Chapter 9
Two men creeped up to a dirty door in a dirtier alley, to do the dirtiest business. To get human blood on their hands.
"Climb, I'm going to kill the guys upstairs. We don't have anything to tie them up with and if they call for help, it'll be a pain. We could knock them out, but if then they wake up and flee or stab us in the back… it's gonna be dangerous to take control of this place, since we know so little about it… What's wrong?"
"Oh, uh, it's nothing." Climb shook his head and cleared away his anxiety. His heart was pounding as if he'd been sprinting at full speed, but he did his best to ignore it. "Please excuse me. I'm all right now. I can go anytime."
"Are you sure? …Mm, seems like you got your game face on. You'd been acting a little weird since we got here, but now you look like a warrior. I understand you're nervous. There might be powerful enemies in here who you can't beat as you are now. But don't worry, I'm here and so is Sebas. You focus on surviving—for the one who keeps you going."
Brain gave Climb a hard pat on the shoulder and, blade already in hand, knocked four times on the door while Climb gripped his sword tightly. They heard someone clomping over and the sound of locks turning. Three of them. The moment the door began to open, Climb acted according to their plan and yanked it as hard as he could. Brain rushed to the first man faster than he could raise a puzzled shout. Climb heard the sound of flesh being severed and the thud of something crumpling to the ground.
He breathed and jumped in a moment later. Ahead of him, Brain was cutting down their second opponent. There was one more man in the room, with a short sword and leather armor. Climb closed the distance between them in one swoop.
"The hell—?! What's with you, ya little shit?!" The man panicked and tried to stab Climb, but he parried it easily. Then Climb brought his sword down from overhead in one swift motion. The man tried to block with his short blade, but it was certainly not going to take the full weight of Climb's body in that heavy blow. Climb's sword knocked away his opponent's smaller weapon, sliced into his shoulder and came out near the base of his neck. The man fell and groaned in pain as a pool of blood spread across the floor, so much that one might wonder where it had all come from. The man's body jerked and twitched one last time before lying still.
Judging it to be a fatal blow, Climb kept his momentum and forged ahead into the room while still on guard. There were no enemies lurking to bring their swords down on him. He heard Brain racing up the stairs to the second floor behind him. All that was in the room was commonplace furniture. After confirming that, Climb ran into the next room. One minute later, having inspected their respective floors and determined there were no other enemies, Climb and Brain met up again at the entrance.
"I took a look around the first floor, but I didn't get a sense anyone was there."
"The same for the second floor. There weren't even any beds, so no one spends the night here… There must be a secret passageway to the place where people sleep."
"Did you find it? I doubt it would be on the second floor, but…"
"Nah, I didn't see anything that looked like a trapdoor. But if what the assassin said is right, then it's down here."
So Climb and Brain exchanged glances and then examined the room.
Climb didn't have any thief skills, so he couldn't discover a hidden door by glancing around. If he'd had a fine powder like flour and some time to thoroughly search, he could have found the door by sprinkling it around and blowing. The powder would have collected in the door's crack and made it easier to find. But he didn't have any powder and he didn't have any time to scatter it. So he took some magic items from his pochette.
They were small handbells he'd received from Gagaran of the Blue Roses. "It's dangerous to go adventuring without a thief, but sometimes you just have to. At times like those, having these will make a big difference," she'd said to him. He considered the pictures drawn on the outer surfaces of the three bells and chose the one he needed. It was called the Bell of Secret Door Detection.
As Brain watched him with intense interest, he rang it once. A clear tone audible to only the owner of the item echoed throughout the room. Responding to the bell, one corner of the floor began to glow a pale blue. It blinked as if to say, Here's the trapdoor!
"Wow, that's a handy item. Everything I have is for making me stronger or to use in combat."
"Isn't that normal for a warrior, though?"
"Hm, a warrior…"
Climb moved away from Brain and his wry grin, remembered the location of the reaction and took a spin around the rest of the room. The effect of the item's magic lasted only a set amount of time. He needed to investigate as thoroughly as possible before it wore off. He circled the area, but there was nothing besides the first spot. All they had to do now was open the trapdoor and sneak inside, but Climb's eyes squinted at it. Then he sighed and took his bells back out.
