(—ነነነነ(—(—[][][][]—)—)ነነነነ—)
As the map told the new party of Ren, Elena, and Rino—the secret passageway had truly existed. It seemed like there was an illusion spell casted on it to allow it to blend in in the darkness of the alleyways. From the unknowing eye, it merely looked like a dead end and nothing more, but as the map had insisted that there was a way into the castle from here, Rino decided to take her hand at the limited illusion magic she had.
By some miracle, Rino was able to dispel it rather easier, but the concerns came up where she mentioned that the seal on the illusion had been much too simple. She hadn't been intending on taking the overmassed credit, but it merely worried Ren. There was no way in hell that an entrance to the royal castle would be decoded and opened up by a mage who barely knew nothing about illusion magic except for the bare bones. He expected it to be strong, but it probably meant that Zellus was already expecting him.
Figures.
At this stage, Ren could step back and retreat, but he decided to call on Zellus' bluff. After thinking about it on his own, there was absolutely no way in hell that he would call on his own aligned allies to help catch the Sword Hero. It brought too many consequences onto his hand at too low of an outcome. Ren could actually himself be free if knight ever did catch him using the passageways. Simply because he used the passageway, the fault really fell onto Zellus for giving that temptation in the first place.
That's what Ren had been banking on.
Ren was right to play his act on the night of receiving the information from Zellus, since it had theoretically the lowest possibility of being taken down with the exception of the long-run decision where he would wait about a month or so to do it. However, considering the current things with Motoyasu, this regrettable may have been the best opportunity to intrude.
The entrance led the three into a dimly light tunnel that only had the single pathway to it. The head room was decent enough and the width had been wide enough for Ren to extend his arms out and touch the two walls. If they were ever caught in here, he'd have a significant disadvantage considering the fact that he couldn't perform a full swing properly.
As they kept walking, Ren reminded them to put on their masks. Of course, he understood that it would immediately deem them as suspicious, but if they were to come across a stray set of knights on patrol, they could take them down without them knowing their identities. For that reason as well, Ren had gotten himself a black cloak and threw his blue scarf into the inventory.
They came across the end of the tunnel to see something akin to a dead end once again. However, there wasn't any illusion magic that was being held here. Instead, it was simply a button acting as a mechanical switch just as Zellus had implied for that one trap activation unit.
Ren was wholly prepared to book it if there had been knights waiting on the other side. He glanced at his party members and gave them a nod of confirmation, all agreeing that running had been the thing to do if they were discovered this early into the stealth mission.
Ren's finger hovered around the button once he got the silent confirmation from the girls themselves as he went on to click it. The wall started to collapse into the ground, as if it was being sucked into the earth. Ren and Elena readied both their swords and their feet while Rino focused on watching their backs—just in case.
However, there had been no one on the other side.
There had only been an amassed collection of random storage items that Ren would expect in a storage area. There were candles, strings of rope, replacement iron bars—it was somehow an organized mess that he had been witnessing. The most important thing was that there was no evidence that anyone had been here and they decided to take their chances.
The three walked out of the hidden passageway as it closed up behind them. Opening it up again didn't seem like too much trouble. If it had been a button to open it from the inside, there should have been a button that did the same on the inverse side. The priority had been to secure their exit, but even the map had planned this all out for them. Zellus denoted on the paper that the button to escape had been covered up and camouflaged on the back end of the nearest shelf.
And what had been there, exactly as Zellus remarked on the paper? The button in question and Ren pressed it to check if it had truly been the one they were looking for—in response, the secret passageway opened up once again.
"Alright, we have our escape confirmed. Looks like he didn't give us any bad info," Ren muttered quietly to the two girls. However, Rino raised her hand as if she was a student in a classroom as he spoke. "What do you want?"
"... W-What was the plan again?"
"Oh, for crying out loud." Ren groaned, doubting everything that he was about to do. It was lucky that he was able to come up with a plan that required minimal help from their end for his own issue.
"I highly doubt that they have the spymaster's chamber guarded by one set of knights for the entire time, especially this late," Ren explained. "That means that at some point, some knights are going to come down into this level and exchange their roles, sending the other knights to rest. The goal here is to intercept those knights, take their uniforms and dispatch the current guards of the spymaster's chamber as we pose as the new guards assigned here. That gives me access to the chamber, but it also allows you two to wander the castle freely—to some extent. If there's any problems that indicate that they might be checking up on the chamber, one person should immediately leave the party to warn me. I'll do the same if they ever discover me. Was that clear enough?"
Rino had been seemingly attentive this time around, until she gave out a slight yawn. Apparently, this was past her bedtime and it really showed. Ren groaned, thinking that it was a terrible idea to bring party members at all. He swore to everything that was mighty that if Rino had been the reason this operation blows—he didn't even want to know what he'd do to her.
"Apparently not. Well, you leave now if you—"
"N-No! I heard it loud and clear!" Her tenacity would have been a redeeming factor if the leader of the party hadn't been Ren. All he saw was a nuisance that refused to realize they were out of their depth. "I can do this! Don't worry about me."
"You can trust me on this, Sir Ren." Elena followed up with reassurance. Ren didn't know how much better Elena's reassurance was, but she certainly held herself together better than Rino. "I'll help manage on our side."
"You better. I'm not responsible if you two end up screwing yourselves over."
Ren crept up towards the door and opened it up slightly. He had done his fair amount of stealthing back in Brave Star Online, so he merely started to use his instincts in relativity. Stealth in the virtual world had been the toughest aspect to master since there had been limited information to play with in a first-person perspective. Having no active maps meant that Ren needed to pay attention to his hearing and sight heavily to determine where enemies were.
Ren waited with the door opened and held his breath. Gazing outside, it certainly appeared as if they were in the lower levels. The dimed torches on the bricked walls certainly made for the eerie experience, but he never let that notion interrupt his concentration. In fact, there had been footsteps—two of them, that sounded like they were approaching the hallways that they had to pass.
Voice started to emerge as he looked back at the other two, pressing his finger against his lips as he tried to pull back the door as close as possible without giving himself a blinding glance of the situation. Ren tried to hone in on what they were saying—seeing if they would have been saying anything worthwhile or any clues that would have helped them out.
"Man, I can't believe I got assigned to such a last night job."
"It's really easy! All we have to do is stand around and pray that no one crosses our paths!"
"Do you really think it's going to be an uneventful night? I really don't know about that. Something gives me the chills everytime I come down into the lower levels of the castle. It's like we always have to be careful on turning corners every time—in the castle, nevertheless."
"Trust me, Ake. As your senior, you can believe me when I say that I've taken this job countless times already. You can also believe me when I say that barely anything happens and all you have to do is stand and make sure no one gets in or out of the room. Gotta protect that information after all."
"If you say so… I've never been given a night job before, so I hope you can understand why I'm so anxious."
"That only means that the higher-ups are starting to see your worth, Ake! This is a good thing for you! Soon, you'll be out of the rookie knights in no time! The captains have definitely seen your potential as a knight!"
"I-I sure hope so… I've been working really hard for this."
Ake? Where have I heard that name before…?
Eh, I guess it doesn't matter. It sounds like they're the next shift.
How perfect is this?
Ren kept his sights on the opening, waiting for the two knights to walk past the door. As the footsteps went on, Ren noticed their shadows approaching at a moderate pace. With the group holding their breaths, we went by without ever suspecting a thing. Their backs were now turned away from the door and Ren didn't sense anymore knights heading down the hallway.
With a small beckoning of his hand, he quietly and quickly opened the door and drew his sword. Elena and Rino went at a slower pace. Moving silently as a group was bound to attract more attention behind them, so Ren went ahead of them and closed the gap like an assassin trying to land their target.
His sword unsheathed, but he didn't open up with a slash. His hand tossed itself into the armour collar of one of the knights and yanked him backwards. With resistance, this would have been a difficult feat for Ren, but since they didn't expect to be flanked in such a way, it was almost like pulling the string of a puppet.
"W-What!?"
"S-Sir!?"
Two words had already been shouted out. If there were anybody that had been hearing it, he prayed it was only their group and not some lingering patrol squadron—but Ren wanted to keep that risk to a low.
Ren pulled the knight over his shoulder and tossed him over towards Elena and Rino, letting them deal with that knight. He glanced back at the remaining knight who nervously and frantically reached for his sword, but his hesitation from his confusion had been his weakness.
Ren's blade began to shine a brilliant white light along its blade, as his body snapped into place. With one breath and a twitch of his hand, he spun the blade and his torso around, stepping into the young knight's direction.
"[Slanted Arc]!"
"W-Why me!?"
