It has already been two weeks after the unceremonious attacks of Greed, Gluttony and Wrath, Lust wasn't present at all during the siege. When discussion arrived at the glaring issue with all the collateral damage, Anastasia proposed her company help with its vast amount of materials. She argued that current bureaucracy wouldn't allow for a swift recovery of the city, and that the proximity of Kararagi would allow rebuilding faster. She'd mentioned that while bricks rotting in warehouses were cheap, labor wasn't.
"…and with all the work my team's to do, it's no surprise that it won't come free of charge." This was said with a playful tone and matching wink.
It was immediately rejected.
"Well, I suppose it is the state's responsibility to rebuild infrastructure. None of the candidates' camps were designed to handle the enormous strain and logistics that were supposed to be reserved for the acting government." The pragmatic Crusch Karsten added, with a tone of contempt, having a history with entities 'abandoning responsibilities'. She'd regained her memories after Sin Archbishop Roy Alphard were forced to vomit a plethora of names and memories in an engagement with Julius and Ricardo. He'd been ended swiftly after an unexpected Zoltraak from Beatrice, currently fighting Lye Batenkaitos during that time.
All names and memories devoured by Roy Alphard were released as a result.
Not long after, they came to a common conclusion that they were powerless in resource gathering and reallocating at city-levels, they opted to move on to the Dragon in the room.
Sin Archbishop Capella Emeralda Lugunica was missing-in-action during the attack period. The only clue about her last appearance was the nigh-unrecognizable pulp of flesh sprawled on the city floor near the place of Wrath's first appearance at the clocktower. Dragon Blood trails led to the now public knowledge location of "a hidden bunker". The possibility that Capella was trapped in said bunker wasn't zero, hence, the camps were ordered to stay until the menace's disappearance was confirmed. Priscilla, of course, does not care and will be missing-in-action like Capella in the siege until further notice.
Many still believed that the gate led to the remains of the witch, even some of the guards themselves, but none cared truly enough to intervene with the restricted access state of the area.
It was precisely this reason why authorization to enter was taking too long. Anastasia was right about the state's flaw in bureaucracy. It took so long that Emilia and Roswaal figured that it'd be better to search for a mana crystal elsewhere. Petra was sent to Priestella for 'recompense' , as Roswaal endearingly put it.
City Hall
"Subaru, I've arrived with a message from the higher echelon. I've already relayed the message to the rest of the camps. We have now the authorization to investigate the presumed death of Capella. We will convene in a few moments." Julius states flatly.
"Please tell me you told Reinhard to come." Subaru states equally flatly.
"Lady Felt has told me that she wished to be with me on this mission. Anastasia-sama has also wished the same." Reinhard states, somehow flatter than both the previous dialogues squared.
"WHEIA! You startled me! Do you have a Divine Protection of Startling or something? You don't just go around jumpscaring people like that!" Subaru yelps, like the hypothetical Archbishop of Manly Pride.
"I'm sorry. I have no such thing….ah, now I do."
"How do you keep doing that?!"
"I've also been sent by Roswaal for the sole purpose of quote 'Reconnaissance, and information gathering on 'the Witches Grave'. " Otto exasperatedly utters.
"Otto! I didn't notice you were there, and Petra's with y-? Oh, pastries! Thanks Beako."
"Truly a glutton, in fact."
"Hope we weren't running late!" Anastasia, along with Felt, punctually punched through the conversation.
Greetings were exchanged as formalities, and everyone agreed to return to the lodging for final preparations. Subaru's tracksuit was destroyed two weeks ago as an unexpected side-effect of terrorist attacks. So, he'd gotten a wardrobe change while the tracksuit was sent for repair.
"Ah, have we all prepared? If I may, purely on outward appearance, it might seem our party is underprepared for this." Julius puts out a reasonable assumption.
Felt objects, "You never underestimate someone who looks unassuming, learned that the hard way." She shudders at the thought of Elsa.
"Well I have to admit, we thought we were running late, but it seems we were in actuality, early. I suggest we move on. Time is money, after all." Anastasia bubblingly asserts. She thinks to use the authority given by the nation for personal greed, greed for time.
