TNG Vol. 22 Chapter 3 Part 5

“My partner—and his comrades.”

“Partner? …Don’t tell me you’ve made a subordination pact. That’s a heavy burden for a human to bear.”

Upon hearing Yuzuha’s answer, the dragon furrowed what seemed to be its brow. It seemed to be the expressive type.

Does “a heavy burden for a human” mean there’s some sort of risk? Shin tilted his head at the thought.

That said, since forming a pact with Yuzuha, he had never experienced any symptoms or discomfort. Maybe when Yuzuha had been weakened it might have been different, but now she had regained much of her strength. She had even said her knowledge was returning. Shin couldn’t believe she would keep something that could harm him a secret.

“It’s fine. If you look closely, you’ll understand.”

“Hmm?”

The dragon’s gaze shifted once more—this time directly at Shin. She hadn’t specified who her partner was, but he seemed to understand.

“Even if he’s a higher-tier species, this… Is he really human?”

“I am human, though.”

Unable to stay silent after a monster doubted about his race, Shin blurted it out despite intending to keep quiet. To be fair, his stats were enough to raise that sort of suspicion, so it wasn’t exactly unreasonable.

“My apologies. Your presence and mana felt unlike those of a human. Is that not your doing?”

The dragon turned his attention back to Yuzuha after reacting to Shin’s reply.

“Nope. He’s like that for a reason. You’ll understand if you listen. But first, I’d like you to explain why you look like this?”

“Hmm, you’re right. I’ve let my guard down a bit after seeing a familiar face. I suppose explaining my situation comes first. But before that, may I ask—what is the status of everyone aside from your partner? I’m grateful to be rescued, but the information I’m about to share isn’t something I’d like many to hear.”

The dragon shrank slightly with a look of guilt.

Given the whole situation—his skeletal state, the way he had interacted with items—it was clear he had circumstances that couldn’t be shared lightly. Shin and the others could sense that much.

Fortunately, both Yura and Shima held top positions here. Arranging a private meeting with just the senior members would be easy.

There was apparently a special meeting room used only for top-level discussions, so they decided to summon representatives from each department for an emergency briefing.

Since the incident involving the ore vein had already been reported, everyone was already preparing for transport and would be able to gather quickly.

The special meeting room was located in the center of the island. They would travel there using the carriage they had taken to get to the storage facility.

The dragon would ride with them, but since it would make the carriage cramped, Shima and Yura decided to travel separately. It was likely because Yuzuha and the dragon knew each other, and because they had been told Shin’s group could restrain the dragon if necessary.

Inside the carriage, Shin spoke up again.

“First of all, would it be alright if we introduced ourselves? Just us for now.”

“Indeed. It would be difficult to have an open conversation without knowing who I’m speaking to. Then allow me to begin. My name is Armaiz. It may be hard to believe in this form, but I am what you would call a Divine Beast.”

“…Seriously?”

“Seriously?”

“Ah—sorry, that was a reflex. I was just surprised and accidentally said that out loud.”

Just as Shin had been speculating that the dragon might be a Divine Beast, he was suddenly presented with unexpected confirmation, throwing him off.

Armaiz, the Divine Beast. Shin recognized the name; it had been added in the final update before the death game began. While the name had circulated among players, there were no confirmed sightings, no known location, and no visual data, which had made it something of a mystery at the time. Hearing the name now had jogged his memory.

“You must be that creature’s contractor. Speak as you like, so long as it makes communication easier. If you are a Divine Beast’s contractor, you have that privilege.”

Prompted by Armaiz, Shin relaxed his tone a bit.

“Really? Then I won’t hold back. I’m Shin. I’m this Element Tail—well, Yuzuha’s—partner. I’d heard the name Divine Beast Armaiz before, but I never thought I’d actually meet you. Bit of a shock, to be honest.”

“You’ve heard of me? I don’t recall ever associating with humans.”

Despite his unusual condition, Armaiz seemed to have no gaps in his memory and tilted his head in confusion.

“Ah, it was just a rumor I heard somewhere. I barely remembered it until you said your name. Anyway, can I introduce the others?”

