[arbingerofCorruption].

Abizarreskillthatwarpsoneofyourcurrentlyequippedssenceabilitiesifithits.

nmycase,ithit[ranscendence]fromBayon.

'Atleastitdidn’thitStormush...'

venif’ddodgedtheworst-casescenario,itstillstung.

Because[ranscendence]wasacoressencethatcouldbelinkednotonlywith[iantForm],butwithnumerousotherssencesaswell.

tmightnothaverankedashighinimportanceas[iantForm],butthatdidn’tchangethefactthatitwasacorepartofthefinalbuildforashield-barbarian.

'wonderhowitchanged...'

hethoughtthatitmight’veturnedintosomethingcompletelyuselesswaseatingawayatme,buttherewasnowaytofindoutyet.

nceyou'rehitbythatskill,theaffectedabilitybecomesunusablefor180days.

'hisisday33oftheexpedition...'

fwesticktotheoriginalplanandreturntothecityonday75,thatleaves42days.

And30moreinthecity.

'venifwedoanother75-dayexpeditionafterthat,we’llstillhave33daystogo.'

Meaningitwon’tbeuntilthethirdexpeditionthat’llbeabletouse[ranscendence]againandfindoutwhatchanged.

“Captain,theisland’sinsight...!”

’dbeenstandingondecklostinthoughtwhenfinally,ourdestinationcameintoview.

heskyaroundtheislandwasstainedblood-red,asifthatpartoftheworldweredetachedfromreality.

ardenedlavastreamingintotheocean.

Athick,dark-redsmokecloakingtheentireisland.

“Disembark...!”

Fromanchoringtheboattosettingfootontheisland,theentireprocesstook3hoursand50minutes.

Roughly50minutesfasterthanittooktoreachthesecretbase.

“Welldone,Auyen.”

“t’snothing...”

Still,Auyen’scomplexionwasvisiblypale—understandable,consideringhe’dpushedhisabilitytothelimitfortheentirevoyage.

Usethatabilityevenafewmoretimeshereandhe’dlikelycollapseintosoulexhaustion.

“Fromhereon,yourest.”

“Sir?”

oneedtooverexplain.

“Ainard!”

hemomenthernamewascalled,Ainardinstantlypickeduponthecontext.

“otit!!Youwantmetocarryhimuptop,right?”

“uh?-’mreallyfine—!”

“aha!Don’tworrysomuch!’vecarriedpeoplebefore!”

kay,thatsettlesAuyen’smobility.

AndsincetheFirerbhadremainedactivatedsincewearrivedontheisland,therewasnoneedtoreactivateit.

hatmeant—

“We’removingatfullspeedfromhere.”

eadingthenow-restedsquadmembers,wesurgedthroughtheisland.

urgoalwastheisland’scenter,whereAmeliahadlastbeenspotted.

Butevenasweadvancedtowardourdestination,wecontinuedcarefullyscanningoursurroundings.

Becauseitwasn’tjustAmeliawhowasatrisk.

「Statuseffect[ternalScorching]applied.」

「Yourcharactertakesongoingfiredamagethatamplifiesovertime.」

hatfieldeffect—itsdamagescalingwasn’tyetcritical,socouldlivewithit.

「imeremaininguntildeath:05:50:17.」

Butwithonlyaboutsixhoursleftbefore[Doomed]kickedin,wehadtostartresettingourpartymembersrightnow.

ere’show:

“Raven,Marone.Fromnowon,castthe‘Distortion’spelloneverymonsterwekill.”

venwhilemaintainingourbreakthroughformationandpressingforward,wecastDistortiononeverymonsterweencounteredbeforetakingthemdown.

MonstersafflictedwithDistortiondon’tdropssenceondeath—instead,there’sachancetheircorpsesremain,yieldingrarebyproducts...

“h!tworked!”

nsteadofvanishingintoashoweroflight,thedefeatedmonstercollapsed.

hud—!

Distortionhadsucceeded.

Butnotlongafter,flameseruptedfromthecorpse,reducingittoash.

hen—

Fwoosh—!

Aredshimmerroseintotheair.

“hatlooks...kindoflikeanssence?”

“tis.”

heofficialnamein-game:‘riginalSin.’

Whyitwascalledthat,noidea—buttheeffectsweretwofold.

