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In another dimension... high in the sky...
The thick, heavy clouds churned as if stirred by an invisible hand.
The lead-gray clouds swirled like ink being mixed by an unseen giant, ink that shifts color and dissolves instantly in water. In an instant, the dark clouds seemed to vanish without a trace.
Sunlight poured down like a waterfall, and it fell so quickly that it was absurd. One second, the sky was choked with gloom; the next, it was clear for miles as if someone had swapped the world's background.
Golden light filtered through the gaps between the forest trees. The sudden shift left Ian stunned, as if time itself had fast-forwarded several minutes at once.
"Was ancient weather always like this...?" Ian silently thought to himself as he looked up.
The air was thick with dampness mixed with the scents of earth and fresh grass. In the distance, the mountains appeared sharp and clear under the sunlight, like a vivid painting.
"Well, it makes sense. After all, the gods ruled the laws of nature and stole power from the Titans."
Standing on the barren plain, Ian glanced up at the unnaturally clear sky, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"What a half-assed bit of weather." He looked ahead.
The sky, now clear, was painfully blue. Sunlight fell like molten gold, yet it couldn't illuminate the devastation sprawled before him. Compared to the tranquil forests elsewhere, this land was completely different, it looked like an apocalyptic one.
The region where the Sky City had fallen had become a sea of fire. Flames, like ravenous beasts, gnawed at the shattered ruins. Thick black smoke rolled upward, slowly staining a small portion of the sky a foul gray.
However...
Due to the influence of some mysterious force, the pollution did not spread further. Ian suspected the robed wizards were responsible, which made it easier for him to pinpoint their location.
But before that, he needed to try to fix things a little. He had no idea if he had been thrown into the past or if this wildfire happened to burn one of his distant ancestors, who was still just a small mammal.
The grandfather paradox would come knocking.
He might survive it.
However, no one wants to return to Hogwarts only to find that the students are lizard-folk, or worse, dinosaurs.
Although Ian thought such possibilities were unlikely, he knew precautions still had to be taken. He couldn't properly judge this world's rules yet.
"Well, it's not much trouble anyway."
The boy looked into the distance.
The earth trembled. Ian walked across the scorched ground, slowly approaching the ruins. The soil beneath his feet was burning hot, and each step sent waves of heat pulsing upward.
Countless dinosaurs, animals, and magical creatures were frantically fleeing all around him through the wreckage. The ground shook violently under their stampede, like an earthquake.
Many creatures cried out in pain.
After all, this was a calamity from the heavens.
Life scattered in every direction. A massive triceratops, its enormous body blazing under the firelight, caught Ian's attention.
"Dinosaurs... I kind of want to bring a few back home."
He witnessed the most primal maternal instinct when he saw the triceratops running desperately with its calf, terror filling its eyes. The young one stuck close behind, glancing back repeatedly, as if something terrifying were chasing them.
Suddenly, a velociraptor burst out from the side and lunged at the triceratops calf.
"ROAR!" The triceratops bellowed in fury, rearing up and kicking hard at the raptor. The velociraptor dodged nimbly, circling to the other side to strike again.
The triceratops shielded its calf, dodging left and right as it struggled forward through the sea of fire.
"Bang..."
Ian sent the velociraptor to the afterlife with a single burst of magic.
He had been moved.
So whether the velociraptor was merely hunting to feed its own young… was not something Ian cared about. People, after all, are only ever touched by whatever happens right in front of them.
"Boom… Crash…"
The violent trembling intensified as a massive brontosaurus stomped across the charred earth, its long neck swaying like a ship's mast. Flames licked its body, and its deafening wails echoed through the burning wasteland.
Many of the creatures escaping the inferno looked just like this one. Drifting embers had set the fur of sabertooth tigers ablaze. They thrashed about in a frenzy, leaving burning claw marks across the ash-covered ground.
Clusters of fire crabs burst out from beneath the soil, their shells glowing red-hot like burning charcoal as they scattered in panic.
In the distance, a herd of horse-like kelpies galloped across a boiling lake, heated by falling flames. The water's surface bubbled furiously, sending steam and their shrill cries spiraling into the sky, signaling that their fate was sealed.
"Poor things..."
