[arbingerofCorruption].
Abizarreskillthatwarpsoneofyourcurrentlyequippedssenceabilitiesifithits.
nmycase,ithit[ranscendence]fromBayon.
‘Atleastitdidn’thitStormush…’
venif’ddodgedtheworst-casescenario,itstillstung.
Because[ranscendence]wasacoressencethatcouldbelinkednotonlywith[iantForm],butwithnumerousotherssencesaswell.
tmightnothaverankedashighinimportanceas[iantForm],butthatdidn’tchangethefactthatitwasacorepartofthefinalbuildforashield-barbarian.
‘wonderhowitchanged…’
hethoughtthatitmight’veturnedintosomethingcompletelyuselesswaseatingawayatme,buttherewasnowaytofindoutyet.
nceyou’rehitbythatskill,theaffectedabilitybecomesunusablefor180days.
‘hisisday33oftheexpedition…’
fwesticktotheoriginalplanandreturntothecityonday75,thatleaves42days.
And30moreinthecity.
‘venifwedoanother75-dayexpeditionafterthat,we’llstillhave33daystogo.’
Meaningitwon’tbeuntilthethirdexpeditionthat’llbeabletouse[ranscendence]againandfindoutwhatchanged.
“Captain,theisland’sinsight…!”
’dbeenstandingondecklostinthoughtwhenfinally,ourdestinationcameintoview.
heskyaroundtheislandwasstainedblood-red,asifthatpartoftheworldweredetachedfromreality.
ardenedlavastreamingintotheocean.
Athick,dark-redsmokecloakingtheentireisland.
“Disembark…!”
Fromanchoringtheboattosettingfootontheisland,theentireprocesstook3hoursand50minutes.
Roughly50minutesfasterthanittooktoreachthesecretbase.
“Welldone,Auyen.”
“t’snothing…”
Still,Auyen’scomplexionwasvisiblypale—understandable,consideringhe’dpushedhisabilitytothelimitfortheentirevoyage.
Usethatabilityevenafewmoretimeshereandhe’dlikelycollapseintosoulexhaustion.
“Fromhereon,yourest.”
“Sir?”
oneedtooverexplain.
“Ainard!”
hemomenthernamewascalled,Ainardinstantlypickeduponthecontext.
“otit!!Youwantmetocarryhimuptop,right?”
“uh?-’mreallyfine—!”
“aha!Don’tworrysomuch!’vecarriedpeoplebefore!”
kay,thatsettlesAuyen’smobility.
AndsincetheFirerbhadremainedactivatedsincewearrivedontheisland,therewasnoneedtoreactivateit.
hatmeant—
“We’removingatfullspeedfromhere.”
eadingthenow-restedsquadmembers,wesurgedthroughtheisland.
urgoalwastheisland’scenter,whereAmeliahadlastbeenspotted.
Butevenasweadvancedtowardourdestination,wecontinuedcarefullyscanningoursurroundings.
Becauseitwasn’tjustAmeliawhowasatrisk.
「Statuseffect[ternalScorching]applied.」
「Yourcharactertakesongoingfiredamagethatamplifiesovertime.」
hatfieldeffect—itsdamagescalingwasn’tyetcritical,socouldlivewithit.
「imeremaininguntildeath:05:50:17.」
Butwithonlyaboutsixhoursleftbefore[Doomed]kickedin,wehadtostartresettingourpartymembersrightnow.
ere’show:
“Raven,Marone.Fromnowon,castthe‘Distortion’spelloneverymonsterwekill.”
venwhilemaintainingourbreakthroughformationandpressingforward,wecastDistortiononeverymonsterweencounteredbeforetakingthemdown.
MonstersafflictedwithDistortiondon’tdropssenceondeath—instead,there’sachancetheircorpsesremain,yieldingrarebyproducts…
“h!tworked!”
nsteadofvanishingintoashoweroflight,thedefeatedmonstercollapsed.
hud—!
Distortionhadsucceeded.
Butnotlongafter,flameseruptedfromthecorpse,reducingittoash.
hen—
Fwoosh—!
Aredshimmerroseintotheair.
“hatlooks…kindoflikeanssence?”
“tis.”
heofficialnamein-game:‘riginalSin.’
Whyitwascalledthat,noidea—buttheeffectsweretwofold.
