♦Current Status♦ > MERCILESS GUILLOTINE recovered hostility > SERAPHINA activated DEFENSIVE STANCE > SERAPHINA activated AURA SHIELD > MERCILESS GUILLOTINE attacked Hit SERAPHINA “Agh…haah… Haaaaaah!!” Seraphina took the Merciless Guillotine’s attack with her shield and pushed it back. The giant pincers many times larger than her were like chunks of rock crashing into her shield. She couldn’t get out of an impact like that without injury, but she just looked at me with fire burning in her eyes. “Mr. Atobe, I’ll buy you time! You must survive at all costs…!” I guess she intended to keep enduring the attacks and drawing the enemy’s attention. But if she did that, there was a chance the remaining sand crabs would target her. I would be safe if I used Rear Stance on one of my allies who’d already fled, but…I had to do something to save her. Seraphina was trying to lure the enemy to her so that I could live. “I won’t let anyone else…go down in front of me!” Elitia had already escaped to safety, but she was about to rush out and step in front of the Merciless Guillotine, but before she could— Part VI: The Alliance’s Collapse The giant crab stumbled when Seraphina braced against its huge pincer, the mass of which pulled the creature back. The pincer was so oversized that the giant crab had a hard time controlling it, but it wasn’t going to destroy itself from the weight of the thing. Its shoulder creaked from the strain, but it dug its feet into the sand and stood its ground, then readied a counterattack. ♦Current Status♦ > MERCILESS GUILLOTINE began charging GUILLOTINE > SERAPHINA activated IMMOVABLE BREATH Increased chance of counter > SERAPHINA activated WIDE STANCE Knockback effects against SERAPHINA nullified The pincers slowly rose. Unlike its first attack, this one was meant solely to kill. And yet, Seraphina still did not waver. “Come at me! I will not move from this spot!” Seraphina was three levels higher than the giant crab, but one attack from its pincers surpassed her defensive abilities. A black magic-like aura emanated from the giant crab’s body. Just before it had completely coated the crab’s pincer, I heard a whisper right next to me. That voice belonged to the katana on my back. Murakumo was calling to me. “The blade of hatred cannot harm me. Master, call my name.” “And I will add my support. My arm has recovered; it is your most valuable tool.” I completely believed the promising words. I unsheathed the katana and activated my skills. “Here goes! …Ariadne, Murakumo!” ♦Current Status♦ > ARIHITO activated REAR STANCE Target: SERAPHINA “Seraphina, I’ll back you up!” “Ah… Understood!!” She had more important things to do than be surprised. I was grateful that she decided without spending the time to consider her actions. I saw two mechanical arms appear in front of Seraphina. ♦Current Status♦ > ARIHITO activated DEFENSE SUPPORT 1 Target: SERAPHINA > ARIHITO requested temporary support from ARIADNE Target: SERAPHINA > ARIADNE activated TWIN GUARD ARMS > SERAPHINA activated AURA SHIELD > MERCILESS GUILLOTINE activated GUILLOTINE Power decreased by TWIN GUARD ARMS The magic-cloaked pincer didn’t seem to encounter any air resistance as it fell faster than my eyes could follow. The two Guard Arms reached out to grab it, doing so with perfect accuracy, and managed to reduce the attack’s power. “I can…take this…! Haaaaah!!” ♦Current Status♦ > SERAPHINA activated SHIELD PARRY Nullified GUILLOTINE > MERCILESS GUILLOTINE’s actions temporarily halted Seraphina used her skills to force the crab into a defenseless position. But if we tried to run now, it might come after us to attack. “My Guard Arm is broken. I advise you retreat with your party,” said Ariadne. “Sorry… Just one more attack…!” ♦Current Status♦ > ARIHITO activated REARGUARD GENERAL Abilities improved based on current number of party members > ARIHITO activated METEOR THRUST The moment I activated the skill, I felt like Murakumo was guiding my hands from behind. My body wasn’t my own; I had become one with the Stellar Sword… ♦Current Status♦ > Partial destruction of MERCILESS GUILLOTINE Attack power, defense reduced The moment the magic covering the falling pincer disappeared, I thrust out my blade, and Murakumo’s sword left my hands, cloaked in a purple light as it flew out to pierce into the pincers, creating a massive crack. “…GWOORAARAAAAA!!” The giant crab let out a horrific screech just like when Suzuna’s arrow had struck it in the corner of its mouth—that must have been one of its weak spots. “What on earth…? You put a crack in such a tough shell…” “Seraphina, we need to go now!” She stood there dumbfounded until I called out to her, and the two of us started to retreat. “Arihito, behind you!” Urgh… This thing is determined! The giant crab had raised its pincer and was recklessly pursuing us. The remaining Sand Scissors responded to its movements by raising their pincers, too. But before it could catch us, we dived into the narrow path leading through the stone cliffs. The giant crab finally gave up its pursuit. It stared at us but didn’t try to follow again. There was Roland’s soul, captured with Soul Tentacle. It was still glowing; I didn’t know how Roland’s body would fare without his soul. “Roland…! Roland, please, say something!” “Daniella, please stop! It’s bad for the baby if you get so upset…” “…Noooooo…!!” Cion had escaped first. The moment Daniella saw Roland, she broke free from one of her female allies and clutched Roland’s body to her. I looked around and saw Gray a little way off. He must have come back to see what was going on after using the Return Scroll, but he didn’t try to talk to his allies, not even Daniella. He noticed I was staring at him, and the corners of his mouth twitched up into a smile, then he left. I didn’t have any energy to chase after him and question him right then. I guess I was the only one who noticed him, as no one else seemed to be paying him any attention. Everyone was silent. Even the Alliance members who had escaped safely were staring blankly. I approached Cion and looked at Roland. He seemed like he was sleeping. His breathing was irregular, and his skin was deathly pale even though he was alive. It didn’t seem like he was going to wake from his slumber. “…We’ll take him to the Healer clinic. Mr. Atobe, I greatly appreciate your cooperation. Adeline will have made arrangements to transport the Arachnomage you captured to the Monster Ranch. I will tell her to report to you on that later.” “Seraphina…that monster…” The giant crab had turned its back to us like the beach was its personal property. It walked away, eventually disappearing from sight. Named Monsters continued to pursue the first opponent they encountered. If they weren’t a member of Roland’s party, it wouldn’t attack them again. Except that we had fought it once. It might remember us as an enemy. “That monster likely appeared because certain conditions were met. It has incredibly dangerous abilities, even compared to your average level-eight Named Monster. It only used the skill once, but it is possible it could use Create Golem to make as many crabs as had been killed there before… If that’s the case, even my unit of Guild Saviors will have a hard time defeating it.” But if we didn’t defeat the monster—if we left it there—there was a chance it would eventually cause a stampede. Seraphina was aware of that and continued to speak with displeasure. “I’ll request support from the Guild Savior headquarters. We can’t just leave that monster as it is.” “…How long will it take that support to get here?” “The fastest would be three days… If they’re slow, it could take up to a week. Generally, they recommend that the party who first encountered the Named Monster defeat it. The Seekers of a given district are entrusted with maintaining the safety of their district… That’s why support isn’t considered urgent even when there is a stampede.” Which meant that if the Seekers ran into a Named Monster they had no way of defeating, their only choice was to run. Then if a stampede happened, lots of people would get dragged into it. The Guild Saviors weren’t focused on protecting Seekers. They maintained a reasonable distance from them at all times, monitored them, and maintained order. But Seraphina tried to save us, even if that meant she ended up in the battle herself. “The leader of the Alliance…Roland Vorn made decisions that caused a Named Monster to appear, then chose to fight it, and lost. It’s not a tragedy; it’s something that’s happening all across the Labyrinth Country. I hope you can understand that, Mr. Atobe.” Seraphina’s squad had come into the labyrinth and were taking Roland and Daniella out. Most likely, they were heading to the Healer clinic. The remaining Alliance members finally started to move. They seemed to be discussing something, probably about what was going to happen now that Roland was gone. “Could I have a word with you…?” Seraphina asked them. “…Sorry, no one’s really in shape for talking right now. Thank you for saving us…and sorry for taking over the hunting ground.” Their spirits seemed crushed. It was understandable for them to feel that way, particularly if they accepted that it was their own actions that brought this on. “Arihito… Let’s leave,” suggested Elitia. “…Sorry. My decision was…,” I said. “…That baby is going to be born soon, but their dad…had that happen…,” said Igarashi. I never wanted this to happen, but I couldn’t say it. Igarashi took a shaky breath and turned away from me. I’d been against what the Alliance was doing, and I didn’t have it in me to feel sympathetic about what their actions brought. Most importantly, I needed to place my party’s safety above all else. If Suzuna and Misaki hadn’t joined the fight, we wouldn’t have had the time we needed to escape, but they wouldn’t have been fine if they’d taken a hit from that giant crab. It wasn’t the right decision as their leader to put them in that situation, and a simple apology wasn’t enough… I was thinking that when someone pinched my cheek. “Ah…I-Igarashi…?” “…I do understand how you feel, but I have been telling you that you need to put yourself first more. I did sort of want to try out Evasion Step, though.” “N-no… It’d be too dangerous to keep trying to dodge the attacks of something as powerful as that monster. If we can, you should try it on a safer monster…” “There’s no such thing as a safe monster. But as long as you’re behind us, we can be all kapow, kapow!—you know?” said Misaki. “Your decision wasn’t one most people would make…but I don’t think it was wrong. I want to keep as many people alive as I can, whether I have connections with them or not.” Suzuna was right, not many people made that decision. Actually, they shouldn’t make that decision. The most important thing was to keep moving safely forward with your companions. “…I thought it was a stupid move, too, but I couldn’t just abandon them… So I agree with Arihito. I’ll apologize if I have to,” said Elitia. “Woof.” “……” Cion barked quietly, wagging her tail a little. Theresia touched my arm, patting it to try and comfort me. “Right… Atobe, you don’t think it’s over yet, do you?” said Igarashi as if she could tell from looking at my face. “…Roland’s soul has been captured. If that state continues, I think he’ll actually die, but…” “It’s easy enough to say we have no obligation to save him… But we were starting to fight back in the end there. I think we can beat that thing if we prepare properly. It wouldn’t be reckless.” Elitia’s eyes burned with intensity. Additionally, if we defeated the Merciless Guillotine, it would count toward the requirement of defeating three Named Monsters we needed to advance to District Six. If you’ve fought an enemy once, you can start to build strategies against it. Perfecting those strategies was paramount if we wanted to take on this monster again. “We’ll feel nothing but regret that it beat us. We didn’t even try all our attacks out on it…,” continued Elitia. “I really, really feel like I can do something, too… Like, I’m scared, but I also kinda want to show everyone what I’m capable of…” “Misaki, did you have an idea?” Everyone started coming up with ways to beat an enemy that powerful. It was arrogant of me to think I’d protect everyone; the realization was the push I needed to self-reflect. “What are your thoughts, Arihito? I think a strategy you come up with will be our best chance at success,” said Elitia. “…All right. I think we should…” I accepted that Elitia might be right and considered everyone’s equipment and skills to think up a few different strategies—strategies that would let us uphold our beliefs as we continued to move forward.
Chapter 27
12 min read