A few days later.
I stopped by the airship hangar. There had been a report of progress in the work.
"Grandma Coco."
I approached Coco as she pulled her large body out of the engine room of the airship La Mancha and asked.
"How's the situation?"
The magic circle engraved with the dimensional movement technique we found on the demon ship.
Coco had taken charge of loading this onto my flagship, La Mancha.
"It's all done. Now we just need to make the final adjustments."
Coco chuckled and tapped the wall next to the engine room.
"Theoretically, this airship can now enter other worlds. However...""However?"
"The dimensional technique magic circle itself is unstable. It's extremely deteriorated... so you won't be able to use it for dimensional jumps many times. Use it carefully."
I wasn't planning to use it much anyway. It's enough if it can cross the dimensional boundary once each way.
"...The end is near."
Coco looked south. In the direction of the black lake, where her homeland, the Lake Kingdom, would be.
After a long silence, Coco suddenly asked.
"Are you really not going to defeat Nameless?"
"..."
"In a few days, that child will be completed as a monster, but it's not too late yet. We can still kill her now. But if you don't kill her now, everything will truly be out of control after that."
"..."
"Even so, will you really... leave her be until that child is completed as a monster and invades the mortal world?"
I nodded.
"That's the path I've chosen."
"Are you saying you'll stake everything on an uncertain challenge instead of a clearly visible solution?"
"..."
I kept my mouth shut for a moment at Coco's question.
And I thought.
About the appearance of Nameless becoming the 'Sleepless Lake Princess' that I had seen with my own eyes a few days ago...
***
A few days ago.
Lake Kingdom Dungeon.
Thud!
I planted the World Guardian Front's flag in the last dungeon.
As the conquest battle was finished and the heroes were cleaning up the surroundings, I stood on high ground and looked over the entire Lake Kingdom dungeon.
This is the 10th area dungeon 'Star-gazing Tower'.
It's where they studied constellations by observing the stars in the sky in the Lake Kingdom. Naturally, it's located at the highest point in the 10th area.
"Haa..."
As I exhaled, white breath scattered.
I quietly surveyed the entire dungeon, sprinkled with light like salt.
Now, except for the 10th area final dungeon 'King's Castle', the conquest of all places in the 10th area was complete.
I retrieved the remaining pieces of Nameless's soul from the conquered areas. I examined her soul fragments swirling in my hand.
"..."
And I looked towards the last unconquered area... the King's Castle.
In the center of the fountain square in front of the castle - a form rippling with darkness could be seen.
Inside that huge dark cocoon, Nameless would be transforming into the 'Sleepless Lake Princess'.
In the game, we attacked before she finished her metamorphosis and descended upon the world as a monster, and fought the final battle with her inside the final dungeon King's Castle.
But this time, I intend to leave her be.
To let her completely finish her metamorphosis, fully transform into a monster, and walk out of the dungeon on her own to destroy the mortal world.
I plan to neglect her and watch.
"My lord."
As I turned at the voice, Lucas, standing beside me and also looking towards the castle, said with a serious face.
"We can defeat her now."
"..."
"If you give the order, I will end it with my own hands."
"No."
I turned around.
"We're going back. We'll leave Nameless alone."
"But, my lord."
"All this time, we've always chosen the difficult path instead of the easy one."
As I tucked Nameless's soul fragments into my chest, I firmly declared.
"There's only one reason for that. Because the difficult path was the more righteous path."
"..."
"Trust me and follow me, Lucas."
Lucas, who had been silently watching me for a moment, slowly bowed his head.
"Anytime, anywhere... as I have until now, and as I will continue to do."
***
Present.
"Are you saying you'll stake everything on an uncertain challenge instead of a clearly visible solution?"
Towards Coco asking this, I smiled brightly.
"Because the solution that the world has already given up on is not necessarily the answer that my soul can accept."
"...!"
"For the result I truly desire, I'll pioneer a completely new path if necessary."
A path that no one has taken before, or even tried to take.
I intend to advance on that one and only path.
