Chapter 314 - 39: Sailing Through An Ocean Of Stars (II) (1/2)
”Is this a gateway to Hell...?”, Suzaku uttered in a low voice with a retort.
Both Suzaku and Iris could now be seen in front of the large Gate before them, looking right into its endless darkness.
”Bet you 10,000 yen you don't have the guts to step into whatever this thing is, hehe.”, Iris said, responded to Suzaku with a giggle.
”Squandering money, really?”
”Hey, it's easy money! Or you that scared to go in?”
”I'm not one to back down from a challenge, especially what we've all been through already.”
”Good. Then off you go!”
”Eh?”
Yet before Suzaku could do anything more, he suddenly saw Iris rush behind him, only to feel a loud thud against his back. Iris actually shoved Suzaku into the Gate with a grin on her face!
Suzaku quickly turned around to see the grinning Iris. He tried to reach out his hand and speak out to her.
”H-Hey! I thought we said no push--!?”, Suzaku tried to say, but he couldn't even finish his sentence. His body was swallowed up by the darkness, unable to be seen anymore.
Sure enough this shocked Iris once more, but she still turned to faced the light blue skinned humanoid in front of her. She then spoke out to Vados.
”Vados, was it? This Gate thing is really reminiscent of the travel gate we use in Yggdrasil...But whatever is on the other end, Nao truly is waiting for us?”
”Yes. You can rest assure that Nao is on the other end.”
”Good. I already owe Suzaku 10,000 yen now anyways so I've not much to lose now. Here goes nothing!”, Iris said, trying to pump herself up with some vigor.
And then with one large leap, Iris jumped directly into the Gate, and vanished. Yet the darkness she was expecting from Yggdrasil's Gate did not appear once she went inside it. Her pupils soon became wide as she found herself spiraling through the endless cosmos...
As for Vados, she did not immediately head into the Gate. She turned around, only to look outside. A glint of light streaked across her eyes, as if she observed the whole planet, before going into her thoughts.
”Nao did take the pleasure of informing me the story of this plane Nao created, and it looks like we will split off from this world before long. Still, this planet is already doomed, it has no hope for redemption. Tabula will be easier with this ordeal but Bukubukuchagama seems to still have a family. She showed her resolve in joining the Guild and becoming part of our family, but it will be interesting to see if she has the resolve to move on with us, just like how Nao and Miya said goodbye to their parents, ohhoho,” Vados spoke out to herself with a chuckle.
”Still, according to Nao, all his Guild has left to do is raid Hel's Castle inside Helheim, and partake in the World Champion Tournament. Then we will lay low, solidify our Guild Base and wait the rest out while stocking up on every item we can get a grasp on....for seven years is it? Well, the concept of time is different for angels and gods like me, 11 years is but a drop in the ocean.”
”And our next destination, the New World, sounds like a very pleasant planet. Much more healthy than this sorry excuse of a planet. Ugh, it reminds me of Lord Champa's bad eating habits for some reason. Well, it's good I no longer serve him. Moving about like this has been quite enjoyable so far, ohoho,” Vados continued to say with another chuckle.
”But I mustn't keep them waiting for long. We're about to set course to sail in the starry ocean. We can give the two a good show before meeting what they call us, extraterrestrials.”, Vados finished speaking, only to have a smile bloom on her face.
She then turned around and vanished from sight as if she was never there. She didn't even use the Gate to head back, as she didn't need to. Seeing no one there any more, the Gate then vanished, as if it had a mind of its own. Silence spread out from there.
Outer Space, Nearby Planet Earth
A gorgeous ship could be seen resting in the vast sea of stars, but still within the solar system inside the Milky Way. Its top half was mahogany brown while its bottom half was that of a pearl, silvery-white. It was as if it came straight out of classical Great Britain. No oars or large paddles could be seen, however. What replaced that were a few transparent white giant magic circles constantly rotated around the ship.
Many ancient runes could be seen inscribed on each one as well, and they were all lit up right now, making it appear very magical. This ship was the Dunamis of course.
Four figures could currently be seen on deck toward the center. Further in the back had an elevated deck, with a room inside, the captain's room. The rest of the floors were beneath deck, and that's where the rest of the girls could be seen lazing about.
In the far distance, a cloaked majestic White Palace could be seen. This was none other Nao's home. Nao finally decided to take the Dunamis out for a spin, and sure enough it could operate on Mana. The magic circles around the ship constantly supplied the ship with Mana when they were active, it was self-sustaining.
Getting a closer look at the four figures on deck, one was a guy while the other three were girls. The guy had medium length white hair, and was wearing his favorite purple-gold posh kai robe. This was none other than Nao of course, who was currently enjoying living his third life in the Overlord Plane.
Next to him was an auburn short haired woman, similar hair to that of Iris actually, but hers was more rounded and short. She no longer had it bleached blond like she did in her early days, and had it reverted back to her roots. Hers was more or on the orange side while Iris's hair was on the darker brown side.
