[arbingerofCorruption].
Abizarreskillthatwarpsoneofyourcurrentlyequippedssenceabilitiesifithits.
nmycase,ithit[ranscendence]fromBayon.
'Atleastitdidn’thitStormush...'
venif’ddodgedtheworst-casescenario,itstillstung.
Because[ranscendence]wasacoressencethatcouldbelinkednotonlywith[iantForm],butwithnurousotherssencesaswell.
tmightnothaverankedashighinimportanceas[iantForm],butthatdidn’tchangethefactthatitwasacorepartofthefinalbuildforashield-barbarian.
'wonderhowitchanged...'
hethoughtthatitmight’veturnedintosothingcompletelyuselesswaseatingawayat,buttherewasnowaytofindoutyet.
nceyou'rehitbythatskill,theaffectedabilitybecosunusablefor180days.
'hisisday33oftheexpedition...'
fwesticktotheoriginalplanandreturntothecityonday75,thatleaves42days.
And30moreinthecity.
'venifwedoanother75-dayexpeditionafterthat,we’llstillhave33daystogo.'
aningitwon’tbeuntilthethirdexpeditionthat’llbeabletouse[ranscendence]againandfindoutwhatchanged.
“Captain,theisland’sinsight...!”
’dbeenstandingondecklostinthoughtwhenfinally,ourdestinationcaintoview.
heskyaroundtheislandwasstainedblood-red,asifthatpartoftheworldweredetachedfromreality.
ardenedlavastreamingintotheocean.
Athick,dark-redsmokecloakingtheentireisland.
“Disembark...!”
Fromanchoringtheboattosettingfootontheisland,theentireprocesstook3hoursand50minutes.
Roughly50minutesfasterthanittooktoreachthesecretbase.
“Welldone,Auyen.”
“t’snothing...”
Still,Auyen’scomplexionwasvisiblypale—understandable,consideringhe’dpushedhisabilitytothelimitfortheentirevoyage.
Usethatabilityevenafewmoretishereandhe’dlikelycollapseintosoulexhaustion.
“Fromhereon,yourest.”
“Sir?”
oneedtooverexplain.
“Ainard!”
hemonthernawascalled,Ainardinstantlypickeduponthecontext.
“otit!!Youwanttocarryhimuptop,right?”
“uh?-’mreallyfine—!”
“aha!Don’tworrysomuch!’vecarriedpeoplebefore!”
kay,thatsettlesAuyen’smobility.
AndsincetheFirerbhadremainedactivatedsincewearrivedontheisland,therewasnoneedtoreactivateit.
hatant—
“We’removingatfullspeedfromhere.”
eadingthenow-restedsquadmbers,wesurgedthroughtheisland.
urgoalwastheisland’scenter,whereAliahadlastbeenspotted.
Butevenasweadvancedtowardourdestination,wecontinuedcarefullyscanningoursurroundings.
Becauseitwasn’tjustAliawhowasatrisk.
「Statuseffect[ternalScorching]applied.」
「Yourcharactertakesongoingfiredamagethatamplifiesoverti.」
hatfieldeffect—itsdamagescalingwasn’tyetcritical,socouldlivewithit.
「iremaininguntildeath:05:50:17.」
Butwithonlyaboutsixhoursleftbefore[Dood]kickedin,wehadtostartresettingourpartymbersrightnow.
ere’show:
“Raven,Marone.Fromnowon,castthe‘Distortion’spelloneverymonsterwekill.”
venwhilemaintainingourbreakthroughformationandpressingforward,wecastDistortiononeverymonsterweencounteredbeforetakingthemdown.
MonstersafflictedwithDistortiondon’tdropssenceondeath—instead,there’sachancetheircorpsesremain,yieldingrarebyproducts...
“h!tworked!”
nsteadofvanishingintoashoweroflight,thedefeatedmonstercollapsed.
hud—!
Distortionhadsucceeded.
Butnotlongafter,flaseruptedfromthecorpse,reducingittoash.
hen—
Fwoosh—!
Aredshimrroseintotheair.
“hatlooks...kindoflikeanssence?”
“tis.”
heofficialnain-ga:‘riginalSin.’
Whyitwascalledthat,noidea—buttheeffectsweretwofold.
「Yourcharacterhasconsud‘riginalSin’.」
「Fireresistancepermanentlyincreasedby 1.」
traisedyourfireresistanceby 1.
「Statuseffect[Dood]hasbeenreset.」
「Yourcharacterwilldiein24hours.」
Andresetthe[Dood]status,buyingusanotherfullday.
ote:thefireresistancebuffonlyappliedonfirstconsumption—nostackingfromrepeateddoses.
Still,thatwasn’tthepointrightnow.
SincetherewasnoUtohoveroverthedebufficonlikeinthega,wemadesuretohaveeachsquadmbermanuallyseta24-hourtirontheirwatchesthemonttheytookthedose.
“hisisaweirdfeeling.Knowingexactlyhowlonghaveleft.Don’tyouthinkso,Parab?”
“aha...yeah.guessitis.”
“t’dbeniceifwecouldalwaysseehowmuchtiwehadleft,eveninreallife.”
“xcuse?”
“anyourremainingti,likeyourlifespan.Wouldn’titbehelpfultoknowthat?arlier,whenwethoughtweonlyhadoneminuteleft...justpanicked.startedthinkingofallthethings’veneverdone...”
