Chapter 1193 - -6h
"—Well, I have some business to attend to, so I shall take my leave here."
"Same here."
Words akin to encouragement had already been thoroughly exhausted by this point. Therefore, along with an extremely casual greeting, they waved their hands from atop the dragon that flapped its great wings and soared without even kicking up a wind.
And then, releasing its true worth with the ringing of magical power that substituted for the voice of the Nezumi (Rat) who was king. Together with those it carried on its back, the Ryuu (Dragon) which had become a single shining blue star—truly, just like a blink of an eye.
It vanished into the far reaches of the sky in the blink of an eye. ...And so,
"Wow, that's amazing...! No wonder they can get here in about an hour."
The escort who had departed so gallantly. From among the eight people seeing off 【Crown】 and 【Thread-Weaver】—who had accompanied him to bring out the true potential of his subdued beast—came a slightly excited voice of admiration.
These were the words of Rinne, who as usual had turned into a troublesome geek for Haru since they met, but as it was an undeniable fact, neither bitter smiles nor retorts arose.
The special ability of Sapphire, the only flying-type subdued beast at present, Lightspeed.
The abnormal output, which multiplied after adding its own full speed and its master's full speed, apparently achieved an absurd speed estimated to be hypersonic—in other words, more than five times the speed of sound, Mach 5.
The reason why it could not be asserted with terms like 'estimated' or 'apparently' was because Arcadia currently had no way to correctly measure that speed. This time, they had flown a distance of about ten thousand kilometers from 【Frontier】 after turning into a "star," but the time required was just over an hour.
Thinking simply, it was ten thousand kilometers per hour. Needless to say, it was a figure approaching not just five times but ten times the speed of sound, but according to the person himself, 'I'm keeping it within a range where there is no harmful recoil'...
"We in the Northern Camp are having our spotlight stolen, aren't we?"
"No doubt about it. Just with his mobility, his travel suitability is on a whole different dimension."
His "legs," which never stopped accelerating, knew no bounds, not just in the field of battle. No objections arose from the surroundings to the words of Ren and Sho, who watched the shooting star with amusement.
...Instead,
"Ah, Princess, is it really okay to show such a lovey-dovey face! Is it really okay!"
"...I'm not showing it. It's your imagination."
Today, as always, there was a lovey-dovey smile from about one person, whether she had failed to hide it or not, which was undoubtedly directed at her beloved—or rather, her de facto fiancé—who drew everyone's eyes.
And so, while lightly brushing off the energetic junior girl who immediately jumped at her, both physically and mentally. That aside, while storing up the nourishment for her heart without letting it escape...
"Well then...—we will proceed to the conquest immediately. Are you ready?"
With a click, Iris flipped her switch.
Brought by the twinkling of the blue star, a total of eight people had landed here... at one of the five, the distant 【Deep Realm of Blue Source】. Six were the active conquest force, and two were support.
There was no need for words of instruction, or perhaps even looking at them was unnecessary.
"Sword," "Mirror," "Orb"—Three Laws Protection.
Without even being asked, they did what needed to be done.
Their voices and movements were in perfect unison. The moment the world (system) approved the melody that had become a single mass of sound, an unparalleled protection of light manifested, centered on the 'Tomoe' that the Northern Camp was proud of.
The perfect circle named 《Mitama no Tobari (Three Laws Protection Barrier)》 was an illegality sufficient to justify the three of 【Orb Law】, 【Mirror Law】, and 【Sword Law】 continuing to remain at the top of the hierarchy with just that one ability.
The Law of Manifesting an Absolute Safe Zone Inviolable by Enemies with Unlimited Manifestation Time. The deployment condition was simply zero hostile presences within range. With only that restriction, it created a safe space that shut out all threats, making it one of Arcadia's prominent 'powers that step beyond the realm of players.'
The current maximum deployment range was about one kilometer. Furthermore, the manifestation time was unlimited. On top of that, it increased the recovery speed of HP and MP of players within the barrier by several times, and even accelerated the reduction of cooldown times for each of their skills and the like. As a bonus, it even served as a resurrection point.
Far from being just one of the best, some might rightly declare it the 'most excellent.' It was an extremely absurd authority.
"—And with that, we leave the maintenance of the barrier, the setting up of the base, and various other things to you."
"Good luck, Saya-nee. Try not to cause too much trouble for everyone."
