Crossing the Gate, Part 2
"Good grief. An inspector in a place like this? What on earth is happening in Sak?"
Once the inspector gave the sign, the coachman started driving the horses again. Fortunately, it seemed none of his passengers were deemed suspicious.
Stopping us right in the middle of a Gate, of all things. Even if Chaos Beasts rarely appeared inside the Gates, it didn't mean the skin-crawling sensation unique to Chaos was entirely absent.
He was only working as a coachman traveling between Gates because he needed the money; the moment he saved up enough, he planned to quit.
About halfway to Sak now, I suppose. There was still a long way to go. While inside a Gate, water and hay for the horses were limited, so it was always best to hurry.
It was then.
His horses suddenly ground to a halt.
"Huh?"
He pulled the reins, but the horses didn't react. As if they had turned to stone, they refused to budge.
"What's wrong with you guys?"
Just as he was about to climb down from the driver's seat to check on them, he noticed the horses' heads were turned to the left. His gaze naturally followed theirs.
And then, he froze as well.
"W-what is that...!"
In his dozen-plus years of working as a coachman, it was something he had never seen before.
The carriage had come to a sudden halt once again. The middle-aged man, who had been about to speak, fell silent, and a heavy quiet enveloped the carriage.
What is it this time?
Just then, the Hero peered out the window and muttered, "Damn it."
He immediately leaped out of the carriage. I poked my head out from the side he had jumped from. And then, I saw it.
That's...!
It was slowly approaching us. A Chaos Beast of menacing proportions and unrecognizable form.
Though it was still quite far away, judging by its speed, a collision was only a matter of time.
At that size...
It wasn't a common variety. Most Heroes wouldn't stand a chance unless they fought as a group. And there was only one Hero here.
Damn it.
I had said it before: crossing the Gate between Basil and Sak was like crossing the Pacific Ocean. And the carriage I had chosen was a vessel as grand as the Titanic.
But...
Even the Titanic sank in the end.
No matter how capable a proper Hero was, facing that thing alone was suicide. Even Gwen would find it a struggle. Perhaps my former self as a player could have done it, but the experiences I had lived through in this body told me otherwise.
What is he planning?
Having stepped off the carriage, the Hero quietly rested his hand on his sword, staring intently at the approaching Chaos Beast.
At this rate, the beast would collide with the Gate. While that might weaken the Chaos Beast slightly, the Gate's collapse would leave everyone else—excluding the Hero and myself—completely exposed to the raw Chaos.
Is that what he's aiming for?
I watched the Hero, who stood perfectly still, doing absolutely nothing. Perhaps he intended to use our lives as bait to slay the beast.
What should I do?
Even if I tried to stop him, it wouldn't change anything. No, it would likely only lead to the worst possible outcome. If things went south, everyone, including the Hero, could die.
But even so...
I looked at the other two passengers in the carriage. We were merely sharing a ride; until recently, we were complete strangers. Yet, I didn't want to see them die.
In that case...
I had to persuade the Hero. I would offer to help, even if only a little, so we could fight outside the Gate.
Just as I was about to step out of the carriage—
"Huh?"
In an instant, the Hero vanished.
And then... Whoosh! The sound of tearing wind echoed.
Before I knew it, the man had reached the very nose of the Chaos Beast.
How did he get there so fast?
Following the sound of the wind, a massive explosion reverberated. The blast occurred outside the Gate.
The man was... beating the Chaos Beast with his bare hands.
"Crazy..."
My eyes could barely keep up. Dodging the Chaos Beast's attacks with godlike agility, the man calmly delivered punch after punch into the creature.
With every strike, an explosive boom like detonating bombs rang out, and the Chaos Beast's massive form shuddered violently.
Help him? What a joke.
I felt embarrassed for even thinking I could assist. The battle between the man and the Chaos Beast was already in a realm where an ordinary person like me couldn't hope to interfere. If I had stepped in, I would have been crushed like an ant caught between fighting giants.
Boom!
A single straight punch sent the colossal Chaos Beast flying dozens of meters. Yet, the man closed the distance in the blink of an eye, unleashing a relentless barrage of strikes.
Chunks of the Chaos Beast's flesh tore away and scattered in all directions. However, as if protected by some sort of barrier, not a single drop of filth touched the man.
I had it all wrong.
My assumption that the man couldn't defeat the Chaos Beast was based entirely on my past experiences. That was how abnormally strong the beast appeared.
The problem was that I had never truly witnessed a high-level Hero in action. The only Hero I had spent significant time with was Gwen. And even she had never fought at full strength in front of me. Besides, since she had not yet obtained the Rose Sword, she wasn't particularly strong among Heroes.
I shouldn't have applied my realistic expectations to a Hero in the first place.