This time he chose one with a different picture on it and rang it like the other one. The tone was similar to the first's but different: the Bell of Trap Removal. He was being very careful. Climb didn't have the ability to detect and disable traps, nor did he have any means to escape one were he to get caught. If they'd had a caster with them, they could treat him if he got hit with paralysis or poison, but he and Brain were only two warriors. Climb once heard that there was a martial art that granted temporary immunity to poison, but he didn't know it, and he didn't have an antidote. He had to consider himself out of commission if he got a bad status. A case like that called for using a magic item without hesitation, even if it could be used only a limited number of times per day.
There came a heavy clunk from behind the trapdoor. Climb stuck his sword in the door's gap and pried it open. One big corner of the wooden floor came up and clapped down onto the other side. There was a crossbow attached to the underside of the door. The tip of its quarrel shone in the light, reflecting it in a strange way, very different from the way plain metal would. Climb changed positions and stared at the crossbow. A highly viscous liquid was slathered on the tip of the bolt. It was almost certainly poisoned. If they had carelessly opened the door, they'd have been shot with poison.
Exhaling with a bit of relief, Climb tried to see if he could take the crossbow off the door. Unluckily, it was attached pretty well, they'd need tools to remove it. Giving up on that, he peered past the door. A fairly steep staircase led down, but he couldn't see where, due to the angle. The stairs and their surroundings were solidly built out of stone.
"So, what are you going to do? Wait here?"
"I'm not very good at indoor combat. If possible, I'd like to go down and take up a position in a more spacious area where it would be easier to fight, if there's one."
"In a one-on-one fight, it's to your advantage to wait at the top of the stairs, but if you end up fighting here, I might not be able to hear the commotion from farther down. And if reinforcements show up… Yeah, maybe we should skip that idea. Wanna go together, then?"
"Yes, please."
"I'll go in front. Follow me, but keep a little distance."
"Understood. And about that item I used to remove the trap, I can use it up to three times per day but not in a row. I have to leave thirty minutes before I can use it again, so we can't rely on it."
"Gotcha. We'll be as careful as possible. If you notice anything, let me know."
With that, Brain stepped down into the staircase. Climb followed behind him.
Brain descended step by step, tapping each one with his katana first, just in case. The incredible blade seemed to glow in the darkness and Climb peeked at it. That's the best weapon I've ever seen, save perhaps the one entrusted to Sir Stronoff…, he thought before shaking his head as to get rid of the emotion. I need to focus.
At the bottom of the stairs, the floor was well-laid with cobbles and the walls were also fortified with heavy stone blocks. A little ahead they could see a wooden door with iron reinforcements. Brain didn't really think there would be more than the crossbow booby-trapping this emergency escape route, but he'd heard too many stories about heavily armored warriors being rendered helpless by a single pitfall. He definitely had to avoid that. It was only a short distance, but Brain took his time, stepping cautiously, to reach the door. Climb stood by at the bottom of the stairs so he wouldn't get caught up in an accident if there was one.
First, Brain poked at the door with his sword. I still don't know what it can do, but I'm sure its true wielder wouldn't be afraid of a booby-trap… After a few times, he seemed to make up his mind, grabbed the doorknob and turned it. Then he stopped moving. Climb was worried something had happened when Brain turned around and simply said, "… It's locked."
Of course it was. It made sense for the door to be locked. "Do you have any way to open it? If not, we can break it down, but…"
"I do, actually. One moment."
Climb rang the third handbell at the door.
They heard the faint noise of the latch opening by the power of the Bell of Unlocking. Then Brain turned the knob and opened the door slightly to peek inside. "There's no one here. I'll go in first."
Climb entered right after Brain. It was a large room. Around the edges along the walls were cages and wooden boxes big enough to fit a person inside. Was it a storage room? It seemed a little too big for what was there. Across the hall was a door without a lock. Climb strained his ears and heard some noises, like a faraway commotion.
