In the pale moonlight above clouds, Rukhkh Mountain's peak rose from the wasteland like Ball's Pyramid rose from the Pacific Ocean – a giant, elongated pyramidal spike on a vast shrub-steppe, stabbing the clouds like an ice pick.

Rukhkh was a mountain dungeon with a large cave fortress at the bottom and a smaller cave temple at the top. The rest of the mountain was a labyrinth with all its cavities full of Caliph's slaves and soldiers.

And just as planned, instead of fighting through the labyrinth tunnels inside, or climbing the cold and slippery mountain face outside, we bypassed the whole dungeon with our reconstructed airship.

One good thing about this world compared to the game was that there was no Random Physics Generator. The physics engine of Mu-Ur sometimes had a habit of going wild and producing undesirable effects. These physics engine bugs affected especially flying vehicles.

On our first test flight outside Starfish Mansion I was positively surprised when I realized there was no need to compensate against wind as much as in the game because sudden 180 degree airship flips were impossible in this world. Glitches didn't work, so obviously random airship flipout bugs didn't happen either.

In other words, flying a real rigid airship was easier than in the game.

When we got closer to the top of the Rukhkh Mountain, everyone saw that the top was actually split in half: one peak was sharp, the other peak blunt. The flat part barely touched the clouds, while the sharp part disappeared above the clouds.

The flat top was Rukhkh-bird's nest, our landing destination.

I placed the compass card back to my belt after holding it in my hand all the way here from Starfish Mansion. The marker I left during Wineep mission guided us to Rukhkh safely through darkness.

When I looked down at the tiny flickering lights at the base of the mountain, I could see a large, dark patch; the massive entrance into the gigantic cave where Strangers had built a star fort that was even bigger than the star fort at Pier City.

Rukhkh Fortress, an unconquerable ghost castle, was basically Caliph Tze's winter cottage, and his winter chore was to collect the Rukhkh-bird's egg.

In the anime, the top of the Rukhkh Mountain was only seen in Rainwoman's flashback episode. She climbed the mountain with Mirim and tried to stop Caliph from breaking the egg, but failed. At that point in the timeline, the ground was already under heavy snow and ice.

The temperature card on my belt showed that it was below zero now, but there was not much snow yet. The main snowfall should start after Caliph Tze settles in the cave temple under the nest.

However, Rain was with us.

It would snow sooner. It would snow harder.

The airship was faster than Rain's cursed clouds, so there was a good delay effect, but the clouds always caught up when she stopped.

This was good news, but potentially bad news as well.

Rukhkh Fortress was on the ground level of the mountain dungeon, so heavy snowfall outside the cave meant that Caliph's army would have a hard time marching out when snow piles up on the entrance. In other words, Caliph's troops would have a slower response time on that front.

On the other hand, there was the potential danger that Caliph might realize something is wrong with the weather. Random blizzards were not uncommon in the Rukhkh area, and Caliph had never tested Rain's rain curse in winter conditions, but he might realize the connection between unusual rain and unusual snow.

Then again, Winter Forest area was right next door, so Caliph should be aware that unexpected events are expected.

But then again, Rain should stay calm and avoid creating any lightning effects. If Caliph receives a report about thundersnow, he might really make the connection – without a doubt, the news about the fall of Bone Dune Station have reached Caliph's ears already. He just doesn't have the luxury to do much about it yet.

“It's going to snow soon.”

“Now?” (Kimono)

“Not now, but soon. All this black in the area will be under white.”

“You can shut up about it, we won't be here that long.” (Kimono)

“Well sorry for giving an accurate long-term weather report... Rain, remember to stay calm, we don't want lightning to strike our little gas-filled ship.”

“Yeah, yeah...” (Rain)

“Seriously now, Rain. If we lose the airship, we have to fight our way down through the dungeon and the fortress would–”

“I am calm. I will stay calm. Your constant nagging is what makes me lose my calm.” (Rain)

“Sorry.”

I was excited and afraid. A long run was nearing its end. Failing at this point for some random reason like bad weather would be nauseating.

