Chapter 43: This Universe Will Collapse

As I looked up at the clouds drifting slowly across the blue sky through gaps in the dense trees, another black shadow crossed through a break in the clouds.

"It flew by again, nya. Ever since we got closer to Granshir’s territory, there’ve definitely been more of them flying around, nya."

Beside me, also staring up at the sky, Ririka—the cat-eared girl in a shameless maid outfit—muttered with clear irritation in her voice.

She looked like a cute cat-eared maid, but with the temperament of an impatient old man. Apparently, she was growing increasingly frustrated at having her aerial travel routes disrupted.

"If it’s like this, things might actually be worse in Granshir than they were in Larentia."

"This is bad, nya. At this rate, even if we reach Granshir, we won’t know what state Rick and the others are in, nya. Shouldn’t we hurry, nya? Wouldn’t it be better to just fly straight in by aircraft and deal with it somehow, nya?"

"There’s still no need to panic yet."

"It’s already way past the time we should be panicking, nya."

It had almost been a full week since we left the Kingdom of Larentia.

We had thwarted the schemes of “Yuta Mama,” who had been manipulating the kingdom from behind the scenes, along with a boy calling himself a god, “Kamui.” We then defeated the “Root Ruination Great Demon King Catastrophe,” which had appeared in the royal capital, Larentinia.

After that, while the capital—devastated by the Demon King—was still undergoing restoration, we reactivated the temple’s functions to resurrect our fallen companion, Shogo, who had died in the battle. At the same time, a warp gate that had regained functionality suddenly activated, and an army from the continent’s third major power, the Aste Empire, emerged through it.

As a result, Larentinia—having lost most of its functions as both a temple and a city—was swiftly subdued.

We, along with the allies we had gathered around Larentinia, abandoned the city, dragged along the reluctant Queen Tilda, and retreated to the city of Godart, where we had connections. That city was designated as the temporary capital of the Kingdom of Larentia.

After that, in order to assess the situation in the Kingdom of Granshir—which was presumed to have been invaded by the Aste Empire around the same time as Larentia—and, if possible, to secure their cooperation in liberating Larentinia, we departed the Kingdom of Larentia and headed for Granshir’s territory—

"Clarice-saaan, Ririka-saaan, the food is ready!"

—and that brings us to now.

"Oh! Curry today, huh! Damn, this is good. Nicely done, Bear-ko!"

Shoveling curry rice from a wooden plate into his mouth, Dias—a towering, muscular man with jet-black skin, a shaved head, and a body like a walking mass of muscle—showered the cook with praise.

"Ahaha, thank you very much. There’s plenty more, so please eat as much as you like, everyone."

The one blushing shyly as she replied was Beatrice, a girl with neatly tied bright blond hair.

When we first met her in Larentinia, she had stood before us with grim resolve as an enemy, even engaging in a fierce one-on-one duel with our now-absent companion, Shogo. Now that she had been freed from her mother’s curse, her demeanor had become noticeably gentler.

"No, seriously, it’s amazing. Being able to make a proper meal in the middle of a forest with nothing around… you—Beatrice-san—really can do anything."

I genuinely wondered how curry rice was even possible in a place like this, but after having dumplings yesterday and udon the day before, no one questioned it anymore.

"Back when I traveled through Central Asia, I learned a lot of things. I’m glad it’s been useful."

"I-I helped too, you know! Like, at least twenty percent of this is thanks to me!"

The moment I voiced my admiration for Beatrice’s absurd survival skills and cooking ability, Natsumi—completely unprompted—started insisting on his contribution.

"All you did was make fire with magic, Natsu-brat."

"Controlling the heat is the most important part of cooking!"

Dias immediately teased him, and Natsumi snapped back just as quickly.

Although his body in this world was that of a cross-dressing shota elf, among the five of us here, Natsumi was the only one whose inner self was male while insisting on presenting himself in a feminine way. Maybe it was a matter of pride—he clearly couldn’t accept being seen as completely useless when it came to cooking.

"Feels like I’ve already gotten used to this kind of life, nya."

After finishing her plate, Ririka sprawled out on the ground and let out a small, sloppy "burp," an utterly unladylike sound.

Despite claiming that her inner self was a high school girl, moments like this made her seem more like a careless old man.

I probably shouldn’t talk. Even with my current blond-beauty body, I really should be more mindful of my posture.

"With Beatrice-san around, it feels like we could live anywhere. Thanks for the meal."

"Hehe, you’re welcome."

Feeling a strange sense of satisfaction at Beatrice’s gentle smile, I looked up at the sky through the trees.

For now, all that filled it were white clouds drifting lazily across the blue.

"So, guess the air route’s still a no-go?"

Dias asked after polishing off his second helping.

"Yeah. They’re not here right now, but they’re flying around regularly. Imperial dragoon units, I’d guess. The closer we get to Granshir, the more frequent they become. Entering their territory from the air would draw too much attention."

"...So Granshir really might already be occupied by the Empire… I just hope my brothers are safe…"

His expression tightened slightly as he stared up at the sky.

In Granshir, he had two brothers—Rick and Dom—according to his background.

"Same deal as Larentia. The temple warp gates are being used as invasion footholds. Even if the royal capital falls first, it’ll still take time to fully control the entire country. And judging by the size of the forces moving through the gates, it doesn’t look like things have escalated into massive battles yet. I think there’s still some leeway."