The power behind the attack landed on the knight's side, pushing him off his feet and into the wall—a punishment for screaming out two more words. He slammed into the surface with his breath being taken away, but it seemed like his consciousness was still wavering. Ren lunged forwards at the knight with a clenched fist and driving it right into the side of his helmet, knocking him down onto the floor.
And for extra measure!
Before the knight could touch the ground, Ren untightened his fist and caught the armour's collar. He tossed the knight onto the opposite wall in a brutal manner with all his might. The colour in his eyes had faded away as he slowly slipped down to the bottom and tipped over against his arm.
Ren might have been letting out some of his frustrations on the wrong person, but it didn't really matter to him. It felt really good throwing someone against the wall with all that pent-up emotion as he sighed to recuperate himself, sheath his sword and dusting his hands.
He glanced over to see how the girls had been dealing with the other knight. They managed to knock their knight out, with Rino sitting on the unconscious body for good measure—but they had both been staring at Ren as if he was insane.
"... What? What are you staring at?"
"... Sir Ren?" Rino was the one to speak up. "If you have any anger problems, you can always come talk to us."
"If you have any words to speak," Ren retorted, "then you can get going with stripping the knights' armour away and wearing them for yourselves. I was worried that we wouldn't be able to get armour that was your size, Rino. Though, it seems like this guy has the ideal set."
Reluctantly, Rino and Elena had listened to the assigned leader. They moved the bodies into the storage room first and foremost, just in case there had been anymore patrol units that decided to roam towards their exact area. Ren had noticed a few female knights in town and within the castle, so it wasn't as if there had been any prejudice against female soldiers among the ranks. It didn't seem like that type of era.
Ren helped remove the helmets and breastplates as they tucked the two knights into the corner. While Rino had an easy time getting her disguise on, Elena had a bit of difficulty. It wasn't impossible to get on, but since the breastplate had been designed for males—Ren clearly didn't think out this attribute of the plan. However, Rino kept pouting silently as her companion struggled to fit it onto her body.
He already knew that Rino was probably jealous of the relative breast size of Elena, but Ren couldn't be damned to point that out. If he had been Motoyasu, this entire situation probably would have been blown out of proportions, but once Elena finished up, the two girls slid on their helmets and exited the storage room.
As Ren trailed behind the girls, notioning them where they should go off of what the markings on Zellus' map meant, he thought about the plan a bit more. There might have been some confusion as to why a female had been wearing a male's uniform and it might have been a safer bet to let Ren be the one to wear the uniform instead. Though, that in itself came with some problems.
Chances were that some of the knights had a good idea of what he looked like already, thanks to the exhibition match he had with that one rookie knight he couldn't remember the name of. Since it was dimly lit, he might have gotten away with it, but there wasn't a believable guarantee for him. For all he knew, the entrance to the spymaster's chamber could have been lit differently than the hallways. On the other hand, a female wanting to be treated like a male and thus wears a male's uniform set had been much more believable to pass.
It didn't take long for them to discover the door of the spymaster's chamber. Unlike all the other doors, this one had been seemingly outlandish in comparison. There had been two knights standing on guard outside of it and Ren went back to hide around the corner to let Elena and Rino 'take their shifts'.
He hadn't been listening to the entirety of the interaction, but noticed that they hadn't been a huge dispute. That alone was already settling as he heard footsteps walk towards him. He hid in the shadows and kept a reasonable distance away for them to pass into the other branching hallway. Once the coast was cleared, Ren quickly returned back to the girls to check up on things.
They were successful and they were even handed off the keys of the spymaster's chamber without much problems. Elena gave the keys to Ren who promptly unlocked the door.
"Alright, this is where we part ways. Check up on the prison cells first to see if Motoyasu is in any of them. That's where I predict he might be. Remember if you see any problems that might pose a threat to me, leave the party. Got that memorized?"
Ren opened up the door to see that it was still lit up inside. The chandelier still had its might, hanging above the center of the door. Near the far end of the circular room, there was a desk. It was most likely where the royal spymaster did their work and all around the room had been bookcases and cabinets, all filled with papers and documents. Luckily, they seem to be labelled, so Ren didn't think much of it.
"Good luck, you two," Ren said as he walked into the room, but he stopped underneath the chandelier and looked back at the two girls. "Oh. And thanks."
"I wish you good luck too on whatever you're trying to find out. You never did tell us why you needed to break into the spymaster's chamber." Elena had however stayed still in the doorway. "Though, something tells me that you're trying to find specific information about the Shield Hero's trial. Isn't that right, Sir Ren?"
"Just go before I change my mood," Ren growled.
Elena made an amused chuckle as she and Rino scampered away, leaving the door closed behind them. He really wondered how people like Motoyasu can ever deal with such annoying party members, but he had to admit—if he didn't have Rino or Elena in the party, there was little way he could take down both standing guards in front of the chamber without a small skirmish. This method had been much cleaner and definitely more quiet.
Ren started walking over to the bookshelves, trying to see where everything had been. However, he grimaced instead of systematically moving through the shelves. None of these labels had been legible which slightly pissed him off. Exactly what type of spymaster or even an information broker would use scribbles and random symbols to sort and organize everything?
However, he then realized that the role must have been called spymaster for a good reason. This must have been some type of code that he needed to break, but without encryption convertors, Ren didn't really have anything to go off by. He hadn't supposed that Elena or Rino could have figured it out, but that would have been a nice thought.
Instead, Ren started to pull random documents out from the shelves and cabinets, one from each clustered area. He figured if he could find something that looked like a criminal report, then it would follow that Naofumi's investigation conducted by Lothringen would be in the same area as well.
Ren opened up the first file only to be met with frustration.
He couldn't read this one either. It was all jumbled up, even more so than the labels that were being laid out. All the papers seemed to look the same too, only that how the scribbles looked on each pulled-out page had been different each time. He found it quite baffling that the entire array of information had been encrypted into a code. He thought Zellus mentioned that there had been others that required information such as the royal family and the captains of the knighthood.
However, a realization struck him.
Wait… No one ever said that this was Japanese in the first place.
Putting back the documents he had in his hand back into the shelf, he quickly searched his help menus to confirm his suspicions. After not long, his grief had been met.
[Attention]
[The Holy Weapon will be able to translate speech towards the natives of the world if the wielder's language is not of the world that they were summoned to.]
It was a cool feature that the holy sword would be able to connect their conversations together using a seamless barrier. However, nowhere had it mentioned writing and there hadn't been another help menu that concerned itself with translations. For all intents and purposes, this world had another language that differed from Japan and Ren had been illiterate in it.
That… wasn't good.
Ren didn't know what to do now. There were probably thousands of files in this room alone and one of them had the details of Naofumi's investigation on it. There was no way that Ren would be able to guess where it was and even if he guessed correctly, he wouldn't be able to read what was on it.
This entire thing was a bust! Damn it! Just because of one small detail!
Ren clicked his tongue, but it wasn't as if he had thrown out the towel. Ren thought to himself carefully, telling himself that it had simply been a few days since the trial had ended and started to make hopeful assumptions. Lothringen must have used his investigation notes to help condemn Naofumi and then finalized the report to hand over to the spymaster.
Perhaps the report had still been on the desk somewhere. Ren glanced over, seeing that there were quite the number of stacks on top of the desk, so it had been quite possible. It was really his shot at this—either that or he'll have to return here in a month or so after he's done learning the new language to improve his chances of finding it.
He started sorting everything to see if he could find any semblance of a criminal report. Paper after paper, file after file—Ren spent a good amount of time to the point where he had almost exhausted the entire array of blocked information. That was when Ren came to the final file that looked as if it was quickly stuffed at the bottom of its relatives. The cover of it had been unknown characters, but hidden off in the top right corner had been something he did recognize and Ren widened his eyes when he noticed it.
It was Naofumi's name written out in kanji—a written language of Japanese.
Why among the sea of otherworldly language would there be a random name in kanji?
He quickly opened it up.
There was no way he could read any of the text inside, but he did notice that there had been little notes along some of the main paragraphs—if he could call them that, but he saw that those little notes had been written hastily in kanji as well. Compared to the main body which looked as if the writer had properly sat down at a desk and thought about the wording, the kanji had looked to be written as they were walking down a hall and in limited time, only commenting in jot notes.
Ren started to read what he could understand.
Witness… Anju Benisu… Seven Days Inn?
Witness… Willem Choldera… Seven Days Inn…
Some of these paragraphs seemed to have been skipped. It was as if they were carefully selected for Ren to follow through. Considering what he heard though, he could assume that when the note mentioned the inn's name, it meant that they were an employee there. By extension, those who weren't marked by the mysterious writer had most likely been customers—people that Ren couldn't have gotten an easy hold of.
But now, I have at least some lead here.
I know that these people are lying.
Time to… interrogate them as to why and force them to tell the truth.
Though. there still that odd concern. Why was this written in kanji in the first place?