All I could do to calm myself was to concentrate on thinking this like a game.

It's a routine final boss level run. No biggie. Final boss is just a small speed bump.

Run with your spine, not with your mind. It's always the run you don't think too much that ends up becoming your personal best.

“Big brother Speedrun, what are you thinking?” (Mirim)

“Um, all the important stuff, of course. Caliph Tze ascends to the cave temple near the top of the mountain before Rukhkh-bird spawns and lives there like an ascetic monk while preparing for the immortality egg... We can spam dynamite on the temple cave entrance, block it and trap Caliph in the temple, and prevent reinforcements from rushing in, and deal with Caliph with ranged attacks. We should also snap some geo-objects on the cliff ledge to block the path to the nest, just in case. Also, Dancer stays at the top and gets ready to boogie, if the dynamite fails and we fail... And Rain, please don't go into melee berserk mode, focus on control.”

“You've repeated the plan several times already!” (Rain)

“Just commentating live to make sure everyone keeps up. What doesn't fail you makes you stranger, or what was that old saying again...”

“Strangers are gone. They are failures already.” (Rain)

“Well, that's one way to look at it. We don't want to disappear the same way Strangers disappeared, right?”

“Block the exits and fill the cave with poison gas and fire.” (Crys)

“We already agreed to make that plan C for Crys. Caliph might cut himself out of the cave with Starcutter through the flames and rocks, and he wears the silver mask, and might even be immune to mustard gas. If we break his fingers and his weapon first, then yes, burn all the air in the cavern, or bring the roof down. Kill it with fire to be absolutely sure, if dynamite doesn't do it.”

“You are overestimating Caliph, Speedrun. He is still a mortal man.” (Crys)

“I'm taking the safest strats here because I've only experienced the immortal version of Tze before. Don't horse around, especially you there, mister Sorry Man.”

I pointed at Sorry Man, who was sitting at the back of the gondola without any worries like always. I had warned Rain that she should be ready to stop Sorry Man, if he tries to do something unexpected, like jump off the gondola or walk straight to the salvo when Caliph appears.

Mirim kept her mechanical eye on the flickering lights of the guard towers far below us, just in case. At night, at this height, the chances of the guards noticing us was practically zero, and no one expected an airship in the first place, but like I said... safety.

Just then, I finally saw the nest bowl at the top of the mountain in full view, surrounded by faint blue glow of the self-luminous crystals.

“Dancer, can you see the blue glow? Head towards that.”

“Aye aye, captain Speedy!” (Dancer)

---

Plan A: Spam dynamite and bullets until Caliph is dead.

Plan B: Pull back from the temple and forestall Caliph by destroying the path to the nest.

Plan C: Poison gas attack by Crys.

Plan D: Dancer hits the dance floor.

Plan E: Trigger Mirim's transformation and give battle drugs to Rain.

Plan F: Get to da Graf Zeppelin and convince the bros to attack Caliph later.

Plan G: ...Gee, what am I going to do if none of that works?

---

After our gondola landed smoothly on the flat mountaintop next to the Rukhkh's nest, Kimono and Dancer started immediately moving the prepped dynamite packages out.

My first was side mission was to check the actual bird's nest with Crys and confirm that there was no signs of a Rukhkh egg yet.

The nest was basically just a large bowl of glowing blue crystals. Rukhkh-bird carried these crystals from its homeworld (the summoning painting at Raft Island) and dropped them down at the mountaintop from high above. The crystals shattered against rocks and started slowly growing outwards into a concave circular shape like weeds.

“Why blue crystals?” (Crys)

“Why male models? It's something Rukhkh-bird needs as building material for its nest. The glow serves as, like, natural runway lights, I guess, when it finally decides to drop the egg. The crystals themselves are too hard, they would break the egg, so Rukhkh-bird waits until the nest is covered in soft snow, and then drops the egg in the middle of the bowl, aiming for the ring of blue light filtered through snow... Well, for us humans, it's just nice ambient visual effects.”

