Volume 2 Chapter 3 (2/2)
”Whawhat is that thing!? Is the iron fortress traveling on the water!? Could it be a traveling fortress!?”
Asterius raised his voice before that unexpected spectacle Considering the age he was born in, this was surely worth the metaphor of an iron fortress
At any rate, it was a lu over 200 meters Anyone would undoubtedly think it was used for military affairs
Areat river that flowed into s and started to dash The reat river sed the ruins one after another
Pest as du to her senses
”W-Wait athis way?”
”Seems so”
”Seeerous if we don't run away!”
She pulled on Jin's sleeve in panic, but as there was also the difference in their heights to consider, she couldn't budge him
On the contrary, Jin stared at the train with a hand on his chin
”No, well It's a special test run, so I want to see it froe”
”Are you an idiot!? I wonder since when did you awaken to such masochistic hobbies, my master!? Let's just run away already!”
”No use, on't make it!!!”
With Asterius' screa fortress that accelerated even further startedto rushoff the river banks At this rate, they would be sed by the buckshot of earth and water sprays
Stabbing ”Proto Keraunos” into the ground, Asterius used its giant edge as a shi+eld and hid behind it He was trying to save Jin and Pest as well, but there was someone who acted faster than him
A tiger shadow dashed as if to block the sprays like a tsuna behind the cover, grabbed Jin and Pest by the collars with its mouth and dashed towards the empty space
(Ridiculous, where did it come from!?)
Asterius endured to not be washed away by the torrent of overflowing river, but he couldn't hide his surprise at that tiger that appeared suddenly As for why, it was because that tiger suddenly ca from a completely unrelated place to the five presences he felt That indicated that it could have attacked Asterius at any time If he showed hostility towards Jin even if only a bit, it would've probably ripped him apart in that instant
Jin held Pest while only his lower body got wet, and expressed his thanks to the tiger that saved him
”Thank you White Tiger We would've died had you not saved us”
『If you knew that, then don't play around too much One way or another, you are still our master Take a bit more care of your body』
”It's going to be fine Everyone was there so I believed someone would save me”
Was that trust, or simply laziness?
That pure white tiger with beautiful fur───perhaps the one that would reer Deity kind, soared until the safety zone, and announced in an amazed voice towards his master's passive comment
On the other hand, Asterius who resisted the sprays was aer Deity that appeared so suddenly It was an orient spiritual rank, but just by one look at it, he felt so lance that his hair stood on ends
(It's clearly a DivineNo, a Celestial Beast class!?)
The superior Celestial Beast that governs the section of heaven Protector Beast of Star Creation, created by the three strongest species of Little Garden Even in this Little Garden of Gods, they are the rare species that one ht not encounter once in an eternity
It was not a species that appeared in the vicinity of the human habitation for no reason
Perhaps it was one of those co───But he didn't appear to be someone ould make a Celestial Beast obey him no matter how you looked If they were a master and servant, he probably held the Gift that forced obedience to specific species In the unlikely event that he does hold the Gift of Obedience, even Asterius has to be careful
However without even giving notice to Asterius' i fortress that dashed away above the great river
『Hmm The ”Bull of Heaven” also started to move It appears that the Player is inside that fortress Does he plan to part from ”Underwood” for now?』
”I guess But it's bad He's still here”
Two people and the beast glanced at Asterius
At that point, he also noticed If the Player is indeed inside that ht of him here
Nohat to do
As expected, with this, Asterius stood with a face that couldn't be shown publicly───But in front of hier descended and asked him a question
”Uhhh You can get on him if you want, you know?”
『As long as you don't hate to ride together with a botherso the way』
” I'll beif I don't catch up to thatfortress”
It was dangerous to owe a favor to someone who seemed to hold a Gift of Obedience, but he couldn't say no either For now, catching up with that came first
Asterius straddled on the White Tiger in place of Jin and Pest
Then suddenly, Jin told hi about it
”And also, that isn't a fortress And it's not for military use either It's only armed with ballista as far as I remember”
”What? Then what is it?”
Asterius asked in puzzlement
He probably felt uncoantic solid build, it wasn't used for battle If it was that fortress, then it should have even been able to fight against the natural disasters───the worst enemies that attacked the Little Garden
However Jin clearly denied that view He knew that it was definitely not so
With a bitter s iron fortress with a bitter smile
”That's the Super Gigantic Spirit Train, ”Sun Thousand” ereatest uy I one-sidedly think of as a friend”
＊
───Super Gigantic Spirit Train, Model ”Sun Thousand” - First Conductor Chamber
That lively test run gave the shock to the inside of the train no different that that flashy appearance
At any rate, it departed while raising giant water sprays enough to s the buildings The conductor Beastht and left due to the trouble that followed after the shock
The noisiest of the boots
He seemed to be one of the conductors───but was he from the monster cat species?
The tip of his short tail parted into two and he walked on two legs
While appealing with Kansai dialect to the colony of sine reactor, the calico conductor raised his voice while jus
”This ain't good, ya speed up too much, ya Chibis! If we pull off such speed, we can't enter the Ley Line, y'know! Drop the speed, drop the speed!”
”Won't drop it~!”
”Can't drop it~!”
”If we drop it, we'll be caught~!!!”
Ukkyaa~♪───The colony of fire spirits wearing redreactor and started toaround, but that probably cairls of the fire spirit colony The earth sprite───a spirit wearing a two-pointed head similarly poked her head fro outside the
”Bull! Co to run! Can't drop speed!”
”Yeah, I get it without needing you to explain the details! But thanks, number two!”
