Chapter 352 - Dark Continent (3)

Raven's harassment(?) finally ended when we reached our destination after fifteen days at sea.

A continent of sprawling plains. A dark purple barrier stretched along the edge of the land, as if to deny entry to intruders. And out at sea before it, a portal.

"Woooooo!"

"We're heeeere!"

The moment the long-awaited sight appeared beyond the horizon, the explorers gathered on deck burst into cheers.

Well, the voyage had been boring. Not that I'd had time to get bored myself. When I was feeling well, I looked around at the islands, and the rest of the time I was suffering from seasickness.

"It's Rihen Schuitz."

I reminded Erwin again the moment she came to stand beside me, and she hung her head. At least she seemed to know what she'd done wrong...

Surely she wouldn't slip up again after all this?

"So why'd you come over? Looks like it'll be a while before we enter the portal."

"No reason... I just wanted to be with you..."

Her blunt declarations had put a lot of pressure on me at first, but not nearly as much now. Or should I say I'd gotten used to them?

"... What's that ship, anyway? I don't think I saw it when we set sail."

I pointed. The waters around the portal were packed with ships that had already arrived, and quite a few were built differently from our sailing ship.

"Oh, that? It's a fast boat. They usually gather the first people to reach the sixth floor and send them ahead."

"To keep the Noark bastards from coming down?"

"Yes. They've been trying that more often lately. I don't see any battle damage on the boats, so I don't think they tried this time... But I heard one recent battle was so fierce that more than half the fast boats were completely destroyed."

I see.

Anyway, if they'd gotten here first, they must've killed that monster called the Gatekeeper too. It probably hadn't dropped an Essence, right?

As I looked around, idly entertaining such thoughts, I felt the other explorers watching us. That was something that had changed over the long voyage.

"That woman's the Blood Spirit Marquis..."

"Does anyone know who the man beside her is?"

"Not sure. I asked a friend who joined the Magic Corps, and apparently this is his first deployment. He retired a few years ago and recently came back."

"Hmm, and yet he's become a companion of one of the Seven Powers... He must have something up his sleeve, appearances notwithstanding."

Thanks to Erwin's fame, Amelia and I now attracted attention wherever we went too.

For now, the emotion in those gazes was ninety-nine percent curiosity. Previously unknown newcomers emerged in every war, but since we were accompanying the Blood Spirit Marquis right from the start, people wanted to know who we were and what we could do.

Oh, and the remaining one percent was hostility.

"Schuitz."

"Oh, you mean Raven."

"She's doing it again, over there."

With deployment imminent, Raven was gathered with the other members of her corps, discussing something or other. Yet her gaze remained fixed on us.

"Um... Should I take care of her later, if I get the chance...?"

What was she talking about?

I flicked her forehead to tell her to stop being ridiculous. Erwin looked up at me indignantly.

"But what if she recognizes you? I'm worried."

Actually, I had given that some thought. Not whether to take her out, of course, but whether to reveal who I was and ask for her cooperation.

However...

'I still think it'd just make things needlessly complicated.'

For one thing, convincing her I wasn't an evil spirit would be a task in itself. And even if she believed me, there was no guarantee she'd keep my secret and help me. Raven was caring, sure, but that didn't mean she couldn't separate personal feelings from duty.

'Even if she kept it secret, she serves the royal family now. If they found out later, she could get hurt too.'

In the end, I decided it would be best to tell her after I'd sorted everything out myself.

Still...

"If she finds out, I'll just have to tell her everything."

Whatever I might want, if she discovered my identity before then, I'd have no choice but to ask for her cooper—

"... Damn it. Then there'll be more."

... So that was what you were worried about?

* * *

BWOOOOOO!

The moment a horn sounded from the ship at the very front, our ship sprang into activity as well.

"Everyone to your stations!"

The brief wait was finally over. It was time for all of us to enter the battlefield together. At the royal representative's command, the explorers sightseeing on deck moved to their assigned positions.

We didn't need to move, incidentally. Our assigned waiting area was on deck.

"Mis—no, Rihen, I'll tie you up!"

"Huh?"

"I'm good at this sort of thing!"

We secured ourselves to the ship with the ropes we'd been issued, a precaution against falling overboard. Once preparations were more or less complete, another horn sounded from the front, and the ship began to move.

"This is making me a little nervous..."

"Don't worry. I'll make sure to protect you... Rihen."

Uh, wasn't that my line as the tank?

Despite that thought, I didn't bother continuing the small talk.

"Flagship entry complete!"

The leading ships passed through the portal. As our own ship drew closer, I felt my body heating up.

Well, we were heading into a war zone. It wasn't just me, either. The other explorers' faces were tense and solemn now, unlike before.

Whew. Seeing them all like that was bringing back memories of the first floor. I felt like I was about to get PTSD.

"Main force entry complete!"

It was time for me to stop taking this lightly too. This would be my first time entering the seventh floor in this body, after all. And the place was teeming with explorers more dangerous than monsters.

Even if we were going there to gain something, we could easily come back having only lost something instead.

"Erwin. Emily."

"Yes?"

"Speak."

Gripping the railing with one hand and my recently purchased shield with the other, I said,

"Don't leave my side. No matter what."

A flash of light.

Our ship entered the portal.

* * *

BOOM!

The huge sailing ship briefly hung in the air as though a giant had hurled it, then slammed into the water, sending up sheets of spray.