As Ren looked through the rest of the file as if there were more clues to his question, he didn't notice something.
… There was a dark figure standing behind him. Watching. Waiting. There was no clear indication as to how the figure had arrived there, but it stood eerily, seeing that Ren had been distracted by the report.
With the cloaked figure's gentle steps out from the shadows, all invisible to the ear, Ren continued flipping through to see if there had been any more notes left for him. A glowing light flared from the figure's familiar mask as a small dagger emerged from their sleeve.
And with one quick lunge, silent and deadly—
—the figure aimed its weapon towards Ren's back and...
(—ነነነነ(—[[][ Chapter 1-14 ][]]—)ነነነነ—)
(—ነነነነ(—(—(—[][][ Everything Will Fall Down ][][]—)—)—)ነነነነ—)
Itsuki opened his eyes to find himself in a white void. There was a surface where his foot stood, yet looking down would show that there had been more space in his feet than he would have initially thought. Though, he didn't need to look around to understand what was going on. It was rather odd how quickly he grew accustomed to being pulled into this astral plane, despite only experiencing it once before.
He remembered going to sleep after he had asked Welst to continue his magic training. Since his wind magic had been slightly stronger, Welst recommended him to start learning how to control wind. Of course, it merely started with how one could control the element. Learning actual magic spells were taught differently, using crystals and magic books to instantly learn them. However, the difference between the control of the spell depended on how well a mage could manipulate their select element in normal use—as Aldrecht had mentioned to Motoyasu, control was everything.
Tonight was the first time he was able to learn a spell, bought from the local magic store. It contained [Wind Slash], a magic spell that sent an arc made out of pressured air at his target, attempting to blow away everything in its path. As a bonus, he discovered the ability to use [Encore] the moment his first spell was learnt. In exchange for a slightly higher MP cost, he can cast the same spell in quick succession without having the need to recite the chanting needed. Welst was surprised at the sudden skill, but suggested it might be something more personal to Itsuki and recommended that he used it to its utmost effectiveness.
None of that really mattered now, as he glanced around for that girl once again. If he had been summoned back here, surely it was because the girl wanted to talk to him again. As his eyes rolled to his left, there stood the white-dressed girl, cloaked in the transparent yellow scarf-like cloak.
"Welcome back to your astral plane, Itsuki."
"Metatron." There was a slight snarl in his voice, but in his perspective, it was a given. He didn't exactly end their first meeting on a friendly note, but the girl bowed as if she had already forgotten what happened there. Or perhaps she was attempting to try once again anew, but considering his failure to convince his party members that they should be helping out the slaves, he wasn't in a good mood.
"I thought I told you to leave me alone."
"If I were to be precise, you mentioned to merely mind my own business. Though, I regret to inform you that in either case, it will be difficult to uphold that request." Metatron had glanced up from her courtesy. "Nevertheless, I believe you had been the one to go out of his way to search for me the moment you heard that oddly familiar sound, only for it to be a trap."
The notion that she had been watching his actions was still unsettling. Perhaps if she hadn't existed, he'd been able to be more secretive about his actions without actively knowing that another will learn about it.
"Well, well," Itsuki tried his best to retain his posture before her. "You're quite the smartass, if I have to say so myself."
Metatron kept her straight expression, but tilted her head in confusion. "... Smart… ass? I have no data on this word. I request a definition for immediately addition to my dictionary."
Itsuki shook his head, not knowing how someone spoke in such a manner with such a face. "N-Never mind that." The previous time, he didn't mean to blow up, but now that he's more aware of her existence, Itsuki spoke mindfully. "Listen. Just what do you want with me now? Hopefully, you won't be trying to force your ideals onto me like dropping everything from my past. If you do, then you send me back. The conversation's already done if that's the case."
Metatron straightened herself back, layering her hand on top of the other, holding them before her dress' skirt. "This is a problem that must be tackled if you wish to become the ideal hero, but I have reviewed my previous attempt into depth. You responded not in the way I expected and thus, I must use that reaction to devise a new method to complete the requirement. This is, so to speak, 'going back to the drawing board'."
"How the hell did you even think that was a good idea to do in the first place?"
"It had been the most direct approach and thus, the most efficient approach. Was it wrong for me to make such an attempt?"
Itsuki started to really think that this person hadn't been human, but it should have been clear from the start. From the mannerisms, the speech patterns, the distinct lack of emotions, and her lack of understanding these emotions—it wasn't that much of a wonder why her goal was to understand her late master's death. If Itsuki thought about it that way, it was almost a dreary life that he felt bad for. From the slight shift in her tone, he could see that Metatron was trying to be remorseful, but literally couldn't demonstrate it.
Itsuki sighed and turned his body towards the girl. "Alright. What's your attempt this time?"
"I wish to attempt the inverse. I desire for you to help me understand these bonds that my master fretted over in his olden life and once that is finished, perhaps I'll be in a condition in which I will be able to convey the methodology of becoming an ideal hero properly."
"The inverse, huh?" If he had helped Metatron understand bonds and to an extent, emotions—she'll probably be able to understand why Itsuki wasn't able to forgive and forget his past so easily. He can show Metatron this and she'll have to give her own answer, readapted for a valid method, in some good capacity. "Alright, let's do that."
The moment Itsuki blinked, the same table and chairs from before had reappeared in front of him. He flinched mentally, but he managed to recollect himself and slowly make his way to the table and as did Metatron on the opposite end. Leaning onto the table, he met Metatron's gaze.
"What is it that you want to know?"
"As you implied before, there is a difference between observation and understanding. Therefore, please tell me about your friends and the bonds you share with them. This is something I cannot determine on an observable circumstance, but it is something I must be told from one's heart. If I can see this relation, I could perhaps extrapolate this data and apply it to my own master."
"So…" Itsuki made his attempt to filter out the wordy response and translate it to what a normal person would say. "You want me to talk about how I feel about my friends. Is that it?"
Metatron nodded. "That is exactly the case."
Itsuki didn't know exactly how he would describe his bonds with the other Cardinal Heroes. It wasn't something he would easily put into words now that he thought about it, so it would probably be more difficult to understand. However, Itsuki made his best attempt in similar talking about them in general and how he saw them from his perspective.
"Alright, let's start with Naofumi."
"Yes, the Shield Hero."
"I think he's a good guy—he's always trying his best and always looking on the brighter side of things. Honestly, I kinda envy his optimism, but it's not something I would want to take from him. He's always looking after us, kinda like everyone's big brother in a sense, and it doesn't go unappreciated. Hell, he does a better job at looking out for me than my actual parents. That's why I couldn't stand it when Naofumi was accused of a crime he clearly couldn't have done—not because I have evidence against it, but because I knew that Naofumi wasn't the type of person to do such a thing."
"Data recorded of relation between the Shield Hero and the Bow Hero. Inquiry has been detected." Metatron blinked and spoke systematically, causing Itsuki to straighten his back. "You mentioned that you cared for the Shield Hero. However, there is a contradiction. You refuse to publicly interact with him."
Itsuki stiffened, widening his eyes. He instinctively slammed the table with his fist.
"Y-You… What are you trying to say? Are you trying to say that I don't care about Naofumi? I stored up materials for him to use! I was with him when he bought Raphtalia!"
"All of which has been done outside of the public's eye. I do not doubt your feelings for Naofumi Iwatani. However, I feel as if the bond you described is not as what you say it is."
"I-It's…!" Itsuki scrambled for an excuse. "It was Naofumi's idea, not mine! If he didn't want me to get too deeply involved with him, then I have to respect his wishes! That's what good friends do, you know!"
Metatron held silent, as if she hadn't believed Itsuki's explanation, but she instead nodded. "I understand. Updating data of the relation between the Shield Hero and the Bow Hero. Request to move on towards the next Cardinal Hero."
Itsuki slumped over, trying to calm himself down. Moving on was probably for the best.
"Next is… Motoyasu."
"Indeed, he is the Spear Hero."
"Ren might think poorly of Motoyasu, but I know that he merely means well. I'm saying this from my standards, but he had a really messed-up childhood and I could see why he acts the way he does now—only I found out on a sheer coincidence and he told me to keep the details a secret to the others. It really has nothing to do with our bond, but he probably didn't have to say anything when I stumbled upon him in that graveyard that day. It was only because of that, I was able to understand Motoyasu more."
"And how strong would you say that bond is?"
"Motoyasu had to have trusted me enough to tell me that. Either that or he cared about my concerns, so he simply came out with the truth immediately. I know that Motoyasu, like Naofumi, is a good person—just in a different way."
Metatron gazed at Itsuki, as if she had been paying attention to even the slightest shift of his mouth. "Data recorded of relation between the Spear Hero and the Bow Hero. Hypothetical inquiry has been detected."
