Chapter 145

The day after Cayna met with the argent and the shubez, she sent the students back to the capital. A number of participants were naturally upset that their outing had lasted only one day, and complaints rose from the adventurers who had been forced to abandon their request as well. “There’s no reason to panic over a horde of monsters that might not even come!” Jild shouted at Cayna in front of the Adventurers Guild. Cayna, however, remained perfectly calm. “You’re free to take the lead and die, but don’t shoot the messenger.” Whatever questions everyone had about the sealed quest monsters, Cayna couldn’t just peek inside the Abandoned Capital. This meant she didn’t have the whole picture. Nonetheless, as far as Cayna knew, even the smallest shrimp in there could eat Jild for breakfast. He was well aware of her pitying gaze and reasonably angered by it. As Cohral watched in silence, he decided Cayna’s attitude was unhelpful and stepped between them. “Relax,” he said. “Ngh,” Jild grunted. “Fine.” “Cayna is worried about you in her own way. She might not look it, but that girl is the strongest person here right now. Still, I agree she’s got a sharp tongue and just blurts whatever is on her mind.” “What, that pip-squeak?!” Both Jild and fellow adventurers in the guild who had been listening in glanced back at Cayna incredulously. If Cayna herself had claimed this, only about half would have believed her. The Armor of Victory had been active in Felskeilo’s Adventurers Guild for many years, and a long string of successes lent their words credibility. “She’s stronger than you, Supreme Swordsman?” Jild asked Cohral. “Hmm?” “Are you saying even you’re no match for this little lady?” “Exactly. I understand you have expectations of me, but I’d be dead in an instant if I challenged her. When it comes to raw strength, Cayna can’t be beat.” “…Oh yeah? Got it.” Jild had expected a different answer, but he backed down the second Cohral admitted he was weaker than Cayna. “I feel like I messed up somehow…,” said Jild. “If you talk like a player, only other players will get it,” Cohral explained. “No matter what you say, no one else will understand. Just accept it.” “Yep,” said Cayna. “Thanks for stepping in, Cohral.” “No problem. It’s the least I can do!” Pleased by Cayna’s kind praise, Cohral thumped his chest. After pledging to lend their aid, his party members followed Jild and the Swift Horses. “I do not know your intentions, but your cut will be temporarily reduced once everything is over, Cohral,” the Armor of Victory’s leader warned with a humorless smile. “Seriously?!” “Yes, seriously.” Cohral’s shoulders slumped. “Um, my condolences…?” Cayna offered. “…Sigh.” Upon the group’s return to Felskeilo, Cayna reached out to Mai-Mai and Skargo. She also sent a letter to Kartatz saying that this was an urgent matter. Skargo quickly said he would advise the king, so it seemed each of her children was informed without issue. Afterward, Cayna summoned a Green Dragon and sent it off to deliver a letter to Sahalashade in Otaloquess. It concerned the previous night’s discussion about the Abandoned Capital barrier. She also tried contacting Opus via a Friend Message, but he had yet to respond. He was the one who first told her to go to the barrier, so Cayna figured it was only right that he be kept in the loop about the event. Her patience had long since worn thin. “Sheesh. What’s that jerk up to…?” “How should I put this, Mother? You’ve been speaking rather poorly of Uncle Opus for a while now…” “He’s not twiddling his thumbs at times like these! Trust me, I speak from experience! Opus is a nutcase even in the heat of battle.” Beside her was Mai-Mai, who had received Cayna’s message and addressed the students. After notifying everyone that the event would be held another day, Mai-Mai remained behind. Her mother had been searching for a private, spacious area to converse with her fellow players, so Mai-Mai proposed the Academy campus. Cayna took her up on this offer and changed venues to pick up where they left off. The tactics of that despicable Opus often exploited the guild members and players of his own nation. For example, in wartime he would draw over 80 percent of enemy fire to the boundary line and initiate an event that inundated the area with monsters. Cayna and two other guild members, however, were roped into defending the main base in the meantime. After summoning a wall of dragons and fighting over a thousand players for four straight hours, the trio spent the rest of the day exhausted. The fear players felt for this heinous event was indescribable, as it enveloped them in a darkness no skill could penetrate and unleashed a constant wave of monsters. Since enemy players had a respawn point in the area, participants spent the remaining half of the day in an endless cycle of revival and death. Of