kscans

Chapter 675 - Incidentally, Things That Come Onto Land Don't Count as Objects of Fear

The law of magic is established, and water emerges.

In a flash, it swallowed the limestone cave, which was by no means spacious in any direction, and as the space filled with water—an immense sense of wrongness immediately surfaced in my mind.

It wasn't about my avatar being amazing for taking zero damage despite being buffeted by the spectacular force of the [Flood] torrent I had unleashed without reservation after getting my party members' consent.

Unless there was some kind of shockwave interference from a certain 'Heroine' or some other plus-alpha factor like a poison swamp nearby, a Level 100 body wouldn't lose to a mere intense water current.

No, the true source of this wrongness was…

"—This isn't… water…?"

Even though I should be facing restrictions far more exaggerated than in reality, being completely submerged in water has only resulted in a slight hindrance to my movements.

There's a world of difference compared to the river I dived into on the way to this limestone cave. Furthermore, there's no discomfort of clothing sticking to my body whatsoever.

To top it off, the murmur I let out, half in doubt, was clearly released as a 'voice.' Seeing the surprised expression on Sora-san's face, whose long golden hair is being combed by the water right next to me, it's probably not just my imagination.

No, I don't know for sure. I don't know, but I'm almost certain.

The [Flood] spell I activated didn't actually cast; it feels like my magic power was just taken to activate something else—that chilling sensation a moment ago, like something invisible being pulled out of my body, was probably something like that.

I glanced over and my eyes met Tetra's, who gave a faint smile.

"You can talk, and you can breathe too."

He casually revealed the answer to the three of us who, apart from the knowledgeable Kanata, were in the dark. He probably figured that not just me, who had looked at him, but also Sora and Ui-san, who were floating nearby, had already realized it before he said anything.

That's all well and good, but what in the world happened here?

Was it something like, activating any kind of water magic triggers a conquest event? If so, maybe a little splash of [Aqua] would have been better than a gushing [Flood].

No matter how much of a nuisance my grand waterfall summoning art is, it couldn't possibly have flooded the entire surrounding area, let alone the end of the visible passage. In that case, it's more natural to think that some kind of gimmick caused the entire maze to become like this.

But still…

"This is fantasy at its finest…"

"H-How strange………… W-Wow, I can really talk…!"

From various sensations, I can tell it's not 'water,' but if asked what it is, I'd have trouble answering with anything other than 'water.' Therefore, even though my reason understands it's different, my instincts perceive that I'm in water. My head is about to short-circuit.

Sora-san is getting hyped up with a mix of curiosity and fear, but as for me… well, as for me, it's not a problem.

It's just that, you know, it's only the sea that's the problem. As long as it's not teeming with vibrant, poisonous seaweed, or infested with fish with crazed eyes,

just being underwater is fine, it's really—dammit, I just thought if I splashed some water around, some random gimmick might activate, I never thought it would actually turn into a full underwater field like this—

"…………Haru-kun? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Are you alright?"

"Y-Yes…? I am, yes. I'm perfectly fine…"

My master, who must have seen through my poker face with something other than my partner's telepathy, came floating over to me in this space that felt more like low gravity than underwater, and offered words of concern.

And in response, I reflexively said I was fine, but I was too quick and cut her off. Her puzzled expression is only natural. Calm down, me, this is inside a game.

…And among us, the only one who could possibly understand the reason for my strange behavior.

Sora-san, who must have remembered the 'thalassophobia episode' I shared at the Yotsuya residence dinner table once, opened her mouth with a realization of "Ah…"—and at that moment.

Just a minute or so after the unknown water-submersion gimmick activated.

So, what happens from here?—as if to shut down any impatient player's retort, two new changes occurred.

First, a new icon lit up under the status bars of all five of us, displayed at the edge of our vision. It's a difficult shape to describe, but if I'm not mistaken… it's probably a depiction of a pursed mouth with bubbles escaping from it.

What that means can be easily inferred from the MP bar, which began to slowly decrease at the same time the icon lit up. I can't help but think, 'Why MP instead of HP?' but I can ponder the settings and other complicated things later.

And the second change, this is the main one. The 'path' that had been laid out continuously in the maze. The 'script' inscribed on it began to glow faintly, then brightly…

—Oh, thank God.

"Alright, if it's not fish, I'm not scared…!"

"Huh… what are you talking about?"

"Fish…?"

"Haru-kun?"

"Ah, haha…"

Three question marks were thrown at the sigh of relief and honest words that escaped my mouth, and one conflicted gaze that seemed to say, 'Good for you.'

From the moment I decided to come here, the lair of the Great Spirit of Water, I had braced myself to power through even if 'hell' awaited… but alas, I am relieved.

The glowing characters rose one after another from the water, forming bodies that contained the transparent scenery within them. These beings, with various characters as their cores, were unmistakably… birds.

Their forms were composed of only the bare minimum parts—a head, torso, tail, and wings—making it difficult to guess their motif at a glance. They vaguely resembled seagulls, but the seagulls I know are not monsters approaching two meters in length, so I'll classify them as a different species of bird.

I won't ask why about the various details.

In fact, please, stay that way until the end.

"Well now, this must be part of the puzzle too…"

The enemy's name, [Ripis Aquia (Aqueous Spirit of Separation)]—a name that sounds vaguely familiar—appeared. Not just in front of us, but from both front and back, about twenty of them surrounded us.

The full picture of the gimmick is still unknown. But if an enemy has appeared, then,

"Alright, I'll leave the command to you, Clan Master."

"………………Is that necessary?"

Of course it is.

Let's clear them out quickly and get off to a flying start.