And If I don't live because of this curse, I don't get money anyway. Time=Life=Money. Simple conversion.
They went on their way.
"Witch's Tomb"
Walking to the door itself took ten minutes at least, the path had been cleared after the command was issued. The exploration party didn't think walking the path would take so long! "Elevators would do wonders here" was an in-passing thought of two members.
Coughing can be heard around the "dungeon" as an individual observer might call it. Unbeknownst to everyone in the present, this 'dungeon' spanned two thirds of Priestella.
"Haagh", Subaru, without the concept of decorum, gruffs, metaphorically strangled by dust so thick it could be called ash.
While the rest of the party were too busy adapting to the thicker atmosphere, Felt, who'd preferred to go in barefoot expresses confusion.
"Uh, guys. The floor is made of cloth."
Reinhard and Julius inspect the floor.
"The floor is indeed made of cloth." Julius, perplexed, observes.
His liege however, not at all perplexed in the slightest, tries to find any artifact that could be researched to help in mending her gate. Pilfering an ancient tomb probably wasn't a good idea, but if anything could help her mend her Od, it could only be the ancients.
The party walks further toward the deep dark. Their source of light is Reinhard and his Divine Protection of Bioluminescence. "Seriously! This guy is the Swiss Knife of this world!" Subaru daydreams about inventing war implements, for daily usage, of course.
As they walked further in, nothing pointing to Capella's death could be found. Could she be alive still? They hoped not. Felt's chaoticness, Julius' obliviousness, and Reinhard's bluntness served as comedic relief for some time. But the lack of clues left everyone unnerved as time went on.
Petra provides inputs for the investigation, she supposes that if Capella had died here, the Authority of Lust would have already found a host. Everyone abruptly goes quiet at this. Authorities were previously a camp secret between Beatrice, Roswaal and Subaru, but the attack necessitated the release of such information. Lugunica is the only country to hold such information. They'll continue to think so until a few months after this ordeal is finished.
Eventually lack of evidence led to the conclusion that Capella might still be out there somewhere, recovering from whatever injury she sustained here. It is public knowledge that Capella can regenerate and shape flesh, that's why until conclusive evidence is gathered that she is dead, Lugunica should assume otherwise. It's disappointing that they were the first to reach this conclusion as some citizens on the surface falsely think that only Lye Batenkaitos was left.
Otto becomes quieter as time goes on. Julius is inspecting lamplights he found in the chest earlier, they seem to require no power source. Felt loots the 'dungeon' without reprieve, but no one prevents her since she's a Royal Candidate. It could be justified with "Sample acquisition for research." Their antics get quieter as Otto does the same.
Even later after this period, everyone becomes increasingly paranoid from the strange silence this place welcomed them with. They convene to conclude the investigation, but not after Anastasia pieces her narrative.
Anastasia observed five qualities unique to this place
1. There is a unique Biological growth that is also slightly Bioluminescent. It emits a shade of blue. It might've emitted something else. Their existence is affirmed by Otto later.
2. The architecture here is impossibly rigid. As if the engineers had an obsession with blocks.
3. The technological level of the inhabitants here are different to Lugunica, she presumed as much when she encountered a glassy plate riddled with circular ridges earlier.
4. There are things alive here, possibly hostile. Sudden air pressure changes after louder noises supplement this theory.
5. This place isn't a dungeon.
"Beako, recognize anything that looks like a trace of Capella? Maybe anything unusual?" Subaru asks.
"No, in fact. Betty doesn't recognize the architecture at all!" Beatrice supposes. One would think that a being that's made a library her home for four centuries would know, but alas.
"Otto, how about you?" Subaru says, both to ask him about his discoveries, and to assess his current state.
Otto, frozen, and shivering in place, replies. "Natsuki-san, we might be in danger. Several organisms I don't recognize are whispering in my ears, I can't hear their thoughts out loud, even with my Divine Protection. But they speak of warnings. None of these creatures are alike the animals on the surface."
