Chapter 471: O Dragon, O Dragon! We Race Toward the End of Our Longing — O Dragon, O Dragon! Part Forty-Eight
[Will this finish within the year? Can I make it?]
There was a wish that had been entrusted to someone.
There was a message that could not reach its destination.
Far, far away. A Dragon-Calling Whistle made from three parts, once created under a certain scientist, activates.
BC Beacon: "Wake up, BC-Beacon."
First, the central part: a Type-III semi-perpetual-operation power mechanism built from "pure science." Energy begins circulating through the body that had slept for so long.
BC Beacon: "Checking………"
Next, the grip: an identification-and-authentication unit that reads information from a human hand. It reads the information of the person holding it and, in less than a tenth of a second, determines that he does not possess the required "qualification."
And yet, it references an identification code that had been newly added... and grants approval.
BC Beacon: "OK. 「Legacy mode」 Call……accept."
Finally, the muzzle part—or more precisely, an atomic-manipulation mechanism applying the special frequency produced by the central unit—performs the role it had not fulfilled since ages long past.
BC Beacon: "Please Wait."
An artificial refraction of light produced using particles in the atmosphere—in other words, a Divine Era "rainbow"—now awakens the second B... the God of Harmony's beast, Bahamut Vessel No. 2, which had slept while stirring the great waters at the very bottom of the deep sea, deeper even than Ruluiath.
—This is not someone's story: a Unique Scenario.
—This is not the changing of the world: a World Story, either.
—This is a mission the pioneers must fulfill: a Grand Quest. A great legacy left behind by those who saved the world in the distant Divine Era.
Its nature is close to those who signify the Divine Era—the Unique Monsters—and yet, because what it signifies is different, it does not belong to that category.
The whale maiden—with joy.
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[Match decided!!]
[Skeletal Castle Keep: Skull Azuchi vs. One-Night Castle: Scorpion Sunomata... Winner: One-Night Castle: Scorpion Sunomata!!]
[As a result, ownership of Skeletal Castle Keep: Skull Azuchi will be transferred for a fixed period of time.]
It is the declaration of defeat. Ten-Don, having cut down the last PK still clinging to him, scratches his head and sighs.
Ten-Don: "Aw, we lost, huh..."
Skull Azuchi, the anti-Noirlind faction's greatest trump card, has fallen. At this point, the odds that Emilia and the others can turn things around are almost nonexistent.
In reality, there are still possible paths to victory—Noirlind shrinking himself, fusing with a player, and so on. But whether they know any of that is another matter entirely.
Ten-Don: "So what do we do, Alliance Leader?"
Emilia: "Right... At this point, I think all we can do is throw up our hands."
Ten-Don: "Figured as much... Man, they countered us way too hard! Guess we've been beaten fair and square."
He laughs as he admits defeat, but his eyes stay fixed on Emilia in a look that is half question and half provocation.
Ten-Don: "By the way, Alliance Leader. Word on the wind is that Siegwurm's about to blow himself up spectacularly and take the frontline base with him."
Emilia: "That... cannot be allowed."
Do not misunderstand what drives Emilia—or, at its root, what drives the production-class players whose shabby little buildings here had once been destroyed.
They do not hate Noirlind simply because he is Noirlind. Their hatred is aimed at him because he was the one who once unleashed monsters and destroyed their base.
Siegwurm had simply not been a target because he was the enemy of their enemy. But under the current circumstances, there is only one creature for them to aim at.
Emilia: "I'm sorry. I've been selfish, and now I'm even changing our entire course of action... But we cannot leave Siegwurm's self-destruction alone. Let's go!!"
Anti-Noirlind faction: "Yeah!!"
Weapons, magic, and passion that had been held in reserve for use against Noirlind now surge forth as the whole group races toward Siegwurm.
Time remaining: four minutes.
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The Feng Shui Guide... the furniture artisan who, put simply, should have been nothing more than a production-class player, had gained enough strength to fight after reaching the heights of a top-tier Job.
She empowered herself through the very objects she had placed. That was precisely why Anju had managed to hold out with strength rivaling even Kyogoku after Kyogoku had broken into triple-digit levels: the battlefield was Skull Azuchi's keep, packed with furniture Anju herself had made.
And because Kyogoku was thinking about what would come afterward, she could not casually choose to destroy everything around her. That was why the fight had dragged into such a brutal struggle.
But now, that struggle is over.
Judged as kendo, it is as heretical as heresy gets: a single decisive cut delivered through an "aerial surprise attack" using the wall.