「Yourcharacterhasconsumed‘riginalSin’.」
「Fireresistancepermanentlyincreasedby+1.」
traisedyourfireresistanceby+1.
「Statuseffect[Doomed]hasbeenreset.」
「Yourcharacterwilldiein24hours.」
Andresetthe[Doomed]status,buyingusanotherfullday.
ote:thefireresistancebuffonlyappliedonfirstconsumption—nostackingfromrepeateddoses.
Still,thatwasn’tthepointrightnow.
SincetherewasnoUtohoveroverthedebufficonlikeinthegame,wemadesuretohaveeachsquadmembermanuallyseta24-hourtimerontheirwatchesthemomenttheytookthedose.
“hisisaweirdfeeling.Knowingexactlyhowlonghaveleft.Don’tyouthinkso,Parab?”
“aha…yeah.guessitis.”
“t’dbeniceifwecouldalwaysseehowmuchtimewehadleft,eveninreallife.”
“xcuseme?”
“meanyourremainingtime,likeyourlifespan.Wouldn’titbehelpfultoknowthat?arlier,whenwethoughtweonlyhadoneminuteleft…justpanicked.startedthinkingofallthethings’veneverdone…”
“……twouldbenice,yeah.fwecouldseehowmuchtimewehadleft…wewouldn’tdiewithoutsayingthethingsweneededtosay.”
“Sayingthethings…notdoing?”
“Ahaha…it’sjustasaying!Justasaying!”
veninasituationlikethis,MaroneandParabwerechattinginthatwarm,fuzzywayoftheirs.
ch.AndherethoughtitwasweirdwhenParabinsistedonbeingMarone’smountduringtravel.
‘…ssomethingreallygoingonwiththem?’
didn’tknow.Butcouldn’thelpthinkingit.
Partofmejustwantedtoleaveitalone.
nce,would’veworriedaboutsuchrelationshipsformingwithintheteam.
Feelingsmeantunpredictability,afterall.
But’dchanged.
“…Wemightnothavea‘later.’”
“uh?Whatdidyousayjustnow,old◈оvеlіgһт◈(Continuereading)man?”
“Justtalkingtomyself.”
brushedofflwen’squestionandturnedmyattentionawayfromMaroneandParab.
Whateverhappenedbetweenthemwasn’tmybusiness.
fitworkedout,great.fnot,thenitdidn’t.
Aslongastherewerenoregrets,thatwasenough.
Withthatmindset,wefocusedsolelyonadvancingtowardthecenteroftheisland.
「AinardPrnelinhasconsumed‘riginalSin’.」
「Fireresistancepermanentlyincreasedby+1.」
We’dsecuredfourriginalSinstotalandreseteveryone’s[Doomed]status.
Andthat’swhenheardafamiliarvoicewhisperinmyear.
“Soyoufinallyfoundme.”
“…uh?”
knewthatvoice…
“mily…?”
mutteredthenamewithoutthinking.
“What,didyouseeaghostorsomething?”
Ameliaappeared,grinningslyly.
“…Uh?”
wasstunned.
onestly,itdidfeellikeseeingaghost.hadn’texpectedtofindherthisfast.
‘o,wait.Didshefindus?’
Asitturnedout,Ameliahadn’tevenknownwewerelookingforher.
ell,ifnotforwhatArtasaid,wouldn’thaveevenknownshewasonthisisland.
“Whatthehellhappenedthatbroughtyouhere?”
“Somethinghappenedoutside.”
“oldenree?hosebastards?”
“o,they’vegotnothingtodowithit.”
“…What?othingtodowithit?”
“Assoonastheyrealizedwe’dtakenouttheirtail,theylefttheisland.waitedjustincase,butdidn’tseethemagainuntilcamehere.”
oneofthismatchedmyexpectations.’dassumedifshewashere,ithadtobebecauseofthem…
“Soifnotthem,whythehelldidyoucomehere?”
histime,heranswerwasevenmoreunexpected.
“AFloorordgotsummonedonthe6thFloor.”
…What?
***
AFloorordsummonedonthe6thFloor.
twasshocking—butitmadesense.
“Youcameherethemomentyoufoundout,huh?”
“Yeah.fgotcaughtupinitalone,itwould’vebeenbad.Plus,figuredyouguyswouldbereturningaroundnow.”
earingherfullreasoning,noddedinunderstanding.