"Brain turned around and asked Climb, "How about here? It fits the bill for space…but you might end up having to fight multiple enemies at once."
"If a group shows up, I'll open the entrance door and fight from above the stairs."
"Okay. I'm gonna take a quick look and be right back. Don't die, Climb!"
"I won't. You be careful, too."
"Do you mind if I borrow those items?"
"Of course not. I'm sorry I didn't offer." Climb handed all three bells over to Brain, and Brain tucked them into a pouch on his belt.
Then with a proper warrior-like bravery on his face, Brain said, "Okay, I'm going in," and advanced deeper into the brothel.
Climb, on his own now, looked around the room. First, he checked to make sure there was no one hiding in the shadows of the wooden boxes and no secret passageways. It was only a warrior's search in the end, but it didn't seem like there were any hidden doors. Next, he examined the countless containers.
If possible, he wanted to acquire some information about other Eight Fingers facilities besides this one. If there were smuggled or otherwise illegal goods down there, it would be great. Obviously, a general search would be done after they'd occupied the building, but he figured he should try and investigate as well as he could on his own first.
There were large boxes and small ones, but he decided to approach the largest. It was probably almost seven feet to a side. He inspected it to make sure it wasn't booby-trapped. Of course, like before, Climb had no searching abilities, so he couldn't even begin to pretend to be a thief. He put his ear to the box and listened. He didn't think anything was shut inside it, but there was no telling what could happen in an underworld place like this. It was possible they were smuggling animals.
Unsurprisingly, he didn't hear anything. Next, he moved to take off the lid, but It didn't open. It just wouldn't budge. He scanned around for something like a crowbar or a poker, but from his cursory investigation, it didn't seem like there were any tools like that in the room. "Oh well…"
He tried the next box, which was about three feet to a side. This one opened with no trouble. There were all sorts of clothes inside, from simple sack dresses to garments fit for the daughters of nobles.
"What's all this? Is there something hidden under all these clothes…? Doesn't look like it. Is it spare clothing? This is like a laborer's outfit, and here's a maid uniform… What the heck is this?"
Climb racked his brain, unable to figure out what all the clothes could be for. He picked up a piece and it seemed utterly normal. If crime was involved in some way, the only thing he could think of was that they might be stolen, but that wasn't evidence that would let them take out the brothel.
Deciding to leave alone things he didn't understand, he moved on to the next box, which was as big as the first. Then a loud bang suddenly echoed throughout the room.
There's no way! I searched every corner and made sure there was no one. Then he came upon a realization: What if someone using [Invisibility] was here from the very start? Climb shivered at the thought, though it was unlikely, and whirled to face the direction the noise had come from, the unopened seven-foot box. One side was flush against the wall. The side opposite that had come off.
The exposed contents were not cargo but two men. In the back was a tunnel. What should have been a wall was actually a hole. The wooden box, of course, connected to a secret passageway.
Climb blinked furiously in genuine surprise as the two men came out. An unpleasant sweat ran down his back. One of the men fit Sebas's description perfectly. His name was Succuronte. He was their biggest obstacle in this infiltration mission as well as their prime candidate for capture.
One of the Six Arms, who were equivalent to adamantite-rank adventurers…
Grasping a drawn blade, the enemy Climb had no chance of defeating narrowed his eyes and said, "We knew from [Alarm] there were intruders, so we came through the secret passageway specifically to not bump into them… I guess we should have made some other way out?"
"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now," the man behind him answered in a high-pitched voice. Then, he turned to Climb. "Hmm? I've seen this kid somewhere before."
"Considering our circumstances, I'm going to be angry if you tell me you slept with him."
"Oh, come on, Succuronte. That couldn't be it. But I believe he's the little pet of the female who pisses me off more than any other in the world."
"Oh? So he serves the princess?"
Succuronte flicked his eyes over Climb from top to bottom as if he were lapping him up. The eyes of the man behind him were filled with unsettling lust, but Succuronte was estimating Climb's strength as a warrior or, perhaps, like a snake, trying to judge whether this prey would fit in his mouth.
