Arbiter.
It is the very first combat suit I made with crappy skills. I didn't have Miku, an advanced AI, or the small nuclear reactor on its chest at that time. It could barely be used for fifteen to twenty minutes before draining its battery. If I used a special attack, it could bottom out instantly.
Fortunately, this problem was resolved with the nuclear reactor. Coupled with Miku's assistance in deriving future updates and advanced technical knowledge, it enabled me to fight against Grade One curses with it alone. [Judgement]'s help would instantly obliterate them. Even, I could hold up against special-grade curses.
That volcano curse is simply on another level. I didn't have [Arbiter] at that time, too.
"The update removed that slight latency, huh…"
Now, I could appreciate its beauty. Arbiter's current interface made it look like I wasn't wearing any helmets. I have an unobstructed 360-degree view of my surroundings.
The status panels are placed in the corner of my sight.
It is completely different from [Squire] that I summoned by luck. It is in a whole other league.
I strolled to the ash pile and held the black sword. The ominous aura latched onto me. It didn't harm me per se. I have the latest Arbiter. It is interrelated to both mysteries and physical laws.
With it, I ran a diagnostic on the blade. My hand glowed for a moment before the advanced [Correspondence]'s results were displayed on the interface.
"...To think it was used like an ordinary club. How wasteful."
Surprisingly, the black sword has a uniqueness that couldn't be found in other weapons until now. It has strong durability and excellent magic conductibility. It surpassed [Sora]'s previous miracle by three steps.
I stored it in my storage bracelet—which wasn't replaced by the supplies I got—and proceeded my way to the thirty-eighth floor. The staircase is located right in the center of the throne room.
As I strolled, an advanced [Correspondence] spell was activated every few seconds. I am not the one who used it but my assistant who came along with the package. It posed the slightest burden to my mind, to say the least.
[Goshujin-sama. No monsters have been detected so far.]
"Alright."
I recalled Miku's first reaction to Gekai.
…
[Monsters? The fantasy beasts that are extinct in our world?]
[Gods are not limited to the spirit plane?]
[They have a civilization far exceeding ours?]
[Understood.]
…
I don't know if it is to be expected or not, but she came to accept this world that easily.
Miku's processing speed allowed her to store vast amounts of information despite the lack of a core network inside the dungeon.
That's right.
Whenever we dive to the dungeon, the core network codenamed "Laplace", disconnects from the suit. We had to make do with the suit's processing power. Thus, we remedied it by using storage drives instead. That way, the processing power would be unused while retaining the necessary information about the dungeon and its monsters.
Everything necessary for this ad-lib is present in the 'supplies' I received.
Out of the twelve boxes, four of them are all about weapons. Another five stored everything needed for the combat suits and their maintenance tools. The last three are dedicated to the supercomputers necessary to deduce Gekai's coordinates.
With all of that, my progress shot through the roof. All I had to do was to continue Miku and Kazamitsu-san's research and combine them with mine.
I am pretty confident I would be able to return within a year.
Of course, these supplies were noticed by others such as Lady Artemis, Hephaestus-sama, Tsubaki-nee, Filvis, Ein, Haruhime-san, and Rethusa-san.
Their reactions are quite interesting.
Soon, I stepped foot into the thirty-eighth floor.
[Hostiles detected. Marking…]
Miku's cold voice resounded as the 'hostiles' within this floor are marked red. It bypassed the dungeon's thick walls and showed me their location with a delay of two seconds.
As expected, fighting alongside her feels much better.
I pointed two of my fingers to the duo of spartoi that spawned. A miniature magic circle emerged from my fingertips before a narrow light ray emerged. It struck the spartoi's skull precisely. I did the same thing to the other spartoi before digging the magic stones on their chest.
Bzzt-!
Several lasers shot out of my wrist and circled around their ribs. It deftly broke them with ease, allowing me to grab the magic stones.
Placing these to my storage, I continued my three-day long dungeon dive.
*****
[Connection to Laplace has been restored.]
"Mn… We're finally back."