「Yourcharacterhasconsumed‘riginalSin’.」

「Fireresistancepermanentlyincreasedby+1.」

traisedyourfireresistanceby+1.

「Statuseffect[Doomed]hasbeenreset.」

「Yourcharacterwilldiein24hours.」

Andresetthe[Doomed]status,buyingusanotherfullday.

ote:thefireresistancebuffonlyappliedonfirstconsumption—nostackingfromrepeateddoses.

Still,thatwasn’tthepointrightnow.

SincetherewasnoUtohoveroverthedebufficonlikeinthegame,wemadesuretohaveeachsquadmembermanuallyseta24-hourtimerontheirwatchesthemomenttheytookthedose.

“hisisaweirdfeeling.Knowingexactlyhowlonghaveleft.Don’tyouthinkso,Parab?”

“aha...yeah.guessitis.”

“t’dbeniceifwecouldalwaysseehowmuchtimewehadleft,eveninreallife.”

“xcuseme?”

“meanyourremainingtime,likeyourlifespan.Wouldn’titbehelpfultoknowthat?arlier,whenwethoughtweonlyhadoneminuteleft...justpanicked.startedthinkingofallthethings’veneverdone...”

“......twouldbenice,yeah.fwecouldseehowmuchtimewehadleft...wewouldn’tdiewithoutsayingthethingsweneededtosay.”

“Sayingthethings...notdoing?”

“Ahaha...it’sjustasaying!Justasaying!”

veninasituationlikethis,MaroneandParabwerechattinginthatwarm,fuzzywayoftheirs.

ch.AndherethoughtitwasweirdwhenParabinsistedonbeingMarone’smountduringtravel.

'...ssomethingreallygoingonwiththem?'

didn’tknow.Butcouldn’thelpthinkingit.

Partofmejustwantedtoleaveitalone.

nce,would’veworriedaboutsuchrelationshipsformingwithintheteam.

Feelingsmeantunpredictability,afterall.

But’dchanged.

“...Wemightnothavea‘later.’”

“uh?Whatdidyousayjustnow,old◈оvеlіgһт◈(Continuereading)man?”

“Justtalkingtomyself.”

brushedofflwen’squestionandturnedmyattentionawayfromMaroneandParab.

Whateverhappenedbetweenthemwasn’tmybusiness.

fitworkedout,great.fnot,thenitdidn’t.

Aslongastherewerenoregrets,thatwasenough.

Withthatmindset,wefocusedsolelyonadvancingtowardthecenteroftheisland.

「AinardPrnelinhasconsumed‘riginalSin’.」

「Fireresistancepermanentlyincreasedby+1.」

We’dsecuredfourriginalSinstotalandreseteveryone’s[Doomed]status.

Andthat’swhenheardafamiliarvoicewhisperinmyear.

“Soyoufinallyfoundme.”

“...uh?”

knewthatvoice...

“mily...?”

mutteredthenamewithoutthinking.

“What,didyouseeaghostorsomething?”

Ameliaappeared,grinningslyly.

“...Uh?”

wasstunned.

onestly,itdidfeellikeseeingaghost.hadn’texpectedtofindherthisfast.

'o,wait.Didshefindus?'

Asitturnedout,Ameliahadn’tevenknownwewerelookingforher.

ell,ifnotforwhatArtasaid,wouldn’thaveevenknownshewasonthisisland.

“Whatthehellhappenedthatbroughtyouhere?”

“Somethinghappenedoutside.”

“oldenree?hosebastards?”

“o,they’vegotnothingtodowithit.”

“...What?othingtodowithit?”

“Assoonastheyrealizedwe’dtakenouttheirtail,theylefttheisland.waitedjustincase,butdidn’tseethemagainuntilcamehere.”

oneofthismatchedmyexpectations.’dassumedifshewashere,ithadtobebecauseofthem...

“Soifnotthem,whythehelldidyoucomehere?”

histime,heranswerwasevenmoreunexpected.

“AFloorordgotsummonedonthe6thFloor.”

...What?

***

AFloorordsummonedonthe6thFloor.

twasshocking—butitmadesense.

“Youcameherethemomentyoufoundout,huh?”

“Yeah.fgotcaughtupinitalone,itwould’vebeenbad.Plus,figuredyouguyswouldbereturningaroundnow.”

earingherfullreasoning,noddedinunderstanding.

