Chapter 310: O Dragon, O Dragon! What We Pioneer Is the Unknown and Truth — A Poaching Departure, That's Why I Like It (Abduction)

New Land Research Vessels. Three enormous wooden ships, each nearly the size of a real-world luxury liner, built from a medieval civilization with magic and just a touch of science mixed in.

Following the New Land Research Vessel Torvante Discoverer, which had already crossed the sea, the morning finally came for three newly built giant vessels—BELHEMOLTH, LEVHAIOSN, and ZEEZEE—to set sail for the New Land with handpicked pioneers aboard.

Sunraku: "Gwaaah..."

Last night had been insane. What was so insane about it? Somehow, I ended up watching Akitsu Akane and Saiga-san—or rather, Rei-shi—fight back-to-back matches in the Rabituza Colosseum. Both of them had climbed right up to the highest level range available before the New Land, and the enemies assigned to their final matches were monsters in every sense of the word.

Akitsu Akane's final opponent was a huge sub-dragon—a dinosaur—with chalk-white skin wreathed in raging flames: Jura Vulcanrex.

According to Vash, it was apparently an Ancient Species of some other monster, which is exactly the kind of lore that gets the blood pumping. But more importantly, it was a brute-force stat monster, and Akitsu Akane was forced into a seriously difficult fight.

Rei-shi's final opponent was a magnificent lion with a jet-black mane wrapped in blue lightning: Leo Nemearex.

This one came with an equally grandiose bit of lore: "a beast bearing such royal majesty that it would not yield even a single step before Lycagon." Its attacks were nasty in a completely different way from Atlanticus Lepnorca's lightning—the places the lion passed through would become electrically charged after a delay.

And seriously, what was with that lion bastard constantly staring straight at me? The moment Rei-shi despawned, it charged at me without a second thought. If it hadn't been Rei-shi's Unique, I would've taken it down myself... though I might've died about four times doing it.

They both lost over and over, so eventually we settled into a routine where, while one of them fought, the other held a strategy meeting with me. Thinking about it calmly, that meant I was the one working nonstop the whole time.

Pencilgon: "Yoo. I came to see you off, you future castaways."

Sunraku: "Oh, hey there. A veteran castaway came to see us off?"

Four ships would be putting out to sea today. The fourth was the deep-sea fishing vessel Celes Telesial, carrying the joint assault force headed for the Unique Monster Ctarnidd of the Abyss. The expedition was organized by Wolfgang, with Library and Schwarz Vulf... no, Black Blade, joining the assault team.

Clearing Ctarnidd's Bonus Unique Scenario, "O Man, Gaze Up at the Abyssal Sky, the World Turns Over," had revealed the existence of a repeatable Bonus Unique Scenario.

After I disclosed some of the information written in the Tome of Truth, Library discovered another prerequisite scenario separate from Strike the Apostle of the Abyss. That scenario was the Unique Scenario Fearless Expeditionary Fishing.

Basically, it was a Unique Scenario packed full of death flags: "The weather looks rough today, but we'll be fine! Let's go fishing!" And if everything proceeded as expected, they would in fact wind up encountering a ghost ship, so calling it a death-flag scenario was entirely fair.

Pencilgon: "Seven days, huh... What was it actually like? Did you ever get bored?"

Sunraku: "Given how many of us there were, and with monsters spawning in huge numbers day and night, it wasn't really boring."

Hoping they would get steamrolled by something around Atlanticus Lepnorca's level and experience hell firsthand, I brushed off Pencilgon's question.

Pencilgon: "Hmph. You've got the strategy guide, and you're still holding back information? How's that fair, Sunraku-kun?"

Sunraku: "If this were like Wethermon, where knowing the trick still gets you killed, I'd tell you. But Ctarnidd just turns into routine work once you know the gimmick... That'd kill the fun, wouldn't it?"

Oikatzo: "Can't really deny that. But you still beat it with only a little over eight people, NPCs included, right?"

Sunraku: "We fired off Rei-shi's Armageddon-class firepower three times and even brought out a Tactical Machine Beast, though."

Pencilgon: "Akitsu Akane-chan is pretty ridiculous too... Dragon Breath is supposed to be more like a flamethrower, isn't it? Hers just sweeps straight across the sky."

It depends on lung capacity and MP, sure, but it's still an enormous beam capable of hitting an entire area. And the cannon itself is a highly mobile light warrior.

Sunraku: "...So? Why does that freshly landed fish over there look like it's dead inside?"

Pencilgon: "Apparently that girlfriend of his found out he had to go to Fifticia for a seven-day long-term quest, and apparently they spent the entire night working out a strategy."

Oikatzo: "Seriously, going straight through the night will kill you..."

Incidentally, that certain someone has apparently continued developing nicely into an Immortal Grappler who stays on the front line through self-healing... This is exactly why people have been saying since the last century that you don't give boss enemies healing abilities.

Pencilgon: "Well, anyway. Enjoy the sightseeing."

Oikatzo: "Hah... I'll clear it in one try."

Sunraku: "How about you save the cocky talk for after you actually trigger a Unique yourself?"

Oikatzo: "Yeah, yeah, I knew you'd say that!"

