kscans

Chapter 811 - And So Come, O Children of Blue, There Is No Way to Close the Door, Part Five

About ten minutes. Cursing the fact that we were likely at the farthest possible position, almost completely opposite from our target, we were heading towards the call for help signaled by the guiding "thread" when it happened.

"—Tch, what was that…!?"

On the back of Sapphire, who was flying through the sky at top speed, I reflexively shouted, my eyes fixed on the distance.

"H-Huh…?"

And at the end of the gaze of Nia, who had somehow managed to finish processing the stacked cores and was now slumped exhaustedly in my arms, her shoulders twitching slightly.

"…"

And beside me, in the glowing yellow eyes of the kitten who was calmly watching the situation unfold, narrowing her eyes. The anomaly that had occurred was both clear and spectacular.

Straight ahead, at our destination, which we had been closing in on while glaring at the dwindling seconds of our remaining time. Still far in the distance, a tower of deep green light shot up into the sky.

"—A 'victory salute'…"

If Nia was thinking the same thing, then all three of our thoughts were aligned. The only familiar words to describe the sight before us were the ones Natsume-senpai had just muttered.

It was the light phenomenon that occurs when an unconquered dungeon is cleared for the first time, a pillar of light illuminating the high heavens. Although the color was green instead of the usual red, no player would mistake that sight.

I had never actually seen it from the outside with my own eyes, but since I've accumulated knowledge from the archives in the real world, I was no exception. The way the pillar rose was exactly the same.

And then,

"…So? What—"

What happened? What changed, what shifted?

I was keenly aware of the precious seconds ticking by—one, two, three—and an impatient sound was about to escape my lips when it happened.

"—Gah…!!?"

"—Whoa, Eek!?"

"—Nya…!?"

Three different voices, but all tinged with the same color of surprise. It was only natural.

We were high in the sky, on the back of a dragon…—and yet, a vibration reached us. A tremor, as if a giant monster had punched the very earth from below, shot through the otherworldly land, and the roar of the ground struck our eardrums.

And so, atop Sapphire, who had intelligently aborted her flight and shifted to a stable hovering position, we all reflexively grabbed onto each other, and on top of our huddled mass, someone's "thread" wrapped around us, binding us tightly together…

"""…"""

We naturally held our breath, waiting for further anomalies, but it seemed there were no more tremors or aftershocks.

I see, it seems the situation has stabilized—leaving behind three new anomalies that were now easily visible, brought about by the tremor.

Three "towers."

Each in the far distance. If you included the location of the recent victory salute, they seemed to form a square. Unlike the pillar of light that pierced the heavens, these were more like shimmering, rising pillars of mana… or rather, they probably were—

"What is that… It's like I'm looking at the sun…!"

Nia's words, spoken after she saw them with her glowing azure twin stars, confirmed it. They were indeed towers of rising mana.

"…Haru."

"Yeah."

Close. When I turned at the voice, I was surprised by how close her glowing yellow eyes were, but with all due respect to everyone involved, this was absolutely not the time to be concerned about that.

Something had happened. The situation had shifted. Without a doubt, the stage has progressed somehow.

However, the remaining time was just under ten minutes.

The countdown has not been extended. We are still, and have always been, on the very edge of a cliff. There's no time to leisurely ponder things, no time for idle chatter.

"Which one has no one around it?"

"That one."

As I asked, my senpai naturally pointed to the farthest tower.

"What about the other two?"

"Probably just barely manageable. If we send only the special forces and a few nearby squads, and the rest buy time for us as if their lives depended on it… that should, probably, be just enough."

"Alright, I get it. Let's go with that."

There was no other choice.

Even if I could see that the place I needed to go was so far away it made me want to curse, and even if I knew I couldn't reach it in ten minutes even at a full sprint.

"Nia-chan."

"Y-Yes…"

If you do it, it can be done.—Fortunately, I have the trump card for that right here.

"It's time to use it. Let's do this."

"Ah…—R-Roger that…!"

And the reply that came back was a spirited, almost desperate shout, tinged with a hint of tragedy. Again, this wasn't the time, but… fully understanding that I was forcing her to do something difficult, I steeled myself to 'make it up to her' later, while she,

"Vis! It's your turn!"

On top of his master, who was on top of a dragon. The stardust that emerged from the shadows in response to her call scurried up and, on top of her head, a single, tiny mouse shone with white stars like a pair of eyes.

Its nickname is Vis… but for some reason, Nia says its official name is a secret. This little mouse was the King of the Zodiac, whom I had dealt a rather unfortunate blow to during a past event.

Its taming condition was probably 'to find it.' In other words, this Stardust Beast, a perfect match for the [Milmarinus], held only one power within its body.

"—"

In place of a squeak, the soundless starlight let out a high-pitched cry of magical energy.

Then, what shone was, of course,

"Alright Sapphire, it's the king's 'imperial command'—let's fly!"

None other than the blue star that serves me.

Limited special ability: 'Lightspeed (Star Return Flight)'—a power that can only be used upon receiving the command from the special ability of Nia's little mouse, Vis, 'Remrita (Rat King's Command).'

It is the power to convert its own body into a tiny 'dragon star' instead of a 'shooting star,' breaking through its own speed limit. That power, which I once easily overcame, was by no means something to be taken lightly.

Because it was a power that truly shone only when it had something to carry on its back.

In the sky of a changing world, the starlight dragon embraced the humans on its back with its wings, transforming into a point of light. And the tiny star, which normally would be impossible to see without straining one's eyes,

Combined its own power—and the power of its master, with whom it had forged a bond—and,

Became a fiercely glowing blue star that shot across the sky, leaving time itself behind.

---

— ◇Status / RIM◇ Name：Sapphire Lv：57 STR(Strength)：10 AGI(Agility)：360 MID(Mind)：200 —
※Since these are monster-based stats, the numbers do not correspond to player performance. Do not challenge it to an arm-wrestling match with STR: 10.

◇'Lightspeed (Star Return Flight)'
As written in the main text, it's an inherent ability of the transformed [—] that allows it to break its speed limit by turning its body and its companions into a tiny star. The key is that it's not a simple 'super acceleration skill' but a 'power to break the speed limit.' In other words, it's a power that allows it to achieve a speed even beyond the maximum speed it could output through any means. To put it simply, it can go about 1.3 times faster.

And when it flies with a being it has bonded with and allowed on its back, the dragon also borrows the power of its knight. This means Sapphire can 'add the speed of the protagonist (idiot) who has gone beyond his limits by unstintingly pouring in every means at his disposal to achieve his absolute maximum speed on top of her own limit-breaking speed' to fly through the sky. Mach speed is a yawn.

Note that the passengers who appear to be absorbed are not actually assimilated; they are in a state of '—Now heading to player destination—' with a sense of floating similar to teleportation. However, there is a side effect where your senses are mercilessly shaken according to the output speed, so non-exceptional people may or may not take quite a bit of damage. Poor Nia.

On another note, there are too many steps in this whole process. I can't see the end of this, give me a break.