Van and another boy landed on the roof of the half-ruined pyramid. The rooftop had likely once been square, but now it had been shaved down to a long rectangle. The two new arrivals touched down at the center of what floor remained.
“Hey everyone. I’m Mitsuki, the Great Sage who manages the other Sages. I know it’s a little rude to be wearing a mask like this, but please forgive me. Normally it doesn’t bother me, but showing my face to large crowds can be a bit of a problem sometimes.” The boy, Mitsuki, spoke with a gentle voice. The mask hid his age, but judging by his voice, he was still quite young. “So, as for what’s happening next... Oh, sorry, I kind of took over, didn’t I? Do you mind?”
“Whatever. Do what you want,” Van replied with a sigh. Cavern Quest was Van’s creation, so management of the last quest should have fallen to him.
The scattered adventurers slowly gathered around the two Sages, Hanakawa and the two girls included. There were some who listened from a short distance, perhaps still on guard against their peers. The Great Sage’s voice carried quite far, so there was no need to listen from up close.
I recognize a good number of these people...
There were a number of people who had already left an impression on Hanakawa here. The witch Evon was one—the woman who had multiplied the Philosopher’s Stones and handed them out on the beach.
The next was a pair he remembered seeing in the Garula Canyon before the world was reset. One was a woman in extremely revealing clothing, the other a young, lanky man. They hadn’t been at the beach, so they must have found another way to the top of the pyramid. Back when Hanakawa met them the first time, the woman had been firing lasers indiscriminately in all directions, so she seemed plenty dangerous. The man didn’t seem like much of a threat, and in fact, Hanakawa felt a small kind of affinity for him.
“The succubus does not seem to be present. Do you think she failed to make it through?” Hanakawa asked.
“Probably,” Carol answered. “She may have been strong, but given what happened to the pyramid, that wouldn’t have helped her.”
“Quite true. Well, everyone participating seems to have powers that feel like cheating, so a good number of them managed to survive even that...but considering all those who died, does it not make it impressive that I somehow survived?”
“Yes, beginner’s luck! Luck of the draw! Blind luck and nothing else! Your abilities didn’t have anything to do with it!” Carol retorted.
“I am not sure all of those idioms are quite appropriate here...but regardless, it appears there are some nonhumans among us, no?”
Another group now present that hadn’t been on the beach was a party of clearly nonhuman adventurers. The party was made up of a boy with horns growing from his forehead, a huge man with skin like stone, a slender man with three pairs of eyes, a woman with hair that covered her face entirely and was long enough to reach the ground, and another black-haired boy wearing a T-shirt and jeans.
“I recall seeing that horned boy previously. I believe he was one of the first to receive a Philosopher’s Stone from Van. Perhaps they are Gorbagion’s Four Heavenly Kings?”
The original Philosopher’s Stones had been divided up among six people and a dog. Hanakawa had been part of that group, along with the horned boy.
“Hm? Wait, were parties not limited to four people? That appears to be a group of five...”
“Just because they’re standing together doesn’t mean they’re all in one party,” Carol said.
“I suppose so. There is always the possibility one of them is sort of like a familiar as well.” If he really wanted to press the issue, he’d have to ask about the numerous fans who had appeared around Sora as well. Worrying about it now seemed like a waste of effort.
“Ah, looks like there are more people...coming,” Carol noted, looking behind them.
Uneasy about her suspicious tone, Hanakawa turned to look and immediately began to sputter in disbelief. The person standing behind him was so unexpected he lost all composure.
The world had been reset. Time had been rewound. Many of those who had died in the previous world had returned to life. Even so, he had never expected to see this one here.
It was a monster. Though it had a humanoid shape, it was black from head to toe, covered entirely in blades. The sinister creature was like an incarnation of bloodlust, one very familiar to Hanakawa.
“Why would the Hedgehog be here?!” Back during his brief journey with Aoi, he had encountered the monstrosity in the Garula Canyon. “And wait, is that Luu? Why is she here?!” Though the impact was deadened by the previous sight of the Hedgehog, Hanakawa also noticed a group of four women standing behind it: the goddess Luu, her supposed daughter Hiruko, an elf, and a warrior of some sort. The Hedgehog should have been going after Luu, but right now it showed no signs of hostility.