The man in back licked his lips and said to Succuronte, "I want to take him with us. What do you think?"
A chill went up Climb's spine and he felt a twinge in his anus. Ugh, this guy's a…
"It'll cost extra."
Disregarding Climb's mental screams, Succuronte faced him.
There had never been any openings, but now Climb was beset by the feeling he was facing a solid fortress. Succuronte took a purposeful stride forward and Climb took a step back from the encroaching pressure. Perhaps this was obvious, but a fight between two clearly different powers never lasted very long. Still, Climb would have to make it happen. If I maintain a defensive posture and focus all my efforts on blocking, I should be able to buy time till one of the others gets here.
But there was something he had to do first. He took a deep breath and… "Heeelp!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, using every last bit of air inside them. Winning the battle on his own was not victory. Victory meant capturing both these men. Or to put it another way, losing either of these powerful men and their presumably ample intelligence ultimately meant a loss. So what reason could there be for hesitating to call for help?
Succuronte's face grew stern. The scream gave his opponents an urgent need to finish the battle in a short amount of time. It was extremely likely that they'd pull out the big guns. Climb kept on observing their every movement.
"Coccodor, it seems it will be a bit troublesome to bring him with us. We need to settle this before he gets backup."
"Huh? You're one of the Six Arms, aren't you? You can't even knock out one little brat and his friends? The title 'Illusion Maniac' weeps!"
"Well, if you're going to put it that way… I'll do what I can, but please remember that as long as you escape, we win."
Climb continued to stare down Succuronte, trying to figure out why he was called Illusion Maniac. He wouldn't have a nickname that had nothing to do with his abilities. So if Climb could figure out the reason for the nickname, he might get a clue about what abilities he could use. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could learn from his appearance or equipment. He knew that he was at a disadvantage, but he roared to encourage himself. "I'm protecting this door with my life! As long as I'm still standing, neither of you will leave this room!"
"We'll know if that's true or not soon enough—when you're shamefully flat on the floor."
Succuronte slowly brought his sword up.
"Huh?! Climb did a double take as his enemy's sword flickered. It wasn't some kind of trick. The strange phenomenon ended right away, but he definitely hadn't been seeing things. It must be a martial art, Perhaps it had something to do with being an "illusion maniac." In that case, he was probably already using some kind of power. Climb wasn't off his guard, but he brought it up a notch.
Succuronte charged, brandishing his sword overhead. His technique didn't seem worthy of an adamantite-rank adventurer. It was a little sloppier than Climb's. The soldier of the Kingdom held his sword up to block, in line with the trajectory of the incoming blade, but a creeping sensation made him jump to the side. Suddenly a sharp pain ran across his flank and he was knocked back.
"Kha! Guh!" He staggered into the wall behind him. He didn't have time to figure out what had happened. Succuronte was already right in front of him.
He was raising his sword like before. Climb held his blade up to protect his head and did a diving roll to the left. And a sharp pain ran across his upper right arm. Coming out of his nimble roll, he swung his sword behind him without bothering to look. He sliced air. Realizing there wouldn't be a follow-up attack, he held his right arm and turned around. Succuronte was running for the door that led to the stairs while keeping one eye on him. Climb ignored the man's attempt to open the door and instead focused on Coccodor. He had more than a hunch that this would be enough to stop Succuronte, who was responsible for Coccodor's security. And he was right.
Succuronte's hands stopped. He took up a position between Coccodor and Climb and clicked his tongue in frustration. Then he looked at the exit, Climb, and Coccodor in turn as he grimaced. "We're trapped! You'll have to excuse me. I'm killing this boy here."
"You can't be serious! He'll be a great asset against that little bitch if we keep him alive!"
"He tricked me. Taking up a position to protect the door, saying he'd protect it with his life…that was all part of his plan. This little brat… messed with my head!"
Yes! He bought it. So I guess they don't know what's going on outside this room. Now they can't just run off.
