Rebirth Online World

Polymath Redux – PROJECT: Hellgate (6/7)
Chapter XXIX

If one was given a time machine, would it be in their obligation to use it to fix the errant of humanity? Of course this question cannot be answered with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ without examining the vast array of consequences of such actions and the morality of those answers.

No doubt very few people would argue that using the time machine to ‘correct’ history would not be morally presumptuous. To say that would be okay to do so would imply that one era’s morality was much more superior than another era’s; which simply untrue, since morality is a subjective construct native to its respective era. So if we assume that to be true then it would therefore only be for the self-satisfaction of the time traveler to alter history.

There are no guarantees that whatever actions taken by the time traveler to ‘correct’ what one believes as the ‘errs of history’ will result in a better future. In the first place, what does it mean to have a ‘better future’?

However consider the situation wherein a time machine has already come to existence. In such a situation it could also be argued that not using it to change history would be selfish and morally presumptuous in its own right. A person from contemporary society may think that WW1 and WW2 were ‘wrong’. If that were the case then would it not also be against that person’s morals to do nothing when they have the power to fix what they believe were wrong?

‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’; we all have a moral obligation to fix what we believe is wrong.

Of course there is no one who has absolute authority to claim what is an ‘wrong’ and what is ‘right’, but that can also mean that ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ is simply up to a person to measure, or better yet those constructs don’t actually exist. Everything merely follows a strict rule of cause and effect, and whatever decisions were made resulted in whatever consequences. If we believe that to be true the it can be argued that with the addition of hindsight, then it is perhaps true that contemporary citizens technically have better ‘morality’ than those of the past, if only a little.

There is no right answer to this; only arguments with their own merits. The only ‘true’ answer is whatever a person believes to be the true answer; it is up to an individual to decide and live with that decision. One must also note that indecision and inaction to use the time machine can also be considered an answer and thus have their own consequences.

So then what is Mordred’s answer to this question?

‘Yes’.

Undoubtedly his answer would be to use the time machine to ‘correct’ the past. While that decision may not necessarily lead to the betterment of humanity as a whole, it would be truly arrogant to not even try. One must try to fix what they consider to be errors and it is only through trial and error that one can grow as a person. If their actions result in a negative outcome then that just simply means that they have to take responsibility.

To Mordred, his current circumstances are similar to this question.

What makes a time machine so potent is not that it can travel through time, but that it can take ‘knowledge’ through time. A time traveler has one thing over other people and that is ‘knowledge’. Though the situation was different, for Mordred the principle essence of that question was the same. He had one thing over the people of this land: ‘Power’.

It is as they say, ‘knowledge is power’.

Through the use of the [surveillance spectres] Mordred was able to see that the course of the battle was changing. There was a massive concentration of soldiers and adventurers all preparing for a final charge towards victory with Irina spearheading the entire force. The people of this city had finally figured out that their only chance of victory was through stopping the silver light pillar and that they needed Irina’s assistance to get past the enemy.

Everything was being conveniently wrapped up in the way that Mordred had wanted it to proceed. With this Mordred could finally obtain the one thing that his power could not; ‘loyalty’. Even without this convoluted plan it would be as easy as breathing for him to charge the main castle and take over the city, but if he did that would he gain the people’s trust? Their loyalty? Their lives?

He would simply receive scorn and fear. Power is useless by itself because in truth power was not an end but a means to an end. You can have all the power in the world but if you have no one by your side then what use is that power? Self satisfaction? You will simply die by yourself, alone, like every other mortal in existence; a sad and lonely death with only yourself to blame.

Disorientation overtook Mordred briefly. It was the feedback of the effects of using additional sensory systems that was foreign to what he was used to. As useful as those [surveillance spectres] were, they are painful to use for extended periods of time.

Since the plan was moving along as intended there was no real necessity to continue using them. Soon Irina would spearhead the operation and take down the Greater Armored Hydra and put an end to this nightmare.

…

“So what’s our plan?”

