Crossing the Strait

"The seaaa! … Wait, it's pretty cold!"

Mako, who had dashed out of the carriage, immediately returned to its cozy interior.

The group had arrived at the eastern edge of what would be the Bering Strait on Earth.

While Nears generally had a larger landmass than Earth, unfortunately the Bering Strait portion remained unfilled.

It was early summer, and during this season in Nears, one could cross from the Dragon Bone Continent to the Dragon Wing Continent without issue. Even so, due to the ocean currents, latitude, and magical barriers, it was still cold.

Indeed, Kukuri in the driver's seat was properly bundled up against the cold.

"From here on out, this would be land where the Inuit live on Earth."

Sei, having resistances, barely felt the cold. He sat next to Kukuri in the driver's seat.

Ships departed from the port at this eastern edge to what would be called Alaska on Earth.

Of course, there were no winter sailings here. Ships did sail during winter much further south, but then one couldn't actually cross to the other continent. Traversing areas where the sea wasn't frozen was too dangerous.

In that case, it would be less dangerous to tame flying monsters and travel through the sky.

The seas of Nears were dozens of times more dangerous than Earth's.

The Nihon Empire's giant warships apparently sailed even the seas above the deep ocean, but there were still news reports of them being attacked by massive sea monsters.

Given such oceanic voyages, ships were mainly divided into two types: those prioritizing speed and those prioritizing sturdiness.

The group chose a speed-focused vessel this time, and since going on deck meant experiencing tremendous wind, the doors were kept firmly shut.

"I wanted to do the Titanic pose～"

Mako said this, but considering the height difference, she'd have to do it with Bungol, wouldn't she?

A Titanic scene performed by a high orc. Who would even want to see that?

 

*

 

"Still, I wonder if the limited maritime transport capacity is why the war with the gods is dragging on."

Sei muttered offhandedly.

Logistics in this world were still predominantly land-based.

The continental shelf was humanity's domain at sea, but even there, monsters occasionally attacked and caused deaths.

The sky was actually safer, and in regions without flying monster species, airship travel was available.

However, that was for travel purposes; airships lacked the cargo capacity for transport, and if they happened to encounter a flying monster outside its normal habitat, destruction was guaranteed.

Ogress and other nations were currently developing large combat-capable airships and aircraft, but these were still in the experimental stage.

And so, the inability to send significant reinforcements from the Dragon Bone Continent was one reason this war had dragged on.

According to Ria, if she went herself, she could annihilate the evil gods single-handedly, but the evil gods themselves were enemies of the races, not enemies of the world.

From a divine dragon's standpoint, acting independently had been forbidden.

Until now.

When Rana and Teru, the senior members among the divine dragons, decided to defeat the evil gods and their newly created kin, the future was already set.

While gods and divine dragons battled in the distant heavens, Sei's group would be toiling away at countermeasures against the heroes here on the ground.

 

*

 

Nothing eventful occurred during the high-speed voyage, and the group set foot on the Dragon Wing Continent.

The contingency plan had been for Lavi to transform into a dragon and carry the ship through the air, but that proved unnecessary.

"Woooow, so this is the Dragon Wing Continent～!"

Kukuri shouted with deep emotion.

Apparently, no halfling from his village had ever visited the Dragon Wing Continent before.

Among halflings, greatness was determined by the distances traveled and the quality of poems composed.

Perhaps Kukuri might become the chief of that village someday.

At any rate, the group had set foot on a new continent, and the scenery was completely different.

A snowy plain stretched before them.

Whether due to ocean currents or divine mischief, this looked nothing like the same latitude as the Dragon Bone Continent.

Still, there was a port, and people lived here robustly. Though naturally, there were many beastkin whose fur helped them cope.

The first order of business in the port town was purchasing cold-weather gear.

"On this continent, I wish to greet a divine dragon."

Lavi, unusually speaking up on her own, pointed to a spot on the detailed map.

There lay a sanctuary where another young divine dragon like herself resided.

The Temple of Stars.

A still-new labyrinth over which Star Dragon Lieselotte presided.

"Geographically speaking… well, it would only be a slight detour."

According to the Labyrinth's map Sei produced, the three heroes of this continent who had been teleported to the northern part were heading south again.

Even stopping at the labyrinth near the center of the continent wouldn't result in much distance loss.