course, players from opposing nations who knew the culprit continued to bash Opus in the forums. Opus and his crew would also cast Disguise in advance and sneak into the Red Kingdom, which didn’t even share a border with the Black Kingdom. In the last ten minutes of the battle, they’d fire off Meteorite Drop: Giga Strike (with Buff as a cherry on top) near the boundary line. The long-range attack blasted bitter rivals blue and red indiscriminately. Since the rule had always been that the Collection Point belonged to whichever nation controlled it in the last ten minutes of battle, the Black Kingdom’s success auspiciously brought it under their possession. Both official and fan forums later exploded, and the resulting chaos pushed the Admins into a corner. They responded several days later, and needless to say, they modified the rules for occupation. Thinking back on it, Cayna couldn’t help but feel she’d been sent on a suicide mission for that very purpose. Of course, she jumped right in, despite the unfavorable odds that had been made clear to her. However, this was purely because she’d been talked into it. Opus’s silver tongue was matched only by the former sub-leader, Ebelope. More than old fury, Cayna felt a sense of exhaustion and misery each time this memory resurfaced. Mai-Mai misunderstood her silence as something dreadful, and she paled. “Don’t go diggin’ up painful old memories,” Exis begged Cayna. “Sounds to me like you got roped in, too, Tartar Sauce,” she replied. “I told you, it’s not Tartarus now, either!” Quolkeh stood next to him looking conflicted, and on his other side was Ark, smiling brightly. With a girl on each arm, he attracted the bloodshot, murderous gazes of every lovestruck fool in the vicinity but brushed these aside like a gentle breeze. Male jealousy was no match for the Cream Cheese guild’s rigorous mental training. “Not exactly sure where you came from, but it looks like you sniffed out my location,” said Cayna. “What are you talking about?” Exis demanded. “It’s easy to figure out a friend’s location if you’ve got a proper map.” “Huh? It is…?” Exis had trekked across every corner of the continent as an adventurer, so his world map was pretty much complete—unlike Cayna’s, which was spotty, since she traveled only between the major cities and the main road to the east. “He had the gall to hide from me that he can teleport,” Quolkeh grumbled. “Hey, look—you always want an ace up your sleeve, right? You never know what might happen,” Exis countered. “You could’ve at least said something…” Anyone who didn’t know the pair would easily mistake this exchange for a lovers’ quarrel. “Ah, I get it,” said Cayna. “You jumped to the closest spot and then made a beeline for me.” Exis had registered the destroyed fishing village, Luka’s home, on his map just in case. He and Quolkeh had used travel-based skills to pass through forests and rivers but were attacked by goblin soldiers once they were near Cayna’s location. They ran into her just after launching a counterattack. “Ark,” said Cayna. “Yes?” “This guy is your brother, right?” “Yes. His face got a bit nastier, but he’s definitely Tar-Tar.” “…Tar-Tar?” “Oh! Um, that was my nickname for his old avatar. It didn’t mesh well in real life, though. One day I just started calling him that…” Ark waved her hands in a frantic effort to explain, which charmed everyone except Exis, who sank into despair. “This is just how dragoids look,” he muttered. “Right, right. It’s been ages, Tar-Tar. Glad to see you’re still…your usual self. Plus, you seem to be doing well.” Ark was now so calm and composed that one had to wonder why she’d been so nervous before. Cayna was visibly shocked. “………I totally forgot she’s like this…,” Exis moaned. He heaved a deep sigh and slumped his shoulders dejectedly. Cayna remembered how everyone in the Cream Cheese guild took digs at Tartarus to get a funny reaction out of him; this must have been a daily occurrence in real life as well. She could understand making a separate account to escape his bullies in both the game and reality, but it was still a mystery why he didn’t hang up his controller. “Gee, you’re so strong and fierce now that I hardly recognized you,” Ark told him. “Drop it already!” The two were left alone to reestablish (?) their sibling bond. Quolkeh, who had been brought up to speed on Exis’s situation along the way, watched the scene with amusement. With Exis and Ark’s joyful reunion now out of the way, Cayna seamlessly switched to the topic at hand: joining forces. “You guys made the mistake of coming here, but that actually works in my favor, so help a girl out, please and thanks.” “You really couldn’t put that any nicer, huh?” asked Quolkeh. “I’d say you’ve got it pretty good if this much absurdity is throwing you for a loop.” “You mean it gets worse?!” “Don’t start with her, Quolkeh,” Exis