Chapter 13 - The First Frontier (1)
Chapter 13 - The First Frontier (1)
Episode 13 - First Settlement (1)
"So this is the Corrupted Land? It looks..."
"Looks perfectly fine, doesn't it."
I was moving in the direction the Player had pointed out.
I nodded at the nervous voice of Rosaria, who was right beside me.
Unlike what the people here had believed for ages—that it was a terrifying forbidden zone where you'd die the moment you stepped inside—the inside of the Corrupted Land looked surprisingly ordinary.
Vegetation, common even inside the barrier, grew lush and green everywhere, and clear, transparent streams and rivers flowed through the landscape.
However, it was certain that invisible, deadly poison was spread throughout this ordinary, nonchalant scenery.
"What was that sound!?"
"It's nothing. A monster attack. It's a common occurrence here."
The creepy cry was heard just before we reached the open field next to the small lake that the Player had set as our destination.
I couldn't help but smirk at the sound, which was exactly the same as the one I used to hear in the game.
"A monster? Uh, uh..."
"Get ready to fight."
The procession stopped, and that was when a powerful will took hold of our bodies.
For now, I didn't bother resisting and followed along quietly.
While the other exploration team members and priests were bustling about, looking at us, I drew the sword I had kept at my side and walked forward.
"---!"
"A mutant boar?"
What appeared before us without hesitation, accompanied by a screech, was a giant boar.
Its tusks had grown massive, looking like spearheads, and tumors and wriggling tentacles were bulging all over its body.
Monsters refer to groups of beasts that have mutated after being contaminated by demonic energy in the Corrupted Land, just like that boar.
It was one of the most common and weakest enemies the Player would face.
"It's not just one. There are two!"
Two such boars. They began to charge toward us.
'You want me to take the left?'
As I relaxed my strength, the seal engraved on the back of my hand shone brightly, and my body moved on its own.
The Player had split the vanguard—me and Rosaria—to take on one each.
In addition, they had Seira support me and Hermann support Rosaria to provide firepower.
Good. Not a bad strategy.
For those who had already experienced an attack by The Swarm, a mere mutant boar shouldn't be much of a problem.
"Huh?"
However, there was one thing I hadn't considered: the clunky controls of <Ultimate Field> are not easy for a newbie to adapt to.
And what if, in that state, they try to attempt some half-baked control just because they want to try it themselves?
"I'll handle it, so stop spamming right-click, you lunatic!"
I couldn't help but shout at the sky as my body started to lag like crazy.
The boar, which had already run right in front of me, was just about to strike my body with its tusks.
"Oh my...!"
Everyone was nervous and anxious about the first attack they had experienced in the Corrupted Land.
They knew the information about the monsters inside the Corrupted Land, but seeing it in reality was different from just knowing it in their heads.
The ones selected for this very moment were the Guardians from Eisenblut.
Although they were candidates, their qualifications had already been proven.
After all, they were chosen directly by the 'God'.
In reality, the martial prowess they displayed was very different from their still-young and slender appearance.
"To think they handle spears and swords so well..."
"The arrow hit the beast's eye, too!"
Rosaria and Hermann responded calmly without rushing.
Rosaria, with a sword at her waist, first swung the spear she held in her hand.
She dodged the boar's charge, landed a powerful blow to its head, and immediately discarded the spear, drew her sword, and stabbed the staggering boar in the waist.
The arrows Hermann fired in succession also hit the vital points accurately.
The traits they possessed were shining through.
"The other side is..."
But there was an even more shocking sight than that.
It was Leon, who had taken the charge of a boar several times larger and heavier than himself head-on.
Leon, who had blocked and stopped the enemy's tusks with his sword, was pushed back several meters from his spot, but in the end, the boar came to a halt.
It was an absurd amount of strength.
"Seira...! Hold it tighter!"
Leon, who was blocking the enemy's tusks that had come right in front of him with trembling arms, shouted.
Seira and Leon used magic at the same time to stop the boar's body.
Partial freezing. It was a type of control magic used on enemies to dull their movements.
'I can't entrust my life to a beginner like you.'
The plan to easily cut down and kill the enemy in one stroke had already been ruined due to the Player's interference.
