Tartaros Appears in England
Jo Harper got up early to keep his promise to the children. He shaved in the washroom, fixed his hair, and dressed with more care than usual after a long time.
He drove with the children to a beach road not far away, parked the car, and got out with them.
"Carl. Don't run around."
He took the children down to the beach and opened an umbrella.
Watching the blue sea, the stress from yesterday's argument with his boss drifted far away.
"Carl! Pan's going into the sea."
His eldest son, Carl, grabbed his younger brother Pan by the hand and pulled him back.
Watching the children play in the sand, Jo Harper leaned back in his chair with a smile.
"Carl's taking an interest in the piano."
"The piano?"
At his wife's words, Jo Harper asked in surprise. It was strange enough that his usually mischievous eldest had taken an interest in the piano.
"Should we buy one?"
"Not yet."
"Really? Then you should go and enjoy the romance too."
"You can take a little less romance yourself."
Jo Hart patted his stomach and laughed as if to say, This can't be helped.
Watching the children play on the beach, Jo Harper lay down in the shade cast by the umbrella and closed his eyes. As he dozed off, his wife shook him awake.
"Jo. Wake up."
"Hmm? What's wrong? Is something the matter?"
"Look over there."
As his wife spoke in a trembling voice, as if frightened, Jo Hart sprang to his feet. His gaze followed the direction of her hand.
"W-what is that?"
A mountain was moving. No, something as huge as a mountain was moving.
What moved was a turtle. But it was no ordinary turtle. It was so vast that it didn't fit into a single field of vision. It looked exactly as if a colossal mountain were moving. Thick mist clung to the shell on its back, and above that mist, structures like spires jutted upward one after another.
Staring at the turtle as it approached the place where they stood with horrified eyes, Jo Hart shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Carl, Pan!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The atmosphere inside the conference room was heavy beyond measure.
Seated there were the men and women who led England: the prime minister, members of the House of Lords and Commons, and the ministers of each department. At the head of the table sat Prince James of the British royal family.
"Begin."
At Prince James's words, the man standing opposite him shot to his feet.
He was Michael Buren, Master of the Holy Knights, England's representative guild.
"I am Michael Buren, Master of the Holy Knights. This morning, a monster appeared on the coast of the northern Edinburgh region. That monster is Tartaros, called the 'Moving Fortress' or the 'Abyss of the Ancients.'"
The Moving Fortress, Tartaros.
Anyone with the status of a Player would know that name.
"Is Tartaros a dangerous monster?"
At the prime minister's question, Michael Buren lowered his head.
"It is the only existence in that world that Players were never able to conquer."
"Even the Masked Lord?"
"That's right. In Eternal World, there were monsters marked as unconquerable. Dragon Emperor Admarion, lord of the Sky Island Braheim; Dragon King Patrise, lord of the underwater kingdom of Aines; and Hades, King of the Dead, lord of the underground kingdom of Blahak. The rulers of the sky, the sea, and the underworld were all monsters that could not be conquered. The one who destroyed them was the Masked Lord. But even he could not destroy the Moving Fortress, Tartaros."
"From the report I received, that monster called Tartaros does nothing but move. It doesn't appear threatening."
Michael Buren let out a sigh and shook his head.
"The reason Tartaros is dangerous is because it keeps moving without end. Tartaros has the form of a turtle. Its shell is a large monster, one kilometer wide and two kilometers long. And that Tartaros moves. It never changes direction. Which means everything in its path is destroyed without exception."
At Michael Buren's signal, one of the waiting guild members spread out a map. Michael Buren pointed a laser at the northern edge of the map.
"Tartaros is currently here. It started in Edinburgh and is heading south. Its path is like this."
As the laser point moved across the map, groans rose from all around the room. Its path cut straight through England. London, the capital of England, lay directly in its way.
"Everyone in Tartaros's path must be evacuated."
"Is there no solution? Are modern weapons incapable of dealing with it?"
Once again, skepticism spilled from Michael Buren's mouth.
"Tartaros should not be classified as a monster. It should be classified as a dungeon in its own right. The fortress on its back is a prison called the Abyss of the Ancients. As you know, dungeons manifested in reality cannot be conquered with modern weapons. When Tartaros appeared in that world, the damage was beyond your imagination. The capitals of two kingdoms were destroyed, and countless territories of the once-mighty Amalon Empire were wiped out."
"What did you do then? Surely you didn't just stand by and watch."
"The Masked Lord solved it."
The prime minister looked at Michael Buren as if he didn't understand.
"Didn't you just say even the Masked Lord couldn't destroy it?"