Del Granate asked. Though she was smart she was not a strategist.

Gathered here were some of the greatest minds and powers of Xagontetia, thus it should be possible to come up with a plan to deal with this situation. They even already had a final goal; to shut down the silver light pillar. Their only problem was the allocation of their forces through this constant invasion of monsters. If they took the bulk of their forces to shut down the light pillar then the citizens remaining in this city would be vulnerable, but if they took not enough soldiers then there was good possibility that the spearheading force would be wiped out.

“Though I don’t really want to admit it, there’s really no point in taking too many soldiers to shut down the light pillar. They’d only get in the way for the main attack force consisting of Miss Irina and the Hywel Knights.”

Katy Granate answered.

“Tch, I can’t help but agree to that. Then we’ll have most of our forces staying here and take all of the Royal Knights and Royal Alchemists along as the spearheading ground?”

Vladimir asked begrudgingly. As the king’s guards it was a little sour for him to admit that they weren’t the strongest in the city.

“Is that possible?”

Katy turned to ask Irina and the Hywel Knights.

Though the Hywel Knights wanted to answer with a positive ‘leave it to us’, the truth was that they couldn’t really say it. First the Infernal Cerberus and then the Elder Lich; it would be foolhardy to not expect something bigger waiting for them if their enemies could spare those kinds of monsters to the front line.

However Irina nodded.

“Yes. I can do that.”

With that single answer the tense atmosphere surrounding everyone’s heart somewhat dissipated. Standing in front of them was a person capable of defeating monsters beyond human comprehension; a legendary hero and if their hero said that it was possible then what reason did they have to believe otherwise?

“Well we can’t let her take all the glory, we’ll definitely join too. Right guys?”

Wolf answered with a haughty smile, showing his sharp teeth.

“Seriously, that’s Leona’s decision to make… but I can’t help but agree with you for some reason.”

To his question his party members breathed a sigh and responded with a thumbs up.

“Then we’ll have our soldiers and the adventurers spread out and make the safety of the citizens their priority. The Royal Knights and Royal Alchemists will assist the spearhead group in shutting down the light pillar.”

After Katy summarized their plans verbally everyone gave an affirmative nod to signal that they all understood their individual tasks. Shortly afterwards the soldiers and adventurers were spread out to various parts of the city to help and rescue the citizens.

The remaining members were Irina, Hywel Knights, Royal Knight Commission, Royal Alchemist Commission, Katy Granate and Mordred’s team.

“The area in which the monsters are gathering around the thickest is the front gate but unfortunately the light pillar is just beyond that. In such a situation we might be able to break through with our soldiers but since we’ve decided not to include them we need a different approach. For now the best solution may be a brute force piercing maneuver to bypass them with minimal casualties. However the problem is that we lack speed.”

Katy explained.

“So we need some sort of speed boosting magic to prevent momentum loss?”

Del asked.

“That’s one way of doing it, yes. Is it possible to cast a multi-target movement boost spell?”

Granate asked everyone but especially towards the mages of the Hywel Knights.

“Unfortunately while self-targeted movement boost spells are possible but multi-targeted boost spells are out of our area of expertise.”

Stella answered regrettably.

“Then I guess we’d have to figure out another way…”

Katy replied.

“If it’s simply to buff movement speed then shall I take on that task?”

Slowly drawing closer was the soft but charismatic voice of a female. Appearing like a ghost was a slender woman with long blonde hair held together with a plain black hair band, her clear azure eyes seeming to glow against the darkness covering the city; Morgana Daltress.

“Who’s there?”

Hearing the sudden presence of a voice that he was unable to detect the Royal Knight Captain, Vladimir Zandora drew his sword to stay on guard. His subordinates followed in his example and drew their swords to strike down if it was a potential enemy.

The blonde haired woman stepped forward and introduced herself with a graceful bow.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Morgana Daltress, a simple merchant.”

