｢System to Player Announcement
You have informed an NPC from an unmapped continent about Immortal Adventurers. All NPCs will now receive this information by default.｣
As soon as Eva was done, every NPC in the entire Shinoka Continent froze for a split second as if they were dazed, but then shook it off a moment later. Just like Qiong Qi and Roma had been auto-furnished with information after they had escaped the Unique Quest, the same had just happened to the NPCs of the Shinoka Continent.
Eva raised an eyebrow as this was new to her as well. She had concealed her true nature and had used horrific means to get herself back to her homeland as soon as possible in the previous timeline.
In fact, neither she nor Draco had ever entered unmapped continents willingly because they had already been having a tough time going through all the mapped ones.
Anyone with the knowledge of where unmapped lands were, would have explored them for it would be much more thrilling and lucrative than vying for the lands that had already been mapped by other players.
Just imagine if Eva had built a base of her own on Shinoka Continent. Apart from the Gods, who else would know? She could have amassed a great force in secret and then invade the known continents in conquest. Her location would have remained unknown to her victims as they sought to defend against her sudden attacks.
If the known continents of Boundless were a goldmine, then the unmapped continents were platinum mines. Each one promised rare monsters, resources, and techniques/classes never seen before!
Wait, if this was the case, why had those retarded players from the previous timeline been farting about for 15 years? Also, why had the Rank 7 NPCs not gone around discovering that stuff so they could expand their power???
Well, for the former, it had been a case of having a huge bowl of noodles before you that had to be eaten quickly, but instead, you got up from your seat and tried to order a serving of pizza three times the size. With you having a poor appetite, eating the noodles would already have been hard enough.
As for the latter, it was the case of trying to keep a wolf that was howling and snarling at you, while it was doing its best to rip out your jugular at arm's reach while you both were struggling on the ground.
If you're barely able to keep your dog life by using both hands and putting in your full concentration, you suddenly turn your head and use one arm to try and reach the nearby stick.
With one arm, can you prevent the wolf from reaching its goal?
Boundless' mapped land had made up about 5% of the total - or at least that was the playerbase's best estimate - the remainder had been left unmapped. Ironically, continents like that were being spawned by the AI in regular intervals as it absorbed new information or extrapolated new data or scenarios.
However, trying to reach such continents was something harder than climbing to heaven. There were two official ways, through the sea or through the air. As everyone knew, the sea was a no-go given the sheer number of monsters.
Heck, even around mapped continents, the maritime activity had been weak because the concentration was too damn high. Who knew what kind of sea beasts existed in the black areas of the map?
Naturally, some players had taken that risk since they could revive, but 99.9999% of these expeditions had ended in the same outcome. The players had hired/bought/built a ship, had gathered a player crew (because NPCs would never go) only to get swallowed up by a monster.
To revive back where one started, with nothing to show for your efforts, except the horrendous exp loss and a piece of equipment most likely forever lost, because the sea monster that ate you was 300 miles away, was just too brutal.
Realistically, this only left air travel as the reasonable option. It might have been viable... in the old era. At least at that time, they had airsh.i.p.s defended by scores of professional fighters from aerial beasts, not to mention the healthy supply of Aether Crystals to use as fuel for these kinds of long-distance travels, yet in the previous timeline, it would have been impossible.
Now though, one would have to rely on an aerial mount. Even if one could theoretically cross the air with their mount because they were OP, there came the problem of fatigue, navigation, and distance.
One would have to fly non-stop while dealing with the air monsters that would attack without rest. Resting at sea was also impossibly as it only changed the attackers to sea monsters. As for navigation, it was an issue because if you flew blindly hoping to luck out like Christopher Columbus, you would die without a grave 10 times out of 10.
However, distance was probably the biggest issue of them all. If you knew where you were going - like Eva did - it only shortened the journey, but did not make it easier. It had taken Luxia 10 flaps to get from Cario Continent to Shinoka.
At least Shinoka was on the edge of the black area of the map, meaning it had just barely been missed from the known world. If it had been deeper in, Eva would not have easily made this decision.
The reason why Draco had never attempted something like this but Eva did was obvious: Luxia. The Light Phoenix was The Flash of the Skies. One flap could take her anywhere on Cario Continent, 2-3 flaps to go cross-continent, and 5 to reach the edge of the known world.
Where could Eva not go? Not only that, but Luxia was so fast that aerial monsters could not see her, much less get in her way. Since the Light Phoenix subsisted off Light Energy and not food, she would never tire in that sense.
Even if the sun went down, Eva could create the purest Light Energy with her bloodline to feed her. The combination of Luxia and Eva was greatly underrated, and was why Draco was endlessly jealous of his soulmate after she had contracted the Light Phoenix.
Hence, the current development.
Another reason Eva had chosen Shinoka was because she had gained some basic knowledge of the land, as well as some ties/advantages due to her bloodline.
Nobunaga nodded once he had soaked in all the information. He rose to his feet and gazed at Eva solemnly. "I understand everything now. While you might be Amaterasu of a foreign universe, you are still an incarnation of our Goddess. You have the same powers, abilities, and beliefs as her, right?"
Eva smiled. "My powers and abilities are the exact same, though I'm currently slightly weaker. As for my beliefs, Amaterasu and I have our differences, but we chose to compromise because, at the end of the day, we are one and the same."
Nobunaga nodded. The fact that Eva, a different version of Amaterasu, could trigger his apostle powers at will showed that Eva and their Amaterasu were fundamentally the same as well. They might be from a different universe, but they were the same existence.
"If that is the case, then you are no different from our Goddess to us and we shall treat you as such." Nobunaga declared finally.
