I crept inside the train, warily on guard, and found it packed with seats.
Actually, it was nothing but seats. What even was this? Pakira touched one of the seats with a puzzled look.
"It's soft. So this is what sitting means, then…"
"Riv. Is that so? Riv?"
Wait, he's not here—just as I thought that, the doors slid shut.
"Attention all passengers aboard the Starlight City Main Train. We will be departing shortly. Please take an available seat or hold onto a handstrap."
"Where the heck is that voice coming from?"
"I suppose we ought to sit down."
"Indeed."
Pakira and Lupinus obediently took their seats, and Lupinus set her shield on the seat next to her.
"Hey, hey, where's Riv?"
"Don't worry about that one."
"He'll probably pop up again before long."
Calm, the lot of them. Well, if the people closest to him say it's fine, I guess it's fine.
I sighed and sat down.
Slowly, the train began to move, and I felt the vibrations through my body.
I had no idea how it worked, but it was moving, so there was that.
I gazed out the window on a whim.
What a sight. A metropolis that dwarfed the royal capital — there was no other way to describe it than breathtaking.
Pakira and Lupinus were watching the same spectacular view from the window too, chatting away happily.
"……"
Honestly gazing at them, looking so cheerful in their idle way, I felt the weight of my own age settle in.
Well, I never would have imagined I'd be exploring together with girls this young, either.
Just recently, a close buddy of mine who'd been a Second Rank delver had retired.
He'd been aiming for First Rank, but the birth of his child was what finally pushed him to quit.
He'd apparently been offered a position as staff at the Delvers' Guild, so the timing worked out.
Yeah, you can't keep doing dangerous work when you've got a kid to think about.
I knew he'd been planning to retire around the time he got married.
But I also knew he couldn't give up on his dream of reaching First Rank.
It had been his dream since he was little, and he'd been pushing hard ever since he became a delver.
But once a child is born, that changes everything.
He said the moment he held his newborn baby, all his doubts melted away. That was how he put it, with a smile.
"………"
I wasn't exactly aiming for First Rank myself.
As long as I could drink and have a good time, that was enough. Being a delver just happened to fit those conditions.
At first, all I cared about was putting food on the table. I wanted to make things easier for my sister, Arifa.
Before all that, though — if Master... if my aunt Dorloff hadn't found me, who knows where I'd have ended up.
I let out a soft laugh.
"Hey. What do you think you're doing, staring at the young lady and Miss Pakira like that... you suspicious creep."
"Huh? It ain't like that."
Before I knew it, the voice had come from Lupinus's shield on the seat next to me.
This thing was obviously one of those, right?
The talking inorganic objects you occasionally find in the depths of dungeons.
There was a proper name for them. Forgot what it was, though.
If it attacked, I wouldn't hold back, but if it did nothing, I'd just leave it be.
"By the way, nobody seems to have noticed, but Lady Riv isn't on the train."
"Huh? Hey. What do you mean?"
"When the door closed, she was outside. Just standing there gawking."
"You should've said that sooner! Lupinus. Pakira. It's an emergency!"
I called out to the two of them.
They were both stunned, at a loss.
"It is. Through the communication channel."
"That's it!"
Pakira caught on and sent the message.
Right then, the train stopped.
The door opened. W-what do we do now?
"Riv. The train has stopped, hmm hmm. At every stop? I see. And the destination—is the guideboard up above? Ah, that one. So... hmm hmm. Then getting off would be... still a ways off."
Looks like we're not getting off here.
I let out a breath of relief, and the door closed.
"Whew..."
"How did it go?"
"That idiot Riv. Apparently he bought a drink from some kind of vending machine and missed the train."
"I see. I'm just glad he's safe."
"He knows which station to get off at. We agreed to meet up there. Sounds like Riv's catching the next train."
"Well, at least nothing bad happened."
Getting separated or lost inside a dungeon is about the worst thing that can happen.
After a few more stops, we finally arrived at our destination.
Though, I probably would've figured it out even without Riv telling me.
We got off right in front of a massive black wall.
We were supposed to meet in front of it, but the moment I stepped off, I felt something off about the atmosphere.
I was about to casually warn the other two, but Pakira and Lupinus had already noticed.
With our guards up, we left the station. A wide road stretched out before the wall.
Wide enough for a caravan's giant horse-drawn wagon to pass through with ease.
"Huge... what the heck is this..."
"What an enormous wall..."
"It's incredible..."
We stood there, completely overwhelmed by the black wall towering above us — so massive that all we could do was stare up at it.
Craning our necks too long actually started to hurt. That's how tall and vast it was.
And beyond this wall lay our real destination. A shiver ran through me on its own.
