I heard Mr. Tadokoro’s voice of dismay. “H-He’s firing another Grade 5...?!”
Even level 99 players couldn’t do consecutive Grade 5 spells. But I was over level 100, so it was possible for me.
“Now, turn to ash!” The flames that even gods would fear rushed toward the Goblin Royal Guard. Unfortunately, it wasn’t labeled Legendary for nothing.
“Ki ki kiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!” A scream full of intent. It had stopped my Grade 5 attack with just its shield. Not surprising, since that giant shield was built to protect the king. It was on me for underestimating it.
My flames and the shield pushed against each other in a struggle. This is bad! The Royal Guard’s shield was winning out ever so slightly, the goblin slowly but surely walking forward. Its class was Fighter, and it was the same level as me, so my advantage was having long-range attacks. If it got close enough for a melee attack, I wouldn’t stand a chance, and it knew that. I could hear it cackling gleefully behind its shield.
“Ah, wait. Did I say one-on-one earlier? Sorry, I lied.”
As if a summoner would fight one-on-one. My words coincided with a girl appearing behind the goblin, brandishing a reaper’s scythe.
“Skill: Coat of the Moon Shadow.” This was the highest stealth skill in Tsukuyomi’s repertoire. It worked with her ability to hide in shadows, making for the perfect stealth attack. Once this set of skills were activated, she was guaranteed a critical hit.
Her scythe swung down, the reaping glint hitting the words “critical” into the Goblin Royal Guard. Criticals, to explain, were so strong that even Alice’s level 50 shots could affect level 99s. I shouldn’t have to say this, but level 125 Tsukuyomi controlled by my level 125 self was certainly going to take things out in one hit.
The Goblin Royal Guard split in two, its now-dead top and bottom halves slamming into the floor. Its innards spilled everywhere. The other goblins gaped in shock, barely able to make a sound. Fear took over their beings.
I took a step forward. They took one back. One more forward, one more back. It was as if the word despair had been plastered to their faces, and they couldn’t take it off.
It seemed I hadn’t yet pushed them over that final edge, though.
Tsukuyomi jumped out of one of their shadows. “Boo!”
She swung her scythe in a playful manner, like a child playing a prank. The goblins fell with a thunk, signaling the beginning of mass panic.
“It’s your turn now, goblins.” We humans had done nothing but panic since arriving in this dungeon. Once we were drowning in fear, horror, and insanity, our party would crumble as we knew it. Should we stop functioning as a group, our combat prowess would also drop considerably. As if to embody that theory, the goblins—who’d gone half insane at that point—gave up on attacking together and began running as their individual instincts told them to. As a result, they ended up revealing their unguarded backsides to us.
“Gyah!”
“Kiii!”
“Gaaaaah!”
At this point, the goblins were nothing but target practice. Tsukuyomi proceeded to freely cut all of them down by going in and out of their shadows, swinging her scythe.
This was the time to gang up on them. I snapped my fingers, summoning a seraph and a three-headed guard dog in the darkness behind me. Cerberus was weaker in his human form, so I had him going all out from the get-go. We would get killed if we underestimated these things; that’s what I’d learned during my travels. I wasn’t going to let my guard down.
I raised my right hand and spoke to my two subordinates. “Gabriel, Cerberus. Trample them.”
The decisive statement. Gabriel and Cerberus did exactly as they were told, running out and trampling the goblins.
Looks like we made it through this one... I sighed lightly, then felt a tap on my shoulder. Mr. Tadokoro entered the side of my vision, looking thoroughly terrified.
“What in the world are you...? This power isn’t normal!”
I went silent and contemplated how to explain, but Ms. Kaori answered for me. “He’s Shinobu Iijima, the boy who defeated twenty level 99 players from the Lions of Patriotism.”
Mr. Tadokoro’s face spelled disbelief, and she nodded. “It’s him. A level 125 Summoner.”
As that conversation continued, my summons finished off the goblins. A big part of our win was getting them to panic first. Four goblins actually managed to resist until the end, causing some damage to Cerberus’s front paws. Though our levels were far apart, they weren’t absolute, and our opponents weren’t standard goblins. The Royal Guard had been the same level as me, so the Goblin King was probably even higher. Letting our guards down wasn’t an option.
A dome of light appeared at the edge of the clearing, about ten meters in diameter. Just as I wondered what it was, Mr. Tadokoro yelled in excitement.
“We’re saved! This is a safe zone! A checkpoint!”
A checkpoint? Like the ones in video games? I looked to Ms. Kaori. She looked back at me, confused as to why I seemed doubtful. When she figured it out, she chuckled.
“Is this your first time seeing one, Shinobu?”
“It is. A relay point? The usual one?”
“That’s right. I can’t believe you’re so strong yet you don’t even know about things like this.”
“These things... I’m pretty sure they appear in long dungeons so players can safely log out in them, right?”
“Yes. They appear in this world too. Monsters aren’t allowed in.”
“I see. So it really is a safe zone.” I sighed. I’d been nervous up until that point, but it seemed we’d be able to take a breather.
We all entered the dome of light in relief.
†
“That’s everything I know about Agartha.”
We’d made a simple camp within the safe zone. Everyone was sitting down, the scent of coffee wafting around us. I finished my long tale.
“All that actually happened to you? So, you really are level 125?” Mr. Tadokoro asked. I confirmed it for him.
“I guess things do make more sense if you are,” he mumbled, lost in thought. “The level cap was indeed supposed to be raised with the Agartha event.”
“That’s why this is dangerous.” I was able to say that for sure. I told everyone about the wariness I was feeling. “Imabayashi has Keys to Agartha, just like me.”
The air in the room froze over. “Mr. Imabayashi...has them?”
“Yes, no doubt about it. Some of them have had the level cap released. He’s going to end up monopolizing Agartha’s benefits at this rate.”
“That’s rather hard to believe...” Mr. Tadokoro locked eyes with Ms. Kaori.
“I’m sorry for keeping quiet about it,” she answered. “I thought you wouldn’t believe me without proof.”
“I wouldn’t have, that’s for sure. But how do you know he has Keys? You’re enemies with him. You might just be trying to get us on your side. I can’t help but see it that way.”
“I have no way to prove it. But as you are aware, he’s dispatched a lot of level 99 players. Isn’t that suspicious?”
“I have to admit, that’s fairly solid proof.”
“He seems to be conducting some kind of extreme power leveling, yet no one from the Lions of Patriotism has died. This must be because of Agartha as well. Even if he didn’t have access to Agartha specifically, he has some way of power leveling. That in itself is for sure dangerous. Am I wrong?”