Chapter 471: O Dragon, O Dragon! Part 48

Author's Preface

Will this finish before the end of the year? Can I do it?

There was an entrusted wish.

There was an unreachable message.

Far, far away. The dragon-calling flute composed of three parts, which once existed under the care of a certain scientist, activated.

『Wake up, BC-Beacon.』

First, the central part: the Type-3 Semi-Permanent "Pure Science-Made" Power Mechanism circulated energy through its long-slumbering body.

『Checking………』

Next, the Grip part: the identification authentication unit that reads information from human hands read the information of the one gripping it... and saw through the fact that this person lacked the "qualifications" in less than a mere 0.1 seconds.
However, it cross-referenced a newly added identification code... and approved it.

『OK. 「Legacy mode」 Call……accept.』

And finally, the muzzle part: strictly speaking, the atomic manipulation mechanism applying the special frequency generated by the central engine fulfilled its role for the first time in countless ages.

『Please Wait.』

An artificial light refraction phenomenon utilizing particles in the atmosphere... In other words, a "Rainbow" of the Divine Age, now summoned forth the Second B... the Beast of the God of Tuning—the Bahamut Ship Two—which had been sleeping while churning the great waters at the very bottom of the deep sea, a place even deeper than that Ruluiath.

───This was not a Unique Scenario—someone's personal story.

───This was not a World Story—the transition of the world.

───This was a Grand Quest—a mission to be fulfilled by Pioneers. A grand legacy left behind by those who saved the world in the distant Divine Age.
Its state of existence was close to that of the Unique Monsters—those who signify the Divine Age—yet because "what it signifies" was different, it did not belong to that category.

The maiden of the whale, brimming with joy.

◇ 

『Conclusion!!』

『Bone-Clad Keep, Skull Azuchi vs. One-Night Castle, Scorpion Sunomata... Winner: One-Night Castle, Scorpion Sunomata!!』

『With this, the ownership rights of Bone-Clad Keep, Skull Azuchi will be transferred for a set period.』

It was a notification of defeat; having just slashed down the final PKer clinging to him, Ten-Don sighed while scratching his head.

"Oh man, I guess we lost..."

The fall of Skull Azuchi, the greatest trump card of the anti-Noirlind faction. The possibility of Emi-Lia and the others making a comeback from this was practically nonexistent now.
In reality, with Noirlind shrinking and fusing with a player, there was still a chance to win. But whether they actually knew that was a completely different story.

"What's the plan, Guild Master?"

"Well......... honestly, I think we have no choice but to throw in the towel here."

"Figured as much... Man, they completely hard-countered us! I yield, I totally yield."

Even as he cheerfully declared defeat, Ten-Don stared at Emi-Lia with a questioning, almost provocative gaze.

"By the way, Guild Master, word on the wind says Siegwurm is about to blow himself up and take the frontline base with him in a grand spectacle, you know?"

"That is......... unforgivable."

Make no mistake, Emi-Lia's driving force... the root of the driving force of all the crafters whose shabby—in hindsight—buildings constructed on this land had been destroyed was not a hatred specific to Noirlind. They directed their hatred at the one who had once sicced monsters on them to destroy their base.

The enemy of their enemy was Siegwurm, which was the only reason he hadn't been a target before; if that was the case, there was only one target to aim for in this current situation.

"I'm sorry for being so selfish and constantly changing our policy... but I cannot just let Siegwurm's self-destruction go unchecked. Let's move!!"

Shouting their agreement, the group—burning with the passion, magic, and weapons they had been saving to unleash upon Noirlind—dashed toward Siegwurm.

The time limit: four minutes remaining.

◇◇ 

The Feng Shui Master... a Furniture Maker who should have simply been a crafter class, had gained enough power to fight by reaching the pinnacle of supreme-tier jobs.

Buffing none other than herself with the objects she installed... the only reason Anju was able to hold her ground with enough power to match even Kyougoku—who had crossed the Triple-Digit threshold—was entirely because this was Skull Azuchi's keep... which meant it was packed with a massive amount of furniture carefully crafted by Anju.

And Kyougoku, unable to easily resort to destroying everything because she was thinking about the "aftermath," had been forced into an intense, grueling battle up until this point.

But that, too, had already been settled.
Viewed as Kendo, it was heresy among heresies: a bisection via an "aerial surprise attack" utilizing the walls.
Viewed as Bakumatsu, it was the standard of standards, a basic technique where people would ask why you couldn't do it.

