Chapter 794 - To the Gathering Place
The domain where [Green Connect, Jehatreglie] resided was located five hundred kilometers due west of the Great Bell Tower in the players’ primary base, the [Safe Area].
It was the central point of a place where a ‘nation’ once stood, one of four such locations to the east, south, and north.
A massive crater several kilometers in diameter, looking as if a divine hand had scooped out the earth. There are four such craters in this virtual world… no, five, if you include the lair of the [White Throne], which for some reason had ventured away from the [Garden of Divine Creation] and into a beginner’s field.
They were Arcadia’s greatest challenges, the five colored pillars secretly acknowledged by the administration and developers—the ‘stakeholders’—as ‘content related to the game’s grand clear.’
The detailed story is still unknown. But with a transcendent and overwhelmingly profound presence that certainly hinted at a ‘past,’ that… umm, that…
…
“—In the end, what is that thing, biologically?”
“A turtle, right?”
“Isn’t it a dragon-like turtle…?”
“Its face is rather square, so it could also be a hippo…”
“Ahaha… It seems everyone’s opinions converge on those three choices.”
And so, just as the trio of white, blue, and gray stated their respective impressions, no perfect term to describe its form has been settled upon, neither among us nor in the wider world.
That ‘dragon-like turtle with a hippo face’ continues to fill the massive crater with its absurdly colossal body, as motionless as ever today. The scale is just as insane as always.
“Man, being able to fly is just too broken. When you can ignore the environment and all obstacles to travel in a straight line, even a journey of hundreds of kilometers feels like nothing…”
Past noon, high in the sky.
Setting out on a roughly five-hundred-kilometer journey an hour before the meeting time might sound reckless on paper, but with these cheerful ‘wings,’ it was a breeze.
We soared through the sky with ease, successfully arriving a full ten minutes early. Honestly, as its master, I couldn't agree more with Natsume-senpai’s comment.
“—If everyone could tame a flying [Stardust Beast], the world would shrink dramatically, and not just metaphorically. …Though, at present, that’s impossible for anyone but a certain someone.”
A rare voice spoke up from Sapphire’s back. Irori, who had naturally handled his first-ever high-speed flight with a cool expression, shot me an irritating half-lidded glare.
“What’s with that look? You should be grateful I gave you a ride.”
“Thank you. I’d appreciate a lift on the way back, too.”
And with that, the invincible samurai leaped off Sapphire's back as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Behind me, Nia, who had also been carried along, let out a cry of “Nyeh…!?”, but there was no need to worry.
A fall from a mere hundred meters is hardly dangerous.
“—Rank-holders are all idiots.”
“The fact that you can say that right here, in this spot, is impressive in a lot of ways, Kagura-san…”
And then, a second rare voice. The person behind me, and one more behind her. She was the final of the eight passengers on Sapphire, a group consisting of the five full members of clan [Azure Sky], plus a kitten and a samurai.
Even though it was her first time, just like Irori, she was just as composed. My Stardust Beast had casually broken five hundred kilometers per hour, and our resident magitech artisan had simply offered an enthusiastic ‘Nice,’ showing off a vitality, or rather, a level of guts, that exceeded my expectations.
But they were the only two exceptions. Kagura-san, who had just dropped the problematic statement “all idiots” while on the back of a dragon filled with rank-holders, herself included, didn't seem bothered in the slightest.
“I can’t really deny it…”
“Well, I’d like to be considered separate from the really crazy ones at the top.”
“And I’d like the West to be separate, too. I wish they’d change the name from ‘rank-holder’ to ‘seat-holder’ or something to make a clear and firm distinction.”
“Hee hee.”
Incidentally, the others felt the same way. There were no signs of complaint from the remaining qualified individuals—Natsume-senpai, Tetra, Nia, and Ui-san—which gave a vague sense of the pecking order.
It seems my ‘Weaver of Legends’ is quite a formidable character, just as I thought.
“…Senpai, aren’t you getting down?”
Now then, we were above our destination. Since it was before the meeting time, a large crowd of players had already gathered below. Naturally, we were being showered with countless gazes, like rain falling upwards.
As I kept Sapphire hovering in the sky, exchanging idle chatter with my fellow passengers and blankly observing the scene on the ground, Tetra asked me an incredulous question.
My apologies, but please forgive me.
“Well… it’s just… what an incredible sight.”
“It’s amazing… so big…”
“Ah… yeah. This is my first time seeing it in person, too. It’s magnificent.”
As the three of them had their gazes captivated by interest and what-not.
Five hundred kilometers from the [Safe Area]. Although technically still inside the first ‘circle,’ the [Beginner Circle], this was, of course, a non-safe zone.
It’s unclear whether it’s due to the pressure exerted by the anomalous presence of [Green Connect], but there are no enemy territories in this immediate area. However, for several hundred players to ‘meet up’ on a field far from any town is a major undertaking.
Everyone has their own circumstances. Very few could depart at the last minute and make it in time like us; some may have even traveled here the day before.
In short, those players would normally have to camp out… that is, they would have to take the risk of logging out while leaving their avatars in a non-safe zone.
Needless to say, that’s not good.
It’s not just about the death penalty. The farther one travels, the greater the risk of a respawn resetting all the progress made, which cannot be ignored.
Even if they make it through safely, the mental toll of gambling like that every time is unavoidable. It’s a problem unique to Arcadia's ‘travel,’ an issue that exists because the world is too vast for a game.
So, what I’m getting at is that if there were a means to solve all these problems at once, it would be a top-tier ‘power’ in this virtual world.
Something like, for example—the gigantic barrier right below us.
“The maximum diameter is just over a kilometer, right…?”
“Apparently. It might still be expanding a little right now.”
“That’s seriously insane…”
A perfect circle drawn around a triangle formed by three vertices. If you look closely, you can see shining lines composed of complex and intricate magical patterns running along the ground, forming a massive domain.
[Three Laws Protection Barrier]—I think that’s what it was called? It is a law, created through the cooperation of three rank-holders from the northern faction, Nortalia, that creates an absolute safe zone, impenetrable to enemies, with an unlimited duration.
“Hah, what a luxurious base camp.”
“What are you talking about? A [Colored Monster] raid is exactly the kind of content where you should pour in everything you possibly can.”
“That’s true… Alright. Okay everyone, we’re going down.”
After Natsume-senpai's curt retort to my musing made me instantly agree, I cut short my admiration of the ridiculously fantastical scene and sent a mental command to Sapphire to descend.
Our landing spot will be… oh, yeah, right there.
For now, let’s aim for that person in fresh green who’s jumping up and down energetically.