The rabbit slipped past Lis’s shield and rushed toward my sister. A silent wail escaped my throat. I commanded my enchanted sword into action, but it was all too late. I saw blood erupt like a geyser but could not force myself to look directly at the carnage. My brain would implode.
Agaccion and Lis, wielding her sword, charged at the rabbit, but all too quickly, the enchanted blade was crushed to pieces, and Lis’s head joined the rest on the floor. Yukikaze said something. I caught none of it. Something far more pressing had to come first.
Sacrificing my body, I drew my woodsman’s hatchet and stood between the murderous hare and my wife. There was no try—just do or do not. Fully aware it was futile, I hacked at the beast in my last Hail Mary. But it was all in vain. The ax didn’t even scratch the thing.
Behind me, I heard something plop to the floor. Then Lana’s head rolled through my legs. Her sad, lifeless eyes met mine.
“Ah.” The flood of emotions within me burst forth. I knew it was too late. But I swear you’re going down, you bastard.
Glaring straight at those red eyes, I began to chant my spell to destroy all—but then something clamped over my mouth and slammed me down to the ground. A pungent smell hit my nose; the room spun. I glimpsed silvery hair and a pair of horns; Evetta had me pinned to the floor with a cloth over my mouth. Shuna, Éa, Lazalisa, and Gaslark were all in similar positions, but it took three people to subdue Freyja’s frantic delirium. Only Lis and Lana remained standing, unaffected.
I looked each person in the face and saw their heads—all very much still attached to their necks. That’s when I realized the ones constraining us were Guild employees. Why are they here? What the heck is going on?
“This is the last group for today. Let’s move,” a young, winged boy ordered the staff, with the rabbit of nightmares pinned under his arm.
Meekly, we followed the Guild employees, who supported us and carried those who couldn’t walk into a dank, mossy stone room where several chairs had been prepared. We could hear shrieks and furious screams from men and women in the next room, most likely a party that had gone in ahead of us.
“Anyone sustain mental or physical injuries?” The young boy, also known as the Guildmaster of the Adventurers Guild, looked around at each of us. I felt nauseated. It must’ve shown, because Evetta rubbed my back soothingly. Freyja was vomiting her guts out into the leather pouch her counselor had given her.
“Ugh,” I heaved but somehow managed to hold it down.
“First, I want you all to take a good, hard look at the ghastly state of your leaders,” the Guildmaster instructed, and everyone turned their attention to the extremely unflattering situation Freyja and I found ourselves in. Shuna and Éa seemed equally as distraught; Lazalisa’s face was emotionless, but her body trembled slightly. Gaslark’s helmet hid his face. Only Lana and Lis appeared completely unperturbed.
“The sight of your deaths has reduced them to this. As for you, leaders, the faces gazing at you now are how your party members will look if you two should die.” Huh? What does that mean? “Cute, isn’t she? This rabbit. She’s one of a kind, a rare, wingless species, and is at least five hundred years old. She raised hell for us back in the old days, causing countless casualties from friendly fire, though now we keep her at the Guild and put her to work.”
“Guildmaster, are you saying she’s the gatekeeper for the fourteenth floor?” Did we fail the test? Would we have to start all over from the tenth level again?
“Yes, but then again, technically no. The real test here were the bonds between you guys,” he replied. “Souya, what did you see?”
Memories of that devastation flashed through my mind, images destined to continue haunting my dreams. “I saw everyone here except for me die.”
“And you, Freyja?”
“I saw the same thi— Bleeeeeeegh.” Freyja hurled once more.
“Though this species possesses no traditional battle prowess to speak of, it compensates for this deficiency with the ability to create Fatal Illusions. These hallucinations show the target visions of the people they hold dear, those they strive to protect, perishing before their very eyes. The reason we require everyone to attempt this trial in parties of two or more is to distinguish how you perceive the deaths in each group, though apparently this did not affect either of you two. You’ve proven your mettle as adventurers. However, as leaders, you have failed spectacularly,” the winged boy declared, though he wasn’t telling me anything new. I’d known from the beginning that I had no business leading anybody.
“My next message, I address to the rest of you: Your leaders do not value their own lives. This kind of person is always the first to die. I applaud their noble sense of responsibility, but do not forget: If a leader dies, they condemn the rest of their party to that same fate. Complete annihilation will shortly follow. And you two unshaken souls, you understand, don’t you?” He turned to Lis and Lana. “……Exactly.” A dark smile crept over the Guildmaster’s face. Lis, I could understand; she was not the real Bel. But then why Lana……?
“I’ve built up a resistance to that type of technique,” Lana explained when she caught my gaze.
Wagging his finger, the Guildmaster again commanded our attention. “I will say this only once more: The sentinel guarding this floor is the thread that ties you all together. Furthermore, the senseless death you witnessed today is but a taste of the loss you will surely encounter should you continue your adventures.”
My mind recalled unforgettable memories of Arvin’s death, unearthing the feelings of loss and absolute fury from that time.
“This is what it means to walk the path of an adventurer. Reflect carefully on what I have told you and discuss it thoroughly among yourselves. Now, look upon the faces of your comrades once again and give serious consideration as to whether you can safely trust them with your lives. That question is the trial you must pass to proceed to the next floor.”
With that, the head of the Adventurers Guild nodded, dismissing us. Our counselors accompanied us out of the room and down the stairs, leaving the fourteenth floor. We registered ourselves at the portal located immediately upon arrival on level fifteen and successfully returned to the first floor.
Bonds, huh?
In the wrong circumstances, that could be the most difficult thing to overcome. Some parties probably called it quits then and there. Entrusting your life to someone else was nowhere near as simple as it sounded, as some great songs liked to make it seem. This was where parties built on shared interests or formed on falsehoods met the end of the road. If you wanted to keep moving forward, every member of a party would have to drop all pretense and come clean.
………Guess it’s time.