Ian had no way to save them.
Thankfully, magical creatures were generally stronger than ordinary animals.
Compared to these weaker beings, they fared better in the face of this calamity from the heavens.
The magical creatures fared slightly better, though they, too, were in a panic. A tiny fairy dragon, its delicate body shimmering with rainbow light, zipped back and forth through the ruins.
A gigantic spider-beast, easily over ten meters tall, rampaged wildly, its eight thick legs smashing through the debris. Its eyes glowed red, and green venom dripped from its jaws. Each drop sizzled into the ground, leaving behind smoking pits.
Falling metal and fire seemed incapable of harming it.
In fact, the fall of the Sky City seemed to agitate it further.
It destroyed everything around it in a berserk frenzy. Small animals fled in terror, and any that brushed against its legs were instantly wrapped in sticky silk and dragged into its nest.
"Chirp-chirp-chirp!"
The fairy dragon darted through the rubble with agility, its wings beating rapidly and stirring up small gusts of wind. It held a bright gemstone in its mouth, something it had snatched during its escape.
The tiny creature carefully avoided flames and debris, desperately searching for a safe place to hide...
Until it spotted Ian.
Then, it immediately turned tail and fled in the opposite direction at top speed.
"So I'm really a natural disaster to you guys, huh?" Ian sighed helplessly as he saw this scene.
He stood at the border between the flames and the ruins as the wind whipped burning embers across his robes. As he approached the disaster zone, he raised his wand in a sweeping motion and drew out a silver-blue barrier.
The flames halted instantly, as if crashing into an invisible wall.
They stopped spreading, then slowly recoiled and weakened. Finally, the forest fire was extinguished thanks to Ian's intervention.
In truth...
Even if he hadn't stopped it...
Once he left, the black-robed wizards would have intervened anyway. A fire this massive, like an entire burning city, could cause catastrophic long-term damage.
It could even trigger an extinction event.
Of course, Ian's timely action prevented the tragedy.
"I've earned some merit for this."
He looked forward. Though the flames had died down, many animals were dead, and the scorched earth was beyond saving. The remains of the Sky City and the charred land seemed to have fused together.
Massive metal beams were stabbed deep into the ground, their surfaces coated in melting runes that looked like flowing tears.
Shattered magical crystals were scattered everywhere, still releasing intermittent bursts of dangerous magical energy that turned any nearby creature to mist.
Several magical beasts crashed blindly into the fire zone, their silver-white manes instantly turning to ash.
Their agonized cries echoed through the air before they collapsed onto the scorched earth and turned into twisted silhouettes.
It was obvious that this entire region would remain a dangerous forbidden zone for a very long time.
Years later...
It might even become a mysterious ruin, an unsolved enigma left behind by history.
"Now, where are those wizards?"
With the immediate threat handled, Ian stepped forward toward the ruins. It didn't take him long to find the wizards' hiding place; after all, he could sense the infant version of the berserker goddess.
The black-robed wizards were hidden very deep.
But Ian had already locked onto the spatial crevice in which they were hiding.
Then, a mysterious force surged from the tip of his wand and spun into a strange vortex in the air. As the vortex accelerated, the surrounding space twisted and a shimmering rift door slowly opened, radiating an ancient and unfathomable aura.
Ian had forcibly opened the crevice's entrance.
He used magic fused with an Unlocking Charm.
He carefully leaned forward and peeked inside. The crevice was shrouded in shadows, and he could vaguely see a group of black-robed wizards standing inside it.
The moment they saw him, their eyes filled with wariness and fear. They all squeezed backward, crowding together as if he were a terrifying monster.
It was absurdly comical.
"Hm?"
Ian blinked. They stared at each other, big eyes glaring at small ones.
Inside the spatial crevice, dozens of black-robed wizards were packed together. Each one radiated tremendous magical power. Yet, at that moment, they retreated like a startled herd of beasts, panicking once again.
Ian had spoken a single word and it was as if it had scared their souls out of their bodies. Even though each of them possessed magical power far stronger than Ian's, they were terrified of him.
"What is wrong with you people?" Ian asked with a frown. He could now speak their language, having learned it through his earlier spellwork.
The language barrier was gone.
