“You’re not invincible, Karan. Nick will blame himself if you die,” Diamond replied. “Do you expect that to happen?” Karan asked with a smile. It wasn’t a vicious, beastlike smile, nor was it a show of courage. It was the smile of an adult who had been hurt, bounced back, tempered herself, ceased being a lost child, and found love. “You’ve become a true adventurer. You have the strength to protect people. I think you have what it takes to beat an S-rank one day,” Diamond said. “Hmm-hmm, you bet I do,” Karan replied. “But lying and conspiring to protect the one you love is a thorny path, whether you’re a person or a holy sword… Strength does nothing to ease the pain in your heart.” “Yes… I actually think being strong makes it harder,” Karan said. She was sure Diamond experienced that pain as well. Diamond accepted her kindness without comment. “You have my support. As long as you retain the intention of protecting the person you love, that won’t change.” Diamond hugged Karan softly and affectionately. Garos’s fighting style was to find and take advantage of blind spots. When fighting monsters, he danced around them, hid, used his allies as decoys, and then landed the killing blow when the monster lost track of him. He couldn’t rely on strength, and even if he could, he wouldn’t. He was bad at math and wasn’t one to save money, but he was very calculating in combat. He was crafty, able to read one or two steps ahead and adjust based on what his opponent thought he would do. Garos used his typical careful thought process to choose the end of the concert as his time to strike. His job this time wasn’t an assassination. It was sabotage. His directive was to destroy the jewel-like pillar shining at the back of the stage. Garos didn’t have much interest in what it was or why it needed to be destroyed. He knew the gist, but he didn’t understand the details of how it worked. He also didn’t care about the feelings of his client who thought the stone was a threat or of the idol who was trying to protect it. He was, however, scared of his client. He used ancient relics and stopped at nothing to accomplish his goals, and he treated allies as expendable. Garos had already gotten the holy armor destroyed and lost all the information stored within it; if he failed again, he would suffer a fate worse than death. What happened to Eishu would look like a mercy by comparison. But at this moment, he had forgotten his fear. He wouldn’t be able to work as an assassin if he couldn’t put aside those kinds of feelings. Garos’s mother had been a prostitute, and he didn’t know who his father was. He didn’t think his mother was entirely sane. She had claimed she was a member of the royal family of Nozomi and made Garos hone his swordplay so he could help revive the country, and he had obeyed her while knowing that her story was a delusion. He wielded his sword recklessly, with no idea of what he was doing. Eventually, one of his mother’s customers, a mercenary, decided he couldn’t stand to watch Garos any longer and taught him how to fight properly. The man gradually paid his mother enough money to get out of prostitution, and the three of them started to live together as a family. Before long, Garos came to call the mercenary his father. His new father was a reliable teacher, but one day he was heavily injured on a job and forced to retire. Garos’s mother took care of him, but he fell into alcoholism and grew violent with his family. Garos was eventually able to overpower him and chase him out of their home. After that, his mother began taking customers again to provide for him. Garos picked up the katana his father had left behind and used it to protect her from stingy customers and debt collectors. Outlaws and juvenile delinquents came to fear him as a monster, which changed how people in the area treated them. Even Garos’s mother grew to fear him. The debt collectors changed their tune and praised him for his skill, and eventually, a mercenary group recruited him. Garos left home and never returned. His sharp skill and taciturn nature led the mercenary group to entrust him with secret jobs to kill traitors and people who had violated military regulations. Eventually, however, he was roped into a conflict between factions in the army, with multiple superiors giving him conflicting orders to kill or not kill certain targets. Garos grew tired of thinking and decided to just kill them all, which put him in a dicey position with the army. However, the skill with which he operated and the businesslike approach he took to killing caught the attention of his current employer. He was suddenly ruled innocent of the crimes he was being investigated for, and his new employer gave him holy armor and made him one of his personal assassins. The holy armor housed a personality. He was belligerent with little interest in anything other than fighting, which made him compatible