Lately, as I synchronized more with this game world, my judgment as a player had indeed grown dull. If I were still just a player, I wouldn't have hesitated like that.
As if to prove my point, the man's fist tore through the air.
Crack!
It was the final blow. The Chaos Beast shattered into pieces. Amidst the falling debris, the man stood calmly, as if he had done nothing more than swat a fly.
That was the true caliber of a proper Hero.
Those monsters naturally disregard reality altogether.
While I was busy dealing with mere bandits and thugs, Heroes shattered steel and fought Chaos Beasts the size of houses. High-level Heroes could split mountains and dry up lakes. And those of the Sacred Rank... their individual power could influence an entire continent.
I had grown complacent, accustomed to my recent string of small successes. Ultimately, the Hero I aimed to become had to be at least of this caliber. Otherwise, I would remain a perpetual Hero Candidate forever. Just like Alan Flake in his 100th playthrough.
He tried his best. But in the end, he couldn't overcome reality.
The wall of reality was high and thick. Far thicker than the Gate separating me from that Hero. As I was now, no matter how high I stood on my tiptoes, I couldn't even reach the edge.
"Let's head out again."
Having fulfilled his duty as if it were only natural since he had been paid, the Hero climbed back into the carriage. Not a single speck of the Chaos Beast's filth stained his clothes.
The talkative middle-aged man from earlier sat with a pale face, utterly speechless.
"Didn't I tell you to move? That was a rather loud fight. The Chaos Beasts will likely start gathering soon."
"P-please wait just a moment, Master Hero. I want to leave too, but I need to calm the horses down first..."
Once the coachman calmed the horses, the carriage began to move again. Just as the Hero had warned, Chaos Beasts could be seen gathering behind the carriage. However, none of them looked nearly as strong as the one from before, so there was no need to worry.
To become a Hero...
I watched the Hero sitting diagonally across from me. Suddenly, a memory from the Trial flashed through my mind. The figure of the one who always ran ahead of me—I saw that same figure overlapping with the Hero.
A distance that felt utterly impossible to close.
I had to prove it. If I didn't give up, if I just kept running forward...
Could I become something? Could I become a Hero?
"Tsk, a failure."
Laus, the 54th Demon King, clicked his tongue as he watched the Chaos Beast explode. It seemed the Hero he had seen earlier was stronger than expected.
Every now and then, there were those who pushed their martial prowess to the absolute limit, even without possessing a high-ranking Stigma.
A shame, but let's just let him go.
As he had reminded himself before, he couldn't afford to reveal his identity just to catch a single Hero. He had only tried to lure a nearby Chaos Beast for an easy kill; it wasn't something to lose sleep over.
But more than that Hero...
He recalled the boy sitting across from him. When their eyes had met, he had felt a strange sense of dissonance.
What was that?
Just as he looked back toward the carriage—
"Laus!"
"Violet?"
"I've got orders from Big Sister. She says to wrap up your operation there."
Figures. She had probably stuck him here and forgotten all about him until now.
"Where should I go then?"
"The Reim Kingdom. Go there and assist the 72nd Demon King."
"Got it."
He turned his gaze away from the carriage.
Must have been my imagination.
"Thank you for your hard work."
We finally arrived in Sak and got off the carriage. The middle-aged man thanked the Hero repeatedly, but the Hero only seemed annoyed.
I wanted to thank him too, but...
The man had already vanished, clearly wanting to avoid any hassle. I also hurried away from the carriage station before the middle-aged man could corner me.
Finally, Sak.
The air here was entirely different from Basil's. Compared to Basil, which smelled of earth and grass, this place reeked of iron and cement. It made sense, as Sak was a city that had achieved rapid, independent technological advancement while cut off from other barriers.
"Steampunk," as they called it. That was the word that best described Sak.
Because of this, all kinds of machinery caught my eye throughout the streets. From primitive automobiles to trains cutting across the city, it was a landscape one would never see in Basil.
There was another major characteristic of Sak.
The city where the sun never rises.
If Basil was known as the city where the sun never set due to its red barrier, Sak was literally a city where the sun never rose. Consequently, incandescent lamps glowed with a reddish hue all over the streets.
I can't even tell if it's day or night.
Sak was also a city of freedom. Since day and night were not defined, people lived their lives according to whatever schedule they pleased. After taking in the sights of Sak, I finally turned my head.
Well, that's enough sightseeing.
I was just temporarily intrigued to see a place I had only ever known through the game. From now on, I had to fulfill the purpose of my visit to Sak.
The growth device of Sak, which can only be accessed with the Royal Emblem.
I had to find it. If I had that, who knew? Perhaps I could finally reach the top of the wall that seemed so far out of reach. That device possessed that kind of power.