The calico cat raised his claw
He understood the situation, but he couldn't find a better way
”Though, it's quite a pinch At this speed, it'll be impossible to use the super acceleration of the Ley Line On top of endlessly traveling around the great river and ground surface”
”No, it's fine like that! Rush ahead, Calico cat!”
Within the disordered engine room, Porol's voice reverberated It was unusual for him as a leader to co all the foreons of the train
Confused, Calico cat took a bowing posture
”However, Second! We'll be attacked by the bull beast at this rate! What e do if ”Sun Thousand” gets destroyed!?”
The Calico cat conductor frankly conveyed the situation despite being flustered
Saigou Ho back his desire of wanting to inspect things like the Spirit Train reactor and the Calico cat in the boots alked on two legs
”Porol I'm also of the same opinion as thatUhhh, that cat conductor-san It's good that ere able to get the ”Bull of Heaven” away from ”Underwood”, but wouldn't it be bad at this rate?”
”Hah! I'll be troubled if you lump this one with other trains! The frame of this Spirit train isof ”Ada to break by a mere attack! Raise the speed and rush ahead like this!”
”U-Understood, Second!”
Porol issued the command in excitereat haste
The spirits of the reactor clung to the coals that were tossed in and they i power
Even while gazing at that situation with great interest, Ho it
”Porol I don't think that's the case, but does this gigantic train work on steaine?”
”Of course not Then the power conversion efficiency is too bad like that We make separate nests of spirit colonies for each power section and convert it into power by mutual compatibility ”
” Huh? Eh, then what? Does that h different spirits? In other words, the burning energy conversion rate is 100?”
”I think so? I'm not sure of the detailsSo it's better to ask the ones in question directly How is it, Chibis?”
”We aren't chibis~!”
”And~ it's not 100 either!”
”But it's close to that~!”
───Are you kiddingIt see called the Little Garden of Gods is not just for show This world could be a mountain of treasure, Homura reformed his awareness
Although, Homura couldn't become so heartless that he would be able to dissect those lovely spirits for inspection The reat However if an opportunity arised, he wanted to get their skin or a hair part
”There are a lot of points where I want to retort, but I get it for now Let's get back to the topic First we'll run up to the safety zone, but what about after that?”
”If we get away from ”Underwood”, drop the speed and enter the Ley Line, we'll be able to accelerate at super speed We can think of a strategy after we earn some time”
Homura frowned at Porol's co the Game However for Homura, that time was different Homura and others were under the circumstances where they have to return home
It was most i for both Hoent for her After all, she was the youngprobleht about now
Hoht regret
”I hung the call, but I et in touch with Prith I want to get in touch with Iza-niiPorol Can't there be done anything?”
”If it's that, you can ask Queen”
”The Queen? Well, it would be great if I could do thatbut how?”
”There's a rooo there”
Hoain surprised He didn't think that there would be a rooantic train
”It was indeed our community ”Six Scars” that s to Queen If this was treated as a preliminary contest for the Sun Authority War, you'd better listen to her again anyway The finalist Gift Gahtly different from the usual ones”
”Is that so?”
”That's right From now, in addition to ”Hosts” and ”Players”, there's one more───”
”A-Attack~! Attack~!”
”Attack is co~!”
”Lightning strike alert! Everyone hold on tight!”
In theand lively were heard within the train
Followed by a roar of thunder shi+ning lighting That lighting that fell froht on the Spirit Train The cu to lose it's prey at any cost
The storled as it created whirlpools, and began to change its shape to that of a cloven-hoofed animal
The ”Bull of Heaven” raised a sky shaking roar while firing off lightning
『GEEEEYAAAAaaaaa────!!!』
The gigantic beast scratched the sky with its hooves as it broke into a sprint It was difficult to even accurately confirm just hoide it spreaded within the extent where the eye’s could see
It changed the lightning to a sharp horns, took over the high density cuh the sky would fall at any point now
”!”
Inside the Spirit Train that received the thunderstorm and wind and shook violently, Homura fell down, unable to bear it
However, while the driven rain flooded the river and lightning strikes shaved off the ground, it didn't seem like the Spirit Train hindered fro, but that's all there was to it
In order to stop a Spirit Train which was not powered by electric wires unlike that of the outside world, the only as to destroy its body or remove its tracks However the Spirit Train traveled at such a regulated track that it ination whether there were rails laid out that were invisible to the natural world, and advanced while hitting its wheels on the earth and river
In the violent shaking, Ho sideways, but there was no time for that
If it was a nor, and yet the Spirit Train waspierced by the thunderstorm
Homura blinked his eyes, surprised that the Spirit Train continued to travel normally even now
”T-This is a stor”
”Fufun I'll be troubled if you get surprised with so like this Its true power isn't only at this level Everything will go as planned if only we enter the Ley Line After that would be left to go towards the labyrinth of Minotaur in a straight line”
Porol who fell over with an upside down posture boasted of the Spirit Train’s abilities However, his community constructed such a powerful Gift that it could even withstand the attacks of Celestial Beasts As a leader, he would certainly be proud of it
Porol who got up, held on to the handrail of the Spirit Train that was still continuing to shake, and announced as if he re
”Hey, go meet with Queen before it's too late If it's that whiht have even occupied the special guest roo the spectacle”
”Understood Sorry about everything I'll be sure to repay you in some way”
”It's fine I said I'm indebted to master Izayoi in many ways If it's his relatives, then they are like family to us Be at ease and don't mind it”
Porol saw off Ho his hand
However to have lent hihtly showed that he was quite a generous lad Or perhaps he had that much of a debt towards Izayoi
At any rate, there was no changing the fact that he was able gain a bit of time
Ho to the handrail
However, from a place unaware to Homura and Porol ere in a tranquil state, another thread drew near
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