When Felix woke again aboard Rhodes Island, he rubbed his head. It felt as though he had received some kind of revelation in his sleep, something that might be the key to defeating the Observer.
That was the so-called law.
Only laws could be used to fight laws. The forces and sciences of the pre-civilization era would crumble before the Observer. So what could he use to surpass such a law?
Only by becoming a law himself.
It was far too abstract.
Felix frowned and stood up. Looking into the mirror, he saw that his head was still crowned with the distinct features of Teekaz.
It was the symbol of Teekaz, yet the dream from last night had felt far too real. In it, he had seen his human form once again.
Only, it was not the version of himself from his previous life, the one who stayed up all night playing games, but the self of this world, merely in human form.
That thought was still too far away.
Felix rose to his feet. There was still some distance left before Rhodes Island reached Kazdel, and the New Year was still some time away.
By now, the North must already be growing lively.
The Devastator sailed in front, followed closely by three newly developed battleships. After receiving permission from the Sami government, who at first thought they had misheard when they were told Kazdel wished to help them fight the demons, the Kazdel fleet sailed directly toward the endless snowfields along Sami's border.
This time, Asuna was in command.
With her exceptional capacity for learning, she had already mastered every skill required for command and battleship navigation. In the final simulated assessment, she achieved a perfect 10-0 record and graduated with the highest honors.
Asuna knew well how terrifying demons were, and so did the commanders of the other three battleships. They did not approach too closely. Instead, they remained at a distance, observing while the Yamato cannons were slowly raised.
This would be a prolonged battle, much like the struggle against the Seaborn along Iberia's border.
Yet during this same period, the Iberian Inquisition had sensed that something was wrong.
The Seaborn had vanished.
Or rather, not entirely. Some of the most basic types still remained, the puppy-like, flower-like, and coral-like Seaborn. But the higher-level and larger Seaborn had disappeared without a trace.
As for those lesser puppy, flower, and coral types, they naturally posed no real threat to the Inquisition.
The Inquisition was frustrated. So were the Abyssal Hunters.
Aside from Skadi, who had already returned to Kazdel, the other three remained in the waters near Iberia, preparing to descend into the deep sea to hunt Seaborn. Yet after waiting ten days, even half a month, not a single Seaborn appeared.
Unable to accept it, Ulpianus, one of the Abyssal Hunters, dove directly into the depths, only to discover that the great octopus-like, jellyfish-like, and whale-like Seaborn that had once inhabited those waters had all vanished as well.
There were no urgent reports from Aegir of Seaborn attacking any cities, so where had they gone?
Had they descended into even deeper waters?
Ulpianus understood that going any deeper would be tantamount to suicide, even for someone of his strength, so he gave up.
The other Abyssal Hunters had no answers either, so for the time being, the three of them remained along the shore, hoping to find some clue from the Inquisition and from the sea itself.
Asuna looked at the narcissus-like fish girl floating beside her in the air. "Blue, we may need your help in this battle."
"We understand, Asuna." Little Blue clenched her fist, her azure eyes fixed ahead. "There... lies the land we must purify."
Felix had handed half of the command authority over the Seaborn to Asuna. This was the first time she had taken command of it independently.
Ever since they set foot upon the battlefield, Felix had not yet fully understood their true combat strength, but he did understand the nature of the sea's children, the Seaborn.
Their purpose for existing was to purify the land. Naturally, that also included protecting the oceans and restoring what had been defiled.
And perhaps that was also the reason for the conflict between the Seaborn and Aegir.
These defilements, after all, represented the land polluted by evil spirits.
"We can sense it. This corruption is even worse than the pollution Aegir once suffered in the ocean." Little Blue leaned against the window. "After the war, we will do our best to restore this land."
"Thank you."
While the two spoke, the crew aboard the other ships continued making preparations. The radar operators stared intently at their screens, afraid of missing even the faintest signal of an approaching enemy.
Some players aboard the ship had already started recording. Among them was a familiar face, Magic ZX.
As for why he was here instead of elsewhere...
Kazimierz had sent Młynar along, because Młynar had boarded the battleship personally. Młynar wanted to witness the battle up close and later bring information about the demons back to Kazimierz.
