“It’s not a straightforward path. The tunnel is a maze, and the branching paths are filled with deadly traps designed to spell death for pursuers.” A complicated and twisting labyrinth awaited them beyond the doors, just as the old man at the souvenir shop had warned. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any monsters inside. Unfortunately, it would probably take them two to three hours to get through the maze while avoiding traps in the normal way. Yuuma and the others had a powerful ally on their side, however. The very first familiar that Yuuma had captured while in AM: the blue-furred rabbit, or Horned Great Hare, named Squeak. For some reason, Squeak’s card had remained in Yuuma’s inventory even after the playtest ended. Yuuma drew it from his holster and summoned Squeak now. “Squee—!” The blue rabbit materialized with an energetic cry, while Tomori let out her own strange cry: “Fwaaa!” Despite being the calmest and quietest of the girls in class, even Tomori seemed incapable of resisting Squeak’s adorable charm. As much as Yuuma would have liked to let Tomori have some cuddle time, they didn’t have time for that right now. Yuuma fed Squeak several pieces of the dried fruit they had acquired from the merchant, before issuing a voice command. “Squeak, Lead to End of Dungeon!” “Squ-squee!” With a tiny cry of excitement, Squeak charged forward into the labyrinth. Great Horned Hares had an ability called Tunnel Search, which opened up the special Monster Tamer commands Lead to Start, Lead to End, Find Items, Find Monsters, and Avoid Monsters while in underground locations. Yuuma hadn’t acquired the Avoid Traps command yet, but since Lead to End followed the shortest route to a dungeon’s exit, and since there were only supposed to be traps in paths that branched off from the correct route, they should be safe. Holding the coldfire lantern aloft, the group ran after Squeak, whose white tail bounced in the distance. About five minutes later, they finally spotted a door up ahead. Yuuma slowed his pace. Squeak stopped before the door and began turning around on the spot crying, “Squee! Squee!” It seemed pleased with itself. This had to be the exit. Yuuma and the others kept their guard up as they approached, but the coast seemed clear. No scripted bosses burst out from the walls or anything like that. Yuuma gave Squeak another piece of dried fruit for doing such a good job and then returned him to his card. “Familiars sure are convenient…and cute…,” murmured Tomori jealously. She suddenly cocked her head to the side. “But why have you only captured Squeak and…and Watamaki? Wouldn’t it be better to capture lots of monsters?” “Well…Monster Tamers have a limited capacity for what familiars they can hold. The amount increases as you level up and increase your Command skill, but between Squeak and Watamaki, I’ve already used up most of mine…” In fact, seeing as how Sumika was six levels higher than Yuuma—ten when she had first attacked them—it was a wonder he had been able to capture her at all. Generally, the chance of capturing a monster greatly decreased if it was even one level higher than the Monster Tamer. Maybe there were some factors involved that had made it easier to succeed, but if so, what? Yuuma was still mulling the question over in his mind when Kenk suddenly grew impatient. “Let’s hurry up and go find that crybaby Nagi already! We’re almost there, aren’t we?” “Yeah…we should be…” Yuuma switched focus, turning back toward the door in front of them. This door was grand and massive, just like the first, but instead of being sealed by chains, it simply had a door handle. There was no sign of a keyhole or other locking mechanism, either, which meant that it should open by simply pressing the handle. Yuuma turned around to huddle up with the others. “If this door leads into the dungeon, there’s a decent chance that there will be guards inside,” he said. “We should try to sneak in and avoid battles as much as possible.” “What should we do if someone spots us?” asked Kenk. Yuuma hesitated before answering. “If that happens, you and I should try and lure as many guards as we can to the upper floor. Sawa and Shimizu, you two can use that opportunity to search for Nagi, and if you find her, the three of you should escape through the tunnel back the way we came. The correct path should be marked on your maps now.” “What if Nagi won’t wake up…?” Sawa said, looking grim. Yuuma flashed her a smile. “Even as a Mage, your strength stat at level 12 should be high enough to easily carry Nagi.” “Okay, I’ll give it a shot…” “But what about you and Kondou?” asked Tomori, sounding worried. Yuuma flashed her another smile. “Don’t worry about us. If worse comes to worst, we can always escape by jumping into the river.” “You’re not serious, are you…? I can barely swim…!” That was true. Kenk never liked to join them when they went to the pool. Yuuma placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll cast a waterbreathing spell on you before we get in the water.” “You promise…?” “I promise. Double, triple promise.” There was, in fact, a wind-element utility spell called Waterbreathing, but at Yuuma’s current skill level, the effect would only last around ten seconds. Yuuma patted Kenk on the shoulder, conveniently forgetting to mention that fact. As he did so, he noticed the sword on Kenk’s back. “Is that the new sword you found in the castle…?” “This? Yeah, it’s cool, isn’t it?” Kenk grinned and spun around to give Yuuma a better look, already forgetting about his aquaphobia. The two-handed sword strapped to Kenk’s back was obviously much higher in quality than his starting weapon had been. The brown leather scabbard was reinforced with dozens of rivets, the steel guard and pommel gleamed softly, and the grip was carefully wrapped in thin leather strips. Yuuma tapped it; a small window displaying Forged Steel Greatsword 780/780 appeared. Yuuma could only see basic information since he wasn’t the owner of the sword, but the durability was almost four times that of his own shortsword. Yuuma and the others had acquired new weapons of their own from the ancient castle, but he already knew from the playtest how important it was to choose your timing carefully when upgrading to a new weapon. In a fulldive VR, things like weight, balance, and even the way the weapon felt in your hands could have a huge impact on how easy the weapon was to use. The risk of screwing up your form or even dropping your weapon was always higher immediately after trading up to a new weapon. Kenk seemed aware of that fact as well. He touched the hilt of his