After converting more than forty percent of my earnings (magic stones) to the booth, I was finally out.
Miku talked with me through the black earpiece on my right ear.
[Monsters are interesting. How would they pose to our fantasy beasts?]
"I don't know. However, there is a chance they are quite the same as them." I replied. "There's still a black dragon that worked similarly to that red dragon."
[Shall I send over Judgement next time?]
"...Not now."
After fusing with the Miku on my phone, she got to know about more things in Orario. She also knew the current state of my world.
When they conducted the decisive experiment, it was nearing 2018. Okkotsu-san would be discovered by Satoru-san and embark on the journey of becoming a sorcerer.
What I am worried about is how they would handle the future events—Suguru Getou's death and the disappearance of his body, to be exact. It is the primary link that tied all of my futures together.
Without his body, Kenjaku wouldn't be able to enslave Tengen. The events which led to Megumi's body being stolen would be prevented. That will contain the Mahoraga that Satoru-san fought with great difficulty.
I mean, Sukuna would've died without it. Satoru-san had his last finger, halting his recovery. Sukuna couldn't fight Satoru-san without Mahoraga. At best, he would be left with [Amplification] to negate [Limitless].
The times of sitting during those commentaries are not for show.
Pushing those worries aside, I gained a lot of leeway for Gekai after these supplies. I recovered more than half of my potential combat power back then. It overlapped with my current growth in status, which led to an absurd but welcome situation.
Like Suimei, I am finally able to use grand-scale magicka properly.
For a moment, my ego swelled.
'No…'
I pushed it back to its place.
Complacency is my biggest enemy. Even though I am confident enough to steamroll the entire Orario—even the Warlord Ottar—I shouldn't let power get to my head.
Mana Furnace's complete potential and these supplies unknowingly swelled to arrogance. Fortunately, I noticed it now.
"Fu… Fu…"
I looked up to the night sky. Stars glimmered brightly from above. I felt a connection between myself and two constellations.
Just then, a white pigeon flew straight above me before dropping something.
"Hm..?"
I felt a trace of magic used on the item—a letter. It made me know this is something for me.
Tearing off the edge of the envelope, I took out the letter inside. A signature could be seen on the bottom left corner of the letter.
It reads:
Greetings.
Ouranos-sama wishes to meet you. Present this signed letter at the reception and they would guide you to the Chamber of Prayers. It is best to come the moment you receive this letter.
Sincerely,
Royman Mardeel
…
I fell silent for a moment.
"Ouranos-sama..?"
I have heard his name oftentimes. It is told he is the creator of the guild and managed it from within. He kept Orario's order since a thousand years ago.
Based on Lady Artemis and Hephaestus-sama, he maintained a hands-off management to the guild due to his responsibility—quelling the dungeon with his prayers.
For short, he is the reason why the monsters inside the dungeon hadn't broken out and caused a dungeon break. To do that, he has an access to his Arcanum.
If he has his Arcanum—
"...Shit."
—he might be able to see more things compared to others.
Gods might be seen as abstract beings in Gekai, but I know full well about their might. They belong to a special higher-dimension—the spirit realm in our case—while having unimaginable powers. Though, these powers are simply authorities to distort the mysteries and create miracles.
Nevertheless, Magisters could deal with them wholly. Even Semi-magisters could if they cooperate or if those gods hadn't finished manifesting.
I analyzed my odds against a future fight against Ouranos.
'His myths revolve around the sovereignty of the sky, far preceeding Zeus' rule…'
A minute later, I calmed my mind.
"If this is the case…"
*****
Tonight, Eina was about to end her shift when her student arrived.
"Good evening, Eina-san."
"Nobu..? You're finally back."
"It's been a rough three days, but the payoff's fine."
"You went to the White Palace?" She couldn't help but ask. "The monster rex should have respawned at this time. Did you..?"
"Yeah. I dealt with it."