cautioned. “Even back in the guild, Cayna was a special brand of absurdity.” “Um, could you not lump me together with Opus and Ebelope?” “You’re exactly as bad as they are! Just in a different way!” “Whaaa?!” ““She’s legit surprised…?”” Quolkeh and Cohral muttered in exasperation. This confirmed their suspicions that top-level guild members were a different breed of odd. Mai-Mai, meanwhile, stood by idly, no longer able to follow the conversation. Kuu tugged on Cayna’s ear and urged her to get back on topic. “The Abandoned Capital! The Abandoned Capital!” Finally, Cayna remembered what she wanted to say and pressed a palm to her fist. “Anyway, I wanted to ask you guys to help exterminate the Abandoned Capital’s monsters. How about it?” She made this sound like a leisurely monster hunt. Her fellow players shared the same sentiment: “““That’s a job for a Skill Master! Keep us out of this!!””” Cohral, Quolkeh, and Exis vehemently shot her down, but Ark appeared clueless. Since they’d be involved, Cayna explained the growing monster situation and how the argent’s Fence was on its last leg. “Don’t turn your back on a fellow player,” Cayna urged. “Although I’ll admit there’s a good chance you’ll end up in the line of fire. Could you at least help me clean up the chumps that slip through the cracks?” “Hmm. The Abandoned Capital’s pretty massive, though. It might be dilapidated, but it was still the capital of the Brown Kingdom. You say the place is infested with monsters—how many monsters are we talkin’ here?” asked Exis. “He’s got a point,” said Quolkeh. “It’s impossible for the four of us. We don’t even know what levels these monsters are.” Back in the game, each of the seven capitals arbitrarily became starter areas for new players. Thanks to this, one purpose they served was to provide support and a suitable place to buy beginner weapons and items. Moreover, materials harvested on individual hunts found their way to player-run vendors that specialized in item production. Each region was different, and there was a myriad of local specialties. In addition, sprawling dungeons were typically built underground, so midlevel players (around level 500) could play along the capitals’ outskirts. These might be subterranean waterways, an ancient city buried beneath the foundation, a secret base built by some magician as a hobby, or a research facility sealed away after a chemical accident. The backstory changed with each city. The worst among these was the Black Kingdom, which was constantly overflowing with riches. Deep in an underground cavern, descendants of a demon king apparently kept an eagle eye on the world above and sought to rule it. Needless to say, the nation was not friendly to novices in any capacity. Sure enough, this was the root of Exis’s concerns. A monster infestation on the surface was one thing, but if there was an underground facility beneath the capital, it could swell to three times that number. How could a few players eliminate all the enemies crammed down there? Of course, Cayna was a Leadale addict like Exis/Tartarus and had taken this into account as well. “I bet their levels run the gamut,” Cayna said. “C’mon, take this seriously! How can four people handle somethin’ like that?” “We’ll have Opus, too. Plus it’s not like we can just sit around and do nothing. I don’t want to imagine any more kids ending up orphaned like Luka, so I’ve been using my connections to sound out the defenses of all three nations.” “…Maybe you’ve been at this for a while,” started Quolkeh, “but the fact you can ask each government for help blows my mind…” Cayna smiled uncomfortably. For whatever reason, the Foster Children and relatives she encountered were deeply involved in various state affairs. Most of them were too busy to travel abroad, due to their positions. Mai-Mai, who stood grinning in front of Cayna, was no exception. “How did things turn out this way…?” Cayna asked. “It is because of your personal virtue, Mother!” “What virtue is that? I was gone for two hundred years. It makes zero sense…” The whole situation made her want to sigh. This was soon accompanied by a piercing howl from above. A Black Dragon with massive wings and a body the size of a gymnasium skidded to a halt. It was level 550. In terms of the Summoning Magic: Dragon spell, it boasted unmatched strength like the Red Dragon but also specialized in long-range magic. Cayna had often called upon it in times of war. Then, two people alighted from its back. The first was Opus, who wore a pure black coat. The second was his constant maid Siren. “Please forgive our tardiness, Lady Cayna,” said Siren. “You’re still hanging around here?” Opus teased. “Uncle Opus?” “Damn it, Opus!” Exis shouted. “Wow, two Skill Masters in one place,” said Cohral. “Wonders never cease…” “That’s terrifying somehow,” quipped Quolkeh. Mai-Mai, Exis, Cohral, and