[Thirty Years, Ring of Sagittarius]
[Through the simulation of the Ring of Sagittarius, you will enter the homeworlds of various Primarchs, form bonds with them, and change the tragic fates awaiting them.]
[Rewards will be determined based on the final results.]
[Remaining Time: Thirty Years (Time in the real world will pass one thousand times slower.)]
[Entering: Death World — Caliban]
…
…
“Huh—ah?”
The damp air, carrying the scent of earth, pulled Merlin back to reality through the lingering dizziness.
“What is this place?
Caliban?”
Merlin struggled to push himself up from the ground, trying to make sense of the information that had flooded into his mind when the light engulfed him.
“What does this mean?
I’m supposed to travel to the homeworlds of different Primarchs and spend thirty years forming bonds with them?”
He looked around in bewilderment.
Dense undergrowth blocked his view, enormous trees towered overhead, and an endless forest shrouded in thick white mist stretched as far as he could see.
A dark, chaotic primeval jungle.
Was this really Caliban?
Merlin dropped back onto the ground with a thud.
Now that he had actually arrived on Caliban, only one emotion remained in his heart—
Despair.
It was the same kind of despair as finally inheriting a Rogue Trader dynasty, only to discover that its Warrant of Trade had been signed by Horus, that it owed centuries of unpaid tithes, and that the Dark Angels were already on their way for a surprise visit.
Are you kidding me?!
This is Caliban!
Caliban, the homeworld of Lion El’Jonson.
The homeworld of the First Primarch, the Primarch of the [Dark Angels] who were currently hunting Merlin—and an infamous Death World!
The planet lay dangerously close to the [Eye of Terror], and the influence of Chaos had warped many of the creatures inhabiting its forests into extraordinarily dangerous and terrifying monsters.
An ordinary mortal could die within minutes of setting foot here.
As for just how powerful the Great Beasts of Caliban were—
“Doesn’t feel as…
tough…
as a Great Beast of Caliban.”
That was Lion’s assessment after kicking the Tzeentchian Greater Daemon [Kairos] to death.
In other words, fighting monsters on the level of Greater Daemons was practically an everyday occurrence in the forests of Caliban.
That was life on Caliban.
And it was also what Merlin would have to face for the next thirty years.
“What did I do to deserve being dropped straight into the middle of Caliban’s wilderness…?”
The system had told him to form a bond with a Primarch, but where was Lion?
Why was there nothing around him except endless forest?
Fortunately, the Ring of Sagittarius had said that this was only a simulation.
Whatever happened here shouldn’t affect the real world.
—Then again, even if it did, Merlin doubted it would matter.
At this rate, he probably wouldn’t survive very long anyway.
A reverse speedrun was still a speedrun.
“Sigh…”
There was no point complaining anymore.
He might as well accept reality.
Since things had already come to this…
He didn’t even have anything to eat.
First things first, he needed to find a way out of the forest.
…
“…Where the hell is Lion?”
Merlin trudged aimlessly through the thorn-covered undergrowth.
Ever since bringing him to Caliban, the Ring of Sagittarius had remained on his finger without making another sound.
Apparently, everything from here on was up to him.
“There’s not even a map…”
He had no idea why he had chosen this particular direction, but some inexplicable instinct urged him onward.
Merlin pushed aside the dense vegetation in front of him, and the view suddenly opened up.
The enormous trees that had blocked out the sky disappeared, replaced by a calm lake whose far shore vanished into the thick fog.
A simple wooden boat was moored at the water’s edge, barely large enough for one person.
“At least I still look like myself.”
Merlin approached the dark surface of the lake and examined his reflection.
Seeing no other obvious path forward, he raised one foot and prepared to step into the boat—
[Come back.]
[It is not yet time.]
A message interrupted him.
It wasn’t a voice, but something transmitted directly into his mind.
Merlin immediately turned toward the source.
Standing nearby was a humanoid figure barely half his height, completely concealed beneath a loose dark-green robe.
A pair of small hands protruding from beneath the robe, holding an unsheathed greatsword.
“…A little robed guy!”
Merlin’s voice nearly cracked with excitement.
A Watcher in the Dark.
The mysterious little robed beings unique to Caliban.
They had inhabited the planet long before humanity arrived and had opposed the Chaos-tainted creatures lurking within its forests for countless years.
Merlin looked at the little figure as though he had just encountered a long-lost relative.
He immediately pulled his foot away from the boat, hurried over, and crouched down in front of it.
If there was anything on Caliban that could be trusted, these half-sized little robed figures definitely counted.
“I’m looking for Lion!”
“Lion El’Jonson, the Primarch!
You know who he is, right?”
[She will come soon.]
“She?”
Merlin froze.
Before he could properly process that single word, a faint, nauseating odor reached his nose.
It was a foul stench that had no place in any natural forest.
Rustle…
Something moved in the bushes ahead.
The creatures lurking there finally stopped hiding and burst from the undergrowth.
A pack of enormous wolves appeared before Merlin.
Compared to ordinary wolves, these Great Beasts of Caliban stood nearly two meters tall.
Their fangs and pitch-black manes were coated in foul black slime, giving them an eerie and terrifying appearance.
Their crimson eyes were fixed on Merlin and the Watcher beside him.
“She’ll come soon?”
Merlin awkwardly pointed toward the giant wolves gathering in front of them.
“I think there might’ve been some misunderstanding here, little Watcher.”
“I’m looking for Lion El’Jonson, not Leman Russ.”
[…]
The Watcher ignored him.
It stepped forward and handed the unsheathed greatsword to the unarmed Merlin.
The weapon was absurdly heavy.
Even gripping it with both hands, Merlin could barely lift it a few inches off the ground.
“Thank you.”
“But…
where are we supposed to go now?”
Merlin wasn’t particularly worried.
The beasts were certainly dangerous, but the Watchers in the Dark possessed a natural resistance to the powers of Chaos.
As long as this little guy stayed beside him, he should be safe—
Wait.
Where did it go?
After handing him the sword, the Watcher had vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Merlin was left standing there alone, staring blankly at the Great Beasts in front of him.
Well.
At least he wasn’t unarmed anymore.
Now all he had to do was use his newly acquired sword to defeat them!
“But I don’t know how to use a sword!”
Good luck.
“Fuck!”
Before Merlin could even properly raise the weapon, the leading giant wolf lunged at him with claws and fangs bared, moving far faster than a creature of its size had any right to.
Too fast!
There was no time to react.
Merlin could only instinctively raise the sword in front of himself, curl up behind it, and squeeze his eyes shut.
But the expected agony of being torn apart never came.
Instead, a roar exploded beside his ear.
“HA!!!”
It really helps the fic grow!