“......twouldbenice,yeah.fwecouldseehowmuchtiwehadleft...wewouldn’tdiewithoutsayingthethingsweneededtosay.”
“Sayingthethings...notdoing?”
“Ahaha...it’sjustasaying!Justasaying!”
veninasituationlikethis,MaroneandParabwerechattinginthatwarm,fuzzywayoftheirs.
ch.AndherethoughtitwasweirdwhenParabinsistedonbeingMarone’smountduringtravel.
'...ssothingreallygoingonwiththem?'
didn’tknow.Butcouldn’thelpthinkingit.
Partofjustwantedtoleaveitalone.
nce,would’veworriedaboutsuchrelationshipsformingwithintheteam.
Feelingsantunpredictability,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.
「AinardPrnelinhasconsud‘riginalSin’.」
「Fireresistancepermanentlyincreasedby 1.」
We’dsecuredfourriginalSinstotalandreseteveryone’s[Dood]status.
Andthat’swhenheardafamiliarvoicewhisperinmyear.
“Soyoufinallyfound.”
“...uh?”
knewthatvoice...
“mily...?”
mutteredthenawithoutthinking.
“What,didyouseeaghostorsothing?”
Aliaappeared,grinningslyly.
“...Uh?”
wasstunned.
onestly,itdidfeellikeseeingaghost.hadn’texpectedtofindherthisfast.
'o,wait.Didshefindus?'
Asitturnedout,Aliahadn’tevenknownwewerelookingforher.
ell,ifnotforwhatArtasaid,wouldn’thaveevenknownshewasonthisisland.
“Whatthehellhappenedthatbroughtyouhere?”
“Sothinghappenedoutside.”
“oldenree?hosebastards?”
“o,they’vegotnothingtodowithit.”
“...What?othingtodowithit?”
“Assoonastheyrealizedwe’dtakenouttheirtail,theylefttheisland.waitedjustincase,butdidn’tseethemagainuntilcahere.”
oneofthismatchedmyexpectations.’dassudifshewashere,ithadtobebecauseofthem...
“Soifnotthem,whythehelldidyoucohere?”
histi,heranswerwasevenmoreunexpected.
“AFloorordgotsummonedonthe6thFloor.”
...What?
***
AFloorordsummonedonthe6thFloor.
twasshocking—butitmadesense.
“Youcaherethemontyoufoundout,huh?”
“Yeah.fgotcaughtupinitalone,itwould’vebeenbad.Plus,figuredyouguyswouldbereturningaroundnow.”
earingherfullreasoning,noddedinunderstanding.
ClassicAlia.heonlyoneyoucouldtrustnottoscrewup,evenunsupervised.
erjudgnt—fastandaccurate.
“Welldone.”
MostFloorordsaffectedtheentirefloor.
akeiachisonthe3rdFloor,forexample.
Whenheappeared,heimdiatelyshutdowninter-floorportalsandtransfordtheentirefield.
Andthesaappliedtothe6thFloor’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.”
ncewelinkedupwithAlia,westartedheadingawayfromtheisland’scenter.
“Didthingsgowellafterleft?wasworriedmyabsencemight’vessedthingsup.”
“h,that...”
“Sothingdidgowrong?”
“otquite.herewereproblems,butitturnedoutfine.Weevengotanssence.”
“Afirst-gradessence...?mpressive.Doesn’tmatterwhoendsupwithit—thecity’sgoingtoexplodewhentheyhear.”
“ope.hat’snotgonnahappen.”
shookmyheadfirmly,andAliaraisedaneyebrow.
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,butAliadidn’tseemtocare.
Shejustlookedstraightatandsaid:
“hanks.’llputittogooduse.”
Sosimple.
Butinsidethatplaingratitude,feltastrangeweight.
twasmoresincerethanahundredflowerywords.
fcourse,thatsolemnitydidn’tlastlong.
Forallherstoicappearances,Aliacouldbechildishtoo.
“So,what’stheabilityonthisssence?owcanitlinkwithmine?”
“h,forthat,askRaven.”
“?”
“Youprobablywroteitalldownalready.”
“Ugh...did,but...fine!ereyougo!”
AliatookthedocuntationfromRavenand,afterreviewingit,caovertoaskforadvice.
Andthen...
“uh?What’sthis?henaiskindofromantic.‘heastDay’?ah!”
Whatpartofthatisromantic?
’llnevergetheraesthetic,butgaveherastraightanswer.
“h,thatone?Don’tworryaboutitfornow.ivenitsconditions,youmightnevergetachancetouseit.”
“Really?Yeah,lookingattheconditions...definitelynotsothingyoucanuseonthefly.”
“Right,so...”
“[heastDay].”
Damnit.hatcuriosityofhers...
Shehadtotryitonce.
otthatshe’dbeabletoactivateit—
Flash—!!
...rsothought.
“...uh?”
Whatwasthat?
Whooooooooosh——!!!
“Bjorn!ook!ookatthesky!!!”
...Whyisthereateorfallingfromthesky?
BM—!!
didn’tknowexactlywhathappened,butthewayAlia’sfacewassuddenlyfullofpanicmadeonethingclear.
“...Didscrewsothingup?”
hiswasn’tgoingasplanned.
.
.
.
.
.
「AliaRainwaleshasactivated[heastDay].」
「Forthenext24hours,a10kmradiuswillbebombardedatrandom.」
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