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Chapter 658: The Great Prison Break (7)

A covenant.

A promise that the head of the Renaissance family would revisit the black holes every 100 years.

This covenant—one that would likely be fulfilled by Yeongwoo’s descendants—was already in the process of being formed for the third time.

And if one were to include the verbal promises Yeongwoo had made to Black Hole 49793 and Guinek, then in truth, it was no different from a fourth covenant.

‘I’m sorry, my descendants…!’

While Yeongwoo apologized to descendants who didn’t even exist yet, Turua raised her index finger.

Sssrk.

At its tip, a darkness began to form, sizzling like boiling oil.

The covenant with the black hole had been created.

● Do not forget. This is a ‘covenant.’ A promise that must be upheld.

“How could I ever dare to betray a promise made with you, teachers? That will never happen.”

If nothing else, he would need to continue using the black holes, so there was no way he would break a covenant with them.

Unless Renaissance were to be wiped out by some unforeseen accident.

“Well then.”

As Yeongwoo reached out and made contact with the covenant floating in the air, his hand was instantly dyed pitch-black.

Shiriririt!

Then Turua nodded, looking thoroughly satisfied.

● The covenant has been formed. Now, go and find your path.

At the same time, Turua swept its hand through the air, and the darkness that had filled the space above their heads split apart to either side, pouring down brilliant light.

Hwaaaaat!

A passage had opened.

At this, Yeongwoo stretched out his hand toward the light pouring down from above.

Then everyone in the helm—including Yeongwoo—began to slowly float up into the air.

—So this is how one passes through a black hole…?

—It feels different from the Void.

They were third-class prisoners—beings who were rarely forced by others into anything.

So they were all astonished by this phenomenon of their bodies rising on their own.

“The way the passage is manifested differs slightly for each black hole. So the method of passing through it is different every time.”

—It’s different every time?

—How fascinating.

—Truly, the world is vast.

“…….”

Seeing even these third-class beings—who must have roamed the cosmos—remark that “the world is vast,” Yeongwoo felt that he should be more humble.

After all, who could claim to have experienced everything in the universe?

Piaaaaat!

Next, the white light of the ‘passage’ enveloped them all, and after a fleeting sense of dissonance, their vision began to return to normal.

To the interior of Earthship’s helm, packed so tightly with third-class prisoners that there was barely room to stand.

—…Oh.

—Did we just pass through the passage?

—So, where have we arrived?

The prisoners, now seeing outer space through the window, seemed to finally regain their senses and wanted to confirm their current location.

And Yeongwoo was no different.

“Deputy, where exactly have we arrived?”

They had been so focused on passing through the black hole that they hadn’t had the chance to check their destination.

In response, Mantero projected a massive star map in the center of the helm.

Paaaaat!

At that, a few of the prisoners let out low groans.

—Hmm. We’ve come quite far.

—Teshunda, isn’t it…?

—Not a bad place for a getaway route.

Just by looking at the arrangement of stars floating in the air, they had immediately recognized where they were.

Mantero nodded, confirming their words.

—Yes. We are currently at the center of the Teshunda Galaxy.

“Teshunda…? Is this a famous place? The presidents seem to recognize it.”

At Yeongwoo’s question, Mantero enlarged a specific point in the Teshunda Galaxy and displayed it on the window.

Piiit!

It was a massive ring that looked like an asteroid belt.

“…What is that? Asteroids?”

—Fragments of ships and nearby planets.

“What? Ship fragments? You’re saying all of that is basically a pile of money?”

—Teshunda is an ancient battlefield. Those are the remnants of a war that took place long ago. So…

Mantero explained that anything of value had long since been swept away by scavengers.

What remained there was nothing but scrap metal so severely damaged that even the cost of transporting it wouldn’t be worth it.

“No, then it’s basically a wasteland full of junk. How do the presidents even recognize a place like this?”

Of course, one could say it was because they were third-class beings with vast experience, but even so, was it really possible to deduce a location in this vast universe just from the arrangement of stars?

‘It must be famous for some kind of distinctive feature.’

As Yeongwoo blinked rapidly, before Mantero could even begin explaining, the third-class prisoners spoke up.

—Because this is a dueling ground.

—It’s still a battlefield as well.

“Huh? A dueling ground? A battlefield?”

When Yeongwoo tilted his head in confusion, the long-haired man placed a hand on his shoulder.

Thump.

—Teshunda. Most of this galaxy has essentially become ruins. That’s because three large-scale wars have taken place here.

So there were almost no ‘natives’ in the surrounding area, and only scavengers occasionally came to collect whatever scrap might remain.

“That aside, you’re saying this place is also used as a dueling ground?”

—That’s right. A ruined and abandoned galaxy. With only scavengers as possible witnesses, isn’t it the perfect place for a duel?

“…Is it?”

Seeing that Yeongwoo still didn’t quite understand, Mantero quickly added what he knew.

—Captain, in this world, there are also unofficial duels.

“Unofficial duels?”

—There are times when, for certain reasons, one does not wish for the result of a duel—or even the duel itself—to become known externally.

“Ah, well… I suppose that could happen depending on the situation.”