It was an incredible experience, but there was no time to get distracted. This was no peaceful sea beneath a blue sky.

「You have entered Floor 7: Dark Continent.」

The sea was stained black, as though covered in oil. We were only at the entrance to the continent, but the surrounding fog was already obscuring our view.

And...

BOOM! BOOM! KABOOM!

Explosions erupted all around us, hammering our eardrums. Noark's forces, lying in wait atop the gorge, were firing mana cannons.

"Quite the enthusiastic welcome today."

"Where the hell did they get mana cannons?"

"Probably took them from our ships before."

Even as we spoke, cannon fire, dark magic, and all manner of Abilities rained down on the ship. The noise alone made the tremendous firepower clear, but the royal fleet suffered no damage.

Because there was nothing you couldn't solve by throwing obscene amounts of money at it.

WHOOOOOSH!

The defensive magic circles activated upon entering the seventh floor intercepted every incoming attack. The impacts sometimes rocked the ships violently, but never damaged them.

Having suffered heavy losses during the initial landings, the royal family had made this massive investment in every warship. Hadn't I heard that maintaining those circles alone burned through tens of millions of stones' worth of magic crystals per minute?

'How much will it cost to keep these running all the way to the continent...? Oh, I guess it's still cheap compared to the ships.'

Of course, this was no time to worry about public finances. I cleared away those stray thoughts and focused on the present.

Braving the fierce welcome head-on, the fleet pressed steadily forward, cleared the coastal waters, and shifted into single file to enter a narrow gorge.

「Your character has entered a special area.」

「Field Effect - Vengeful Spirit Gorge is applied.」

「All healing and regeneration effects are disabled.」

「Divine Power is sealed.」

Vengeful Spirit Gorge. An unavoidable passage into the Dark Continent, whose entire coastline consisted of cliffs.

As our warship followed the one ahead into the gorge, the ominous, gloomy fog grew even thicker.

And...

"Prepare for combat!"

Undead monsters began climbing the ship's hull. Their ranks were as varied as their types.

「You have defeated a Deadburn. EXP +3」

「You have defeated a Red Eye. EXP +4」

「You have defeated a Banshee Queen. EXP +6」

「You have defeated a Teeth Skeleton. EXP +4」

「You have defeated a Cliff Ghost...」

More than half the monsters appearing here could also be hunted on the sixth floor. Since we'd skipped progressing through that floor, though, my EXP piled up fast no matter what we killed.

Erwin's ranged attacks deserved much of the credit. Nearly seventy percent of the monsters were knocked off before they could board. As for the sea monsters, I had no way to attack them at all.

「You have defeated a Chaos Seaman. EXP +6」

「You have defeated a Malder Elephant. EXP +5」

「You have defeated a Skeleton Mermaid Queen...」

Since Erwin and I were linked by Unity magic, the EXP flowed in whenever she landed even a single basic attack.

Of course, that didn't mean I got to coast the whole time.

THWACK!

The deck was also packed with spirit-type monsters that didn't need to climb aboard, so I really did have to keep swinging my weapon without a break.

「You have defeated a Ghostiz. EXP +4」

「You have defeated a Soul Drinker. EXP +6」

「You have defeated a Gorge Wraith. EXP +3」

Whew. With so many people aboard, the number of respawns was no joke.

Even as we fought desperately on deck, those vicious Noark bastards kept firing mana cannons from above the gorge. The defensive magic circles neutralized those attacks, sure, but...

"Aaaaaaah!!"

Occasionally, an explorer's rope snapped during the fighting on the rocking deck, sending them into the sea.

And on top of that...

"What? Why aren't we moving?"

"A ship up ahead sank!"

"Huh? Why? It was sailing along just fine!"

"Sounds like a Deadrect appeared and damaged the warship's magic circle!"

From the constantly updated battle reports, it seemed monsters sometimes broke through the defensive magic circles and caused entire ships to sink.

'Tsk. No wonder they keep shelling us from up there.'

If they got lucky and destroyed even one ship, their efforts would pay off. Besides, as long as they kept attacking, the fleet couldn't turn off its defensive circles. We'd have to keep them running all the way through the gorge, burning through enormous sums of military fund—

"Amelia, behind you!"

At my urgent shout, Amelia shattered a skeleton sneaking up on her with a spinning back kick.

Then...

"No need to thank me. We're compan—"

"It's Emily."

"Huh?"

"I doubt anyone heard in this chaos, but I'd appreciate it if you were more careful."

"Oh. I'll be careful..."

It was the same alias she'd used in the past, but for some reason I couldn't get used to saying it.

Whew. Guess I wasn't in any position to blame Erwin for slipping up, huh?

"Mister...! Look over there!"

"It's Rihen."

"Oh... Right... Anyway, over there! We're almost there!"

I looked where Erwin pointed, but all I could see was fog.

Still...

「Field Effect - Vengeful Spirit Gorge is removed.」

A little later, the narrow gorge opened out to reveal a vast lake. Waterfalls cascaded down its walls, and the water was red, reminiscent of blood.

And...

"Whew, it's over!"

"Finally, we can catch our breath."

The endlessly spawning monsters disappeared, and the Noark bastards' bombardment stopped too. Thankfully, we'd made it safely through the first hurdle.

'So this is where it really starts...'

I swallowed as I stared at the shore, barely visible through the fog.

"..."

"..."

Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt as though I could already smell blood.