"This ship will be of great help in paving that path. Thank you, Grandma Coco."
"..."
Coco, who had been quietly watching me, finally nodded with a bitter smile.
"I beg you. Please, save Nameless... our princess."
I didn't bother to answer.
I'll prove it with results anyway.
***
In my spare time, I opened the last reward boxes.
Most of the boxes contained trivial magic cores or unremarkable equipment, but there were a few interesting ones among them.
I selected the new equipment and headed east of Crossroad.
On this wasteland that had been burned pitch black during the black dragon invasion, the huge pirate ship 'Blue Pearl' was docked alone.
The Blue Pearl, which is also the base for the merfolk soldiers, was currently very busy.
Flap! Flap!
Griffins scattering feathers and the people of the Vermillion Kingdom controlling them were busily moving cargo.
Since 'La Mancha', which was originally used as the flagship by the Sky Knights, was assigned a different role in this final battle, they were moving to the 'Blue Pearl', the only remaining airship.
"Ash!"
Mikhail, who was gliding on his griffin in the air, smoothly descended and landed in front of me.
"Mikhail."
I greeted him back and nodded towards the Blue Pearl.
"How's the new ship? Not uncomfortable?"
"The pirates... no, ahem. The merfolk are cooperative, so it's not bad. It's not as modern as La Mancha, of course, but the deck is wide, which is good for the griffins to take off and land."
After asking about the current situation and points for improvement.
I handed Mikhail the gift I had brought.
"Take this. It's a saddle, and I thought it would suit you best in our front."
Mikhail's eyes widened as he received the saddle.
"This is..."
It was an antique-looking saddle with a slightly different style from those here, seemingly made in the Eastern Continent.
The equipment's name was [Ambition Lies in a Thousand Miles].
It means 'the heart is a thousand miles away', and is also used to express the mindset of a fine horse.
As an SSR-grade saddle, it's a rare equipment that affects mounts. Basically, mounts wearing this saddle don't tire easily and...
By saving that conserved stamina, they can gain a momentary acceleration once a day.
Simply put, it's a booster, a booster!
It will be very useful for Mikhail, an aerial cavalryman.
"This is an amazing masterpiece."
As someone who rides a griffin all day, Mikhail, who immediately recognized how good this equipment was, was visibly delighted.
"I'll use it well, Ash. Thank you so much."
I patted Mikhail's shoulder and headed inside the Blue Pearl.
"Well then, prepare well. I have some business inside."
"Alright. See you later."
Inside the Blue Pearl.
King Poseidon and the Rompeller siblings were together on the bridge.
"Ah, Prince Ash."
King Poseidon greeted me with delight as I entered.
"Welcome."
"King Poseidon. And Rompellers. Good afternoon."
As I greeted them, I noticed that King Poseidon's eyes had regained their original deep blue color instead of the golden color of authority.
And I also saw that golden color faintly emanating from the eyes of the Rompeller siblings, who were standing awkwardly.
"I just finished transferring the rest of my racial deity's authority to these two."
After transferring even the last of his authority.
With his once deep blue hair now faded to a pale sky blue, and his body now skinny and gaunt, having lost a lot of weight, King Poseidon actually looked more at peace.
"I've given the authority to young ones who can use it better, but of course, I don't intend to completely withdraw from the front. I'll do my best until the final battle."
"I'll be counting on you."
After paying my respects to King Poseidon, I faced the Rompeller siblings.
"I'll be counting on you two as well."
The Rompeller siblings, who had been eyeing each other, simultaneously scratched their heads sheepishly.
"We're worried that we might just be a burden, since our joining the front was later than other races..."
"Our contribution to the front is low, and our proficiency in fighting monsters isn't high either."
With their late joining of the front, and even crashing once when facing the Apocalypse Knights in the previous battle.
The Rompeller siblings were a bit dejected, feeling self-conscious and having gone through hardships. Moreover, they had to accept the unfamiliar authority of a racial deity.
I approached them and patted their shoulders.