"The question is the labyrinth's difficulty. What benefits come from meeting a divine dragon?"

While simply wanting to meet would be reason enough, if the labyrinth was challenging and time-consuming, he'd prefer to avoid it.

To this, Lavi gave a clear response.

"The races of the Dragon Wing Continent and Dragon Claw Continent fundamentally worship divine dragons as objects of faith."

The still-young divine dragons, namely Lavi and Lieselotte, had apparently begun leaving their labyrinths to tour cities and villages after passing a hundred years of age.

And young though they were, they were still divine dragons. Those who experienced their absolute power naturally became believers.

With an introduction from Lieselotte, there would be almost no restrictions on their actions across the Dragon Wing Continent, Lavi said.

As for the labyrinth's difficulty, it was apparently like night and day compared to Irina's Golden Corridor.

After all, Lavi and Lieselotte didn't yet have dragon kin serving them. Those who tended to their daily needs were phantasmal beasts capable of communication, or members of the various races.

They couldn't create a labyrinth of such scale and difficulty that those people would struggle to live. It was more appropriate to call it a castle or palace.

Of course, because of that, Lavi had been driven from her own labyrinth by the evil gods and ended up meeting Sei's group.

But thinking back on it now, while it should have been coincidence, there was something deliberate about it.

Without Lavi, Sei's journey might have ended in the Great Forest.

Lavi's teleportation landing so precisely in that spot.

Sei suddenly wondered if some entity's will had been at work.

He would learn that this suspicion was correct only later.

 

*

 

The most famous labyrinth on the Dragon Wing Continent was probably the Temple of Stars.

Though still new as a labyrinth, it was above all a divine dragon's seat of power.

An imposing and magnificent structure, it could serve well as a tourist destination.

However, the most mysterious labyrinth was not the Temple of Stars. Most would probably agree unanimously on that name.

The Space-Time Labyrinth.

A labyrinth where Trado, the God of Space-Time who ranked among the highest of the benevolent gods, was sealed.

Though in truth, he was neither a benevolent god nor an evil god, having maintained a neutral stance.

This labyrinth's characteristic was that no matter how much time passed inside, only a few seconds elapsed in the outside world.

Apparently, magic of the same system as the Divine Chamber of Time that Ria created was in effect.

And its interior changed shape with each entry. It had earned the nickname "Map Killer."

In practical terms, it was probably a lucrative labyrinth for gaining harvests in short periods of time, but because of these characteristics, few challenged it.

And this labyrinth, too, had never been conquered.

Yes, had never been. That would become past tense.

Three figures advanced through the Space-Time Labyrinth's corridors.

Though it was an absurdly troublesome labyrinth whose internal structure changed even within moments, the three walked without hesitation.

No, to be precise, they shouldn't be called three people.

One person and two divine beings.

Great Sage Sagittarius, Divine Dragon Rana, and Divine Dragon Teru—-these three were making their way through the labyrinth.

(This is overkill, no matter how you look at it…)

Sage thought this while looking at Teru's back as she led the way.

The labyrinth's monsters were dying instantly from Teru's intimidation alone before they could even appear.

Rana behind them was more moderate, only knocking them unconscious at most.

To conquer this labyrinth alone, these two divine beings would be sufficient. However, to avoid making things too grandiose with divine dragons alone, Sage had been brought along.

 

*

 

Sage was honestly displeased.

He was fundamentally a free spirit. Using teleportation magic to travel the world was his daily life.

But when Divine Dragon Rana asked him directly, he couldn't refuse.

Her precognitive abilities had sensed the need to contact the God of Space-Time, Trado.

A premonition of danger perhaps even greater than the heroes' summoning or the evil gods' revival.

It was a sensation similar to the extinction of divine dragons, something she had felt just before the Great Collapse.

When told that much, even Sage had no choice but to cooperate.

Encountering no danger whatsoever, the group arrived at the place where Trado was sealed.

The gatekeeper died instantly from a single punch from Teru, and the massive gate opened.

Within the vast space, Trado was sealed in Rodin's "The Thinker" pose, and Sage nearly burst out laughing.

"So you've come, divine dragons."

Trado shifted slightly and turned his gaze to the three.

Rana would do most of the talking. With her excellent precognitive abilities, she could converse with Trado, who also possessed precognition.

"Trado, what is happening?"

Under her quiet pressure, Trado shifted slightly. And then he spoke.