Although Kazimierz's past was rotten to the core, and the Chamber of Commerce had not yet been completely uprooted, the nation now appeared to be flourishing.
Młynar understood why Felix had never contacted Kazimierz.
It was because Kazimierz's technological development was completely off course.
They lacked firearms. They lacked artillery. They lacked tanks and warships.
What they did have were those perfectly trained bodies.
Yes, those weathered, honed muscles.
The ultimate physical and visual experience!
The Grand Knights of Kazimierz were the pride and symbol of their nation... but their opponents were also the Ursus, who delighted in brutal, visceral combat. So if, hypothetically, Kazimierz and Kazdel were ever to go to war one day, Młynar could not help but ask: could those muscles really withstand a storm of artillery fire?
It seemed unlikely.
That was why Kazimierz had not joined. Russell had been left with no choice but to ask Młynar to come and observe the battle. In the face of a catastrophe that threatened the entire continent, he too wanted to do something.
"Alright, everyone, welcome to my stream! There's a saying: wherever Uncle is, that's where I am! So, can you guess where I am right now?" Magic ZX shook the camera in his hand. Seeing the chat explode with excitement, he gave a mysterious smile. "That's right. I'm aboard a Kazdelian battleship!"
Having fallen behind the leading group, Magic ZX had undoubtedly lagged behind Yang Yan XF and the others, but...
His guides and videos were aimed at the overwhelming majority of ordinary and casual players. That was why, even though he spent most of his time following his uncle around, the number of viewers and favorites on his streams had not declined much.
"I also found out something more this time. The commander said this might become a disaster for all of Terra."
The moment those words left his mouth, the chat exploded.
>>"What disaster? I'm busy fighting alongside the Draco sisters."
>>"Can you eat disaster?"
>>"Is this some kind of official event? Wait, is it going to be like World of Warcraft's Cataclysm, where the whole map changed?"
>>"You know, with version 3.0 almost over, is the dev team planning to drop something huge on us?"
Magic ZX himself had no answer to any of those questions.
After all, Ark' developers were always elusive, almost invisible. They released update notices on time, sure, but no one had ever actually seen a member of the development team. Even when a new expansion launched, there was never any follow-up. Other games at least had a few producers who would show up now and then, right? But Ark had none of that. Not to mention routine maintenance notices, this game never seemed to undergo routine maintenance at all, aside from version updates.
The development team seemed to exist... but if not for those constantly updated announcements, players might have believed they were playing some kind of fake game.
"What you're saying does make sense, sir. Demons are completely unknown creatures, and the war against them is very likely to be the major final event of version 3.0." Magic ZX shook his head as he spoke. "Have you noticed that the three-way war in Victoria actually has a time limit? That's right, we were only given two years at the time, and now there's only a little over a year left. There are still almost two years before version 3.0 ends, so this is probably the final major event of 3.0."
"By the way, near the end of version 3.0, when our levels and combat power are at their highest, I can only say that running into this kind of enemy definitely feels deliberate."
Just as Magic ZX was about to continue, a piercing alarm suddenly blared throughout the entire battleship, jolting him upright.
"Wait, what's going on?"
["General quarters, general quarters. All hands man your battle stations. Enemy contact imminent. Set material condition Zebra throughout the ship. Repeat, this is not a drill."]
Ignoring the laughter pouring from the chat, Magic ZX hurried off to find his anchor point.
Following Młynar, the two made their way to the scouting platform at the bow of the ship, where they could clearly observe the battlefield ahead.
And there, in the distance, amid the swirling snowstorm, were groups of things... things...
"Commander, they're in range!" the radar officer's shout rang through the ship.
"Very good. Drop the shields and fully charge the Yamato cannons!" Asuna gave the order decisively, looking dazzling in her naval uniform. "Activate the anti-air guns! Don't let the demons get too close! Hold our line!"
"Yes!"
Through the blinding snow and wind ahead, the weapons operator pulled the trigger. At the same time, blue light began gathering at the muzzle of the Yamato cannon.
Boom!
Blue lightning and fire erupted in the distance. A vast patch of red vanished instantly from the radar, only to be filled again in the next moment.
