by Sakon Kaidou
“Damn it!”
The dominant grudge has changed! I thought, panic setting in. I didn’t know if it happened because of the repeated restoration making the total grudge level drop or because I’d destroyed the heart once. However, it was obvious that the body was now being controlled by a grudge that didn’t belong to the Lich.
From the fact that it was going after Hugo, it was safe to assume that it was someone he’d killed. Or perhaps it was only going after the children so it could kill them and stock up on more resentment.
“What now?!” screamed Nemesis.
“We’ll do what we have to!” I yelled back.
To defeat Gouz-Maise, I had to find a means to make the Lich’s grudge the dominant one again. And I happened to have a plan for that.
“Where is it...?” I asked while looking at the ground. “Found it.”
I picked up a certain item and put it into my pocket rather than the inventory. With that, I was prepared. The only problem now was catching up to the monster. I needed something that could let me move fast enough to catch up to that semi-equestrian body.
I don’t have the time to hesitate about this, I thought.
“Silver!”
My mount instantly answered my call and ran over to my side.
“...You’re doing that again?” asked Nemesis.
“Not like I have any other options,” I replied. “Though it should be a bit better than before.”
I grabbed a piece of detached Magingear armor that was lying on the ground and put it under my feet. Then I grabbed hold of Silver’s reins...
“Away!”
...and ordered him to move.
He soon began speeding through the road. Holding on to his reins, I was trailing right beside him while using the armor plate to slide on the ground.
Fortunately, the path we were following was a simple dirt road with no tree-like flora on it. It was good enough for the armor plate to slide on relatively smoothly. Though it was only slightly better than having my feet get dragged on the ground, I didn’t mind it. After all, I was certain that I could catch up to Gouz-Maise this way.
“Don’t forget to heal when necessary,” said Nemesis.
“I know.” I cast First Heal on myself.
Water skiing: land edition was a little bit too hard on my legs. If I didn’t heal, the damage to my feet by the time I arrived would be severe enough to render me unable to walk.
After a few minutes of such sliding...
“I see it!” shouted Nemesis.
“Me too!”
...we found the giant creature. Its base form was that of a horse-man, but since Maise — the only one there who knew how to move such a body — wasn’t the one in charge, it wasn’t running as fast as it could. Silver’s speed was more than enough for us to catch up to it.
“But man, this is bad,” I said. “I can see Hugo’s group less than a hundred meters away from it.”
“At this rate, it will...” Nemesis cut her words short. “Can’t you use the Miasmaflame Bracers’ flamethrower?!”
“No.”
I couldn’t launch Purgatorial Flames because Silver’s movement speed was greater than the projectile speed of the fire. Not only would it not reach Gouz-Maise, it’d end up burning us.
However, the creature was going to reach the carriages before we caught up with it.
“Hey, wait,” I said. “I still have some of those, don’t I?”
As I held the reins with my right hand, I used my left to reach into my inventory and take something out.
“Those are...!” Nemesis seemed surprised.
“Guess leaving some of these unused worked in our favor!” I cried.
And so, I threw the items — the leftover White Lance Gems I’d used against Spirits while leveling in the Tomb Labyrinth — towards the abomination. Mid-air, the Gems changed into spears of light and went straight towards the back right leg of Gouz-Maise.
These Gems were basically the market’s substitutes for offensive magic. Though the spell inside was a skill from low-rank jobs, it was purely anti-undead. Its effects were evident the moment the White Lances hit Gouz-Maise’s leg as it ran. A fist-sized hole opened up in its flesh, causing it to completely lose its balance and fall to the ground.
“Go!” I shouted.
Silver closed the distance between us and the abomination. I brandished Nemesis in my left hand, enchanted her with Silverlight, and had Silver go parallel to the creature.
Syncing my attack with my horse’s running, I sunk the blade into Gouz-Maise’s body. Breaking through the many faces on its skin, my silver sword cut through its back.
