Chapter 104 : Milestone
“Domain Declaration.”
Mana originating from the World Tree swirled around my body and spread throughout the area as a halo of light. As the light spread in concentric circles, greenery began to grow in the area. Vegetation sprouted, flowers bloomed, and the wind swirled. A hanging garden in the sky, a scene that seemed to float in the air above the tilted building. At the transcendent sight created by the manifestation of the World Tree’s domain, a gleam of light flowed from Jordan’s clay-like, crushed eyes.
[Krrrk.]
Jordan’s laughter was as thick and unsightly as phlegm. His vocal cords must have been damaged, as it was not his own voice but a voice mimicked with mana. If he didn’t have the insight to recognize that a domain was the crystallization of a superhuman’s abilities, he wouldn’t have even dreamed of standing against the city government.
And yet.
He exuded a confidence that even a domain could not stop a self-destruction that had sacrificed his own body.
[You are too late! Even if you kill me now! This magic will not be broken!]
Jordan’s head turned red. The heat welling up from within was showing on his skin. It would explode soon. My peripheral nerves tingled with the danger signal emitted by my instincts.
[Aaaah! With my death! With this technology! I will sound the alarm for this rotten city!]
Finally, the mana that had been swirling around his body burst out. The soil cracked, and even the large trees were caught in the storm and split apart.
In the midst of that, I recalled the mural in the ruins. The image of the World Tree, like a wall that blocked and cut off the outside and the inside. The past possibility where the World Tree had taken root.
Chwarararak!
Giant roots shot up in a circle around Jordan. In a dense formation, like a vortex, like a snake coiling, they soared to the end of the sky.
「The World Tree severs the inside and outside of a specific space!」
A barrier.
My vision was obscured by the soaring roots, so I couldn’t see Jordan’s final expression. Was he shocked? Or did he regret or get angry? It was something I couldn’t know, and something I didn’t need to know. He was just a loser in the end.
Jordan’s body exploded within the severed barrier.
***
Hazel was lying down. Her posture was completely disheveled, as if the rooftop of the building were her own bedroom. It was the aftermath of blowing a huge hole in a building with just a single gun, even if it was an anti-materiel sniper rifle.
Even if you crammed in an AI chip, used special bullets, and imbued it with magic, a gun is a gun, not a cannon. Even if you pushed the technology of this era to its limits, it was impossible to draw out as much power as she did with a gun. What made it possible was her formidable amount of mana and talent. She could process her mana with a gun and fire it. In effect, it was like discharging her own mana using the form of a gun, so its power was also proportional to the amount of mana invested.
So she thought she deserved to lie down comfortably and rest. It wasn’t that she had consumed so much mana that she couldn’t move, but she had used enough strength to gasp for breath for a moment. She couldn’t participate in the battle anyway, so it would be fine to rest for a while.
“Aaaah.”
Hazel stretched to loosen her stiff body. Allen was climbing the building with unstoppable momentum. Well, Al-Raid’s headquarters was in the middle of being attacked. The remaining forces in the front company would be at the level of riffraff.
“Hmm.”
Hazel expanded her sense of presence from a narrow range focused on the building to a wider radius. There were no suspicious people among the presences felt nearby. It seemed there were no interruptions from the surroundings either, so at that rate, he would easily succeed in the operation and return.
Hazel relaxed and let go of her tension. She couldn’t maintain her sense of presence for long with the mana she had now anyway. She had to recover her mana while Allen finished the operation to be prepared for any unforeseen circumstances. That was her judgment.
“……?”
In the end, it turned out to be a complacent judgment. In the moment she had let her guard down, the scene had already turned into ruins. Explosively swirling mana. An enemy with an unusual momentum was confronting Allen.
“……!”
With her sharp eyes, Hazel saw through the opponent’s aim at a glance. An explosion, with that amount of mana and mass, it was a major accident without even needing to calculate.
Hazel hastily grabbed her gun. It was too late to respond. It was also too late to request support from the Public Security Bureau. The radio was also dead. It was an explosion of concentrated mana, visible even to the naked eye. So much so that she herself could be swept away if she wasn’t careful.
