Chapter 146 : Chapter 146
Chapter 146: Beyond the Sky (2)
[Vell!]
Lion, who almost never spoke, sensed something strange and shouted urgently.
“There's nothing to worry about.”
[But……!]
“Trust me.”
The storm of Demonic energy raging in was running wild, ferocious as if it would swallow me whole at any moment.
[The Postponer of Ruin's authority repels the Corrosion of Demonic.]
[The Postponer of Ruin's authority excludes Demonic mental interference.]
Tzzt, tzztzzt──!!!
With sparks flaring violently, the Corrosion of Demonic energy that had been bearing down on me stopped.
But although the corrosion aimed at me had paused for a moment, the storm of Demonic energy still surging up into the sky did not stop.
Ruuuuumble!!!
In an overwhelming scene that could only be described as the sky having opened, there was nothing I could do.
All I could do was watch until all of this ended naturally.
Beyond the opened sky, it was dyed in darkness.
Rather than feeling like it was filled with darkness itself, it felt as if something was blocking it, making it impossible to see what lay beyond.
[The Postponer of Ruin's authority repels Demonic interference.]
[The test ends.]
[You passed the second test of ascending to the sky.]
The number and amount of Ascension Stone Fragments I had taken this time were far from normal, so I thought even the Postponer of Ruin's power would struggle, but beyond my expectations, the Postponer of Ruin's power overcame even that.
It seemed to be because of the nature of the Postponer of Ruin's power, which grew stronger together as Demonic grew stronger.
Ruuuuuumble───!
Within the storm of Demonic energy that was slowly clearing, the darkness beyond the sky that had been filled with darkness cleared away for a very brief moment.
“……Huh?”
And I had no choice but to freeze right there.
Beyond the sky.
What was there was a scene I knew all too well.
Skyscrapers towering as if they would pierce the sky.
Glass windows glittering in the sunlight.
Vehicles rushing busily between the buildings.
Restaurants and cafes lined up throughout the streets.
“……No way.”
Beyond the sky.
What was there was Earth.
***
I had no idea what in the world had happened or how.
Why had the sight of Earth I knew appeared in the scenery beyond the sky.
I couldn't understand it.
I couldn't understand it at all, but at least I knew I had seen one face of some secret hidden in this world.
[You saw what lies beyond The Great Heaven.]
[The Great Heaven also sees you.]
.
.
.
[Bulletin Board Level increases.]
[Lv.4 → Lv.5]
[Your current Bulletin Board Level is ‘Lv.5’.]
────────────
[Accessible Bulletin Board List]
[Anonymous Bulletin Board] [Lv.1]
[Auction house] [Lv.2]
[Guild Bulletin Board] [Lv.3]
[Tips and Know-how Bulletin Board] [Lv.4]
[Verification Board] [Lv.5]
────────────
A new board was added.
Verification Board.
Since it had existed in-game back in the days of World of Justice Online, I already knew what kind of board it was.
A board where, just as its name implied, you could only write posts if you revealed your nickname.
That's why it was the Verification Board.
‘But still…….’
The changes didn't end there.
[You took a big step closer to the essence of Demonic!]
[Demonic energy increases. (+2)]
[10 → 12]
.
.
.
[The ‘Weapon Summon(??)’ trait grows.]
[The trait level of ‘Weapon Summon(??)’ increased.]
[Lv.4 → Lv.5]
[‘Lv.5’ weapon list is added to the summonable list of ‘Weapon Summon(??)’.]
[‘Lv.4’ ammunition list is added to the summonable list of ‘Weapon Summon(??)’.]
──────────────
[Weapon Summon]
Grade : ??
Type : Active
Level : 5
Summons weapons and ammunition.
Depending on the level, the types of weapons and ammunition you can summon increase.
Current summonable weapon types : 5
Current summonable ammunition types : 4
Number of registered personal weapons : 1
──────────────
The rise in Demonic energy and the Weapon Summon trait.
Even amid my disorganized thoughts, the effects that came from absorbing the Ascension Stone Fragments steadily brought me benefits.
“…….”
Normally, by this point, I would have been busy checking the newly added board and Weapon Summon.
But what I had just seen was too shocking to think about things like that.
‘It was definitely Earth.’
Why on earth had the scenery of Earth appeared beyond the sky.
It was a scene that felt impossible to understand and something I shouldn't understand, but what I saw was unmistakably reality.
The Great Heaven.
Beyond the sky.
Earth.
What connection did those have?
No, in fact, it was hard to say there was no connection at all when the very fact that players, including me, were in this world was already something that made no sense.
“……For now, it’d be better to check the Bulletin Board.”
No matter how much I thought about it while sitting here, there was nothing I could find out anyway.
So instead, it would be better to get information from the Verification Board users who had Lv.5 Bulletin Board access and surely must have seen something like me.
[Connecting to the Verification Board.]
-KG : Things don’t look normal over on the Eastern Union side.
-ImZappy : That Cain bastard lol he’s scared and won’t show up. Just let me meet him.
-Bion : Zappy-bro, what are you gonna do if you really meet Cain lol;
-Yuliana : I’m warning Newbie Hunter. Stop there.
The scene of the Verification Board that revealed itself. Maybe because it was Lv.5 Bulletin Board access, but the number of posts on the Verification Board was clearly fewer than on the Anonymous Bulletin Board.
I could tell just by the fact that the most recent post had been uploaded a full three days ago.