First, it was the horse-like back, then the part linking the horse and human bodies, then the back of the human-like body. I evenly split the spinal cord.
“ＧａＥｉＩｒｕＵｒＲｕｕＯｕｕＵｅｅＥＡａａＥＫｅｅａＡＡ！！”
Releasing a scream from all the mouths it had, the abomination writhed and tried to crush us, but Silver quickly fixed the distance between us and went out of its reach.
“It’s not over yet!” I roared.
My blade went through its back, cervical vertebrae, skull, and finally reached the brain.
“ＧｈＨ！！ ＤａＳｑＱ！ ＡａＳｚ！ ｗＱａＡ？！”
It released cries of pain that were completely unlike any previous ones and quickly got up with an intense jump. That action made me release the reins, and I was thrown several meters away, dropping to the ground with a roll. The impact made me turn off the Silverlight. However, it was fully worth it.
“That reaction was...!” said Nemesis.
“Found it!” I shouted.
It had reacted to that damage in a completely different way than before. There was no room for doubt that the core was in its skull.
“This is where we’ll end the battle,” I said.
I took out the thing in my pocket and threw it upwards. It was a piece of a shattered crystal. Specifically — a piece of the Crystal of Resentment that the Lich had so treasured.
“ＨＥＥＩＹＡＡＡＳＡＡＳＡＧＡＡＡＡＡＡＡ！”
Upon seeing the shard, Gouz-Maise released a roar that seemed somewhat unlike the others. I felt like it was thick with desolation, frustration, and regret.
“The accumulated damage counter is back!” shouted Nemesis. “He’s the one controlling it!”
Just as planned.
“Let’s bring it down to the ground!” I yelled.
“All right!”
I channeled the Silverlight again and used all of my STR, buffed by the Miasmaflame Bracers, to jump. The shock caused by me preparing for the jump made the ground under my right foot crack, but I paid it no heed. The jump covered more than ten meters worth of distance and put me right next to Gouz-Maise’s legs.
“Ghh...!”
Going all-out took a toll on my muscles and brought them close to tearing, while my right leg turned somewhat numb.
Still, I’ll end it here and now! I thought.
Using my left leg — the one I’d landed with — as the origin, I put the impact and speed of the jump into my greatsword and swung it at the abomination’s front right leg.
“SPLIT APAAAAAART!”
With the sounds of a slash and Silverlight’s light burning, the blade smoothly cut through its skin, flesh, and skeleton. Gouz-Maise’s leg bone was completely cleaved open. The skin and flesh on the opposite side of the cut wasn’t enough to let the leg function and made the creature lose its balance. Obviously, it instantly tried to detach the wound and fix it, but...
“Not happening! Haaaahh!!!” I followed up my attack with another slash aimed at the injury, causing its leg to break off completely. Without its support, Gouz-Maise lost all the balance it had left and fell to its right.
I used my left leg to jump away from there and then ran straight towards the place where its head was about to land.
The plan was simple — hit it with Vengeance i
s Mine.
“With this...” I screamed.
...it’s done! I added silently. Victory is ours! We’ve won!
I suddenly had a feeling that we weren’t the only ones to think that. As the distance between me and Gouz-Maise’s head shortened, an inexplicable chill went down my spine, and not for the first time, either. It was much like the one I’d felt when I was about to launch my final attack on Gardranda.
My eyes met with the two eyes on its face... and the third eye on its forehead.
No. There was no such thing. That wasn’t an eye.
The thing peeking out of its torn forehead was a gem-like stone that didn’t reflect any light.
What is that? I thought.
But I knew exactly what it was. It was the abomination’s core.
Why had it revealed it to us — the ones trying to destroy it?
“...!”
The answer to that came in the form of great gathering of energy that started to whirl around its forehead. It was reminiscent of something I’d already experienced today — the transformation of grudge into unbridled, overwhelming power.
The Deadly Mixer.
The magical destructive force the Lich had used for his last stand.