Quolkeh each felt a strange premonition in turn and made their thoughts known. Cayna alone furrowed her brow in concentration. A collaboration between Leadale’s Kongming and the Silver Ring Witch struck fear into the hearts of Cohral and Quolkeh, and Exis likewise shivered at the thought of such an alliance coming together on the eve of a decisive battle. Before anyone had a chance to speak, the momentary silence was interrupted by a massive human figure floating in the sky. Suddenly, it appeared directly over not only the Academy but also the entire capital. Something brighter than the sun glittered in the cloudless sky. Back in the castle, Shining Saber immediately prepared to unsheathe his blade but moved no further. It wasn’t just the inhabitants of the castle—every citizen across the city stared up in disbelief. This was an inevitable reaction, considering the immense scale. No citizen, traveler, adventurer, merchant, or wanderer was exempt as everyone continued to watch incredulously. The figure was concurrently visible in both Otaloquess and Helshper and also appeared above villages scattered across every region. It bewildered every corner of the continent. Queen Sahalashade froze as she handed a response letter to Cayna’s Green Dragon. In Helshper, Caerina and the king glanced out the window. And in the remote village, everyone noticed something was off and raced out of their homes. No matter one’s location, it was impossible to miss. A smiling angel of ethereal beauty sported a pair of white wings and held a lithograph in one hand. Divine light illuminated it from behind, and most fell to their knees in prayer at the very sight. Only a minuscule percentile failed to react, simply because they’d met the angel before. “I come bearing a message.” The angel’s androgynous, melodic voice echoed in the minds of all who gazed upon it. There was a long pause after the first sentence, but the next was something vastly unfamiliar to the people of this continent. “The Leadale Administration would like to notify all players about the final event.” Cayna and the other players knew this angel perfectly well. Exis, Quolkeh, Cohral, and Ark heard it countless times back in the day and glared at the messenger high above them. Only Mai-Mai seemed nervous. Cayna tiredly watched Opus gloat over his own success. She slumped her shoulders. There was nothing more to say now that he’d gotten the ball rolling. “In a few days’ time, the large barrier surrounding the Abandoned Capital will unravel.” Anyone in a position of national importance jolted at the name. “It is the duty of all players to eliminate the monsters that will overrun the capital.” Beneath the distant sky, Luvrogue looked up and remembered the sensation that had encircled his neck until recently. He clenched his fist. In his floating garden, a certain dwarf stood dressed in full armor. He took one swing of a battle halberd taller than himself and then gazed at the blue sky. “We Administrators anticipate each of you to accomplish your duty to the fullest. May you be victorious.” The angel repeated this message once more and dissipated into the air. Only the unsettled citizens who continued to crane their necks were proof it ever existed. Back in the remote village, a teary-eyed Luka clung to Roxine’s skirt. “Mommy Cayna…,” she whispered. Then, in a certain village: “H-hold it right there, you. Why’d you suddenly take out that old thing?” Camy asked harshly. She worked at the only tool shop in town. Her husband started to don the equipment he wore when they first met. It was a full suit of armor and a large sword, and she had to wonder where he’d been storing it in the house all this time. He had it on the day he unexpectedly appeared with a lost look on his face. Unbelievably, there wasn’t a single scratch or even a speck of dust on either the armor or the sword. “Oh, sorry, sorry,” he told his wife. “It looks like I’ve gotta step out for a bit.” His casual tone suggested he was going to stop by the neighbor’s to borrow farm equipment, but her husband’s back held some kind of resolve. Camy had been running their household for several decades, but his unfamiliar behavior confused her. No, it was the same when they’d first met long ago and her husband took on a mission to vanquish a monster spotted near the village. “I have to leave for a few days, but I’ll be home soon. No need to worry.” He patted their child’s head soothingly, and his wife looked up at him with a sense of déjà vu. The soldier with the childlike smile stood before her once again. He had become a bearded, middle-aged man in the blink of an eye, but Camy hid this teary-eyed nostalgia with a smack to her husband’s face. “Ack?!” “Hmph! Business will plummet while you’re gone, so just hurry back already!” “Sheesh… Where did the simple young girl I once knew go?” “Quit your blabbering and get