ClassicAmelia.heonlyoneyoucouldtrustnottoscrewup,evenunsupervised.

erjudgment—fastandaccurate. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

“Welldone.”

MostFloorordsaffectedtheentirefloor.

akeiachisonthe3rdFloor,forexample.

Whenheappeared,heimmediatelyshutdowninter-floorportalsandtransformedtheentirefield.

Andthesameappliedtothe6thFloor’sord.

hatonedoesn’tblockportals,butonceit’ssummoned,itsskillsreachanywhereacrossthevastocean.

'wasgoingtojustleavetheislandifanythinghappened,butnow...thatoption’soffthetable.'

nepathhadclosed—butwewerelucky,inaway.

Youcouldsaywe’dendedupinasafezonebyaccident.

fweweren’there,wedefinitelywould’vegottencaughtintheFloorordevent.

“...Anyway,’mjustgladyou’resafe.et’stalkmoreoncewe’reoutofhere.”

“Why?What’swrongwithstaying?”

“here’sanastyonelurkingaroundhere.Weplantotakeitouteventually...butwe’renotreadyyet.”

“otit.Makessense.”

ncewelinkedupwithAmelia,westartedheadingawayfromtheisland’scenter.

“Didthingsgowellafterleft?wasworriedmyabsencemight’vemessedthingsup.”

“h,that...”

“Somethingdidgowrong?”

“otquite.herewereproblems,butitturnedoutfine.Weevengotanssence.”

“Afirst-gradessence...?mpressive.Doesn’tmatterwhoendsupwithit—thecity’sgoingtoexplodewhentheyhear.”

“ope.hat’snotgonnahappen.”

shookmyheadfirmly,andAmeliaraisedaneyebrow.

hengrinnedandshrugged.

“Youhatebeingfamous,right?”

“...?”

Shelookedconfusedatfirst,thenhereyeswentwide.

Realizationhit.

Whistle—!

“hat’samazing.Aguywhogivesawayafirst-gradessenceasagift?Wheredofindoneofthose?”

“MissRaven,you’reamage.Youcan’tevenabsorbssences...”

“Still,lovessenceresearch!”

“mph,whocaresaboutfirst-gradessences?gotaierssencefromtheoldman!”

“R-Really...?’mjealousofbothofyou...”

heothersweremakingaruckus,whistlingandteasing,butAmeliadidn’tseemtocare.

Shejustlookedstraightatmeandsaid:

“hanks.’llputittogooduse.”

Sosimple.

Butinsidethatplaingratitude,feltastrangeweight.

twasmoresincerethanahundredflowerywords.

fcourse,thatsolemnitydidn’tlastlong.

Forallherstoicappearances,Ameliacouldbechildishtoo.

“So,what’stheabilityonthisssence?owcanitlinkwithmine?”

“h,forthat,askRaven.”

“Me?”

“Youprobablywroteitalldownalready.”

“Ugh...did,but...fine!ereyougo!”

AmeliatookthedocumentationfromRavenand,afterreviewingit,cameovertoaskforadvice.

Andthen...

“uh?What’sthis?henameiskindofromantic.‘heastDay’?ah!”

Whatpartofthatisromantic?

’llnevergetheraesthetic,butgaveherastraightanswer.

“h,thatone?Don’tworryaboutitfornow.ivenitsconditions,youmightnevergetachancetouseit.”

“Really?Yeah,lookingattheconditions...definitelynotsomethingyoucanuseonthefly.”

“Right,so...”

“[heastDay].”

Damnit.hatcuriosityofhers...

Shehadtotryitonce.

otthatshe’dbeabletoactivateit—

Flash—!!

...rsothought.

“...uh?”

Whatwasthat?

Whooooooooosh——!!!

“Bjorn!ook!ookatthesky!!!”

...Whyisthereameteorfallingfromthesky?

BM—!!

didn’tknowexactlywhathappened,butthewayAmelia’sfacewassuddenlyfullofpanicmadeonethingclear.

“...Didscrewsomethingup?”

hiswasn’tgoingasplanned.

.

.

.

.

.

「AmeliaRainwaleshasactivated[heastDay].」

「Forthenext24hours,a10kmradiuswillbebombardedatrandom.」