Subaru moves closer to Otto and Petra as a protective instinct. Petra was sent for extra reconnaissance and luggage handling, and proved precociously capable in creative thinking.
Creative thinking begets Survival. "Were they warning us? Or something else?" Petra's dangerous line of thinking gets interrupted.
Anastasia calls out to everyone for an emergency meeting, careful with her tone. But apparently not careful enough to check for everyone.
"I've discovered some crucial things about this 'dungeon'." The knights listen attentively, since each have their own reasons to. Anastasia lets out a hitched breath. "Starting with, this isn't a dungeon, it's a city." She waits for everyone's silence, nobody moves. She should continue speaking, and as fast as possible too. "I find it strange how we walked further than we should have without recognizing this. I believe a sensation-dulling effect kept us from doing so earlier." Everyone grows tenser by the second.
Otto also poses his discovery.
"I've also contacted organisms that relay warnings with my Divine Protection."
They conclude that the investigation should end here. No evidence towards Capella's death could be found, the area itself is completely barren, and the gravitas of the situation comes clear in a sudden bout of clarity. Sure, Reinhard was here to fend off any danger, but the Sword Saint could still die. Prevention is better than cure.
"We must exercise greater cautiousness going forward, then." Reinhard finally says.
A period of silence begins as they check for valuable data collected. Otto looks at his notes, Anastasia's head is lowered and Reinhard looks pensive. He inquires —"Has anyone seen Lady—?".
Felt rushes in, with a bundle of loot from long unopened chests. Pieces of armor, a compass, glowing books and a ridged plate unceremoniously splat into the ground with a noise that can be described as "temporary cacophony".
"Hey guys, what'd I mi-"
"へへへへへ_…."
A noise like a shriek emerges, too. It isn't a cacophony, but its effects are longer lasting than what preceded it. Everyone's eyes widened at this. Otto especially so, he now understands that the whispers were warnings not meant for us.
Subaru's eyes widen, too, but for a different reason. Realization dawns on him several times in succession, like Jupiter with its nine hour orbit. That shriek can be recognized by only him in this world. Beatrice notices Subaru spacing out, but detects no change in miasma. She knows something has gone wrong.
"Guys, it is imperative we stay quiet if we want to live." Subaru swiftly whispers with a hushed voice." Everyone complies.
A Warden's been awakened. This could've been what engaged with Capella! What the heck is an ancient city doing here of all places?! What's next, The Nether?!
The knights fix their stances to respond appropriately. Beatrice looks pensive, and besides her Petra looks the same. Otto relays information.
"Everyone, please listen. Our location's already been compromised through me. We have to escape, fast" He pulls out a notepad and scribbles a note.
"The Warden, as the plants call them, is listening," Subaru's previous thoughts are validated.
The party is aware that escape is impossible, they've been wandering around for half an hour or so already, backtracking would be less optimal than searching at this point. It'd probably be more practical to face the danger head on. As some may think.
Otto scribbles more. "Since I function as a tracker, you have to leave me for the time being. I'll find a way to escape with you. Sorry."
They mercilessly synthesize and pick apart plans in their head. Silence is all they can hear. The Warden hears otherwise.
"Otto, we're not doing that." Subaru declares. The party begged him to shut up for this one time.
"We all know escape is impossible. First off, we'd have to leave you. No one here is willing to do that. We don't even know where we entered from, the mind-dulling effects Anastasia-san described have been affecting us for longer than we realize, it is also being actively used against us. That course of action would be reckless at best, and deadly at worst."
"Could we get Sword Saint-sama to go through the surface?" Petra, in an uncharacteristic moment of stupidity, puts out. The dulling effects from the blindness effect prove lethal.
"If we do that the city above would fall down here. We'd be recreating that one scene from FF7, we don't want to get sued by Square Enix. for plagiarism!" Their location's already been compromised, staying quiet would be useless at this point.
"The only choice is to fight the warden, then." Julius looks exhausted at the prospect of fighting again… "It's a good thing I know its weaknesses." Subaru begins. He is reminded of his past-self figuring out Lion's Heart and Little King. But he digresses, this time is different.