Woooong!
Hazel hastily prepared to fire, as if grasping at straws. It was late, but she had to at least inflict some damage to reduce the harm. It was also the only way to guarantee Allen’s survival.
It was the moment the enemy’s bizarrely distorted face was captured in her scope.
Chwararak!
A wave of giant roots soaring into the sky. A huge barrier soaring beyond the heavens. Even the lingering scent of mana that had thickly settled in the area was trapped within it.
Shyurururu!
The explosion was quiet. The formidable explosion that would have swallowed a whole district was simply swallowed up within the barrier.
When the barrier disappeared. The tremendously concentrated mana could not even be found in its traces.
Thud!
Hazel, whose tension had completely dissipated, staggered and fell on her butt.
“……Thank goodness.”
It was an operation where full authority had been granted to Allen and her. It meant that they were solely responsible for the merits and demerits. She was already feeling self-conscious because of the matter of capturing McDonald. If the explosion had happened as it was, not only would she have received a lecture from her superiors, but Allen would have surely died. Just imagining it made her blood run cold.
“Ugh.”
Hazel soon retrieved her gun and got up. Since Allen had safely prevented a major accident, it was her duty as a person to take care of the aftermath. As anyone who knew her would admit, Hazel was a conscientious person. It was just that she had a screw loose. This case was no different.
***
The basic purpose of a barrier was to block the outside. That way, the inside and the outside were cut off and could not affect each other.
‘The opposite is also true.’
Just as the outside cannot affect the inside, the inside cannot affect the outside. This application of the ability was an application of that. The blocking of the inside through a barrier. It was an improvisation that made the effect of the explosion affect only the inside, which was cut off.
Hwiiing!
The wind brushed against my ankles. I let out a deep breath at the feeling of exhaustion flowing down from the top of my head. The barrier was one possibility that the World Tree would have at the end of its growth. Even though I had used it within the domain that drew out the potential inherent in the World Tree, the consumption of stamina was considerable.
But it was a satisfactory result. I had seen the potential of the World Tree and verified its usefulness in a real battle.
‘Can I find another seed of the World Tree?’
Unfortunately, job ruins were not something that were scattered everywhere. Especially, the druid’s ruin was a place that had never even been mentioned in the community. Finding one was close to a coincidence. Even more so, considering that the reward was the seed of the World Tree. I could only hope for it vaguely, like wishing to win the lottery.
‘In that case, maybe…’
It was when my thoughts were branching out. The World Tree suddenly retrieved something.
“This is…”
It was probably retrieved from Jordan’s corpse. Since it hadn’t burned and disappeared in the huge explosion, it probably wasn’t an ordinary object. My prediction was not wrong.
“A fragment of a spirit’s cocoon.”
It felt like I was encountering it again after a very long time. To think I would retrieve it in a place like this. Was it because it was directly related to a megacorp, not just a mere terrorist organization?
At the unexpected harvest, I suddenly realized.
‘The technology of Boulderveer Industries. Was the mass amplification of matter also related to spirits?’
Boulderveer Industries had showcased its technology at least several years ago. If so… it meant that the research and experimentation on the fragments of a spirit’s cocoon was not a recent event.
First, the goblins in the slums. Next, the leader of Quadruple. And now, the leader of a terrorist organization.
‘How far has it spread?’
It wasn’t specific to any one class, but was widely spread across all walks of life. The influence of a corporation, a megacorp.
‘What on earth are they trying to do with this?’
To say it was to destroy hostile personnel who were in the way, they were not the enemies of the corporation. A simple development of technology? If so, it was too focused on antisocial groups. I couldn’t even guess what clear profit a corporation that moves for profit would gain. At the very least, the expansion of influence resulting from the chaos of the city would be one of their goals, but… this was a long-cherished wish of the corporation, unrelated to the spirit’s cocoon.
‘The retrieval of the spirit’s cocoon might be greatly related to the future of this city.’
