Chapter 29

Standing on a sand bank, Mercury looked around, confused as to where he was. Just a moment ago, he was fighting the monsters that were invading. Now, he was seemingly in the absolute middle of nowhere with no memory as to how he got there.

"Hm." A feminine voice echoed around Mercury. "We meet again, Dagger Hero."

Looking up, that same woman with the red dress slowly descended towards Mercury.

"You?" Mercury said, shocked by her presence.

The woman clicked her tongue as her bare feet touched the sand covered ground. She began walking circles around Mercury as the two spoke.

"Where am I?" Mercury asked.

"Let's just call it my own personal realm." The woman replied. "I control everything here. And only the guests I have invited are allowed entry, like yourself."

"So, what, you just pop me in here whenever you feel like?" Mercury asked.

"Only when it can benefit the both of us." The woman replied.

Mercury rubbed the side of his head.

"I'm not sure I follow."

"You're taking too long, Hero." The woman said, stopping in front of Mercury.

"What do you mean?"

The woman suddenly vanished before Mercury's eyes. A gust of sand blew behind him as she appeared once again, her hand gripping the back of his head.

"Watch." She ordered in his ear.

Visions flew through Mercury's mind in an instant. So many and all at once. Some of the visions were his very own memories. Some were about Naofumi and everything he's been through. But what caught Mercury's eye was a vision of all his friends lying in a pool of their own blood.

"You are too weak to protect anyone." The woman whispered in Mercury's ear.

"Shut up." Mercury warned her as more visions continued to flood his mind.

"Everyone you're trying to protect will die because of your own inability." The woman continued. "Everyone. Including that girl, Makoto."

Mercury felt his anger rise to a boiling point.

"Shut your fucken mouth!" Mercury shouted as he turned to throw a punch. However, the woman vanished in a cloud of sand.

"You're a failure. Always have been. Always will be."

Mercury's eyes turned a terrifying black. It was as if staring into the abyss itself. There was nothing. No sign of life. No sign of emotion. Nothing. Not even so much a glimmer in his eyes.

The woman chuckled, having achieved her goal: force Mercury to gain the Curse Series.

Back in reality, Mercury was holding on tight as the cyclop writhed in pain. Getting a steady grip, Mercury ripped his dagger free. Holding on as to not fall, Mercury raised his dagger above his head, his eyes still as black as night as his weapon was engulfed in black flames.

"Curse Series:" he said softly. Red lines began to cover him entirely, looking as though his very veins were running fire throughout his body. "Inferno."

The flames on his dagger extended as Mercury cut through the cyclops' neck like a hot knife through butter. Its decapitated head, now swarmed in the black flames, rolled across the ground.

With the cyclops dead, Mercury put out the fire around his blade with a single flick of his wrist. Looking over to Makoto, she slowly pushed herself upright, rubbing the side of her head.

"Glad to see it's over." Mercury said softly as he took a step towards her.

"I'm a bit disappointed." A voice suddenly echoed through the skies.

Looking to the source, a figure began to descend upon the four of them, a large katana resting on her shoulder.

"She told me someone like me, a new hero, was also in this world. I was hoping for something more impressive."

The woman touched down, glaring at Mercury and his party. She wore a traditional black Japanese kimono with red sleeves. Her dark purple hair danced with the wind before resting down her back when the breeze died. Her green eyes pierced Mercury's.

"And you are?" Mercury growled as Makoto limped over to his side. Taking a second to check she was okay, Makoto nodded before looking to whoever this mysterious woman was.

"My name, well, not that it's important, but it's Naomi." The woman answered. "And I know you, Mercury. Like me, you weren't supposed to be summoned."

"We defeated the wave boss." Makoto's voice echoed in Mercury's mind. "Why is the wave still going?"

"I don't know." Mercury replied back. "But she might."

Mercury glared at Naomi.

"We killed the cyclop. Why is the wave still active?"

Naomi seemed amused by this.

"There's only one wave boss, Mercury." Naomi replied. "It would appear the other heroes are dealing with it. Or, maybe Glass has already stepped in for her fun as well."

"Glass?" Satella said softly.

"That cyclops was just like the rest of these enemies: fodder." Naomi continued. "But now- oh." her eyes darted to the top right of her vision.

Mercury had also noticed something appear in his line of vision. A timer. And it was counting down from an hour.

"Well, then." Naomi brought her weapon in front of herself. "Seems our little chat is over. I do hope my knowledge was of use to you, Mercury."

"We'll see."

"Now, we have a whole hour to dance." Naomi grinned. "For the knowledge I gave you, I request a one-on-one duel to the death. You might want your party to keep out of this fight, anyway. Wouldn't want them killed for getting into a fight they can't win."

