Aozaki Aoko [604-605] (Patreon)

Chapter 604: The Land of Sapphire Flowers, Set Sail!

"My home ground?" Touko thought to herself in some confusion. Does that mean a place where I can freely use the Third Magic? But I could also use it freely at the Land Between before, right?

"I'll explain the details to you all later," Aoko said. "For now, let me steer the demiplane back. There are still a lot of things to handle on Earth before we leave."

Seeing things were finished, Aoko and Touko left the core room and each returned to their own rooms through the teleportation gate, leaving the entire core room suddenly quiet.

But Aoko didn't feel lonely or uncomfortable at all—on the contrary, she was especially satisfied with the results of this experiment. After all, the Mythallar Core used for drilling was not even made by her personally; many parts of it were black-box technology for the current Aoko.

All the various documents Aoko had gathered from Ythryn City had long been sorted and placed in the castle's great library. But after carefully poring over them, she discovered an awkward fact—the materials and key techniques needed to make a Mythallar Core were missing.

This meant that she knew roughly how the thing worked, but couldn't take apart the one she had for research, since she didn't have enough materials to repair it.

She'd even prayed to Mystra, the goddess of magic, to see if Her Majesty could help her with this problem, but this time Mystra played dead, giving evasive answers and never directly responding pretending the cross-wall communication signal was bad.

It wasn't a problem that couldn't be solved, but there was no need to rush. For now, this mini Mythallar Core would have to do—Aoko could only comfort herself like that.

Since the black-box part of the tech couldn't be opened, Aoko had to personally go to the edge of the crystal wall system to test the drilling function. Fortunately, the test went perfectly—the crystal wall was successfully pierced, proving she could proceed to the next step.

For a demiplane magical ship capable of crossing crystal walls, breaking through the wall is just the most basic ability—navigation in the Sea of Imaginary Numbers is the real challenge.

For most magi, navigating the Sea of Imaginary Numbers requires continuously maintaining a large-scale divination ritual, without a second of interruption, which is extremely taxing over time.

Aoko didn't want to act as this wetware herself, so developing or finding a navigation device became a must—and she just happened to have a device perfectly suited for the job.

The Imaginary Observation Device: Paper Moon.

Originally used for navigation and proof during imaginary number submersion, it was just as Aoko had mentioned before—there are many similarities between imaginary space and the Sea of Imaginary Numbers. As long as Aoko could modify the Paper Moon to suit the characteristics of the Sea of Imaginary Numbers, then navigating it to reach the target crystal wall system would not be a problem.

As for how she got her hands on the Paper Moon...

Well, as the largest shareholder of Finis Chaldea, what's wrong with taking a piece of their equipment? Hoh hoh hoh.

———Dividing Line———

At this point, the timeline in Aoko's Nasuverse worldline had reached the year 2000.

After about three months of intermittent development work, Aoko successfully transformed the Imaginary Observation Device: Paper Moon and installed it in the core room alongside the Mythallar Core.

Now, as long as the precise coordinates were input in advance, once the demiplane magic ship broke through the crystal wall and entered the Sea of Imaginary Numbers, the Paper Moon would automatically operate, providing the correct direction to the target crystal wall system.

Except for a few who had to stay behind in the Nasuverse to keep the Aozaki family businesses running, everyone else had already moved into the demiplane magic ship. At this point, the demiplane was huge—the land area was comparable to that of Tokyo.

However, Aoko always insisted on a better lacking than subpar principle when selecting people eligible to live in the demiplane.

She'd rather there be large uninhabited zones than have any scum just to make up the numbers.

In a sense, Aoko Aozaki treated this demiplane as her own completely controlled and modified utopia.

Speaking of utopia, ever since she transformed the Principle Blood Ring into a demiplane, it was no longer fitting to use the old name given by a Dead Apostle.

Aoko had never named the demiplane, and those around her had been urging her to do so for a while. The time before setting sail for a new world seemed like the perfect opportunity.