He could finally communicate properly.
However, when he asked his question, the black-robed wizards merely exchanged glances.
None of them spoke.
They surrounded the crevice entrance and stared at Ian with sharp, wary eyes. The air grew so tense that it felt squeezable.
Only their heavy breathing echoed through the space. Ian grew impatient, took a step forward, and looked ready to squeeze inside.
At that moment, the elder at the front finally steeled himself and stepped out to stop Ian before his next action would drive his people into a complete breakdown.
That was what it meant to be a leader.
You had to face danger first.
At least in ancient times, that was the rule.
In tribal societies like this one, being the chief was difficult, unlike in later civilizations, where leaders could push their families forward as shields. Do that here, and you'd be replaced immediately.
After all...
Emotional manipulation held no value in this era. Only those who could protect their tribes and lead them to better lives could become leaders, not smooth-talking frauds.
In this age, ability meant everything.
"Raven…" The black-robed leader was an elderly man with snow-white hair and an equally white beard. His raspy voice sounded like it scraped his throat raw.
"Do not push us too far."
Despite his lack of confidence, the old man stood firmly in front of his people, gripping a pitch-black bone staff with an eagle carved into its tip.
His eyes were filled with unease, yet he shielded the other wizards behind him. From this point alone, the old man was qualified to be their leader.
Whether he wanted to or not...
At the very least, he did it.
"What are you talking about?" Ian narrowed his eyes.
"Raven?"
He sharply caught that word.
"Raven? You know me?" Ian pondered the question for a moment. Then, a hint of curiosity appeared on his face. He watched the strange reactions of the people in front of him.
A strong desire to investigate surged in his heart.
"Stop pretending!" After a moment of hesitation, the leader, Zeus, organized his words and said slowly, "You are the Raven of the Land of the Dead...the harbinger of calamity."
While speaking, the old man's voice still carried a trace of fear.
"I'm not the Raven." Ian raised an eyebrow, softened his tone, and lifted both hands to show he meant no harm. "I'm just a poor soul who got contaminated."
"Yes, don't be afraid. I come from the future. I picked up the Raven's corpse and became polluted by it. That's why you saw me turn into a raven. But I can feel something gnawing at my soul."
"I'm also a victim, just like all of you."
Ian spun a nonsense story, hoping to evoke sympathy. His tactics were, honestly, a bit ahead of their time.
But...
The wizards exchanged looks, still unconvinced.
At that moment, a familiar figure stepped out of the crowd.
The woman with silver hair like frost and eyes as deep as the starry sky whom he had met before. She stared at Ian for a moment, then turned to the old man and said,
"Zeus, he isn't lying. I can sense my daughter's aura on him. They once made a pact."
Hearing this, the black-robed elder Zeus froze. He looked back at the people behind him, conflicted. Then, he turned again and examined Ian from head to toe.
"Zeus?" Ian also froze.
His gaze returned to the old man.
Small eyes versus old eyes.
"So, you really are the future King of the Gods?"
He had just confirmed his earlier suspicion.
Zeus froze again, clearly unfamiliar with the title. But soon, a hint of thought flashed through his eyes, and he straightened his back slightly.
"King of Gods..." he repeated softly, tasting the weight of the words. "Not a bad title."
Ian understood immediately.
As expected, these people would become the gods of future mythology. But right now, they were just a group of wizards who had toppled the Titans' rule.
They had not yet ascended to the divine throne.
"I'm not your enemy," Ian said sincerely. "I truly come from the future. Due to certain circumstances, I'm trapped in your ancient era."
He lowered his posture, showing a hint of exhaustion, as though he were a pitiful soul toyed with by fate.
"Hmm? A time crossover?"
Zeus stared at him. The wariness in his eyes loosened slightly. He glanced back at his clansmen and finally sighed.
"If you are not the Raven, then perhaps we can talk."
Regardless of whether Ian was telling the truth, Zeus knew he had to assume he was. A power capable of killing Titans was far too terrifying. To such a being, they were nothing more than lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
"Very well. Then, let us begin by discussing this. What exactly is the Raven?"
Ian asked the question that concerned him most.
He knew that they must have a reason for their abnormal reaction...
(End of Chapter)