Itsuki furrowed his eyebrows. "Hypothetical?"
"For instance, say that the Spear Hero… goes missing." Itsuki flinched, thinking that was a strangely specific example. "How would you react to a situation like that?"
"I'd… obviously try and find him," Itsuki answered. "He's an important friend to me and I'd be really concerned if he just up and disappeared like that. Motoyasu would never just disappear without telling anyone."
Metatron held silent once again, as if she was judging his words, but she ended up with a nod as she did the first time. "I understand. Updating data of the relation between the Spear Hero and the Bow Hero. Request to move on towards the next Cardinal Hero."
"That would be… Ren."
"This is the Sword Hero."
Itsuki grasped hands together and thought about his bond with his childhood friend. He didn't want to downplay the importance of Naofumi and Motoyasu in his life, but he sincerely cared about Ren as a person and as a friend. If it boiled down to it, Itsuki would entrusted his life with him—not to say that he wouldn't with Naofumi and Motoyasu, but he would do it to a greater extent with Ren.
"He's the reason I'm even here in the first place. He's the one that gave me the strength to fight back against my mundane childhood and the person I thought to be my only ally when I was younger. It's not like that nowadays, but I was really happy that I got to meet Ren. If he ever got into a pinch, I wouldn't hesitate to help him out of it."
"Even if he's fighting for his life as we speak?"
Itsuki widened his eyes and stood up from his seat. His hands slammed onto the table's surface as a rush of consternation came through his chest. He knew Motoyasu's example felt rather specific, but these examples were quickly starting to get way too alarming.
Added to the fact that Metatron had seemed to be watching over Itsuki and his friends and these hypothetical situations suddenly didn't seem so hypothetical anymore.
"W-Wait…! What's going on!? What's happening to Ren right now!? Hell, what's going on with Motoyasu!? One fighting for their life and the other missing!?"
Metatron stayed quiet.
"Answer me, Metatron! If Motoyasu is really missing, then I have to go find him! If Ren is really fighting for his life, then I have to go help him out!"
"Data recorded of relation between the Sword Hero and the Bow Hero. Regardless if I tell you or not," Metatron answered in monotone, "the gears of fate have already started to turn. If I told you that you do not have enough to change the situation, will you persist? How far will you go for your bonds?"
"Of course I would go far, especially for Ren!"
Itsuki pounded his chest in anguish. He desperately needed to know this information and get to Ren as quickly as possible, but as he raised his alarmed voice, his body felt oddly lighter.
"If he's in trouble, I'll give him my power!"
His heart skipped a beat as his body felt shakened all of a sudden. It was as if the entire astral plane had a small tremor and Itsuki instinctively pulled out his hands to look at them confusingly. It was as if power had been drained away, but he noticed a small detail next to his health bar.
[Itsuki Kawasumi]
[Bow Hero]
[Level 9 (-1)]
I have… one less level all of a sudden?
Why did that happen?
Right next to his lost level, there had been an icon of a sword for some reason.
"W-What just…?"
"That emotion is more than enough to help out the Sword Hero right now. You do not need to fret over his safety." Metatron stood back up and as she did, the table disappeared underneath Itsuki's hands, causing him to staggered forwards before catching himself. "I want you to remember that feeling, Itsuki. Due to the nature of your summoning, the normal system of the holy weapons have been broken and with it, comes an unknown system that has never been encountered to this world before."
Itsuki couldn't comprehend what Metatron had been saying. If it was an unknown system, then there wasn't a reason why Metatron knew about whatever he just did. Despite that case, it was as if Metatron had been guiding him on this unknown system. "W-What do you mean? How do you know this?"
"Have you not heard about how the prophecies are supposed to normally play out?" Metatron platonically cleared her throat, but something told Itsuki that she didn't really need to do it. "Four heroes are to be summoned from four different worlds, but this generation of Cardinal Heroes has been altered. It was as if there was… an outside interference."
"H-Huh?"
"In any case, please think of this new method of your capabilities—and to an extent, all of the heroes' capabilities—as an exchange for telling me about your bonds. I will consider them and review them over, keeping them all noted while I continue my observations. I do not believe I have enough data to make an extrapolation."
Metatron's body started to fade away, as if her existence was being erased.
"However, please keep your explanations of your bonds in mind, Itsuki. I do not wish for you to unintentionally contradict yourself."
"Wait! Tell me what's going on with Ren!" Itsuki began running towards Metatron and reached out his hand to try to stop her from leaving. He needed to know the details immediately and needed to get there before he got seriously hurt.
However, Itsuki's hand had passed right through Metatron as she disappeared without another word and the entire world broke away in a bright light, blinding himself before the void took him back.
…
…
Itsuki opened his eyes, finding himself staring straight up to the ceiling of the inn's room.
He kept thinking about Ren and his situation right now, but he didn't know what just happened. Itsuki glanced over to his level, seeing that it had still been subtracted. Even his stats were subtracted as if he had truly lost a level. Given what he knew, there hadn't been a single thing that he could have done. Ever since Ren stormed off from Naofumi the day of the trial, Itsuki didn't know what Ren had been up to as of late.
Really, the only thing Itsuki could do was pray.
Pray that Ren was able to escape with his life, but knowing Ren's personality—he wasn't the one to willingly look for an escape. He would want to finish up a battle that was started, especially if he was fighting by himself.
(—ነነነነ(—(—[][][][]—)—)ነነነነ—)
[Attention]
[Optional Music Track Unlocked]
(—[][]oOOOo[][]—)
(Megaman Zero 4 OST : "Falling Down")
(Remastered Version By MeRuleDaWorld on Youtube)
(—ነነነነ(—(—[][][][]—)—)ነነነነ—)
—Ren swung his foot to counter the ambushing figure to redirect the dagger's position. He narrowly avoided the direct strike, but the figure had been quick on its toes, redirecting the attack right into Ren's calf. He shook off the attacker and kicked him over the head, following up with another kick that sent him off, garnering the distance he needed.
Ren gritted his teeth, clenching his leg in pain. That strike had cut his health in a considerable proportion for having dealt a single attack, but he was more concerned with the enemy that seemingly came out of nowhere. Though, even that concern had been pushed away for the time being.
"... You." Ren glared as the figure was able to land neatly on its feet and stood back up without an ounce of problems. It might have been for a short duration, but there wasn't any way the he would be forgetting the mask of the figure that took him down in the alleyway.
He glanced at Naofumi's file on the case and decided to tuck it away into his inventory for now. In any case, it doesn't seem like he was going to talk this one out—not that he wanted to anyways. He had a bone to pick with the masked man, after what he had done with him and Itsuki.
"You're more aware than I assumed." The masked man had twirled the dagger in his hand, repositioning its grip. "Certainly more aware than the Bow Hero."
"I guess the secret's out," Ren snarled. The mask that he wore apparently served less purpose than he expected.
As some of Ren's blood dripping out onto the floor, he noticed that his health bar hadn't stopped. Underneath his meters, he noticed that a new symbol had shown up that looked akin to a drop of blood. If Ren had to make guesses based on his previous knowledge and the current situation, he probably had a [Bleed] status ailment which was a damage-over-time akin to [Poison].
He already felt the adrenaline in his leg pumping from the dagger's wound—but Ren was deeply concerned that a single strike had been the thing to deal so much. In comparison to the monsters in the wild, this person had been quite the force.
He tried to shake off the pain and shook up back. "What are your motives here, trying to harass the Cardinal Heroes like this? Who are you aligned with?"
"Exactly why would I answer any of those questions? All you need to know is that I'm an enemy. You shouldn't need to know anything else other than that important piece of detail."
"Huh. So be it."
He didn't know what he was thinking he would gain out of asking. Considering his responses in the alleyway skirmish, it seems like whoever this man was had been resolution in keeping themselves and their background a secret. Ren prepared his blade.
"If you won't talk, then I'll just beat the answers out of you. Either way is fine by me. You'll just make it harder for me in the long run."
"Do you believe my mouth is so loose that I'll scream out your desired answers at the mere notion of pain? Well, either way—believe what you wish to believe. I know that you do not have what it takes to defeat me. You clearly don't know your place." The glare from the eyeholes seems to be intense and determined. It had been an amber-coloured dim, most likely aligning with the colour of his eyes. The mask made it difficult to judge though.
"Why don't you just shut up and watch me beat you to the ground? You aren't taking me by surprise this time!"
"We'll see."
Ren and the masked man leapt towards each other and struck at the equidistant point with a loud sound of steel against steel. Ren rebounded and turned his blade, swinging quickly. An evasion was pulled out and the man countered with a quick slash of his own. The position was so precise, nothing that Ren had ever faced before—causing him to be the first to back off.
