"Y'all are back already?" He chuckles. "What a bunch of fuckin' morons, y'all are four hundred years young to just fight me like that..." He sighs. "You guys should have turned back and left this place." I sure wish we could.
Still, I now have confirmation that Reid does remember us. Which means we can't keep trying the same strategy over and over again while slowly making everything more perfect, he will remember what we tried in the past. What a pain in the ass...
But first of all, if he's so worried about us... "Would you even let us leave?" I can't know for sure, because he didn't do a good job at explaining the rules back then. For example, he didn't even touch on the fact that spirit magic couldn't be used.
I ignore the fiery glare Priscilla sends my away, instead I keep my attention on Reid. The man shrugs. "Eh, sure. Fuck it, I ain't gonna care if y'all run." He nods to himself. "I can end the challenge anytime I want... But if y'all want that door to open, then one of ya losers has to land a hit on me, and once that challenge begins... I ain't stopping until this beautiful little field is ugly." Got it, so if I begin there's no turning back.
I prepare to move. "Sorry, but I can't back down now. Don't be surprised if you get your ass beat black and blue this time...!" I ready the mana through my gate, just before I take a step I'm channeling it through my body.
Before Reid surprised me so much I didn't really have an opportunity to do so, but this isn't the case now. And sure, my body is gonna get all fucked because I'm inexperienced, but... I should heal from all my wounds once the battle is over.
This is all on our minds, sacrifice is okay... no, I can't let everyone else die, but if I kick the bucket is fine. In the end I'm just gonna wake up fine and dandy, and hopefully with a open door that leads to a place full of water and food.
Reid snorts. "Sure, maybe this time your lazy ass is actually do work." Lazy!? Is he calling me lazy just because I died first!? Ah, now I'm blushing out of embarrassment. "I don't get why you guys keep comin' here with a wounded woman though." He sends a sad look towards the Duchess. "With all that armor... must be a warrior, it's a shame I had to step on her head last time." I'm sorry you had to go through that Crusch.
Emilia glares at him. "Then just don't kill us! If-if you feel bad, then let me land a blow on you! Like a light one!" I doubt he's gonna let us do that, but it is worth a try at least. Just like Felt screaming for Reinhard was... Is it bad that I keep hoping the knight will suddenly appear here to kick his ancestor's ass? If Reinhard even is stronger than Reid in the first place.
Reid crosses the arms he doesn't have. "Um... I normally wouldn't care to let y'all do it. To be honest..." He looks at Priscilla. "I might even want to take that one as an apprentice, but... Can't let y'all get through so easily, she's way too scary, sorry." She...? There's no way, right...?
I raise an eyebrow. "Who are you even talking about?" The answer is obvious, the answer of who Reid Astrea would talk with is obvious, but...! It could still be someone else, so I hold back my emotions for now.
He frowns. "Who else? The sage of course. Bitch can be super fuckin' vindictive, I gotta thank her though... If it wasn't for her I would always be a stick swinger." He looks down. "Back when I lost good ol' leftie and rightie against the hag who has a stank ass pussy, I thought it was all over for me..." Please don't refer to the Witch of Envy like that...!
He continues, a light smile on his face. "But ya know, we didn't give up. She's the type of woman who doesn't, so I was dragged along too... Battle after battle, eventually I could hold a sword again." He closes his eyes, lost in thought. "I ain't just a delinquent anymore, I'm the Heavenly Sword." Please don't fight using chopsticks then.
Emilia and I are both left shocked, we should have realized already, but the fact that the sage has her fingers on this... It kind of hurts, since she kindly helped us back in the past, but I don't have time for that right now.
Felt grits her teeth. "I still don't get you! I mean, if you're some hotshot hero...! If you're like Reinhard at all, or a Heavenly Sword or whatever...! Then just let us go, we kinda need it dude!" She's clenching her knife, ready to jump into action.
He rolls his eye. "Who said I was a hero...? I don't know who this Reinhard fella is, but don't compare me to him." He glares at the ex-street rat. "I'm a sword, one wielded by the sage. It just so happens that she left me here to teach any losers a lesson." He stretches. "So, anythin' more y'all want to talk about? Or maybe y'all babies are runnin' away?"