with Garos. His name was White Mask, and the two forged a partnership that ended dozens of lives. One day, his employer told him there wouldn’t be any work for a while and ordered him to lie low as an adventurer. He and other people he had never seen before who worked for the same employer were put together to form an adventurers’ party. They had all ended up in this trade due to special circumstances. The leader’s name was Argus, and the others became his pupils and fellow Combat Masters party members. Garos was surprised to find that these fellow assassins were people who had made a name for themselves in the war, but it wasn’t a problem. He was happy to learn from Argus’s skill set, and he was allowed to live as he wished. A couple of unexpected factors ended up complicating matters. First, Garos started to enjoy himself. He had always been a stoic person when not on a battlefield or performing an assassination job, and the pleasures of Labyrinth City proved far more stimulating than he could have imagined. It was also then that he realized just how crudely he had been living. Next, Argus adopted a boy. He was the son of a couple assassination targets. Garos thought that the work must have finally driven Argus insane; what else would drive him to do such a thing? He also thought their employer would kill the man if he found out what he did…but unexpectedly, the choice went unpunished. Their employer actually seemed delighted to have placed Argus in his debt. Garos and his new party members continued working as adventurers for a number of years. He spent his time delving into labyrinths, killing monsters, making money, drinking booze, having fun, training, and teaching the boy. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but over time, he shed his quiet persona for a much more talkative one. Argus taught the kid how to fight properly, so Garos taught him other things. Use your surroundings when fighting on the street. Don’t use joint locks when fighting multiple opponents. Joint locks are effective on people used to fighting on the battlefield or as guards. Always look ahead before rounding a corner or going through a door. The kid listened to Garos, but he spent just as much time talking back. He berated Garos for not saving money, for giving gifts to women he wasn’t close to, and for drinking too much booze. Garos ignored his complaints and continued to live his indulgent, slovenly lifestyle, still teaching the kid almost on a whim. Those weren’t bad days at all. He realized twenty years too late that he probably should have berated his father in a similar way. When the kid eventually grew up, rebelled, and was kicked out of the party, Garos felt a sense of accomplishment, like he had completed a big job. The kid didn’t belong in a party like theirs. After the kid was cut loose, he began to distinguish himself. He even came to wield some kind of strange ancient relic and destroyed Garos’s holy armor—utterly defeating White Mask and, by extension, Garos himself. Garos felt no regret over the incident. Far from it, actually—he found it exhilarating. White Mask took their work seriously, but he was growing tired of his second life, and he occasionally voiced a desire to face a worthy opponent with all he had. He said if he died on such an occasion, it would be long overdue. Garos smiled afterward, proud that his own pupil had delivered his pain-in-the-ass partner such a fitting end. It was also true that the defeat placed his life in peril, however. His employer responded by giving him what was essentially a suicide mission. His orders were to obstruct the plan of an idol agency that—for reasons he didn’t understand—was working with the lord of Labyrinth City to strengthen the demon god’s seal. It was obvious he would die if he failed, and even if he succeeded, the hope of survival was slim. But Garos didn’t really care. His partner had ceased to function and left this world without regret. Garos had even felt the satisfaction of raising a pupil, and he had sensed for some time that he didn’t have long left to live. Once this job was over, he was going to be either killed by his pupil or silenced by his employer. That was his last thought before he woke up. Garos had actually snuck into the venue a week ago. He had slipped past Diamond’s surveillance network, the eyes of Nick and his companions, and the magic items that had been installed for detection, doing so with a special spell of his that allowed him to weaken his body significantly. The spell, called Dormancy, was an advanced version of Light Body. It did more than just reduce one’s weight; it also repressed one’s breathing, pulse, body temperature, mana waves, and all other life signs down to their lowest extremes, placing the target into a state of apparent death. This made Garos less detectable than a sewer rat as he snuck into the venue unnoticed, dislocated his