Chapter 225: “The Sixth Calamity VS The Seventh Calamity” |
“Are you not going, Healthy?”*
“Nah, I’m good. I haven’t given up on the showdown between the Archangel and the Seventh Calamity yet!”
“But the announcement from the devs said that the Archangel of the present is an overwhelmingly powerful force and can’t be defeated. Don’t you think it’s not a good idea to pick a fight with such an opponent, even for the Seventh Calamity?”
“That’s right. Just give up already and join a raid party to defeat the Archangel’s past self, Unpeelable.”*
“I won’t! Also, it’s okay to abbreviate my name, but you could at least be consistent with it!”*
*(T/N: if there was any doubt, these refer to Healthyunpeelable, the player. His full player name is 丈夫ではがれにくい and they’re calling him 丈夫 and はがれにくい respectively)
The system message from the game developers brought both surprise and a certain level of understanding to the players.
Firstly, it was a surprise that they would suddenly introduce an item as outlandish as a time machine when they had already built the world so well.
However, it seems that once the destination is set, it cannot be reset. In other words, since it was set to the stage just after the birth of the Archangel, it can only be used for that purpose.
Basically, it’s a device to guide players to a special instance with a slightly weaker event boss than the actual calamity.
And even if you defeat the Archangel in the past world, it doesn’t mean the present Archangel will disappear immediately.
By defeating the Archangel multiple times in the past, causality will somehow be changed, and the present Archangel will inevitably be dealt with.
It’s unclear what they are trying to say, but it’s clear what the developers want.
In essence, it’s to give every player the opportunity to fight against this one raid boss in a ‘fightable’ state.
Normally, event monsters, being NPCs, do not revive once they are killed. Therefore, no matter how strong the raid boss is, once someone defeats it, it’s reasonable for it to be over.
The fact that it can be defeated as many times as you want, and that anyone can take on the challenge…
To fulfill both of these, the time machine – the artifact introduced this time – seems to have been created.
By using this artifact, players can be sent back to the moment when the boss is born every time, allowing anyone to challenge the boss as many times as they want.
Moreover, repeating the process would eventually have an impact on the present.
However, just treating the boss as an instance and allowing each player to challenge it doesn’t change much from old-generation games, and above all, the sense of actually saving the world is not achieved.
Even if you defeat the boss, to align with the progress of other players, during the event, you must always be exposed to the threat of the boss.
Otherwise, you would lose sight of why you struggled to defeat the boss. Especially in a game where all NPCs in that land act autonomously.
However, with a setting like this, it’s possible to challenge the boss multiple times without difficulty, and the decreasing motivation can be kept in check by increasing the number of attempts. By increasing the number of victories, it might be possible to weaken the modern Archangel.
If this were applied to all bosses, it would indeed become overwhelming, but having a few bosses like that, serving as special attractions, wouldn’t be bad. After all, there are still six, or rather, seven other calamities. (T/N: the kanji says calamity, the furigana says world boss)
“So, shall we move to Hugelcup? It will surely be crowded.”
“Most players are probably going, right? Not for the commemorative exam, but to pay homage to the Archangel, whether they can defeat it or not.”
“I wonder if a regional city can accommodate everyone.”
“According to players who have already gone, temporary housing has been set up in the suburbs, and players are being temporarily redirected there. Then, they go through an underground passage to the castle, so it doesn’t seem overly crowded.”
“Hugelcup seems to be a prosperous city itself, so you can sightsee if you get bored and then return.”
“The artifact area is probably going to be crowded.”
“If you activate it, everyone will be sent to an instance, so it might not be that bad. Since everyone respawns when returning, they won’t come back to the artifact area.”
While discussing these matters, Wayne and his party headed to the city of Rifure for the teleportation.
It seems they’ve chartered several horse-drawn carriages. The horses in this world are incredibly fast compared to real-world horses, so it shouldn’t take much time.
It means that they will regroup and challenge the raid to defeat the Seventh Calamity sometime in the future.
Healthyunpeelable refrained from participating, so instead a player named Lyewarehouse, who we’ve gotten closer with in recent days, filled in the gap. He is originally from the verification team, but he is not bad at fighting.
Thus, now he was alone again for a while.
***
“Even if causality converges and the Archangel disappears, I can’t imagine it suddenly dying of a heart attack or something. If that’s the case, it will probably be defeated by someone. As long as there’s a possibility that the Seventh Calamity is that someone, I believe in it…”
Or it might be the newly born Eighth Calamity, but either way is fine. What Healthyunpeelable wants to see is just a massive battle.
While it’s fun for players to cooperate and face a powerful enemy with wit, battles where originally mighty beings clash with sheer violence are also interesting. It’s like a kaiju movie. The scenario where the G-Team confronts a kaiju is appealing, but the main event is still kaiju versus kaiju.