Felt almost jumps in at that comment, but thankfully she holds herself back. We should use this opportunity to ask any important questions that we have, like for example... "Hey Reid, why did you refer to parents back when you killed me?" Maybe it will give us a clue on how to beat him.
He frowns. "Don't worry 'bout it." That's not much of an answer, but okay. Then I guess I might as well ask the second one and hope this time he actually gives a conclusive answer. Seriously, of course I'm gonna worry about it.
I take a deep breath, please prove Anastasia wrong. "Do you know anything about a voice that has been talking inside of my head?" It did say I had to step forth to the challenge, so maybe... just maybe Reid who's obviously involved will say something important.
His eye widens in shock. "A voice...? Ya take any strange pills kid?" He chuckles. "Or did ya go crazy after one single measly death?" Now Anastasia is glaring at me, great. I'm definitely not crazy, I'm not! Hopefully...
Speaking of Anastasia, she suddenly raises a hand. "Wait a minute, you keep saying that we should turn back, but we can't. We suddenly appeared here with no food or water, and we basically don't even know where we are either, so..." Is she trying to appeal to his feelings? I doubt it will work.
He shrugs. "Tough luck, it ain't changin' nothin'... Skippin' the line is bad, even when ya isn't responsible for it. If y'all can't beat the challenge, then the door won't open. Sucks to suck." He ends with a mocking grin.
Anastasia doesn't react surprised at all, it seems she's aware this was an unlikely possibility. "Okay, but how about we trade somethin'? Can ya keep new stuff inside of here?" Reid nods, a look of curiosity on his face. "We have a shiny sword here, all legendary and sharp. Ya want it, mister Heavenly Blade?" And as expected of a merchant, she sets the terms of the initial deal, instead of letting Reid state his price.
The swordsman seems surprise. "Oh, this why ya were such an useless shit back then, you're a merchant, not a fighter." If his comment bothers her, she doesn't let it show, and I feel like that actually gains a bit of his respect. That's probably why he entertains the idea. "So, what does the sword do? Anythin' cool?" He's looking at Priscilla's... my blade. It's the only sword here, after all.
Anastasia really does sound like she's giving him a pitch for a product. "It's the Life Sword! One of a kind, and part of the Ten Swords of Power! Surely any swordsman that actually knows his shit can see the value on it? You're lucky we are only askin' for ya to open a damn door." W-wow, now you're talking like we are in an actual good position!?
He tilts his head. "Um... The Ten Swords of Power? I ain't ever heard of such a fancy title Little Miss... I've been in this shit hole for four hundred years, ya know? So if it's a modern term, ya gotta explain it to me." This guy is seriously lost in time, like a lame Captain America.
Anastasia doesn't miss a beat. "The Ten Swords of Power include your precious Reid. Ain't that enough to clue you in?" I doubt the Life Sword is nearly good enough to actually compare to Reinhard's heirloom, but Anastasia says as if it's fact. No, her face almost says the Life Sword is straight up better. She's way too good at lying, scary.
He whistles. "That does sound nice! I only got Reid at the end of my life, but even a guy like me had uses for it!" He suddenly grins. "Why shouldn't I just take it though? I beat y'all's asses last time, I'll do it again, and this time Imma keep the blade." Ah, a good point.
Anastasia raises an eyebrow. "Didn't know ya were a thief. And to think ya made me hear about all your bragging, not a delinquent anymore this, a Heavenly Sword that. Bunch of bullshit huh?" She's throwing his own words at his face.
He snorts. "Ain't such a thing as stealin' from corpses Little Miss. It's called lootin', I don't know about merchants like ya, but all the best swordsmen do it." Perhaps you are even more of a JRPG character than us. Please feel shame of that fact.
The merchant glares at him. "Except none of us die here. Our bodies may stop for a moment, but we get up and move... I mean, we came to challenge ya again ya know? None of us gave up, if that ain't prove we are alive, then I don't know what it does." It's almost funny in a way.
She's was actually completely against us coming back here, but know she's spinning the story around and playing it to her advantage. Like a greedy foxy cat, Anastasia Hoshin falls and then lands on her feet.
Reid is silent for a moment, and then he suddenly stomps the ground with immense force, it raises a much bigger cloud of dust than before. The mini-earthquake almost makes us stumble forth, but we hold steady, thankfully not starting the trial.