"That's right. He couldn't destroy Tartaros either. He only changed its direction. It didn't budge under anyone else's attacks, but it did react to the Masked Lord's. He struck it and slowly altered its course. In the end, he sent Tartaros toward the Sea of Despair."
"I'm relieved there is still a way to handle this. Contact the Masked Lord immediately."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The prime minister lowered his head, and as he nodded, one of his secretaries ran out of the room.
Michael Buren let out a quiet sigh where no one could notice. He knew perfectly well that his scheme had already been exposed. Even aside from this incident, his relationship with the Masked Lord was not good. There was a chance the Masked Lord wouldn't even come to England.
Or perhaps he would use Tartaros as leverage to squeeze something enormous out of England.
Mana stone mine.
Of course that would be what the Masked Lord wanted. Mana stones were an indispensable resource for Players. How delighted had he been when the mana stone mine manifested within England? With a mana stone mine alone, it wouldn't be difficult to seize the initiative among Players.
Why did it have to appear in England of all places?
He resented Tartaros.
The conference room door opened, and the secretary who had just gone out came back in.
"How is it?"
"Th-that is..."
The secretary trailed off.
"What are you doing? Speak properly."
As the usually composed prime minister snapped, the secretary hastily replied, "He left the Masked Castle this morning, saying he was going hunting, and hasn't been reachable since. He said he'd be gone for several days and returned after the hunt."
"What in the world..."
Michael Buren shook his head. The Masked Lord had clearly disappeared on purpose after hearing that Tartaros had appeared in England. The more danger England was in, the more desperately his presence was needed, and the greater the price he could demand later.
"Michael."
Prince James called to Michael Buren.
"If you are the owner of the Dark Merchant Guild, then surely you know where the Masked Lord has gone? Contact her."
"Your Highness, I will make the call, but I do not think I'll be bringing you good news."
"And why is that?"
"There is one kind of information the Master of the Dark Merchant Guild, who buys and sells intelligence, will never sell. That is information about the Masked Lord himself, and anything connected to him."
"Then are we supposed to sit here and watch England be destroyed? If you are a citizen of England, shouldn't you go to Korea and find him yourself, even if you have to beg?"
With a long sigh, Michael Buren lowered his head as if there was nothing he could do.
While an emergency response meeting was being held in England, Yoon Sang-hyuk, who had supposedly gone hunting without telling anyone where he was headed, was watching television in his house in the city.
On the screen was a live press conference by the British prime minister.
England is in crisis. Masked Lord, if you are watching this from anywhere, please come to England. Save England from this disaster.
As Yoon Sang-hyuk read the subtitles, a faint curve formed on his lips.
Just as he was about to take orange juice from the refrigerator, the doorbell rang.
"Isn't it a little late to be visiting someone's house?"
Jey was standing at the front door.
"I have something to tell you."
"Go on."
"Aren't you even going to tell me to come in?"
"Trying to come into a house where a man lives alone this late at night? You've got more nerve than I thought."
He stepped aside, and Jey walked in.
"When were you planning to go to England?"
"Haven't decided yet."
"Michael called. He asked if I knew where the lord was."
"And you told him?"
"Of course not. Michael probably knew I wouldn't tell him."
Jey went on, glancing at the TV.
"At Tartaros's speed, it'll reach London in two weeks."
"Pretty fast for a turtle. Right?"
"Aren't you taking this a little too calmly? Don't you feel sorry for the people of England?"
Yoon Sang-hyuk shrugged.
"There won't be any loss of life."
That was exactly why he was so relaxed.
Tartaros wasn't the kind of thing that moved as fast as a speeding car. The British government would already have evacuated the people along its path.
"It'll smash a few cities. Then there'll be a construction boom, and the unemployed will get jobs."
Jey shook her head as if she couldn't stop him.
"The Queen of England has requested Player support from the leaders of allied nations."
"Did Michael not tell her that was a pointless move?"
"It's the best choice she has."
"Isn't the timing rather suspicious? Right when that slimeball Michael was plotting something and planning to make England pay for it, Tartaros shows up right on cue."
"You seem to be enjoying this."
"I suppose you could say I have a little score to settle with England."
"Five days from now is the best time to negotiate."
"Why?"
"Because the day after that, one of England's very important facilities is scheduled to be destroyed by Tartaros. Once that facility is gone, the damage England takes will be beyond imagination."
Seeing Jey put it that way, it must have been something truly important.
"I'll keep that in mind."
Yoon Sang-hyuk shifted his gaze back to the TV and smiled faintly. On the screen, the British prime minister was still desperately searching for the Masked Lord.