I’d been too careless. The fact that Gouz-Maise didn’t manipulate undead or use magic debuff skills had made me believe that it couldn’t use this, either. However, Hugo had said that Gouz-Maise operated by transforming grudge into energy. Thus, it was perfectly reasonable for it to be able to use Deadly Mixer, which worked on the same principle.
Still on the ground, the abomination fixed its aim on us as we closed in on its head. Just like myself, the thing was looking for a good opportunity to finish me off. Its grudge helped...
No — its grudge was the very reason why it was able to gather its shattered intelligence and devise a plan to end the life of the one it was compelled to kill.
“ＤｄＥｅＡａＡＤｄｄＬｌＬｙｙＹｙｙ ＭｍＭｉｉＩｘｘＸｅｅｅＥＥｅｒＲｒｒＲＲｒ！”
Due to Gouz-Maise being an amalgam of grudge, the sorcery that it released, which converted grudge into destructive power, was nearly instantaneous.
“Counter Absorption!” I screamed.
I hastily extended Nemesis and used the last Counter Absorption I had in stock. That was enough to block its Deadly Mixer. However, that didn’t save me from being placed into checkmate.
After all, the distance between us had become short...
Short enough for its arms to reach me.
Guarding against the Deadly Mixer had rendered me unable to move. Gouz-Maise used the opportunity to swing its boulder-like fists at me. The next moment, my body was launched into the air... and my consciousness faded.
◇◇◇
Maiden of Vengeance, Nemesis
Right after we used Counter Absorption to block Gouz-Maise’s Deadly Mixer, its large fists hit Ray’s body. Still holding me in my greatsword form, my Master was blasted to the side. Passing between the trees in the forest, he flew through the air like a leaf in the wind.
The scene was reminiscent of a truck accident from Ray’s memory... and the time the Superior Killer had given him his first death penalty.
“Ray!” I called out to him, but he didn’t answer.
He had already lost consciousness. And his unconscious body was heading straight for a tree.
“Ah!” I quickly went into my human form, held him from behind, and tightly closed my eyes. A moment later, I felt a strong impact and pain spread through my back. As the tree we hit shook, we both fell to the ground beneath.
“Khh... Ah...” The pain was still there after we hit the surface. The impact I’d felt when squeezed between the tree and Ray — who was considerably larger than me — seemed to have made my ribs crack. However, I was certain that it prevented Ray from feeling any of that pain. That was more than enough for me.
“Ray!” I called out to him, but he didn’t show any signs of waking up.
Looking at his status, I saw that his HP was below 10% and that he had status effects such as Fainting and several Bone Fractures. Reaching into his inventory, I took out an HP recovery Potion and poured it over him. That healed some of his HP, but it didn’t take care of a single one of his status effects. The wounds were simply too deep. Also, Potion-type consumables were more effective when ingested, and due to being unconscious, Ray couldn’t drink any Potions I tried giving him.
“Forgive me!” I poured the content of the Potion into my mouth and pushed my lips against his. I then did it two more times. With that, I got Ray to swallow an entire bottle’s worth of medicine.
It became effective almost instantly, healing about a third of his HP and fixing the lighter Bone Fractures. His HP stopped going down, as well.
Though Ray was still unconscious, it was clear that he was no longer on the verge of dying. However, I was unsure if I could look him in the eye after this.
“Now’s not the time to think about that!” I cried desperately.
We were still in a particularly dire situation. I could hear tremors encroaching towards us, warning me that Gouz-Maise was getting closer. If the aberration saw Ray in this state, it would instantly kill him.
He would die a second time.
“I won’t allow that.”
I couldn’t stomach the idea of Ray being killed by that thing.
“Ray,” I said.
Still unconscious, my Master was lying near the tree we’d hit.
I gently caressed his cheek and turned away from him. “I will buy you some time.”