And in ShanFro, with its abundance of assists for three-dimensional mobility, she could produce an effect even greater than in Bakumatsu.

"...Now then. For the time being... I wonder what I'm supposed to operate here."

With a question mark practically floating above her head, Kyougoku operated the window, taking about two minutes to finally reach Skull Azuchi's buff application selection screen.

"Wow, amazing. As expected of a castle-sized structure, I guess... even though Scorpion Sunomata only has one ability."

Granted, that single ability was a massive pain... she wryly smiled while setting absolutely every buff she laid her eyes on to target Siegwurm and unleashing them.

"Well, I managed to cut down 96 people in a row, so I'm satisfied."

Hostile Target: Siegwurm the Heavenly Sovereign
Buff Target: Players and NPCs in combat with the Hostile Target
Buff Details:

• Recovers HP and MP every 15 seconds

• All stats enhanced

• Damage bonus

• Recast time reduced by 20%

• Magic activation cost reduced by 10%

• Attack skill power increased

• Attack magic power increased

The time limit: three minutes remaining.

◇◇◇ 

"...Physical barriers when he visually confirms targets, periodic indiscriminate lasers, and omnidirectional shockwaves. What should we do?"

『Answer: Effective hits are not important; as long as we can steal his gaze, it will be more than enough... is what he says.』

"...Right. But if I'm doing this anyway, I want to rack up some sort of score."

The mech pilot, having spread her lustrous wings of flame, muttered as she looked down at Siegwurm from high in the sky. While accepting the proposal from Mold—her partner and Brain—she cast her gaze about, wondering if there was something she could pull off in the little time remaining.

"......The horn."

『Analysis: I have confirmed it from here as well. Out of the two remaining horns, one is...』

"No, that's not it. Rather than that one..."

Considering the properties of the troublesome physical barrier that the current Siegwurm possessed... her target was not the horn.

"Suzaku, one last shot... full throttle."

『Understood. Deploying "Arahabataki" and "Incinerating Anti-Magic Blade [Incinerate: Slasher]."』

The time limit: two minutes remaining.

◇◇◇◇ 

Akitsu Akane was watching the scene unfold.
Every single person was squeezing out their remaining resources as they charged at Siegwurm.
Light danced, and every time the golden dragon thrashed his body, no small number of players were scattered to the winds—yet as if saying "so what," an even greater number pushed ever forward without fearing death.

『Look, Noirlind-san, it's amazing...』

(...Hmph, but we are the ones who will finish it, are we not?)

『That's right, they left it to us after all!!』

Not yet, not yet......... not yet, the moment for Akitsu Akane to move had not yet arrived. With tension, excitement, and anticipation burning in her chest, Akitsu Akane waited.

The time limit: just───

At that moment, the world shook.

◆ 

At that moment, the sea erupted.

A liquid yet massive mass—an enormous volume of seawater was vaulted high into the heavens in an impossible movement.

Kuoooooooonnnnnn...!!!!

Though it had lost its original power to traverse the sea of stars, ascending through a sea of water was simple enough for its anti-gravity thrusters. Emitted from them was a whistle—a song of joy echoing at the end of countless ages.

O humans, O humans, nice to meet you. And... it has been a long time.

The massive amount of water cascaded down like a waterfall, obeying gravity to return to where it belonged. But it looked as though it were ascending into the sky... yet because it had lost its wings, it stopped at merely surfacing on the sea, exposing its gigantic steel body to the world.

Its appearance was truly that of a moving continent. The Bahamut—the fish that bore the world on its back—which had journeyed through the sea of stars carrying humanity countless ages ago.

The name of that ship, equipped at the tip of its whale-like form with a single "horn" so massive it was absurd to even compare it to the size of a human.

『Good morning! Good morning! I am Isana!! We finally meet!!』

A voice filled with joy, the voice of the woman who called herself Isana thus announced the name of the Divine Beast.

『Bahamut (Interstellar) class Arcology Ship "Leviathan"! As of this moment, we are surfacing to make contact with the next generation of new humanity!!』

The name of the "spaceship" defined as the Divine Beast of the God of Tuning, one of the pillars of the Religion of the Tri-Divinity.

Author's Afterword
It seems the widow-type AI Isana-chan, who had been lurking in read-only mode for nearly several thousand years, has finally been permitted to speak.

Also, I might change all the "World Quest" notations to "World Story" at some point, so please be aware of that.