Chapter 60

The light and the intense noise that tormented my eardrums gradually subsided.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a massive airship obscuring the sky.

It made the ultra-small airship we were on look shabby and insignificant, like a firefly in front of the sun.

It felt as if a giant fortress was floating in the sky.

In addition, the number of escort ships flying around it was four large ones, and dozens of medium and smaller ones.

Player ranking 2nd place.

However, in terms of pure combat power, it was the strongest fleet in White Hero, acknowledged by everyone.

Odin's full force had appeared in the skies above Ahinlab Fortress.

“All hands….”

Sergel clutched Count Dman's rank insignia and opened his mouth.

What kind of order was he about to give?Retreat?Or prepare for battle?

But Sergel didn't finish his words.

He knew it too.

That whatever it was, it was meaningless.

‘Large-scale teleportation magic…. So you finally completed it.’

In the past, Odin had driven a large-scale fleet of the Empire to the brink of annihilation.

It was an important battle where they could have obtained not only achievements but also a huge amount of loot if they had succeeded.

However, due to the large-scale teleportation magic used by the Empire, they became a dog chasing a chicken, staring blankly at the empty sky.

This experience was enough to crush the pride of Reysia, who was the originator of the operation at the time.

One failure was enough.

Reysia, who had declared so, researched ways to counter large-scale teleportation magic, and in the process, she also studied large-scale teleportation magic itself.

I had completely forgotten about it because there had been no results for a long time.

Even in the few months that my interest had shifted away from D&K, Reysia had clung to and researched large-scale teleportation magic.

And she must have finally succeeded.

If I hadn't been a lowly soldier of the Alliance, I would have been jumping for joy as if it were my own accomplishment.

Instead of being happy about her growth, I had to feel embarrassed, troubled, and even despair.

The current reality was simply deplorable.

Everyone on the battlefield, including myself, stared blankly at Odin's fleet like unbelievers awaiting judgment.

And a short while later.

A pure white light burst out from Odin's main ship.

“Uaaaaargh!”

Screams of unknown origin were heard simultaneously from close by.

The light was so intense that it was no less than the light that accompanied large-scale teleportation magic, making one close their eyes instinctively.

However, unlike the teleportation magic, which was just a dazzling light, this light contained a clear malice.

A sudden wave of dizziness and nausea washed over me.

Although unintentional, the Eye that Seeks Truth was automatically activated.

A mental attack has been detected. You do not possess an authority to resist mental attacks.

Resisting the mental attack based on mental strength.

“Is this mental-type magic….”

“Rian….”

Beside me, Ririsa collapsed with a thud.

She had failed to resist the mental magic and had been consumed by it.

Still, thanks to the nurturing system, Ririsa, who received some mental strength correction, was on the side of having endured it well.

As for the regular crew members, they had been scattered on the floor since the moment the white light burst out.

The mages, with their strong mental fortitude from handling magic, were still resisting, but the opponent was White Hero's strongest named character.

The red-eyed witch, Reysia.

“Father….”

Selina collapsed weakly first, followed by the old man, who lost consciousness and dropped the cane he always carried like a clone.

Resisting the mental attack based on mental strength.

The only person standing tall was me.

No, I wasn't sure if it was right to call this being fine.

I too was barely holding onto the end of my fading consciousness.

I was holding on thanks to my unusually high mental strength stat, but I was so defenseless that I thought even a child with a knife could easily cut my throat right now.

Resisting the mental attack based on mental strength.

Resistance fails.

Along with my consciousness, my vision gradually blurred.

Reysia's specialty was flashy and destructive attack magic.

She didn't particularly favor this kind of attrition-style combat.

Furthermore, the opponent was a makeshift fleet composed only of small and ultra-small units, so it was embarrassing to even call it a fleet.

They would have collapsed without resistance even if she had crushed them with force, so the fact that she was using such a troublesome method meant….

“…You've come.”

Thud.

I heard footsteps in my fading consciousness.

Since everyone except me had lost consciousness, it meant that the owner of these footsteps was an outsider, not a member of Unit 917.

I slowly raised my head.

White shoes with a subtle sheen.

The white uniform that enveloped her body was beautifully decorated with gold and red ornaments, yet in a way that did not hinder movement, and the lining of the fluttering cape was also red.

Her long, flowing golden hair rippled in the wind, and the eyes visible under her pressed-down hat were also red.

Everyone who saw those eyes for the first time had the same thought.

It was as if the masterpiece of the world's best craftsman, carved with all his soul, had been placed there intact.

Our eyes met.

I knew this moment would come someday.

In the past, I was a player who managed Odin, but now, I was a lowly soldier of the Alliance, which was hostile to White Hero, to which Odin belonged.

My position then and now were different.

How would she react when she faced me now?

Would she still treat me as a commander?

Or would she be greatly disappointed and turn her back on me?

