Chapter 729: Sleep, White Obstruction, For Awakening is Near

Author's Preface

"I just really wanted to use this subtitle," the suspect stated... (Obviously it's a coined word, read as "Hakua") (The white god obstructing the human world)

◇◇◇◇◇◇

Wisdom is how one can put knowledge to use.

At least, that is how it is defined in the WorldGame known as Shangri-La Frontier.

The war of attrition using lower-tier kin, as well as the invasion by the four true-target high-tier kin and herself, were thwarted. If so, she would change her approach method. That is what wisdom is.

A straight path from underground would be spotted by the "patrols", so she would advance via the sea route to reach her objective. The oceans of this world are a demonic realm where the deeper one sinks, the more powerful the monsters that run rampant become, but to put it conversely, it means the monsters in the shallows are nothing of great significance.

Gobogobo, swimming in a meandering pattern through the sea with a quietness unimaginable from its unbelievably massive body... is a gigantic serpent whose head alone is the size of a two-story house. While matching the characteristics of a snake, the twisted horns growing from its head indicate that it is not merely a snake (though a mere snake could never grow this massive anyway), and while it is not a western dragon, nor is it an eastern dragon, it is a dragon-like Dragon SerpentNaga.

"……………"

The Dragon Serpent, or rather, the entity named Gratos, pushes forward entirely alone, tearing through the ocean expanse with its massive body. Its destination is the southern ocean of the New Continent, the land of the Vorpal Bunnies concealed by fog, clouds, and sky.

Or not.

"…………!"

Zazaza, with a dive far too quiet for its massive body, Gratos plunges into the sea. By combining the brute-force method of taking in moss that generates massive amounts of oxygen inside its body to enable underwater breathing, with the sheer physical feat of forcibly pushing down the buoyancy caused by the air in its body using an even greater propulsive force, the Dragon Serpent plows through the sea like a sea snake despite being a creature that lives on land.

With a clear field of vision gained by using its nictitating membranes in place of goggles, the destination Gratos heads toward is directly beneath Rabituza, the tip of the torn right wing of the great black god that only those who know the complete map of this world can perceive.

Strictly speaking... the boundary between the black bedrock and the white stratum, that is what the Dragon Serpent aims for as it swims through the sea.

"…………"

There, the Dragon SerpentGratos perceived a faint surprise born within itself. In the original plan, it intended to physically punch a "hole" in this gap between white and black, but for some reason, conveniently right in its line of sight, a horizontal hole large enough for a single Dragon Serpent to pass through with room to spare was open.

"………"

It was clearly being invited; even with Gratos's level of comprehension, it could understand that much. But that is no reason for the great serpent to retreat. With even greater propulsion, the Dragon Serpent dives into the massive hole...

……

…………

………………

"Oh, you've done well comin' all this way down such a troublesome path."

"…………"

Dark, so dark.

However, Gratos's pit organs perceived a small figure standing alone within it. A human? No, incorrect; it is a rabbit.

"…………"

Reaching the objective location, encountering the objective entity.

With this, one could say Gratos had fulfilled the vast majority of its duty, and the Dragon Serpent, floating a definite emotion of its own—a faint sense of accomplishment—in its eyes... spat out an emotion that was not its own.

"Yo."

"It has been a while... Rabbit."

"Ain't got no reason to be told 'it's been a while' by the likes of you, though."

At those casually muttered words, the progenitor serpent lurking within Gratos's mouth... or rather, the serpent in the shape of a human woman known as Goldunine the Inexhaustible, unpleasantly furrowed her brows.

"She's here, isn't she? In this place."

"Yeah, she's here alright. Right here."

If one calls those who created humans 'gods', then she is one of the past humanity who could perhaps be defined as a god. A woman who, feeding on yearning, envy, and jealousy, left behind a single move for tomorrow in a dying world.

Goldunine was absolutely certain that this person—who, following common sense, should have died long, long ago—was "here". And that the rabbit in front of her... Vysache, was here to stop her.

"I have no intention of speaking at length... Move aside."

The air grew tense... no, it was an intimidating pressure as if poison had been strung throughout the air. Reading its master's emotions, Gratos also flicked its tongue in a threatening manner.

"………"

Yet, even taking all of that head-on, Vysache did not waver. Even while receiving the pressure emitted from four serpentine eyes, that rabbit stared back at them as if it were nothing but a passing breeze... and then, stepping to the side, yielded the path of his own free will.