With only one escort, it was a bad plan to go guve a look while Climb was still alive and able to fight, since Coccodor was unarmed. Worse, if Climb had friends upstairs, they'd be caught in between. For the same reason, Succuronte couldn't let Coccodor run on his own before finishing the boy off. When Climb had immediately abandoned the door he would supposedly protect with his life and made a move toward Coccodor, Succuronte fell for the bluff. Now he was probably convinced someone was waiting on the other side to catch them in a pincer attack and capture Coccodor. He had to have judged that the only way to escape safely was to take out Climb now. Of course, that was assuming he wasn't aware of conditions outside the room. If he knew the truth, he would run away immediately.
Climb, having won his bet, raised his sword against Succuronte's growing desire to kill. "Ngh!" He had to bear the pain in his side and right upper arm. He might have had a couple of injuries, but they weren't deep. He was lucky he could still move. No, if that pervert weren't lusting after me, I would have probably been killed. Wearing a mail shirt isn't enough. But what's with that attack, anyway? Is he swinging again really fast? I don't think that's it, but then what could it be? Gazef's face flickered across the back of Climb's mind.
Gazef Stronoff's original martial art, Sixfold Slash of Light, was six attacks at once. So was this some lesser version of that, like a Twofold Slash of Light? But in that case, Succuronte's art was a weird one where the first attack was normal speed and the second was superfast. It doesn't match up. If I can figure out what kind of attack it is, I should be able to do something about it… All I know is that a defensive battle is not going to go very well. Guess I should attack?
Climb swallowed hard and broke into a run.
His gaze moved from Succuronte to Coccodor. At that, Succuronte's face warped like he'd bitten down on something bitter. When you're acting as security, you hate it when the one under your protection gets targeted, even if it's merely as a threat. I'm the same way, so I know how it goes. Executing a tactic he'd hate to have to deal with himself, he closed in. A maniac of illusions… I can imagine… Well, maybe his name is misleading…but it's worth testing.
Once in range, he brought down his sword, but Succuronte deflected it easily. Climb braced through the shock and struck again. He wasn't swinging from overhead, so there wasn't a ton of power behind it, but it was still enough. Succuronte's blade deflected his again and Climb took some distance with a satisfied nod. "It's an illusion, not a martial art!"
He'd felt something off the moment his sword was deflected. It felt like the block occurred a little bit in front of the blade he could see. "Your whole right arm is an illusion. The real arm and sword are invisible!" In other words, the sword he'd blocked had been an illusion and the real one had cut into his flesh.
Any hint of emotion disappeared from Succuronte's face, and he began to speak in a flat voice. "…That's right. It's nothing more than the combination of a spell that can make parts of things invisible and a spell that causes hallucinations. I'm an illusionist and a fencer. It's a lame trick once you know the secret, right? You can laugh."
There was no way he could laugh at the moment. Sure, putting it into words made it sound simple enough that he wondered why he hadn't thought of it, but now that he knew there was an invisible sword against him in combat where one hit could mean death... Besides, being able to only half see through it was as confusing as it sounded.
"Since I diversified my abilities, I might be less of a warrior than you, but…" Succuronte flourished his sword. But was that even really his arm? It was entirely possible that this was an illusion and his real arm had a dagger out and was waiting for the right time to throw. The dread of illusion set in, and Climb broke out in a cold sweat.
"Illusionists can only use spells that belong to the illusion tree of arcane magic. In the upper tiers, some illusion attacks fool the brain to death… but I haven't gotten there yet."
"That seems fishy. What proof do I have that's true?"
"Right." Succuronte laughed. "Well, you don't need to believe me. Anyhow, what was I trying to say? Oh yeah. Because of that, I can't cast strengthening spells on myself weakening spells on you. But, can you tell the difference between illusion and reality? [Multiple Vision]!"
As he finished speaking, Succuronte split into multiple Succurontes. One would think the real one was in the center, but there was no guarantee of that.
Why did I give time to a caster?! It was Climb's goal to buy time, but giving a wizard leeway to cast support spells was too dangerous. Climb screamed a battle cry, used an art to boost his perception abilities and closed the gap between him and Succuronte all at once.
"[Scintillating Scotoma]!" yelled the criminal.
