Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 261
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Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 261
57. Integration (2)
-Bang!
"An unacceptable proposal!"
Rondel has four continents.
Among them, the Tetatron Continent and the Prota Continent are each exclusively occupied by the Prius Republic and the Elysian Coalition respectively, so 18 nations are crowded into the remaining two continents.
However, unlike the Defteron Continent, where powerful nations such as the Bringham Empire, the Rainhatz Empire, the Holy Land Everhill, and the Kingdom of Lucias swarm, the Triton Continent, to which the Eastern Six Nations belong, is treated as an inferior continent with nothing noteworthy except a large population.
They must mind the moods of their neighbors the Prius Republic to the north and the Elisia Union to the south and the Kingdom of Roberto, which plays the role of hegemon among the Eastern Six Nations, lags far behind even the nearby island nation of Lyseth Island in military and economic terms.
Thanks to this, the Eastern Six Nations had to band together and respond jointly to external threats.
Naturally, the leaders of the Eastern Six Nations also want to make their countries rich and strong.
What leader would be satisfied with a weak nation that is constantly ignored in the international community?
However, breaking the entrenched power structure of Rondel was nearly impossible, and the Eastern Six Nations had to spend their days without change.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! If we fail to seize this chance, we will only fall further behind!"
Then, Adrian proposed that these Eastern Six Nations join the Rondel Peace Organization and handed them information about Earth.
A world where miracles such as magic and Divine power barely exist, and only physical technology has advanced.
The continents' area is roughly similar to Rondel's, and aside from a few powerful nations, the scale of nations is not particularly large.
Moreover, thanks to arcane engineering, Rondel's technology holds a relative advantage over Earth, and the same is true of its military power.
To the Eastern Six Nations, which are treated as weak states in Rondel and continue their slow development, Earth looked like nothing but a land of opportunity.
Because of this, radical leaders of the Eastern Six Nations, such as the Kingdom of Norden and the Kingdom of Zeon, were arguing that they must carry out a war of conquest simultaneously with the integration of the two worlds.
"Surely you do not think the other powerful nations especially Grand Duke Lawrence, the chairman of the Rondel Peace Organization will simply stand by and watch?"
Currently, four of the Eastern Six Nations supported the war of conquest, and only two opposed it, putting them at a relative disadvantage, but because Queen Sia Rin of the Kingdom of Roberto, the hegemon of the Triton Continent, voiced opposition, their opinions could not be unified.
She was a representative pro-chairman figure.
She avoided choices that would put Adrian, the chairman of the Peace Organization, in a difficult position.
"What would change if we attacked the nations of Earth right now and expanded our territory? We need to solve the structural problems of our Eastern Six Nations!"
Even the weakest among the Eastern Six Nations has a population exceeding 200 million.
In other words, this meant there was enough manpower for national growth, and their buried resources and territorial area could not be considered greatly inferior compared to other continents.
Nevertheless, the decisive reason the East continued to be treated as an inferior region and developed slowly was the existence of 'spell.'
Compared to magic, it allows one to become strong quickly in the early stages, so it is evenly favored among the Eastern Six Nations, but the modern mainstream is arcane engineering.
It was the era of Mages.
Therefore, she argued that breaking away from the Eastern tradition of treating individual martial prowess as a virtue and instead focusing on nurturing Mages was the future-oriented path.
"But even if we do not step forward, there will certainly be nations that think the same way. Even the Bringham Empire, which is currently currying favor with Chairman Lawrence, will be no different."
"That is right. With the integration of the two worlds, competition for future hegemony begins at the same time."
"Does Your Majesty believe that we should not even participate in the competition and should give up because of Chairman Lawrence's scrutiny?"
Declaring that the war of conquest was not a choice but a necessity, they dismissed Queen Sia Rin's argument.
The queen was briefly taken aback by the emotionally reactive supporters of the war of conquest, but soon raised her voice, saying they must judge rationally.
"Adrian El Lawrence is not a mere figurehead! He will not leave nations and leaders that escape his control alone, no matter what!"