“Oh, there are quite a few reports already. The Archangel is indeed strong. Instant death no matter what… Well, even when we fought the Seventh, without the artifact, it would have been instant death, so it’s only natural. Not preparing for instant death attacks is just being complacent, right?”
It seems the Archangel is a long-range type with a focus on bows for now. Since no party has reached closer so far, the level of his close combat abilities is unknown. However, recalling the battle with the Seventh, even if it’s primarily long-range, it doesn’t mean it can’t engage in close combat.
“Wayne and his party… as expected, I’m not even sure if they have even arrived yet. Now then, alone in the capital… As expected, the dungeon in the former royal capital by myself is tough, what to do…”
Looking up at the sky, it was clear until a while ago, but now it’s covered with thick clouds.
It seems the clouds are flowing from the south.
“According to the predicted route of the Sky Castle calculated by Professor Mori Etti of the ‘verification team’, I think it was supposed to pass directly above us a little later. In that case, right about now… about above those thick clouds. Seventh-paisen, the Sky Castle is violating our airspace! Let’s do something about it!”
The timing of the announcement message from the management was also bad.
If the Seventh Calamity and the Archangel were to collide, the most likely time would be when the sky castle passes over Hiers.
In other words, today.
If it weren’t for this timing, I might have joined the raid.
“However, what territory does the Sky Castle inside Hiers’ airspace belong to? In the case of real embassies, the grounds are treated as the territory of the ambassador’s country, but the Sky Castle… If I had to say, is it similar to an airplane? I’ve heard that the treatment of airplanes varies case by case.”
The protection of the embassy grounds is only for countries that have established diplomatic relations, and in the case of airplanes, various scenarios are conceivable, so the response varies depending on the situation. In a case like this, where there are no diplomatic relations between the countries, airspace violations without notice would normally be shot down. It’s futile to be concerned about the territory within the sky castle.
While pondering such trivial matters and absentmindedly looking at the sky, suddenly, a massive rock appeared, breaking through the curtain of clouds.
“Huh? What the…?”
The movement is very slow, but it seems so due to its enormous scale.
That rock is falling.
“For real! What the hell is that!”
However, considering the speed of the fall, it can’t be something like a meteor falling from the upper atmosphere. It’s too slow for that. It seems the fall has just begun, meaning it started falling from somewhere nearby.
It’s abnormal for such a massive rock to be right above the clouds.
If it is…
“Could that be the Sky Castle!? Why is it falling! No, why doesn’t really matter!”
I need to hurry.
The Sky Castle is falling.
It signifies the demise of the much-talked-about Archangel.
The timing makes it hard to believe that this is unrelated to the fact that players are being sent to the past.
Currently, it seems no one has been able to defeat it yet, but that’s probably just a matter of time.
There’s been talk about causality and the past, and the fact that the Archangel will be defeated in the past, plus its demise in the present might mean that the order will be the same, no matter which comes first.
The scenario of a number of defeats at the hands of players is already incorporated, and it wouldn’t be surprising if the scenario for the Archangel’s demise started moving as the event entered its later stages.
Although the expectation of hanging bait about the Archangel weakening or disappearing by accumulating defeats to maintain player motivation didn’t turn out as anticipated, it doesn’t matter now.
“Which means, maybe the Archangel is fighting someone over there!”
The Sky Castle is already falling.
There’s no doubt that the Archangel is at a disadvantage.
No, it might have already been defeated.
“Quicker, gotta hurry…!”
Never before have I been so grateful to be a speed-type melee attacker.
Utilizing [Agility] from the [Acrobatics] skill tree, and [Shrink Ground], which I finally got with the experience points I earned in a recent event, I aimed for the Sky Castle at an extraordinary speed.
While the [Agility] passive skill is useful, [Shrink Ground] has a slight moment of stiffness immediately after activation.
Therefore, even if used repeatedly without much thought, it doesn’t dramatically increase movement speed. It’s probably faster to run with a raised AGI stat. However, these skills allow for canceling the stiffness just before activation by slightly twisting the body. This seems to be designed to seamlessly transition from [Shrink Ground] activation to an attack. Simply activating [Shrink Ground] would lead to stiffness after movement, but if transitioning directly to an attack, a high-speed surprise attack can be performed smoothly.
Originally, the reason for setting this stiffness is probably to restrict the use of [Shrink Ground] for movement only, but if you know how to cancel the condition, there’s no reason not to use it.
“[Shrink Ground]! Hah! [Shrink Ground]! Huh!”
I guess that as a result, what was born is a weirdo who activates [Shrink Ground] while twisting his hips, lands, and immediately activates [Shrink Ground] again while twisting his hips, repeating this suspicious movement and sliding at an abnormal speed.
Since there’s a cost required to activate [Shrink Ground], it’s not possible to cover long distances. Moreover, only speed fighters who acquire [Teleportation] can do this, making it unsuitable for party movement where various occupations are mixed.
I did practice after acquiring it, but this is the first time actually using it like this.