"Ugh!" It was like a part of his field of vision had gone missing; however, the effect disappeared immediately. Apparently, he had successfully resisted the spell.
Smiling a little, he charged forward, swinging his sword to mow down all the Succurontes at once, but only one of them was in range. To get them all, he'd have to be fighting at extremely close quarters. Climb wouldn't be able to get enough momentum behind the blade at that distance. The unlucky closest Succuronte fell to the side in halves, but no blood spurted out and Climb's sword moved smoothly through him.
"Better luck next time!"
A chill slithered up from Climb's bowels. He was suddenly hot near his throat. He brought his left hand up to protect the hot area. A sharp pain coursed through his hand, and he felt the sensation of fresh blood soaking his clothes. If he hadn't sensed the killing urge, if he'd hesitated to sacrifice his hand, his throat would have been slashed.
Relieved to be alive, he gritted his teeth against the pain and swept his blade sideways. Again, it met no resistance and slashed only air. It can't go on like this. Realizing that, Climb switched arts and used the martial art [Evasion] as he backed away. His field of vision contained two remaining Succurontes raising their swords at the same time. Knowing that both blades were illusions, he focused all his attention in his ears. The mail shirt he was wearing and the beating of his heart made a racket. Right now the only things he wanted to hear were the sounds of the man in front of him.
No… No… There! It was definitely not the sound of a sword being brought down. The faint sound of something slicing through wind was approaching his face from an empty space in front of him.
He rushed to turn his head, and along with the searing sensation that streaked across his cheek, he felt his flesh being painfully torn off. A hot liquid flowed down his cheek and ran down his neck.
Angry, he yelled: "There's a fifty percent chance!"
Spitting the blood that had welled up in his mouth, Climb bet all he had on a single attack. Since he'd used it as a shield earlier, his left arm was pure agony from the wrist down. It was possible the nerves had been severed, so he wasn't even sure his fingers would work right. Still, if he could line them up, he could grip the hilt of his sword. An explosion of pain coursed through him and he grit his teeth. But his left hand moved and gripped the hilt. The limb probably felt swollen only because of the excruciating injury. He grasped his sword tightly with both hands, mustered all the strength he could find and brought the blade down from overhead.
Now, blood spurted. He felt the blade cut into something hard, and the sticky red sprayed up like a fountain. It seemed he'd nailed the real one this time. Apparently, he'd hit a vital point because Succuronte thudded to the floor. Climb couldn't believe he'd won against someone said to be adamantite equivalent, but it was definitely true that the man was now lying on the floor.
He barely suppressed the joy welling up inside him and returned Coccodor's stare. It didn't seem like he had the will to run away. Perhaps because Climb had relaxed a bit, the pain in his cheek and left hand was enough to make him feel sick. "I can't…quite call this victory." Taking prisoner Succuronte would have been best, but it had been impossible for him. Still, if he could capture a man worthy of escaping with the protection and assistance of the Six Arms, they should be able to get plenty of intelligence. As he stepped forward to capture him, Climb felt something was off in the man's expression. He seemed too composed. Why?
At that moment, a searing sensation ripped through his abdomen. Tension drained from his body all at once, leaving him limp as a puppet. His vision went black for a moment and when he came to, he was on the floor. He couldn't understand what had happened. Pain filled his abdomen, like a burning iron rod had been shoved into his stomach, and he exhaled roughly. All he could see was the floor, but then a pair of legs entered his field of vision. "Unfortunately for you, I can't let you win."
Climb strained to look up, and what he saw was a nearly unscathed Succuronte.
"[Fox Sleep]. It's an illusion for after you get injured. That hurt! You probably thought you'd finished me off, right?" His finger traced a straight line across his chest. It was the path Climb's sword had followed.
Climb's breath was coming short and rough. He could feel the blood flowing from his abdomen, soaking into his mail shirt and clothes. I'm going to die. Pain was tearing at his consciousness, but he frantically held on before he lost it. If I black out, I'll die for sure. But even if he stayed conscious, it was only a matter of time and the chance that Succuronte would finish him off was extremely high. He'd done battle with a man on par with an adamantite-rank adventurer. He'd probably even put up a good fight. There was nothing left to do now but give up. It meant the gap in their strength was indisputable.