"Hoh. So they really are organic life forms."
"Indeed, indeed."
"Woo-hoo! Looks like this might actually be fun for once."
We froze. At some point, three shadows had appeared before the wall.
They were all different heights, draped in black robes with red lines running through them, hoods pulled over their heads.
"What the—!?"
"People?! There are people here?!"
"That one's startled too, but... they don't exactly feel like allies."
From their voices — a middle-aged guy, an old man, and a woman, roughly speaking.
The tall one in the middle was the middle-aged guy. Old man on the right. Woman on the left.
The middle-aged guy had a greatsword strapped to his back.
"Hm. Old man Hormisdas. Which one is the target?"
"Indeed, indeed."
"Yee-haw! The cute one with the ears, right?"
What. They were targeting someone?
Following their gaze — Pakira.
"Lupinus! They're after Pakira!"
"Underst—"
"Oh-ho!"
"!"
When I turned around, the smallest of them was behind Pakira.
I grabbed Pakira, and she sank into the shadows with a soft plop and vanished.
"A Relic!"
Damn it.
"Pakira!?"
"Heeere we gooo. One, two, and up we go!"
"Mmgghh!!"
The woman returned to her original position.
Next to her, Pakira was bound by something like black cords. Shadows.
I drew Flametongue.
"Oho. Old man Hormisdas. Lady Badadirma. I'll take that fellow over there."
"Very well, very well."
"Heave-ho! Balthazar, be careful now."
Just as I figured.
The tallest of them, a grizzled old man, drew the greatsword from his back.
"Agaro..."
"Don't let your guard down. Here they come."
"Okey-dokey! Gramps Hormidas. I can't move 'cause of the debuff, so that pretty long-eared girl over there's all yours, okay?"
"Very well, very well."
The old man extended his hand. It was not the withered hand of an aging man.
It was a hand made of black-silver metal. The woman from earlier had a similar metallic hand.
These guys. Were they all wearing some kind of armor?
Countless pale lights shot from the old man's hand at tremendous speed toward Lupinus.
Lupinus, targeted, raised her shield to guard.
—Lupinus!
—I'm quite all right. More importantly—
—Muu. Carelessness is the greatest enemy, old man.
In an instant, the old man swung his greatsword right in front of my face.
—You're an old man too!
I swung Flametongue as well, and the greatswords clashed.
Up close, it was a simple, pitch-black greatsword.
No fancy engravings on the crossguard or anything. Just a broad-bladed greatsword.
But it was an unusual greatsword.
Because the blade was covered in black scales — it was clearly not forged from steel.
At the center of the blade, a crystal glowed an eerie red.
That's it. It looked something like the sword Riv carried.
But that was strange. It should've been heavy, yet... the impact I felt through the blade was light.
Strangely light, at that. The old man slowly stepped back.
—Oh ho. You blocked my sword, old man.
—It's Agaro. Old man.
"Hm. My individual name is Balthazar. I am one unit of Protocol 'Three Guardian Stars' and have been designated as leader."
"Much obliged. I'm a First-Class Delver — Agaro of the Doom Sword."
"Ho. Day after day I've been burning through time resources eliminating buggy guards with nothing to show for it, but Agaro of the Doom Sword... you look like you'll be fun."
"—At least you seem like a step up from that square black spider."
"Hm. Square black spider... oh, the Cube Pauk, was it?"
This guy. He's strong. Ridiculously strong.
A quick glance. Lupinus is still fending off the old man's attacks.
The woman is touching Pakira's captured ears with evident interest.
Pakira's been taken hostage.
From their attitude, they don't seem like they intend to hurt her — but there's no guarantee of that.
The only play we've got is stalling until Riv shows up... except we don't even have that kind of breathing room.
Ideally I'd take a hostage of my own without killing anyone, but these aren't exactly opponents I can do that against.
What do I do.
Sigh. There's nothing I can do.
The moment they took a hostage, we were dead in the water.
"...Tch. Fine. We lose."
"Hm. You thought this was about the hostage?"
"Isn't it?"
"I have no intention of doing something so dull."
"Huh?"
What the hell are you talking about.
"Our MASTER's order is to secure her. The MASTER's commands are absolute program code to us."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I promise on my proof of existence. We will not harm her."
"...You're serious?"
"So go ahead and defeat me without holding back."
"You serious?"
This guy.
Seriously?
"Lah-hoi. Baltazar. He's been super bored, you know. Don't worry, eyepatch old man. What Baltazar says is true. The MASTER is absolute to us."
"Indeed, indeed."
These guys.
Seriously?
"What are you saying? Once Agaro defeats him, you two are next."