Precisely because many had seen Adrian's excessive behavior something that could indeed be called madness many understood that her statement was not a mere bluff.
However, they did not bend their argument.
"How can a nation achieve development without enduring even that much risk?"
"..."
"We are trying to fight the nations of Earth, not Chairman Lawrence. No matter how recklessly he acts, he cannot simply attack us outright."
"We just need to proceed while placating him as much as possible. Isn't that what politicians exist for?"
In the end, she gave up trying to persuade them.
It seemed they had already decided in their hearts to wage war before even entering the meeting.
"From our standpoint, we would very much like the Robesto Kingdom to participate by all means. Since Your Majesty is acquainted with Chairman Lawrence, wouldn't you be able to soothe him well?"
Queen Sia Rin intended to tell them to stop, since she was in a position of having unilaterally received a favor, but soon closed her mouth.
She too was a leader belonging to the Eastern Six Nations, and she understood better than anyone why they were going this far.
"Sigh, I will consider it."
Her response was ambiguous.
However, since she had been fiercely voicing opposition, the other leaders took it as a not-bad signal.
Thus, the leaders of the Eastern Six Nations all thought the same thing, even though each held different ideologies and ideals.
That after the integration of Rondel and Earth, the chaos to befall the world would not be limited to natural disasters.
* * *
My party, including myself and Arcia, received an invitation to the underworld of Earth.
Since it was an institution governing the deaths and lives of Earthlings, I had regarded the underworld as merely a world in fantasy, but...
"It's plain."
"Indeed."
Unexpectedly, it was nothing more than a small city retaining the antiquated style of the medieval era.
It was enough to make one think that Earth's Paris, Vienna, and Prague were more splendid.
If there was anything unusual, it would be that unlike European cities the beings strolling the streets were not tourists but ghosts.
Yet when we, living people, strolled the streets, these ghosts stared at us unpleasantly.
Though none of their eyes, noses, or mouths were distinct, dark holes like eyes pierced into the blurred, hazy forms of their heads, staring intently this way.
"What, do you want to be annihilated?"
I threatened those spirits.
Fortunately, perhaps because they retained some intelligence, the ghosts began to subtly avert their gazes.
"Haha, threatening ghosts you truly are unusual."
At my behavior, the high-ranking demon race member guiding me and my party on behalf of Lord Exceed scratched his cheek with an awkward smile.
Thus we strolled the streets of the underworld for about five minutes, and soon arrived before a massive structure resembling a cathedral.
I tilted my head as I looked at the building.
"It seems like I've seen it somewhere?"
"It closely resembles Earth's Barcelona Cathedral. That is probably why you felt you had seen it before."
Is that so?
I do not know anything about Spain's cathedrals.
No, maybe I do.
Having become a 9th-circle, my brain entered a fully awakened state, so perhaps that building, glimpsed once on TV, remained in my memory.
"Where is this place?"
At my question, the high-ranking demon race member who had guided us answered.
"This is the Hall of Reincarnation, which determines the dead's next life. After waiting about a month in the city, according to one's tasks in life, it is decided whether one will reincarnate as a human, a beast, or an insect. If one's sins are heavy, one is sent straight to hell without reincarnation."
"That means?"
"Yes, it means this is the place where the Heavenly King and Demon Kings are staying."
It meant this place was the destination.
Afterward, I entered the interior of the Hall of Reincarnation with my party, and my eyes fell upon about twenty-three beings standing at the upper level inside, looking down at us as if to flaunt their power.
The Heavenly King had wings with pure white feathers, and the Demon Kings had bat wings; unlike the Heavenly Tribe and demon race of Rondel, every one of them wore a circular ring above their heads.
Heavenly King or Demon King alike.
Since their abilities were at 100% in the underworld, even if any one of those twenty stepped forward, victory would be difficult.
But I was confident.
From their standpoint, they absolutely had to use me for the plan to succeed.
"Arc Scarlet is not visible."
A Heavenly King whose name I did not know asked me.
To that, I answered with the attitude of asking why he was asking the obvious.
