Chapter 815 - sign in to guest account……accept.
"—…It's all… gone."
And so, those were the words murmured by someone looking up at the sky somewhere in the 'other world.'
"The special individuals, all of them defeated…?"
Those were the words of someone watching the towers of light that had erupted with a great tremor—a tremor that perhaps shook only the pillar that governed color, or perhaps resonated throughout the entire virtual world, beyond the bounds of the raid.
"…Now what?"
With the four points conquered, the world offered no further reaction, as if to say, 'It's not over yet.'
"""What's going to happen…?"""
With little time to analyze their questions, every player who had crossed the boundary continued to fight, striving to fulfill their respective roles. In the end—
"—I… think… I get it… now…!"
The first to grasp the tail of the unknown was a maiden whose eyes, capable of seeing through all things, shone brightly, driven by the passion of love.
◇◆◇◆◇
"—Is this for real?!"
"—Seriously?!"
And so, it was impossible to hold back the shouts.
The cheers that burst forth reflexively came not just from my own mouth, but from across from me as well. Natsume-senpai and I had been holding our breath, and what we received was a single ray of hope.
Less than ten minutes had passed since the analysis began.
Which meant we had precious little time remaining. We couldn't afford to break her concentration; all we could do was trust and wait for Nia, who had accepted that trust from us—
"There's no time for anything, is there?!"
"None at all!"
"Just do whatever you can!"
—to connect with us, her voice strained with fatigue yet kicking aside despair, conveying only the fact that there was no time for explanations, for seeking agreement, or for sharing the situation with our distant allies.
Five ticks were left on the count.
In just fifty short seconds, our defeat in this raid would be sealed.
"—System Call—Relocate!!"
Taking the hands of us who were watching from either side, she slammed the fruits of her analysis into the world… and the next phase that arrived was…
"Unit codes—[Nier], [Haru], [Natsume]!"
…a flash of teleportation, connecting this place and that, as blue requested and azure answered.
""—!""
"—Gah… nice!"
A moment of disconnection, and then reconnection. Carried, brought along, and thrown out, my eyes widened at the unknown scenery that opened up before me—but it was just me and my senior.
I had instinctively scooped her up to brace for the teleportation, leaving the landing entirely to me. As if she had known from the start… no, she had known.
With a spirited cry, Nia pushed off from my arms, kicking her own virtual body forward as if to shake off her exhaustion, and broke into a sprint.
And the place she ran toward so desperately…
…was a small, quiet space.
A space without sound, without scent, filled only with a cold air.
A lonely space, filled with nothing but a mournful, dim darkness.
"Huh…?!"
"What in the world is that…?!"
There was only one thing.
As if to reject true darkness, a green crystal glowed faintly. A single laptop, with that tiny, marble-sized object displayed on its screen.
Without a moment's hesitation, Nia threw herself at it.
"—Program!"
Not stroking the screen, not touching the keyboard, she simply held her hands over it and activated her own arts, her voice hoarse with fatigue and anxiety.
"No wonder its mana is at zero! This thing isn't alive! —Well, no, it is alive, but it's also, ah, not that, it's more like it's already dead… —Whatever, just!"
I didn't understand, but her words seemed to be an explanation for us, who could only stand there dumbfounded, and a recap for herself.
"This is the main body! Everything else is just a mishmash of connected parts! It started out smaller than anything else, and over thousands, tens of thousands of years, it grew bigger than anything else!"
Thirty-something seconds remaining.
—Click.
"No wonder it's so docile despite its scary face…! It's not an enemy, it was just waiting. It's so broken that it can't fulfill its 'role' anymore…!"
Twenty-something seconds remaining.
—Click, click.
"It's not a 'time limit,' it's a 'grace period' this thing gave us! It's been working so hard to suppress its own power, which would normally go berserk and absorb everything indiscriminately the moment we were invited in. That's the only reason we can even be here!"
Ten seconds left.
Now, as if burning through her last reserves, the [Milmarinus] manipulated the 'puzzle' with a ferocity and speed we had never seen before. The two of us could only continue to stare, utterly dumbfounded.
Of course, we had no idea what she was talking about. And naturally, we had no idea what was happening.
But—
"That's why!"
Nine seconds.
"In other words!"
Eight seconds.
"Basically!"
Seven seconds.
"You were—"
Six, five, four seconds.
Click, click, click-click-click-click-click.
Click.
"—calling out for 'help,' weren't you!!!!!"
Leaving everyone's understanding in the dust, the aquamarine's skill and emotion raced onward—to zero.
"Hah… haaah… heheh… hehehehe…"
The count… was gone.
It had taken the limit icon that signaled our defeat along with it.
""……………………"
And we were still alive.
There were no changes to our status, no sign of our HP and avatars being suddenly erased. We were simply allowed to continue existing in this quiet space.
And so, the fierce air that had clung to Nia instantly dissipated. A limp, floppy smile spread across her face as she collapsed, utterly spent.
"What in the world was I even saying… that was scary…"
With a voice so faint it sounded like she might die at any moment, she revealed that her lack of understanding was something she genuinely shared with us.
I see. So she didn't know what was going on, but she somehow managed to do something, and it worked out… Well, just as Natsume-senpai had said a little while ago…
…it's the kind of thing that happens all the time in this world, Arcadia.
—And now.
"…Uh, hey, sorry to bother you when you're exhausted… Nia-san?"
"……………………"
Those words she'd rattled off, which apparently even she didn't fully comprehend—she could explain them later for all I cared.
Right now, what we—that is, the combatants taking over the stage from the artisan who looked like she had just successfully completed some kind of 'job'—needed to ask was…
"What, uh… what's coming?"
…just one thing.
It was the only reason for the faint tremors my skin could feel, and the intense, dreadful premonition my consciousness was sensing.
"""……………………"
The two of us, unable to keep up with the situation, were still being rushed along by time. The one who had followed a flash of insight beyond her own understanding. Our gazes met and held for several seconds.
"……—Sorry. This might be hell."
Her words, unfitting for her gentle smile, were ominous. And so, the moment I exchanged a strained smile with the senior beside me—
The world, without a sound, exploded.
It's fine that you don't get it. The characters don't get it all, either. But about ninety percent of the elements needed to guess what's going on have been laid out in the two-point-four million characters leading up to this point.
Of course, there will be a reasonable explanation later, but any theorists out there are welcome to treat this as a snack.