The reason we caused labyrinth overflows across the world was because Orun Dura had regained his power.
Orun Dura is a troublesome opponent for us.
Under normal circumstances, we should have killed him ten years ago during the attack on the Dawn Village.
The main reason we only altered his memories instead of killing him—aside from the difficulty involved—was that he would help increase the magical density of this world.
As an explorer, he has used his special abilities countless times over these ten years.
And most of those uses were Magic Power Convergence.
That ability dramatically accelerates the rise in this world's magical density.
Our original estimate had been that it would take nearly another hundred years for the magical density to exceed the threshold.
Thanks to Orun and Oliver repeatedly using Magic Power Convergence during their labyrinth explorations, it reached that threshold in just ten years.
Until now, our focus had been on increasing the magical density of this world so that the Evil God—Lord Oberon—could operate without issue.
Now that we have achieved that, Orun Dura, who no longer holds any value to us, is nothing but an obstacle.
That was why we planned to break his heart in Tsutrail and eliminate him there.
After that, we intended to slowly conquer the Great Labyrinth—the sealing device that holds Lord Oberon.
Our highest combat forces, the Incinerator and the Thunder Emperor, are—like the Rakshasa—fairies known as demons who have taken over human bodies.
Even against the floor bosses of the Great Labyrinth, they would not fall behind.
They could easily reach the deepest floor, the 100th.
However, standing in their way is the floor boss of the 100th floor.
If we compare only pure combat ability, the Incinerator and the others are stronger than the 100th floor boss.
But that floor boss possesses the ability Magic Power Devourer.
For fairies, compatibility with this ability is the worst possible.
It can single-handedly become their natural enemy.
Therefore, the only ones with any chance of defeating the 100th floor boss are humans.
That is why, after eliminating Orun, we planned to crush Amuntsāsu as well and force the remaining humans to conquer the Great Labyrinth.
Yet, at the very moment we were about to eliminate him, Orun regained his power and has already grown strong enough to defeat the Rakshasa.
The church's goal is solely the revival of Lord Oberon.
No matter who Orun is, he cannot defeat Lord Oberon.
That is certain.
However, now that Orun has awakened his All Things in Creation ability, he will continue to grow at an even faster rate as time passes.
In fact, the Hero of the Fairy Tales, August, had been no different from an amateur in terms of combat ability, yet after manifesting All Things in Creation, he quickly rose to become the strongest human alive.
If we give such an opponent time, an unforeseen outcome is possible.
Therefore, for the time being, we will threaten people's survival by causing labyrinth overflows and stoke a sense of crisis in humanity so they seriously commit to conquering the Great Labyrinth.
Instead of concentrating our forces in one place, we will have magic beasts rampage simultaneously across the entire world to restrict Orun's movements.
Given his personality, he would never tolerate people becoming victims.
Furthermore, by fabricating the cause of the worldwide overflows and pinning it on Orun, we will bind him not only physically but also socially.
Right now, the world is in chaos, and many people are suffering misfortune.
By directing that hatred toward Orun, we will create a situation where he can hardly move freely.
That will be our immediate objective.
◇
(…Still, there is something I just cannot understand.)
Even after resetting our short-term goals in response to Orun Dura's actions, the sense of incongruity refuses to disappear.
He regained his power and defeated Stieg.
While I was surprised, the result itself is not strange.
If he regained his power, that much is possible.
But I cannot make sense of the process.
Orun should not have known about the existence of the Second Farm—nor should the people of Amuntsāsu.
How did he learn of the Second Farm's existence?
More importantly, how did he know that Stieg would be at the Second Farm today?
"—Say, Lord Belia."
To resolve the questions inside me, I called out to Belia, who was about to leave.
"What is it, Philly?"
"When you touched the laws of the world to cause the labyrinth overflows, did you feel any sense of incongruity?"
"Incongruity?"
"Yes. Anything, no matter how small."
"I didn't feel anything in particular… Wait… Now that you mention it, the date didn't match."
"The date?"
"Today should be the 21st of April, Year 630 of the Four Saints Calendar. But the date recorded in the laws was the 12th of May."
"…So there was a discrepancy of about one month—precisely twenty-two days?"
"That's right."
"…Twenty-two days ago was… March 30th. …Ah! Wasn't that the day you gathered the church executives and declared that we would move to the second stage of the plan?"
Belia thought back and nodded at my question.
"Yes. It matches that day exactly."
Did something happen on that day?
No—the opposite.
The time recorded in the laws should be based on the outside world.
That would mean something occurred on April 21st, and only the time in the world of the laws was rewound back to March 30th.
If Orun, driven into a corner during our nearly successful operation, regained his power at the moment of death and rewound the world's time…?
If he regained his special abilities, then as someone connected to the White Demon, he should be able to use Time Regression.
Even an ability that rewinds time would not be able to rewind the entire world's time without any risk, but if that condition is cleared, the credibility of my hypothesis increases.
If he knew what would happen during those twenty-two days, it would also explain why he attacked Stieg today.
He may have learned of the Second Farm's existence in the same way Belia just confirmed the long-distance teleportation records from the laws.
If this guess is correct, then he likely already knows that the Hero will attack the capital soon.
(Fufu… This is starting to look interesting.)
Whether my guess is right or wrong, we should still carry out the attack on the capital as planned.
If I am going to bind Orun socially, I want to use Recognition Alteration on Lucilla N. Edelweiss, the princess of the Nohitant Kingdom where he has his base of operations, and turn her into my pawn.
"…You're wearing a rather wicked smile, Philly."
It seemed my thoughts had shown on my face, and Belia pointed it out.
"Oh dear, how rude of me."
"I don't mind, but are you plotting something again?"
"Yes, something like that. There is one favor I would like to ask of you, Lord Belia."
"You have helped me greatly until now, so I have no objection to hearing your request."
"Thank you, Lord Belia."
"So, what do you want me to do?"
While using Recognition Alteration on Belia, I voiced my request.
"Could you go and kill Lucilla N. Edelweiss, the princess of the Nohitant Kingdom?"
If Lucilla dies, that is fine too.
In that case, I can simply have Nagisa create a doll based on the memories I extract from her.
If Orun Dura tries to stop it, I can pit Belia against him.
In that scenario, I can dispose of Belia at the same time.
Either way, I have nothing to lose.
Now then, this is where it truly begins, Orun Dura.
In this world where the situation has completely changed, I wonder which of us will be the one laughing in the end—.