, was able to properly guide the magic power through the device without much difficulty.

The crystal ball at the center of the device slowly began to glow.

Clunk, clunk…

Fwoosh…

Something was happening.

Different worlds full of possibilities stretched out into the hundreds and thousands. A magic engineering device that made it possible to observe a single point within the endless sea of possibilities…

Created by the genius Glockt Elderbane. ‘A World Observer.’

Then…the dark red magic power exploded. The device continued to run as the area around them was covered in darkness.

“Keugh!”

“This…this is…!”

It was impossible to observe every world. They could only observe the worlds the magic power could actually reach. And among those reachable worlds… was the one Zellan wanted there at all?

It went without saying, but if they weren’t able to observe it, it was impossible to ever go to. Ed and Lucy were both aware of the fact that there was a high chance the world Zellan wanted didn’t exist.

A world where Zellan didn’t slaughter the non-humans.

Even if there was, the point of change where that would have occurred would be too far in the past.

The two of them were nowhere near as good at Silvenia in handling Celestial Magic power, and the amount they had was much less… It was impossible for them to observe a world so far in the past.

Still, in order to not have any regrets in fulfilling Zellan’s final wish. the two accepted her request. In the darkness, Lucy and Ed held hands tightly as they slowly opened their eyes.

And…in front of them was a scene that showed different worlds and time periods—something that only Silvenia and Glockt would have seen before.

It felt as though they were floating in darkness.

However, what they saw in front of them was like a long line…that was full of countless worlds. It was impossible to see where the line started and ended. Only the Great Sage Silvenia was capable of such a feat.

It was like a large gum tree with countless branches stemming from it. A large river that broke out into countless streams. What was certain was that they were only seeing a small fraction of something incredibly large. There were countless worlds to observe but seeing them all would mean dedicating the rest of their lives to observing them.

And even then, it was only a fraction of what was possible.

The possibilities and changes in a timeline created countless worlds, numerous crossroads based on individual choices that spread out forever.

Then, they suddenly saw a future that continued to stretch out. The ‘Cliff Point’… They couldn’t see it…

The point where everything came to an end… maybe it was just because they couldn’t see it from where they were, or maybe they had managed to overcome it…

It was hard to say, but…

“Let’s head back and tell Zelan that the world she wanted isn’t here.” At that moment, Lucy whispered into Ed’s ear. Even though they hadn’t gone down to observe a single world yet, Lucy spoke to him clearly. “Doing that… I think it would be best for that old magician.”

Ed understood why Lucy quickly accepted Zellan’s request.

What was lost was lost.

People needed to move past what they had already lost and embrace the new things life brought their way. That was the point of living.

Lucy was well aware of that fact. An old professor who was unable to overcome the pain of loss, throwing his entire life away… She remembered it well. If there really was a world that Zellan wanted… She would surely throw away her entire life to go there.

Before she could even figure out if it were possible or not…she would certainly try.

Just like a stray cat that chased after a butterfly with nowhere else to go, she would spend eternity chasing after something she would never catch.

That was why Lucy intended to shut down that possibility. That way, Zellan would have to find a new reason to live in her own world. From the start…Lucy had no plans of observing any other worlds.

It was hard for Ed to disagree with Lucy’s decision. If he wanted to, he would be able to obtain the research Zellan had been working on all her life. Either way, she was going to leave the lawless region of Kohelton.

But…what was more important was finding a new reason for her—someone who had already lost all will to live in the world any longer—to live.

Ed nodded his head.

“Yeah… I agree with you…”

While the two of them felt as if they were floating in the air, Ed quietly agreed with Lucy, saying, “Let’s finish up then.”

…But the moment he said that…

Whoosh!

It all happened in an instant.

Two different worlds shouldn’t be able to interfere with each other. That was a providence of the world. However, there was a strange magic power emanating from one of the countless branches.

It was impossible to tell what kind of world it was from the outside. There was a bluish magic power that continued to emanate from it… Slowly, it formed into the shape of a large hand, reaching for Lucy and Ed.

