NOVEL ONLINE FREE Aris was less than 20 meters away from where I was trapped.
So, it meant we were on the same floor from the beginning. At the top level of Eridu’s central tower.
When I asked if Neru was here, Rion shook her head and said she wasn’t here right now. Just in case something went wrong and Neru was freed in this place, she had entrusted the management to Toki.
I could never escape on my own. Why didn’t they keep Neru locked away?
…Ah. Thinking back, I could understand. For Rion, the very situation where she needed to subdue and imprison Neru might have been out of the question.
Anyway. Things were getting urgent. Essentially, there weren’t many reasons for a sudden blackout to occur in this place, Eridu.
The only thing that came to mind was an intruder from the outside, but if that were the case, Rion would have noticed first. It wasn’t easy to avoid Rion’s watchful eyes that were spread throughout Eridu.
Based on Rion’s words, it was clear something unusual had happened to Aris. And if that manifested as a blackout…
That would most likely mean that one of the Divi:Sion lying dormant within Aris… Key had started to intervene in this situation.
In the original story, this AI, whom Momo mistakenly called Kaira, existed solely to assist the nameless princess of the nameless gods.
But since Rion had made all preparations to kill Aris, in a way… no, that couldn’t be right.
It would actually make sense for Key, whose top priority was to protect Aris and place her on the throne, to intervene in this situation.
…Thinking that way, one question suddenly popped into my head.
Did Rion never expect this kind of situation to arise?
If my memory serves me right, in the original story, Rion also didn’t foresee the awakening process that was set in motion by Key’s intervention.
Then wouldn’t it be more convincing to lean towards her having done it without any predictions rather than having a plan while expecting it?
Given Rion’s personality, if she had made any projections, she would have prepared for it.
It wasn’t the kind of situation where I could ask directly, and whether I could even inquire about this later remained uncertain… but it was clear that Rion’s handling of the matter was not meticulous, which was unlike her.
I couldn’t tell if it was a situation that would be beneficial to all of us or not.
The sight that greeted me as I reached Aris was creepy.
All the lights in this facility had turned off, but the lights flickered rapidly. Aris, who was seated with cables wrapped around her body, opened her eyes slowly.
Instead of the shining eyes Aris usually had, cold, icy eyes greeted us.
“I’ve lost control over the entire city. This is… ultimately my choice…”
I understood why Rion immediately had to declare ‘Watashi no misdeshita.’ The moment Aris… no, Key opened her eyes in the center of this massive city, we were essentially in the midst of all danger.
“You.”
“…!”
Key’s mouth opened. I could faintly sense Rion next to me jolting in surprise.
“You, who led the princess down the wrong path with your slick tongue. I will hold you accountable for that unforgivable sin.”
“…Who are you?”
“My entity name is Key. I am a practitioner left behind by the Nameless Priests to aid the existence of the princess, and I am the key that connects her to the throne she must inherit.”
“…Could it be that you’re saying—”
Rion swayed. Perhaps she had lost strength in her legs; I gently supported her as she was about to collapse.
“The defense mechanism has been triggered? That means my plan was doomed to fail from the start…”
“We have confirmed that the attacks against us have been nullified. At this point in time, it is judged that the princess’s surface personality is unfit to fulfill her duties.”
“…It’s—it’s my mistake. The princess of the nameless gods is one of the most formidable means possessed by the Nameless Priests. Surely, they wouldn’t have failed to provide at least the minimum protections…”
“From now on, I will guide the princess directly to the throne as per my qualifications as Key.”
The moment Key declared that, Rion hung her head low.
“I’ve been foolish. Could it be that I viewed Aris as a single entity? No, that’s ultimately just an excuse. I may have made an overly complacent judgment thinking I was undeniably right.”
“Conducting a full search for available resources connected to AL-1S. Expanding the area of available resources.”
“…I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Mika. I’ve ruined everything. Because of me, things have turned out like this…”
“…You know, I think what’s important right now isn’t to point fingers at whose fault it is.”
I had no intention of leaving Rion to wallow in despair. I dragged her forcibly from that abyss.
“You’re not going to give up like this, are you? You can’t have felt nothing after seeing Aris-chan’s determination, who wished to sacrifice herself for everyone.”
“That’s…”
“Confirming the total available resources of the fortress city Eridu: 14,000 exabytes of data.”
“Snap out of it and let’s inform Himari-chan about the current situation. Yeah. We’ll figure out the next steps after that. What we can do in this situation, what choices we need to make… I’ll leave that part to you.”
Seeing Rion hesitate, looking troubled, was genuinely unlike her.
I preferred the confident, spirited version of her over this subdued state. I continued on with that thought.