In any case, the megacorp was after something, and I was in a situation where I was hindering it. I had already changed the predetermined story of the game in the process of the inter-city negotiations.
‘No, am I really changing the story?’
Of course, in the original game FP, I had never played as a druid class. FP boasted an almost infinite degree of freedom.
‘What if the storyline that was concluded to be unchangeable was actually because the conditions weren’t met?’
A megacorp that uses the fragments of a spirit’s cocoon. It was a clue that could not be uncovered without being a druid. Was it because I had become a druid that the conditions to uncover the hidden secrets of this city were met?
‘Now, the topic of the secret hidden at the extremity of the continent has even been thrown in.’
What was hidden in the unexplored lands that human hands had not reached? What had the upper echelons of the city seen in that place, which was related to the World Tree? I had a strong feeling that a clear milestone was being created in this game, which pursued only personal glory.
***
“Good work.”
Hazel, whom I met in the lobby, looked somewhat anxious. Her hair was stuck to her cheek, as if she had been sweating.
“Were there any suspicious presences around? Like reinforcements from Al-Raid.”
“There weren’t.”
“Hmm.”
If so, it meant that Jordan Crank being here was not a trap. They probably had no idea that the Public Security Bureau had uncovered the identity of the front company. Once the raid on Al-Raid’s headquarters was complete, this request would be over. I wouldn’t have to work any harder.
Was it because I felt that it was over? As my tension eased, fatigue set in.
“The data?”
“Look at the state of the place upstairs. What could you find there?”
It was the price for not expecting Jordan to be there. I had searched thoroughly with a sliver of hope, but all the electronic devices were dead, and all I could see was a pile of ashes.
‘I have a rough idea, though.’
A megacorp, fragments of a spirit’s cocoon, vast information power. Several clues pointed to one corporation.
‘It must be Centrim.’
Not satisfied with being the top corporation, did they even aim for the power of the city government? It was a greed that was even tiresome.
‘The unfortunate thing is that it’s just a suspicion.’
It was an identity I had guessed from the agent Alfonso and Kol Khamisi, who had been the leader of Quadruple. There was no substantial evidence to report to the Public Security Bureau. Even the city government couldn’t easily touch Centream with just any nitpicking. In the current situation, reporting it would just be stirring up a hornet’s nest. I had no choice but to remember it myself and be wary.
“……”
Suddenly, the corners of Hazel’s eyes drooped. She looked dejected, as if her motivation had been completely crushed. I wondered why she was like that.
‘Isn’t Hazel the type who just does what she’s told well?’
She wasn’t the smart type who would think deeply, predict the ripple effects, and calculate the benefits. In the situation just now, hadn’t she just finished her own work and not interfered in my fight? It meant her head didn’t work to the point of being disappointed that she couldn’t uncover Al-Raid’s backer.
It was when I was wondering if she had received separate orders from the Public Security Bureau. Hazel’s eyes, which had been wandering here and there, met mine.
“Then what’s that?”
The finger she pointed with was at my pocket. Her eyesight was sharp. It was a small size, but she had managed to catch the faint, bulging outline.
I recited an excuse without even batting an eye.
“Spoils of war.”
A fragment of a spirit’s cocoon. Come to think of it, it was the source of the technology that had made Boulderveer Industries a partner of the military. The Public Security Bureau wouldn’t know, but I didn’t want to get caught up in any unnecessary trouble.
‘But will that security officer acknowledge it and let it go?’
She was a person who could pop up anywhere, anytime. She might not acknowledge the spoils of war. It was probably closer to her acting on her own thought process rather than throwing her weight around with the Public Security Bureau as her backer, but the result was the same. Considering that she had suddenly become interested in Boulderveer Industries’ backer…
“Fine, I’ll acknowledge it.”
“……?”
Hazel crossed her arms and nodded with a serious expression.
“I’ll take care of it so there’s no gossip, so with that, we’re even.”
‘She has a conscience, at least.’
I felt the small grudge I had held against her disappear and nodded my head.
(End of Chapter)