Leon, gritting his teeth, desperately resisted the Player's command that was wrapping around his body even at this very moment.
"---!"
The moment the boar shook its head violently and deflected Leon's sword.
He instead let go of the sword, leaped up, and landed on the boar's body.
"Die quietly."
Just before the boar could shake its body to throw him off.
Leon imbued his fist with magic and struck the boar's skull.
The Thunderbolt Spear magic that flowed through his fist pierced the skull, burned the brain, and killed the boar instantly.
"That is impressive."
The exploration team members approached the boar's carcass one by one.
Leon was catching his breath, sitting on top of the fallen boar.
"It really is a mutant, just like in the legends. Monsters don't come near the barrier, after all."
"We must secure samples for research."
The personnel from the Technology Bureau and the Alchemy Association, selected as production and research units, were showing great interest in the monster's corpse, even without the Player's instruction to search the body.
'They really are monsters.'
Adrian was the same.
Thanks to his 「Bookworm」 trait, he was sparkling with interest at the research materials he was seeing for the first time, while also glancing at Leon, whose red eyes were shining coldly.
However, most of the personnel, including Adrian, who was ignorant of combat, did not know how dangerously Leon had fought just a moment ago.
'The others fought relatively comfortably. So, they were focusing on me.'
Leon realized that Rosaria, Hermann, and Seira had fought comfortably, unlike him.
It meant that the Player's attention and intensive control were focused solely on him.
'In terms of position, this is the spot that gets controlled the most. This might be a rough road ahead.'
Actually, it was a natural thing.
No matter how much of a veteran player you are, controlling multiple units at the same time is difficult.
That's why what players control the most and most efficiently is the strongest entity in the vanguard who can coordinate the battle itself.
[Post: Monster attack event finished. Followed you guys' advice and only controlled Leon]
"So these guys were the cause...!"
After seeing the community screen that had popped up suddenly, Leon was dumbfounded and held his forehead with his hand.
The Player's clumsy control attempts were instructions from the community users.
It was advice that he had to learn the feel early on to do well later—it was so correct that even Leon found it hard to refute.
'Sorry, but you won't be able to practice with me. From now on.'
However, Leon intended to keep refusing.
He didn't want to become practice material for something his life depended on.
"This is the place."
Leaving the slight commotion behind, Vivian, who was leading the way, finally arrived at the destination and looked around with an impressed expression.
A place that civilization hadn't approached for a long time, retaining a natural landscape beautiful enough to make even an elf admire it.
"Hurry and install the purification device!"
The priests who had accompanied them, including Lea, began to take something they had brought from the Order out of the carriage that was fully loaded with luggage.
Nexus. Leon's gaze became strange as he saw it.
The relic of the Divine Order that he had seen in the game was now being moved right before his eyes.
"Is it really possible to make this area a safe place with such a small object?"
"Yes, it is. That is the power of the Divine."
At Adrian's question, the old priest chuckled and nodded.
The Nexus consisted of several parts, and the priests began to assemble it by reading the scriptures passed down from long ago.
They would install additional facilities around it to protect it, but the size of the Nexus itself was no larger than a small hut.
Between the frames made of metal, a dull and large crystal that had lost its light began to slowly emit light.
"It feels warm."
"I didn't feel particularly uncomfortable... but I feel a bit more refreshed."
The completed Nexus finally emitted light and spread waves of divine power in all directions.
As it purified and removed the demonic energy that existed in the area, Rosaria and Seira looked down at their hands with surprised eyes.
Such reactions were the same for the other exploration team members as well.
"Now I can finally live."
"I was starting to feel suffocated, but I'm relieved."
The priests' reactions were even greater.
Those who had to endure only with their own divine power were smiling, taking deep breaths as if they could finally live.
'Is this our main base?'
Turning his back on the others who were rejoicing and cheering at having achieved the feat.
Leon, having taken off his uniform cap, looked up at the sky.
Thinking of the Player who must have finished setting up the first base, the first main quest that would run toward the ending by now.
Because he was someone who had already tried it, but ultimately couldn't reach the end, he knew.
It's just the beginning now. Both the glory and the crisis.