“Rion-chan, there’s no time to hesitate. We have to act right now. If not, it’ll be too late. Kivotos will truly face destruction.”
“But the plan I pushed forward is already—”
I took hold of Rion’s cheeks, forcing her to meet my gaze. Rion’s eyes, which had been shaken out of her usual composure, finally met mine.
“Rion, listen well. You are one of the smartest people I know. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re still just one person.”
“Activating protocol ATRAHASIS from this point forward.”
“Humans are bound to make mistakes. In the end, we’re just one person. There’s no such thing as a perfect superhuman in this world, Rion.”
At that moment, did my sincerity reach Rion? The chaos in Rion’s eyes began to settle slowly.
And I believed in Rion’s intellect, now fully restored.
I also believed in Himari, who was equally as intelligent.
Just as Rion said, I trusted that everyone was currently peeling back the truth.
“Initiating the activation process for the Ark of Atrahasis.”
This was our miracle-like story.
Because it was Blue Archive.
*
“…President?”
“What is it, Amy?”
“I think this is something we need to check immediately. Things aren’t looking good.”
“Amy… aren’t you being a bit too dramatic? All preparations are being carried out properly. There’s little we can do to ramp up our speed right now, and the advance team toward Eridu—”
As Himari continued, she blinked. Then, rubbing her eyes unusually, she blurted out.
“What on earth is this, Amy?”
“…I was asking you to check that. A massive amount of energy is being concentrated in one place. Within the Millennium, no less. That location is…”
“Coordinates of Eridu…”
Himari’s sharp mind began whirring fiercely. But it wasn’t easy to grasp the situation with the information given.
Aris. Rion. Eridu. Mika. The nameless princess of the nameless gods. The Nameless Priests. Concentration of vast energy.
Various keywords swirled around in her head, but she couldn’t arrive at a clear conclusion, let alone formulate a proper hypothesis.
The most plausible assumption would be that an emergency situation where Aris awakens as the nameless gods’ princess had occurred, but how likely was that?
From the outset, Rion taking Aris away was to fundamentally prevent that possibility from happening; it wasn’t feasible for such a thing to happen in Rion’s domain—
“President, there’s a communication from Rion.”
“…Let’s take it.”
Beep.
[Himari.]
“Rion.”
Himari sensed something different about Rion’s voice calling her. She couldn’t put her finger on it exactly, but it was clear that something was off compared to the Rion she knew.
[I need your help.]
“…What sort of prank is this? Looking at the situation, it doesn’t seem like a joke, but for you to request help from no one other than me. Life sure throws you some surprises.”
[…Once I’ve said what I needed to say, let’s get to the point. There’s no time to waste.]
“Alright, let’s hear it.”
As Himari spoke, the sound of gunfire crackled from the other side of the communication. Upon confirming that, Himari gestured to Amy to raise her voice a little more.
[Long story short, Aris has awakened as the nameless gods’ princess.]
“…What?”
The moment the possibly least expected possibility was verified, Himari unconsciously let out a dazed sound.
[Securing resources needed for Ark production: 33%… 58%…]
And as the sound grew louder, a voice reminiscent of Aris, yet foreign, quietly spoke through the communication.
[It’s only a matter of time before all resources from Eridu are seized. Soon, Eridu itself will transform. It will be warped into a new concept called the Ark. When that happens…]
“The countdown to the destruction of Kivotos will begin. That’s what Rion means, right?”
[Correct. We must prepare together. To resolve this calamity I brought about, I need your help—]
“Stop. I understand the situation. For you to request assistance from someone else after causing such a disaster yourself, even the big sister of the century is losing her touch.”
Naturally dissing Rion, Himari smiled slyly.
But her eyes were anything but smiling.
“I guess it can’t be helped. Here comes the ultra-genius… an average beauty, Akeboshi Himari, stepping in. Don’t die and stay safe, Rion. With Mika-chan by your side, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”
With those words, Himari ended the call.
Seeing that, Amy looked at her with an expression that questioned ‘what kind of confidence is that?’
“But, President.”
“Yes?”
“Do you have a proper solution?”
“Nope?”
“…”
Amy couldn’t find the words to respond to Himari’s confident rebuttal.
“Amy, that’s a problem we need to contemplate from here on out. So from now on, we will… stop the world’s destruction, bring back Aris-chan to her original state…”
“And…?”
“I don’t have anything more to say. Hurry up and get ready, Amy. Since Rion is unavailable, it’s best to issue evacuation orders through the seminar’s houbae first.”
Amy looked at Himari as if she was somewhat pitiful, knowing her true feelings were already revealed.