A Lucky Day (2)
Arcana Continent. Empire capital, Antonium. Aboard the Iron Castle Ho floating in the skies above.
"Sometimes the empire's dark ale isn't half bad."
"Sometimes? Let's call it what it is. Hasn't it been decades?"
"Has it? Uhahaha. That explains why it hit the spot."
The dwarves washed away the lingering fatigue from forging, even the deep exhaustion settled at the bottom of their souls, with beer. Now they returned to their duties.
With demonic activity subdued for the moment, their top priority remained the same.
"Prepare the reconnaissance squadron for launch."
Locating the wreckage of the Quirnburk Mechanical Tower. That mission fell to the small airships, 'Scepters,' carried aboard the Iron Castle Ho.
Dwarf pilots boarded their Scepters one by one. Veteran pilot Gunner cracked a playful joke.
"Hey, Chainwalker."
"?"
"This counts as drunk flying, right? Uhahaha."
Chainwalker shot back at the silly quip.
"Didn't you complain just hours ago that their beer was weaker than water? Cut the nonsense and get going. It's about time we left Antonium anyway."
Lee Hoyeol's slaying of the upper demon king had brought a fragile peace to the Arcana Continent. Thanks to that, the dwarves had paused their flight and lingered in Antonium.
But the Holy War was ongoing. Incidents could erupt anywhere, anytime.
"Antonium's tavern keepers will miss us most."
"Let's see, how much did we boost their sales?"
"Gunner sir, you downed several barrels yourself, calling it 'mild as water.'"
"Did I? Uhahaha."
Walls Whale gazed at the now-empty decks. When the Dreadsden survivors, the little ones, had scampered about, the ship buzzed with life. Their absence left a gaping void.
Chainwalker spoke up.
"I plan to meet the emperor before we depart."
"You? What's gotten into you?"
The dwarves had cut off all contact with humans after Akshan's annihilation. Not even the empire or its emperor were exceptions. If anything, the empire bore responsibility for failing to manage its territories properly.
"Has time erased even the past, Chainwalker?"
Walls Whale's question drew a headshake from Chainwalker.
"No. Even if I tried to forget, I couldn't."
For Akshan's sake, he resolved to leave no loose ends. Yet Lee Hoyeol factored in as well. The last survivor of Akshan.
Chainwalker considered his perspective.
"That's why I'm swallowing my pride to meet him."
Sir Hoyeol. Surely you would not turn your back on Antonium, on the empire.
To that end, Chainwalker intended to deliver the reconnaissance intel directly to the emperor.
"If they've learned from the past, they'll heed our words."
……
Weeeeng─ The Scepter dove through the skies.
Smaller than a carriage, its cockpit tailored for dwarves—barely room for Dreadsden's kids.
"Let's see. The wreckage……."
Even the compact Scepter packed the essentials. Tech to spot the mechanical tower's debris scattered across the continent from high altitude. As a piece of the Iron Castle Ho, pinnacle of dwarven engineering, it was no surprise.
"?"
Then the Scepter detected an anomaly. The mana sensor gauge spiked wildly.
Tension etched Gunner's face.
"……Maxed out?"
Not just max—it thrashed side to side like it might burst.
Such intense mana response meant a clear source. Gunner scanned around.
Dark clouds rolled in abruptly.
Flash─
"Sudden lightning……?"
Rumble!
"What kind of cursed weather is this!"
Even the massive Iron Castle Ho, hundreds or thousands of times larger than a Scepter, struggled in foul weather. Rain was one thing; flying a Scepter amid thunder and lightning? Suicide.
"Dwarven natural causes, this is."
Already far from the Iron Castle Ho. Even diligent flying now offered no guarantee of safe return.
Lightning cracked the sky furiously. Yet Gunner held course.
"You think I'll back off, sky?"
Holy War experience had taught him intel's value. They couldn't help Akshan because they didn't know what happened. Forced to watch their end.
"Lightning? Just dodge it."
The gauge still raged. He wouldn't turn back until he found the source.
Gunner pressed on—and witnessed.
"……!"
The Zero Mountains, shifted to the adventurers' world. Vast plains born in its wake.
Beings revealed there.
"Th-that's!"
Scepter's performance let it survey even tower wreckage. So he recognized them.
Pointed ears jutting sharply.
"……Elves?"
Elves—and not just one or two. Unbelievable they hadn't appeared on the continent before. Nearly a hundred clustered on the plain.
"Why are they……?"
Gathered here? The reason escaped him, but it spelled trouble.
Gunner swallowed dryly, gripping the controls tight.
Must head back before it's too late.
His head screamed it, but he ignored. Dwarven stubbornness had limits, though.
Flash─
Light pierced his vision. He first thought lightning.
No.
"!"
Lightning fell from sky. This shot up from ground—straight at him, the Scepter.
Instinct screamed in that instant.
They've spotted me!
Screech! Horror spurred a reflexive dodge.
The beam grazed by narrowly. Its echo slammed his eardrums late.
Ziiiiing─!
"!"
A roar like the Iron Castle Ho's mana cannons. But this beam was no grand display.
Gunner's pupils quaked.
J-just an arrow?!
Dodging was a miracle, pure heavenly luck.
"Dodged lightning, but not this!"
Screech! He wrenched the controls desperately.
Why the elves mobilized en masse? Unknown. But one thing crystal clear.
"They shoot anyone who crosses them."
No hesitation for those disturbing their peace. Vital intel for dwarves.
For the empire, Lee Hoyeol too.
Rumble─!!
"Damn, call this luck?"