It all happened in a flash.

Ed quickly held onto Lucy as he tried to cancel his Celestial Magic power. However, the speed of the hand reaching for them was faster. It was impossible to know what was happening or what would happen.

However, Lucy quickly stood tall as she cast a weak shock spell to push Ed away from her.

Fwoosh!

She didn’t know what was happening either, but she knew that Ed would be able to figure it out. As she put her trust in him, the unknown magic power wrapped itself around Lucy.

Ed was pushed aside as he clenched his teeth. He then quickly took something out of his pocket, throwing it at Lucy. It all happened extremely quickly.

Lucy caught what Ed had thrown before she was completely engulfed by the large amount of strange magic power in the shape of a hand.

“Make sure to hold onto it! You have to keep hold of it! Lucy!” Ed shouted desperately towards Lucy.

Lucy suddenly lost consciousness as she felt her body being dragged away by it.

Fwoosh!

Boom!

When Ed opened his eyes, the only thing in front of him was the field in front of the cabin, which was now a mess. It seemed that there was a small explosion due to the device. On the other side, Ed could see Zellan and Wilhelm struggling to stand back up after being pushed aside by the explosion.

Ed stood up and looked around. He then frowned.

Lucy Mayreel…was nowhere to be seen…

“Wh-what…?” Zellan’s voice trembled, her eyes wide.

Ed quickly shook his head as he said, in a serious tone, “…Please fix the device so I can use it again. I need to get Lucy back quickly—before it’s too late.”

* * *

Drip. Drip.

The sound of dripping water.

Lucy Mayreel opened her eyes as she heard that noise. She could feel the chill of cold brick flooring against her back. In order to calm herself down, she put her hat back on her head and pushed her hair aside.

There didn’t seem to be any injuries to her body. Lucy slowly stood up as she looked around.

It seemed she was inside a half-broken building. However… The building’s structure was strangely familiar. It looked like a building she had been to quite a few times before.

Lucy opened her eyes wide as she looked around, quickly realizing the seriousness of the situation. It was theoretically impossible to travel to a distant world that was separate from one’s own. That was due to the basic rules of magic power. However, an ominous feeling was felt running down Lucy’s back.

As she took another look around the building… She realized why she felt that way. She was in one of the main buildings of Silvenia Academy.

Trix Hall.

However, it was destroyed. It even seemed as if it had been destroyed for years. Weeds were sprouting through the broken marble floor, the old framework already rusty.

There had only been one time throughout history that Silvenia Hall’s Trix Hall had been destroyed to such an extent.

The Holy Blue Dragon Velbrok… It was when the legendary dragon had wreaked havoc on Acken Island. However, all of the repairs had been finished and the building was once again functioning as it once had at Silvenia Academy…

But what Lucy was witnessing was a building that had been destroyed for years.

Countless worlds, full of countless possibilities that branched out.

Just what kind of place did Lucy end up in?

Completely left in the unknown, alone, she focused on gathering her confused thoughts. Suddenly…

“Lucy…Mayreel…!”

Lucy heard a voice that she hadn’t heard in quite some time. On the other side of the broken outer wall, a girl was coming her way with the moonlight shining on her back.

She wasn’t close to the girl, but she hadn’t forgotten her either. She was someone who had once fought against Lucy with all her might, only to be defeated.

A top student in Silvenia Academy’s Alchemy Department. Elvira Aniston.

“Wh-what…are you doing here…?!”

Lucy turned towards Elvira with drowsy, empty eyes. Lucy remembered Elvira. However, her appearance was a little different from that of the Elvira that Lucy knew. Her long hair had been cut neatly to her shoulders, and she felt a little bit more mature than before as well.

Her outfit… It wasn’t Silvenia Academy’s uniform, which she always wore. Instead, it was a reddish-brown leather jacket and pants. Aside from the bag she held, there were all sorts of pockets on her jacket that held tools for survival.

She looked like a female warrior in the jungle, one who had lived in the wild for quite some time. Lucy was confused to see that Elvira looked so different. As she organized her thoughts… Elvira spoke first.