Shriekers and Sculk Sensors function as the 'nerves and heart' of the city. As long as one exists, the Warden can be summoned as many times as necessary. It's inexhaustible, but as long as they're careful, they can get by just fine. Another danger is the blindness status effect. Everyone felt woozy earlier, but it's intensified to an abnormal level now. Petra's experiencing the most adverse effects. Unlike their current selves, a singular warden is incredibly sensitive, but it is still blind. "This is still manageable." Subaru assures himself.
It wouldn't do to kill just one Warden, obviously. All the shriekers have to be destroyed, or blotted out. Divide and conquer it is then.
"I can divide the party into a decoy group and an acting group. The latter will search-and-destroy as many shriekers they could find until there are no more that prove dangerous. Even better if you find the exit along the way. It's a battle of attrition for the wardens. Reinhard, Beatrice and Otto and I will all be flying around the city to serve as a moving target. Felt, Anastasia-san, Julius and Petra will serve as the crucial part of this plan. Julius will share telepathy with Reinhard to inform us of progress. It's an incredibly risky plan but I have full trust that we'd make it work."
Subaru relays his plan with speeds that'd make Emilia impressed. No one objects to Subaru's quick thinking. They tolerate it, it'd save their rears after all. They start immediately. They put on the armor that Felt generously served on the ground.
Flight
Sonic intensity ripples towards Reinhard, he dodges, the other is narrowly dodged.
"There were more Wardens active?!" Subaru feels as if he'd made an oversight. Three shriekers have been destroyed thus far, according to Julius, currently sharing Telepathy with Reinhard. The acting party has also unwillingly lured a Warden and both parties have had no luck with finding the exit. This blindness effect might possibly be worse than Shamak. The situation grows exceedingly dire.
Reinhard flies out of range of the blindness effect.
"Fina-!" Subaru almost finishes, but-
"Is that a Command Block?!" A flash of platinum and blue is burned into the rear of his consciousness. But it was never there.
In normal circumstances, it would be easy to question why there was a Command Block here, and how his isekai journey grows more absurd every day, but the situation did not allow it.
Almost half a minute passes, four more blasts have hit the roof in this time. Subaru has pieced together a plan.
"That's it! Reinhard! Since it's focused on you and Otto, it won't notice if you drop me off at that portal!" Subaru points towards an unknown structure. Three different crumble next to each other. Failing structural integrity has the roof come crashing down. "Bring the others to me as fast as possible!" Reinhard complies, not understanding, but not questioning his friend's improvisation. Beatrice casts. "Murak!"
Subaru straightens his posture and begins typing. Loud noises that indicate attacks from the warden echo around the enclosed city-space. He begins typing faster.
"/kill warden"
"No targets matched selector"
"It failed?!" Subaru panics.
"/kill minecraft:warden"
"No targets matched selector"
"Damn it!"
"/kill e warden"
"Syntax error: Unexpected "warden": at "/kill e warden"
"Crap!" This time his distress was expressed outwardly. One warden notices.
Subaru thinks of any other command that could help the situation. He hopes he'd played Creative Mode more often. His adventurous nature keeps failing him at every other juncture. Subaru lets out a deep breath he didn't know he'd been holding. The rest of the party trickles in at the platform.
"Wait! We can teleport out!" His spawn point where he first arrived in this world was the capital. It only makes sense that 0,0 was at the same fountain! Was his thinking impaired by the fear of respawning? Maybe, but he didn't want to die so it's justifiable.
"Reinhard, start telepathy with me. Tell me if anything's wrong."
"Sure. Please begin." He says calmly while deflecting a sonic boom.
Subaru starts.
"/tp ReinhardvanAstrea 0, 80, 0"
He hopes he got the y coordinate right. No need for another Regulus.
"Reinhard, is it safe for us? Where are you?" Subaru's voice is laced with concern. The second question was there to confirm if he got his earlier deduction right. He didn't want to teleport to Vollachia or anything.