Not only that, two fluffy auburn ears popped out of her head while three bushy orange tails stuck out from her butt. She was also wearing a two piece white dress that revealed most of her stomach. She, along with Nao were wearing formal wear. This was Sayuri.
The other two next to him were Lippti and Nemesia, wearing their usual setup, but they also see that as formal wear themselves Except this time, Nemesia was not wearing her hat. And out of the four, Lippti was the shortest present.
They could see a Gate on deck currently open not far from them. A couple moments passed in silence before a figure flashed into existence next to Nao, as if it were normal. This was a light blue skinned tall humanoid, and of course this was Vados.
A smile appeared on Nao's face seeing Vados return.
”Thank you for doing this, Vados. I take it the two reached their destination?”
”Yes. They have arrived and will they will arrive through your Gate momentarily. Besides Sister Chelsea and Sister Tights, this will be the first time we will be welcoming humans. Though Sister Lippti and Nemesia here may be an exception to that.”
”Hey now, I'm 100% human, thank you very much. You get a zero for saying that. It's just our planet was infused with so much Mana that it created different races, before the desertification problem started. But I barely feel a wink of Mana from this Planet Earth, you called it? It's almost as if its life force is being drained away...”, Nemesia replied to Vados, crossing her arms.
”As am I. Yet even though my body may still be that of a human's, Historia granted me immortality. But seeing that I can spend the rest of my days with you guys as family, I couldn't be happier. I'm sure Father and Mother would be happy to learn of this outcome. I know Brother Teo is.”, a rare smile formed on Lippti's lips.
”Heh, well said, Lippti. Let's see whether these two still have their resolve from earlier to join us. They will probably be shocked, considering they won't be on Earth while they're here.”, Nao replied with a light chuckle.
Lippti and Nemesia nodded their heads while Sayuri remained quiet, and Vados show no expression.
”Look, it seems a figure is approaching!”, Sayuri suddenly spoke out, letting her three tails thump around happily.
All of a sudden, they could hear a man's voice screaming before a shadow rushed out from the Gate. He came at quite a force, surprising Nao. The man flew out, tumbling over. He did a couple somersaults, before his face planted onto the wood of the deck. But thankfully no scratches appeared on him or the black tux he was currently wearing.
Not long after that, they heard a voice yelling ”Yahoo!”, before a second shadow appeared from the Gate. She came through with some speed as well, flying for a bit. Her butt plopped right on top of Suzaku's back, creating a loud thud. Suzaku felt it hard, letting put s noiseless scream, as if he had gotten the wind taken out of him.
Seeing they arrive, Iris padded her dress down a bit and spoke out.
”Hmph, it was simple going through it. See? We made it. You'll get 10,000 yen later.”
”That's...not the point here. Ugh, will you get off me already? You're quite heavy--!?”, Suzaku said while struggling beneath her. Yet he couldn't even finish his words before he felt a a powerful grip tighten on his left shoulder.
”Did, you, just, say, something?”, Iris asked, clearly pronouncing each word as a mark of anger appeared on her forehead.
Yet before Suzaku could retort again, the two were suddenly interrupted by a laugh.
”Haha, now these are the two I know well. Glad you made it safely here. Welcome aboard.”
This was said by Nao. He approached the two, and Nao extended his hand.
”Thank you...?”, Iris unconsciously responded, letting her eyes wander to this voice, only to see a hand reach out to her. Once she looked up and grabbed Nao's firm hand, she became stunned by his unique robe he was wearing.
Still, she proceeded to get herself up, and got off Suzaku. Seeing her step aside, Nao reached his hand down, letting Suzaku grab a hold of it as well. With ease, Nao pulled him up. Seeing this action shocked Suzaku as well, considering he was a full grown man, but he was lifted up with such ease.
”Thank you. I must say this robe of yours is quite unique, but it does appear to be formal. This really is a ship we're on.”
”I know, right? I never would have thought that we'd get to step foot on a frickin' ship of all places! We can't even approach bodies of water outside our city, they're way too contaminated.”
”Glad you two like her. The ship goes by the name, The Dunamis. I'll be your captain for this cruise, Nemesia. You two get an A+ for arriving on time.”, Nemesia said, having a smile bloom on her face as she walked up to the two next to Nao.
”Another one with a weird setup...what is actually going on here?”, Suzaku retorted after watching Nemesia introduced herself. To him, she looked just like a witch.
It was at this time the two finally realized they weren't alone. Their eyes wandered to see Vados, and a girl near by Nao, and a girl with fox ears and 3 tails they've never seen before. The two could even see her tails spinning around happily.
”Vados? How are you here before us? Weren't you behind us when we went through?”, Suzaku blurted out in surprise.
”Are my eyes seeing things or are the tails of this girl actually moving? Seriously, are you guys that into cosplaying?”, Iris also couldn't help but retort, seeing the weirdness before them.
Nao only smiled before he spoke out to the two.
”Before you two judge anything, why don't you guys look around?”, Nao simply asked.
”Yes. But please be careful. While I do have a barrier set in place here, please do not try to fall out or go beyond the ship's walls. It would be quite a problem for you two to suffocate to death in the vacuum of space.”