We suddenly hear him shout. "Fuck...! Damn it, I can't." He sends Anastasia a genuinely apologetic look. "Sorry Little Miss, ya actually got me, I like ya. If this was another situation I would let ya ask for anythin' as long as you slept with me, but... I can't. Gotta follow the sage, I owe her too damn much." And so he rejects Anastasia's pitch.
She scoffs. "I wasn't gonna be sleepin' with ya anyways. Ya seriously smell bad, surprising, for a ghost or whatever ya are. Also, ya literally don't even know my name." I'm glad to see we avoided the NTR route just now! Sleep with the evil hooligan to win!? It screams mindbreak to me!
He smiles. "Ah, why couldn't I find a woman like you back then...?" Didn't you leave descendants!? Respect your dead wife, whoever she is! "Anyways, y'all fightin' or fleein'? If y'all fight... I might just play around a little bit more, I wanna see if any of you have fun surprises like the Little Miss." Anastasia smiles, and she deserves to look proud.
She actually bought us an advantage, Reid will play nice because now he's actually interested. That said, considering he apparently follows the sage's orders to the letter, and she said to get rid of any guys quickly... I imagine nothing has changed for me personally.
Before I move though, I send the merchant a bright smile. "Thanks! You were the coolest just now!" That's right, I'll just trust that my other party members are amazing. They are destined heroes too after all.
Anastasia shrugs. "Eh, I still didn't get what I aimed for. A deal where both parties are left unsatisfied... People who say that it's enough to aim for that are losers." Even so, I can see that she's proudly smiling.
I begin counting yet again. "One..." Mana rushes through my body, not just my leg. "Two..." My whole body is shaking, I feel like I'm about to break in two, I can feel a warm liquid running down my nose... It's definitely blood. "Three!" I move forward.
In a flash, Reid is in front of me again, doing the same move. This time though, I was both ready in the mana department and in the mind department, so I had the time to raise my arm up to block it. I doubt it will do much, but... in this fight I have zero chance of winning anyways, so I gotta at least try to keep him still. Reid will not hold back against a man after all.
My arm is penetrated by his chopsticks, but they don't reach my skull, so instead Reid turns into a swipe, cutting my arm off. And so with my other hand I try to lend a blow, ignoring the pain. To be honest, maybe because the cut is too clean... It feels less painful then when Petelgueuse broke it.
One punch, that's all I need to land! And to my sides I can see Felt rushing towards him with her Divine Protection, Priscilla trying to cut him down, and even Emilia trying, and failing to send her super special magic attack at his direction. Anastasia and Crusch aren't doing anything, because they obviously can't.
With a quick swipe of his chopsticks Reid tries to cut off my second arm, he's so fast that he has time for that. But his weapon actually gets stuck in it. "How are ya so tough...?" By the time he says that, he has cut off my head, striking at my neck with his hand that he should not have. "Shouldn't ya be a mage?" Those are the last words I hear in this life.
It's okay though, because they will win!
Suddenly I'm alive again, my hands gripping the sword that leads to Reid, I immediately release that grip and look towards the door, expecting newfound freedom. Sadly the door doesn't open, which means we must have lost.
I look around and see that no one is reacting well, Emilia face's is pale, and hey eyes are unfocused as she looks around, Felt is breathing hard while holding her neck, Priscilla's face is green as she drops the Life Sword, not long after she makes an angry expression, and Anastasia just seems confused.
The merchant looks to the ceiling, her face set in disbelief. "The hell happened...!?" That's my question damn it! You guys couldn't pull off a victory after I got killed!? And here I thought for sure that this time we were gonna be escaping...
Well, I can't blame them of course. This is Reid Astrea, not a guy who we can just... hit with simple tricks. This is the type of guy who accomplished knights who trained their whole life would fail to beat, literally a legendary hero.
And speaking of legendary heroes... I look to the ceiling and start shouting, a scowl on my face. "Hey Echidna! Come and explain yourself already...!" I might as well pull a Felt and start screaming about uber powerful people.
The sage has spoken to me before, she has suddenly appeared to out of thin air, and then left just as quickly, she also knew stuff that she shouldn't know... I'm certain she's gonna hear me, so I'm hoping she's gonna pop up and explain this is one big misunderstanding.
But even after my shouting, she doesn't appear. So a confused Felt looks at me like I'm an idiot. "Um... you okay Big Bro? Did he give you permanent brain damage or something?" I don't want to hear that from you of all people.