Makoto grit her teeth and took a step forward, only for Mercury to quickly stop her.

"Don't." Mercury told her. "It don't look like she's messin' around. I'll deal with this. Keep everyone else safe."

Makoto hesitated before nodding.

"Be careful."

Mercury glared at Naomi as his party ran off to help defend the village.

"Alright." Naomi raised her katana in an offensive stance.

After a moment passed, Naomi rushed Mercury. Swinging her katana, Mercury raised his daggers to block the attack. However, the force alone sent Mercury rolling. The difference in power level between the two felt massive. It was clear Naomi was the stronger one by far.

Dazed as he was getting back up, Mercury was frantically coming up with a plan in his head as Naomi stalked towards him, the tip of her katana scraping the ground.

As he raised his daggers again, Mercury realized he had no horse in this race. If he wanted to live to see the sun again, he would have to think of a plan.

"Alright... I got this." Mercury told himself. "I got this."

Charging Naomi, the two engaged in battle. Attacking as fast as he could, Mercury couldn't break through Naomi's defense.

With a sudden flick of her wrist, Naomi cut right through Mercury's second dagger as if it were paper. Caught off guard by his weapon shattering, Naomi slashed Mercury, causing a worrying amount of blood to splatter the ground.

Taking a few steps back, Mercury looked at his left arm, seeing a large gash running down it. What's more, Mercury could see the white that was his bone.

"If you don't do something soon, you'll likely bleed out." Naomi warned.

Mercury was already tending to his wound. Igniting his weapon in fire, Mercury began to cauterize the massive wound.

Gritting his teeth, Mercury made almost no noise before he finished. With his arm in severe pain, Mercury raised his dagger in preparation to fight.

Rushing each other, Mercury still stood no chance against Naomi.

Knocked down for the third time, it was clear Naomi was just toying with Mercury. Getting back up, Mercury felt his rage beginning to build.

His eyes slowly turned black as his dagger was engulfed in dark flames. Swinging his blade at Naomi, a wave of black fire flew off his dagger and towards the woman.

Seeing the attack hurling towards her, Naomi tried to dodge out of the way but was hit nonetheless.

The black flames wrapped around Naomi, burning her for a few seconds before she put them out. Her own eyes filled with rage as she rushed Mercury.

Swinging her katana, Mercury dodged it by leaning as far back as he could. Keeping his balance by pressing his left hand on the ground, pain instantly rushed through him.

Getting back on his feet, Mercury quickly activated his 'slow' ability, causing Naomi to move at a snail's pace. However, it was short lived as Naomi began to move at normal speed while everything around them continued at the slowed pace.

"What?"

"Interesting..." Naomi said softly before resuming their battle. "It seems I'm not the only one."

Mercury cocked his head in confusion.

"The hell are you talking about?"

Naomi smirked in reply. She was toying with Mercury.

"I think I'll let you figure out what I mean." Naomi replied before rushing Mercury again.

Going to block her strike, Mercury was knocked across the ground once more.

Slamming his fist into the dirt as he got back on his feet, Mercury twirled his dagger in his hand, holding it backwards.

"You can't beat me." Naomi taunted. "Not unless you get stronger."

Even though he knew she was right, Mercury didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to back down, turn tail and run.

But he had to if he wanted to survive this encounter.

With time having returned to normal, Mercury held his blade tight as he turned around.

Running away while dodging and blocking Naomi's attacks, Mercury managed to evade Naomi for almost the entire time. With ten minutes remaining, Mercury was tired, and barely able to keep his feet moving.

Turning to Naomi, Mercury was surprised to see her sheath her sword instead of continuing her attack.

"Damn." Naomi crossed her arms. "As much fun as this was, it seems our time is at an end. Same time next month?" She asked with a cheeky grin.

If Mercury didn't know better, he'd say she was enjoying this.

"Fuck you." Mercury growled, keeping his dagger at the ready.

Naomi widened her eyes slightly. "Don't tease me with a good time." she grinned. "Stay safe, Merc." Naomi gave a two finger wave, her back towards Mercury. "I'd hate to come back and hear you died."

With that, Naomi began walking away.

As the wave finally ended after what felt like an eternity of fighting and running, Mercury had no strength left in his body.

Collapsing to his knees, Mercury took in massive amounts of breath. Looking to the cauterized wound, Mercury winced at the sight.

"Fuckin' A..." Mercury held his arm. (Who the hell even was that?) Rising to his feet, Mercury went to take a step, only to collapse to one knee. (Damn! My body... I can't move.)

Trying to force himself to his feet, Mercury instead fell forward and onto his stomach. Taking slow breaths, Mercury's eyes slowly began to close.

End of chapter 29