Chapter 147

“Wait—are you okay, Sahana? Stop doing that every single time, Opus…” Some shocked onlookers started criticizing Opus’s behavior. They couldn’t believe he did this every time and gazed with compassion as Cayna helped the woman back up. After brushing away the dust and tears, Sahana squeezed her tightly. Anyone would assume this was a reunion between sisters, though it was Sahana who appeared older. “Spirale, I’ve got someone perfect for the rearguard,” said Cayna, still in her little sister’s arms. “She’s from the high elf community, right? We should be fine now.” Sahana was a former member of the high elf community. Tall, with raven hair and eyes, she specialized in Assistance Magic. Back in their community days, Sahana devoted herself to Cayna to a troublesome degree and, at level 850, was a force to be reckoned with. At the game’s height, she and five others—each an average of level 800—formed one of the most outstanding and influential rearguard units in all of Leadale. The threat their support-only group posed was entirely unprecedented. After a moment, Spirale explained the situation and party ratio to Sahana, and she gladly agreed to aid the vanguard. Everything went so well it was almost disappointing. “Didn’t think she’d say ‘yes’ right off the bat…” “I wouldn’t dare cause Cayna any trouble! I’m prepared to give this everything I’ve got!” “This ain’t the time for exaggeration. You must be outta your mind.” “We’re not here to get carried away and burn the place to the ground.” “Goodness, don’t assume I would ever disgrace my big sister.” “Don’t get that look in your eye! You’re not here for some sisterly skill slinging!” Various players found Sahana’s ardent dedication a bit disturbing. “W-well, anything can happen. Just be careful, all right?” Cayna cautioned. “If you get overwhelmed at all, it’s okay to leave the vanguard.” “Yes! I understand, Sissy!” “I have my doubts…,” Opus muttered. “I don’t want to hear that from you,” Sahana replied with a murderous glare. Opus was relieved to see this reunion didn’t leave Sahana in blind ecstasy. Then, Siren approached and bowed politely. “These appear to be the last for now.” “Right,” replied Opus. “Good work.” “Wait, what?” said Cayna. She stared in wonder at one of the four newcomers directly behind Siren: a demon in knight’s armor. A well-armed werecat accompanying him raced over to Spirale. “Leaderrrrrr!” the werecat cried. “Buddyyy!” He and Spirale immediately embraced. “Hey, you made it,” Cayna said to Luvrogue. “I wasn’t sure if the knights would let you leave.” “I don’t plan on dyin’ here. I’ve still got stuff to do…,” he muttered sorrowfully. Cayna flicked his forehead. Sahana observed their familiarity with a death glare. Although Luvrogue was a demon, he didn’t appear to have any interest in Opus. The humans and dragoid sulked when he didn’t bother to greet them. I guess we’re just chopped liver, they figured. “I get why Cohral is here,” Cayna began, “but what about you, Shining Saber? Can you step out like this?” “…So, I’m a given? Getting my comrades to agree was no walk in the park, y’know,” Cohral grumbled. “For now I have permission from the king, plus my co-captain can handle things. A defensive fight should be no issue. Besides, you guys aren’t gonna let those things escape the Abandoned Capital, right?” Shining Saber directed that question at Cayna, but every player in earshot shouted, “Obviously!” Shining Saber nodded. There were no definite rules, but eliminating those monsters was required to complete the quest. The players flown to this world were well aware of the tragedy that would occur if three-digit-level monsters escaped into the wild. He was pleased everyone felt the same way. After all, if a wave of monsters broke out here, Felskeilo would be their first victim. “Well, let’s get this extermination quest started,” Jaeger told everyone in the Raid Chat. The players responded with a rallying cry. This moment alone was bizarrely noisy, since she could hear the chat, but Cayna felt a slight sense of nostalgia and excitement. Suddenly curious if Opus shared the sentiment, she looked next to her. However, he was staring at the receiver tower in keen bewilderment. “What’s wrong?” Cayna asked him. “It’s nothing. I just thought Hidden Ogre might come.” Now that he mentioned it, Cayna remembered Hidden Ogre was in this world, too. She’d heard that Exis had met him, but the dwarf apparently had no desire to see her. Everyone has their own circumstances, so Cayna didn’t argue this. “Come, let us begin our annihilation of the Abandoned Capital,” Opus announced. “The plan will fail if Cayna is defeated. Know that if anything happens to her, you’ll revert to regular people and be unable to use skills.” “““WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!””” As soon as Opus began his commencement speech, the players felt doomed. “Don’t start the battle with a bombshell!” “Indeed. We haven’t even discussed