Lupinus grumbled, still catching the barrage of light on her shield.
"Muh-hoi. That's true, I suppose."
"Indeed, indeed."
"Or could you defeat Agaro?"
"Kih-hoi. No way. I'm... too weak."
"Indeed, indeed."
"Then they'd take Pakira hostage."
"Tch-hoi. Not a chance. My MASTER's order is to secure. So I absolutely will not harm her."
"Indeed, indeed."
"...I don't understand."
Lupinus's face twisted in distress.
Pakira, captured though she was, wore the same expression.
I didn't get it either.
Would anyone really follow orders that far?
"Hih-hoi. More importantly. That eyepatch guy over there — does he seriously think a fragile organic life-form can beat Baltazar, the leader of Protocol 'Three Guardian Stars'? That's the part I find incomprehensible."
"Indeed, indeed."
"...I will win."
Lupinus could feel Baltazar's strength too, huh.
Well, we had no choice but to win.
"...Ugh, I wanna drink."
When this is over, I'm drinking enough to bathe in.
With that thought, I pulled out an Amalthea horn and put it in my mouth.
At this point, there was nothing to do but fight.
This Baltazar wasn't the kind of enemy you could beat halfway.
Half measures wouldn't cut it. If I didn't go all out, fight with everything I had, I'd lose in an instant.
If I tried to play it safe, I'd be killed before I could blink.
That's the kind of monster it is.
Right. A monster on this level.
If I had to pick the ones among the many monsters out there who still look human, it'd be someone like Alverd.
Alverd von Lutbert. Someone in that class.
I'd rather not fight something like that. That's the kind of opponent it is.
But I don't have a choice.
I chew down on the Amalthea horn.
It's a legendary Relic exclusive to my species, the Fawn. A Fawn who drinks it gains infinite power.
But a human body can't withstand that infinite power.
If you bite down and drink, you gain the power — but you die in just a few minutes.
However, thanks to a certain cheat of mine, I don't die when I drink it.
I don't die, but there's still a price.
"GAAAGHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!!!"
I scream toward the heavens, my knees buckling as I collapse and stare up at the sky, writhing in agony.
Searing pain races through my whole body, as though every fiber is about to burst apart.
Especially the horn — it feels like it's going to split, explode, shatter, and just end everything right now.
"GAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
My hair grows longer and black horns sprout and expand. The moment I register it, the searing pain vanishes like it was never there.
My vision, my consciousness — everything clears up, and every sense and sensation in my body sharpens to crystal clarity.
I stretch Flametongue long and thick, then hoist it over my shoulder.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Woohoo! Wh-what is that... Is that really a fragile organic lifeform..."
"Indeed, indeed."
"...Agaro."
Baltazar takes a step back.
"Mmm. What terrifying power. I'm sensing anomalous energy that shouldn't exist in this world. It's OVER. Something like this hasn't happened since Herode. Very well, I'll respond in kind. First, second, third protectors released—Flunting limiter released."
Through his hood, Baltazar's eyes glow purple.
The black scales covering the greatsword's blade bristle outward, the red crystal at its center swells, and an eyeball emerges.
In an instant, it blazes blue-black.
Huh. What a coincidence. Yours is fire too.
I grip Flametongue in both hands and take a wide stance.
"Flametongue. Standard..."
Flametongue splits in two, becoming twin blades.
"
Doom Sword
Mode"
From the split between the twin blades, a red-black edge of flame emerges.
This is—
the tongue of dragon fire that annihilates everything—
.
"Let's go. Agaro."
"Come. Baltazar."
I was certain. This fight would be decided in an instant. It would end with this one blow.
One step.
"One Stroke — Sever the Demon!!!"
"
Kaghfa Hol Lulvandaaaard
!!!"
The two ultimate techniques collide head-on.
The clash locks into a stalemate, and a crack splinters through Baltazar's greatsword.
At that same moment, the balance of power collapses without ceremony.
Baltazar's greatsword shatters into dust, and his left arm is blown clean off.
But I didn't escape unscathed either.
The full force of the shockwave slams into me—I crash into the wall and crumple to the ground.
I have no strength left to stand. My power hits its limit, and with nothing I can do, consciousness slips away.
When I jolt awake, Riv is there.
She's holding an empty vial. So that's how it was. She used it.
The moment I sit up, Lupinus rushes over first.
We're in front of the gate.
But none of them are there—and Pakira is nowhere to be seen.
Only Riv, Lupinus, and I were left.
There, sitting all alone, was Baltazar's left arm.
Some kind of strange arm, I guess—but none of that mattered. None of it mattered at all.
Ah, damn it.
I punched the ground.