“D-don’t move…! D-don’t even think about it…!” Elvira’s reaction was strange. It was as if she had seen a ghost. “Y-you…! Th-three years ago, I’m sure that…”

Lucy completely turned her head as she looked towards Elvira. Even though Lucy had no intention of fighting, Elvira continued to tremble as she clasped her wand tightly.

“Y-You…” Elvira’s voice trembled.

Lucy had a lot of questions to ask, but… she figured she should start by asking the most urgent thing that came to mind. She slowly opened her small lips to speak.

“Ed Rothstaylor,” Lucy muttered, speaking the name of the man who was Lucy Mayreel’s reason to live. “Where is Ed Rothstaylor?”

The Ed of the world she was in, where was he? The most important thing was to find him and explain the situation.

However, Elvira’s voice continued to tremble.

“Lucy… Y-You…”

Elvira couldn’t stop trembling. Lucy looked elsewhere, frustrated. Behind Elvira, she could see the rest of Acken Island.

Lucy was one to never change her expression. However, when she looked out at Acken Island, she couldn’t help but frown. She wrapped magic power around her feet as she walked towards the outside.

Elvira suddenly fell on her butt in surprise as she watched Lucy suddenly step forward. Lucy paid no attention to Elvira as she walked past her, stepping outside of Trix Hall.

Because Trix Hall was built on a hill, from the building you could see the full view of Silvenia Academy. Lucy looked outside at the entire school…but couldn’t believe what she saw.

Silvenia Academy was completely destroyed. All that remained were buildings that were utterly destroyed and difficult to recognize. At the center of Acken Island…

As if a giant breath swept through, it was split into two. Acken Island, which was originally one island, had become an archipelago consisting of two large islands. Right Mountain, which occupied the northwest of Acken Island, had been completely blown away.

Since new vegetation had already started to grow over the traces of the battle, it seems that quite some time had passed since the incident.

The traces of a huge magic circle covered Acken Island—no, Acken Islands.

There was a large magic circle that leaked out an ominous dark red magic power. It surrounded the entire islands as if it were trapping them inside.

Lucy had seen that magic power’s energy before, but it all happened a long time ago. Back then, the magic circle was barely large enough to cover the education district. Now, it was covering the entire island.

That ominous magic circle… It was the same magic circle used to summon the ultimate dark spirit, Glasskan.

“Elvira! We need to head back to the hideout quickly, before the spirits come out! If you have everything, let’s…”

Then, another familiar voice came from above her. She watched another familiar face come down from the upper floors of the destroyed building. He also looked more mature than before, but Lucy still clearly remembered when he was covered in blood, running straight at her.

Clevius of House Nortondale.

He quickly came down to where they were, looking at Lucy. With his eyes wide open, he lifted his sword.

“L-Lucy Mayreel! H-how are you here…?! Y-you definitely…!”

Lucy couldn’t answer Clevius’ question. That was because she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She had to quickly organize her own thoughts first.

Then Elvira, who barely managed to regain her senses and stand back up, shouted at Clevius, “Be careful Clevius! Don’t make too much noise or the spirits will wake up!”

“Keuk…! But against her…”

Clevius leaped quickly, landing near Elvira. With Elvira behind him, he raised his sword as he glared at Lucy.

Lucy looked down at Acken Island… She then slowly turned her head back towards Clevius and Elvira.

The smallest of movements Lucy made caused Clevius and Elvira to clench their teeth and tremble in fear. But at that moment…Lucy had to ask just one question.

“Ed Rothstaylor…”

Elvira frowned.

“Ed Rothstaylor… Where is he?”

“Get it together, Lucy Mayreel,” Elvira answered her harshly, as if she were grinding her teeth. “Ed Rothstaylor died three years ago while fighting against the Holy Blue Dragon Velbrok.”

It felt like a bolt of lightning hit her in the gut. Lucy’s eyes began to tremble at Elvira’s words. Even though she had clearly heard what Elvira had said with her own two ears… She couldn’t help but doubt it.