Chapter 470 - Final Day: Morning
—The fourth and final day of the event.
A starkly different atmosphere from the strangely quiet third day; no one could fail to notice the blatant rustling of the forest. Without exception, we all woke up with a 'bad feeling.'
And in this virtual world, such feelings rarely turn out to be mere paranoia.
Is it something made possible by the five senses granted by the system, far surpassing those of the real world... or perhaps we're receiving some kind of 'notification' from the system without realizing it?
There's no way to know, but in the end, there's only one thing we players, who must ultimately obey the laws of the world (the system), can do.
To accept the good fortune, or misfortune, that befalls us, equally—
And enjoy it as a 'festival.'
"Tch—Sorry, I'm breaking off! Hold the line!"
The sound of a whistle reaches my ears. I leave a blunt instruction that could hardly be called an order and turn on my heel.
I catch a glimpse of a thumbs-up in the corner of my vision and return the gesture of good luck. My avatar, already glowing with crimson phosphorescence in its fully unleashed state, launches into the air.
As I leap high, I turn my gaze toward the source of the whistle. As usual, the three artisans are on the rooftop, ensuring a small measure of safety. The two women among them are both pointing in the same direction. I set that as my destination, use a Parabellum dagger I'd already thrown ahead of me as a foothold, change direction, and leap with all my might.
When I finally get a clear view of the situation ahead, I see it's one hell of a mess...!
I activate [Lumina Raygust] and [Reflect Explode] in parallel. Squad One is being harassed by a swarm of small fry, getting absolutely railroaded by a single large enemy. I rush toward them at full speed and,
"So... raaagh!!"
I brake, using a spin to dissipate my energy while sending a huge spray of dirt flying.
Rather than simply receiving the blow, I swing the gauntlet of my [An=Ru Galta (Hypothesis: The Wedge-Armor that Sings of the King's Road)] in a backhand style, as if to strike it down. The instant my fist and its sharp claws connect, the guard holds. A crimson effect explodes, sending the massive body that was closing in on the 'boar' flying straight up.
I glance over my shoulder for a split second. The rescued target, who had fallen on their rear, is in one piece. All good. Mission complete.
As a follow-up, I fire [Alv Stella] from my right. The 'tiger,' its throat pierced by the sword's tip, perishes without withstanding the massive, continuous damage and explodes. It drops a relic that's larger and shines brighter than those of the small fry, signaling its defeat—and then the whistle blows again.
Jeez... I don't even have a moment to catch my breath!!
9:00 AM, the morning after the no-holds-barred fireworks display.
Was this a scheduled event before the finale, or perhaps karma for someone who went a little too wild? A 'morning raid,' breaking all previous patterns with its boisterousness, had enveloped the final day's morning in an unprecedented clamor.
...Even for an alarm clock, isn't this a bit much?
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"Man... I'm glad that ended so quickly. That was a big help."
Not quite 10:00 AM—the surprise morning raid came to an end in about twenty minutes.
As repair work began on the damage that had occurred here and there throughout the base due to the sudden response, the boss, Oaks-san, let out a sigh of relief—a silver lining.
However, on his face as he worked to reset the damaged defensive walls... or rather, on the faces of every single group member, a similar expression could be seen.
In short, Something... was off.
Because of that, I, who was helping the boss with materials, couldn't just give a casual, "Yeah, you're right." It took me a moment to gather my thoughts before I answered.
"Those Stardust Beasts, they moved differently than before, didn't they?"
"...So it looked that way to a ranker's eyes too, huh."
When I finally presented my blunt conclusion, he scratched his cheek as if to say, "This is bad."
...Their faces and builds are nothing alike, but his calm way of speaking and default worried expression sometimes overlap with my father's. That's a secret, though.
"Everyone talks like I'm so experienced, but I'm just a newbie who's only been playing Arcadia for a few months, you know? When I'm faced with something unknown, what comes out of my mouth is mostly just a hunch."
"Your playtime might be short, but the number of life-or-death battles you've been through is on a different level from us, so it can't be helped."
"There you go again, being all modest."
Over these three days, we've all gotten close enough that trading lighthearted banter is as easy as breathing—well, since we finished breakfast before the raid, I guess it's after-breakfast banter now.
But this is no time for silly jokes.
"They were coordinated... or maybe smarter... Anyway, their movements felt tactical, you know?"
"Yeah. It was completely different from their usual, incorrigible one-trick-pony tactic of just spawning all at once and swarming us."
The new 'tiger' type was a minor change compared to the sudden leap in intelligence of the entire group... Incidentally, one player managed to successfully tame the giant tiger, and I'm super jealous, but let's set that aside for now. Congratulations, Beckett-san.
—In any case, the raid style this time, with large and small enemies mixed together, attacking in small 'squads' with poking attacks, was a real pain.
No matter how fast I can race across the battlefield, I ultimately only have one body. If they all attack at once in a 'ring,' I can just sweep around once and be done with it, but it's a bit tough when they stagger their timing and hit us with a continuous offensive that leaves no time to breathe.
Inevitably, there are moments when my reaction is too slow.
"We managed because the scale of the raid was on the smaller side... I guess."
In terms of numbers, it was nowhere near the night raids. If they had followed their usual pattern, it would have been over in five minutes, not twenty.
We were delayed by their military-like tactics... to rephrase it based on my deductions, something forced us to expend unnecessary resources.
Though I may downplay it myself, I have a decent amount of faith in my own hunches. And right now, my hunch is confidently telling me one thing—
"For now, let's finish these repairs quickly and have a strategy meeting."
"I couldn't agree more. It seems we're not going to be allowed a peaceful survival after all."
On this, the grand final day, the one premonition I had—an obvious one that didn't even need to be said—was that the last night raid to cap off the finale was going to be absolutely insane.