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ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 319 Part 1

ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 319: Great Dramatic Runaway (Before and After) Part 1

Prophecies, predictions, premonitions, visions of the future, fortune telling…… No matter what kind of name you decide to give this phenomenon, it is basically more or less the same. It is also something that has been accompanying humanity ever since the ancient times when the first societies emerged in the world. No matter if it is religious or simply out of curiosity, as long as there are human in this world, there will always be the desire to take a glimpse into the future, to see what awaits us there.

Here’s another fun fact: human history has a record of having many people around at different times and eras who claimed to be prophets, fortune-tellers, seers, oracles and all that other jazz. So much of those people, in fact, that you could probably cast them all into a soap opera or any other TV drama. Hell, to tell you the truth, even I would like to have the ability to be able to predict the future if I could only get my hands on something like that.

That being said, there is actually more to being able to see or predict the future than meets the eye. For example, there is more than one kind of predicting the future, but the ones most commonly depicted in video games, movies and literature belong to the “active” kind of future predicting.

Well, future predicting is just like most of the skills that fall under the same category: it can be divided into both “Active” and “Passive”. What’s the difference between the two? It basically lies in the thing you are able to predict and the time when said things are going to take place. But we do not talk about that kind of future prediction that shows you what you are going to do in about five seconds, only for you to fall off a cliff one second later because you got distracted by the prediction itself. No, what the humanity wants is the kind of future predicting that can be activated at any given time and show you the things that are sure to happen.

I know that all of the above may sound overly complicated and it may be just a bunch of gibberish when you hear it for the very first time. However, what I was basically trying to convey here was that……

「……………… Huh?」

Even though the Saint-chan was projecting the aura of a strong-willed character all over the place, she could not help the fact that her cheeks were getting bright red with excitement and astonishment at that very moment. Most probably, the future predicting of the Saint-chan is of the active kind, meaning that her visions of the future do not show her every little detail that is to be known about the future. But her reaction right now was more than understandable. No one would be able to remain calm if they were shown something quite like that for the very first time completely out of the blue. I could feel that it was the same in case of Players of the Sacred Shield’s Territory. They were so astonished that their masks of calm and composed roleplayers were about to all but fall off.

The player that was guiding the Saint-chan points towards something with utmost confidence…… I wonder, just how exactly could I describe this thing? I guess that the word “difficult to measure” would be best fitting in here.

「This here structure is called “Azuchi: Tower of Bones and Skulls”. It has been erected by the order of the President E-Miria upon hearing that the Saint-sama would be gracing us with her presence.」

If I had to describe it in some way, I do believe that the “castle” would be the most suitable description here. But more than a castle that was built for the sake of looking good and being a representative function, it was a fortress that was built with the intention of intercepting and stopping any foreign enemies that might appear here for whatever reason.

And the “skull” in the name of this place? That’s because there were a whole bunch of different skulls and bones spread out all over the outer walls of the fortress, as if it was symbol of it’s might…… or a warning sign for anyone foolish enough who would dare to approach it with ill intentions in their mind. There were also other odd things here, like big open spaces inside of the castle walls, and the castle’s tower was also ominously overlooking the nearby land, giving the onlookers the creeps…… What exactly was the purpose for designing this place in such a way? To show off? Or maybe they want to crucify the Saint and make an example out of her?

「T-This is…… How should even put it……? Umm, this place certainly has a rather… unique design, I suppose?」

She may have remained calmed and composed, but I could see that under that mask of her the Saint was actually starting to sweat quite a lot. No, easy there, easy! It may be one huge misunderstanding here! Maybe it’s that thing, you know! You know what…… Oh yes, culture shock! Maybe that’s the way in which people of this continent tend to build their fortresses! Who said that old and new continents would have the same style of designing things?

According to the rumors that I happened to hear through the grapevine, it seems that this place was quite recently attacked by the monster of a Raid-Boss class and more than half of it was razed to the ground in a matter of moments. So apparently the repairs and strengthening of this place were not just purely technical, but the change of style so that it would resemble demonic fortresses straight out of the Underworld or the Demon World was quite intentional here.

Skull Azuchi Castle. The outer walls of this place were not the only things that were adorned or straight up made out entirely out of bones. The fences all across the castle’s perimeter were made out of bones, and the deep trench surrounding the main fortress that was supposed to be a moat was also equipped with ribs-like bones that were stuck right at the bottom of it, resembling spears. And is that…… a freaking catapult? But there is a chair in place where the stone cradle should normally be. What is the purpose of this thing? What the hell is this!? It was still a mystery, but I would like to know! It is going to keep nagging on me if I won’t know what this thing is supposed to be!!!

「Somehow I get a feeling that this place must have been designed by some twisted artist or architect. It looks like a psychedelic theme park, with the common theme of “Murderous Intent”. At least, that would explain all of the bones and Demonic feeling emanating from this place……」

Yeah, that is easy to understand. I mean…… it was making a whole lot of sense, but…… are you really sure about that? Are you really sure that this is what is happening in this place right about now?