Judged by Bakumatsu standards, it is as orthodox as orthodox gets—the sort of basic technique that makes people ask why you can't do it.
And in SLF, where there is no shortage of assistance for three-dimensional movement, it can be even more effective than it is in Bakumatsu.
Kyogoku: "...Now then. First of all... which one of these am I supposed to operate?"
With a question mark practically floating above her head, Kyogoku spends around two minutes working through the windows before finally reaching Skull Azuchi's enhancement-effect selection screen.
Kyogoku: "Wow, that's a lot. Guess that's what you'd expect from a castle-sized structure... Scorpion Sunomata only has one ability."
Granted, that one ability is a nasty one. Smiling wryly, Kyogoku assigns every buff that catches her eye to the fight against Siegwurm and unleashes them.
Kyogoku: "Well, I took down ninety-six people. I'm satisfied."
- Hostile target: Siegwurm the Sky Ruler
- Enhancement targets: Players and NPCs currently in combat with the hostile target
- Enhancement effects:
- Recover HP and MP every fifteen seconds
- Increase all stats
- Damage bonus
- Reduce recast time by 20%
- Reduce magic activation cost by 10%
- Increase attack-Skill power
- Increase attack-magic power
Time remaining: three minutes.
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Rust: "...If he sees you, physical barrier. Periodic indiscriminate lasers and an omnidirectional shockwave. What are we supposed to do?"
Saina: "Response: Effective damage is not important. If you can steal his gaze, that is enough... is what he says."
The mechanized figure with lustrous wings of flame looks down at Siegwurm from high above. Even as Rust receives the proposal from Mold—her other half, her brain—she searches the battlefield for something she can still accomplish in the little time that remains.
Rust: "...I'd still like to put up some kind of score if I can."
Her gaze roams.
Rust: "...The horn."
Saina: "Analysis: I have confirmed it as well. Of the two remaining horns, one is..."
Rust: "No. Not that one. More importantly..."
Given the nature of Siegwurm's troublesome physical barrier, the horn is not what she should be aiming for.
Rust: "Suzaku. One last shot... full power, everything we've got."
Suzaku: "Understood. Deploying Arahabataki and Incinerate: Magic Blade Slasher."
Time remaining: two minutes.
◇◇◇◇
Akitsu Akane watches it all.
Every single person is squeezing out the last of their remaining resources as they charge toward Siegwurm.
Light dances. Every time the golden body moves, no small number of players are scattered—and even more surge forward without the slightest fear of death, as if asking what difference that makes.
Akitsu Akane: "Look, Noirlind-san. It's amazing..."
Noirlind (mental): "...Hmph. But we are the ones who will decide this. Is that not so?"
Akitsu Akane: "Right. They entrusted it to us!!"
Not yet. Not yet... the moment for Akitsu Akane to move still has not come. With tension, exhilaration, and long-awaited anticipation filling her chest, she waits.
Until the time limit, there remains—
At that moment, the world shakes.
◆
At that moment, the sea explodes.
Water is liquid, but it still possesses tremendous mass. An impossible force hurls an enormous volume of seawater high into the sky.
Kwooooooooooooooon...!!!!
It may have lost the power it once possessed to cross the true sea of stars, but rising through an ocean of water is trivial for its antigravity propulsion system. From it comes a joyous whistle—a song—heard again after ages upon ages.
Leviathan (song): "O humans, humans. Nice to meet you. And... long time no see."
The vast quantity of water obeys gravity and pours back down in waterfalls toward the place it came from. But it seems to climb toward the sky... until, wingless as it now is, it can rise no farther than the ocean's surface, where its gigantic steel body is finally exposed to the world.
Its form is a moving continent. Ages ago, it carried humanity on its back across the sea of stars: the World-Bearing Fish (Bahamut).
At the front of its whale-shaped body is a single "horn" so immense that comparing it to the scale of a human being is almost absurd.
The name of that ship is—
Isana: "Good morning! Good morning! I'm Isana!! We finally get to meet!!"
Her voice overflows with joy. The woman who calls herself Isana then announces the name of the divine beast.
Isana: "Bahamut-class arkology ship 'Leviathan'! As of this moment, I am surfacing to establish contact with the next generation of humanity!!"
The name of the "spaceship" defined as the divine beast of the God of Harmony, one of the three pillars of the religion of the Three Gods.
[Widow-type AI Isana-chan has been lurking for close to several thousand years, but it seems she's finally been allowed to speak.]
[Also, I may eventually change every "World Quest" label to "World Story." Please be aware.]