Chapter 302: O-Rank Record – 『GM』
Chapter 302: O-Rank Record – 『GM』
The interior of the Pillar of Light we entered was a strange, meaningless, empty space, just as the vanguard had reported.
A vast white expanse of ground was marked with brown grid lines.
It stretched out infinitely.
And in the sky, an infinite ceiling mirrored the ground perfectly, the only difference being that the lines were sky-blue.
It was a space where the meaning was incomprehensible and the direction to take was unknown.
However, through the countless sacrifices that had vanished before our eyes, we already knew where we had to go.
Even so, for about four seconds, no one could move.
Perhaps someone stopped to think of the blood offered to reach this point.
Perhaps someone was overwhelmed by this infinite space.
Perhaps someone felt the weight settling on their shoulders.
That was likely why they paused, wasting those four invaluable seconds.
'Let’s go.'
At one person's word, everyone snapped out of it and began to run.
As discussed beforehand, we moved in a formation designed for minimum total consumption, with the most efficient movers pulling and leading the rest.
Everyone maintained their maximum strength.
Toward the concept of the center of the Pillar of Light.
We simply ran.
* * *
Being S-Rank or A-Rank didn't mean one was immune to the Pillar of Light's influence.
It simply meant they didn't vanish instantly.
Even now, something was being drained away bit by bit.
As if to prove it, the breathing of one A-Rank Hero was gradually becoming labored.
It wasn't that his power was lacking.
In fact, he was among the strongest of the A-Ranks.
Though he had been evaluated as a promising prospect to become a new S-Rank, he began to fall behind as everyone ran.
He managed to keep moving with the help of others, but...
"...I think this is as far as I go."
With those words, everyone sensed his end.
Normally, they would have encouraged him, saying there was a chance he could live.
But in this situation, everyone instinctively knew that was impossible.
And so, the final ten seconds spent witnessing his end were the last tribute paid to him—ten seconds as precious as gold.
Kiongozi.
Hero Registration Number 07-312-V.
The top-tier A-Rank from Rwanda spoke.
"I'm actually glad it's me."
Everyone already knew what he was going to do.
They knew exactly what kind of magic he possessed.
"Go."
And so, listening to his final words, we ran forward without looking back.
We felt the power of a king descending upon us.
His specialty was magic that sacrificed his own life force to bolster the strength of living beings, including himself.
Because the output was greater than the life force consumed, he could create a perpetual motion engine by repeatedly casting the magic on himself, using the mana that reached its limit to cast powerful offensive spells or to empower others.
He was a Great Mage who had rediscovered the utility of support-type magic.
The power he bestowed upon us from afar was stronger than anything we had ever felt on any battlefield.
He had likely burned away the very last of his life.
Giving up the desire to live even a moment longer, simply to encourage us.
With yet another sacrifice, we ran.
* * *
How much time had passed outside?
We couldn't know.
In a place where all communication was cut off and a bizarre flow of time reigned, we had no way of knowing.
Perhaps the world outside had already perished.
Even so, we kept running.
Starting with Kiongozi, they fell one by one.
Time Paradox.
Registration Number 16-200-O.
A new-generation S-Rank who claimed to be a fourth-turn regressor.
"Haha, in the future I saw, there was no future like this."
Laughing, he handed over all the information he possessed.
He gave up his chance to regress, restored the physical condition of the others, and vanished into ash.
Dohara Darpan.
Registration Number 13-101-P.
Twin Heroes from India, two yet one. A-Rank.
"It's okay. Because we're not alone."
The one who receives wounds and the one who delivers them.
The twins, who embraced wounds to heal allies and hurled wounds to crush enemies, were enveloped in white as they took on the injuries of others.
* * *
Accumulated sacrifices.
The barrier we finally reached.
Every one of them could have avoided death.
To reach the center, more time was required as the pillar widened, but returning would take less than ten seconds of internal time.
One only had to run with the desire to leave.
However, no one wished for that.
No one wanted to return alive.
They simply stayed in their places and did what they could.
Therefore, possessing more stable power than ever before, we reflected on those who had given everything to get us here.
We poured our strongest powers toward the barrier.
A sword that negates existence.
A reality of madness submerged in dreams.
A fist containing the wishes of the dead.
Claws containing the dreams of the living.
A mechanical device that negates the present.
The present of infinite matter.
The binding of others that continues.
The hands of each person held tight.
Magic harboring endless future possibilities.
A falsehood that weaves phenomena of the past.
A wish entrusted to the heavens, refusing salvation.
The light of accumulated technology.
The remnants of descending darkness.
The power of light that would destroy everything.
The stasis that maintains all things.
All of it collided with the blocking barrier.
And yet.
The barrier did not break.
Cr-crack. Crack.
It cracked and distorted.
But it did not collapse.
However, we were the same.
We did not collapse.
Because there was a stasis that would not change.
Because even as pain and despair settled in, a power that refused to define limits was with us.
Kiiing.
The cracks multiplied.
A hole appeared.
But it was a hole too small for anyone to enter.
There, we drew up our last hope.
The weakest among us.
And the unluckiest.
Yet, named after a star that vanishes from the sky, he was a being to whom hope could be entrusted.
"Fire, Meteor!"
Bang.
Compared to the power pouring into the barrier, it was a pathetically small force. A tiny piece of lead was fired.
A small bullet that seemed likely to be swept away by the storm of power, failing to play its part.
Yet, it found its path even within the raging torrent of energy.
