Chapter 220 - On Your Marks, Get Set
Once I got up to speed, it wasn't hard to slip past the top of the delaying forces, as long as I wasn't ambushed by a horde of mages with homing projectiles.
After getting ahead of Irori by a little over a hundred seconds, I completely ignored the scattered battle zones and returned to the base—
“What the hell is going on here…?!”
The moment I poked my head out of the maze entrance, the sheer amount of information flooding my vision made me stop in my tracks and let out a confused cry.
Before me was a three-layered structure of different battle zones, packed tightly together.
In the deepest layer, a ridiculously large-scale magic battle was raging, as if to say, “This is what war looks like.” That was probably Mi-na and Ri-na fighting their hearts out.
And the fact that those two were being forced to ‘fight their hearts out’ suggested that their opponents were a massive force worthy of such an effort. I couldn't tell if there were any other allies on their side, but either way, reinforcing the final defensive line was urgent.
…But blocking the way was the field barrier of [Forced Engagement (Engage)], something I myself had experienced twice now. All I could make out of the situation inside was—dust, light, and shockwaves. That was it.
That’s it, and that’s insane. What the hell is that… Is a kaiju rampaging in there or something?
Anyway, that was undoubtedly the source of the ‘pressure’ I’d been feeling. Without the maze walls to buffer it, facing it directly made the pressure feel orders of magnitude heavier.
My skin was crawling… Avatars in Arcadia don’t have body hair unless you specifically set them to, but if this were my real body, I would've been experiencing the sensation of all my hair standing on end.
—And, well… um… the scene that was far, far stranger than even that, what in the world was I supposed to make of it?
“Is this a cult…?”
A single figure stood imposingly, surrounded by many others with their heads bowed. At a glance, the scene looked exactly like “followers prostrating themselves before an absolute being”…
But one thing made it clear that wasn't the case—all those on their knees wore expressions of agony as they shouted things like,
“Nnguaaaahhh!!!”
Or,
“You piece of shiiit!!”
Or,
“[Heavy Tank], you son of a biiitch!!!”
…and other such curses, one after another.
No, seriously, it was a pandemonium of shrieking.
A single ‘boy’ stood in the center, while a crowd of what I presumed were grown men—though they all looked like super handsome guys and cool old dudes straight out of a fantasy world—writhed in agony, spewing curses. The scene was hellish enough to make me want to quietly look away and turn back…
“—Thank goodness. You came.”
Of course, having rushed here with a purpose, I had no such option—and it seemed my opponent had no intention of letting me go either.
The boy, who had been staring intently at the engagement field in the distance, turned around, and his deep, iron-blue eyes pierced straight through me.
His hair was the color of silver—no, the dull gleam of ‘iron.’ Despite its fluffy, puppy-like texture, his neatly styled hair somehow conveyed a sense of ‘weight’ to the eyes.
He wore the leather gear of a light warrior, but his hands and feet were protected by deep green metal plates.
And what his fingers, wrapped in gauntlets that seemed a bit too large for his small frame, were skillfully holding—was a matching pair of twin daggers with heavy, jet-black blades.
“[Heavy Tank]…”
“To think you’d know me. I’m honored, Mr. Acrobat.”
His charming appearance alone made the grand title seem ill-suited—Uni, the second-ranked member of the Southern Faction, Sotalm, gave a mischievous smile.
I knew about him. I had done my homework on the basics—his general combat style, the abilities of his equipment, the power of his unique title… and that's precisely why this was bad.
That thing… I didn't know about it.
I didn’t know the nature of the invisible force pinning the defense squad members to the waterway.
“The info articles didn’t mention any tricks like that…”
“Well, I’m a player just like everyone else. I grow, and I develop my own secret trump cards.”
Well, that was a perfectly sound argument I couldn’t refute… I figured it had to be those daggers.
A fourth-tier Anima—[Dual Heavy, Starfall Twin Black Steel].
Either the original abilities of that special weapon were kept secret… or it had become a former fourth-tier Anima.
“So, then?”
His eyes remained fixed on me as I warily planted my feet. The boy, who seemed to be effortlessly restraining men much larger than himself, tilted his head and asked his question.
“Did you come here to fight me? Or do you have business further in?”
“You’ve got some nerve…!!”
His provocative words suited his appearance, which embodied a different kind of ‘childishness’ than Tetra's, so, so well…!
I’m sure there’s a certain demand for that—wait, now is not the time for stupid thoughts.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? I’d appreciate it if you’d just sit there quietly.”
To my bold declaration of ignoring him, he responded with another mischievous smile… and in addition,
“Don’t be so cruel!!”
“Help us, Ninth!!”
“You intend to step over our corpses!?”
…and so on, and so forth, came a series of overly dramatic, deep-voiced screams.
“Oh, shut up, you guys! You look like you’re having fun, so just stay put and do your job keeping him busy!”
You have to know this isn’t the time for comedy skits…!!
“Sorry, but I’m coming through…!”
[Ignition]—I couldn’t use it. As always, I was at full health thanks to a healer I passed on the way, but that didn’t matter.
Considering what was likely waiting for me up ahead, I needed to conserve as much energy as possible.
In that case… there’s no one behind me. I might as well get a good running start.
I turned back into the maze and ran straight down the long corridor, then dashed up the wall at the dead end. I was running on walls as if it were perfectly normal, but if the laws of physics were working correctly, it wouldn’t be this easy, no matter how fast I was going.
Hooray for fantasy, hooray for game engines—well then, let’s go.
The passive skills that form the backbone of my agility-focused build, [Rabbit Run] and [Fataless Jumper], activated… and on top of that, I added my own unique ability.
[Matoi]—just as I was about to take a step that would rival the stride of that Sword Saint, I saw the boy waiting for me up ahead open his mouth with a serene smile.
—Pass if you can.
His voice didn’t reach me, but I could guess what he meant from his expression.
Bring it on, you bastard. Watch this, [Heavy Tank]. And while you’re at it, witness me, world.
Even if I can't use Shukuchi, even without a bunch of support effects, even without relying on the runaway express train at my hip… it’s a very simple matter.
In other words, a straight, full-throttle sprint with all the momentum I can muster—in the end, that’s the fastest and most direct way there!!
I’ve seen the path, I’ve laid the route, so all that’s left is,
“Here I———————coooome!!!”
To take that one, single step.