"……?"

Rather than resisting and protecting, this behavior of yielding the path spawned an unexpected question mark in Goldunine's mind. Ever since "Goldunine" descended upon this land and launched her first invasion, this rabbit had continuously defended against Goldunine's invasions for thousands of years. Therefore, she could not understand his intention in yielding the path at this very moment.

"...What are you plotting?"

"The time is near."

The response returned was beyond Goldunine's comprehension. Yet even so, the words that followed were something the serpent could not ignore.

"It just means it's about time for you to know, too. The answer, that is..."

As if those words were a signal, the darkness began to thin its pitch-blackness. It wasn't illumination; the space itself was altered to become easier to see.

"──────"

And, because of that, Goldunine looked up and saw it, causing her body to freeze in genuine "astonishment".

"What is... this."

"The truth."

Concise words; with just that alone, Goldunine's emotions exploded.

Joy, anger, sorrow, hatred... shoving the emotion of "fear" onto Gratos, and within a massive flood of emotions where only the feeling of "fun" failed to produce even a single fragment, Goldunine grabbed Vysache by the collar.

"This thing!! This thing... was the truth!? My... Our answer is, something like this...!?"

"I ain't gonna stop ya, you know?"

Tears of sorrow were completely dried up by anger, and the hatred that clouded her eyes did not quite lead to a loss of reason because she accurately grasped "what she was angry at".

Before long, the strength left the hands that had been strangling Vysache, and she fell to her knees.

"I see... so that's how it is. Then what I must do is decided."

"…………"

"You can just cower in your hole to your heart's content, and tremble in fear..."

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

In the place where the serpent had left, Vysache muttered while looking up at it.

"Can't hold her back anymore, huh..."

White.

With the dark space growing faintly brighter, its full scope had become apparent.

A massive body, white, so white, boundlessly white, reminiscent of a bipedal sea turtle.

A massive body that made the incredibly huge Dragon SerpentGratos seem like a mere earthworm compared to a human in terms of size ratio.

It was a massive body to the point where the word 'gigantic' felt far too lukewarm.

The figure of a single existence that could perhaps rival mountains and rivers would destroy countries simply by walking; its pure white majestic appearance wordlessly flaunted that unexaggerated, simple fact.

It is the avatar of the White God, or perhaps a terminal harboring the SoulConsciousness of the White God.

───Its name is the "Slumbering Great White God".

It is the strongest and largest Genesis Kin that appeared last as the hammer of the Divine Age civilization's end... and the strongest Raid Monster fitting to be called a miniature White GodAether harboring the hatred of the slumbering White God.

"...Say, Master. Is that truly your 'dream'?"

Looking up at the Slumbering White God, Vysache spat out words of weakness he would never show to anyone. Beyond his gaze was the head of the Great White God at a height of several thousand meters, and on the forehead of that terrifyingly smooth head, a small speck—difficult to spot even if one strained their eyes—could be seen.

"Or is it a nightmare? 'Cause I honestly ain't got a clue..."

Yet perhaps, if it were the hands of those left behind by her.

Someone might appear who could defeat the slumbering god waiting to awaken, and wake up the "god who continues to sleep"... perhaps.

Either way, the god eagerly awaited its awakening. It was an urge so strong that the world stabilization by Julius Shangri-La and the seal by Vysache served as nothing more than mere stopgaps.

"Can't let the brats outside for a while, huh."

Goldunine, who saw this, who ended up seeing this... her wish had been to meet "her". However, she learned the truth, and realized what was going to happen from here on out.

What drives the serpent now? Surely, only sheGoldunine knows.

However, Vysache had a rough guess, because she is an extremely simple existence.

"She wouldn't do it like that, though."

Smoke from a cigarette spilled from Vysache's mouth. But just how much of a sigh was truly mixed into that smoke?

Far overhead, the head of the Slumbering Great White God. The "woman" who was absorbed with her lower half buried into its forehead simply continued to sleep.

Or perhaps, the "god" to the next generation of humanity living in the present era, simply just... continued to sleep.

Author's Afterword

I feel like I packed in a bit too much information, but this is the turning point of the world; Goldunine's scenario and Vysache's scenario will start moving in earnest from here on out.

Shangri-La Frontier, currently serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine!