The path where my brother had just recently mowed down enemies with his Gatling gun was clear of monsters.
We can make it to the exit in one go like this, I thought. I have to say, though... I only realized this after running desperately, but this game also incorporates the concept of fatigue.
On top of that, my legs were shaking, and the game was kind enough to display that I had the status effect Fear. Infinite Dendrogram’s absolute realism even went so far as to convey the terror of a giant creature.
Even so, I ran, making sure that I never let go of Milianne’s hand.
“Heh... Heh...” Following behind me, Milianne also ran in earnest. Her face was full of dread.
Both scared, we continued to run.
“By the way...” I said to Milianne. It was an attempt to help ease our worries, if even for a bit. I wasn’t sure myself just exactly whose mind I was trying to put at ease though. “Milianne... Milia, so why did you come all the way here to get remberries?”
I asked her this half out of curiosity; the other half was for distraction.
“T-Today is Sister’s birthday... She loves remberry cake, so I thought I would make it for her...” she stuttered.
“I see,” I said.
“But there weren’t any for sale at the shops, so I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “And then, a guy with glasses told me, ‘If you have this incense, you can go get some from the orchard outside.’”
...So this is that four eyes’ fault, I thought. I don’t know what he was thinking telling her that, but I’d like to punch that idiot for sending a kid to a place this dangerous.
“Sister came to get me, but the effect of the incense wore off...” she said.
We had covered half the distance while we were talking.
Just the other half left, I thought. At this rate, we’ll make it the rest of the way.
“...uluuuu!” Just then, I heard a roar and felt the ground tremble behind me.
I made the decision on the spur of the moment. I picked up Milianne and jumped to the side.
In the next instant, a Demi-Dragon Worm burst from the ground and chomped its jaws as it passed through the area where we had just been running.
“She couldn’t have...!” An unpleasant thought compelled me to turn around, but I could still hear the sounds of battle.
Liliana was still fighting.
Could this be one of the two she was fighting, and it left to chase after us? I wondered. Or maybe it’s one of the ones that dragged my brother underground? The real issue is that, no matter which one it is, I don’t have a way of fighting back.
My stats were still at their default levels, and the Embryo on my left hand still hadn’t hatched. Even if it did hatch now, I can’t imagine a newly-hatched Embryo would be able to stand up against an enemy that my brother’s Gatling gun didn’t work against.
My heart pounded in terror and unease, while a cold sweat broke out on my forehead and down my back. I thought I might die just from how realistic it felt.
“GYULUUUUUUUUUEAAAAA!” The Demi-Dragon Worm exposed its long body from the ground and roared, not in an attempt to intimidate us, but rather in triumphant laughter.
“...The end of the road, huh?” I muttered.
The “newbie killer,” Old Reve Orchard, I thought. It looks like I’ll also experience my first death here.
But...
“W-Waaah...” Milianne was crying in my arms.
She’s an NPC... a tian. Unlike me, if she dies, she won’t come back. The thought left me unsettled. Bro said that even the king died. I’m sure there aren’t any special circumstances just for her. In this world, she’ll die just like anybody else.
“...Like I said, that’d leave a bad taste in my mouth!” I took off the Lifesaving Brooch and equipped it to Milianne. “Milia, can you run to the entrance from here by yourself?”
“...What?” She looked up at me with unease.
“I have to go and beat up this damn centipede for a bit,” I said.
Right after I said this, the Demi-Dragon Worm charged at us. I pushed Milianne away, and like getting hit by a truck, I flew into the air.
“Gah... hah...”
It was a powerful impact, even worse than when I had collided with Liliana back in the town.
However, the damage had been 93. My remaining HP was 5... I’m still alive.
One of the four Dragonscale Wards I had equipped had broken and disappeared. I’d survived thanks to its ability to reduce the damage of the attack by 90%.
I forced my numb body to move and drank a Healing Potion from the item menu. My HP was fully restored.
I can still move.
As I turned around, I saw that Milianne was still standing there.
“Go! I’ll take care of this guy!” I shouted.
It was a big lie; there was nothing I could do. However, I could at least buy some time. If she could run away during that time, that was all that mattered.
Milianne stood up and ran for the exit.