“You said the bird can't touch the ground. What happens if it does?” (Crys)

“The bird eternally flying rots into particles and disappears if it touches the dirt of the land. That's the lore.”

“What if the egg hatches? A new eternally flying bird is born?” (Crys)

“Well... yeah, but it's the same bird. It's some kind of eternal time loop cycle of giving birth to yourself.”

Rukhkh-bird's and Rainwoman's time loop shenanigans were similar in that aspect. Rainwoman died when she gave birth and her daughter became the Rain Girl that was found from the sarcophagus machine.

If you think about it too much, you lose.

Mirim walked up to the nest and picked up a small crystal shard. It quickly lost its glow in her hand and turned into dark blue stone. Sadface.

“It's a shame, but they don't function as souvenirs. There needs to be a certain critical amount of crystals together until the glow reaction gets going.”

“I see...” (Mirim)

“Form follows function, but form also restricts changing the function. That's the wisdom of the ages, or at least that's what arbaito-sensei said during the one week introduction to architecture course...”

“Big brother, is that wisdom something I should remember?” (Mirim)

“No, it's nothing. Well, saving all my trivial knowledge for the future generations in your machine head is a nice idea in general, but concentrate on the mission now. Remember to shoot Caliph's weapon first. Aim for the buttons and levers on the side of the Starcutter. If you can't get a clear shot, shoot the fingers of his right hand.”

“Yes, big brother, you've said that hundred times already.” (Mirim)

“And if everything goes wrong and he attacks–”

“Hit the floor, because horizontal scythe shape is Caliph's first attack pattern.” (Mirim)

“Right, exactly.”

I'm mostly worried about Mirim here because Caliph's both first attacks landed on Mirim in the anime. The first attack killed her, triggering her undead automaton resurrection, and the second attack launched her body all the way to the White Forest. And then, in the final battle at Reignland, Caliph's first attack landed on Mirim again, slicing about third of her machine skull away and leaving her head permanently disfigured.

We don't want Mirim to transform into magical robogirl yet.

“Okay, are we done with unpacking? Let's head down to the cave temple. Follow the path down the ledge and stay close to the wall. I don't want anyone to get blown down from the ledge by a sudden gust of wind.”

Descending the steep steps of the ledge path with dynamite was one of the most nerve-wrecking parts of this mission for me.

I was again reminded about the walkways of Mount Hua in China, and the misleadingly titled classic thriller film Sorcerer. There wasn't any magic or wizards in that film; it was a straightforward story about driving a dynamite truck through a dangerous jungle in a rainstorm.

I hope this is the last time I have to take such an immense risk of potentially massive damage.

---

The onsen-style cave temple inside the mountain was empty and silent, but light pillars similar to the ones in Uwaga Dungeon created gentle ambient light.

The temple looked like it was built for humans and by humans. It had probably stood here hidden from the world long before Strangers first appeared. Like many things in Mu-Ur world, it was a hybrid design with conflicting elements – it was supposed to be a secluded monastery for ascetic monks worshiping the Rukhkh-bird or something, but it actually looked more like an exotic vacation spot for foreign tourists.

Four terraced floors made of stone and wood, murky volcanic water boiling in circular ponds and metal pipes directing the boiling water to baths of colder water.

Crys brushed dust off of a stone lantern with his glove. It hadn't been used for a long, long time.

“Fan out. Kimono, check every corner of this temple and kill everyone you find. Lady Rain, watch the tunnel and catch anyone who tries to escape down to the dungeon. Dancer, stay here and watch the ledge path.” (Crys)

“Yes, brother.” (Kimono)

“Yes, boss.” (Dancer)

“...There's no one here.” (Rain)

“Probably not, but we still have to make sure. Rain and Mirim, I'll go with you.”

We had ample time to work on our explosive surprises for Caliph Tze and enough supplies in the airship for two weeks in case Caliph decides to deviate from the script.

But I had a strong feeling we wouldn't have to wait for long.

And what do you know? I was right.