sword, as if to double-check its position, before turning back around. “What about you guys? Are you gonna start using your new weapons, too?” he asked. “Well…” Kenk had already lost his old sword, so he had no choice but to use this new one. Since they planned on avoiding fights while in the dungeon, however, Yuuma suggested the rest of them just stick to the weapons they were used to for now. Sawa and Tomori both nodded, apparently seeing no reason to object. After checking that everyone’s HP and MP had recovered fully, Yuuma turned back toward the door. There was no more time to dillydally. Every decision they made from now on had to be focused on saving Nagi and getting back to Althea safely. “I’m opening the door…,” Yuuma whispered. He pressed down on the handle carefully. The handle was stiff, likely because it hadn’t been used in years, but the door was unlocked, just as they had expected. Yuuma could feel the internal latching mechanism vibrate. He tried to home in on the sensation, making as little sound as possible as he turned the handle, millimeter by millimeter, until it was free of its latch. Yuuma stood still and listened for a moment, before slowly pulling the door inward. Each time the hinges began to creak, he stopped for a moment, until eventually the door was far enough open for the largest of them, Kenk, to just barely slip through. Yuuma poked his head halfway inside. The door seemed to lead into a small room, measuring about three meters across in all directions. The left and right walls were lined with shelves, and odd crates and barrels had been left lying in the room. There was an arch-shaped opening on the opposite wall through which Yuuma could see a staircase leading upward. There were no signs of people, but the lanterns hanging from the ceiling were lit, meaning that someone must pass through regularly. Yuuma was still holding the coldfire lantern. He returned it to his inventory and slipped through the doorway and into the room. Yuuma cautiously tiptoed toward the staircase. He stopped in front of the first step and peered upward, before signaling to his friends that all was clear. The group climbed the stairs, Yuuma first, followed by Kenk, then Sawa, and then Tomori. There was another door at the top. Not again, thought Yuuma as he placed his hand on the door. This time, however, the handle and hinges moved smoothly. Yuuma opened the door, revealing the next area. The ceiling was damp, and the floor was cracked in places. The stone walls were rough and irregular. Iron bars gleamed dully beneath the lamplight. This was definitely the dungeon. Only— “It’s so big…,” muttered Sawa as she pushed Yuuma aside in order to take a peek. There was a corridor continuing northward directly across from the door. It looked to be about fifteen meters long and had five cells lined up on each side. There was also a door at the other end, which probably led upstairs. Another corridor stretched out perpendicularly to their left and right, with both directions ending in an entrance to another intersecting passage. Basically, the dungeon was set up like the Roman numeral III, with three vertical corridors connected by two intersecting corridors at either end. Each vertical passage looked like it contained ten cells, for a total of thirty cells in all. It’s gonna be difficult checking every cell without getting spotted by the guards… Just as Yuuma was thinking this, he heard boots thudding along the ground, one corridor over to the left. Glancing in the direction of the footsteps, Yuuma spotted an orange light flickering near the intersection of the corridors. He instinctively crouched, but if the owner of the footsteps took a look inside the doorway, all four of them would be discovered either way. Yuuma signaled to the others and then rushed out of the doorway and down the corridor directly across from the door. Kenk, Tomori, and then Sawa followed suit. There wasn’t a second to spare, but Sawa still took the time to close the door quietly behind her. She dove into the corridor after them, her feet moving softly. Sawa reached Yuuma’s position just as the footsteps grew louder. Whoever it was had evidently turned the corner and was now slowly but surely drawing closer. They didn’t have enough time to sneak all the way to the other end of the corridor. Yuuma glanced around quickly, checking that the cells on either side of them were empty. The bars on the cells were set back about thirty centimeters from the corridor walls, which left just barely enough room to hide against the wall. Yuuma signaled to his friends, who seemed to understand. Tomori and Kenk pressed themselves against the bars on the right side, Yuuma and Sawa against the bars on the left. A few seconds later, the owner of the footsteps entered their field of view. It was a guard…or at least they seemed to be. But there was something strange about them. Their stocky, hunched form was garbed in unusual leather armor that almost looked like restraints, and their head and shoulders were entirely covered in an old and tattered hood. They held a large lantern in their right hand and a club with iron spikes in their left. The name Prison Guard was displayed beneath the HP bar that floated above their head. The guard’s thick-soled boots made heavy clomping sounds as they walked. They stopped directly in front of the door that Sawa had just shut. The guard raised their lantern up high and turned to the left, peering down the middle corridor, where Yuuma and the others were now hiding. If the guard started walking their way, there would be nowhere left for them to run. They would have no choice but to fight. Regardless of the guard’s strange appearance, however, they were still human. Technically speaking, they were an NPC, but Yuuma still didn’t like the idea of attacking a guard who was just following orders and hadn’t done anything wrong. Please don’t come this way! Please don’t come this way…! Yuuma’s prayer—the prayers of all four of them—were answered as the guard lowered their lantern and turned back to the right. He set his club down against the wall and used that hand to open the door. After opening the door, he picked the club back up and stepped inside. They could hear the guard’s boots thudding down the stairs. As soon as the tattered cloth hood disappeared from sight, Yuuma stepped out from his hiding spot. They needed to finish searching the middle corridor before the guard returned. Yuuma left Tomori and Kenk in charge of the right side and began checking the cells on the left side together with Sawa. The second cell was empty like the first, as was the