Or would she just stare at me coldly without any emotion?

The thought that the answer to that long-standing question would be revealed at this very moment made me desperately cling to my fading consciousness.

And Reysia.

“……”

She smiled without a word.

And she came closer and took my hand.

The warmth that was transmitted, the careful attitude, and the uncontrollable trembling that was transmitted through our clasped hands.

I finally realized it now.

That there was no malice in the reason why Reysia had been trying to find me using Odin.

As my mind was at ease, a hole seemed to have been pierced in the barrier of consciousness that I had been keeping up.

My consciousness rapidly faded.

Reysia said nothing.

She just caught my collapsing body and moved her lips slightly.

I couldn't hear the sound, but I knew what she was saying.

‘Rest well.’

* * *

“…Rian! Open your eyes! Rian! You're alive, right?”

Someone shook my body violently.

I wanted to sleep for just five more minutes.

The urgency in the voice I heard finally made my heavy eyelids open.

“Ririsa?”

“Seriously…. You had me worried. You were lying there so still, I thought you were dead….”

Ririsa's face was a mess, covered in tears.

When I struggled to raise my head, I saw a few people who had already regained consciousness, either waking up those who were still unconscious or carrying those in serious condition to their rooms.

Selina had also regained consciousness early on and was staring at me with worried eyes.

“Rian. Are you okay?”

“I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with my body.”

“That's a relief. It's really a relief, but….”

Selina, who had struggled to get closer and sat down leaning against the railing, furrowed her brow.

“I don't understand Odin's purpose.”

“…Come to think of it, where is Odin's fleet?”

“When I came to, it was gone. So cleanly that I wondered if we had all seen a mass hallucination. Our only losses were two ultra-small airships without auto-pilot systems that crashed. There were no airships that were shot down by a direct attack from Odin, other than the mental attack.”

“……”

Certainly.

From the perspective of the Alliance members, including Selina, it was a difficult situation to understand.

The place where they had appeared after using a magic like large-scale teleportation, which was the height of inefficiency, was just Stage 1.

They had completely neutralized the enemy by widely spreading mental attack magic, and then they had returned without taking any advantage.

The only thing I could think of was that they were avenging the killing of Odin's hero, but….

As you can see, I was also alive and well, so it was only natural that Selina was struggling to figure out Odin's purpose.

And as the person involved, I also had a hard time understanding Reysia's actions.

First, I had confirmed that Reysia was not hostile to me.

If she had been, I wouldn't have been able to have a leisurely conversation with the two of them here right now.

There might be personnel who were hostile to me like Balta, but at least the fact that Reysia, who held the greatest authority in Odin, was favorable to me was a great relief.

The problem was that Reysia had just left without saying anything.

It didn't seem like she was trying to take me to Odin.

I had no idea what her purpose was.

‘Did she really come all this way just to see my face once?’

Even though I knew it was impossible, I couldn't help but have such a foolish thought.

It would have been nice if she had said something, anything at all.

What she was thinking.

What her future plans were.

Things like that.

“…Let's return for now. There's no way a proper answer will come out of us putting our heads together without any information, and we can't stay here forever.”

Selina gave the order to return on behalf of Sergel, who had not yet regained consciousness.

The airships that had been floating in the sky like seaweed floating on the sea began to return to Ahinlab Fortress one by one.

As she said.

No matter how much I rack my brain, I can't read Reysia's thoughts.

A chance to talk will come someday.

As I thought so and stood up from my seat.

Thud.

Something fell to the floor.

“Rian. You dropped this.”

Ririsa, who had picked it up, smiled and held it out with both hands neatly folded.

“……?”

The object was a ring with a red jewel.

I took it inadvertently because she held it out to me, but it wasn't my ring.

In the first place, I wasn't the type to carry around accessories.

“This is….”

It's not mine.

The moment I was about to say that, a symbol engraved on the inside of the sparkling red jewel caught my eye.

It wasn't just anyone; it was a symbol I definitely knew.

It was a crest that Reysia had made and given to me in case of an emergency, a crest that only she and I knew in this world.

That meant that the owner of this ring was me.

“…Thanks.”

After receiving the ring, I made the excuse that I was tired and returned to my room.

I sat on the bed and rolled the ring on my hand.

It was a ring with no particularly special features, and it didn't look like it would function as anything other than an accessory, but if that were the case, Reysia wouldn't have come all this way to give it to me without a word.

There must be a reason.

And most reasons could be solved through the Eye that Seeks Truth.

A slight pain was felt in my left eye, and a system message was displayed.

Appraisal is impossible due to strong encryption.

Decoded code: Frei Roka.

“Frei, Roka….”

I knew that name.

The place that had sent numerous airships plummeting into the deep, dark sea below.

The graveyard of airships.

The stage of Stage 2-1.

The Sky Island, Frei Archipelago.

The fourth island.

Roka.