"You said that earlier too, but Larentia—Godart included—might not last that long either, nya. Charging in all at once by aircraft would definitely be better, nya."

"Even so, the Dragoon and the Hummingbird are basically transport craft. They don’t have any serious armaments, and stealth doesn’t work very well on monsters. If something latches onto us, we’d be helpless. The Swordbreaker fighter is unmanned, and even if we forced it, it could only carry two people. Once we get through this forest, we’ll be close to that fortress called Dora. Walking is the safest option."

"Then bring out a tank, nya! We’ll plow through the ground forces as we go, nya!"

"Don’t be ridiculous when we don’t even know the enemy’s scale. You just don’t want to walk, do you?"

Apparently hitting the mark, Ririka froze, sprawled flat on the ground, and let out a strange little sound.

"Nyaguu…"

She went quiet after that.

"But even with Clarice-san’s space fleet, couldn’t you wipe out the Empire’s army? I mean, sure, there’s magic and dragons, but their civilization level is basically medieval, right?"

This time, it was Natsumi who said something disturbingly aggressive. Despite being the only one whose personality was actually female on the inside—at least according to him—he was probably the most hot-blooded of us all.

"We could turn everything into a scorched wasteland, sure. But if the entire world ended up hating us, we wouldn’t be able to stay on the surface anymore…"

"Then why not just abandon this world entirely? We could save only the people we like, head into space, and search for another planet. You could become the king of a new world."

"Well… setting aside the whole ‘king of a new world’ thing, I did think about traveling into space too… but I think we shouldn’t. We still need to find a way back to reality… I think."

"Reality, huh… I wonder what’s happening there now? Are people panicking because we vanished? Or maybe no time has passed at all in the real world… that would be nice."

"Reality, huh…"

At the word “reality,” Dias let out a quiet sigh, and everyone fell silent.

Since being dragged into this MMORPG world—Sword Blaze Online—the only supposed clue for returning to reality, the so-called “Root Ruination Demon King: Bad End,” hadn’t even existed. Even after we forcibly defeated the being that appeared instead—the “Root Ruination Great Demon King Catastrophe”—we hadn’t gained so much as a hint about how to return home.

We couldn’t even say we’d been moving forward solely with the goal of returning to reality. More often than not, we’d simply been swept along by circumstances. Still, the truth was that we were now almost completely out of options.

"...Anyway, first things first. We need to get in contact with Rick and the others in Granshir. Depending on the situation, we cooperate with them, liberate Larentinia, and revive Shogo. That comes first."

It was only a provisional objective, but I said it out loud again to reaffirm it for myself.

"...Yeah."

"That’s right, nya! We can’t just leave Shogo like that after he fought for everyone, nya!"

"Everyone in Larentia is waiting too. Especially Scarlet-san and Her Majesty the Queen—they’ve been pushing us pretty hard."

"I-I’m here with all of you because of Shogo-san too! If we don’t revive him and properly thank him—and apologize—I won’t be able to rest easy!"

Everyone voiced their agreement.

Shogo, our companion who had fought alongside us in Larentia, had lost his life battling the Demon King. The temple required for his resurrection had been seized by the Aste Empire, leaving him still unable to return.

It wasn’t just us who wanted to bring back the serious, reliable man. Queen Tilda, who remained in Larentinia, the succubus Scarlet, and many others all shared that wish.

"Alright then, let’s get moving again!"

Dias said as he stood up.

"How much farther is that fortress again?"

"If we walk another half day, we should be out of the forest. Once we are, it ought to come into view."

I answered as I stood as well, and the others followed suit.

"Good grief, nya. Back to walking again, nya. Once we get to Dora Fortress, we’re borrowing a carriage, nya."

"Ririka-san’s got connections over there, after all."

"Really? That’s impressive."

Each of us finished packing up and started walking.

Once we reached Granshir’s territory, we’d at least have a clearer picture of the situation.

Lagging slightly behind the others, I reached for the switch on the communication device on my wrist.

"Can you hear me, Erika?"

"Yes, Master. I am receiving you at all times."

The voice of Erika, the fleet support AI, replied through the communicator.

"Have you gotten the observation results?"

"Given that this concerns events on a universal scale, I cannot guarantee complete accuracy. There are no precedents for such a phenomenon in the recorded history of the Galactic Federation, making precise predictions extremely difficult."

"Yeah… figures. If there were precedents, the Galactic Federation probably wouldn’t exist anymore."

"This does, however, serve as proof that this universe is separate from the one in which the Galactic Federation exists. That would explain why no contact has been possible, no matter how long we wait."

It seemed Erika had finally come to understand the reality of our otherworldly displacement.

Then I asked the real question.

"So… how long do we have left? This world, I mean."

"In outer space, stellar collisions have already begun, triggering a chain reaction. In some regions, gravitational fields have collapsed, forming massive black holes. In approximately two hundred days, the first meteor swarm caused by nearby stellar collisions will reach this star system. At that point, gravitational balance within the system will begin to collapse as well. As for this planet specifically, environmental collapse may occur even sooner. Ninety percent of the marine life that barely existed around the continent has already gone extinct. Due to the lack of trees, oxygen production is decreasing, and the atmospheric composition is beginning to change."

"Uh… so, in simpler terms…?"

"There is no escape, either on this planet or elsewhere in this universe. This universe will collapse. It is imperative that we urgently discover a means of escape to another spacetime, another dimension—in short, to a different world."