The pressure didn't drop for a single moment as the masked man rushed him down. A rapid thrust to his stomach was narrowly avoided and he blocked the next three close-quarters follow-up attacks. A fourth one slashed forward, but Ren stopped his retreating footwork and stepped forward in a whiplash. He pushed onwards with his shoulder, thrusting his weight into the man's chest. It forced him back a small distance, giving Ren the opportunity to return to the offensive.
With a glowing glint, he chased after the man as he recovered, dragging the sword and ripping it forwards. "[Slanted Arc]!" It unleashed at a blinding speed, but it wasn't enough.
The man flipped over the dagger and blocked against the skill easily. However, Ren's sword had now caught one of the preferred locations to land the attack. He flicked his sword upwards, carrying the dagger by its small crossguard into the air as if it slipped out of the man's hand. Only the man had been disarmed as Ren held tightly to his weapon and rebounded, slashing back down with one step to close the gap.
The man stepped away, narrowly avoiding the attack. Without a weapon in his hand, Ren needed to abuse this as much as possible. He had planned to unyield the relentless pressure and start it off with a sharp pierce through his body, given the position his sword was in right. He was about to thrust his his entire might forward to end it in one fell swoop if possible, but before he could move onwards—
—the masked man disappeared in an afterimage.
W-What!?
Ren's mind was immediately reminded of this same trick he pulled off in the alleyway fight. The moment he disappeared, he had reappeared right behind him, so it'd make sense if Ren proactively went to block against his rear. Nevertheless, he hesitated to act on that thought. It didn't seem like the man had randomly teleported behind him, but he recalled what happened just before he teleported.
Then—
—he's above!
Ren scouted the area up to the high ceiling to see that his thinking had been spot on. Up in the air, the man had been present and having caught the bandaged dagger, he shifted his weight to crash right into Ren. He noticed that the dagger itself had a similar light sheathing it.
"[Crushing Strike]."
His sword hadn't been in a place where he could defend against that attack, so he leapt out of the way. The impact blew the area away in a dust cloud, breaking the very flooring that Ren had been standing on prior. Almost immediately, a dagger had flown out from the visual obstruction. He moved his head to avoid it and smirked. He already knew what the plan had been—so he turned around and prepared to slash the man as he caught the dagger once again.
However, the dagger kept flying and impaled itself into a bookshelf's surface. From the dust cloud, the man had emerged and quickly approached Ren. From the sleeve, a longer blade emerged over his cloaked hand as if it was hidden by his arm the entire time.
Ren had to quickly react and needed to heave his blade back into the man's course. Throwing both hands on the handle, he swung it back around with a scream and successfully intercepted the man's hidden blade. As the clash sent the two of them backwards, Ren took notice of the man's new weapon.
It hadn't been a proper sword, but instead—it looked to be one of those gauntleted blades that people would use in Brave Star Online. It was a weapon that extended out from a worn gauntlet on one's wrist and forearm, serving as something akin to a claw. It had the ability to extend and shrink blade lengths according to how much of the blade the user needed, so he definitely had to keep a careful eye out for them.
Though, that was easier said than done, believe or not. The amount of pressure the opponent had been throwing at him was insane. This type of unrelenting strike, all consecutively one after the other and weaving between retaliations—he'd never seen such an enemy, even in Brave Star Online.
As he had that thought, the masked man had disappeared once again before any of them touched the floor. Ren caught himself onto his feet, sliding to a halt and jerking his sights towards where the dagger landed. As he expected, the dagger had already been airborne—this time to his legs. He dodged by jumping backwards, allowing the dagger to be stuck onto the ground, but he watched both the man and the dagger carefully.
The moment he disappeared to pick up the dagger, Ren bounced back and sharpened his sword's light. With a single thrust to activate the requirements to unleash the full skill, Ren did just that. "[Rapid Storm]!" With the succession of the first movement, his arm seemingly moved at inhuman speeds, thrusting a barrage of attacks at the targeted area.
The man reappeared right in front of the flurry of strikes, but he was prepared to meet the engagement. One after the other, the man either evaded the attack or parried it with his dagger. He simply kept going, dealing like the skill hadn't even been a nuisance for him. When the skill was reaching its end, the man reached out with his unused hand and forcefully stopped Ren's skill by catching his wrist. The man tugged and pulled Ren right across the room using the forward momentum on [Rapid Storm].
Ren bit down on his teeth, trying to stop his flight and land back onto his feet. However, his notion that this had been like a player he'd never encountered before had its truth realized. The man had followed the thrown body and leapt into Ren. He had to have been faster than Ren's airborne body to even consider trying something like that out, but it was a confidence that the man had—as Ren's collar had been captured by the man and he was yanked out of the air, being thrown directly into the spymaster's desk.
The desk itself had been a sturdy one, even surviving an impact as Ren's hurled body. Though, that caused Ren's back to feel the full extent of the unmoving surface. Papers flew everywhere, slightly hindering Ren's sights on the man. He winced his eyes through the pain, noticing a projectile coming through the floating pages. It started to impale all of the papers that tried to block its way and Ren stiffened.
He rolled over, letting the projectile hit the desk and once he realized it had been the dagger—the man blinked into existence next to the weapon and kicked Ren off the desk. His body bounced against the ground multiple times before he noticed the dagger thrown right past him once again. The man teleported to catch it once it passed Ren and kicked him right into one of the bookshelves. All of the papers, files and documents felt the retroactive force, either falling out or falling over from their original places.
If only Ren had been floating down onto the ground as carefully as the sheets, he wouldn't have found himself hurt when his face hit the surface. His hand had dropped his sword next to him and his mask had broken apart but, whether it had been some type of twisted blessing, he could still feel his body. His head was spinning way too much for his comfort and even started to bleed from the trauma injuries.
However, the bleeding from his leg seemed to have gotten worse. Ren wasn't able to shake it off and the pain started to scream out to the rest of his body. Even so, Ren had to duct tape those feelings right up. If he had shown any ounce of weakness and opportunity for the man to close in—he was as good as dead.
Ren had to admit. Not only had this person fought like someone he never fought against before, he was insanely powerful and knew his own fighting style thoroughly. The question only remained on the identity and the motives of this man.
Who was he? Why is trying to take me down like this?
As the papers began to shower him in their written layers, all he could take notice of his health bar. The entire time he was being knocked around sent his condition to critical state—leaving the hero at a mere half of what he started with and a persistent bleeding effect that kept pushing it even lower. It was difficult to even move freely at this point.
"You've put up a better fight compared to the previous encounter."
The man walked up towards Ren's laying body and lifted him up by the collar. Ren tried his hardest to struggle, but he was immediately pushed against the surface of the nearby cabinet, held up by his neck. His throat was constricted by the palm and he took his open palms up, trying to break out of the man's grip. Ren could see his cheeks turning blue as his breath was disappearing from his body.
"D-Damn it...!"
"Unfortunately—as much as it would be much easier to end your life right here and now," the man spoke as his grip somehow got even tighter, "I've been told to ensure that your life is intact. At least, until the Melromarcian Knights discover what's going on here. Did you know that breaking into the spymaster's chambers without permission is a federal offense to the capital?"
Even with circulating being cut off from his brain, Ren tried his damndest to piece these things together and made a sudden accusation. It now made sense to Ren that Zellus didn't need to call an entire brigade of knights to be able to stop him if he had this person under his thumb.
"Y-You… You're aligned…! With Zellus!"
It was the only conclusion he could have made in the heat of the moment, but the masked man had scoffed at his guess.
"Zellus Clarent… The man referred to as the Sword Master within the ranks of Melromarc..." The grip had gotten tighter. "Yes, the man who has gotten you into this situation… Listen clearly, as this will be my only form of pity for you."
Ren couldn't even make a gulp without his throat hurting, but he widened his eyes as the voice lurked behind the mask.
"Zellus Clarent is not who he claims to be. There is a reason as to why his strength is unnatural and the man known as Zellus Clarent is not the first person I've met that exhibits that nature. However, if there's one thing you were sorely mistaken about, it is the fact that we are allies."
The amber pupils within the mask's holes had dilated back as the hands felt like they could snap his windpipe at any moment.
"He is a man sent by those false beings. For that reason, it is my duty to have him eliminated as soon as possible as my contract pertains, but his absurd skills and unique cheat that they bestowed to him made it difficult to do so."
False beings...? What the hell is he talking about!?
And a cheat…? Did he refer to something of Zellus' as a cheat?
"Though, I must wonder. How much of that can you remember for the future? Not that it would be helpful for you. I'm simply curious since my employer normally sends me out to kill, not to disable. They say that people can't remember much of the few moments before they pass out."
G-Gah…!
H-How… am I… going to get out… of this…!