Amid pouring thunder, Gunner returned safely to the Iron Castle Ho and muttered.
He rushed to Chainwalker. Several dwarf pilots already conferred gravely.
"Chainwalker. Everyone. I've got something to say."
Elves' emergence trumped all news. So he thought, opening his mouth.
No.
Approaching voices sharpened.
"Demons, that aura was unmistakably demon king class."
"Demon king? Insane……!!"
"Why the long faces?"
"Damn it, I spotted one too."
"Spotted? What?"
"You might not know. But Chainwalker, you'd remember. Back when our king lived. That one human who visited our kingdom."
Chainwalker flinched.
"Not Akshan…… You mean Urs?"
"Exactly. The man who took our mechanical arms. That was Iron Arm Urs! He's shown his face on the Arcana Continent again!"
"My god."
My god? Chainwalker.
"……Hey, that's what I wanted to say."
"Ah, Gunner. You made it back safe?"
"Chainwalker, everything I just heard true? Demons stirring again. Iron Arm Urs back on the continent?"
"Yes, exactly as you heard."
"Damn, what's going on?"
Gunner continued.
"I spotted elves. Nearly a hundred."
"……!!!"
Gunner sighed in relief tinged with lament.
"Goddamn, we're all lucky to be alive."
*
Strictly speaking? Is this really my sharply risen luck at work?
First, the Demon Eye Telescope. Snagging the demon king's trophy for my inventory was good news.
Demon king-class demon. Elves. Transcendent.
Without the telescope, I'd be clueless.
Okay, positively: I learned of the incidents at the perfect time.
Forced to chalk it up to luck.
But.
DRAGON DETECTED
Zero Mountains summit. Dimensional rift-like anomaly confirmed.
My smartphone buzzed. AAU disaster alert arrived. Simultaneously, a player-only message.
There it was: 'Dragon.'
A dragon spotted at the Zero Mountains peak.
I murmured toward the summit.
"For such bulk, your caution runs deep."
In Grandfell-speak: How, when, where did you vanish without a trace……!
Still, relief. It didn't wake and smash Earth immediately.
Plus, per AAU observations.
At the Zero Mountains peak. A phenomenon akin to a cracked dimensional rift.
Confirmation hit.
Dragons can indeed open rifts?
Imperfect ones linking to the Arcana Continent.
Thinking that…… I truly felt cursed by that letter of luck!
Demons, elves, transcendent, and dragons as the crowning touch. Unprecedented mega-incident!
Rifts are inevitable now.
Emergency or regular update.
I could declare it. Even mustering all my forces and Holy War allies.
It'd be futile against that lineup—like wrinkling a chrysalis.
Dragons and elves? Forget it.
Demons and transcendent seemed manageable, but even they felt off.
I peered through the telescope again.
It shared the Demon Eye's view. Senses flooded unbidden.
So I noticed.
No ordinary demon.
The Demon Eye quivered. A reaction absent even peeking at demon kings. Upper demon kings aside, not even mid-tier ones near rank 30.
Moreover.
But not a demon king.
Appearance closer to human than demon. Without overt malice, you'd never guess demon.
Finally.
No fear before the elves.
Elf strength? Elcidoir proved it: Lv.800-900 demons bisected, Rackid of Shadow Mercenaries critically wounded. And a hundred such elves.
One possibility.
"Great Evil."
Finally stirring, Great Evil.
For real! Great Evil alone complicated things. But elves too, and a transcendent in the same space.
How'd I know transcendent? Not sure who, but…… a face from the Spacetime Salon.
One of the two showing no interest in me.
In society, Grandfell was an oasis or mirage in the desert. Rare appearances, yet each drew all eyes……
Not stolen by Grandfell's gaze? ……Self-praise aside.
Top-tier transcendent.
Hulking frame. Wild, unkempt hair. Striking, but not ordinary.
Chief trait: mechanical arms.
Instant recognition.
Anyway, all showing up? Good.
But why? What's the reason?
Why act now after lurking?!
Grandfell's temperament? Portal straight in, teleport amid them. This frustration warranted it!
"Peculiar. Even now, you bind my steps."
See? If I could reach Arcana…… I'd charge fearlessly.
The Grandfell I knew.
Maybe relief there's no way…….
Shaking off runaway urges, I thought calmly.
First, relay the situation.
Inform those on Arcana. Essential for countermeasures.
No leisure here either.
Considering time flow…….
Arcana's time raced 4x faster. Incident there now, rift in reality hours later? Plausible.
I spoke.
"Diend."
"Bestow your command, my lord."
"Convey my thoughts to Chainwalker."
Telepathy relayed my mind's intel. Diend vanished into void as ordered.
Then reappeared before me.
"My lord."
Time flow difference felt real. Instant to him: deliver to Chainwalker, fetch reply.
But…….
Diend's next words stunned me.
"The dwarves have grasped the situation precisely."
Good so far. Chainwalker would prepare ahead.
The shock followed.
"Moreover, the imperial army under the emperor has mobilized. Destination: near Zero Mountains. Purpose: protect the villagers. In honor of the glory you brought by saving Dreadsden……!"
……Don't say it, Diend. I'm reeling, head splitting.
Great Evil, transcendent, elves, dragon, now empire?
Certainty: Not luck. That letter's curse.
Yet I intoned calmly.
"Is that so."
Yes. While I fretted.
Arcana's time flowed 4x.
Now, my best judgments. At 4x speed.
So I continued.
"Then go, relay this."
Even now.
Utterly me.
Effortlessly brazen.
"Fear not. I am here."
Time to make those words real, Grandfell.