"Whether you join early or late, whether you fight well or make a few mistakes... does that really matter so much? What's important is that we're all fighting together with one heart."
Everyone who once opposed and fought each other now stands shoulder to shoulder, looking in the same direction.
All countries and all races with free will in this world, together.
This alone gives enough value to this front. Sincerely, I was grateful just for them being here.
"King Poseidon will teach you well how to handle the racial deity's authority..."
I put down the equipment I had brought on the bridge table.
"I've brought a few gifts."
"This is...?"
The first thing I took out was a large anchor.
This skillfully crafted steel structure was clearly an anchor, but it had a handle attached so that a person could grip and swing it, and there was magic cast on it to reduce its weight for the user when gripped through the handle.
In other words, the user can swing it lightly, but the attack hits the opponent with its real weight.
The equipment's name is [Weight of the Sea].
It's classified as an SSR-grade blunt weapon.
Among the Rompeller siblings, the female Rompeller, who is in charge of close combat, made an "Oho-" sound and grabbed the anchor.
"Ooh, this feels good...!"
As she held the anchor and posed like a baseball batter, I explained.
"It's fine to use it as a melee weapon, but the special effect of this anchor is interesting... The moment the anchor touches the ground, it allows the user's ship to 'dock' immediately."
The female Rompeller tilted her head.
"Huh? What kind of effect is that?"
"In a situation where the ship is about to crash, if you throw this anchor to the ground at the right timing?"
"...!"
"The ship will forcibly 'dock' in that spot, allowing you to avoid the crash."
The twin pirates' faces lit up.
Having experienced an emergency landing in the last battle, this kind of safety device seemed quite welcome.
"Where did you get such equipment?! As expected, landlubbers have many strange things! Thank you, Prince Ash!"
The female Rompeller rushed towards me, trying to shower me with kisses.
After barely fending off the rough skinship typical of seafarers, I handed the next equipment to the male Rompeller.
"Here, and this is for you."
"This is...?"
What I handed to the male Rompeller was a multi-barrel harpoon gun.
It looked like a large cannon with three harpoons loaded, but its effect is extremely simple. It shoots harpoons to hit and restrain the opponent.
However, its special effect is powerful.
"The enemy hit by this harpoon absolutely cannot escape from this harpoon until you retrieve it."
"...!"
It's equipment for the purpose of binding and restricting the opponent's movement.
Its name is [Sea's Obsession]. It's an SSR-grade throwing weapon.
I was thinking of placing it on the city walls, but it seemed like pirates would handle it well, so I decided to give it to them. After all, their specialty is connecting ships with harpoons and engaging in close combat...
"To give us such a delicious weapon...!"
The male Rompeller's face became moved, and he suddenly started rummaging through the treasure chest inside the bridge, saying he would give a gift in return.
After politely declining the jewel-encrusted skulls and such that he was taking out, I finally brought out one more small piece of equipment.
"And... I'd like to entrust this ring for this battle."
Perhaps sensing the dangerous power residing in the equipment as soon as they saw it.
Both Rompellers gasped at the same time.
"T-This is...?!"
What I placed on the table was [Kraken's Ring].
It's a special equipment that can summon the Kraken, the strongest sea monster.
"I've tamed it well, so if you summon it, it will fight well against the monsters. I'm lending it just for this defense battle, so use it well and return it..."
I stopped mid-sentence.
"It's mine!"
"Don't be ridiculous, it's mine!"
The two Rompellers rushed to claim the ring for themselves, and then they started punching each other and rolling around on the floor.
"Such a pretty ring should obviously belong to me, the older sister!"
"What nonsense! Good things obviously belong to me, the older brother!"
Bang, crash...
The twin siblings, punching each other as they rolled, tumbled out of the bridge.
"Sigh."
I sighed, picked up the ring again, and handed it to King Poseidon, who was laughing beside me.
"I'll leave it to you, King Poseidon."
"Just trust me."
King Poseidon grinned as he quickly put on the ring.
I just laughed too. Haha.
And so, the distribution of new equipment was coming to an end.
--TL Notes--
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