Chapter 377 - The White Karmic Journey, Entrusted with No Burdens - Part 1
If I haven't miscounted, this was the fifth loop.
It came without warning… at least, for us, it was sudden. Every player on the battlefield must have noticed the signs of change at the same time.
Well, with one slight exception right here—
"Whoa, crap…?!"
It was probably some kind of system-based premonition, unrelated to intuition. A voiceless notification that something was about to happen… but even before that…
The ruby embedded in the [Everquartz] in my left hand flashed, as if responding to something. It was almost as if it were saying—Brace yourself.
—!
I thought I heard someone's voice from far below.
Their concern was justified… If I hadn't been spooked by my own sword suddenly lighting up and hadn't hit the brakes beforehand, I never would have been able to change course in time…!
I tossed all thoughts of safety aside and, without hesitation, pointed myself straight down and activated [Rocket]. My vision was already starting to blur—the telltale sign of a forced teleportation. I only had moments left.
Since we were going into this blind, there was no answer to the question of what would happen if I got hit by the teleportation gimmick while flying through the air.
Would I simply be dragged down to the ground without issue? Or would I be randomly flung into the sky… At worst, there was no guarantee I wouldn't be slammed into the ground with my momentum intact and turned into a human grater.
The toughest part was that this was an impromptu performance with no test run, and I couldn't just say, ‘I died in an accident, let’s do it over.’
How this thing's “learning” would affect things was also an unknown. If I was unlucky, it might even react to the weirdo flying around in the sky and completely change the targeting routine of its cannons.
A one-shot, unreasonable setup, and the first attempt—which is supposed to be the easiest—is the one where you're forced to deal with that unreasonableness… You'd better believe I'll be sending a strongly worded email, you bastards.
"[Flood]!!"
While sheathing my sword, I kicked off the empty air and shot straight forward. In other words, I thrust my left hand toward the ground, my destination. As my avatar hurtled toward a date with the dirt—water erupted.
The water magic [Flood], also known as Tera Aqua. The description on some info site was a single, simple line.
Never use in an enclosed space.
Well, to put it simply—if I fire it off with my MID stats, it's about enough to fill a twenty-five-meter school swimming pool.
"—Gah…!"
Control was impossible. My body slammed into the magic that just creates a massive amount of water in an instant, getting caught in some very game-like, exaggerated load processing that rapidly decelerated me.
But I didn't care about the recoil damage—almost at the same instant I deployed [Flood], I had already passed through the gate of green light, a Qualia Veil, that had appeared perfectly in my path. Sora-san is God.
However,
"You and your crazy stunts. Gave me a heart attack."
"Gack, ugh… Heh, heh…"
Having killed as much speed as possible, I was thrown out near the ground, where something incredibly burly caught me. My apologies, your magnificent golden armor is now soaked, along with everything else around it.
My own heart felt like it had shrunk, but somehow, I had made it in time.
Unfortunately, there was no time to offer thanks, nor to worry about the water damage. I hopped down from the arms that were the very personification of reliability, and a moment later…
In that single moment of respite, I met the gaze of the eyes shining brilliantly behind his mask… and by now, I could communicate with our General Commander on a certain level.
I'm sure that if we'd had just three more seconds, we would have said the exact same words.
Namely—this is where the real fight begins.
The disruption of the teleportation gimmick that occurred every hundred seconds. And from the sky, the remaining cannons had vanished. According to the intel, these were the precursors to it truly awakening.
My vision blurred, the world swirled together, and…
"————————————————"
A resounding cry echoed, and the next phase began.
As my vision returned to my wide-open eyes—the transformed battlefield spread out before me.
From the center of the large basin, the colossal form of the White Throne was gone.
And just like the previous forced teleports, scattered among the players were… ten small, white figures.
This is where it gets real, and…
"Become my arms—[An=Ru Galta (Provisional Theory: The Wedge-Armor that Sings of the Royal Road)]!!"
"Gather, Ice Flower—[Blade Road]…!"
"Get fired up, you bastards!—[Golden Hour]!!"
"—[Truth Dream]."
"Alright, let's ramp it up!—[Zel-Ex Destra]!!"
Instantly, we went to full throttle from the very start.
Even if our individual voices didn't reach each other, our fighting spirit and fervor deepened across the battlefield.
Just as we'd planned—Peerless, the General Commander, Twin Fists, Adamant, and the five of us melee-specialized key combatants, myself included, donned our crowns and unleashed our full power without holding anything back.
Second phase against the White Throne: an annihilation battle against ten divided bodies.
This was our third attempt against the ultimate blindside that had led to our defeat last time. The tactic we players chose was—
"Let 'em have it!!!"
We kicked any idea of taking turns to the curb and aimed for a one-turn kill right after the phase transition.
The time limit for the reset forced teleportation was our operational deadline. In other words—we had to crush every last one of them, from one to ten, within a hundred seconds!!