third—as Yuuma peered into the fourth cell, however, he froze. There, lying in a corner at the other end of the small, two-meter-long cell, sat a humanoid shape, bunched up in an unnatural position. Judging from the way the arms and legs were splayed to the side, it didn’t seem like the person was alive. No way… Yuuma tried to peer closer, but the light from the lamps that hung from the dungeon ceiling weren’t strong enough to reach to the back of the cell. Having no other choice, Yuuma thrust his left hand through the bars and chanted an element word of power as quietly as he could. “Lumen.” Yuuma and Sawa gasped as the white ball of light illuminated the far corners of the cell. The figure lying on the ground turned out to be a set of skeletal remains, dressed in tattered rags. Its dark, empty eye sockets stared at them begrudgingly. Judging from the decay of the skeleton’s clothing, this person had probably died decades ago. It was also clearly the body of an adult. That didn’t exactly make them feel better, however. This was obviously the type of dungeon where prisoners were left to die of illness and starvation, and their bodies left to molder in corners. Ten seconds later, just as the ball of light disappeared, they heard the guard’s footsteps coming back up the stairs. Yuuma quickly moved away from the bars and peered into the fifth cell. This one was empty as well. He turned around toward Tomori and Kenk, who were checking the cells on the other side. They both shook their heads no. Apparently the cells on the right side had also been empty. The guard stepped back into the corridor just as the four rushed into the horizontal passage at the end of the corridor and hid around the corner to the left. Yuuma took a peek around the corner. The swaying light at the other end was moving sideways. Apparently, the guard was heading toward the eastern vertical corridor. That gave them the perfect opportunity to explore the west corridor. At Yuuma’s signal, they all scampered in that direction, turning another corner toward the next row of cells. Just as Yuuma had expected, this corridor also seemed to contain five cells on each side. They began traversing the corridor, checking each cell as they went, with Sawa and Yuuma checking the left side and Tomori and Kenk checking the right. Please be safe! Please be safe…! Yuuma prayed. He was about to peer into the third cell when suddenly… “Ah…!” Tomori let out a little gasp from the other side of the corridor. Yuuma and Sawa quickly spun on their heels, turning in her direction. Kenk and Tomori were standing in front of the third cell on the opposite side, clutching the bars with both of their hands. Yuuma bounded over toward the cell. He stood next to Kenk, on his left, and peered inside the cell. As he did so, a cry nearly escaped him as well. A pale, human-shaped shadow was lying on the damp stones. Unfortunately, this cell was as dark as the last one, so it was impossible to make the silhouette out clearly. This time, it was Sawa who thrust her hand through the bars and chanted an element word. “Flamma.” The ball of flame at her fingertip illuminated the shape of a small person—a girl. She was wearing a Priest’s cassock that had probably once been pure white, but it was now extremely soiled. The girl’s light brown hair was longer than Sawa’s. Since she was lying face down, they couldn’t see her face, but even as an avatar, there was no way Yuuma would fail to recognize the girl who lived next door, the childhood friend he had known for more than eleven years. As if Yuuma needed any more confirmation, an HP bar suddenly appeared above the girl’s head. This HP bar was less than 30 percent full. Symbols for the Cold and Hungry debuffs were displayed underneath the HP bar, and beneath those, the player’s name—Nagi. Kenk was still gripping the irons bars tightly with both hands. They creaked beneath his grasp. Yuuma glanced up. The expression on his friend’s face was severe. In all the time that Yuuma had known him, he had never before seen Kenk like this. Yuuma could feel his own anger beginning to seethe. Whoever was in charge of this dungeon—most likely the NPC known as Constable Oeben—had tossed Nagi into this dungeon, comatose and soaking wet, while her HP—her very life force—continued to dwindle. Yuuma didn’t care if they were just following an NPC script. He wasn’t about to let this slide. If they tried to just force their way through the bars, the guard, who was likely still patrolling the eastern corridor, would hear. Besides, the iron bars were pretty thick. Yuuma doubted that even Kenk would be able to damage them with his bare hands. He still grabbed his friend’s arm, though, just in case. He flashed Kenk a look meant to say, Calm down. Yuuma felt some of the tension leave Kenk’s arm. Just then, Sawa made her move. As soon as her ball of fiery light disappeared, she held her left hand up to the lock on the door located on the right side of the bars and began to chant a spell. “Ferrum…Clavis…” Sawa thrust the magic key that appeared into the lock before speaking the final word. “Aperta!” The key trembled for a moment before turning ninety degrees to the left with a dull click. Sawa quickly opened the door and slipped inside. Yuuma wanted to follow her, but he knew he would be in the way inside the narrow cell. Instead, he held back, grabbing on to Kenk’s arm like before. Sawa crouched down on one knee, propped Nagi’s slender body up with both hands, and called out to her in a hoarse whisper. “Nagi… Nagi!” Now that Nagi was leaning on Sawa, Yuuma could see her face beneath the lamplight. It was disturbingly pale. Her eyelids, which were framed by long lashes, remained motionless even as Sawa repeatedly called out to her. Yuuma was hoping that once they found Nagi, all five of them would be able to log out and return to Althea on the spot. Unless Nagi woke up, however, she would be unable to access her menu and thus unable to log out. They still didn’t know why Nagi was unconscious. It might not have anything to do with the Cold and Hungry statuses; maybe it was something wrong inside her mind. If that was the case, no amount of calling her name was going to wake her. “Sawa, we should take Nagi and return to the overworld for now,” Yuuma whispered. Sawa nodded wordlessly, cradling Nagi as she stood back up. Apparently Sawa’s STR at level 12 was enough to carry Nagi, but Kenk still held out his arms to take Nagi off Sawa’s hands as she stepped through the door. “I’ll carry her,” he said. It didn’t seem like a question. Sawa nodded again and passed Nagi to Kenk. Tomori stepped forward and