—In such cases, people usually look for a dueling ground with strict security. But if they don’t even want the fact that the duel is taking place to be known, wouldn’t that also be difficult?

“Because just visiting a well-known dueling ground would imply a duel is happening…?”

—Exactly. And so, in such cases, the place they seek out is here—Teshunda.

At that, Yeongwoo rolled his eyes in a circle and immediately raised a counterargument.

“But isn’t Teshunda already a famous dueling ground? If it were me, I’d set up cameras here to spread rumors about unofficial duels.”

Mantero’s jaw twitched.

—In reality, it’s difficult to install cameras across an entire galaxy. And most duels involve ‘cleaning’ the area beforehand.

“Cleaning?”

—As you said, to prevent any recording devices or transmitters from remaining, the area around the dueling ground is destroyed. Sometimes, the scavengers in the vicinity are killed along with it.

“Ah… so since it’s already an abandoned region, it doesn’t matter whether you set off bombs or split planets apart?”

—Exactly. Measures that are only possible in a galaxy that has effectively been abandoned.

“I see.”

Only now did Yeongwoo begin to understand.

Why this place was used for private duels.

“Then I suppose when wars are fought here, it’s for a similar reason.”

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The long-haired man shook his head.

—War is different. If a war is fought in Teshunda, it means that only the outcome matters.

“What do you mean by that?”

—If you wage war in Teshunda, only troop losses occur. Damage to planets can be completely prevented.

“Ah, so when you say only the outcome matters…”

—It means a war where the victor takes everything intact.

“That sounds even more brutal.”

Truly, the universe was vast, and as a newly appointed family head, Yeongwoo still had far too much to learn.

Who could have imagined that a place where most of a galaxy had become ruins would be used as a secret dueling ground?

‘Thanks to black holes, I’m seeing all kinds of places.’

As Yeongwoo thought this and looked out at Teshunda through the window, something suddenly came to mind, and he asked:

“Then that means somewhere in this galaxy right now, a duel is probably taking place.”

—Most likely.

“But even so, we can’t tell who it is or where they’re fighting, right?”

The man let out a dry laugh.

—For someone who moves celestial bodies, you are remarkably ignorant.

A single galaxy contains, at a minimum, tens of billions of stars.

So unless, by some near-miraculous coincidence, a duel was happening on a planet immediately adjacent to them, there was no way to locate it—even within the same Teshunda.

—In a ruin, no communication networks remain. So even if someone is fighting a duel somewhere here right now, we should assume there’s no way for us to find them.

At that, Yeongwoo suddenly asked:

“What if we follow someone who’s on their way to the dueling ground right now?”

—What?

This time, the long-haired man looked at him as if he didn’t understand what he was saying.

Yeongwoo raised a finger and pointed somewhere into space outside the window.

“I noticed it earlier… no matter how I look at it, doesn’t that seem like a ship?”

At those words, everyone’s gaze followed Yeongwoo’s finger.

And soon, they all saw it.

A single object moving rapidly in the distance, leaving behind a white trail.

—Hmm?

—That is…

The prisoners who spotted it opened their mouths one after another.

Just as the planetary shipmaster had said—it was clearly a vessel moving at high speed.

A ship that had deliberately entered the ruined galaxy of Teshunda… it was, with overwhelming likelihood, a duelist.

If it had come for war, it would have brought a fleet.

—A ship… why is there a ship here?

—Could it really be a duelist?

The room grew noisy again.

Then, before long, one of the prisoners deduced the reason.

—The black hole.

—What do you mean?

—Within Teshunda, which place is especially devoid of visitors?

—Ah.

—That makes sense.

—Scavengers rarely come near black holes. No one has business with them.

But for this side—for the thousand or so prisoners and the Earthship—the black hole was a passage.

That was why they were stationed right in front of it—at the center of Teshunda, yet paradoxically its most remote point.

“Then… that ship must have come all the way here on purpose, right? Teshunda alone wasn’t enough, so it came near a black hole too.”

—That would seem to be the case.

—One of the nearby planets must be the dueling ground.

—What kind of duel could it be?

—It’s impossible not to be curious.

The third-class prisoners, burning with impatience, stomped in place.

Hadn’t they just caught the tail of an extremely secretive duel?

Since everyone was unable to take their eyes off the white trajectory outside the window, Yeongwoo quickly asked Mantero:

“Deputy! We can track that ship, right?”

Mantero, who had already been checking the captain’s seat monitor, nodded.

—It appears to be operating in complete secrecy, with even its radar turned off. But… it likely didn’t anticipate that outsiders would be waiting in front of a black hole.

“Then they haven’t noticed us yet?”

—The black hole is effectively concealing us. If we move slowly, they won’t detect us.

In other words, they were in a position to conduct a one-sided pursuit.

Then Mantero added:

—However, there is something quite unusual for a duelist.

“…What is it?”

At Yeongwoo’s question, Mantero glanced at the prisoners filling the helm.

—That ship belongs to the Delmir family.

“Delmir?”

—Delmir. One of the so-called Three Great Benevolent Families.

“The Three Great Benevolent Families…? Then someone from Delmir came all the way here to fight a duel?”

Mantero replied with a slightly uneasy expression.

—Which is precisely why… they must have come for a secret duel.

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