Elsewhere, The Witch of Envy's sneezing fit caused Satella to regain temporary control.
"Y-yes, I'm fine. The situation here is completely safe, but-." A thud in the telepathy is heard, immediately followed by a louder thud from the wardens. Julius deflects the attack.
The second question wasn't answered since the telepathic line was cut off, probably because of the distance. Well, the capital was two fifths of the country's length away from Priestella. It makes sense. But Subaru puts full trust in Reinhard, so he takes his first answer as a sign to continue. It was safe, he wasn't lying.
They only find out later that the first thud was Reinhard fainting. Subaru types again. "Everyone, brace yourselves. I'll wait a few seconds after each teleportation to avoid each of us teleporting into each other."
"/tp AnastasiaHoshin 0, 80, 0"
"/tp OttoSuwen 0, 80, 0"
"/tp Beako 0, 80, 0"
"No targets matched selector"
"Ah right." Subaru facepalms.
"/tp Beatrice 0, 80, 0"
"tp PetraLeyte 0, 80, 0"
"/tp JuliusJuukulius 0, 80, 0"
"/tp Felt 0, 80, 0"
"Then."
"/tp NatsukiSubaru 0, 80, 0"
Messages appear on the dragon tablet. The following week at the castle is chaos.
An Island, Near the Great Waterfall, Sunrise
Subaru messed up big time. But it's amendable. He knows the mechanics. It will take tedium, but he hopes the others will bear with him.
It's around sunrise. The island is no longer serene. Eight inhabitants and a snow fox appeared out of nowhere after all. The plus sides are that there are frames of references. The Great Waterfall is visible from the distance, along with the Pleiades Watchtower. They're literally beyond the Great Waterfall.
Subaru knows how the rules of this domain work, and human contact isn't that far off, only a few kilometers. The negative? Bottomless abyss, and that it even happened in the first place.
Reinhard never felt distress in his adult life. But he finds that it's actually calming. He's learned two things, and wants to ask two questions.
1. He is claustrophobic.
2. He has lost contact with Od Laguna. Many of his Divine Protections are gone. He feels like a disowned child. The Divine Protection of Divine Protection Banking helped with that one.
3. When did he even ask for that Divine Protection?
4. Is Subaru from this place? He did say he was from an Island to the Far East. He'll ask this later.
He'd have to do this first before doing that though.
"Everyone, please rest assured that we're mostly safe. But it's best we stay together to minimize the risk of falling off."
The party huddles together, communal claustrophobia shared among them, but most have calmed down by now. The party understands that return is still possible.
Otto reports the loss of his Divine Protection, or rather, the silence that makes him unsure if it still worked. Anastasia looks visibly distressed, clutching at the snow fox. Petra's eyes are narrowed while she inspects the seemingly non-euclidean chest. There is a bucket of water, and a bucket of magma. She closes it for now. She could say that it's bigger on the inside.
Subaru feels the consequences of his mess-up.
"Alright, everyone." He says flatly.
"I apologize, I teleported everyone here based on the assumption that it would bring us back to the capital. I'm really sorry." People frown at this. Anastasia decides to shelve her own distress for the meanwhile, she speaks.
"No one here is at fault, Natsuki-kun. The wardens had us cornered at the very beginning."
Subaru knows that best, he only feels relieved that no one here is outwardly expressing their discontent. His body softens as if relieved from sore muscles. "That calmed him down at least." Anastasia thinks, behind Subaru is the looming tower…..Wait.
She waits for a moment before opening her lips again. Subaru smiles.
"Natsuki-kun, I once heard that you came from an island to the far east of the map? Hm, was this what you meant?" Reinhard listens closely. Beatrice does the same, her attempts at grilling her contractor for answers wasn't working. This is the closest she's gotten.
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! That's a massive misunderstanding! No! I did say that but this is absolutely not the place. I mean, I'm familiar with it and I do know how to survive and exit here… But Japan is surrounded by other nations, not to mention that Japan's wa—y bigger than this measly island!" Subaru struggles. He's accepted the absurdity at this point.
