When the light visible to Lanchi and Talia brightened.
It was no longer the carriage of the Magic Energy Rail Train traveling through the outskirts of Bulida.
"Where is this?"
Lanchi wanted to see his surroundings, but after the blinding light faded, he suddenly realized that this was Demon King City Nekaris from tens of thousands of years ago.
Today should have been a good day. He could tell just by looking out the window.
Nekaris still retained its ancient charm. Beneath the clear sky, looking out through the floor-to-ceiling windows toward Demon King City revealed a stretch of bright, pure blue. In the spring sunlight, warmth spread through his body.
What caught his attention was neither the familiar sight of the Throne Hall nor the unprecedentedly lively din behind him.
It was the fact that he had never seen a timeline like this before.
Judging from the clock markings in the Demon King's Palace, this seemed to be a point in time even later than the Fourth Shadow World.
Whether in the Shadow World or in real history, such a harmonious Nekaris should never have existed. It was as if the Magic Human War with the Honing Empire had never happened, or the blood race's turmoil had been ended much earlier.
"..."
Lanchi watched the outside with a puzzled expression.
The only thing he could be certain of was that he was standing beneath the magnificent dome of the Throne Hall in Nekaris's Demon King's Palace. Demon Realm-style decorations bore witness to the passage of time, reflecting the silvery-white and pale-blue flowers covering the walls and lining the arches, weaving together a corridor of dreamlike illusion.
Lanchi was utterly bewildered as he thought.
Yet he could not control his throat to speak.
This body seemed to be beyond his