Unshaken by anything, it drew a line and reached its intended target.
The small lead bullet was swallowed by The Hole.
It should have had no effect.
They say a small hole can collapse a dam, but the power Meteor possessed was far too meager.
However.
What was fired just now was not Meteor’s power.
Contained within the bullet were countless wishes.
A special bullet concentrated with the power of S-Ranks, created by the Management Bureau’s Technical Development Department with everything they had.
A single bullet established under the miracle that it could never be made again.
As it quietly detonated inside The Hole, the unbreakable barrier crumbled.
But there was no sense of achievement.
The barrier vanished into the white space, leaving nothing behind.
Without harboring any emotion, we ran.
As the stasis that refused death was deactivated, the sound of someone collapsing could be heard.
But no one looked back.
We didn't know who had fallen or who remained.
We simply ran.
Because at the place beyond the barrier stood the entity we were targeting.
A monster with the head of a nautilus.
Since everyone had already poured out their strongest techniques to their limits, their bodies were screaming.
But no one showed it.
We simply ran.
To catch that being who stood there blankly, devoid of any power.
He is weak.
Utterly weak.
We all thought so.
Everyone had doubted it until they saw the real thing.
But now it was certain.
That Nautilus Head was weak.
Weaker than the Mutants he had created.
Weaker than the common monsters seen everywhere.
That entity was weak.
Therefore, everyone grit their teeth and charged toward him.
To end all of this.
And then, the final battle began.
With its words.
"Twelve worthy of survival have arrived through the session termination."
A voice that was far too inorganic.
As soon as it finished speaking, it raised its right hand.
A skeletal right hand with five fingers, just like a human's.
"They have charged at me with hostility. Accordingly, I begin countermeasures."
Between its fingers, four polyhedrons appeared.
"Loading. 4, 6, 10, 20."
【Public Enemy Designation Alert】
【Designated Area: Unknown.】
【Details: Unknown.】
"Get him! Before he does something!"
"At the same time a voice is heard, I perform an approach check for them. Check value based on group and target: -95. To this, I shall add a modifier of 999. Dice 20. 2. Failure."
Rattle.
The 20-sided die spun.
As soon as the 2 on top appeared, we found ourselves positioned far away from him.
We couldn't understand the phenomenon.
We felt no Otherworldly Power, nor any spatial manipulation.
All that spread out was that thing's voice and the sound of the polyhedrons rolling.
"What... on earth..."
As someone spoke in bewilderment, the entity replied.
"It is a simple check roll. You have merely failed to produce a value above the target number, and the result has manifested."
"Bullshit. Like we'd believe anything an enemy says."
With those words, everyone lunged forward again.
Because even the time to think was a waste.
Because there was no time to even consider an answer.
"I am not an enemy. I am the one in charge of the world. I hold a neutral role, required to control the situation, explain phenomena, and report results."
A flat, emotionless voice that didn't match its horrific appearance.
However, that voice couldn't stop our attacks.
Countless attacks poured toward the entity that was weak beyond measure.
And yet.
"Attack hit check value: -195, modifier 1023. Dice 20. 19. Failure."
"Attack hit check value: -87, modifier 815. Dice 20. 3. Failure."
Rattle, rattle.
Polyhedrons fell from The Enemy’s hand as many times as there were attacks.
Only the sound of them rolling on the ground increased.
"Just die already!"
That was likely everyone's wish.
If we could just land one hit, just one, that frail body would surely explode.
Incomprehensible.
No, it was an enemy ability that everyone understood but didn't want to believe in that blocked our path.
"To an incomprehensible question, I utter a question containing the doubt, 'Is there a reason I must die?'"
"The only way this crazy Pillar of Light stops is if you die!"
Boom.
A hammer struck down, but even that attack was deflected by an incomprehensible phenomenon.
The trajectory, the force of the strike, the posture.
Everything clearly painted a future where this attack would hit.
But the result that came back was entirely different.
The nautilus stood in its place, having done nothing.
The Hammer had merely grazed the being it was supposed to crush by a hair's breadth.
"Those words are correct. However, that is not a very important issue for you."
"...What do you mean?"
For a moment, everyone's attacks stopped.
To hear the nautilus's answer.
"A world that does not receive attention is destined to vanish. However, the twelve in this place have proven their value even in such a situation. Therefore, you may cross over to another world and continue your lives."
None of us understood those words.
No, we understood the meaning. That even if the world perished, the twelve remaining here would survive, so we shouldn't worry.
However.
There was no one among us who would agree to that.
If we were the type to agree, we wouldn't have been able to make it to this place.
No one stopped their actions.
We squeezed out everything we could.
All that followed was the sound of heavy breathing and the sound of dice rolling.
Amidst that terrible, continuous sound.
"Hit check value: -42, modifier 945. Dice 20. 20. Success."
For the first time, instead of the word 'failure,' 'success' echoed, and at the same time...
Thwack.
The attack sank in.
While everyone was startled by it, Oxymoron, who had succeeded in the attack, quickly seized the opportunity and slashed with a scalpel, taking off the entity's head.
Just as a roar of joy was about to erupt.
"Damage check. 95d6. Reduction 2392. Dice 6. 315. Minimum damage."
With a voice that sounded like boiling phlegm.
As if its head had never been taken off, it reappeared in its place, shaking its neck which was only slightly nicked where the scalpel had touched.
"Shall we continue?"
It was still a dry voice devoid of any emotion, yet it carried a despair that could be drawn from deep within.