Chapter 475 - The White Star Clad in Red, The Blue Star Clad in Black, Part One
It’s been three years since I bought [Arcadia] and became a resident of this virtual world. To be honest, there have been more than a few times I’ve questioned the game system, which lacks the fairness typical of an MMO.
I am aware of my own seemingly endless growth.
But the celestial beings who soar through the heavens are so far away that I’m certain I could never catch up, no matter how many years I spend on this slow path.
So far I can’t touch them. So far that sometimes, even when I strain my eyes, I can’t even see them.
I can’t count the number of times my admiration turned to jealousy. The number of times I’ve scoffed at the developer’s slogan, ‘The possibility is given equally to all,’ thinking it was a lie… it has happened countless times.
And yet, the reason I can’t leave this virtual world, the reason I don’t get fed up, the reason I can keep going without giving up—the answer is simple and clear.
It’s because when I do manage to strain my eyes and catch a glimpse of them, even if I can’t touch them…
“—Ah, damn it… that’s so freaking cool.”
They, the ones shining in the distant heights, forever out of reach…
They burn my eyes, time and time again, with a brilliance so intense that it makes me want to reach for them anyway.
They kick aside the category of ‘game’—and time and time again, they reawaken the admiration for the heroes of stories I dreamed of as a child.
Admiration and jealousy are two sides of the same coin.
Because they exist, we who can’t escape the ordinary sometimes feel our hearts sink.
And yet, because they exist, we who bear the title of ordinary, can continue to dream, countless times…
…an endless dream in this world.
“…Alright, let’s give it our all, boys! Let’s show our general what we’re made of!!”
Someone’s loud cry of passion ignited a fiery response from all those on the ground.
In the distant heights.
Like innocent children, they chased after the dazzling “star”—the one that had felled dozens of lesser stars with a single flash of light—on and on, forever.
◇◆◇◆◇
With the overflowing ‘red’ in tow, I clad myself in ‘crimson’ with a shattering sound and stepped into the sky, crossing the night. An instant later, the ground I had bid farewell to was far below.
I couldn’t count the impacts. I had simply leaped straight up, and the results were countless… I mean, I knew it, but this thing is insane.
It feels a bit strange saying it myself, but this is definitely the kind of lawless weapon that shouldn’t be in the hands of someone like me—however…
“Tch… are you serious? You dodged that?”
I had jumped out without turning off my thought acceleration, so honestly, I couldn’t visually process what had happened. But the fact that my main target had escaped my greeting and fled to an even higher altitude was right there in my field of vision.
The Stardust Beast, adorned from head to toe in the starry sky, had no eyes, but I could tell it was calmly looking down on me, showing no signs of panic or fear.
It was a dragon, but its form was different from both Western and Eastern dragons. It had a long tail, but considering the distinctive silhouette of its head with its large beak, calling it a “pterosaur” might be the most fitting description.
Its appearance was similar to its smaller minions—though calling them small would be an understatement—but its size, nearly double theirs, truly screamed ‘boss.’ It wouldn’t be strange for it to have some special abilities befitting a boss monster.
To be honest, I was thoroughly surprised. Why? Because…
“—Heh, not bad.”
…at least among enemies, it was the first opponent since the Four Pillar War to react to my top speed.
To express my honest feelings, I was thrilled—but a sharp sting in my right hand from my partner served as a polite reminder not to get carried away.
An opponent with some kind of ability to handle my top gear is more than welcome.
In that case, let’s go into overdrive.
“Recall.”
That name was beyond the framework of a ‘skill’; it was the destination my switching skill, `Construction`, had reached.
Under the command of “Recall,” I summoned a new ‘crimson’ weapon to my left hand and activated [Eyes Oculus] and [Lumina Raygust]. My mind was on the verge of overloading from controlling my posture and skills during aerial maneuvers, but I forced it to comply with brute force using my doubled thought speed.
Furthermore, I activated [Floating Leaf], trigger.
My avatar, its gravitational and weight-based shackles minimized, was sent flying like a leaf by the intense recoil of the crimson gun—and the path ahead was already paved.
Just a split second before pulling the trigger, I had kicked off a small rabbit knife, and now I used it as a foothold for a sharp turn. I unsparingly used ‘Matoi,’ which combines ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ force to rebound, and accelerated further.
Thankfully, aside from the small “bird” types… or rather, the “rooster” types running through the sky, the massive bodies of the “dragon” types all around served as excellent footholds.
Using the starry sky, which now appeared to be standing perfectly still, as my stepping stones, I accelerated even more.
Accelerate, accelerate, accelerate, accelerate, accelerate.
All I needed to move were my legs. Leaving the rest to my right golden eye, which defied the flow of time, I just kept soaring through the sky…
Time was, about thirty seconds flat?
“—Alright, let’s start over.”
In the night sky, now devoid of all its glitter, I spoke to one of the two remaining stars… this time from a different position, from above.
High in the sky, in my own body. In contrast to my white hair on the left, which whipped violently in the absurd gale, the pure white that had been still in my right hand now trailed a constantly flowing blade of ‘red.’
Following its evolution to the second tier, my soul-bound weapon had gained a new power upon reaching the third tier: the new technique of the [Alv Call]. This Ver. 2, [Helia], strangely reinforced Arche’s theory of the ‘red circle as a biological exoskeleton.’
The mysterious substance overflowing from the gem glittered with a crystal-like hardness, completely engulfing the [Alv Stella] and my arm, fusing them into one. My right arm, a red crystal from which a weapon grew, looked completely inhuman, but it had a sort of over-the-top coolness to it, so it was all good.
The flowing ‘red’ became a sword, a spear, a hammer, rampaging as it pleased with a power and range reminiscent of the tentacles that had wreaked havoc in the battle against the White Throne—and the result was this pristinely clean sky.
The cost was zero. However, if I accepted the incredibly straightforward and absurd restriction of my avatar’s right arm becoming uncontrollable…
This arm becomes the scythe of a death god, automatically reaping any who stand in its way.
…Now then, are you ready, Mr. Pteranodon Boss?
Unlike the small fry, who at least seemed to show some signs of hostility and resistance, you just keep staring at me, your intentions and will completely unreadable—
“—You have ten seconds. Get him, Stella.”
Too bad that doesn’t matter.
This time, I have no intention of giving up a one-sided perfect game.
Since this was a no-mercy, full-power move to protect the party, let's just barely judge it as heroic instead of villainous.