Because he couldn’t exactly say Armaiz was discussed on gaming forums and strategy sites, Shin played it off as having heard some vague rumor. That part, at least, wasn’t a lie; he’d only remembered the name.

After Shin introduced the others, Yuzuha once again opened her mouth to speak.

“So then, why were you just bones in a place like that?”

“Right… Do you remember an earthquake in the past that changed the very landscape?”

Armaiz was likely referring to the day of the Dusk of Majesty. An earthquake powerful enough to reshape the land; there were few events that fit that description.

“Of course I do. I almost died trying to suppress the damage by interfering with the leyline.”

“You too, huh? Same here. My original duty was to monitor any abnormalities in the leylines. Back then, I was interfering with it just like you. That’s when a massive horde of monsters rose from the seafloor. I’ll spare you the details of the battle, but in the end, I took down their leader in a mutual blow.”

As he spoke, Armaiz didn’t hide the frustration on his face.

According to Yuzuha, interfering with a leyline could grant benefits like increased stats, but it also imposed a great burden. Surrounded and overwhelmed by sheer numbers, Armaiz had likely been forced into an unfavorable battle and ended up in a draw.

When Shin heard about monsters coming from the seafloor, an ominous premonition crept up his spine. He had a feeling he knew what this reminded him of from the game era.

“What kind of monsters were they? Tell me as much as you remember.”

“I didn’t know their names. But I do remember their appearance.”

As Armaiz described them, Shin tried to visualize the creatures in his mind.

There were three types. The most numerous were humanoid monsters with upper bodies wrapped in thin bands and lower halves woven into long, basket-like forms. Next were four-legged beasts that looked as if they’d been carved from stone; Armaiz described them as squad leaders commanding the others based on their numbers and strength.

And then, there was one. A single, massive monster with sword-like scales, four eyes, and a gaping mouth that split open sideways; it was worm-like and the one Armaiz claimed to have taken down with him.

“Normally, when I die, I’m reborn as a different individual. But because I was interfering with an unstable leyline, I was trapped within it. That’s why I couldn’t move for so long.”

“You’ve been stuck like that this whole time!?”

Apparently, Armaiz had been a pile of bones for over five hundred years. Unlike Yuzuha, he wasn’t afflicted by miasma, so his consciousness remained, albeit faintly.

Still, with his body completely decayed, there was nothing he could do. Until Shin appeared.

Whether Baomultan and Durgin had foreseen this was unknown, but it seemed the item entrusted to Shin had the power to release trapped souls.

Shin, who had briefly wondered if he’d been guided yet again, reconsidered it might’ve simply been fate.

After all, he’d naturally be interested in visiting an organization working to develop smithing techniques. It wasn’t strange for him to come here.

According to Armaiz, he would’ve reacted to Shin’s presence even without being in close proximity. Shin’s visit merely accelerated the timing of their meeting.

“Enough about me. Let’s focus on the monsters. You said you might know something about them?”

“I haven’t seen them myself, so I can’t be certain. But based on what you said, I’m pretty sure I do.”

Shin recalled an event from THE NEW GATE called a raid: a unique and particularly grueling event. The monsters Armaiz described matched the visuals from that event.

During the raid, players experienced time dilation. Though little real-world time passed, in-game, it stretched across many days.

“There was an incident, I guess you could call it, where vengeful spirits of monsters lost at sea took shape deep in the ocean and emerged onto land. There were so many monsters, but players from all over came together to drive them back. There were three types. The first were called Hevin.”

The official name: “The Surging Ones, Hevin.”

Level range: 100–200. If well-equipped, even players without reincarnation bonuses could defeat them.

They stood about 3 mel tall but were slow and not especially threatening alone. However, they used dark-element skills and debuffs, making them tricky.

Most dangerous was their passive death-trigger: when defeated, they dealt a fixed, unavoidable damage unless the player had high enough stats.

“Then there was the quadrupedal one—Corpus. Fewer in number, but big and fast-hitting.”

Official name: “The Wandering Ones, Corpus.”

Levels ranged from 300 to 600. Their appearance resembled crystalline quadrupeds, crudely sculpted from multi-colored gems.