I sigh. "It's just that... I guess Priscilla and Emilia would know this to a certain extent, but I actually talked with the sage before." My announcement actually snaps most of them from their death shock. "She's the one who summoned me to this world after all, and she helped back in the Matters Manor against the Archbishop of Sloth too..." Who apparently wasn't shit, considering Reid is so much stronger than him.
Anastasia immediately gives me an incredulous look. "What do ya mean ya talked with her before!?" She sighs. "This another one of the voices inside your head? ya poppin' any strange pills?" Please don't act like Reid, I beg of you with all my strength.
Emilia thankfully saves me, interjecting into the conversation. "Um... No Lady Anastasia, she rea~lly did help back in the manor... I'm guessing she isn't responding now though?" I nod, and then Emilia's face shifts into disappointment.
The merchant sends her a small smile. "No need to call me Lady Anastasia girl, we literally died together... Just call Me Anastasia." She then looks at me. "I guess there are some privileges in bein' the Child of Prophecy. Sadly those privileges don't include actually beatin' legendary heroes." Just wait until I unlock my broken ability!
I clench my fists. "Sorry... I'll find a way to cheat and win somehow." Diplomacy isn't going to work, and we can't even land a single blow on him when he's playing around, so what more can be done to turn this into our favor?
Anastasia tilts her head. "Cheat huh...?" She then slowly turns around and looks at the big door. The one preventing our escape from this annoying tunnel... Maybe we should have turned around after all. I mean the fact that we are still alive proves there must be an airflow coming from somewhere right? So there must be another exit...
Priscilla suddenly screams. "Argh, that...! That...! Good for nothing...!" She moves over to a wall and punches it, her hand starts bleeding... We all watch in... pity? I don't really know how to feel right now to be honest.
I raise an eyebrow. "So... how did the fight go? Anything new we learned?" All things considered our first fight was actually fairly productive when it came to gathering knowledge. I'm hoping the second one will be even more so... Besides, third time is the charm, so by game logic we should win then.
Anastasia shrugs. "Don't ask me... I was watchin' the fight, and then suddenly everythin' went black." So she got killed by Reid before she even realized it huh? In some ways that's actually a pretty good fate.
Ugh, I can't believe I just thought that. People shouldn't think about how it's a good thing that a maniac killed his friend quickly... I guess dying two times in quick succession is beginning to affect me.
Felt raises a hand. "I was the last one to go this time, so I'll explain it..." She points at Anastasia. "First, we all jumped him, and he crushed her skull, also took his chopsticks out of your arm." Right, he failed to completely cut my arm.
She then points at Emilia. "Surprisingly enough, he then focused on her. I guess he was trying to draw on Big Sis' super special potential or whatever... She didn't show any though, so eventually he killed her." So the rage power up didn't appear for a second time?
Emilia frowns. "Sorry... I couldn't pull my weight." Well, it's not like I pulled mine either. I guess next time maybe we should focus more on her elvish strength? That's at least something that is guaranteed.
I send her a smile. "It's fine Emilia, this is the time of stuff that takes time." She doesn't respond, but I hope she feels better. It only makes sense that her power up didn't activate, she now knows we aren't actually dying after all.
Felt continues, now pointing at Priscilla. "He then focused on her... Said he wanted to test the Life Sword. Obviously she got trounced, he also made fun of her reliance on strength for some reason...? I don't really get it." That's expected, Felt is a thief, she doesn't have an eye for this.
Priscilla's eye twitches. "It's that traitorous sun again... I have a Divine Protection that makes me stronger under it, so I'm unused to fighting without it." Man, Priscilla really becomes nerfed at night... Even if she's probably the strongest of us anyways, besides... Crusch, maybe.
I look at the dawned Crusch, and I can't help, but wish she woke the fuck up already. I know it's mean to think that, but the fact that we are fighting with one member down... It feels unfair, we can't beat Reid like this.
Felt then finishes. "So after turning Priscilla into mist again, he killed me." She crosses her arms. "Guy is unbeatable, it feels like trying to hit a serious Reinhard, it's just not doable, and I would call you insane for even trying, no, for even thinking about it." Yeah, and now we need to do it if we want to live.