But he couldn't give up. There was no way he could give up. Climb clenched his teeth so hard it seemed like they would break. He couldn't stand to allow someone to die, or die himself, without Renner's permission.
"Kugh! Gngh…" Groaning and grinding his teeth, he steeled himself, although he'd almost lost to the intense pain. I can't die yet. There's no way... He desperately remembered Renner. He wanted to go home to her today like always.
"We don't have time for this, so I'm gonna go ahead and finish you off. See you again in hell, little kid!" Succuronte turned his sword on the groaning boy. His prey was fatally wounded and death was only a matter of time, but Succuronte had the feeling it would be better to finish him off here once and for all.
"… Hey, why don't we take him with us?"
"Please, Coccodor, no. There's a good chance this brat has friends on the other side of that door. And even if we take him with us, he'll die before we get to a safe place. Please give it up."
"Then let's at least bring his head. We can arrange it with some flowers and send it to that female brat."
"Okay, okay. I guess that's fi— Uh, whoa!" Succuronte leaped aside.
The boy had flashed his sword. For someone on the edge of death, it was a sharp, steady swing.
Succuronte had been gazing at his pitiful prey and its frantic resistance with contempt, but now his eyes widened. The boy leaned on his sword and stood up. That should have been impossible.
Succuronte had killed more people than he could count on his fingers, and in his estimation, that blow should have been fatal. The boy should not have been able to stand. But the scene before his eyes betrayed the knowledge born of his experience oh so easily.
"H-how can you stand?"
He felt sick to his stomach. The boy was practically an undead. Before his pale face and the long string of drool hanging down from it, Succuronte could only think he had ceased to be human.
"I… can't... die… yet… cough-cough … I need to return a favour to princess Renner!"
Faced with those strangely twinkling eyes, Succuronte caught his breath for a moment. He was afraid. He was frightened of this boy who had done the impossible. Then, the boy staggered and Succuronte returned to himself. What washed over him at that moment was shame. He couldn't believe he, one of the Six Arms, had been afraid of a lesser opponent.
"You half-dead trash! Die already!" Succuronte charged. He was sure the boy would die if he stabbed him one more time. But he was taking him too lightly. Certainly, the total gap between them was overwhelmingly obvious. However, Succuronte was an illusionist and a fencer, while Climb was a warrior. In terms of pure combat ability, Climb was no weaker than Succuronte, more than a match for him, in fact. It was only because of magic that Climb was at a disadvantage. But without magic protection, Succuronte was the weaker of the two.
Climb's blade suddenly descended with a roar, followed by a shrill clang. A cold sweat ran down Succuronte's face. His opponent was nearly dead. That thought had distracted him, clouded his vision, but now his eyes popped open. As a fencer, he'd trained to evade his opponents' attacks; the reason he had blocked the boy's strike with his sword was because it was that extraordinary. That was not the attack of a person on the verge of death. Such words flitted across Succuronte's mind in his panic. No, his sword is actually moving faster than when he wasn't hurt! What the hell? What's with this kid?
He was standing in another realm of combat. It wasn't impossible, but Succuronte had never seen someone like that in real life. It felt more like something had come undone. "What's going on? Are you using a magic item? A martial art?" His voice was distraught. He was cornered, unsure who was superior anymore. What had happened to Climb? It was simple. Thanks to Sebas's training, his sense of self-preservation was confused. His determination to live overlapped with the death he'd seen before him in Sebas's training, and his brain's limiter had come off in the same way as then to unleash hysterical strength again.
Then, a hard blow sent Succuronte flying. The shock of slamming into the floor traveled through his back and rocked his stomach. His orichalcum mail shirt absorbed some of the impact, but even so, the wind was knocked from his lungs and he couldn't breathe for a moment. What the hell happened? As the one who'd received the blow, Succuronte couldn't understand, but to Coccodor, who was standing to the side, it was obvious. He'd been kicked.