‘But if they absorbed Ascension Stone Fragments as high as Lv.5, it’d be hard for their minds to stay intact……. Should I classify the board users as Demonic persons, or those who will become Demonic persons.’
Of course, in the case of a few players with resistance to Demonic , they could endure the Demonic energy of Ascension Stone Fragments a bit more, but players with such traits could only be a minority.
‘And yet, the Lightning Emperor reached Lv.5 too, huh.’
Well, considering that insane appearance I had seen in Bernhard before, it wasn’t that strange that the Lightning Emperor’s Bulletin Board access reached Lv.5.
Unless you consumed a decent amount of Demonic energy, you couldn’t spout something like that with a sane mind.
‘And Yuliana, too…….’
Yuliana was delivering a warning to Newbie Hunter.
Compared to how she didn’t say anything in particular on the Anonymous Bulletin Board, on the Verification Board where her identity was revealed, she was speaking openly.
‘Then does that mean Yuliana also knows who Newbie Hunter is?’
It wasn’t that strange.
Newbie Hunter had said that it wasn’t like there were none who met them and still returned safely.
‘Mm. I’d better look at this later.’
Every post on the Verification Board was interesting, but I soon turned my gaze away.
‘More importantly, I need to find out about what’s beyond the sky.’
The posts on the Verification Board could be read again anytime.
So rather than that, it was important to find out what the scenery I saw beyond the sky actually was.
I immediately began searching the Verification Board for anything beyond the sky and Earth.
“……Huh?”
But why was that?
Even after looking through the Verification Board, there were no posts that mentioned the scenery beyond the sky.
As if no one had seen it except me.
‘What?’
It was strange.
I thought Verification Board users would have seen something like me, but there was no sign of that from them.
What that meant was clear.
‘Only I could see it.’
Then why?
‘Could it be because I was the first person to use an Ascension Stone?’
So only I could see what was beyond the sky?
“……I don’t know.”
I had prided myself on knowing almost everything about World of Justice Online, but when it came to anything related to Ascension Stone Fragments, it was an exception.
“Wait, come to think of it…….”
Why had Newbie Hunter said Ascension Stone Fragments had to be destroyed.
Could that be related to the scenery beyond the sky that I had seen.
It definitely seemed like there was some connection, but I couldn’t tell exactly what kind of connection it was.
Countless hypotheses surfaced in my head, but they were all just hypotheses I couldn’t properly verify.
There was nothing I could confirm.
“……So all that’s left is to gather more Ascension Stone Fragments.”
Either way, by gathering Ascension Stone Fragments this time, I obtained one clue.
That there was some kind of connection between The Great Heaven and Earth.
In fact, the players being trapped in this world would likely be connected to that as well.
‘For now, I should go back.’
There was nothing I could learn by staying here any longer anyway.
Before heading back, I felt the need to check the Lv.5 weapons I had newly obtained this time.
[Activating ‘Weapon Summon(??)’.]
[‘Lv.5’ weapon is summoned.]
[Summoning weapon, ‘N242 Minigun’.]
A heavy weapon revealed itself along with a blue Halo of light.
The moment I saw it, I couldn’t help but be stunned for a moment.
“……Ho.”
The rounds loaded into the N242 Minigun looked to be well over 300, even by a rough estimate.
Of course, considering the N242 Minigun’s rate of fire, around 300 rounds would be spent in the blink of an eye, but what mattered was that this outrageous weapon was now in my hands.
‘It’ll be hard to load Demonic Bullets one by one…… but it’ll be effective when hunting large numbers of demonic beasts below a certain level.’
Not only against demonic beasts, but the power of this weapon would be effective on a large-scale battlefield.
Next, I needed to check Weapon Reproduction, one of Weapon Summon’s other abilities.
Up to now, I had looked for ways to increase Weapon Reproduction’s reproduction rate and duration, but I hadn’t succeeded even once.
Yes, other than strengthening Weapon Summon itself by absorbing Ascension Stone Fragments.
That’s why I immediately checked Weapon Reproduction.
[Activating ‘Weapon Summon(??)’.]
[Reproducing weapon, ‘Divine Sword Levatein’.]
[Weapon reproduction rate : 30%]
[Reproduction duration : 10 seconds]
Should I say it was as expected.
As the Weapon Summon trait’s level rose, Weapon Reproduction, which had been stagnant until now, also increased in effect.
Originally, when I summoned Divine Sword Levatein through Weapon Reproduction, it had specs of a 15% reproduction rate and a 5-second duration, but now when I summoned it, it had a 30% reproduction rate and a 10-second duration.
Weapon Summon’s level had only risen by 1 level, but it was a spec-up by a full two times.
‘Thirty percent……. At this level, I can definitely inflict damage even on the King of the Demonic Realm.’
Considering the power Divine Sword Levatein had shown at 15% reproduction rate until now, the 30% Divine Sword Levatein was practically a sword that cut through everything.
And in reality, it wasn’t much different from that.
‘Have I checked everything I needed to, more or less.’
The newly obtained weapon, the N242 Minigun, and the strengthened Weapon Reproduction rate.
Just those two alone made the gains from absorbing this Ascension Stone Fragment certain.
Well, the real gain was probably that I confirmed what lay beyond the sky, but still.
‘Have I finally taken a step closer.’
I still didn’t know what I saw above that sky.
But I didn’t need to be impatient.
Someday, I would find out what was up there.