After the thief finishes her comparison, a tense silence fills the room. After our first try, we thought we could do it, because the first time we just got caught off guard, but... In the end, even with Reid holding back, and with us being aware of his prowess, it was still impossible.
It doesn't matter if a rat knows the cat is coming, he is not beating him. The only thing he can do is hide, or in this case not pull the sword. The only problem is that this annoying one-eyed cat is guarding our cheese... and that he feels more like a dragon than a cat.
This is surely beatable right? I mean, the prophecy probably brought us here, and the voice said I could win... but I also don't know much about the prophecy in the first place, and Reid didn't even know the voice... Maybe I really am going crazy? I don't feel like a nutjob, but most nutjobs don't.
Are we really supposed to just hit our heads against the wall until it breaks? Because our heads will definitely crack first if that's the case. I snark. "A very stoppable force has met a unmovable object." It's not good of me, but I let my frustration out.
Anastasia glares at the sword. "You know what? Screw Reid, his bum self can stay alone for another four hundred years." I think we can all agree with that, but... "Let's just break down the stupid door." Eh!? That's...!
We are all immediately tempted by the possibility of not fighting Reid again, except for Priscilla of course. "Watch your mouth Fox. I have a score to settle with that man." Right, she's now aiming for revenge or whatever.
Anastasia points at Priscilla. "Screw your revenge. Ya can come here and challenge him to a rematch later for all I care. I did tell ya I ain't dying for your pride, didn't I?" Priscilla looks away, glaring at nothing, but accepting the situation.
Felt shrugs. "I for one don't care... My feelings of revenge kind of died off at the second try to be honest..." She sighs. "Also, I'm super tired..." Right, Felt is the youngest here, we shouldn't be letting her go through this type of stuff.
Anastasia nods towards Felt. "Glad ya see my way." There's not much more to say to the thief. Getting her permission to proceed is easy, she's not nearly as prideful as Priscilla... I still think they're similar, it's just that Felt isn't as spoile- I shouldn't think that.
Emilia claps her hands together. "I think that's a wonder~ful idea! But... I did try to push down that second purple door pretty hard, and it didn't budge at all." Ah, I might develop a phobia of doors after this.
Anastasia grins. "Well, yeah. But this ain't that door, it's worth a try. Besides, I have an idea on how to get through here if that door refuses to be brought down." Well, that sounds good to me. I have zero plans on how to beat Reid after all.
I scratch my nose. "I'm absolutely down for breaking that stupid door... But there's a few concerns I would like to raise before we try." It's better to prepare for the worst in my opinion. We haven't caught a break since we appeared here after all.
Anastasia raises an eyebrow. "Sure kiddo. Shoot." Please stop calling me a kid. I get that you're the oldest here, but you're supposedly my destined lover, so eventually this is gonna get very weird.
I look towards the passed out Crusch. "Breaking the door might activate an alarm system or something... That's why someone should be carrying Crusch and the Life Sword, in case we need to run." It will be specially hard to carry Crusch, since she needs two people, but... I'm not leaving anyone behind, specially a passed out Crusch.
Anastasia nods. "That seems fine to me, Priscilla and Emilia can carry Crusch, and Felt takes the Life Sword. You break the door." That seems all fine to me, I'm still confused about one detail though.
I raise an eyebrow. "Why me? Wouldn't it be better to have me carrying Crusch?" Emilia is the one here with elvish strength, so maybe she should try. Alternatively we could wait until sunrise to Priscilla can use her Divine Protection again...
Anastasia grins. "Because you're freakish tough for no good reason. Even Reid said so." Oh right, he did say that. He was also expecting to be a mage for some reason... Well, Reinhard did say I had all the affinities, I guess.
I send a smile. "Okay then, one broken door coming right up." Of course, this is not Reid's arena, so... If I damage my body, then my body will stay damaged. As long as we all leave I'm fine with it though.
As soon as I give the okay, Emilia and Priscilla begin carrying Crusch, while Felt picks up the Life Sword. Anastasia gives one last worried look towards Reid's challenge sword, probably wondering if he's gonna appear and call us cheaters and then gives me the okay to move ahead.
We all get close to the door, ready to run if needed. I first start small, by trying to open the door by pushing it, as expected there's no result. So I'm guessing we are doing this the destructive way. Fine by me.