All others in the room nodded unhesitatingly. Eva found this intriguing, especially since their thoughts showed no falsehood. Nobunaga was no longer as guarded after his suspicions had been cleared.
"Sure, if that's what you want. With that out of the way, I would like you to inform me about the crisis your empire seems to be going through, as well as the predicament your Goddess Amaterasu is currently in that prevents her from helping out." Eva requested calmly.
Nobunaga bowed. "At once, Amaterasu-sama. Please follow me to your shrine so that we can talk."
Eva agreed and followed Nobunaga with the three ladies in tow. The Dragon Guards formed a diamond formation around them to protect these VVIPs and led them to a small shrine near the back of the palace.
It was in a nice and quiet area, with a pleasant ambience that could soothe a lost soul seeking guidance. Eva recognized this aura because it was her own, or well, Amaterasu's.
Full of righteous benevolence and gentle guidance. It would have sickened and annoyed Riveting Night, but it was just like smelling one's own perfume to Eva.
The others displayed pleasant expressions as well, even Roma. Her Ultima Sunt side did not react to the divine aura at all, probably because she recognized Eva as her family.
Eva entered the shrine itself and saw that it was decorated with many praying mats and a small effigy of Amaterasu. It featured the stuck-up bitch- *cough* (Eva had to quickly suppress the angry remnants of Riveting Night who were seething) the benevolent Goddess shining down her light on those who would kneel on the mats.
Nobunaga moved to sit on a praying mat while the Dragon Guards took up protective stances around the group. Eva and co also sat down opposite Nobunaga as he began speaking almost immediately.
"You are new to Shinoka Continent, but our continent is a large place filled with many kingdoms and empires bearing different beliefs, but similar origins. For example, we - the Sun Empire - are the biggest power on this continent and worship Amaterasu Ookami as our national deity."
"There are many other kingdoms that also worship Amaterasu who fall under our jurisdiction like the Light Empire, the Bright Kingdom, the Holy Kingdom, etc. There are also unaffiliated kingdoms that worship other deities such as Izanagi, Izanami, and more."
Nobunaga paused here and Eva could visibly see him grit his teeth. "However, there are two empires that are slightly weaker than us and are treated as a threat. They are the Moon Empire and its affiliates, as well as the Storm Empire and its affiliates."
"The Moon Empire worsh.i.p.s the God Tsukuyomi, the husband-c.u.m-mortal enemy of Amaterasu. The Storm Empire worsh.i.p.s the God Susanoo, a powerful deity with incredible offensive power."
"While we have been at loggerheads with the Moon Empire and its ilk for as long as I can remember, the Storm Empire has largely remained neutral in our conflict, occasionally even assisting us."
"After all, despite all three deities being siblings, Amaterasu has always had a closer relationship with her brother than Tsukuyomi. However, Susanoo recently angered Amaterasu greatly by… um…"
Nobunaga looked constipated at this point, not sure if he should dare to continue. The Dragon Guards noticeably shuffled away, making Eva frown as she guessed what Nobunaga would say next.
"He… defecated in the Divine Palace… and also injured Amaterasu… as the explosion from his excrement blasted her in the face… and left a scar…"
Nobunaga's face was red from exertion, like saying these lines alone had drained all his energy. Zaine, Hikari, and Roma were dazed by this revelation and Eva facepalmed.
It seemed the mythology here was similar to earth, only slightly more detailed. This should not be too surprising as the AI had made no secret about using Earth's culture when designing more and more content.
According to Earth's mythology, Amaterasu had been so angry she locked herself in the cave of heaven and denied the world sunlight, plunging it into eternal darkness.
In the myths, the other Japanese Gods had come to beg Amaterasu to calm down and bring back light, but she had refused. Eventually, they had convinced Ame-no-Uzume, a s.e.xy Goddess of the Arts, to dance e.r.o.t.i.cally to lure Amaterasu out.
Unable to resist checking it out, Amaterasu peeked out and was promptly captured by the Strength God. The various deities then begged her endlessly until Amaterasu relented and brought light back to the world.
Of course, those myths were skewed, yet they originated from a real occurrence. The truth was that Amaterasu had indeed locked herself up in her Abyssal Realm and had refused to come out because Pangu tried to trick her into becoming his woman yet again. The other 8 Original humans had been at a loss of what to do, and Pangu coughed with shame as he had pleaded Lucifer to get Amaterasu out.
Lucifer, a vindictive bastard like Draco, had seen his chance for revenge and took it. He had forced the only other female human, Morrigan, Goddess of War and S.e.x, to dance e.r.o.t.i.cally in front of the entrance to Amaterasu's world.
Morrigan had been madly in love with Pangu, who only had eyes for Amaterasu. Still, she had been that noisy and annoying bitch type of woman who endlessly pestered the duo and assisted Pangu in any way possible.
So, Lucifer took revenge on both of them at the same time by making Morrigan dance lewdly in front of a group of males including the one she loved. Pangu had no ground to refuse letting his right-hand woman do something this shameful.
Amaterasu, unable to believe Lucifer had managed to convince that annoying bitch to dance like a s.l.u.t, had peeked out of her realm and had begun laughing in a high-pitched tone while pointing her finger, intending to increase Morrigan's shame.
Well, even a righteous and benevolent goddess like Amaterasu could be cruel at times as well. At that time, Lucifer had quickly captured her and had soothed his babe with endless sweet nothings and plenty of promises to calm down her anger.
Pangu had watched on with gritted teeth, shame, and anger roaring through his heart and soul, yet he had been forced to thank Lucifer for his well-executed plan.