Gravity Zero, or Zero Gravity—am I seriously the one writing this and still mixing them up the most? That's just stupid, isn't it...?

It's Gravity Zero. Let's remember it by the Duel Masters ability name. (Note to self.)

Chapter 233: Destination RTA, Probably a World Record

The Vorpal Bunny aside, even monsters with the same name in this game have a fair amount of variety.

I parried a giant morning star's iron ball, swung to blow my head off from the side, by rolling it across the surface of my shield. See that, lady? Not a single scratch on it, even after rolling that spiked ball! I closed in, shoving that fact in its face, and plunged the Blue Predator, Sea-Eater Sword, into the throat of the morning star-wielding knight.

It crumpled with a wet squelch, as if losing the force that held it upright. I glanced at the collapsed Contual Knight and rejoined Emul, who had done a fine job as a decoy against two simultaneous attackers: the morning star wielder and a spear wielder.

Sunraku: "Seems magic's... not working, huh."

Emul: "I didn't hear anything about them getting stronger when hit with magic, waa!"

I think I get why pure mages aren't welcome. These guys absorb magic, like ghost-type monsters do with physical attacks. Magic-infused physical attacks probably work, but a pure mage relying solely on magic damage could end up a traitor healer, restoring the enemy's health.

Sunraku: "So, Emul. Up or down? Which one do you think is more suspicious?"

Emul: "Down, wa!"

Sunraku: "Same here."

In a fantasy setting, the top of the castle is usually the boss area. But this ancient fortress has two overlapping sets of lore. That means we need to think not in terms of the fantasy setting of its last users, but based on the sci-fi setting of its creators.

The humans of the Divine Era once fought giant creatures like the Omega. The evidence? That giant arm embedded in the castle wall.

If that's the case, it's unlikely the core is placed at the top. The same goes for what we're probably looking for.

Sunraku: "I-if, that's the, the case, there should be a way down somewhere..."

There's a staircase leading up, quite conspicuously. But there's no staircase going down. Hmm. Or maybe, given the heavy sci-fi theme, there's a warp system?

Sunraku: "Hmm... the question is, just how sci-fi are the Divine Era humans..."

As far as I know, "Setsuna of Bygone Days" and "Wethermon the Tombguard"—both from the Divine Era—used abilities that looked like magic. The fact that "Legacy Weapons" and Re-Legacy Weapons are mechanical yet use monster materials to amplify monster traits... putting all this together, a picture emerges.

Sunraku: "Divine Era civilization wasn't purely based on science. They used regular old magic too, didn't they?"

If that's the case, it's hard to imagine they couldn't use the same teleportation magic that medieval-level NPCs can use now. Maybe they didn't just chant things like "I cast fire!" but controlled it systematically, like just another gear in a machine.

Sunraku: "So it is some kind of teleportation device? No, there's no way it'd go straight to the core. If this place is a kind of dungeon, maybe there's a gimmick like in Ruluiath..."

Emul: "Hmm, hmm... I can't find a way down, wa!"

Emul came back after hopping around the entrance hall, now safe since the Contual Knights had disappeared. She seemed to have been looking for a way down but still couldn't find one.

Sunraku: "Yeah, I thought so... Looks like going up first is inevitable..."

Emul: "Ah, also, Sunraku-san, watch out over there, wa! There's a hole in the wall, and you might fall through it, wa!"

Sunraku: "Way to go, Emul!"

Emul: "Fweh?"

There is a way down! Yes, there is!

I see. It's an elevator, plain and simple. It's flush with the wall and hard to spot, plus it's damaged, so you wouldn't notice it on your first try. There's a small hole in the door, just barely big enough for Emul to fit through, but there's no way a person could.

Sunraku: "This is probably an exit-only shortcut."

Emul: "What do you mean, wa?"

Sunraku: "I think there's an elevator... you know, a ride that takes people up, at the very bottom of this fortress."

It's hard to imagine the elevator being the only thing dead when the rest of the facility is powered up enough to have working lights. Whether it's an exit-only shortcut or we need to reactivate it with a gimmick to go down... either way, we probably need to unlock a gimmick upstairs first, or do it after everything is done...

Or so you thought, didn't you?

You fool. This debugger's eyes aren't so easily fooled!

I grabbed a sword lying around and dropped it into the hole. After a noticeable delay, the faint but pleasant sound of metal striking the bottom echoed up. I see. It's definitely deep. It'd be minced meat for sure if I just dropped down... if I just fell, that is.

Sunraku: "Alright, Emul! We're going down!"

Emul: "Huh? How, wa?"

Sunraku: "We're going straight down from here."

Emul: "...Sunraku-san? That's not a path. It's a hole, wa."

Emul said this as if correcting a small child's mistake, but her smile was starting to twitch. You know it too, don't you? The current me, Sunraku, is a man who can even soar through the sky. A path being vertical is no problem at all.