"What... what is this?" Magic ZX's eyes widened in disbelief. Were these things really endless? How were they supposed to fight something like this? How were they supposed to play this?
Well, that was only half-serious. After all, they were players. If they could not truly die, then they could fight however they pleased. And besides, with demons falling in swathes like harvested wheat... wasn't that just a mountain of experience points?
"Yamato cannon recharged. Load the Sanshiki incendiary shells!"
"Yes!"
The turrets rose, and hundreds of incendiary shells traced arcs through the wind and snow, bursting in midair before raining down upon the demons. But to everyone's surprise, although the demons were set ablaze and their movements slowed, they still continued to crawl forward.
"...This!" The radar officer stared at the screen in disbelief. "Why didn't the incendiary shells do any real damage?"
"This is different from the previous battle reports. Sami's demons seem to be different from the demons of the Yan..." Asuna felt that the situation had gone somewhat beyond expectations, but it was still within a controllable range. "Since fire is ineffective, then we'll use electricity. Fire the electromagnetic cannons!"
"Electromagnetic cannons, fire!"
Blue lightning tore across every inch of the demons' bodies, blackening them into charred husks before they collapsed to the ground.
At last, the attack proved effective.
Asuna did not hesitate. "Keep firing the Yamato cannons!"
In only half an hour, Magic ZX had gone from stunned to completely numb. More than once, he saw demons blasted high into the air by the shockwaves of explosions. More than once, he saw those strange black collapses torn apart by electromagnetic fire. By now, he was numb to it all.
Were the demons really infinite in number?
If players were the ones fighting, then perhaps they would have to rotate in shifts?
Magic ZX was already thinking about how players might implement a rest rotation system if they had to fight without battleships. HP might not drop much because of team composition, but MP would definitely plummet. And once their MP was gone, casters and medics would be practically useless.
What a headache.
Better leave that kind of thing to Yang Yan XF and the others. Let them deal with it.
The Yamato cannons roared once again. Asuna took a slow breath. The battleship's energy reserves had already dropped to only thirty percent. Although they could withdraw to Sami for replenishment and resupply, the demons' assault had not yet ceased.
No, it had weakened somewhat by now.
Asuna observed that these demons either took the form of the corpses of fallen Sami warriors, or appeared as a strange phenomenon, a collapse of black emptiness. Now, however, the number of warrior corpses was decreasing, and the number of those collapsed entities was also falling.
That likely meant that most of the evil spirits in this area had already been destroyed.
"Little Blue, I need your help."
"Alright. Leave it to us."
The narcissus girl gave Asuna a gentle smile. She stepped across the bridge, climbed the stairs, and emerged onto the deck. Raising her hand toward the sky, she declared, "It is time for us to act. For the sake of the Manager, for the sake of this Terra, we must drive out all this filth and leave not a single one behind! Let's fight for all that is beautiful in the world"
Behind Little Blue, octopuses, jellyfish, whales, sea dragons, and deep-sea wyrms transformed into soft azure streams of light. They hovered in the sky for a brief moment before plunging into the demons' territory like a sharp blade.
Magic ZX was utterly stunned. His pupils widened in disbelief.
What the hell was that?!
Wasn't that Seaborn?
He had been to Iberia. He had even fought alongside the main force against the Seaborn before. But this... what the hell was this? Wasn't this supposed to be Seaborn?
Why were Seaborn fighting demons?
>>"Streamer! Explain!"
>>"Stop asking the streamer. The streamer is stunned too."
Magic ZX rubbed his eyes hard, only to realize that Młynar was doing the exact same thing. Somehow, that made him feel a little better.
"These Seaborn must be friendly," Magic ZX muttered. "I just saw them fly over from the Devastator. Could it be... that His Highness negotiated some kind of terms with them and got them to submit?"
>>"The Seaborn can communicate too?"
>>"Isn't the Seaborn based on a hive-mind structure? Surely the King of Dawn isn't mind-controlling the Seaborn, right?"
>>"Hey, I'm in Iberia. The Seaborn extermination missions haven't shown up for ages. What happened?!"
Watching the vast blue fungal-like carpet gradually spread across the ground, Magic ZX's lips twitched faintly.
"I can't understand this at all!"