turned to Yuuma. “Should I heal Sano’s HP?” she whispered. “No, let’s wait until we get out of here first,” Yuuma said, perking up his ears to listen. Thump. Thump. He could hear the faint sound of footsteps coming from far away. Yuuma couldn’t tell which direction the footsteps were traveling in just by listening, but the guard seemed to be making a counterclockwise loop. If so, they were probably somewhere around the upper-right-hand corner of the III (the northwest corner) by this point. Yuuma pointed south and began leading the others down the corridor. He stopped to listen once more at the southwest corner. After confirming that the sound of the guard’s footsteps had not changed, he turned left into the southern corridor, creeping stealthily forward. Yuuma could already see the doorway leading back to the maze of underground tunnels. Just seven meters. Even if the guard noticed that Nagi was gone, as long as they could make it through that door by then, the guard probably wouldn’t be able to follow them. Yuuma was beginning to feel hopeful. Operation Save Nagi was just seconds away from success. Perhaps it was that hope that made Yuuma so careless. Yuuma failed to notice that the distant footsteps were getting less distant. He was about halfway to the door when the guard suddenly burst into view at the other side of the corridor. “…?!” Yuuma’s eyes sprang open in disbelief. He had been sure that the guard was patrolling counterclockwise, but the guard must have turned around at some point and started walking in the opposite direction. Yuuma’s legs froze. A second later, his brain kicked back into gear, and he shouted at the others. “Run!!” Throwing stealth to the wind, Yuuma made a dash straight for the door. The guard also began to lumber toward them, although he was slower and farther away. They were going to make it after all—just barely, maybe…or so Yuuma thought. But the guard reached out suddenly and placed their hand against a nearby spot on the wall. At the guard’s touch, one of the stone blocks suddenly sank into the wall. With a heavy thud, a thick plate door dropped down vertically from the ceiling, completely sealing off the doorway. This drop-shutter was made of steel and looked to be about three centimeters thick, which would make it very difficult to break down with either weapons or magic. Yuuma wished he had checked the ceiling when they first entered, but it was too late for that now. Their plan to escape back the way they had come, to the south shore of the river, was now ruined. Their only option would be to head upstairs, through the door on the north wall. If the northern door had also been sealed, they were in trouble, but that seemed unlikely. After all, if no one could leave, no reinforcements could arrive, either. That still left the problem of what to do about the hooded guard, who was standing five meters away. If the guard attacked, they would be forced to fight back, but for the moment, the guard showed no signs of moving away from the switch. “Hey, Yu,” Kenk whispered from behind. “If we press that switch again, maybe the door will open back up.” “…” It was possible. In the real world, it would take a powerful motor to lift a metal plate of that size in a reasonable amount of time, but this was a virtual world. Entire mountains could be moved so long as the game system ordered it. Maybe that was the reason the guard wasn’t moving. Maybe they were protecting the switch. “Sawa, Shimizu, take care of Nagi,” Yuuma whispered. Sawa reached out to take Nagi back from Kenk. “Kenk, we don’t need to defeat the guard,” Yuuma told him. “If you can just get them to move from that spot, I can press the switch.” “Understood.” Kenk nodded and drew his two-handed sword from his back. The guard readied a spiked club, and their breathing sounded bizarrely heavy. “GWRR…” That sound was familiar… Kenk dashed forward, yelling “Hyahh!!” as he brandished his greatsword in both hands. The guard raised their club, but they were only gripping it in their left hand. Kenk was a level-12 Warrior, with both the Exceptional Strength and Two-Handed Sword Mastery skills. Surely no guard would be able to stop a full-strength, downward slash from someone like Kenk without using both hands. Yuuma started to run forward. Once Kenk knocked the guard back, all Yuuma had to do was quickly hit the switch to raise the shutter again. After that, once they bought enough time for Sawa and Tomori to escape to the tunnels with Nagi, they could just stun the guard again before running away themselves. Yuuma had already formulated his plan. He glanced at the switch on the wall once more to make sure he knew where it was. Meanwhile, Kenk was already swinging his sword downward in a brutal arc. The blade collided with the guard’s spiked club at about the midpoint, carrying the full weight of Kenk’s charge. The two weapons met in an explosive flash of light and sound. The guard bent backward at the waist. They were forced a step back, and then—they stopped, planting their feet firmly. The shock wave from the impact of the sword knocked the guard’s hood back, finally revealing their face. Yuuma’s vision seemed to contract. How could this be? Yuuma’s toe caught on a corner of one of the stone blocks that was sticking up, and although he managed to avoid falling over, he stumbled briefly and skidded to a stop. The guard’s head was not human. The protruding ridge of its nose, the wide slit of its mouth, the wide-set yellow eyes on either side of its head, and of course, its bumpy, scaly skin… A lizard—the guard was a lizardman. The name underneath the HP bar that floated above the guard’s head changed from Prison Guard to Varanian Prison Guard. “Why is there a Varanian inside Calcina…?” Yuuma muttered in disbelief. The guard’s vertically slit pupils narrowed slightly, but it made no attempt to speak. It was less than half the height of the Varanian Axbearer they had encountered at the old castle in the forest, but judging by its face, it seemed to be the same species. Had it snuck into the dungeon, just like they had…? No—why would it be patrolling the corridors if it was an intruder? Yuuma was still standing frozen in place when he heard a distant metallic click. He glanced to the left. The door at the end of the middle corridor, the one on the northern wall, had just swung open. The figure that appeared from the other side was huge and corpulent and was dressed up like some sort of aristocrat. He wore a bicorn hat, reminiscent of Napoleon. His black velvet coat was decorated with ostentatious gold braiding, underneath which he wore a vest that was about