As the time machine continued its journey, its speed no longer increased, but the distance from their original time grew greater and greater.
The rate at which it absorbed magical energy also accelerated, causing Daichi Yayahara's sea of consciousness to shift from minor tremors into violent turbulence.
Now, he could already feel warm streams forming in his nostrils, threatening to flow at any moment.
Just as Daichi was about to lose control, the time machine came to a stop.
Doraemon said, "We've arrived at our destination. Everyone, please follow me!"
A portal opened up in the surrounding space, leading to a room on the other side.
Doraemon exited first, with Nobita following eagerly. Dekisugi seemed a bit nervous and entered slowly.
Daichi entered last—and then, the nightmare began.
Once inside the room, the magical energy thinned, slowing down the absorption process.
But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, a violent upheaval occurred in his sea of consciousness. The patterns on his sigil began writhing uncontrollably, as if they were about to collapse, or perhaps reassemble. The resulting shockwaves struck directly into his mind.
First, blood shot from his nostrils like arrows. Then he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Though the others hadn't seen it happen, the sound couldn't be hidden, and Daichi had no energy left to use levitation magic to keep the blood from hitting the floor.
Everyone turned around to see him in that condition.
Blood also began trickling from his ears, making him appear even more terrifying.
But Daichi had no energy to care about appearances now. His consciousness was beginning to blur with the upheaval of his sea of awareness, and the boundaries of his mind were on the verge of collapse.
If this continued, he would die—his soul would shatter with no chance of rebirth or reincarnation.
The others rushed to his side, trying to support him and asking what was wrong.
Doraemon frantically rummaged through his gadgets, trying to find something that could help.
But none of that mattered. Daichi's consciousness was already too far gone—he could neither hear nor see clearly.
Just as he was about to slip into eternal darkness, a pale blue halo appeared within his sea of consciousness. It pulled him out of the abyss, suppressed the sigil's rampage, stabilized his mind, and brought him back from the brink of death.
And it didn't stop there. The invisible blue glow spread from Daichi's body, enveloping the entire room.
Everyone—Nobita, Dekisugi, Doraemon, even Nobita's father Nobisuke, who had been rummaging through the first aid kit—froze, as if time had come to a halt.
"Wake up. This isn't over yet." An aged voice echoed within Daichi's consciousness. His mind, previously clouded, snapped awake and he sat up.
"Who are you? What happened? Why did my sigil react like that? What caused it to change so violently?" A string of questions flashed through his mind.
"Calm down. I'll explain everything," the voice said, pausing briefly before continuing, "I am the spirit of the Soul-Devouring Stele—your servant. I dwell at the border of your sea of consciousness."
"My sea of consciousness? Then why have I never sensed you?" Daichi tried looking inward, but saw no sign of the stele.
"Because I reside at the boundary between your memories and your awareness—the end of recollection. I exist neither within one nor the other, so you've never been able to detect me."
After another pause, it added, "As for the sigil's reaction, it was triggered by a shift in the world's magical laws."
"A shift in the world's magical laws?" Daichi was confused. "What does that have to do with the sigil? And if we're under the same sky, why such a massive reaction?"
"Yes. The patterns on the sigils are manifestations of magical laws. For example, your elemental sigils reflect the elemental forces that arose when this world was formed. Other sigils function the same way."
"Once carved into the origin sigil, they connect with the fabric of the world, forming a link to its fundamental laws. However, those laws are always changing. The changes may be subtle, but they are real."
"You've just leaped forward nearly two hundred years. The magical laws of this world have shifted drastically. The original laws must now adapt to this new set, causing a collapse and a subsequent reformation."
Then, with urgency in its voice, the spirit said, "I'll explain more later. I've temporarily sealed your sigils. Once you return, the seal will be lifted."
"I've also altered their memories. You have three minutes to clean up. Breaking through the dimensional barrier cost me dearly—I need to rest now…"
The voice faded, and no matter how loudly he called, there was no reply.
"Not much time. Let's move fast." Daichi muttered, casting a purification spell to clean the blood off his body, then used levitation magic to lift the blood on the floor and incinerated it with a Level 1 Fireball.
He looked around to make sure there were no traces left, then quietly waited for the stele's spell to end.
Suddenly, he realized his magic recovery had stopped. It felt like an invisible wall had cut him off from the magical energy around him.
"This must be the seal he mentioned. Good thing I won't be staying here long—it shouldn't affect my cultivation much."
Sensing that only about 20% of his mana remained, Daichi sighed in relief.
In a daze, the stele's spell lifted, and the others seemed to forget what had just happened. They resumed showing them around.
Nothing seemed out of place, except for Nobisuke wondering why he'd pulled out the first aid kit. After a moment of puzzlement, he simply put it back.
Next, Nobisuke and Dorami took them aboard a small spacecraft and showed them the towering skyscrapers of the future, the ancient artifact museums, and the floating cities in the sky—grand achievements, all.
At the end, Nobisuke told them that aside from Earth, cities had been built across the entire solar system suitable for human life, but it wasn't convenient to visit them today.
Dekisugi said what he'd seen today had far surpassed his imagination—he was already more than satisfied.
Nobita added that he had to get back and do his homework, so Nobisuke returned them to their original time.
Back in Nobita's room, he immediately jumped up and exclaimed how amazing the future was.
Dekisugi wasn't quite as expressive, but the look on his face clearly showed his joy.
Daichi was just as awestruck. When a city that looked like it came straight out of a manga appeared before his eyes, he couldn't tell whether it was a dream or reality.
The future was beautiful. No one worried about survival—resources were no longer a problem.
All nations were united, and people could travel from one side of the planet to the other in a short time.
There were no more language barriers, no more cultural biases.
Humans and robots coexisted in harmony—scenes that had once been humanity's collective dream.
"A world like this might only exist in fantasy," he thought. That was his strongest impression after the visit.
Back in Nobita's room, Daichi felt the invisible barrier in his sea of consciousness dissipate. Magical energy slowly began flowing in again, filling the hollow spaces in his sigils.
At this rate, if left alone, it would take about two hours to fully recover.
Looking at the sunset outside Nobita's window, he couldn't help but sigh. "We were gone for quite a while. Time really flies."
"Yeah, time waits for no one," Dekisugi said, stepping up beside Daichi. "But even if it took a lot of time, this trip was worth every second. The future… it's something to truly look forward to."
They thanked Nobita and Doraemon, then left his house.
"The future's amazing. Just thinking that I might be one of the pioneers of that brilliant era gets me excited," said Dekisugi, still savoring the moment he saw his name in the Hall of Fame.
He had made great contributions to scientific research and was named one of the most influential people of the 21st century. "I've got to keep working hard!"
"By the way, why didn't I see Daichi there? With his intelligence, he should've been mentioned at least once."
Dekisugi glanced over at Daichi, lost in thought.
But Daichi had no idea what Dekisugi was wondering—he was busy examining the state of his sea of consciousness.
The repeated damage had made it broader and more resilient.
The patterns on his sigils had grown more intricate, especially those representing past and future, which now shimmered in black and white, with a faint divine radiance swirling within. The skies of his mind now held a touch of pale blue, while the other sigils remained nearly transparent.
Though the gains this time were considerable, he had no desire to hover at death's door ever again. Right now, all he wanted was a good rest.
(End of Chapter)