“I must admit I am quite curious about what has led to these developments...but as they say, no curse comes from a sleeping god.”
As its appearance indicated, the Hedgehog was a violent creature. There was no telling how it would react if he approached it. Hanakawa slipped behind Carol in an attempt to hide.
“Do you really think that counts as hiding?” Carol quipped.
With the Hedgehog in the lead, the group of five approached the Great Sage.
“Yo. You’re going by Luu now, right? Long time no see.”
“Mitsuki...”
Hanakawa had no idea what kind of relationship the two had, but he could tell there was something abnormal in the air between them, as expressions of love and hate warred on Luu’s face.
“I’m sure you have a lot to say, but can you hold on to it for now?” Mitsuki said. “If you attack me, I’ll just run away anyway. If you play the game, I’ll probably save some time for you later.”
Apparently satisfied by his offer, Luu said nothing more.
“Okay. It looks like there might be a few more people coming in late, so maybe we should wait a bit.”
“I don’t think you need to bother,” Van said. “Anyone who couldn’t make it to the rooftop as of now should just be disqualified.”
The last boss battle was supposed to be a battle royale between the seven parties that possessed a Philosopher’s Stone. However, there were far more than seven stones now, so there was no hope of sticking to that plan.
“Okay. Then, congratulations. Everyone here has qualified for the last battle in the final area. We’ll lose all the tension if we wait forever, so I’ll cut it off there. Anyone else who shows up is disqualified...though I guess there’s no point in telling you guys that, is there?”
It seemed most of the people on the beach had made it to the rooftop, as well as a fair number who had taken other routes, so there was a large number of parties present.
“Normally, you’d go into the Antechamber Area in the order you arrived, but the door got destroyed, so I’ll just explain the rules here.”
Though he wasn’t there to hear it, the same explanation would be given to Yogiri.
“The final area is in the clouds above us. The field is called Castle in the Sky, so of course there’s actually a castle up there, but it’s not super important. We’re going to be holding a tournament. How many people do we have now?”
“Seventy parties,” Van answered.
“We’ll have you guys fight each other, with the winners moving on. Once about half of you are gone, we’ll start the next round. The numbers don’t add up nicely, though, so we’ll only accept thirty-two winners. That’ll make it six rounds in all. Though, if any of you manage to beat Yogiri Takatou before the finals, that will end the tournament right there.”
The main goal of the tournament was to kill Yogiri so the world could be reset again. There was no point in continuing once Yogiri was dead. That said, the fact he was setting it up as a winner-goes-on tournament meant that he must have had some desire to watch the fights themselves.
“Well, depending on the matchup, I think we have...absolutely no chance at all!” Hanakawa exclaimed. Ryouko and Carol were strong, but they were nowhere near the levels of the cheat-powered individuals they had met on the beach. They would be hopeless against virtually anyone here.
“This is...a problem. I had hoped we could reunite with Takatou first...” Ryouko said, her face darkening.
“Ha ha ha! If your goal is to help Takatou win, then meeting him would mean we’d have to let him kill us!”
“This is not a laughing matter!” Hanakawa chastised Carol. “Excuse me! Is it perhaps possible for us to bow out of the competition early?!” Hanakawa asked, hurriedly approaching Mitsuki.
“That’s a funny thought. If you’re that funny, I’d rather you stayed in.” Though it was hard to tell through the mask, the Sage’s tone suggested he found genuine humor in what Hanakawa had said.
“Ah, umm! Losing does not necessitate death, does it? After all, you said nothing about these being fights to the death!”
“Hmm. The point of this isn’t just to watch people die, so whatever means you come up with, if both sides can agree on a winner, that’s fine with me.”
That laid the foundation for the tournament. The rules of each match would be decided at the start of that match. If no agreement could be reached, the match would end when one party was wiped out. Parties were freely able to surrender and withdraw.
“Van, can you open a door for us?” Mitsuki asked.
“Sure.” Van snapped his fingers, causing a board to pop out of the ground. The surface of the board was pitch-black, similar to the gates in the pyramid. “When you go through this gate, you’ll appear somewhere in the final area. The placement is random, but it’s been set up so you won’t appear too close to another party. Once everyone is through, the round starts,” he explained.