If she named it something like Ark, it would be too cliché, and so far the demiplane's external image was that of a sphere. If she called it something like Magic Ship, it would sound a bit exaggerated.

Hmm… what should it be called?

Recently, Alice had planted a low shrub cultivated by fairies on the small hill where the new Kuonji residence stood. This shrub grew beautiful blue flowers, which Alice named "Sapphire Flower."

Coincidentally, the blue of this flower was very close to Aoko's eye color...

Alright, decision made—let's call it "Land of Sapphire Flowers". Sounds pleasant enough.

Touko didn't comment on Aoko's taste, but judging from Alice's reaction, she seemed to like the name—at the very least, she didn't show any dislike.

If no one dislikes it, that's a success. Demiplane Magic Ship: Land of Sapphire Flowers, activate!

…Although it was called a launch ceremony, the passengers inside the demiplane magic ship didn't feel like they were on a boat at all. After a brief celebration, everyone returned to their own territory to mind their own business. Only Aoko and her close companions gathered in the core room to watch her steer the magic ship out of the crystal wall system.

The wall-breaking process went as smoothly as the previous test—a huge hole appeared again in the translucent crystal wall. But this time it was an official voyage; the demiplane magic ship rushed into the amber-colored Sea of Imaginary Numbers without hesitation.

"Paper Moon operating normally." Touko, sitting in the navigator's seat, reported, "The magic ship is heading for the target crystal wall system coordinates. Total estimated time: 21 days."

"Is the new world really that 'far' away?" Even Melusine, who was quite interested in this voyage, came to the core room, touching her lips as she asked Aoko.

"Strictly speaking, this isn't the travel time," Aoko explained. "It's the calculation time for the Paper Moon to prove the coordinates."

"In that case, let's set up a watch schedule," Alice suggested. "Aoko and I will take the first shift, then Touko and I the second, Artoria and Irisviel the third, Sella and Leysritt the fourth, and then we'll rotate in this order… until we reach the new world. Any objections?"

Aoko's magic ship currently required two people to maintain navigation—one to monitor the Paper Moon, one to keep the Mythallar Core stable.

Although only Aoko could synchronize with the Mythallar Core, she had built an alchemical device and authorized it so that people she approved could also use the piloting function, meaning she didn't have to sit here the whole time.

No one objected to Alice's watch assignment, and thus began a nearly month-long voyage.

Chapter 605: Arrival at the EVA Crystal Wall System, but Anti-Universe

Aoko, holding a cup of coffee, floated in midair near the Mythallar Core, chatting idly with Alice.

She and her companions had been operating in this shift mode for almost twenty days. The Demiplane Magic Ship: Land of Sapphire Flowers had also been sailing in the Sea of Imaginary Numbers for twenty days, meaning the calculated 21-day deadline was near.

"How's it looking?" Touko, Irisviel, Artoria, and Melusine all came to the core room and asked Aoko.

"The proof calculation is almost complete. We're about to surface," Aoko replied, then turned to Alice. "Alice, what's the status of the Paper Moon?"

"All normal," Alice glanced at the supreme mystic code from the Atlas Institute and replied, "Actually, it's not almost complete—it's already done. We can surface at any time."

"Finally here!" Aoko said happily. "Everyone, to your stations! Land of Sapphire Flowers, surfacing now!"

Those with weaker physical abilities immediately found a seat and magically fixed themselves in place (particularly Irisviel), in case any accident threw them off.

But in fact, this wasn't necessary. There was no inertia linkage between the inside and outside of the demiplane. Surfacing wasn't like an actual submarine—it was just the process of turning from virtual to real in the Sea of Imaginary Numbers.

Others, such as Touko, Melusine, and Artoria, confidently stood where they were, observing the scene outside through a water mirror spell.

Aoko once again activated the Mythallar Core's drilling procedure. The giant black drill appeared again, striking the crystal wall manifested in the Sea of Imaginary Numbers.

