Foreword
IT WAS A CHANCE ENCOUNTER WITH ONE OF THE boss monsters that ruled the labyrinth. This wasn’t some secondhand story—it happened right here, to me.
The Abenteurers’ Guild had dubbed it the Giant Alligator, which was exactly what it sounded like, even though the intense malice it exuded made using the name of an animal seem unnatural. It was so tall I had to look to the sky just to see it in its entirety, and its body was covered in sharp, uneven scales from head to toe. Its thick limbs weren’t just there to support its large frame, either—they were long enough to swipe its enemies, and the claws at the end were broad enough to tear a human asunder.
The Giant Alligator’s swift, quick movements belied its size. A simple shake of its body seemed enough to send me flying, but it could leap into the air with ease. It warped my sense of perspective.
But more than anything, it was plain intimidating. It had a unique quality that outstripped any of the other monsters I had faced before. The threat this boss posed was impossible to understand just by looking at it. It took a moment to comprehend, and if you failed to flee in that second or chose to prioritize your ambitions…what awaited you was death. That much was certain.
Chronos, a swordsman and our leader, our sorceress Mehlis, and our priestess Nikola had already been knocked out, and maybe bore serious injuries with lasting effects. All three of them had gone down with just a single swipe of the alligator’s ginormous tail. We should have retreated the moment we saw this thing.
My legs trembled. I had only escaped the attack because I was in the rear. Had I failed to dodge, all four of us would be in its stomach by now. The only reason it had yet to eat the others was because it was focused on me.
The boss acted carefully. Besides its initial surprise attack, it had mostly kept to itself, choosing its moment to strike prudently. In the few seconds it would take for it to figure out my weakness, I had to find a way to get all of us out of here alive.
Do I pick them up and run? No, that would be impossible. Maybe I could carry one, but not three.
Do I use myself as bait to buy enough time for another party to save us? That wouldn’t work, either. I would end up dead trying to lure it away, and there was little hope of it taking the bait anyway. In fact, it seemed likely the party who would come to our rescue would face the same fate we had.
Damn it all! I’ve only got one option. Don’t run now, Wim Strauss.
The moment I made my decision, the trembling spread from my legs to my entire body. I took a deep breath to calm down and somehow managed to take up a fighting stance.
I had some intel, but my chances at victory were next to none. I just needed to scrape every bit of luck I had together. Stay positive. It’s a miracle it granted prey like you enough time to make a decision.
“[Shift: Puppenspieler.]”
That enchantment was impossible to take back, but it was only then that I realized I could have chosen to run on my own and save myself. Seriously, I was just too kind. No, this was the natural choice as a member of Drachenflügel. I owed them, and the days we spent together didn’t amount to nothing.
If I was going to put my life on the line, this was the time to do it.
In fact, I was proud I could think that way.