Everyone in the room knew that Elroad had just spoken with the captive, so they guessed he’d learned something very important—such as another wave of intruders being on their way. Shuutarou braced himself, but it turned out to be something completely different.
“It’s about the Prayer of the spirits,” Elroad told him.
“Oh? What did you learn?”
“If I may cut to the chase, it is possible that dispelling the Prayer allows some sort of external entities to flood in.”
“!”
Shuutarou’s heart started pounding.
The one time when he and Elroad tried to break through the Prayer’s barrier, Elroad’s magic had been completely ineffective against it. That led Shuutarou to theorize that the spirit that had cast the Prayer spell had to be defeated to enable further progress. And the spirit was located in the Cerou Underground Labyrinth.
“Did the captive tell you this?” Shuutarou asked.
“He hinted so, yes. If he is to be believed, there is a Prayer barrier in a land past the kingdom he hails from, and behind it, a vast army of monsters awaits.”
A captive’s word should always be treated with suspicion, but making up such a lie would not have benefited this man in any way.
“We need to go…”
Shuutarou looked at the Overlords, his eyes frantic.
“We need to go now! The progression guilds are clearing the Cerou Underground Labyrinth!”
Shuutarou had heard from K that the labyrinth was the latest area reached, but he didn’t know just how far the guilds had gone.
“Awaiting your orders, Master.”
The Evil Overlords knelt before him, ready to serve.
“We’ll all go together!” Shuutarou told them.
Shuutarou exited his castle to an area outside Calloah Castle Town. His minions began appearing next to him one after another— first Elroad, then Vampy, Gallarus, Sylvia, Theodore, Bertrand, and Beorite.
Shuutarou could summon up to five monsters through his leveled-up job, but when he wasn’t worried about being seen by players, he could summon as many as he liked.
“Let’s fly to Cerou together. Elroad, can you take us all with you?” Shuutarou asked.
“Of course.”
Elroad drew a magic circle, lifting everyone into the air, and granted them the ability to fly freely. Shuutarou checked the location of Fort Sandras on his map. Then a thought occurred to him, and he opened a different menu.
“I almost forgot! I’ve gotta tell everyone not to leave the safest towns.”
There was no knowing what sort of enemies they might encounter. Shuutarou figured he should message the players in Allistras, Emaro, Calloah, and Sandras and tell them to stay put. He was counting on his Allistras contacts—Lumia and Candy—and K from Crest’s Calloah branch to have the connections and authority needed to spread the word.
Message sent.
Once Shuutarou received the notification, he began to rise higher into the sky.
“There’s probably little time, so let’s hurry—”
1 message could not be delivered.
Shuutarou froze, surprised. He’d never seen that error before. He checked to see which message had failed to send.
Why did one of them fail while the other ones got sent out okay?
Message Delivery Failure Recipient: K
It was K who didn’t get the group message. Shuutarou decided to contact him separately.
Message sent.
1 message could not be delivered.
The same error message popped up.
For some reason, Shuutarou seemed unable to send messages to K. He’d have to try calling him instead.
The player you are trying to call is currently offline.
Shuutarou’s thoughts momentarily stopped. Offline? In this game, that meant only one thing.
“K must have died…”
Shuutarou forgot all about the monsters he was sending off to fight. He felt his mind going blank as he looked through his friends list for K.
“What…?”
Offline. Shuutarou knew full well what that implied.
He tried calling Shoukichi. He kept telling himself that maybe he misdialed or the signal was too weak.
The player you are trying to call is currently offline.
The player you are trying to call is currently offline.
The player you are trying to call is currently offline.
Vampy noticed Shuutarou was behaving strangely.
“Master…?”
It was as if he couldn’t even hear her.
“No… No, no, no…,” Shuutarou whimpered.
He kept getting that same robotic error. He heard a sound, as if something was shattering inside his head.
“Shh… It’s okay.”
“Nice to meet you, Shuutarou!”
“Shuutarou! Stay close to me! I’ll protect you, even if it costs me my life!”
“I never said that!”
“I was gonna add you to my friends! Let’s do it now!”
“My fortune was ‘Good fortune will come your way’! Everyone gets what they deserve, I guess!”
“I hope so…”
“All right then, kids! You had a day out with Reilan; now it’s my turn!”
“That’ll be amazing.”
“Many people fell victim to that con man, but look at all those other people here who you’ve saved. Be proud of that! You’re a hero!”
Shuutarou was hit with a torrent of memories.
“You’re the same age as me! Lemme add you to my friends!”
“Oh… Ohhhh…”
Shuutarou started plummeting to the ground.
This world had been constantly pushing him to his breaking point, and he’d only been able to keep it together thanks to his Evil Overlords, the residents of Regiuria, and—perhaps most importantly—his friends.
“Master!!”
The Overlords all reacted at once, catching Shuutarou in their arms. They held him as he wailed.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
His young, tender heart was breaking. Strangely, his eyes remained dry even though he felt as if he was falling to the bottom of a dark abyss.
“Master! Master!”
Vampy was calling to him desperately, in tears. Shuutarou’s eyes were open, but there was no light in them. They were vacant. He looked utterly lost and empty—and that sent the Overlords into panic.
“We must return to the castle at once!” Gallarus said.
“No, we must carry out Master’s orders! His compatriots are in danger!” Bertrand insisted.
“You worry about them more than about our master? His safety is paramount!” Vampy yelled.
Beorite shuddered, Sylvia looked down at her feet, Theodore was silent, and Elroad waited patiently for Shuutarou to speak again.
“Vampy. Theodore.”
Shuutarou’s voice was chillingly devoid of emotion. The two Overlords he called knelt down and listened.
Shuutarou’s eyes remained vacant, and his face dispassionate. Only his lips were moving.
“I’d like you two to go to the Cerou Underground Labyrinth. Protect all the players on the front lines. Theodore can fly, so you guys should be able to get there on your own.”
“Understood,” Vampy said with a mixture of emotions on her face.
Theodore silently nodded.
“Gallarus, you go to Allistras,” said Shuutarou. “Bertrand, you stay in Calloah Castle Town. Beorite, you head to Emaro. I want to make sure all our bases are covered in case anything unexpected happens.”
Shuutarou ordered his Overlords to protect not only the frontline fighters but also players in every town. Gallarus, Bertrand, and Beorite silently agreed.
“Elroad and Sylvia, you stay with me,” Shuutarou said, opening his friends list again. His empty eyes fixated on one name.
Kettle Online
He didn’t have the strength to try to think about why only Kettle was still online, but he knew he had to protect her. He shut out all other thoughts so as not to be distracted.
The Overlords whom Shuutarou had appointed to town defense, worried as they were, dutifully headed to their posts. Sylvia began tracking down Kettle, and Elroad gathered the scant bits of information to try to decipher what had happened.
As for Shuutarou…
“When it’s all over, I’d like to…sleep for a bit.”