Countdown... nine days.
The Royal Capital suddenly sent out word, calling on monsters everywhere to gather around New Home for refuge. The king had prepared tents and food for them.
The monsters had yet to notice any danger, but the king commanded such respect that nearly every monster who received the message headed over from across the Underground.
Aside from the Ruins, the western Underground contained Snowdin, Waterfall, and Hotland; the east contained the Dunes, the Factory, and the Mountains; and the south contained the Lake and the Jungle.
Monsters from all these places flocked to New Home in the north, and the capital soon became unbelievably crowded.
It certainly worked out well for Mettaton, who held several concerts there.
After hearing the news, Linde and Frisk joined Undyne on the ride to the Royal Capital.
Along the way, a group of monsters caught up with them. Papyrus was among them. "Hi! Undyne! And the humans!"
After greeting them, Papyrus joined them on their journey.
"Where's Sans?" Frisk asked. "I don't think I've seen him."
"Him... he went off to take his shortcut." Semi stepped out from behind Papyrus. "Just as well. At least we don't have to listen to those damn awful jokes."
"A shortcut..." Linde understood. That made sense; it was very much Sans's style.
Sans's spatial ability was extremely mysterious. It was most likely teleportation, but he had never used it while anyone was watching, so portals were also a possibility.
After all, the last time, Linde's vision had gone dark for a moment before he arrived. He hadn't seen how Sans used the ability either.
Chatting along the way, the group had already reached Hotland. Undyne wasn't wearing armor, so she felt all right.
Alphys was standing at the entrance to the Laboratory, with a group of white, sticky creatures behind her.
"Alphys... those are..." Undyne looked at the Amalgamates in confusion.
"This was my fault... I can't just let certain people kill them."
Alphys gave Linde a long look, then told everyone what she had done. She finished by saying that research into a potion to restore them had already yielded some results.
In reality, however, Linde had made no progress at all.
Linde: I feel like that was a veiled jab at me.
"All right, I promise we'll find Gaster and work on it together once we reach the Royal Capital, okay?" Linde told Alphys helplessly as they traveled.
Linde wanted to see whether he could steal his future self's research notes directly from Gaster. That seemed like it could create a logically consistent time loop, too.
Alphys nodded.
"By the way, Alphys, your manga is pretty good," Frisk said, running over to join the conversation. "I've read several volumes, and they all really have that feel."
Alphys's inner geek instantly awakened, and she happily began recommending Meow Meow Kissy Cutie to Frisk.
After listening for a while, Undyne went over to join in too. Linde shrugged helplessly and returned to studying the Dark Magic he had previously learned beneath a certain book.
Linde pondered the all-around debuff called the Corruption Mark in that manga. If that being made a move, this mark should at least throw a considerable wrench into Their plans.
But that name still makes it too easy to get the wrong idea. I'll change it. Let's call it the Weakening Mark. It doesn't sound great, but at least people won't get the wrong idea.
As Linde thought, the dark aura in his hand quietly spread, making the monsters around him feel deeply uncomfortable.
"Linde... you..." Frisk sensed the ominous aura in Linde's hand and felt extremely uneasy. "Are you sure you want to study this magic?"
"Yes, of course. It could become a very effective means of attack." Linde nodded.
Frisk looked at Linde worriedly. "Well... just don't let it corrupt you."
"Don't worry." Linde ruffled Frisk's hair. "I'll know where to draw the line."
Frisk still watched Linde with concern. She couldn't shake the feeling that he hadn't taken her words to heart.
Beyond the universe, somewhere even farther away, lay a domain belonging exclusively to a certain individual.
"Ink Bastard, I'm here to see you." Player stepped out through a crack in the void. "Looks like the universe has branched. Linde's appearance has caused a new universe to split off from the Original Universe."
"One universe with him, and one without him?" Ink Sans asked (I really don't want to write English names).
Player nodded. "Yes, that's right. But since you can observe universes directly, you should know that without me telling you... so, where do you stand?"
Ink Sans didn't know whether to laugh or cry. What stance could I possibly take? I can't beat you anyway. An existence as broken as you can do whatever you want, can't you?
"Uh... well... I'll stay out of it, I guess."
Player nodded at that. "All right, then I'll stop interfering too. After all, that universe has two beings on my level. If I keep going there, I'm still worried something might go wrong."
"Yeah, let's leave it at that."
"All right. See you."
Before you continue