Everything was gone from the top level of the pyramid. A good chunk of the floor was missing, revealing the interior of the structure. There had been nothing atop the pyramid but the small shrine, but now no traces of it remained. That meant the door leading to the next area was also gone, leaving no way for participants to progress through the game.
“I’m not really worried about you, gramps, but if you fight around here, it’ll cause all sorts of problems.”
“Sorry. This is the first time in a while someone has tried something against me directly. I’m kind of curious,” Mitsuki apologized in response to Van’s grumbling. Van had hoped the Great Sage would either run away or dispatch the enemy quickly, but now it seemed like he’d stay and watch until his curiosity was sated.
“Okay, fine. But the participants will all be coming this way, so finish up before they start arriving.”
“I don’t think it’ll take that long. I just want to talk with him a bit.”
“You think that thing can talk?”
Van looked at the monstrosity before them. At first, it had looked vaguely human, but in the short time he had looked away, the creature had transformed. It now had four leglike appendages, one resembling twisted, creeping vines and another like a shaft of metal. It had six arms, each so distinct they may have come from different creatures altogether. Organs reminiscent of eyes dotted the creature all over, giving it a line of sight in all directions. There was no sign of intelligence coming from the chaotic mess of a monster. It didn’t seem to Van like there was much room for discussion.
“Hmm, I can’t say,” Mitsuki answered. “But it does seem like it wants to kill me, so it probably has something to complain about, right?”
“Give...back...Ari...el...” Though it was hard to tell where the creature’s face was, and it clearly was struggling to make anything resembling speech, it did appear to have the intelligence necessary to converse.
“Ariel... Ariel... Oh! Right, Ariel! But what do you mean, ‘give her back’? She’s not trapped with me or anything. She’s allowed to go home whenever she wants.”
“Come on, gramps. You know how rough they are when picking up girls for you.”
The orders of the Great Sage were absolute. Even if Mitsuki were to say something as casual as “she looks cute,” the Sages and their underlings would fight to the death to bring that girl to him. This had caused any number of tragedies, but it seemed Mitsuki had not been told of them, nor was he interested in investigating the matter himself.
“Well, let’s not worry about that now. If you wanted to negotiate with me, didn’t you realize attacking me right off the bat is a bad idea? If I die, you’ll never get Ariel back.”
Only those recognized by the Great Sage could traverse the boundary around his dwelling. If he were to die, it was quite likely it would be permanently sealed off from the outside world.
“Graaaaaaaah!” The monster swung a crystalline arm forward. In the direction it moved, a line of crystal formed along the floor of the pyramid. Mitsuki stood on that newly formed crystal path but was otherwise unaffected. The same, however, could not be said about Van at his side.
“Gah! What the?!” Part of Van’s body had transformed into crystal as the crystal wrapped around him. It wasn’t significant damage, but it did make it harder for him to move.
“This thing could kill you, Van; you should be more careful. Like, actually dodge the attacks, maybe.”
“There was no way I could have dodged that one. But I’m pretty sure something like this won’t kill me.” With Van’s lesser reflexes, even if he saw the attack coming, there was no way he could have moved out of the way. Although the Sages had particularly strong physical abilities, Van himself wasn’t especially skilled when it came to fighting. His abilities specialized in the creation and management of game worlds.
“Can you heal it?” Mitsuki asked.
“Probably.”
Van created a healing area around his feet. The ground around him took on a faint glow, and in short order his body returned to normal. He wasn’t omnipotent by any stretch, but placing objects in the game world was easy enough.
The crystal path under them suddenly shattered as the monster rushed forward. A number of its arms swung at Mitsuki in unison, but the Great Sage made no effort to dodge them. The creature roared as its fists found their mark, but Mitsuki didn’t so much as budge.
It was a strange sight. Anyone watching might have expected tremendous shock waves coming from the immense impacts, but nothing of the sort happened. The monster’s fists made contact with Mitsuki and then stopped, as if the creature had never intended to attack him in the first place.
Anyone with normal faculties would see this result and be overcome with fear or despair. Many would drop to their knees under the feeling of overwhelming helplessness. But this monster in particular showed no sign of giving up. One of its arms dissolved, splitting into countless tiny strands that wrapped around the Great Sage.
“If we can’t talk properly, I won’t even be able to figure out your name. Alexia,” Mitsuki called out, invisible within the writhing mass.
“Yes?” In an instant, Alexia, the Great Sage’s secretary, had appeared at his side.
“Do you know who this guy is? It seems like he has a bone to pick with me.”
“Please wait a moment.”
The Great Sage was omnipotent within this world. If he wanted to, he could figure out the true identity of this creature on his own. But he didn’t. Taking the easy route felt boring to him, so he preferred more roundabout methods.
“Hero Ein. The elder brother of Ariel. He has obtained the power of the Dark Gods native to this world and has lost most of his sanity. I imagine conversing with him will be impossible.”
“Hmm. That’s a pretty selfish way of doing things. Even if you beat me, what do you think Ariel would think of you now?”
“What would you like me to do? Shall I dispose of this thing?” the secretary asked.
“No, he went through the trouble of finding me himself. It would be rude for me to leave this to someone else.”
Ein’s arm had turned into something of a fist again, smashing Mitsuki into the ground repeatedly. Each impact shook the pyramid, causing it to break apart. The floor under them was starting to collapse, dropping everyone into the pyramid proper.
“Gramps! The game won’t be able to continue at this rate!”
“Are you sure? You should still be able to make things work.”
“The other participants are going to get caught up in your fight! It’s also going to take resources to rebuild the stage. This stuff isn’t unlimited!”
“Oh, okay. Alexia, let’s move.”
“Understood,” the secretary responded naturally, unfazed by Mitsuki still being trapped in the monster’s grip.
Suddenly, Ein shot sideways. Punching through the wall of the pyramid, he was thrown outside, over the ocean surrounding the island. Van hurriedly followed them out. Ein’s enormous fist exploded outwards, freeing Mitsuki. He then fell into the water, while Mitsuki dropped down and landed on the water’s surface.
“Is this area more acceptable?” Alexia asked, floating in the air a short distance away. Van came up alongside her to watch.
“I would think so,” Mitsuki replied.
“But please be careful,” Van said, trying to warn off his optimism. Ein was immensely powerful. It wouldn’t be that hard for him to damage the island from here.
“That’s really up to Ein, I think.”
At some point, dark clouds had gathered above them. The wind began to howl and the waves in the ocean climbed higher and higher as a storm brewed. A moment later, countless waterspouts shot up around them, drawing seawater up into the sky. Lightning flashed through the pillars of water as they closed in on Mitsuki from all directions. The clouds above gathered into a single enormous storm cloud, flashing more lightning down to the surface, connecting the sea and sky and filling the area with blinding light. The waterspouts gathered around Mitsuki, combining into a gigantic cyclone.
The sea then froze. The surface of the water turned solid as far as the eye could see, and was then ripped apart by the tornado. The chunks of ice whirled upwards, assaulting the Great Sage inside it.