In addition, once established with all three of them present, the fact that there was no issue even if they broke the formation was also extremely excellent. As long as at least one of Sho or Ren remained inside the barrier, even if Sayaka entered a different space (dungeon) like this time, Mitama no Tobari would be maintained without any problem.
Thus, the two brothers quickly left the circle to fulfill the roles they understood. Leaving aside Sayaka, who was smiling softly and waving her hand... Iris gave a single nod.
That is, toward the "no" to 'Are you ready?' which had gone unanswered, including by them.
"Hmm... Rinne?"
"I-I'm fine! I'll do my best...!!"
There was only one slightly tense face. Even so, her cuteness was moderate, well within the range of being reliable. Although she was the most junior in the team, her career as a ranked player was already two years; now, the North's 【Berumail】 was also a splendid pinnacle of players, a "star"—
And if the most junior was like that, the others went without saying.
"You know it, right? If you get caught, consider it over in a second."
"I know. If I have even a second, I'll manage somehow."
By the shore of the lake, pitch black and impossible to see beneath the surface. Walking side by side and staring at the great whirlpool in the center of the lake, the two from the East spoke quietly in a delicate atmosphere of whether they were close or not.
"Let's do our best, Rinne-san."
"Ah, I'll definitely do my best! Since I'm with Saya-chan-senpai, it's like having the strength of a hundred people!"
Softly and gently, the Saint of the North healed her junior directly under the same camp with a smile.
Finally—
"...May?"
"Nn... nn, ugh... I'm... awake..."
Right next to Iris.
On the floating bed that was always there. While annoyingly brushing aside her light purple hair, which was long enough for her to get buried in, 【Castle Lord】 May, who had listlessly sat up, slightly...
Sli...ghtly lifting her eyelids, her dark blue eyes looked at her 'friend'.
Confirming that in that beautiful shine, as always, there was not even a shred of tension, the 【Sword Queen】, who was her friend and also her 'master', smiled slightly and reached out her hand.
—And so,
"Then, stand up. Bringing a bed underwater will cause a disaster."
"Aaaah... how cruel..."
The hand reached out was not to gently pat her head or comb her hair, but to grab her slender neck and drag her out of bed. Her faint scream was completely ignored.
Of course, this was not tyrannical monarchy.
"I'm awake... I'll stand, I'll stand, so... don't pull me..."
"Good girl. Walk after you stand up, okay?"
"Aah... actually, pull me..."
Because she deeply trusted that she was someone who would do what needed to be done when the time came—that she was truly the Southern Camp's third rank, 【Castle Lord】 May—there was no holding back.
While emitting a minimal-decibel voice that could easily be mistaken for mumbling sleep talk or breathing, the girl dragged from her bed landed on the ground... at that moment.
Short boots that suddenly appeared on the ground swallowed her small bare feet as if opening their own mouths. —And the suddenness did not stop at just the shoes.
A floating hairbrush combed her very long hair, and before the tips of her hair could touch the ground, flying ribbons and pins gathered and arranged the light purple hair in an instant.
Next, in place of the bed that had vanished before anyone noticed, a large dresser appeared beside her. A gorgeous dress came out from inside... but as if she didn't like it, May slapped it away, and it went back inside looking disappointed. The second to appear was a dress, but one that prioritized practicality (battle dress).
It was more like it was chosen at random rather than meeting her approval, but this time it was not rejected...—the moment her small fingertips touched the flying set as if welcoming it, she quickly changed from her nightgown negligee into a battle outfit that looked active, regardless of her actual personality.
Then, the only thing that remained the same was her extremely sleepy dark blue eyes. However, the 'Sleeping Princess,' who had more than enough to paint over the other changed impressions with just that... let out a single yawn.
With her small body, she let out a big, big yawn.
"Fwah...—...ae... okay. Well, let's do... our best..."
In her own battle-ready state, she lined up next to Iris, who was a few steps ahead.
...And there were a total of five gazes watching that. Watching over her, adoring her, showing bitter smiles, or not having any particular interest.
Each was different, but in any case,
"Yes. Well then... shall we go?"
Preparation was thorough, and complete. The lined-up team, with different strides, yet stepped forward all at once—the sound of swaying and splashing water, for six people.
Resounded across the silent lakeshore, and the conquest that exposed the tranquility began.
[Author's Note]
Let's go with a sleeveless shirt & mini skirt with black tights for May-chan's battle dress. A shut-in's extreme gap active fashion is the Shizuku (World Tree's Dew) after all.