to pop a button, as well as a pair of unblemished white trousers that resembled tights. For some reason, he also carried a massive, double-headed hammer. It hung loosely in his left hand. The giant man stared at them through round, sunken eyes. His flabby double chin shook with laughter as he spoke. “Mwa-ha, gwa-ha-ha…! When I heard we had intruders, I expected to find a master thief who had picked all of Algol clean, or perhaps some centuries-old wizard. But what do I find instead? Mere babes, barely old enough to scratch their own chins! Tell me, how exactly did you get in here?” Yuuma didn’t have time to wonder what Algol was. He needed to think of a way out of this mess. Kenk had already drawn his sword, so Yuuma doubted the man would buy it if he said they had just wandered in by accident while out exploring. If they tried to fight their way out, however, there was no guarantee they would actually be able to defeat this strangely rotund man. Speaking of which, who was he? Yuuma furrowed his eyebrows. An HP bar suddenly appeared above the giant man’s head. The name read Head Warden Oeben. A symbol resembling two overlapping human silhouettes appeared next to the name, but it was apparently neither a buff nor a debuff. Yuuma had no idea what the symbol might represent. “That’s him, the one the old man told us about…,” Sawa whispered from behind. She was right. This was Constable Oeben. The very Oeben whom the old man at the souvenir shop had warned them about. The one who “controlled the strings of power in Calcina to line his own pockets.” The old man had said that Oeben was “too dangerous for a bunch of kids like you to handle.” His size was certainly intimidating. It sent a shiver down Yuuma’s neck. Although Oeben’s appearance didn’t inspire him with the same level of dread as the Conehead Demolisher’s had, Yuuma was still pretty sure he didn’t to want to mess with Oeben if at all possible. Yuuma glanced to his right. At some point, the lizard-headed guard had returned to its original position by the switch and was now brandishing the spiked club again. The guard clearly had no intention of allowing them to touch that switch. Seeing as Constable Oeben didn’t react to the guard’s appearance, he must have already known that there was a Varanian patrolling his dungeons. Yuuma was curious as to why Oeben would employ a hostile demi-human, but he doubted Oeben would answer any questions about that. And that was neither here nor there. Right now, the only thing that mattered was getting out of this mess… Yuuma racked his brain for a solution, but the only two ideas that occurred to him were to either press the switch and open the door to the tunnel, or to defeat Oeben and head upstairs through the north door. “Hrm… What is this…?” Yuuma and the others remained rooted to the spot as Oeben began to speak once more. “That girl you’re holding—she’s the one who washed up earlier, isn’t she? Yes, now I see, you snuck into my dungeon to rescue your precious little friend, didn’t you? Mwa-ha-ha…” Oeben chortled, his uncomfortably long tongue smacking his lower lip— “If that little girl died before she woke, I was planning on turning her into stew… Now I’ve got even more meat for the pot. Mwa-ha, gwa-ha-ha…” “…You rotten…,” Kenk said through gritted teeth, the anger in his voice rising. Yuuma could feel hot rage building in the pit of his own stomach. Not only had Oeben thrown Nagi into his dungeon, soaking wet, but apparently he had been planning on cooking and eating her as well. He barely qualified as human. “…We’re fighting this guy,” Yuuma whispered. Kenk, Sawa, and Tomori answered at once. “All right!” “Yes.” “I’m ready.” Yuuma’s decision wasn’t based purely in anger. He had taken their situation, Oeben’s behavior, and the fighting abilities of his companions into account. “Sawa, Shimizu—” Yuuma began relaying battle plans, but Tomori quickly cut him off. “Call me Tomo.” “Huh?” “It’s shorter.” Sure, it would take less time to say “Tomo,” but was she accounting for the mental hurdles involved in using such a personal nickname for a girl he had barely ever spoken with? She was right, though. Shortening her name would save about half a second, which could be enough to spell the difference between life and death for them if things went south. “Understood… Sawa, Tomo, focus on providing support from behind at first. And if the guard moves away from that switch, let us know immediately.” They both nodded. Yuuma turned toward Kenk. “Kenk, I’m not sure your Guard Counter will be able to fully handle Oeben’s hammer. Stick to Heavy Slugger when it comes to weapon arts and focus on dodging for defense.” “You got it.” And I’ll keep my eye on the situation and manage tactics, Yuuma told himself as he drew his shortsword from his left hip. “Mwa-ha-ha… So the insolent lambs wish to fight!” The man’s double-headed hammer looked well cared for, but the slightly bulbous end of each head was stained an unnatural black. Even the sides were splattered with similar stains. Were they bloodstains? If so, who knew how many beasts—or perhaps even humans—had met their end at Oeben’s hammer? “Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle. I’ll leave you in a recognizable shape when I kill you. After all, how would I get the meat off your bones if I flattened you? Mwa-ha-ha…” Oeben’s dialogue didn’t seem very fitting for an NPC in what was supposed to be an all-ages game. He lifted his foot into the air. His boots resembled the ones worn by the guard but were about two times as large. He stomped forward, drawing closer. Oeben seemed almost inhumanly large and stocky. The middle corridor was far from narrow, but he blocked nearly 70 percent of it with his body, both side to side and floor to ceiling. Yuuma heard Tomori begin chanting a spell from behind. Kenk held his sword in front of him, at the ready, and began pacing forward at about the same speed as Oeben. A moment later, Yuuma began moving forward as well. The most advantageous position for them to fight Oeben would be at around the midpoint of the approximately fifteen-meter-long corridor. Any farther than that, Sawa and Tomori would have trouble providing support. Any closer and Nagi might be put in danger. They had already crossed half of that distance, and Oeben still hadn’t assumed an attack stance. The hammer continued to dangle at his side as he approached, seemingly unconcerned. With his hammer in that position, Yuuma wasn’t sure how he would be able to use it or do anything other than sweep it from side to side. Or was he just trying to keep their attention on his hammer, so that he could