the reward yet.” “““Yeah! You tell ’em, Spirale!””” At the mention of compensation, the other players cheered Spirale on. Material greed had seemingly won out. Jaeger, the first to rouse his fellow players, promptly face-palmed. “Guess we’ve got other problems to deal with first…” He glanced over at Cayna, the center of all this hubbub. Sahana was on the verge of tears and clinging to her. “‘If you die’?! Sissy, what does he mean?!” “I’m not gonna die, so just relax.” “If anyone wishes you harm, I’ll kill them! I’ll even die in the process!” “Hold it, hold it! No player would even try to pick a fight with me.” Just as her incoherent blubbering left Cayna at a loss, Kuu suddenly floated out and kicked Sahana in the forehead. “Gyah?!” Sahana crumpled to the ground with an unladylike yelp. “Kuu?!” Cayna remembered that Kuu’s kick always elicited the same response. It seemed to cause players significant pain. Kuu had probably tinkered with the system to produce this effect. At any rate, Cayna used Search to check Sahana’s status and confirmed a Faint effect. As she pressed a hand to her heart in relief and looked around, nearly everyone stood frozen in wide-eyed shock. “Huh?” said Cayna. Cohral and Shining Saber offered a strained smile. Cohral lightly pointed at Kuu, and she finally realized what was going on. Even players rarely spotted fairies, which were mostly background characters in the Game Era. Once she remembered this, Cayna introduced Kuu to everyone. “This is Kuu the fairy. She might not look it, but she’s super violent. Make sure you leave a final will and testament before messing with her.” Several players who had always hoped fairies were real paled at her unsettling words. Their kaleidoscope of emotions aside, Spirale glanced up. “Something is falling!” he warned. The players followed his gaze as round shapes whooshed overhead and blocked the sun. “Parachutes?” one muttered. “Huh? Maybe it’s an aerial attack?” “Are they monsters?” “They wouldn’t be that smart, right?” “Demons or vampires could probably pull it off.” “Those can fly anyway!” And so, the conversation derailed as approximately twenty people descended, one after the other. The parachutes disappeared to reveal a group of young girls and women. “Ohhh!” The men’s eyes lit up in admiration, but several recipients looked down on them with disdain. They seemed to be dressed in armor much like the players, and a small old man wearing a monk’s samue garb brought up the rear. A cry of surprise rose from the crowd. “““Hidden Ogre!””” “Gramps?!” “It’s been a long while, Cayna.” The Twelfth Skill Master Hidden Ogre made a stylish entrance and saluted her. All twenty of his little sisters had joined him. Since Foster Children couldn’t use the item for emergency events, they had no choice but to move the floating Guardian Tower and parachute down. “You still have twenty left?!” “It’s nothing compared to the one hundred and eight I had back in the good old days, but everyone is around level 500. They’ll help out.” “To elevate this many to such a high level… Your sister complex is worse than I feared,” Opus remarked. The cheek of every player who had heard of the 108 foster sisters twitched, and they could only mumble in disbelief. One of Hidden Ogre’s sisters, a demon, immediately walked over to Cayna and gazed up at her with sparkling eyes. Such a fervent display of reverence baffled her. The girl was like a puppy wagging its tail. “Ah, that is Yunio,” said Lu Peixi. “She adores you, Lady Cayna.” “Come again?” Despite the elf’s succinct explanation, Cayna was still uncomprehending. Hidden Ogre had evidently given his fifty-fourth sister, the demon Yunio, the flavor text loves Cayna. “Why’d you write something like that, Gramps?” “I ran out of ideas,” was his heartfelt reply. Cayna had no idea how to respond. As an experiment, she reached out and patted Yunio’s head. The girl launched at her and gleefully pressed her head against Cayna’s stomach. Unsurprisingly, Sahana shrieked from the shock. “Even flavor text made it over here…?” one player said incredulously. “Crap—I feel like I wrote some pretty crazy stuff, too!” wailed another. A number of players who witnessed this scene trembled when they heard about the flavor text situation, but the girls were assigned to the rearguard. Jaeger wanted them on the front lines for their battle prowess, but he took the fact they were Foster Children into account and relegated them to the back. Incidentally, Hidden Ogre’s level-800 stats meant he was put in the line of fire before he even had a chance to refuse. “Players can use Revival Magic without a problem…but the success rate of foster kids and the people of this world are another story,” muttered Spirale. “Huh?” said Cayna. “Spirale, have you used Revival Magic since coming here?” “Yeah, a number of times. It’s extremely limited compared to the game, though.” “What? Really?” Cayna wanted to know more details, but the event was