"There might be someone who tries to kill me like Lord Skrim did last time, since they'd rather coax a Demon King of Rondel than a human."
"You're saying you've made it so they can't choose anything different?"
"That's right."
Currently, my only companions are Arcia, Blake, and Brangish.
I had left most of the potentially problematic individuals back in Rondel including the Saintess and anyone who might harbor other intentions.
From my perspective, it was a natural response.
However, this was no different from meaning I didn't trust them, so quite a few Heavenly Kings and Demon Kings showed signs of discomfort.
I asked a familiar face among them.
"How does the process work?"
At that, Lord Exceed let out a slight scoff and stepped forward, pointing at the ceiling with his finger.
"That?"
When I followed his hand and looked up, I saw a blue crystal embedded there that looked larger than a decent-sized villa.
The hall was wider than I'd imagined, so even excluding the giant crystal, there was plenty of empty space on the ceiling and that space was filled with a complex magic circle like a mural.
"It's Earth's World Tree."
When you hear "World Tree," you'd normally picture a giant tree, but the reality was completely different.
"That system has its roots spread throughout the world, so conceptually it was given the name 'tree.'"
I see.
I asked Lord Exceed what they planned to do with it.
"That's a system that doesn't exist in Rondel. The Creator, Kaeos, prepared it for Earth's stability before his lifespan ran out."
"So the Creator's power that you said would be divided among us that's what it referred to?"
"Yes."
They wouldn't be planning to split the crystal and eat it, and a detailed explanation would follow, so I just watched him quietly.
"From now on, we're going to split that crystal and share it."
"Huh?"
These madmen.
My thoughtless guess had been right.
I had to furrow my brow at the rather crude plan.
"If you just eat it, you become a god race?"
"That crystal itself is essentially Lord Kaeos's Authority. Theoretically, you'd gain immense power."
"But just like how an ordinary human who mistakenly eats a dragon heart as an elixir ends up dead...."
"Yes, that possibility exists for this too."
Even if she could somehow eat it, I couldn't give something that dangerous to Arcia, who is a pregnant woman.
I'd thought it would be a smarter method who knew it would be this crude and simple?
"But you're not ordinary people, are you? You're transcendent beings who exceed human limits."
"Arcia may be a transcendent being, but the child in her belly isn't."
"No, it's entirely possible. Rather, even your child connected by the umbilical cord would be affected, so isn't it 1+1?"
This guy, acting like he's at a supermarket in a serious situation.
I clicked my tongue briefly and looked at Arcia.
The word "incubator" lingered on my lips again, but she merely smiled and nodded.
"I'll do it."
"But...."
"Even if I die, I will protect the child."
"No, in that case, do the opposite."
She was more important to me than an unborn child.
I tried to dissuade Arcia, saying there was no need to push herself, but she was far too resolute.
Why on earth is she being this stubborn?
"Adrian has become a 9th-circle, but I remain at Grandmaster. The gradually widening gap has been a great source of stress."
"...."
"If possible, I want to stay at the same level."
It was a short line, but enough to feel her emotions.
I unconsciously embraced Arcia, and at the sight of us, the Demon Kings and Heavenly Kings all clicked their tongues in unison.
"Putting on a melodrama, are we."
I cleared my throat and stepped back, then spoke to Brangish and Blake, who were present as witnesses.
"If anything happens to Arcia, I'll ask for your assistance."
"Understood."
"Leave it to me."
I looked at Lord Exceed again.
"Do we do it right now?"
"Yes."
When he pointed at the air with his hand, soon the other Heavenly Kings and Demon Kings also raised their hands.
Then the blue crystal embedded in the ceiling began to crack and split into twenty-five pieces.
Was it because the crystal that formed the core of the World Tree had disappeared?
-Kuuung!
-Kkiiiiiik!
An ominous sound, as if the world were cracking, echoed from all directions.
"Now.... This is your share. Right after absorbing the energy, you'll need to lend your power to stabilize the world."
Fragments of the crystal, compressed to the size of pills, were distributed to me and Arcia.