ClassicAmelia.heonlyoneyoucouldtrustnottoscrewup,evenunsupervised.
erjudgment—fastandaccurate.
“Welldone.”
MostFloorordsaffectedtheentirefloor.
akeiachisonthe3rdFloor,forexample.
Whenheappeared,heimmediatelyshutdowninter-floorportalsandtransformedtheentirefield.
Andthesameappliedtothe6thFloor’sord.
hatonedoesn’tblockportals,butonceit’ssummoned,itsskillsreachanywhereacrossthevastocean.
‘wasgoingtojustleavetheislandifanythinghappened,butnow…thatoption’soffthetable.’
nepathhadclosed—butwewerelucky,inaway.
Youcouldsaywe’dendedupinasafezonebyaccident.
fweweren’there,wedefinitelywould’vegottencaughtintheFloorordevent.
“…Anyway,’mjustgladyou’resafe.et’stalkmoreoncewe’reoutofhere.”
“Why?What’swrongwithstaying?”
“here’sanastyonelurkingaroundhere.Weplantotakeitouteventually…butwe’renotreadyyet.”
“otit.Makessense.”
ncewelinkedupwithAmelia,westartedheadingawayfromtheisland’scenter.
“Didthingsgowellafterleft?wasworriedmyabsencemight’vemessedthingsup.”
“h,that…”
“Somethingdidgowrong?”
“otquite.herewereproblems,butitturnedoutfine.Weevengotanssence.”
“Afirst-gradessence…?mpressive.Doesn’tmatterwhoendsupwithit—thecity’sgoingtoexplodewhentheyhear.”
“ope.hat’snotgonnahappen.”
shookmyheadfirmly,andAmeliaraisedaneyebrow.
hengrinnedandshrugged.
“Youhatebeingfamous,right?”
“…?”
Shelookedconfusedatfirst,thenhereyeswentwide.
Realizationhit.
Whistle—!
“hat’samazing.Aguywhogivesawayafirst-gradessenceasagift?Wheredofindoneofthose?”
“MissRaven,you’reamage.Youcan’tevenabsorbssences…”
“Still,lovessenceresearch!”
“mph,whocaresaboutfirst-gradessences?gotaierssencefromtheoldman!”
“R-Really…?’mjealousofbothofyou…”
heothersweremakingaruckus,whistlingandteasing,butAmeliadidn’tseemtocare.
Shejustlookedstraightatmeandsaid:
“hanks.’llputittogooduse.”
Sosimple.
Butinsidethatplaingratitude,feltastrangeweight.
twasmoresincerethanahundredflowerywords.
fcourse,thatsolemnitydidn’tlastlong.
Forallherstoicappearances,Ameliacouldbechildishtoo.
“So,what’stheabilityonthisssence?owcanitlinkwithmine?”
“h,forthat,askRaven.”
“Me?”
“Youprobablywroteitalldownalready.”
“Ugh…did,but…fine!ereyougo!”
AmeliatookthedocumentationfromRavenand,afterreviewingit,cameovertoaskforadvice.
Andthen…
“uh?What’sthis?henameiskindofromantic.‘heastDay’?ah!”
Whatpartofthatisromantic?
’llnevergetheraesthetic,butgaveherastraightanswer.
“h,thatone?Don’tworryaboutitfornow.ivenitsconditions,youmightnevergetachancetouseit.”
“Really?Yeah,lookingattheconditions…definitelynotsomethingyoucanuseonthefly.”
“Right,so…”
“[heastDay].”
Damnit.hatcuriosityofhers…
Shehadtotryitonce.
otthatshe’dbeabletoactivateit—
Flash—!!
…rsothought.
“…uh?”
Whatwasthat?
Whooooooooosh——!!!
“Bjorn!ook!ookatthesky!!!”
…Whyisthereameteorfallingfromthesky?
BM—!!
didn’tknowexactlywhathappened,butthewayAmelia’sfacewassuddenlyfullofpanicmadeonethingclear.
“…Didscrewsomethingup?”
hiswasn’tgoingasplanned.
.
.
.
.
.
「AmeliaRainwaleshasactivated[heastDay].」
「Forthenext24hours,a10kmradiuswillbebombardedatrandom.」
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