about to start. Further questions would have to wait until later. “Opus, you bastard. I’ll make you explain more about the conditions for defeat later, but isn’t there a reward for victory?” Cohral grumbled. Several players then struck a fist against their palm in realization. In the game, the reward for an emergency quest included a choice between experience points, a cosplay item with a slight bonus, or money. “Hmm.” Opus, the host of this event, mulled over this with a frown. It seemed this hadn’t occurred to him, but now the players were riled up. “Yeah, only a Game Master could call that notification angel, right?” “Didn’t the Limit Breakers have similar power?” “It wasn’t just about authority. Didn’t some have connections to the Admins?” “Oh yeah, there were totally Game Masters. I saw a knight in all red.” “Really? I saw someone who looked like a ghost.” “Okay, okay, quiet down!” Cayna called to the group, shooting Hidden Ogre and Opus a meaningful glance and a bright smile. A clap echoed via a sound amplification spell, and everyone fell silent. Once their confused attention was on her, she grinned. Several people who knew her well enough sensed danger and stepped back. Indeed, the other players remained on edge as well. Cayna acted like this was no concern of hers and proposed a reward. “In exchange for a successful quest, you’ll get…two skills from us Skill Masters!” “………………” “““ALL RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!””” After a brief silence, a wave of cheers broke out. “Yeah! The Skill Masters sure are generous!” “I can have the skills of my dreams!” “The one I failed to get on that final day will finally be mine. It’s been eating me up inside.” “Self-Destruct is every man’s fantasy!” “Don’t go nuts. That’s a death flag.” “Hmm. I’m content with my life now, so I don’t need much.” “Something I could use on a daily basis would be nice.” Chatter and commotion erupted all at once. “Well, that’s the situation,” said Cayna. “Much obliged, Gramps, Opus.” “I see. Are you fine with this, Hidden Ogre?” Opus asked. “Ah, that’s what you mean. If this turns out to be my last duty as a Skill Master, I’ve got no complaints.” As soon as Hidden Ogre granted his permission, the players buzzed with excitement. “Okay, folks!” Jaeger boomed. “Exterminating every monster will spell victory! The fall of the Silver Ring Witch will spell our defeat! Gather your courage and fight!” “““YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!””” came the players’ rallying cry. “Wish he wouldn’t use the chaos just to say my nickname,” Cayna grumbled. “It was easier to understand that way, right?” Opus replied. Spirale gave the order, and preparations for their annihilation quest began. Under his command, the players were divided into an assault unit and a dedicated support unit. There were just under thirty people in the former, Exis and his barrier observation team included. The latter had over forty. “I think we might’ve broken the record for biggest rearguard.” “We’ve got a ton of foster kids, so nothin’ for it.” Opus had rejected Lu Peixi’s proposal to split her sisters into two groups and hold down the fort. “Unlike warfare, our trouble won’t end with the fall of the Capital,” Opus said. “Cayna can defend the stronghold, right?” Jaeger suggested. “We’re toast if she’s taken out.” “Thanks, no pressure there. Besides, I’ve got Kee and Kuu to protect me…,” Cayna replied from nearby as everyone’s hopeful gazes fell upon her. “And Yunio,” she added. “It would seem she’s already grown on you,” Opus noted. “…” His comment spoke for itself. As her friends’ eyes grew tepid, Cayna summoned her Silver Ring to brush away the embarrassment. A large silver ring inset with seven orbs in every color of the rainbow circled her at waist level. Players who recognized it immediately began panicking. “Why did you take that out all of a sudden, Sissy?!” “What are we gonna do if you terrify our comrades?!” Needless to say, Jaeger was immediately displeased. The players pressed forward as one. The former capital of the Brown Kingdom was unique in the fact it had a temple behind the castle. The town itself was spread out in a fan shape around the castle, and the roads connected like a mesh. The original landscape had surely been beautiful once, but none of the buildings along the streets had been left in any decent condition. The group of dragons circling the city’s walls overhead was a strange sight as well. Cayna, Opus, Hidden Ogre, and Sahana worked together to summon this powerful squadron. Each member was no less than level 800. The cobblestones were cracked and derelict with traces of shriveled-up weeds. Some areas had been stripped to reveal the bare ground beneath, and there were huge, deliberate-looking holes everywhere. Like the buildings, not a single door or window remained intact. Everything had the tragic heroism of a horror game. An irritating odor would occasionally waft by on a warm breeze.