"[Rocke—"
In this phase, my role was that of an interceptor.
To put it simply, my operational area was the entire battlefield. My job was to race around and offer support wherever I could reach, plain and simple!
"—t]!!"
I memorized the situation within my field of view. Now then, let's start with the nearest one…!
I shattered the ground and blasted through the air, closing in on the first one. A splinter of the White Throne—its form was that of a miniature dragon, having lost nine-tenths of its mass in a dramatic slim-down.
Miniature, but still a dragon. Its caterpillar-like belly was gone, its legs were slender yet retained their strength, and its long tail was tauter, but it was still massive.
With the crown of [Crown Crown]—which had vanished after a timely heal from my partner—now manifested again, I instantly closed the distance, and my vision filled with white.
…Right, this phase is a blindside. It's the embodiment of a plan to catch poor players off guard, thin their numbers, and then wipe them out.
So, it stood to reason that their opening move would follow suit—its foreleg was already raised, moving at a speed worlds apart from its previous sluggishness.
Alright, bring it on—my defense is paper-thin, but I'm confident in a brawl!
[Construction] into [Exchange Voltate]. I summoned a black and crimson heavy bomb (with a high-speed propulsion system attached)……!!
"—[Ignition]!!"
The white foreleg, as thick as a great tree, collided head-on with [Gravidon], which roared and accelerated, fueled by its master's life force (HP).
Sparks flew, and a dizzying impact shot through me at point-blank range—
"Hah, just like the intel said…!"
—but just barely, I was the one who won the push.
Splitting up is a wicked gimmick that can be fatal, but the specs of each individual body, including their physical strength, are significantly lower. About a tenth… or maybe even less.
If that's the case, it's possible—as long as we can react in time across the entire battlefield, a complete victory isn't just a dream. We'll stick to the plan and crush them before they can do a thing!
…Oh, hey, it's Rotta. You been well?
"I'm leaving the rest to you, Insighter!!"
"Leave it to me, Haru the Acrobat!!"
I dive into situations where others might not be able to keep up, fire off some support, and then immediately disengage.
After deflecting the first blow, I switched with the surrounding vanguards whose reactions had caught up, and my job here was done for now. Auerin, my reliable big bro, was nearby; based on the distance I'd memorized, he should arrive as reinforcements in about five seconds—and with that, it was time for [Rocket].
I gave a mental thumbs-up to my friend who was brandishing a sword despite being a pure healer, and then I launched off. Next up is the one beside it. Hey, you, stop right there with that hand, wait just a second!!
Towards the figure in a dress who was trying to create distance, I switched weapons and threw my battle-axe at the foreleg that was about to swing sideways.
The [Giant's Hand Axe] roared as it flew through the air, its blade sinking into the target's foot just as planned—and at the same time, my arriving left hand caught the head of the axe.
And so… Kesshiki Ittoryu, Unarmed Style.
"[Shinden]!!"
Activating [Rocket] for an extra push, I funneled the immense propulsive energy from my step-in into my pressed palm, a feat that was half technique, half brute force—
With an indescribable roar, the black blade was driven into the white foreleg, and the part from its presumed ankle down was torn away… Hold on, that was unexpected. An undeniably unexpected critical hit. I need a second to process this.
No need to look around; I had already imprinted the surrounding situation in my mind before I started running—ah, okay.
I've got an eight-second flat window. With that much time, I can press the attack.
"—Hinayo-san!"
As it turned out, my call was completely unnecessary.
Without even turning around… a lustrous, gardenia-colored dress was already dancing elegantly right beside me.
"[Second Bullet]."
A large, crimson handgun was aimed straight ahead. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to cover my ears—the massive heat ray it fired instantly exploded into the white figure at near-zero range.
I reflexively almost shielded my face with the [Twaibolt Mirari] on my right, but since it wasn't a graze like last time, I took no damage.
In front of the elegant lady holding the soul-bound weapon that radiated heat, I managed to stifle my urge to freak out—man, you're slow. I bet you could've been here a second sooner.
Alright then… Ready, set…!!
"First Strike—"
"[Rinka—"
"—[Hisui]!!"
"—Ittou]!!"
The moment the second shot from the [Heat Gaze] faded.
The jade blade I drew and the azure blade that appeared from behind me flashed simultaneously, slicing through the neck of the white clone from both sides as it let out a cry that could only be described as a scream.
…Damn it, it's frustrating, but I feel like my blade, which I forced into motion with the thrust from [Rocket], didn't cut as deep. Just you wait, I won't lose next time!
"Haru!"
"Haru-kun!"
"I know!!"
Reinforcements were gathering from all sides. This one is finished.
In that case, there was no longer a place for me here. Without waiting for the command from my two seniors, my feet were already pushing off the empty air—alright then, without a doubt, the next target is obvious.
"[Rocket]!!"
To my partner, who was putting on a display of valor no less impressive than any of the rankers.