Ren could feel his mind fading, flying away like birds on a cold, winter night. The only difference was that he didn't have the freedom to go where he wished. His fingers started to slow down their scratches as his vision became much more blurrier. His legs made their attempts to flail, but nothing seemed to have been bothering the masked man. He was intent on choking him out. His eyes tried to fight the instinct to close his eyes as he tried holding onto each and every breath desperately clawed onto life, but it was too much.
His legs started to stop, hanging straight down. His fingers started to stop, resting on the hands of the man. His mind started to stop—his last sight being the amber glare from the mask.
In most video games, this might have been a scripted loss. It occurred when the player had to lose the fight because the story wanted to show that they weren't ready to take on that enemy yet in the narrative. He was reminded of that instance in Dimension Wave, but as much as he wanted to wish for that, the surges of torture made him frightened.
His memories started to flash before his eyes. From the days that he spent in the apartment to the day that he moved in with Itsuki. From the days he spent with Itsuki as a child to the day where his entire life fell apart right before his eyes.
All because the person he looked up to died and no one around him had given any sympathy to Ren Amaki, only caring about the results of what Ren Amaki brought to the table.
… Momiji. If you never died in that freak stabbing incident…
I never did find out what happened on that day...
The fear of death had finally overcome his body.
Just… my… luck…
Itsuki… S-Sorry…
Ren closed his eyes and as his mind drifted off—
—"If he's in trouble…!"
—"I'll give him my power!"
Ren's eyes widened, somehow hearing Itsuki's voice and in the one moment—
—and a violent gale surrounded Ren and pushed back the masked man. Ren dropped onto the ground, not realizing what happened, and used the opportunity to regain his breathing again.
The masked man caught him onto his feet, confused as to what had just happened. That incident hadn't been something he expected, not in the slightest in his predictions, but it didn't matter to him. He was still going to execute his mission successfully no matter as he retaliated, unsheathing his dagger and throwing it at a lightning speed at Ren's shoulder.
"I… I won't…"
Ren pushed himself up and grabbed his sword, igniting it into a familiar light. He watched the dagger and swung with his life on the line, but there was a weird feeling as he made his counterattack. It was as if there was someone holding onto his sword with him—and when he shouted, although only his voice rang out, it could have sworn he heard Itsuki's voice layered over it.
"I won't lose! Take this! [Horizontal Strike —]!"
[Attention]
[Additional Holy Weapon Parameters Gained.]
[Access to Wind Magic and Earth Magic Enabled.]
"[—Magic Add, Wind Slash]!"
As the blade unleashed itself, his sword didn't have the reach to directly intercept the dagger. However, the skill that he commonly used had a bonus effect somehow tagged onto it now. A heavy wind emerged from where Ren had slashed and blew away everything—the fallen papers and the dagger alike. The masked man silently watched Ren as his blue eyes blazed among the gliding sheets and disappeared to catch his dagger.
Seeing that Ren was wide open from that skill, the man chucked the dagger directly at him, but Ren's body was already moving by itself. His mind and mouth acted as his sword moved like a puppet that gained its own will.
[Attention] [Attention] [Attention] [Attention] [Attention] [Attention]
[Attention] [Attention] [Attention] [Attention] [Attention] [Attention]
[C̸̨̭͚͆͂̃̊͌̓̚͝e̴͖̯̙̊͊͛̀̾̄̀̊͌̃r̷̗̽̓͊͆̀̓͂͝ţ̴̤̺͇̞̞̫̗̕ä̷͍͍̪̑͊̿̅͒̍̕͠ͅi̴͓͙̹̠̫̗͕̻͕͈̥̥̞̻̐̿͐̎̿̅̀̊̂͠͠͝ͅn̵̝͈͚̻̤̗̹͍̤̥͍̦̾̅̀͜ ̶̢̡̧̧͖̹͙͖̩͖̥͚̬̯͊͐̂̒̋͆͂̊̄̃͝͝͝ͅs̸̘̬̝̜̞̙̥̣̔̅̿͌̿̆́̅̌̑̽̓k̵̡̟̳̖̣̺̩̳̫̘͍̞̙̓͜͜i̸̧̡͎̲̯̼̣͕͛͂̿̈́̽̆͌̆̀͛͝l̸̢̛̯͖͈̺͙̲̯̠̐̽͂͆́͊͋͠l̵̥̹̻̱͔̙̽͋͑͋̎̍͂s̸͖̲̣̲̖͇͇̘̲͓̃͂̇̈̊̑̉̊͂͐̀̆̏ ̴̢̛̫̖̼͙͚͑͗̚a̴̡̨̧̡͓̪͓͖̗̅͛̐̍ņ̴̯̼̩͓͈̗͕̣͉̮͎͙̎̈́͗͋́̆̓̑͘̚d̴͎̳̩͇̳̙̹̦̆̍ ̶̖͈͋͋̆̿͆͐͌̎̔̎̌͛̓͋͘ͅá̶̛̫͉̖̯̎̏̎͛̈͒̅̓͝͝ͅb̷̛̮̠̼̩̟͓̒̽̅̅͝i̵̢͎̩̹̔̾͗̋̏͌̇̊̉͌̕͘̚̚͝ͅl̷̡̮͈̙̦̼͙̲̥͕͂͌̐̾͗̏î̴̯̔͛͑̀́́̀̄̽̾͂̌͊̕ẗ̵̲̒͆́̒͊̇̽͒̈i̷̛̭̮̥̬̮͖̪̾̿̈́̓̀̌͗̾̌͗̏̚ȩ̸̧̫͕͚͔͈̗̱͚̬͊̄̊̊̐̒̆͠s̶̻̠̗̳͔͖͆͐̎́̑ ̴̮̯̺̯̣̹͖̠̫̫̤̔̑̓́͛̽͗͊̔̎ǫ̶͚̙͓̫̥̟̺̺̰̖̟̹̺̐̽̃͐͑͛̓̇́̏̌̒͝f̶̭̩̝̺̩̮̐̔͋̀̂͒͒̐͠ ̷̡̨͉̹̻̮͇̖̠̺̑̏ţ̸̎̀͐̓̎͐̓̽̏̿͐́̔͜͠h̸̢̤̯̖̦̞̯̭͓͈̼̳̳͚̋̋̍̂̒͐͌̂̎͂̔͝ė̴̘͔̰̳͍̲̫̻͌̒̆̆͐̇ ̸͉͔͍̓͐͊̊B̵̨̡̢̮̦̜̥͕̥͙̰̯̐̌̀̽̀̐̂̐͝ò̴̬͉͎̮̼̈̿̉͑̋̾̈͘͝͝ẇ̵̧̢̞͕̺͓͈̞̗͎̿͛̈̍̏͘ ̸̨̙͙̺͗͗͐͂̑̆̂͗͊̀̃͜H̸̪͎̬̖̠̬̅͜e̶̤̩̠̭̐̆͋̍r̴̡̦̜̰̞̭͐̏̊̆͊́̍̃͂̄͋̈̓͝ǫ̸̢͕͔̜̼͚̗͉̰̍̌̾̋̔̉ ̴̛̖̦̓͌̆̅̋̕͠͠c̵͉̗͕̮̲͙̙̲̞̥͎̩̦̠̓͌̀̐͒̈́̏̏̆̐̎̏̕͠á̵̤̱̲̝̣̻̬̭͚̪͉͕̃͜͜͜ņ̸̼̫̜̥̪͉̫̤̺̬̹̍̋̃̾̓̽̓͝ ̸͉̠̦͂̓n̴̞̹̳̪̳̝̱̮̠͉̮͇̓ó̷̯̝̗̿̄̂̉̐͒̕w̷̡̨̬̱̟̥̣̼̘̠̪̜̽̿̋̏̇̾̓͠ ̵̛͍̰̱̣͚̯͉̈̒̒̎͌̃̂͝b̶̨̡͓̗̖̳̤̬̜̱̲̐͂̈́̃̄̍̃̎͌̈́͒̏̃̚̕é̴̲͚̙̯̞͔̹̣̦́̈̈̽̑̃̒̆́̄̈́̆͝͠ͅͅ ̸̨̡̨̛͖̫̝͍̹̤̥͛͌̒͒̍̈́̆͛̊͋͋̚͘͝ù̵̧̡̢̙͚̱͎̻͈̹̮̬͖̓̀͘͠ş̵̢͉̯͓̰̖̩̭̩͖̩̘̀͑̓̈́̽͜͝ͅe̸̢͐͗̂̈́͐́̌͋́͐͒̿͊͝͠d̴̖̝̗̖̜͇̲̥̺̝͑̃͑̄̓̀̆͘͜͝ ̷̢̛̛̘̭̣̳̖͚̉͗̃͛̀̆̄̉̕̚(̶͔͕͔͍̹̠̝̲̫̳̘̤͐͌͂̐̍̒͘+̴̛͙͇̼͖̩͕̙̘̏̔͊̉̔͂̿́̈́̌̔̉͘1̴̢̨͉̟̥̭̹͉̙̫͙͈̑̀̑̓̀̾͘͜͜)̴̢̜͙̝̭̻̠̺͎͓̠̿̈́͛̀̋̈͂̍̀͝͠.̸̞͚̲̟̯̳͚͎͌̈́̔̃̐̔͌̀́̇̿̚͜͠ͅ]
[Attention] [Attention] [Attention] [Attention] [Attention] [Attention]
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"[Encore!]"