I believe in you. The evening after we lost to the Superior Killer, we made a promise. Back then, we were both weak and could do nothing against him. Thus, we agreed to become stronger and emerge victorious. Now, we both fight as one. I know you will wake up soon. So I will buy you all the time you need... because that is what will lead us to victory.
“Here I go!” I transformed my right hand into a black blade. Though relatively small, it was about as strong a weapon as my sword form.
I shoved myself in front of Gouz-Maise before it could find Ray. “You’re not getting past me, Gouz-Maise!”
“ＤＨＩＳＳＳＳＩＩＩＩＵＡＡＡＡＡＡＡ！！”
Every face on its body screamed. Each and every eye on its body swiveled and fixed on me.
The counter within me didn’t react, which meant that it wasn’t being controlled by the Lich’s grudge. It had noticed me simply because I was a living creature.
I had to face it and keep it occupied long enough for Ray to wake up.
“Augh!” I used my right hand-blade to attack Gouz-Maise.
My strategy was the same as Ray’s. I attacked it, was attacked back, and evaded.
Though Gouz-Maise was tough and powerful, it wasn’t fast at all. Even I didn’t have any problems dodging its attacks.
However, unlike when Ray had swung me, I didn’t seem to be able to hurt it at all. Without Silverlight, the most I could do was give it the most meager of cuts.
My stats were far below Ray’s. Not only that, but I was out of uses of the one skill I could do by myself — Counter Absorption.
Gouz-Maise, on the other hand, attacked me with nothing but blows that could kill me instantly. Unlike when I was a sword, a single direct hit would make my body shatter.
Though a single mistake could be fatal, I pressed on. If I gave up, the possibility of Ray waking up and us emerging victorious would become zero.
Neither Ray nor I could accept that. Thus, I fought to keep the possibility alive.
This feeling had been within me ever since I was born. I was certain that Ray had it, as well.
It was the one true thing that kept us tethered and connected.
◇◇◇
Paladin Ray Starling, within a dream
I instantly understood that I was dreaming.
I still had the appearance of my Infinite Dendrogram avatar, but everything felt somewhat hazy, making me
feel like I was in a lucid dream.
Despite that, however, I had no trouble processing my situation and the state of my surroundings. For example, I could clearly see a child — a young me, to be precise — running somewhere.
“Oh... I remember this,” I said.
I could easily tell that this dream depicted the past. I even knew the time. It was the summer of 2035 — nearly ten years ago.
Obviously, Infinite Dendrogram hadn’t been out yet, so my brother and I were playing different games.
Back then — when he was 16 — Shu had been all about retro games and martial arts. He’d gradually improved his fighting skills by frequenting a long-running dojo run by the family of our sister’s friend, and he’d eventually become a considerably famous contestant through U-17 — a tournament for minors.
My days back then had consisted of playing retro games with him while looking forward to seeing his matches. On days when those happened, I’d tended to head to the venues they were held in while being all giddy about it.
Just like in this memory.
“Man, what is this?” I muttered.
My question was only natural. After all, I — as my avatar, Ray — was following my younger self. Not only that, but I had something unknown standing next to me. If I had to describe it with one word, it would’ve been “silhouette.”
Yes — a humanoid silhouette was just floating in the middle of this normal-looking midsummer day. Its color was a mix of red and black, making it seem somewhat sinister. In my Ray form and still wearing all my armor, I was walking through this standard Japanese day with this silhouette by my side. The strangeness of this situation was another reason why I’d concluded that I was in a dream. Something this weird would only happen in a dream.
The silhouette was completely silent.
“How about you say something?” I spoke to it.
“R e p l a y,” it said.
R-Replay?
“So this is your doing?” I asked.
Since the silhouette’s voice was feminine, I momentarily assumed it was Nemesis, but I quickly got the feeling that it wasn’t.
“I w a n t t o a s k.”
Hey, I have several questions, too, I thought.
“T u r n s.”
Turns...? So we’ll take turns asking questions? I thought.