Emul: "B-But! Even you, Sunraku-san, can't fit through such a tiny hole, wa!"

Sunraku: "Yeah, squeezing through would be... probably impossible."

The door is probably a non-destructible object anyway. If it were a house door, maybe I could have broken it down, but it's a sci-fi facility, so it's more likely indestructible.

Sunraku: "But, Emul. Haven't you forgotten? Right now, I'm a wizard."

Emul: "...? ...!! ...!?!?"

Her face was a picture of disbelief: "What is he saying?" "No way!" "No, no, no, impossible!"

I let Emul cling to the back of my neck instead of my head—for now—and fluttered my Lapistella Cloak.

Sunraku: "Listen up, Emul. Remember this."

Emul: "Wh-what... is it, wa?"

Sunraku: "You can exploit the mechanics."

Emul: "Wha— wait... Pii!"

I activated the spell set in the Lapistella Cloak. Now then, if a carp can ascend a waterfall, I'll race straight down!

This is a spell I bought at the shop Emul frequents—the one that sells Magic Scrolls. In a way, it holds a special significance for me. Why? Because it's the spell that saved my inexperienced past self. One of the teleportation spells: upon activation, you can select coordinates within a 5-meter radius and instantly teleport from your current location to the designated spot.

The short-range teleportation spell Emul used to save me when we were thrown by Mud Digger. Its name is...

Sunraku: "Apport!"

The destination coordinates depend on line of sight. As long as there's a gap, even if it's just a crack, if your line of sight can reach the other side of the door, it's possible!

Back then, Emul was holding me when she cast it. Now, I'm holding Emul.

For an instant, our coordinates—mine as a player and Emul's as an NPC—skipped the process and moved. The darkness was deep. If we just fell, both Emul and I would meet a grisly end.

Emul: "I'm falliiiiiing... eep...!?"

Sunraku: "It's okay, Emul! The password is: 'Trust me!'"

Emul: "T-trust me!"

The physics engine latched onto us. Pulling us down, accelerating in proportion to distance, increasing the impact of our potential death.

Sunraku: "Hah hah hah hah! Hooray for skills!"

With Flit Float, I stabilized our posture. Then: Trial Traverse! Possessed by the Great Asura King! Melostic Foot! And... Gravity Zero! Activate!

Using air jumps, I planted my feet on the walls of the vertical elevator shaft. With climbing correction, action correction, continuous movement correction, gravity manipulation... if I can run on the ceiling, then running from top to bottom is child's play.

Sunraku: "I've done deliveries in zero gravity while dodging lasers and debris in outer space, you knooow!"

Emul: "We're gonna die, die, die, uwaaah, why is this happening, waaa!?"

While Gravity Zero is active, the surface your feet touch becomes the ground. In other words, the moment you lift your feet, the direction of gravity returns to normal. So each time our running feet leave the wall, we lurch downward, enduring that sensation while blazing through this shortcut at full speed.

Sunraku: "Space! It's the end of the sky that reflects the brilliance of the past!"

Emul: "Pweeeeeeeh!!"

Damn, Gravity Zero's effect is about to wear off. Even with all my stats boosted, the bottom is still far away. At this rate... no, I can do it!

Sunraku: "Emul, this might tickle a bit."

Emul: "Eeeek!?"

No practice run. The odds of failure are high... but I have to do it. I can do it. It's always been that way. Once I have a concrete image in mind, I can usually do what I picture.

I clenched my right fist and struck the amber on my thumb—the lightning sealed in ancient tree resin—against myself.

Emul: "Byaaah!?"

Sunraku: "Just bear with it for a bit...!"

My actions outpace my perception. It didn't work the first time I tried this. True, the acceleration was unexpected, but even taking that into account, my reaction was too slow. But even I can't pull off tricks on a bicycle with a jet engine strapped to it... though I can probably manage a wheelie or a big jump.

So.

Sunraku: "I'll just become faster...!"

My consciousness accelerates.

One hundred meters left to the bottom of this fortress.

Gravity Zero has six seconds of duration left.

Black lightning flashes in the darkness.

Five flat seconds is more than enough.

I seized the moment. I caught up with my own body.

Surface to 300 meters underground: straight-down full-speed RTA. Ready... start!

The timer stops the instant I land on the lowest floor. Use Apport to enter the elevator shaft, activate the skills, then just run all the way down.

And here comes the original strat! I use Levin Trigger: Hazard and cover the final 100 meters in five seconds flat before Gravity Zero expires. Timer stop. The record is 00:24:21... Pretty normal!

For the landing, I use Formula Drift to force myself to decelerate while accelerating. (Contradiction.)

More specifically, just before the bottom I run back upward along the wall in a hooked shi-shaped curve, forcibly canceling out the energy of the fall.

How forced is it? The recoil drops my HP to 1, and Emul takes a little damage too.

This guy is always nearly dying.