joints, and crammed himself into a piece of audio equipment no one should have been able to fit inside. He had been hiding there ever since. Using that spell was a gamble. Even a child could kill him in his current state, and he needed close to an hour to deactivate Dormancy and fully reawaken. But if everything went according to plan, nothing would get in the way of him destroying his target. Garos had completed many infiltration and assassination missions with such gambles. He also performed many jobs by relying on the strength of his holy armor, but this was his true style. Garos woke up at the intended time before the concert, left the storehouse, and climbed onto the lighting equipment above the stage to wait for the right moment. He could see how idols could captivate so many people as he watched their radiant singing and dancing from above. He also found it amusing that Nick—who always used to have a bit of a stick up his ass—had become obsessed with them. Garos had decided it was time to settle things with Nick. He spread morsels of information for him to find, half as an apology for deceiving him all these years and half to lure him here. If Nick was fixated on Garos, if he bore a grudge toward him, he would finish off Eishu quickly and show up here. It was possible he had already figured out Garos’s plan and was lying in wait. Garos listened to the concert as he waited. He noticed guards around the stage as the idols sang and danced amid all the flashy stage production. There were people stationed on the wings of the stage and below it, and one of Nick’s companions had even dressed as an idol so she could walk among them on the stage. He laughed to himself, amazed they had gone that far. The final song—called Undying Love Song—came to an end. In a rare moment for Garos, he thought it was a good song. The wistful lyrics lamented the end of the speaker’s youth and the discovery that it really wouldn’t last forever. He could relate. The curtain lowered as the crowd roared. Nick’s companion who had dressed like an idol was nowhere in sight. The guards around the stage had lost focus. Diamond was exhausted and taking a short rest in the middle of the stage. This was his best chance. Garos leaped down toward the holy jewel and swung his blade with all his might. But something blocked his sword. “What?!” he gasped. He heard the unpleasant sound of metal scraping against metal. “Wha…? Where are you?!” Garos was stunned. It felt like he was pushing his blade against a greatsword, but there shouldn’t have been anyone on the stage with such a weapon. He had checked multiple times to see if there were any guards onstage, and the one with a greatsword had left during the show. It was as if his very senses were being deceived. That was when he realized the trick. “Karan of the Survivors! It’s you, isn’t it?!” he shouted. Karan appeared before Garos. Karan had spent the beginning of the concert on the wings of the stage, watching for trouble or helping to move around the set as a stagehand, but after a certain point in the show, she had never left the stage. She stood in a position where fans couldn’t see her, picked up her sword, and waited silently. Neither Garos nor the idols noticed her there. She’d pulled this off by using a magic item that prevented others from perceiving her. It was a phantom king orb fragment, and as long as she held it, she was as good as invisible. The fragment was one of the things Nargava had left behind in the Garbage Heap when he died. Zem had found one of them when sorting through Nargava’s room and secretly taken it. Karan put the small fragment to use. “Dream Sword! Shine your light!” Garos yelled, and his blade released a flash of light. He expected the idols helping to dismantle the stage after the curtain was lowered to scream, but they didn’t. Most of them had already backed away and were watching anxiously. As Garos wondered what was going on, Karan sprinted toward him, ignoring the light completely. “Heh, you’re a brave girl…!” he said. “Shut up.” She raised her sword overhead to swing it down at Garos. That was the perfect chance for him to perform his most deadly attack. The Butterfly Sword’s Dream Sword function used light and sound to dazzle opponents. Technically, however, that was the ability of the Butterfly Sword’s scabbard. The true ability of the blade was that of the Reality Sword, which allowed the user to spawn a slash attack wherever they wanted within a short distance. Garos had successfully killed many assassination targets by using this ability to slice them in the back or behead them. He created the slash behind Karan’s neck, as he had done countless times before. “What?!” But Karan wasn’t beheaded; instead, she punched Garos so hard he went flying backward across the stage. When she had lifted her Dragonbone Sword, she had let go. The sword stuck into the wooden planks and protected