However, unlike the Nasuverse world's crystal wall, this world's wall was more fragile, but consisted of many layers, with a color close to rainbow.

Others might not think much of this phenomenon—after all, differences between worlds are normal.

But Aoko herself fell into speculation, because these crystal walls looked far too much like A.T. Fields.

A.T. Fields were originally only able to be manifested on a large scale by Angels and EVAs—so why did every crystal wall in this system look like one now? Could it be…

Drilling was much faster than in the Nasuverse, so there was no time for Aoko to ponder. More than ten layers of A.T. Fields were bored through in no time, and the demiplane magic ship rushed into the crystal wall system.

Through the water mirror, they could see the hole in the crystal wall behind them rapidly healing. If the magic ship hadn't been small and fast enough, it would have been blocked out again by the restored wall.

"Looks like each world's crystal walls have different properties," Touko said with interest, watching the healing wall. "Ours are strong; this world's are more fragile but heal much faster. Fascinating."

"But for some reason, these weird crystal walls feel oddly familiar to me," Touko added with a puzzled expression. "That shouldn't be possible, though—this is only my second time seeing a crystal wall."

"Could it be due to the Third Magic?" the prodigy magician speculated. "After all, magic is an embodiment of root rules—similar rules across universes aren't impossible."

"Makes sense," Touko nodded. "But I don't remember the Third Magic being used this way…"

Aoko offered no comment, as she had her own suspicions. The A.T. Field, as the heart's barrier dividing individual forms in this universe, is essentially the external manifestation of materialized soul energy.

If the crystal walls here are now A.T. Fields, that means there must be an enormous number of souls powering them. Not a good sign, Aoko thought calmly. But the various technologies and artifacts of the EVA universe were too tempting—she had no reason to give up yet.

"Aoko, are you sure you didn't enter the wrong crystal wall system?" Alice frowned, looking at the water mirror while checking the Paper Moon's readouts.

"Huh?" Aoko was puzzled. "What do you mean? Didn't we just enter the crystal wall system's material universe?"

"See for yourself," Alice pointed at the water mirror. "Does this look like a material universe to you? To me, it looks more like imaginary space."

Alice was right. When Aoko looked outside through the water mirror, the visual signals her brain received and processed showed a scene that was both near and far, black and white—a place where space, size, and color were all in chaos.

At first glance, there was nothing—but on closer inspection, there were things that made one feel deeply uncomfortable.

"I know where my déjà vu comes from now…" Touko frowned, pointing to a spot in the crystal. There was a patch of black mist there.

"Those… are the souls of humans and other beings," Touko said in a low voice. "What's going on with this crystal wall system? Has the planet already been destroyed, leaving only wandering spirits?"

As a Third Magician, Touko was an absolute expert in the field of souls. If she identified the black clouds as such, then something was definitely wrong with this EVA world.

Aoko, though she had memories as a transmigrator, only had the level of detail of having seen the movie—many specifics she didn't actually know.

She didn't answer, but swiftly operated the Mythallar Core, steering the demiplane magic ship through this strange imaginary space.

But this navigation was only movement on a subjective observer level—in this bizarre space, directions were meaningless.

Under Aoko's control, the demiplane magic ship plunged into the massive black cloud of souls. Everyone became alert—Melusine even readied for battle, shielding herself.

Thankfully, these souls had no intention of attacking. They merely passed by, avoiding it as a foreign object.

"What's that?" Artoria, whose intuition was the sharpest, was first to spot the most conspicuous presence in this space through the water mirror and pointed it out immediately.

It was a strange, giant cross.

At the end of its longest shaft, two slightly shorter arms extended at right angles, forming a cross. At the ends of those shorter arms were four even shorter arms, making up a smaller cross.

Aoko's eyes widened slightly as memories of "EVA" info surfaced—she immediately recognized the object.

It was the mysterious "Golgotha Object," called by Gendo Ikari the foundation of all life on Earth in the EVA universe.