"You really…"
Eina sighed exasperatedly. She is one of the few trusted people who knows about Nobu's tendencies to visit floors beyond his recommended level. She knew his participation on the Knossos Raid, something that was kept semi-confidential for the common populace.
True to their words, Evilus was indeed hiding in that place. The operation was a success and was spread to the guild's staff.
"I cam fully prepared this time. I would've escaped if I am not confident."
"...Alright."
For some strange reason, Eina felt the urge to 'guide' the 'lost' boy properly. In other terms, a maternal instinct… perhaps.
"As to why I came here… This letter should explain everything."
Nobu spoke as he handed over a letter. Upon reading it, she was startled.
"Ouranos-sama..? Sir Royman sent this?"
"The signature couldn't be faked otherwise."
Eina processed it before nodding.
"I will take you there."
"Thank you."
Nobu followed behind Eina's back. He maintained his usual looks. Underneath it is a hushed whisper.
"Ready everything."
[Understood.]
On the off chance something goes wrong, Orario would see the Arbiter's counterattack tonight.
"Also, track the current steps I took."
[Tracking has begun. Processing the model's structure…]
Laplace began working overnight. He didn't release waves of [Correspondence] but merely tracked his steps in order to avoid the god's senses.
His black overcoat fluttered as he took a step.
Eina couldn't see it, otherwise she would have thought about something.
They passed by many guild staff but they remained unimpeded after seeing Eina's serious look. The woman who graduated as the top of the class in the school district wouldn't normally show something like this.
Soon, they arrived in front of a huge stone door. Before they could react, it opened by itself.
"I could only bring you up to here." Eina said. "Good luck."
"Once again, thank you for this. I would bring a surprise sometime."
"Ah..? There's no need to!"
To that, Nobu waved his hand as he continued walking inside the stone room.
Torches lit up its hallways. Their distinguishing characteristic is that they never seem to burn out.
"Arcanum, really…"
Nobu could sense the miracles present inside the room. It is something that is only available to higher-order beings.
When he arrived at the end, he saw an elevated throne. An aged god sat with his eyes closed. Meanwhile, a robed man stood beside the throne.
One look was all it took for Nobu to realize he is made up of bones.
'Ouranos… As expected of the Primordial God of Sky.'
The solemnity and the subtle pressure emitted by him is on another level. Ouranos is not targeting him—it is merely a fragment of his power.
Ouranos opened his eyes and looked briefly at the boy.
'...Huh.'
Nobu felt that prickly gaze that aimed to see everything, though it disappeared moments after.
"To whom do I owe the pleasure?" He said as he bowed elegantly.
"We have finally met, foreigner."
"..."
Nobu repressed the shock he felt after hearing those words. He immdiately knew the meaning behind them.
"It seems you are looking forward to this, Ouranos-sama?"
"I am."
Ouranos continued speaking concisely. His expression hadn't changed visibly, giving him an inhumane feeling.
"I am confident I hadn't done something to warrant an arrest, no?" Nobu smiled as he continued, "Lord Hermes must've seen my clean records."
Just as Ouranos seemed unmoved, Nobu is the same. He kept his elegance in front of a god.
Suimei fought an extremely strong god once. Lord Nettesheim and Satoru Gojo could do the same with their abilities. He is familiar with the strongest of his world, thus he didn't show an ounce of fear, only a sufficient amount of respect.
"...Indeed. I have asked your presence for another thing."
Ouranos replied without a change on his expression.
"The cracks. Have you seen them?"
"..."
"Yesterday, such an incident occurred. It is extremely subtle compared to before. It does not have the intensity from before."
Ouranos managed to see the dimensional crack opened by Kazamitsu. It is far more refined than Nobu's accidental landing to this world. Even, he prevented their world's Twilight Syndrome from seeping out of it.
"I do know about it." Nobu admitted. "What does Ouranos-sama want to know?"
"The evil presence inside Knossos… Are you familiar with it?"
For the third time, Nobu fell silent. Doubts began appearing on his mind.
"Are you implying it has something to do with the cracks?"
"That's right."
A revelation fell upon the boy's lap.