The details still had not been widely announced, so the participating players were moving around and making preparations in a somewhat secretive fashion. Even among them, though, one group stood out more than the rest.

Professor: "Oh? I thought you were going aboard one of the New Land Research Vessels."

Sunraku: "There's still a little time left, so I figured I'd come see everyone off."

I answered Professor—the brains of Library, a net-kama with an excessively cutesy appearance and an excessively gruff personality—while turning my gaze once more toward the thing carrying Professor on its shoulders.

Massive Dynamite: "Oh my, so you're Sunraku-san? I've heard about you from Saiga-san and the others, as well as from my husband. I call myself Massive Dynamite... It is a pleasure to meet you."

Sunraku: "I'm Sunraku... Uh, n-nice to meet you..."

Muscles. Muscles. Muscles. A heavy warrior whose entire appearance seemed to proclaim that strength was justice and nothing else mattered. She had a frame even larger than Rei-shi's, packed with bodybuilder-level muscle—so massive and explosive-looking that the name Massive Dynamite felt almost literal.

Her slightly wavy blond hair, stubble, deeply chiseled face, gentle expression, and voice enriched by age created a mismatch that, if anything, surpassed even the fake magical girl.

Professor: "Ah, she is my wife. She joined the party as a participant from Schwarz Vulf... Ah, no. From Black Blade."

Massive Dynamite: "Ohoho. Rei-san told me Ctarnidd possesses tremendous power, and once I heard that, I simply couldn't contain my curiosity..."

Professor's wife, which meant she was at least in her fifties or sixties, yet there was something youthful about her that reminded me of Akitsu Akane.

That said, the sight of a mountain of muscle carrying a ridiculously huge greatsword—one big enough to crush someone my size from directly above—laughing gently with an oh my, ohoho was pretty horrifying.

Sunraku: "Still, that's one hell of a dream team. I heard the people coming from Black Blade are all top-class frontliners."

Professor: "Naturally. It may seem like nothing special from your perspective, but for us, the decisive battle against the Unique Monster Ctarnidd of the Abyss carries tremendous significance."

"Listen," Professor said, turning his eyes toward the harbor at the far end of Deadbeat Alley, where the three research vessels could just barely be seen.

Professor: "In my estimation, the decisive battle against Siegwurm the Sky Ruler is still quite a long way off."

Sunraku: "What makes you say that?"

Professor: "Think about it. The clear conditions for that Bonus Unique Scenario are the defeat of five dragons... No, I hear one is already dead, so the defeat of four dragons, or the defeat of Siegwurm himself. Yet the golden dragon has vanished, and the five dragons are most likely scattered across the whole of the New Land... Do you understand? At the very least, one of those clear conditions cannot possibly be fulfilled without 'traversing the entire New Land.'"

At present, players had made contact with two dragons. One was a Green Dragon encountered by a player traveling with an elf—if I remember right. The other was the Black Dragon that had attacked the frontline base in the New Land.

Professor: "In other words, Sunraku-kun, unlike Wethermon or Ctarnidd, Siegwurm's Bonus Unique Scenario is probably linked much more directly to the World Quest. The conclusion that follows is..."

Sunraku: "That instead of being a side story like the other Uniques, it's a long-form scenario that every player can potentially become involved in... right?"

Professor: "——Wonderful. Full marks."

Professor smiled as he praised me. Even with the childish innocence of the girl's face he was using, it was unmistakably the expression of a teacher guiding a student... though he was currently riding on the shoulders of a hulking mass of muscle.

---

Maddai's weapon is shaped like a greatsword, but its edge has been blunted, making it a striking weapon. In terms of weapon category, it is a club.

Like Survival, she has gone all-in on a highest-tier warrior class—an ultra-romantic build where one whiff can mean death. But if she lands a clean hit, she becomes a cannon of destruction powerful enough to smash even Crystal Scorpions' carapaces to pieces.

Jura Vulcanrex

An Ancient Species of Tyrannos Saberas, the monster that became the basis for Dracule Dinosauberus... Though why it gained more heads over the course of evolution is unknown.

Back in its prime, both predators and prey had enormous bodies, so that caused no particular problem. But as evolution progressed into the modern era, other creatures split toward two extremes—becoming either extremely large or extremely small. That made securing a stable food supply difficult, and Jura Vulcanrex ended up endangered.

Put simply, imagine a burning Deviljho forced to spend its entire life either taking on giant eating challenges or surviving on nothing but little snacks. That's why it's dying out.

It lacks proper stamina-management ability, so if a fight drags on for too long, it runs out of gas and becomes drastically weaker.

Leo Nemearex

A lion-type monster that ranks among the strongest native monsters... but its own ecology has made it endangered.

It is an extremely aggressive, muscle-brained monster. From the moment it is born, it actively challenges strong opponents, so very few individuals survive all the way to adulthood. But if one does reach maturity, an unrivaled lion with an incomparable body and command over blue lightning will reign supreme over the world——!

...And after all that posturing, the top of the beast ecosystem is occupied by that particular wolf, so its fate as a jobber lion rather than a jobber dog is already sealed. Poor bastard.

It has no particularly notable weakness, but destroying its mane will seal its electrical attacks. Once the lightning is gone, it's just a big cat.