“Morgana Daltress? Are you the one who brought those weapons and cast that massive area-buff spell? Quite impressive for a ‘simple merchant’, no?”

Katy asked with some skepticism.

“Fufu~ I have traveled to many places and have picked up on many talents along the way. I hope that explanation will suffice for now but I fear we have to act fast. If you need an area-wide movement boost spell then I am capable of casting it.”

Morgana answered, not exactly smiling since it wouldn’t match the context but she still had a somewhat ‘pleasant’ aura about her. Such that most of the Royal Knights who drew their swords had already sheathed their blades without even their knowing.

“We have no choice, if you can cast it then please.”

Katy answered.

“I’m quite curious to see this too.”

Del replied afterwards.

“Fufu~ then please hold… [Melody of the Wind]…”

[Melody of the Wind] was a skill from the [bard] skill category. On a general level the [bard] skills were mainly comprised of skills that aided allies or hindered enemies. This skill was one of many that boosted the movement speed of allies for a temporary duration.

As Morgana chanted the name of the skill the people in the vicinity were surrounded by a gust of wind and the sound of wind chimes. Their bodies started to feel like and a steady stream of energy could be felt swelling around them; they felt as though they could run for hours.

“This is…”

As mages, Stella, Del, Rio and Ash were all amazed at the activation of such a spell. In fact they have never even heard of such a skill in the first place.

“Don’t become distracted now. With this it should now be possible to break past the enemies at the front gate. Miss Irina, would it be possible for you to take the front?”

Katy asked.

“Leave it to me.”

Irina replied with a firm nod as she drew her crimson blade once more.

All the people had gotten into the position of an arrow to start rushing through the front gate. Without much of a warning Irina started to rush first with everyone else following closely behind. The Hywel Knights were at the second layer of the arrow formation to deal with the low level demons that made it through Irina’s careful defenses.

Morgana also followed behind everyone as it was necessary for her to be close to them to maintain the movement boost spell. Like a single bullet the spearheading group was able to penetrate through a massive wall of monsters with ease. As Katy had surmised before, their arrow formation and speed allowed them to brute force their way through the monster wall and since they were so fast the monsters didn’t even have time to respond.

The satisfying sound of monsters being crushed and diced as they steamrolled through the large body of flesh renewed the force’s motivation. Even through the blood and gore everyone could only rush with a near eerie smile on their faces.

There weren’t even any casualties as none of the monsters made it past Irina’s guards. However since the [Hellgate] spell range extended to a bit beyond the perimeters of the city it was still necessary for them to maintain momentum and head straight for the light pillar.

The spearhead groups made it past the front gate and the wall of monsters and were nearly at the silver light pillar before they had met with another obstacle.

“Stop! Stay guard!”

Katy shouted. Everyone’s eyes widened as they saw what was before them. On top of a steep hill was the source of the silver light pillar, a single magician dressed in the Baliazoural Magician wear was channeling the spell. However what laid before him was a large armored Hydra.

With burning gazes in each of its five head it appeared to be ready to shred through the gathered enemy.

“A… Hydra?!”

Del cried. Hydra weren’t particularly known for being stronger than an Elder Lich however they were a lot more annoying to face. Not only that, they had a few disadvantages right now with the most glaring problem was that they were outside the range of the Arclight Magicannon so they weren’t able to use it against this monster.

There was also the problem of a Hydra’s absurd regeneration rate. Its poison breath was also something to look out for as it could melt a fully grown man in mere seconds if not careful.

However everyone could tell from a single glance that this Hydra was a lot different than the others. It wouldn’t make sense for the guard beast to be weaker than an Elder Lich who was sent haphazardly into the frontlines, thus it was wiser to assume it was stronger. Not to mention it was armored with extremely sturdy looking plates.

“What do we do now?”

Padan asked almost in a mocking manner. He was starting to lose confidence in their chance of victory. Just as he finished speaking, as though to accentuate their already difficult situation was the appearance of more monsters.

“We fight till our last breath…”

Katy grit her teeth and answered.