"The end of the world draws near."

And so began a long conversation among the four.

 

*

 

The imperial capital of the Garhart United Empire.

Having awakened from sleep, Ars was working through accumulated government affairs together with Ferna.

Then he looked at the report with the lowest priority among the important matters, was mildly surprised, and held his head in his hands.

"Siegfried is still alive…"

"Yes, he's as troublesome a human as ever, but Al manages to keep him on a leash and provides us with reports."

Siegfried Ratzen. A legendary adventurer who had lived since 3,000 years ago.

He was the one who had protected the third hero, conquered the Water Temple, and sent them to another world along with a young high elf.

This man, in a word, was a womanizer.

Faithful to his desires, and infinitely faithful to lust in particular.

According to one theory, the number of women he had been with reached as high as 40,000.

Married women were fine too, but he wasn't a lolicon apparently. That was some small mercy at least.

He had met Ars before; they had fought together and against each other. Ars had even commissioned requests to Siegfried.

And Ars was not fond of him. To put it bluntly, he disliked him.

Ars Garhart was a man of reason.

Both slaughter and helping others were actions performed based on reason.

Of course, he made mistakes too. He was only human.

But he was someone who reflected on those mistakes, analyzed them, and applied the lessons moving forward.

Having attained a position like Great Demon King, he believed it important to properly uphold the structure of society.

Siegfried was a free spirit.

He was born a war orphan and raised in an orphanage in the Holy City.

He had caused tremendous trouble for the clergy there as well, but the decisive incident was when he smooth-talked a girl who was a candidate for the next saintess and had his way with her.

Knowing full well that this was bad, he promptly fled the Holy City.

In addition to his innate martial talent, he had learned holy magic in the Holy City and, surprisingly, was well-versed in other types of magic as well, allowing him to succeed as an adventurer.

"That guy has 'Absolute Misfortune' so I don't want to go near him…"

At Ars's involuntary sigh, Ferna nodded deeply in agreement.

Absolute Misfortune was Siegfried's Gift.

He would get caught up in dangerous situations but emerge unscathed himself. Or trouble would occur wherever he went.

A man with such a troublesome Gift had been alive for 3,000 years.

After all, he was a "God Slayer."

And when he conquered the Water Temple, he apparently said this to Rana:

"Let me have a go at you."

Whether Rana had agreed to that remained unknown.

Incidentally, the impressions of transmigrators and reincarnators from Earth regarding him were as follows:

"He's like R*nce, isn't he?"

"Choosing jobs based on women is like Ryo S*eba."

"Very D.S."

"A real-life Ariwara no Narihira."

At any rate, he was certainly a demon of lust.

 

*

 

"So that idiot… went to the Dragon Wing Continent. Why?"

At Ars's question, Ferna shrugged and answered.

"Probably… he crossed the sea in search of beauties he had yet to see…"

"Whether he's around or not, he's a nuisance. He probably has no intention of fighting the evil gods anyway."

Still, compared to the early days, the disturbances Siegfried caused had become more moderate.

This was because his party members Altecia and Marisia were guiding his actions.

Ars felt nothing but gratitude toward those two who willingly looked after that idiot.

That aside, the source of trouble being on the same continent as Sei's group gave him a bad feeling.

"We need to contact Al and make sure Siegfried doesn't get in the way of Sei's group."

During the Great Collapse 3,000 years ago, Siegfried had only acted to the extent of brushing away sparks that fell on him.

But even the Great Collapse had been someone else's problem to him. Ars had never counted him as a fighting force from the start.

Incidentally… after the Great Collapse, Ria had once considered employing Siegfried in Ogress.

But after meeting him just once, she had fled ever since. She hadn't let her wives meet him either.

He was the only man she had reacted to so strongly in all her 3,000 years.

Ars contacted the demons on the Dragon Wing Continent via telepathy, ordering them to support Sei and monitor Siegfried.

With the note to make sure male agents did the monitoring.

If it were women, there was a high chance he would have his way with them.

Siegfried's lust extended even to vampires and three-eyed folk, with whom interbreeding was impossible.

He apparently had no interest in beastkin, but werewolves in human form were fair game, it seemed.

"I hope nothing happens…"

"No, assume something will happen. The question is how to keep it to a minimum scale… I wish he'd just die already…"

The two Great Demon Kings heaved deep sighs.