a move on!” “Ow, ow, ow, ow! Okay, okay, I’ll see you later.” The husband chuckled as he dodged his wife’s pestle stick and dashed outside. After lightly waving to her through the window, he took a stone from his inside pocket (an item he’d saved for an emergency event) and crushed it in his hand. His wife watched as he transformed into an arrow of light and flew toward the western sky. She clasped her hands together and prayed to a deity unrelated to the angel hovering above the village in the afternoon sky. Then, at the entrance to a certain forest… “Well, I’m off.” “Do take care.” A youthful-looking female elf and an older elf conversed. The black-haired woman was dressed in leather armor and carried both a rapier and short wand at her side for the journey ahead. Seeing her off was an old elf in emerald robes whose white beard came down to his waist. Slightly pointed ears distinguished the two as high elves, and these woods were the only link to their home in the Verdant Forest. “If you meet one of our kind, can you tell them to return to the forest?” “It will depend on their stubbornness. I’ll extend an invitation, but please don’t be upset if no one comes.” “I suppose it can’t be helped until the next opportunity…” “They’ll hate us if we’re too persistent.” The two were like grandfather and granddaughter as they enjoyed each other’s company. Then, the old high elf smiled and turned around. He cast Forest Knocker and disappeared through the doorway. “Sigh. My goodness. There’s always so much to do whenever I come out here,” the high elf girl mumbled tiredly after watching him leave. She took a stone from her inner pocket and crushed it. An instant later, her body transformed into an arrow of light and arced across the sky. Then, in western Helshper… “Ah, you there. Stop what you’re doing for a moment!” “Huh?” After obtaining permission from Caerina and the knight captain, Luvrogue stepped away from his duties and headed outside town. He’d apparently been staring up at the heavenly angel with a serious expression, and his inexplicable request was swiftly accepted. He left from the western gate and traveled along the main road, but a voice called out just as he gripped the stone in his hand. Luvrogue turned around and saw a young werecat man race toward him with one arm raised. He clattered and clanged in heavy metallic armor, a rarity for the race. “Phew. Thank goodness I found a comrade. You’re a player, aren’t you?” “Yeah, I’m Luvrogue. I’m guessing you’re a player, too?” “Yes, yes, I’m Hernel. I’ve run out of emergency teleportation items and would really appreciate it if you took me with you.” “Got it. I’ll request to form a party, so just confirm it.” “Thanks.” Both checked their own windows and registered the party. Once this was done, Hernel breathed a sigh of relief. “Can you believe the Admins suddenly gave us an emergency mission? I didn’t even think anyone still had that authority here.” For Luvrogue, the word Admins brought only one person to mind. His assumption was correct, but the authority of a Game Master automatically meant a connection to the Administrators in the mind of an average player like himself. He’d met only one Game Master so far, but her words and actions confirmed another was involved. “I only know one person with the power of a Game Master.” “What? Really?! This is the first time I’ve heard of a Cream Cheese member in this world. Did you meet them, Luvrogue?” “…I met a witch.” “Ack! I-I’m glad you’re okay…” For beginner to average players like Luvrogue and Hernel and even addicts, anyone called by a nickname was like TNT. He had learned his place and almost died after picking a fight with one. Luvrogue couldn’t say this, however, and remained ambiguous. “Y-yeah, I guess…,” he replied with a stiff smile. Hernel seemed to read something in his expression. He gave Luvrogue a comforting pat on the shoulder and said, “No worries.” Such concern from a fellow otherworlder was a first for Luvrogue, and his eyes misted as he crushed the stone in his hand. And now, let us return to our original scene. Opus’s preferred encampment was located on Felskeilo’s main road and intersected the outer trade routes that ran down the continent’s northern and southern coastlines. A steel tower that acted as a parabolic antenna was stationed along the very edge of the roadside. Back in the Game Era, this was an antenna receiver for teleportation stones during emergency missions. Incidentally, Mai-Mai wanted to participate but was left behind since this was both a player event and potentially fatal. Ark was a player, and she also declined, since meeting other players would be awkward, given her rare weapon. She felt pretty guilty, but Exis and his sister complex insisted he could fight for both of them and made her stay back. “This was built by the Admin spies who hid among the