They attacked by extending crystalline “branches” from their bodies, indiscriminately skewering everything—players, Hevin, even other Corpus.

“Last was the boss monster—Nuva.”

Official name: “The Devouring One, Nuva.”

Though the event happened only once and Shin didn’t remember exact numbers, he was certain Nuva’s level exceeded 700.

It was massive—larger than Corpus—with a worm-like cylindrical body covered in scaly blades, a terrifying moray eel face, four eyes, and a horizontally-splitting maw.

Its sheer size meant its bite attack swallowed players whole, and its mouth was filled with blade-like teeth.

It didn’t use flashy special attacks, but had a single, overwhelming trait: as long as Nuva lived, Hevin and Corpus would continue spawning infinitely.

Defeating Nuva made them disappear. That mechanic only became clear after players finally beat it.

Players spent days in-game hacking through hordes, unaware they could’ve just aimed for Nuva. It was exhausting and poorly received.

Despite the real-world time being short, it felt endless in-game. In this VR-style game where players moved avatars with their bodies, grinding endless waves became more stressful than fun.

The event was poorly received. The initial announcement only stated “defend the continent from waves of monsters,” with full details revealed only after it started.

Shin’s party, alongside other players, defeated Nuva within three game-days. Later, another victory condition was revealed: survive for six days.

That would’ve cleared the event too, but with lesser rewards.

Story content added afterward revealed that Nuva was a being like Baomultan or Durgin—tasked with restoring balance to the world’s oceans. The spirits it had gathered would run out after six days, at which point it would vanish, having fulfilled its purpose.

That didn’t make the player-side devastation any easier to stomach, though.

(In this world, it’s not like we can complain to the devs, though.)

Shin muttered to himself.

The event was called “Drift of the Mire”—in terms of sheer scale, it was one of the largest battle events in THE NEW GATE, ranking among the top. What floated in Shin’s mind was the sight of the sea bathed in moonlight, completely covered by masses of Hevin and Corpus.

Hevin and Corpus typically emerged from underwater and floated along the surface as they advanced. Hevin, wrapped in tattered cloth from head to toe, and Corpus, which looked like a four-legged beast crudely sculpted from crystals by an amateur. Both monsters, silently swaying with the waves as they closed in through the night sea, were, even on their own, more terrifying than most horror games.

“You mean to say… you fought those things? Alone?”

Hevin and Corpus spawned underwater where Nuva resided. It was true they moved sluggishly until reaching the surface, but their sheer numbers weren’t something to take lightly. To reach a draw against them with Nuva added in, such power was anything but normal.

“At the time, I was drawing power from the leyline. My abilities were enhanced beyond their normal limits. If not for that, I’d have been overwhelmed without landing a single blow. That said…” Armaiz paused. “That creature… Nuva, was it? It looked like it was suffering. I remember the other monsters, though vast in number, moving awkwardly, lacking precision. Something must’ve been wrong on their end too.”

In truth, the events of the Dusk of Majesty were still shrouded in mystery. Other than the large-scale tectonic upheavals, what else occurred remained unclear; even those who lived through it didn’t fully grasp the scope.

Based on Armaiz’s account, it was highly likely that not only were monsters tampering with the leylines, but also those like Baomultan and Durgin—creatures meant to balance the world’s harmony—were affected. It wouldn’t be strange if other unknown monsters had been influenced as well.

Back then, the stat-boosting effect of leyline interference was astonishing. Even Armaiz said he had been surprised at the level of power he could draw. But, as expected, there was a cost. Perhaps it was backlash, or maybe the price to be paid, Armaiz, having interfered too much with the leyline, was ultimately bound to it after the battle.

“This is the reason I was shackled to that place. The monsters that surged from the depths at that time were far from ordinary in number, likely no less than a thousand. I crushed most of them into sea foam… but I couldn’t completely defeat Nuva.”

Though both inflicted what could be considered fatal blows, Armaiz was caught by the leyline, while Nuva sank deep into the abyss. Yet ever since the battle, Armaiz had been able to sense Nuva’s presence across the sea.