suddenly rush forward and attack with his hands and feet instead? Yuuma tried to warn Kenk, but before he could do so— Oeben, who had been moving forward at a slow and steady pace, darted forward so suddenly that the stones beneath his feet nearly shattered. In the same instant, he lifted the hammer up and thrust forward powerfully. “Whoa!” Kenk shouted; he was unable to dodge properly and attempted to guard with his two-handed sword instead. The shaft of the hammer hit hard and close against Kenk’s sword, just past the hammer’s head. The impact was so loud, Yuuma felt it in his stomach. If Kenk had still been wielding his starting sword, Yuuma was certain it would have been broken in two. Fortunately, Kenk’s new Forged Steel Greatsword was able to withstand the blow without suffering so much as a nick. The same wasn’t true for Kenk, who lost his footing and was knocked back more than three meters. Oeben had managed to get the first surprise strike, but there was no way he would be able to pull his hammer back as quickly as he had thrust it. Yuuma stepped in close and committed, flourishing his shortsword and aiming for Oeben’s right flank, which was now wide open. Got him! thought Yuuma. But then, Oeben removed his right hand from the shaft of the hammer, attempting to guard against Yuuma’s strike with the back of his hand. That suited Yuuma just fine. The sword would do HP damage to Oeben regardless of whether Yuuma hit him in the flank or in the hand, and although Yuuma doubted he would be able to cut Oeben’s hand clean off, he might still manage to inflict the Injured status ailment, which would make it harder for Oeben to wield his hammer. “Hyah!” Yuuma stabbed his shortsword into the back of Oeben’s pudgy hand with all his might. His shortsword may have been starting equipment, but it was still a proper iron sword, not the generic wooden stick or copper knife of other RPGs. Additionally, although Monster Tamer was technically a magic-using class, in exchange for getting less INT growth than Mages, it received a decent amount of STR and AGL. Oeben’s hand was unarmored and completely exposed. Yuuma wouldn’t be surprised if his attack pierced completely through to the other side of the hand. However… As the sword made contact, there was a dull metallic clang! Blue-white sparks flew through the air. Yuuma’s hopes crumbled. He could feel it as it happened. His shortsword, which had been with him since the playtest and which had seen him though so many hard times—its proper name, in his inventory, was Iron Shortsword—began to crumble into pieces, as if completely spent. It started from the point and progressed downward until only the hilt remained. Soon even the hilt scattered into particles of light that sifted from his grasp. “Uh…!” Yuuma was stunned. His sword had still had plenty of durability left. How could Oeben have not only deflected but completely destroyed it with his bare hand? Wait! As the broken equipment effect faded, Yuuma thought he spotted something on the back of Oeben’s hand. Oeben’s sickly white skin seemed to writhe like liquid. There, something bluish, which showed up faintly from beneath Oeben’s skin. “Hmph!” Oeben grunted hard, thrusting forward with the same rocklike fist he had just used to block Yuuma’s sword. This time he was aiming for Yuuma directly. Oeben’s huge fist was as big and as round as a handball. Yuuma quickly moved to block by crossing his arms out in front of him. As he did so, however, he remembered earlier when he had been kicked by the Conehead Demolisher. Yuuma had attempted to block in the same manner then. Instead, his arms had been snapped like twigs, and his HP had instantly dropped to near-death range. Oeben was obviously nowhere near as outrageously powerful as the Demolisher had been—but wasn’t Yuuma the one who had told Kenk to “focus on dodging” just seconds ago? “Nrk…!” With his arms still braced, Yuuma leaped backward as hard as he could. A moment later, Oeben’s right hook made contact with Yuuma’s arms. Even as an avatar, Yuuma could feel his bones forming a shape that they should not. His HP bar, in the upper-left-hand corner of his field of vision, decreased by a little less than 5 percent. Had Yuuma not jumped back as he had, the damage probably would have been twice that amount. Yuuma was thrown backward, unable to resist the force of the blow. Somehow he managed to land on both feet. “I got you covered!” Kenk yelled. Kenk had already bounced back and was now moving toward Oeben once again. “Do it!” Yuuma shouted as he opened his menu window and navigated to his inventory. He tapped the Darkiron Shortsword, which he had purposely moved to the top of the list so he could find it quickly, and then selected EQUIP. The shortsword that appeared on his left hip was obviously high quality and featured a hilt and sheath wrapped in black leather. Darkiron was a type of metal unique to the world of AM—it did not reflect light and could be used as an amplifying tool for shadow and ice magic. Yuuma gripped the hilt and drew the sword from its sheath. The entire surface of the blade was matte gray, as dark beneath the lamplight as it was in shadow. The blade, while narrow, was hefty, and just as Yuuma had expected, it felt very different in his hand compared to the starting sword. He would just have to adjust to it while fighting. After he had finished changing his weapon, Yuuma glanced up. Kenk was currently squaring off against Oeben alone. Yuuma had to hand it to Kenk. Kenk was focusing on defense, like Yuuma had told him to, but he was barely giving any ground. Oeben stuck to two-handed thrusts, which probably made his attacks easier to handle, but Oeben was still applying a lot of pressure. It took both courage and quick wits to hold the line against such an opponent. Not that Kenk was avoiding damage entirely. Each glancing blow from Oeben’s hammer was able to shave off a small portion of Kenk’s HP. The Enhanced HP Regeneration skill Kenk had picked up earlier, however, combined with the Healing Circle spell that Tomori had already cast on him, was enough to cancel that damage out. Sawa was still holding Nagi and hadn’t cast any spells yet, but there was no way of knowing when the lizard-guard might make its move. It was probably better that she remain on standby for now. Of course, they weren’t going to defeat Oeben through defense alone. That meant it was up to Yuuma to lower Oeben’s HP. Yuuma doubted Oeben would be able to crush this new sword with his bare hands quite so easily. Yuuma readied his Darkiron Shortsword and took a step forward, preparing to join the battle, when