The party listens, some members begin to develop smirks on their faces. Julius' is the most noticeable since it actually fishes out a laugh from him.
"Hey! Perfect mug! You don't get to laugh at my struggling to defend myself, only EMT is allowed to do that!"
"You don't make a good case after saying that you know the how-tos of this place, Subaru."
"I'll get you back one of these days!"
Skyblock, Noon
"This place is called a Skyblock." Subaru explains. The party didn't noticeably do it, but they collectively arched a brow. It does make sense, everything in here is composed of blocks, and it remains in the sky, completely unaffected by gravity. "Petra."
Petra, still deep in thought, listens attentively. "You inspected the chest earlier, what did you find?" Petra responds, her tone slow and controlled. "I found a pail of water… and a bucket of magma."
"Uh." Otto hums. "Isn't that dangerous?"
"Oh, no! Otto, it's exactly what we need to get out of this place, so I'm relieved. As long as we're careful with it, no one's going to get hurt." Subaru, having regained his energy, declares.
"What's else, Petra?"
"A book, it only says [Tutorial] on the cover.
Petra flips over one page, a diagram is displayed on it. Julius glances over it.
"To start your skyblock journey, we should first destroy the tree to get blocks and get tools, next…"
"Oh, that's even better! I'll have the reading task relegated to Julius, Otto, and Anastasia-san." It's a good sign if they can read it, I guess. Subaru thinks.
No one is perplexed by the violation of matter=energy principles. Magic could create ice out of nowhere after all.
"Alright! Let's get to work on Operation: 'Bridgeback'!"
Everyone's relieved that he still has a sense of normalcy at all, even if it's arguably misplaced.
"He could workshop the name." Everyone thinks.
"Felt and Beako, want to help me get rid of this tree?"
He turns back to Reinhard. "Reinhard, if you would, dig four blocks laterally, and on the second block, dig one more down."
"Natsuki-kun, I don't distrust you, but wouldn't we fall off if we destroy the integrity of the island?" Anastasia reasonably asserts.
"Don't worry! Gravity doesn't work at all here!" Subaru states, matter of factly. "There'd be no need to worry—see? Reinhard's already done it and we haven't fallen off yet."
Petra sits, she leans on the chest, she's skimming the third page of the book, digesting every page as she learns concepts unknown to the rest of the world.
"Petra, if you would, put the bucket of water at the corner of the 'long side'" Subaru puts in air-quotations. Petra doesn't need Subaru to clarify, having been blessed by creative thinking.
And as was instructed, Petra clutched the handles of the bucket, handling the surprising weight of the bucket as if it was nothing. To everyone's surprise, the water simply didn't sink through the fertile soil, nor did it pass through and fall endlessly into an encompassing abyss, but remained in stasis, reminiscent of how Greed, in his perpetual ineptitude once bombed several buildings with a river, but missed two human-sized targets.
"Alright! Step two done! But we actually need to get step one done first, though. We skipped a who—-le lot of steps. Seriously, who starts the world with cheats on, places down a command block and then tries to play the game normally? Cheats don't come with Achievements On you know!" Subaru, to everyone's surprise, is unaffected by lethargy even with today's taxing events. He turns to Beatrice and Felt, still jumping, reaching for the last floating leaves. Subaru really hopes these ones would drop one sapling.
Julius is brooding, while air still bore into the half the empty depression created by Reinhard earlier. Julius, perfectionist that he is, is unnaturally peeved about this inconsistency. The book did depict a diagram, a picture that scratches that itch. The goals of this diagram align with his, so it should be fine right? He takes action.
"A Cobblestone Generator. A fascinating concept." Julius whispered. He lowers the bucket, careful not to spill any of its contents. He's nervously cautious while he tries not to burn himself in the process.
A noise like a drop of water against a heated pan emerges, it sounds as if it was rendered vapor.
All the positive energy from Subaru earlier evaporates with it.
"Peculiar, it instantly turned into a solid ob-"
"Julius You Have Doomed Us All."