If she can get to the exit and return to the field, there should be other players and tians there. This is for the best, I thought, and was then immediately flung into the air again.
It was my second cycle of near-death, the Dragonscale breaking, healing with a potion, and then recovery.
“Hah! If you include the death penalty, I can take another three of your hits, you damn centipede!” I shouted.
The third attack came, but this time I avoided it. Even at default stats, if I move, I can dodge it.
However...
“What?!” I was caught by its tail and knocked aside.
The damage was nearly the same. My HP was dangerously low again, and another Dragonscale broke.
“Damn... it.”
Only one more left.
Milianne still hadn’t made it to the exit.
At the very least, I have to bide my time until then, I told myself. As I thought this, the Demi-Dragon Worm changed its focus of attack.
“GYUUUUEAAAA!” It twisted its large body around and laid its sights on Milianne.
“Hey, you bastard! What are you looking at?” I shouted.
It ignored me and charged after her.
“Waaaiiiitttt!”
I chased after it, but I couldn’t catch up with it at my speed. The large Demi-Dragon Worm struck Milianne, sending her small body floating upward into the air like a leaf. The basket she had been holding so dearly was forced from her hands, and tumbled to the ground.
“Aaaaahhh!” I dived headfirst and caught her falling body. There was a large impact as I caught her, and the last Dragonscale shattered.
That’s not the real issue right now.
I was frightened to do it, but I looked at Milianne’s face. A pain different from physical pain was stinging at my heart.
She was unconscious... but unhurt. In exchange, the Lifesaving Brooch I had placed on her had shattered.
It apparently works even when equipped to Milianne, I thought, relieved. However, now that the brooch is broken, there won’t be a next time.
My last Dragonscale was also gone. We no longer had any means to withstand the Demi-Dragon Worm’s attack.
Liliana’s still fighting, I thought. Bro still hasn’t come back since disappearing into the ground... I’m all out of options.
“GYUUUUAAAAAAAA!” The monster in front of me had become irritated at its tough prey, but it now appeared to be shaking in joy at finally being able to finish things.
In a last-ditch effort, I tried drawing the knife I had received with my starting equipment. However, after removing the knife from its sheath, I discovered that its blade was broken. Before I could even use it, it seemed the repeated collisions had caused the knife to break.
The chances for us to survive were now at zero.
I looked at the unconscious girl in my arms.
Her weight, her warmth, her breathing, and the emotions she had showed me — they were no different from real life. She was alive, so realistically alive.
And like death in the real world, that life was about to be lost.
“...Damn it.” I couldn’t give up.
For me, this world was a game. It wasn’t a problem if I died.
But even if I know this world is a game, it’d leave a bad taste in my mouth if this girl were to disappear from it forever. I clenched my fist in frustration.
On the back of that hand... was my Embryo in its egg-like zeroth form.
“Hey...”
I...
“If they say an Embryo is supposed to offer a player... If you’re supposed to offer me infinite possibility...” I pleaded, “...then give me that possibility.”
The monster in front of me raised its head to deliver the final blow.
“Give me the possibility for a happy ending, the possibility to save this girl!” I cried.
To my left hand I pleaded. To the incarnation of this world of possibilities known as Infinite Dendrogram, I pleaded from the bottom of my heart.
“Wake up already and give me even 1% of a possibility!” I cried.
The Demi-Dragon Worm launched its last attack.
“You’re an unexpectedly overbearing Master, aren’t you?” said a voice. “However, I am one that is born from you. I don’t dislike that part about you.”
In an instant, the fatal charge was blocked by someone.
“...Huh?”
Just like when my brother had disappeared into the ground, I couldn’t process what was happening before my eyes.
I couldn’t understand why in front of me was not the tragedy that should have taken place, but instead, a miracle that shouldn’t have occurred.
The Demi-Dragon Worm that was supposed to kill us had been repelled by a wall of light and was bent over backwards.
My Embryo had vanished from the back of my left hand, and in its place was a glowing, blue crest.
Between the Demi-Dragon Worm and us now stood a girl I didn’t know. Her jet black hair waved in the wind, and her skin glistened like white porcelain. She swung her gothic skirt made of black fabric and white frills as she turned to look at me. Her eyes were made of the black of night and a white that reminded me of the stars.
“Morning,” was the first thing she said.