her back like a shield, which blocked the slash and allowed her to punch him. “H-how…?” Garos stammered. “Intuition,” Karan said. Her opponent had no idea how to respond to that. The truth wasn’t quite so simple. Karan had used what Nick told her and the reports about Eishu’s death and the other similar murders to form a concrete image of Garos in her mind. She mentally fought this image many times, getting killed over and over again until she finally found a way to win. “You’re lying,” Garos said. Karan’s superior imagination had helped her win. Garos had been knocked out of the Reality Sword’s range, so he couldn’t perform another attack. He was also injured too badly to stand. Karan was far stronger than the average soldier, and she had grown since joining the Survivors by studying Nick and incorporating a number of his moves. She imitated the technique he used to knock Leon off his feet despite his smaller build, and the defensive techniques he used to best Nargava. “Good job, Karan,” Diamond said. “Don’t let your guard down. Put the jewel away now. You’re naked with it up here, right?” Karan urged. “I wish I could, but moving it will be difficult because of all the mana it absorbed during the concert. We have to handle it carefully. So…” Diamond glanced at Garos. “You’re going to tell us everything, Garos. Let’s start with your employer.” Garos had lost consciousness and begun to mutter to himself as they spoke, but hearing his name snapped him back awake. He took a deep breath. “Heh… You overestimate me.” “What?” Diamond said. “I’m not nearly important enough…to know anything about him… I couldn’t care less anyway… I just thought I might die with less regret if I killed Nick or he killed me… But I didn’t get that chance…,” Garos muttered. Diamond clicked her tongue, openly displeased. “He’s telling the truth,” she said. “Man, you’re terrifying… Bet you could just hear it in my voice…” “You’re going to give me the information I want whether you answer or not. Your reaction will answer yes or no for you. You can’t hide anything in that state.” “Like I care… You’re ’bout to find out anyway.” Garos smiled, bearing the pain. Diamond went pale when she realized what he was going to do. “No! Don’t use Telepathy here!” she shouted. “Grah…! Hey… I found the location and the enemy… The rest…is up to you!” Garos conveyed. “Pop Song is inhibiting telepathic communication on this stage! You’ll die!” Garos suddenly began writhing in pain. His face turned black and blue, and blood trickled from his ears. “Your enemy…is the idol, Diamond… She’s prolly a holy sword…just like you…” Garos didn’t make a sound, but Karan heard his crackling voice in her head. She started to worry, but for a different reason than Diamond. “He can use Telepathy without a telepathy orb?” she said. That meant Garos was doing the same thing as the Survivors. Just who was he speaking to? As if in answer, a small door opened in Garos’s body. “Wh-wha—?! Th-the hell’re you doing?! Ngh!” Garos cried. This door was not a gateway to Garos’s insides; instead, it connected to a different place entirely. “You sacrificed one of your wielders to breach our barrier. To think you’d stoop this low…,” Diamond said. “I could say the same to you… I didn’t want to believe it, but that radiance is unmistakable… You look nothing like your old cruel and beautiful self. I never wanted to see you take the form of a flesh-and-blood human.” The voice filtering through the door filled Karan with spine-chilling fear and a strange sense of nostalgia. “Get lost. This place isn’t meant for your eyes,” Diamond demanded. “I’ll leave once my business is done. I see you’re not my only old acquaintance here,” the voice said. The eye in the darkness rested on Karan. That eye—that voice—touched the deep scars in her heart. “No… Are you…?!” “I let you live on purpose, but it looks like you’ve grown a little since then. I can’t say I ever expected our final farewell to be anything like this.” “Callios!” “Curse Stake.” An arm reached through the hole in Garos’s body. It looked like the ordinary arm of a fair-skinned man, but it was so rich with wicked mana that it frightened even Karan, who couldn’t use magic at all. The mana condensed and formed a kind of stake in his hand. It was made of pure, smooth iron, but the holder’s mana quickly contaminated it with rust. To Karan, the rust resembled insects that were colored to warn predators of their poison. “Dodge it, Karan! You can’t fight him!” Diamond yelled. It was only when Diamond spoke that Karan realized she was holding her sword in a defensive position. It was also then that she realized she had no intention of backing down. Disaster struck with a thunderous boom. After handing Eishu to the Sun Knights, Nick and the others started toward the venue to find Diamond in her waiting room. A massive explosion from the direction of the stage rocked the ground