I close my eyes and focus on my gate. This time I just reinforce the parts I need for a punch, even so I can feel my whole body trembling. Once we get out of here I'm training until I can do this perfectly.
In a flash I punch the door. "Ouch." It creates a loud noise, the tunnel shakes, but nothing happens... It also doesn't help that my hand is now bleeding, and my arm feels sore all over. "Sorry, but this thing is too tough." As expected of our luck, we aren't getting away that easily.
I'm still glad not a single defensive measure has been activated. If suddenly there were magical canons pointed at us or something... I would complain to the game devs, or the tunnel devs in this case.
Anastasia nods. "Yeah, I expected that, which means it's time for my next idea..." Right, she did say that this was just her first one! Please tell me I don't need to go back to the Reid boss fight...
I smile. "Okay then, lay it on me." My arm is shaking really badly, but... It can't be helped, I'll ask Emilia for healing later. Hopefully it's something she can fix with her spirit magic... Because if not, then I'll be nerfed until we get home. It should be fine though, she healed a broke arm after all.
She points at the wall. "Let's dig our way to victory! Maybe the only enchanted the door or whatever. I mean Priscilla did rip out a chunk of the wall when she punched it earlier." Yeah, and as long as the door isn't a teleportation door, our destination should be just to the side...
But... "What if there's a collapse? This whole place could fall on our heads." There's a difference between attacking a door, and digging a hole through the tunnel with the power of punching really hard.
Anastasia crosses her arms. "What do ya think we have a greater chance of doin'? Survin' the collapse of the tunnels or beating touchin' Reid?" The answer is clear.
I move to the closest wall to the door, and channel mana through my body again, this is definitely gonna hurt a lot. "C'mon Iori, make this wrong path into the right one!" Throwing the words I stole from Priscilla back at my face huh?
I smile. "Got it!" And begin punching the wall. It hurts like hell of course, and it's not a quick or easy process either, since I essentially have to make an 'U', curving my way to our salvation. With each punch the tunnel trembles too, making my heart almost beat out of my chest.
Eventually however, I punch brick, and reveal... an actual room. It goes without saying that I ignore my hurt arm and enter it while shouting. "Hell yes!" And there's no Reid pursuing me either, or any other defensive mechanisms, or a collapsing tunnel...! I enter the new room with completely numb arms, but the smile of a victor.
Of course, I'm not the only one who enters. I'm followed by a happy looking Anastasia. "Hell yeah! When someone offer ya a shitty deal, ya walk the fuck out!" I have a feeling she has never been this happy before.
Emilia is almost crying. "We did it...! No one is going to die here! We managed to get through somehow...!" She sends a grateful look towards Anastasia and me. "Thanks...! From the bottom of my heart!" I don't think Anastasia even pays attention, I do send the half-elf a smile though. I would like to send a thumbs up, but... I can't even feel my arms.
I need to ask for healing. That's for sure... But before that I want to walk a little more, just to see if there's more challenges up ahead, to see if we have truly won or not. Until then I'm fine with carrying on like this.
Even Priscilla is smiling. "I suppose you all did adequately enough, I'm glad my words were taken to heart." You're trying to make this about you!? "One day I'll come back and kill that man however." I... I'm gonna be right behind you. I wanna get stronger than him.
Felt giggles. "Who cares about that, we fooled him! For all I care he can stay inside of that sword jerking off for all time!" She looks through the room. "I guess we now go up." And she quickly finds a bunch of stairs.
I nod. "Yeah, let's continue our walk." We begin walking forward, finally going up. The stairs feel like they never end, and we have to go fairly slow since Emilia and Priscilla are carrying Crusch.
Eventually we make it to a door however, Anastasia goes on the front and slow opens it. Entering we see a massive room, full of other doors, and decorations that seem right at home in a horror game.
From above lands a woman, who's wearing... not much at all. Her color scheme is black and yellow, and her hair is like that of a scorpion. She's also casually eating a piece of... uncooked meat, from some animal though, not a human.
As soon as she sees us, she drops her food to the ground, staring at us with a casual look. "Huh, welcome to the Pleiades Watchtower, yep..." And then she steps back, face full of shock. "Wait, someone actually beat pervy!?" Is pervy Reid? Because if that's the case...
Sure, we totally beat him. For real.
AN: Anastasia figured out the greatest speed run classic of all time! Glitching through doors!