all of a sudden— Yuuma was hit with the distinct feeling that something didn’t quite add up. The realization was like a cup that was filled with water, drop by drop, until suddenly it overflowed. When Yuuma’s starting sword had been destroyed, striking Oeben’s hand had almost felt like trying to cut through paper and then suddenly encountering a staple…and that was putting it mildly. There was something more at play here than mere weapon stats. It had felt like hitting a brick wall. There were plenty of other things about the way Oeben was acting that didn’t make sense, either. As a constable, Oeben should have been in charge of every single guard on Philos Island. And if what the old man at the souvenir shop said about Oeben controlling the city was true, Oeben might even be the most influential man in the entire city. Why would a person like that show up without a single guard in tow? He was also carrying that massive two-handed hammer but could only use it to thrust because the corridor was so narrow. There were probably plenty of big open rooms in the manor upstairs. Why didn’t he just wait for them up there, where he could swing the hammer around to his heart’s content? Oeben must have had some reason for needing to deal with the intruders on his own, while they were still in the dungeon. If that reason had something to do with the fact that he was employing a Varanian as a guard, then…perhaps… “Kenk, I need an opening!” Yuuma shouted. Kenk nodded and dropped his hips. Oeben howled in annoyance. “Humph, you lambs are starting to get on my nerves… It’s time you became another stain on my mallet!” He stepped back with his right foot into a side stance, holding his hammer with both hands like a spear and drawing it back as far as it could go. “Hrmph!!” With a wild grunt, Oeben thrust the hammer forward at incredible speed, much faster than his corpulent body seemed capable of. Had Yuuma been in Kenk’s place, he would have been forced to retreat backward. Kenk, however, didn’t give an inch. In a stubborn display of courage, Kenk met Oeben’s attack with his own Heavy Slugger. Oeben’s iron battering ram and Kenk’s steel blade collided, producing a shower of light and sound like nothing Yuuma had ever before seen in this world. An explosive shock wave knocked both combatants back by nearly three meters. Both Kenk and Oeben would be stunned for the next few seconds. “Tenebris!” shouted Yuuma. He thrust his Darkiron Shortsword forward. “Capere Febris…Ignis!!” A spectral purple hand with seven fingers appeared at the end of Yuuma’s blade. As Yuuma waved his sword, the hand shot forward with a wintry howl, grabbing Oeben’s pudgy flank in an eagle-tight grip. “Urggh!” Oeben was just coming to. He let out a howl as he attempted to bat away the Chilling Hand. The Chilling Hand was incorporeal and illusionary, however, and Oeben’s hand passed straight through it. A moment later, a snowflake symbol appeared beneath Oeben’s HP bar. It was the Cold ailment…but it had obviously taken effect much more quickly than usual. As the Cold status kicked in, the earlier symbol of two overlapping silhouettes also disappeared. Thwump. The ground shook as Oeben sank to his left knee. The exposed skin around his neck and hands rippled at irregular intervals. His sickly white skin grew transparent in brief patches, with something dark blue winking in and out of sight beneath. “W-wait! You’re kidding?!” Kenk yelled in surprise, his two-handed sword still held at the ready. Yuuma could feel Sawa and Tomori gasp as well. Oeben’s face slowly began transforming. His mouth and nose elongated, and his eyes began to migrate away from the thick bridge of his nose. Rows of sharp fangs appeared along the wide slit of his mouth, and his skin began to split into scales. Finally, his skin turned dark blue and took on a dull sheen, while his eyes became a golden yellow. “A Varanian…,” croaked Sawa. That settled it. Although his portly body remained unchanged, Oeben’s face was now clearly that of a lizard. The backs of his hands, which still gripped his hammer, were covered in thick, dense scales. Likely what had caused Yuuma’s shortsword to break. The name beneath the HP bar above Oeben’s head changed from Head Warden Oeben to Oeben the Varanian Commander. The double silhouette icon must have indicated that Oeben had been in disguise. “You’ve seen the truth now, lambs…,” said Oeben, who was still on his knee. His voice was laced now with rasping clicks and hisses. “None of you will be allowed to leave this place alive.” “You already said you were planning on turning us into stew!” shouted Kenk, undaunted. He dashed toward Oeben in a fury. Oeben was still under the effects of the cold debuff. Varanians were weak to cold; they had already seen that firsthand during their fight with the Varanian Axbearer at the castle. But why were there hostile demi-humans in the lord mayor’s manor, and how had Oeben managed to transform himself into a human? Yuuma had tons of questions, but he was pretty sure Oeben wouldn’t answer them. This was no time for distractions; it was time to fight. Get him, Kenk! Yuuma gripped the shortsword in his right hand tighter as he mentally cheered his friend on. Although it only worked with shadow and cold magic, the Darkiron Shortsword could be used as a magical amplifier, just like Sawa’s wand or Tomori’s staff, which made his Chilling Hand spell more powerful than it had been when used against the Axbearer. During the castle fight, two Barbed Wolves had shown up to get in the way. This time, however, Yuuma wasn’t going to let his spell expire until his MP ran out. Oeben was still kneeling on the ground. Kenk swung his sword downward, aiming for the bicorn hat sitting atop the Varanian’s head. Oeben suddenly pursed his massive mouth, creating a funnel shape with his lips. There was a whoosh of air as yellow gas spouted forth from Oeben’s mouth, enveloping Kenk completely. A breath attack—likely poisonous gas. “Kenk!” Kenk’s legs buckled underneath him. Through sheer willpower, however, he managed to carry through with his swing and deliver the strike. The blade struck Oeben square in the middle of his hat, causing a crimson damage effect to burst into the air. The strike was clearly weaker than normal, but Oeben’s HP still decreased by nearly 10 percent. Unfortunately, Kenk was also left hunched down onto the floor, where his momentum had carried him, his sword planted into the ground. He hadn’t lost any HP yet as far as Yuuma could tell, but a status ailment appeared beneath his HP bar. It showed two parallel, zigzag yellow lines…the symbol for paralysis. “Tomo, quick, Kenk needs healing!” ordered Yuuma. Tomori instantly ran forward and began to chant a spell. “Sacre…Pluvia…” She was preparing the Holy Purification spell, which had proven so useful back in the first-floor shelter at Althea, when the other students had gotten paralyzed by Tabanus Hellfly Larvae bites. It was a mainstay spell for Priests, capable of healing a variety of status effects and even of purifying curses and poison from items. Unfortunately, its range was much shorter than spells like Holy Healing and required Tomori to get close to Kenk before casting. Yuuma hesitated. Should he release his Chilling Hand spell and protect Tomori? If Oeben delivered another poison gas attack and paralyzed Tomori, too, they were going to be in trouble. But if Yuuma released the spectral hand, Oeben’s cold debuff would also disappear, allowing him to move once more. There was no way of knowing for sure how many seconds it would take for the debuff to fade. Yuuma’s mind raced. