Chapter 136: Everdark Plains

After mailing the newly developed medical crystal Iatros Glass to the Busen Group headquarters, we left Shenyang City. It was back to traveling by steam train for a while.

China’s railways connect Shenyang, Beijing, and Wuhan. West of Wuhan, the tracks are still under construction. Economic development is concentrated in the eastern plains, which are suitable for agriculture and livestock, so development has been prioritized there. The mountainous west has been left for later. Even now, much of the western region is effectively lawless, overrun by monsters.

The eastern side is supposed to be safe, but on the way to Beijing, an unsettling announcement came over the train.

A businesslike voice echoed from the speaking tube installed in the first-class cabin:

“Shortly, we will be entering the Everdark Plains. For approximately one hour, please keep all windows closed. If any ghosts approach within arm’s reach of the window, please call a staff member.”

That was all—no further explanation—and the tube fell silent.

Since they mentioned the windows, I pressed my face to the glass and looked outside. Ahead of us was an enormous pitch-black dome. It looked large enough to swallow an entire city the size of Tokyo. Despite it being midday, the jet-black hemisphere rejected all light.

What the hell is that? That’s terrifying.

We’re heading straight into it, aren’t we? Is that really okay?

“Hey, Hiyori. What’s that black thing? It looks seriously dangerous.”

When I shook Hiyori’s shoulder and pointed outside, she briefly glanced in the direction I indicated before returning her gaze to the letter she was writing to Professor Ohinata.

“The Everdark Plains. There was an announcement just now.”

“How are you so calm about this…? Is that normal? What even is that thing?”

“Hm? Oh, right—you don’t know. The Everdark Plains are… basically a terrain formed by a magic runaway.”

According to Professor Hiyori, who explains everything, the Everdark Plains are a special terrain created by the runaway of “Midnight Magic.”

Midnight Magic originally belonged to the Night Witch of the Tokyo Witches’ Assembly. The Night Witch’s strength varied greatly between day and night, but by deploying a massive black dome with this magic, she could act as if it were nighttime even during the day. Inside the dome, it was always midnight, and you could even see the stars.

A Chinese transcendent, Bai Lingxian, attempted to use this Midnight Magic. As someone with a ghostly body, she functioned better at night, though not as extremely as the Night Witch.

However, the spell ran out of control. Boosted by her staff and expanded in scale, the Midnight Magic engulfed and obliterated an entire city, then solidified. Bai Lingxian herself was blown apart and killed in the process.

With sunlight gone, people abandoned the city. In their place, ghost-type monsters gathered.

And so, the massive jet-black dome known as the “Everdark Plains,” which provides midnight 24/7, all year round, came into being.

“So it’s like the Hell Witch’s hell magic…?”

I recalled the Hell Witch’s magic that once destroyed Adachi Ward, and Hiyori nodded.

“Yeah, the principle is the same. But unlike that, it doesn’t keep expanding over time. The ghost monsters that gather there are also relatively docile. As long as the train is lit, they won’t approach. The magic itself isn’t harmful.”

“So it’s safe?”

“Safe enough to be a tourist attraction. There’s no way a train would pass through a dangerous area.”

“That’s true…!”

It looked terrifying, so I’d panicked, but of course public transportation wouldn’t go through a dangerous zone.

As we talked, the train entered the Everdark Plains, and the moment we passed into the dome, it suddenly became night. The temperature dropped slightly, and outside the window, I could see ghosts wandering in the soft moonlight.

When illuminated by the train’s bright lights, the translucent ghosts quietly melted back into the darkness and vanished.

It felt less like a horror zone and more like a test of courage. It was scary, sure, but I didn’t feel in danger.

“What if a monster strong enough to ignore light shows up?”

“Then it’s time for exorcism magic. It’s especially effective against ghost-type monsters. Even if it doesn’t defeat them, they’ll run away.”

“I see… Are there other magic terrains like this?”

Now that I knew it was harmless, I relaxed and gazed out at the drifting ghosts as if sightseeing. Hiyori counted on her fingers as she thought.

“Let’s see… there are quite a few. The ferry route from Japan to Korea avoids the ‘Great Whirlpool of the Sea God Watatsumi,’ and during last year’s Ireland–Britain conflict, more magic terrains appeared in the UK. Large-scale magic runaways tend to create them. Like hell magic. Oh, right—there’s also a snow mountain formed by a runaway Great Glacier spell.”

“Wait… you can have a magic runaway too, Hiyori?”

I had thought the Blue Witch had perfect control over her magic, but she shook her head.

“Not me. A mage once lost control of the Great Glacier spell and died. The epicenter became a world of snow and ice year-round. They’re gradually restoring it using magic-nullification spells.”

“I see… so using large-scale magic without aptitude leads to runaway?”

“Exactly. Even I would lose control if I used flame magic recklessly.”

Just because you can chant a spell and have enough magic power to use it doesn’t mean you can control it.

It’s a difficult thing. Watching the Everdark Plains from the safety of a train feels like a thrill attraction, but knowing it was created by a transcendent dying makes it chilling.

“Also, incantation-based magic is more prone to losing control than chantless magic.”

“Oh?”

It seemed the conversation had shifted into full magic theory mode, and Hiyori set aside her letter to continue.

“For example… I can now reproduce ‘Frozen Spear Du Vaara’ without chanting. Not a fake imitation—I’ve perfectly recreated the magic flow of the incantation spell.”

“…So the incantation itself doesn’t have power—it just creates the flow of magic, and the result is the spell activating?”

“You catch on quickly. That’s my interpretation, at least.”

That made sense.

Chanted magic is like an app—tap and it activates easily. But if you tamper with the underlying program, it can crash or malfunction.

Chantless magic is like coding—you have to build it yourself every time. It’s more work, but easier to modify and fix.

“I get the logic, but it still doesn’t fully click. Why do these ‘magic apps’ even exist? And why are they forced into the brains of people with this weird ‘static electricity’ condition?”

“No idea. In the end, it all traces back to the Gremlin Disaster. Why it happened, where the magic stones came from, why the Shantak meteor shower brought them to Earth… the root cause lies there.”

We fell silent, watching the dark Everdark Plains rush past outside.

It’s always like this—every time we learn something, even more unknowns appear.

“…Hey, has magic science really progressed in the 80 years I was dead? It feels like I gain ten new mysteries for every one thing I learn.”

“That’s how academia works. Isn’t that what makes it fun?”

“…Oh! So even not knowing things is fun if you like learning them! That’s why I enjoy getting to know you more, Hiyori!”

“…Wha—how did you get there from this conversation?”

Hiyori scratched her cheek, slightly embarrassed, and went back to writing her letter.

The journey ahead is long, and so is life.

We’ll take our time learning.

About magic—and about Hiyori.