on their way back. The fans leaving the venue were spooked by the sound. They hounded nearby staff members for an explanation, but they knew just as little as anyone else. Agate’s voice sounded throughout the venue to answer everyone’s questions. “An equipment malfunction caused a small explosion. A security guard was injured, but their life is not in danger. No idols or fans were hurt. I ask that all fans please leave the venue as quickly as possible so a damage investigation can be performed. All shops in the venue are closed as of right now. I apologize for any inconvenience.” Her calm voice rippled through the uneasy crowd. Some fans complained about the stores being closed, but there was no panic. Nick and his fellow Survivors, however, felt a sense of dread. They knew what the announcement meant. “Let’s hurry!” Nick urged. They ran toward the stage, doing their best to fight through their exhaustion. They barely had any energy left. Zem and Bond—who had performed two Unions—appeared ready to collapse. “These two can’t keep up! Go ahead, Nick!” Tiana shouted. “Thanks!” Nick called back. Nick was the most worn out of them all, but he was in the best physical shape, so his body held on. The scene he found on the stage immediately pushed his fatigue from his mind. “Wh-what…happened here?” he asked, studying his surroundings. “I’m sorry. I failed,” Diamond responded without looking up. She was sitting next to a person who appeared to be unconscious. A ring of idols stood around them, chanting something. Their shadows hid the person on the ground, but it was obvious who it was. The Dragonbone Sword was on the stage in two pieces. A rusty stake had pierced the holy jewel, sending cracks out from the center. Garos was dead, with a giant hole bored into his body. Nick couldn’t possibly understand what had happened at a glance. But he did know one thing—they had failed to defend their target. “Karan! Hey, Karan! What happened!” Nick shouted. “I don’t think she’ll wake up for a while. Her wound isn’t that deep…but it’s cursed. The assailant sacrificed Garos’s life to permanently injure my main body and Karan,” Diamond answered. Nick didn’t understand a word of what she said, but he swallowed his anger and kept his voice calm. “Will Karan…survive?” “Yes. There’s no need to worry. Our emergency treatment worked.” “Garos is dead, right?” “Yeah. His employer sacrificed him.” Nick gritted his teeth in response. He held back the fury that threatened to explode from within him, schooled his face into a neutral expression, and faced Diamond. “Are you gonna be okay? Your main body was cracked,” he asked. “My plan is ruined,” she answered. “I’m asking if your life is in danger.” Diamond smiled sadly. “You’re a nice person. Karan minimized the damage by standing in the way of the attack. I call that my main body, but my consciousness—or soul, or whatever you want to call it—has been transferred into this body.” “You said Karan’s emergency treatment worked. Will she be okay after that?” Nick asked. Diamond’s expression darkened. “She’ll be able to live her days in relative comfort. But the curse is dense. You should assume she won’t be able to continue living her current life.” “Tell me what the effects will be.” “Her stamina and mana will greatly decline. She may suffer from impaired coordination as well.” “What does that mean for her?” Nick stepped so close to Diamond, he could feel her breath. The others watched anxiously, unable to stop him. “She will no longer be able to work as an adventurer,” Diamond said, clenching her fists tightly. “How do we cure her?” Nick asked. He was fighting to stay calm now. While his speech sounded dispassionate, his rage slipped into his expression. “Curses are difficult… The most reliable cure is to get the person who inflicted it to dispel it,” Diamond said. “THEN WHO DID THIS TO HER, AND WHERE ARE THEY?!” Nick suddenly roared as the dam was broken. The surrounding idols shrank away from him. “Tell me, Diamond. Why’d this have to happen to her?” “Well…” “I’d have no complaints if this had happened to me. I’m sure Garos was prepared for his fate, too. But Karan has a whole future ahead of her. Her road can’t end here. She deserves to be happy. Why wasn’t I able to protect her?” “That’s enough!” Diamond yelled, grabbing Nick’s collar with a strength he couldn’t believe came from her slender body. “Don’t get the wrong idea, child. Karan chose to fight of her own free will. She’s a true adventurer. I won’t let you insult her any further.” “Shut up! Do you have any idea how much Karan has suffered?!” “You noticed that and still chose to believe in her. You saw her potential. You knew that she was the real thing.” “Then what can I do? How do I heal her?!” “Persuading him to dispel the curse will be impossible… The only choice will be to defeat him and weaken the curse.” “You know who cursed her.”
Chapter 75
22 min read