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Tomori running forward, her crozier raised. Oeben, pointing his snout in her direction. Yuuma shut everything else out and focused on Oeben’s lips. The moment Oeben’s mouth began to change shape, in preparation for another breath attack, Yuuma had to be ready to release his spectral hand spell and dash forward to protect Tomori. Oeben’s scaly lips began to twist and part. This time it wasn’t a breath attack, however. Instead, Oeben released a thunderous howl. “GWR… ARGGHGH!!” Is he…wasting an action on intimidation? At a time like this? Yuuma furrowed his brow as he continued to maintain his Chilling Hand. “Yu, the guard!” Sawa shouted sharply from behind. Yuuma spun around quickly. The Varanian Prison Guard had begun to move forward slowly from its position at the switch. Its target was obviously Sawa, who was still holding Nagi in her left arm. Now that Tomori had moved away from the door, Oeben had apparently decided there was no need to guard the switch anymore and had instead ordered the guard to join the fight… Pretty sophisticated thinking for an NPC. Come to think of it, the waitress back at Pomegranate Pavilion and the shopkeeper at House of Stripes had also seemed nearly indistinguishable from humans in terms of conversational ability. NPCs with chat AIs in games were hardly rare, but chat AIs usually just specialized in keeping the conversation intact. They didn’t have the ability to actually observe, investigate, and make decisions on their own. The NPCs in Actual Magic, even the demon named Valac that currently possessed Sawa, seemed more like human-level intelligence AIs than chatbots. If Yuuma was expecting them to behave like normal NPCs, he would need to reevaluate… Case in point, Oeben’s tricks were already giving Yuuma a run for his money. As a Mage, Sawa was going to find it hard to defeat that guard on her own, especially while also protecting the injured Nagi. If Yuuma released his Chilling Hand in order to help her, however, Tomori might get attacked by Oeben instead. Yuuma’s party had two trump cards up their sleeves. The first was the ability to summon Sumika Watamaki. Sumika would have no problem keeping the Varanian guard busy. However, she probably hadn’t recovered from breaking the cleansing steel chains yet, so Yuuma wanted to avoid summoning her again so soon. Their other trump card was the demon, Valac, who possessed enormous M-ATK power. Valac could easily obliterate both the guard and Constable Oeben, possibly even with a single spell. But the time now was only 10:30 PM. They still had an hour and a half left until the daily limit for summoning Valac reset. There was no way they would be able to kite the two Varanians around the dungeon for that long. That just left Sumika…but in her current state, Sumika was absolutely ferocious. She no longer seemed to possess any sense of self-preservation. If Yuuma ordered her to attack, she would continue to do so until her last breath, no matter how powerful their enemies were. Yuuma had a feeling that if he summoned her now, it would not end well. The guard drew closer and closer to Sawa. Yuuma watched, frozen, unable to make a decision. Sawa held her wand ready, waiting for the right timing. She had only one chance to make her magic count. Although she was unlikely to miss at that distance, a single Flame Arrow probably wasn’t going to be enough to defeat the thickly scaled Varanian. What was Yuuma supposed to do? Immediately flank the guard, in order to protect Sawa and Nagi? Or keep using Chilling Hand to protect Tomori and Kenk? There were no good options. Yuuma clenched his teeth so hard, they would have cracked if this had been the real world. Then someone spoke. It was a voice Yuuma had heard countless times before, and yet something about the voice was unrecognizable. “Fine… I’ll do it…” Yuuma glanced around reflexively. That was when he finally noticed. Nagi was still being cradled in Sawa’s arms, but her eyes were open. Yuuma and Nagi had practically been raised together, but this was not the Minagi Sano that Yuuma knew. Her expression, her whole demeanor, seemed abnormal. There was something jaded and listless about her, despite the danger they were in. Sawa froze. Nagi—or whoever was occupying her avatar—slipped free from Sawa’s grasp. She glanced down at Yuuma, who had now fallen to one knee. He noticed a faint blue light burning within her eyes. “Despicable… It took all this time for you to come to the rescue, and now you can’t even handle a little hiccup like this on your own…” The voice coming from Nagi’s small lips certainly sounded like her, but her manner of speaking had completely changed. “You’ll need to do better if you hope to be worthy of becoming one of my cultors…” “Cultor…?” Yuuma repeated the unfamiliar word, still in shock, before suddenly remembering the situation they were in. He tried to yell Watch out! but before he could: “VRAGGH!” The guard sprang forward with a ferocious roar. It had already noticed that Nagi was awake but apparently deemed that she wasn’t a threat. Nagi was unarmed, after all, and dressed in nothing but a muddy cassock. She didn’t even have a simple knife. With her HP already at less than 30 percent, a single punch from the Varanian would probably be enough to wipe her out. “Nagi!” Sawa suddenly snapped out of it and tried to throw herself in between the guard and Nagi. Before she could, however, Nagi held out her right hand to stop her. Meanwhile she extended her left hand in the guard’s direction. The Varanian lifted its vicious spiked club into the air.
Chapter 29
47 min read