Almost immediately, Ren shot out another arc of air towards the dagger, flinging it in the opposite direction. The man clicked his tongue and teleported to his dagger to catch it, but he decided to hold himself back, landing back on the spymaster's desk and glaring at Ren's mysterious burst of power.
Even when the skills ended, Ren felt a strong power resting on his weapon. Leering over, he noticed that the blade had been covered in a sheath of air for a short duration before it dispelled itself.
Ren kept his mind focused, now that he had the room to breath. It might not have been for a long duration, but he needed to update him as he checked his current condition.
The [Bleed] effect had still been on him, but it looked as if he gained some health points somehow. Actually, it was more like he gained more maximum health points rather than recovering health, but he glanced across, the level next to his name caught his attention.
[Ren Amaki]
[Sword Hero]
[Level 13 (+1)]
P-Plus 1? An extra level? What's going on here?
The masked man teleported to his pushed dagger, catching it before it could go further. He started to walk slowly towards Ren, twirling his dagger into a more optimal grip.
"You're fighting away the inevitable. All you're doing is buying time and for what? What are you trying to buy time for? No one knows you're here and you don't have any means to escape easily, unlike me."
Ren held both hands on his sword—his blood pounding away in his head and his heart beating hard in his chest. "No one is saying anything about buying time. I'm going to be the one to take you down. If anything, you're the one that should be buying time now." Ren drew his blade back, ready for another skirmish. He couldn't explain it, but either his body was rejuvenated or it kicked in its final adrenaline rush. Either way, Ren's eyes had flared up, holding the intent to defeat the man in front of him. "You better hope that you have more tricks up your sleeves or else you're going to be the one facing the floor."
"If you think you will be able to kill me on the sole basis that you were able to catch me off guard once, then you must be sorely mistaken. Surely, you haven't even considered the level difference between us. The gap is larger than you might expect—"
"—it wasn't like that in Brave Star Online."
The man held his tongue and narrowed his eyes. "Excuse me? Brave Star… Online?"
Even when they were underground and a breeze wasn't possible, Ren's hair had been dancing with the gale he created on his blade. "Even the lowest level can take down the highest levelled boss. It might take longer than the recommended level, but as long as the player can outperform it—victory is always attainable. That's the number one rule of Brave Star Online."
"What are you going on about?"
"Why don't you see for yourself?"
"Very well. My employer did mention that if it is inevitable, then killing the Sword Hero would be acceptable as well. In that case, I won't be holding back."
"Then I won't either."
The man grunted and brandished his dagger, running straight for Ren. In response, he took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes, posturing his blade to take on the masked man head-on. A calm mind that kept racing and a steady drive that needed its conclusion—that was what Ren was feeling alongside a strangely familiar aura holding onto his hand.
'He never surrenders from a fight, nor does he believe in running away.'
That is one of the aspects of the Sword Hero and through the countless generations, this fact has always remained true. Even now, through the face of absolute danger, the Sword Hero never yields with the power he holds in his hands.
With the rush of power running through his veins, he dashed towards the man.
"You better get ready! I'll show you what true strength is!"
(—ነነነነ(—(—[][][][]—)—)ነነነነ—)
Her head spun around towards the direction they came from.
On their end, they were successfully moving through the prison cells and checking the various prisoners. They've even walked past real knights that were actually on patrol without them even saying a single word, but they haven't found Motoyasu, much less any evidence that pointed to his direction.
However, Rino had stopped walking as a cold sweat dripped down her forehead. Her eyes were glued to the list of party members, specifically to the one of their assigned leader. She knew that Ren had told them that if anything happened to either half of the group that they should leave the party to alert the other half. Indeed, Rino's eyes had nervously stared at Ren's health bar because—
—It was dropping quickly.
Something was going on and Ren still hadn't dropped himself from the party.
"H-Hey… Elena?" Rino croaked out. "Y-You… see that, right?"
"Y-Yeah… I see clearly."
There hadn't been a way that Elena could have ignored it, but Ren's original plan had been to abandon the other if one was to be discovered. Since they already knew where the secret passageway was, they could have simply scrolled right out there—hell, considering the time of night, they could probably walk out through the front gates without the other knights being skeptical.
Elena really did want to listen to the original plan.
"If he hasn't exited the party…" Rino stepped forwards to Elena. "T-That means that Sir Ren needs our help, right!?"
"Sir Ren told us if he was discovered that we should make our way to make our escape. If we really need to, we can pick this back up in a few days if we feel Motoyasu could still be in the castle. We'll still have the knight's armour and knowledge of the secret passageway after all."
"But that means we're leaving Sir Ren behind…"
"That's… what he implied with that plan, yes."
Rino had a conflicted expression. From what it sounded like, Ren had been the complete opposite of Motoyasu in mannerisms, but when it boiled down to it—they wanted to take things on by themselves for one reason or another. She could remember how she had to convince Motoyasu that it was better for them to help him out rather than letting Motoyasu frontline while everyone else relaxed.
Ren could have disagreed all he wanted, but Rino could at the very least see that they both rubbed off from each other. It was quite difficult not to, especially when they were living together for a bit more than two years.
"Sir Motoyasu talked very highly of Sir Ren, and even if Sir Ren seems to be a terrible person, I can tell that Sir Motoyasu really cares about him."
Elena recalled her conversation with Motoyasu in the accessory shop. "... That, he does."
"We still have the knight's uniform on, right? We should head over to the spymaster's chamber before anything terrible happens to him!"
Elena had also been glancing over at the health bars and everytime it dropped, it went down by a considerable margin and in quick succession. If Rino had never come bursting out with the need to help out Motoyasu, she would have probably left the party around the same time as Lesty and continue her life as an adventurer. There wasn't any real reason why she had to keep putting her nose into places where she didn't belong.
However, the contemplation subsided, seeing that Ren's health bar had continuously shrunk down every second.
"Alright." Elena had placed her hand on her sword just in case and acted as the vanguard, returning to where they first entered. "I'll lead the way. Stay close to me, Rino. We don't know what's happening there, but we have to get there as quickly as possible."
"Hopefully, Sir Ren doesn't…" Rino slapped her cheeks and steeled herself before her feet started to follow her companion. Her hands held on tightly onto her magic staff. "No, we have to think optimistically. Please! Hang in there, Sir Ren! We'll be there soon!"
(—ነነነነ(—(—[][][][]—)—)ነነነነ—)
Ren swung his sword as he came closer and collided with a strong force against the man's dagger. A strong gust of air shot outwards from the collision, but none of them had faltered back. They both went past each other, but each immediately spun around to swing back their weapons.
"Grahhh!"
Ren screamed out as the sword met with the dagger in a dance of blades with a rhythm faster than what he was experiencing before, and yet—he kept up with it. With the sight of a thrust, Ren parried. With a subtle opening seen, Ren struck. His body felt lighter than it had throughout the entire fight so far, as Ren kept swinging his blade quickly and violently. His foot adapted to his strength, pushing onwards against the man's defenses while backing off whenever he needed to block or evade.
The man struck Ren's sword with his dagger for what felt like the fortieth time in the single exchange, but he released the grip, causing the dagger to fiercely spin in the air between them. The man dashed underneath Ren's attack and pulled out his hidden blade, trying to slash Ren's legs, but Ren leapt over it. He disappeared once again, reappearing over to Ren's side and made one attempt to strike his side in the air—but Ren was already predicting the move, kicking the space where he thought the man would reappear.
His foot landed right in his mask, sending him flying, but it clearly wasn't enough to take him down. The man landed on his feet, dragging it against the floor.
Ren's battle habits had been to open up to what the opponent had up their sleeves and once he knew what they had, strike back harder and with precision.
However, the man disappeared once again and Ren realized that he never had the opportunity to catch his dagger. He reappeared next to Ren again and caught his dagger this time, planning to plunge it into Ren's shoulder. Ren's sword had already been moving and connected with the dagger. The force sent Ren airborne and into the surrounding cabinet, but he flipped over and landed his feet against its surface. The force caused the papers within to fly outwards, settling a scene where Ren glared at the masked man with burning, blue eyes.