players, right?” Cayna murmured as she looked up at the tower. “There were several others besides me,” said Opus. Such was the general opinion of those who understood the situation. After a short while, several player lights flew in from the south, east, and north and landed near the steel tower. Previous arrivals took charge and received the trickle of newcomers. Temporary parties were then created based on level and whether one was a vanguard or rearguard. This swift action was no different from back in the day. After all, any group of players was always eager to show off. At present, participating players were separated by party but connected by the function known as Raid Link. If any one person cast wide-range defensive magic, everyone would receive those benefits. Nonetheless, this would also require the proper amount of MP. “Still,” said Cayna, “we don’t even have thirty people…” “A siege attack is out of the question. Our best bet is to rush in and trample the monsters while the barrier holds,” Opus suggested. A White Dragon the size of a five-story building held a scrap of wood that said STRATEGY HQ in its mouth while Cayna, Opus, and two other players brainstormed beneath it. Cayna had summoned the dragon earlier. In fact, she and Opus had summoned seven level-990 dragons just to be on the safe side. The Green Dragon sent to Otaloquess on Cayna’s orders had delivered her letter and returned with Queen Sahalashade’s response. She sent it away for a moment before resummoning the dragon at maximum level. Each dragon was an expert assistant in its own way and proved quite useful. The White Dragon specialized in full recovery magic, while the Black and Red Dragons excelled in attack magic. The Blue Dragon couldn’t move on land, but Cayna could summon it in water to unleash a massive tsunami. The Brown Dragon could cross any terrain and defensewise was a cut above the rest. The Green Dragon had giant wings and, although slow on land, was an excellent flier. Its wind-based Assistance Magic was highly useful as well. The Violet Dragon looked like a giant purple toad with horns, a tail, and small wings. However, its poisonous breath could strike the enemy with a number of status ailments. Despite their vast differences in abilities, these dragons could improve the outcome of battle whenever they acted solo. Now that Cayna and Opus were together, they had the added bonus of perpetual, unrestricted summonings. “It’s great to have some Limit Breakers around,” Jaeger said. “Still, I must admit it took years off my life when I saw you both together,” Spirale replied. The middle-aged human man dressed entirely in red armor was the player Jaeger. Back in the game, he was an influential player, a citizen of the Red Kingdom, and the leader of the Silver Watches guild. It was said to be the largest in Leadale with over two thousand members, and they dominated both group-based Mission Quests and attack-based Story Quests. His typical position was an active level-800 vanguard. There was also the blue dragoid Spirale who wore robes and carried a wand. He was level 800 as well and excelled as a rearguard. Although this eccentric specialist chose a vanguard-type race, he brought together his fellow oddball players (librarians who could find any book, dwarfs who spent their entire game lives digging holes, cliff denizens, et cetera) to create the Archive Alley guild and serve as its leader. Even within the game, the information network that spawned from this collection of quirky experts became a prime source of content. “The problem is what’s inside, right?” Cayna asked. “Huh? It’s not like the Underworld or Hermit areas got mixed up in this world. They might be tough, but I’d peg ’em at no higher than level 600,” replied Jaeger. “Dear me, no,” said Spirale. “The Demon King’s descendants are on this continent as well. If we run into them, it’ll be no laughing matter…” “Ah, the ones beneath the Black Kingdom? You fought those irritating maggots? I wasn’t aware they made it here,” Opus said. “Right, I heard about ’em. Don’t they rule an underground labyrinth?” “When I was around level 900, me, Ebelope, Meshmout, Tartarus, Straw Paper, and San annihilated them,” Cayna explained. “You might call it a shaky win, though.” “If you had been destroyed at that level, I daresay no other player would have stood a chance.” “The heck?” said Jaeger. Spirale listened with keen interest but frowned at the word annihilated. “You won by takin’ each other out?” Jaeger asked, his arms crossed. Cayna shook her head and then looked down with a dark expression. “We thought all hope was lost and used a last resort.” “Ah, that last resort,” Opus muttered to himself, nodding. “Yes, it makes sense…” Everyone else eyed him curiously, and he calmly made eye contact with Cayna as if seeking permission to elaborate. She quickly agreed, so Opus carried on.