While practicing, I somewhat felt that it was a waste of time, since I didn’t think such an opportunity to use it would come.
“[Shrink Ground]! Ha! [Shrink Ground]! Hold on!”
I am now savoring the saying that ‘effort never betrays’.
However, reaching the local area by the time the Sky Castle lands was impossible.
He managed to approach the Sky Castle to the point where he could see a magnificent black temple towering in the distance, but there the Sky Castle finally made contact with the ground.
“Ahh, no, I won’t make it in time—[Parry]!”
The impact wave generated by the falling Sky Castle was tremendous, and the shockwave struck me.
Instinctively drawing my sword, I intercepted the shockwave.
Originally, [Parry] is a skill used to deflect attacks from enemies using weapons and the like.
Therefore, it’s powerless against frontal attacks like this shockwave with no escape route. In theory, [Parry] would inevitably fail.
However, as a specification of this skill, even if the deflection fails, depending on factors such as the attack power of the weapon used, a certain amount of damage reduction can be achieved.
The extent of the damage from this shockwave is unknown, but it’s better than doing nothing.
While my LP was reduced by about 80% due to a direct hit from the shockwave, I somehow withstood it.
The distance I had run so far was blown away, and I was pushed back quite a bit, but it’s better than being killed.
“Ouch, ugh, oh, which way was it again? Phew, phew! That’s a tremendous dust cloud…”
However, the surroundings are obscured by the sand and dust raised by the falling Sky Castle.
The ground is still shaking. The shock of the fall seems to have caused a localized earthquake. Its aftermath is still ongoing.
“In this shaky ground, high-speed teleportation ‘Golden Running’ is impossible… Well, before that, I don’t even know the direction.”
It’s only because I have nurtured this player character that I’m getting away with just this much, and if it were an ordinary NPC, they would have disappeared without a trace in the initial shock. Even if they survived, their eardrums would probably be useless.
Surviving with only an LP reduction is a significant accomplishment.
“…Can’t be helped. Fortunately, my eardrums… yeah, my hearing is intact. In that case, I have no choice but to bet on this.”
He had acquired [Enhanced Hearing] through an event.
Relying on my ears, I began running in the direction where some sound could be heard.
The raised dust cloud is still lingering near the surface, but it seems to be clearing up in some parts of the sky.
Thinking that if something is happening in the sky, I might be able to see it, I heard a heavy, thudding sound around me, as if something bulky had fallen or perhaps landed.
Looking up to see what was going on, I caught glimpses of a broken blue sky, mixed with noise.
My eyes, enhanced by [Visual Enhancement], captured two white figures facing each other in that space.
One of them, though described as white, has only white wings, with golden hair and clothing.
The other has wings that are black, and the rest is white.
“Alright, got [Visual Enhancement]!”
Taking advantage of the calmed ground, I kicked off with Golden Running to get closer.
“…Go ahead and die. Don’t waste your time trying to resist. [Fear], [Evil Smite], [Dark Implosion], [Release: Thread], [Thread Slash], [Gatling].”
A faint voice could be heard.
At that moment, the black-winged one activated some magic or skill, and the white-winged one was pierced by a pitch-black spear, crushed by darkness, suddenly covered in cuts all over the body, and finally disappeared after being riddled with holes.
“…Damn it… Was the black-winged one… the Seventh? Why are its wings black? No, more importantly, did the Seventh win? Did I happen to witness that moment? Uooooooooh!”
Marvelous.
I’m glad I didn’t give up.
The scale of the battle is evident by the devastated state of the land. An entire island has pierced the surface, turning the surroundings into a wasteland.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t see everything that happened in the battle, but I witnessed the moment of resolution.
While many players are likely moving towards Hugelcup, I am probably the only one who had the chance to see this scene.
I want to share this excitement with others, but before that, I need to get back to the town.
There’s no need to rush on the way back, and I could walk normally, but it would take a considerable amount of time.
It might be nice to enjoy the lingering emotions and leisurely return, but for now, I want to make a forum post in a place where I can settle down as soon as possible.
Fortunately, the event is ongoing, and the death penalty is lightened. If possible, I wouldn’t mind encountering monsters that allow me to respawn.
“What!? Something’s coming! Is it them!? Seriously!”
Looking up, I saw a red-black dragon with two heads appearing alongside the one believed to be the Seventh Calamity.
I recognize this dragon. It’s the one that attacked Wayne and the others in the Hiers Capital recently, appearing together with the Seventh.
The dragon is heading straight towards me.
The four eyes approaching are filled with murderous intent. There’s no escape.
“…I didn’t realize my return ticket had even been arranged for me. How kind. I think I’m going to become a fan of Seventh-paisen.”
And then, I woke up in the inn town nearest to the Old Hiers Capital.
*T/N: this one was tough to translate, it’s like I can never be sure if I should put it in 1st or 3rd person. In the end I separated the text in 2 sections (one for each) for extra clarity, it makes enough sense so please bear with me.
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