The pain in his leg was still crying from the [Bleed], but his adrenaline was so great, he didn't care. He bent his legs and pushed out, rebounding right back into the man and aiming his sword. The blade began to shine as six transparent blades appeared around it.
"[Six-Bladed Thrust]!"
The transparent blades suddenly condensed back into the physical blade as Ren quickly closed the gap between them. The masked man tossed his dagger in a straight line below Ren's angled descent and pulled back his gauntlet blade, covering it with a shining sheath of his own.
"[Sonic Thrust]!"
The tips of the blades met and sparks started to fly from the collision. The cloak of the masked man and Ren's clothing had been subjected to its might, flying backwards in the powerful wind. However, Ren threw his entire shoulder inwards and pressed his weight down.
Colour began to radiate from Ren's side of the attack, as the amber colour from the mask's hole flinched.
"[Magic Add, Aqua Stream!]"
Suddenly, water trails started to appear along Ren's weapon, causing the weight of his attack to grow and the attack to violently lash out water whips. He started to push back the masked man and forced him to be the one to release the clash, but as he did, Ren came falling right onto him.
"You're done for!"
Ren crashed into the man, impaling him into the ground and sending the room into a huge cloud of smoke. Though, that had been the intended plan—only one of those effects had held true as the dust settled and Ren only stood over a floor with shattered tiles. The man had teleported to where his dagger was before the full attack could land on him.
Ren started to chuckle. "For bolstering a difference in level, you really can't take attacks. Or else you wouldn't be dodging all my attacks. Your stats must be geared to being a glass cannon." Ren pulled his sword out from the ground and swung it back into position. He stared at the man as he noticed that a piece of his mask had started to crack. "Hit fast, hit hard and not get hit at all. Unfortunately, I'm someone who also plays like that, so I already know what you'll be trying to do. Now that I've gotten used to your tricks, there's no way you can win."
"You're getting lucky—that's merely it. Your elements had simply awoken at a time that you needed them, but your control of them is erratic. Though, I believe my victory and my goal had already been certain." The man sighed as Ren was beginning to get his own levage in the fight, but he decided to sheath his dagger and gauntlet blade, confusing Ren. In their place, the man held out his fingers, as if there was a web between them.
"[Arachne — Shock]."
Suddenly, Ren's skin started to bleed out as he felt like wires had sliced right against the surface. Legs, arms, cheek, chest—it seemed like in a blink of the eye, injuries started to pile up all over himself. His body started spurting out blood against his skin and clothing, as Ren fell onto a knee and a palm.
His twitching eyes leered over to his health bar, seeing that there was only a quarter of his maximum health left. His meters had been somewhat depleted, but his strength hadn't been at the point where he could stand back up and use them.
W-What!? When!? How!?
"Why do you think I decided to take on your attack in the first place, Sword Hero?" The masked man disengaged his wired web. "I simply gave myself time to set up my skill which you would fall into."
He really needed to regain his health from being in a critical spot, but that would involve drinking some of the potions he bought for maximum effect. The man probably wasn't going to let me do that, so it decided to suck it up and use it directly from his inventory, only gaining a portion of the full recovery.
The man looked over at the door as Ren struggled to stand back up.
"It seems like there's been a notice of what was occurring in the spymaster's chamber. It seems like knights are coming to see what the commotion was. Your reputation is finished, Sword Hero. You might as well forget about proving the Shield Hero's innocence now."
The man's cloak had started to emit an ominous black mist that started to cover himself. As he became engulfed in its shadow, he uttered a single word. There was something else after it he muttered, but it was too quiet for Ren to hear it.
"[Portal (...)]."
Almost immediately, the darkness had exploded and the man within had disappeared.
And right after, the doors had opened up. He had forgotten to lock it up in his own security, he tried to get closer to the door. That way, he could quickly dash out as the knights were coming in. Despite that being his only way of escaping, Ren's body wouldn't move. He looked once again at his health bar, but realized that there was one more thing he overlooked.
Next to the [Bleed] effect, one more symbol had shown up.
[Paralysis].
Shit. That's not good!
The door opened up as Ren was left to watch the knights discover him in an area he wasn't supposed to be in, but when he saw who it was, he had to make a relieved sigh.
"S-Sir Ren! What happened!?"
It had been Rino and Elena who had passed through the doors. Elena ran up to the hero, as he remembered that he had told himself to get used to checking their health bars. It seemed like he simply forgot that he was within a party and once they noticed his health was going down, they must have rushed over instead of escaping themselves.
"Sir Ren, drink this."
Elena took out a vial from her belt and handed it to Ren. Of course, he couldn't drink it himself, but she pushed the opening into his mouth, forcing him to taste the potion. In a matter of seconds, the [Paralysis] effect had disappeared from his bars, and he was able to stand back up, albeit slowly.
"C'mon, Sir Ren." Elena helped Ren up as Rino came in to support him on the other side. "We have to leave quickly. Hopefully, you found what you needed here. You can tell us what happened afterwards."
"Y-Yeah…"
"You gotta hurry! I think the knights are already com—"
As if on cue, Ren heard a voice come from down the hall. "That commotion sounded like it came from the spymaster's chamber! Dammit, what are those two knights doing!? Hurry up! We need to protect the information!"
"Oh no!" Rino squealed. "They're already coming. This is bad!"
"I can't think of a way for us to get out of here safely!" Elena exclaimed.
However, in contrast—Ren could think of something. There wasn't enough time to explain it thoroughly for the two girls, but he should consider it as his thanks for them. Really, he didn't want to drag these two down with him since he would never hear the end of it from his consciousness. There was a reason why he always liked being alone after all.
To push away those who wish to do harm to him and to push away those with good intent. The former to protect himself and the latter to protect them, but Ren would never admit that himself.
"Elena. Rino." Ren spoke softly to them as the footsteps got louder. He disbanded the party at that moment, giving the girls a confusion as to what he was going to do. "Follow my lead."
"Y-Yes, Sir R—!"
Rino wasn't able to finish the thought, as Ren punched her in the stomach and sent her rolling backwards. Her staff went flying in another direction.
"S-Sir Ren!?"
"I told you." Ren pushed Elena away and drew his sword at her. "Follow. My. Lead."
He dashed forwards at Elena and struck her as she managed to pull out her sword before it could hurt her. A rush of surprise covered her expression, but her widened eyes told Ren that she knew exactly what Ren had been trying to do.
Ren threw multiple attacks towards Elena in a rush, but he didn't try and overwhelm her. It simply needed to be fast enough to make it believable.
"What's going on here!?"
One of the castle knights had finally arrived with a few others as a support. They immediately locked their sights on what they perceive to be an intruder fighting two of their own knights, as the man who shouted out drew his sword and aimed it at Ren. He immediately kicked Elena away through her shaken swordplay.
"Provide them with assistance! Take down this criminal with extreme prejudice!"
As tired as Ren's arms were, he turned against the crowd of knights and unleashed a skill. "[Horizontal Slash — Magic Add, Wind Slash]!" Just as before, the arc of air sent itself into the crowd, pushing them all out of the way. With the pathway cleared, Ren stormed through.
"Don't let him get away!" The de facto leader had roared, but he turned and pointed to one of the fallen knights. "You, stay here and help out these two! Everyone else, chase him down except for you! You instead inform Captain Lothringen! We have a red alert on our hands! A red alert, I say!"
"Yeah, I got it!"
The knight referenced for the latter job had stood up and ran quickly out first into the other direction where Ren ran to. The others had gone to follow Ren, but it wasn't hard for them to find where he went. He had been leaving a blood trail as his footprint after all.
As the lone knight went to help Rino and Elena out, thinking they were one of his comrades, Elena couldn't help to think about what Ren had just done in the spur of the moment.
S-Sir Ren… You...
(—ነነነነ(—(—[][][][]—)—)ነነነነ—)
Quick Author's Note :
Sorry, I got carried away with the fight scene. I realized in the middle of Ren's second round, so you might see why it is shorter in comparison. If I didn't notice, it would have been another full-blown fight. It's kinda fun to come up with exclusive mechanics for this story. I guess that's the beauty of AU stories.
Oh, I guess this is the point where I mention that I'm not actually following the events of canon anymore, only referring to them as landmarks. Clearly.
Also, we've entered the second half of the first arc where the tone will be set completely differently as this is where the majority of the fights begin to be unleashed. I'm trying something out by labelling the music of when they should be playing. Of course, they're optional, but it's nice to have music play when you got a full fledged battle going on.
Though, this really should be going as a pretense to the chapter…
… Nah. That's inconsistent and I don't support that. (Yes, that was supposed to be ironic.)
With the release of the next chapter, we will be up to date with where the original should be at.
Once again, thanks for reading and thanks for the support.
