280 The Fourth Phase Part 2

"Mana Calamity?"

"N-no way..."

The other group of people who entered the territory suddenly remembered the records about the Illusion of the Venarian Town where it says that a whole island floated in the sky which had never been found after many years. 

The people that had literally seen that before may have died in old age already but due to the many records found in the history books, it was considered as a real event and not just a myth. 

However, the question now was how in the world did this happen? They were sure that there was no floating island just a few seconds ago.

This only happened after entering the creator's territory...

'That's it... This whole place was covered in a huge formation hiding this floating thing!' 

'This Traceless Hands is the real deal!'

Hilda's group, on the other hand, noticed that it wasn't an island but a floating battleship. They have different questions in their minds. 

"Maybe, it's an illusion?"

"No, look closely... That looks real to me..."

Hilda suddenly said as due to the shadow covering the bottom of the vessel, they were unable to clearly analyze the floating monstrosity... Their mana detection spells were also not doing very well probably due to defensive magic cast around the floating battleship.

However, after observing it carefully, they quickly realized its exquisite details and even the unique engine sound that reverberates throughout the surroundings. 

"Hey... someone was up there observing us..."

Shirley muttered softly but enough for everyone to hear. She realized this due to her sensitivity magic. Although she can't see them, she was sure that there was someone observing their group.

"That's normal..." Escanor said and proceeded to follow the automaton leading them somewhere else.

"This is something really big..."

"They don't plan to send that thing in outer space as well, right?"

"Of course not. That is just another floating airship. Though a bit bigger and completely made of steel..."

"Yeah... It seems that this event is going to be very interesting..." 

Shirley commented in the end as she realized that the creator of the game seems to be conditioning their minds by putting that floating battleship up there... or perhaps they were just showing off their wealth. 

They probably wanted to show how capable they are or to intimidate people. Well, she had to admit that it was really effective. 

They were now looking forward to the start of this event...

***

Ace waited for everyone to arrive, he had selected a location not too far from his villa to gather all the players who were invited. 

"Avalon... Let me see the leaderboard and note it whether they already arrived or not." 

[ Affirmative. ] 

[ Server Rankings 

2. Ilia Frost aka Miss Taken - Present

3. Farah Carlos aka Fourth Apprentice - Present

4. Hilda Calem aka Hilda Calem - Present

5. Hector Newman aka Stone Man - Present

6. Shirley Manson aka Shirley - Present

7. Ray Penber aka Death God - Present

...

13. Marvin Cummings aka Retired Man - Absent

14. Aaron Schmidt aka Fiery Fist - Present

15. Ferdie Sigma aka Alpha Dog - Present ] 

"So there were only a few changes, huh..."

Ace remembered that Aaron Schmidt was the rank 1 before but due to his solo player mindset, he dropped to rank 13, which was still acceptable considering that there were more than ten thousand people playing the game every day.**

Maybe it was due to him having an advantage as a beta tester as well but it was still very impressive. 

He had invited the top 500 players but as of the moment, only 450 of them has arrived. The number was already good and as long as the time reaches exactly 3 PM, then they could start the event.

Soon, the players arrived not too far from his villa where he cleared a patch of trees and created a small plaza to welcome everyone. It is an open area but because of the controlled sunlight going in, the place was cool and comfortable. 

There were many seats and foods being served by automatons. There was a luxuriously decorated stage on the east side where everyone can clearly see the Mass Driver. 

However, what caught their attention wasn't that structure but the 5 tall pillars with a height of 8 or 9 meters covered by top-class fabric placed just behind the mini stage of the plaza. 

"I think I know what this is..."

"What? A mini mage tower?"

"Haha... No, I think this is that thing... Can't you see the protrusion at the center?"

"No way, I think that this is just a model... There's no way they would build it. Only the government was allowed to create them..."

"That's right. Traceless Hands is a private company. It would be tough to get permissions for that... It would surely be reported to the news in case that happens..."

They were dying to know what was behind that fabric and some of them even had a guess already. 

Although there were other things covered by the same type of fabric around the stage, those 5 pillars were emanating a mysterious aura even though they haven't seen it yet. This made them a bit more interested in those things.

As for the floating battleship, they had seen a floating airship before so they can only conclude that it was just a bigger one used to transport more people. It was impressive but that was it. 

Soon, the time has arrived and Ace suddenly appeared on the stage to welcome everyone. There were still 30 people who were absent but it doesn't matter anymore. They may have more important things to do or probably running late. 

As soon as Ace walked at the center of the stage, many people were surprised to see such a young man taking over the spotlight.

They were thinking that he was only an emcee or probably staff but as he introduced himself, everyone was surprised to learn his identity. 

"Hello, everyone. I'm Wallace Ravencroft, the Traceless Hands, the VR Pod's creator, and the one that will soon allow you to experience the same magnificent technology you found inside the game-- here in the real world..."

All the players within the plaza were first surprised to hear the familiar name. It only took about a couple of seconds to remember who this person was...

He has been recently popular with the younger generation as he was a top-class individual that has been raised far from the capital. 

After all, the most powerful individuals were raised in the capital or have studied there.

For someone who grew up in a faraway region and even gained the support of a Grand Arcanist, he had a very remarkable and inspiring achievement to everyone that was not from the capital. 

Everyone here in the plaza had somehow heard of this name but they still can't believe that he was so amazing to create the almost perfect virtual world. 

Of course, the people who were closer to him was even more surprised to learn about this... They would have never thought that the rumored guy working for Traceless Hands was actually the real boss.