The moment his overhead swing had been blocked, the boy had unleashed a kick at Succuronte. Still unsure about what had happened, Succuronte hurried to his feet. For fencers, who pride themselves on their agility, lying on the ground was the same as being in the jaws of death.
"Shit! This kid uses his feet! That's not very soldierly! If only he'd fight by the rules… !" Succuronte whined with a click of his tongue as he rolled and rushed to steady himself. This surely wasn't the fighting cultivated by soldier training; that dirty style made this feel like a battle with an adventurer. So he couldn't underestimate him. Succuronte began to feel anxious. He thought at first that it'd be an easy win, that he'd be able to kill this little brat no problem. But now he felt that confidence ebbing.
Back on his feet, he saw the dangerous-seeming boy slowly crumple to the ground and held his breath. It looked like the last exchange had expended the rest of his energy. No, that was exactly what had happened. He'd exhibited the power of a candle flaring the moment before it goes out. But now so much as a light push would probably kill him. Succuronte felt slightly relieved to see that, but confusion and rage soon overtook him at the fact that he, one of the fearsome Six Arms, the strongest members of the Eight Fingers, could feel this cornered by a single soldier. At the fact that he'd worried at all. But now the fight was decided. All that was left was to kill him and then escape. But a voice echoed.
"I'll have you stop right there."
It seems like I've made it just in time. Climb lay on the floor, his face clammy with sweat and paler than white. Nevertheless, he was still alive. But the wound in his abdomen was fatal, so he'd die if there was any delay in getting him treatment. With no sense of relief, Brain charged into the room.
There were two more men there. One seemed entirely incapable of fighting. He screamed: "Don't worry about that shady guy. Just kill the kid!"
"He'll charge and kill me instantly if I do that. He isn't like that brat. I can't win against him unless I focus and fight with all my might. If I let my guard down for an instant or get a little distracted, it'll be over."
Brain understood the one who'd replied was Succuronte. He did fit the description he'd heard. Brain walked briskly forward without a word, drawing his katana and striking in one fluid motion, but Succuronte had already jumped away. The sword sliced through nothing but air. Brain had swung it only to get him away from Climb anyway. He stepped over the fallen boy and took up a position protecting him.
"Climb, are you okay? Do you have any healing items?" he asked quickly, with no time to lose. If he didn't have something, they'd need to come up with another plan as soon as possible.
"Agh," he panted. "Y-yes."
Brain glanced down and saw that Climb's hand had let go of his sword and was moving. "Okay," he answered, feeling deeply relieved. Then he turned a severe stare on Succuronte. "Starting now, I'm your opponent. I'll be taking revenge for him."
"Given the katana, I guess I shouldn't be surprised you'd be so confident. Those rarely find their way this far north… I've never even heard of one in the kingdom. And this seems really cool, Can I ask your name?"
Brain didn't feel like answering. He and Climb had the same objective, they were comrades, for the time being. With Climb half-dead, how could I answer a question like that as if nothing had happened…? Brain suddenly wondered to himself, Have I ever been like this? Hadn't I abandoned everything besides growing stronger with a sword? He cocked his head slightly and laughed to himself. Ohhh, I see.
His heart, his dreams, his goals, his livelihood, his very way of life, it had all been broken by the monster Shalltear Bloodfallen. Then, a new one was forged for him by an even greater monster, Oshikuru. But it was not solid yet, the boy called Climb must have wedged himself into the still open wounds of his heart the moment he'd earned Brain's admiration for being able to withstand the mysterious Sebas's brutal intent to kill when Brain himself couldn't, despite being weaker. He'd seen the brilliance of this young soldier who had something he did not.
He stood in front of Climb and exchanged glares with Succuronte. Can I get Climb to see the same thing in me as I saw in him that time? His old self would have burst out laughing, saying, You've gone soft. He used to think that bearing the burden of another made a warrior weak. He'd thought warriors needed to be sharp. But now he understood. Even Lord Oshikuru, probably the most powerful being in the world, had become stronger when he had decided to fight for a friend.
"This is another way to live… I get it, master… but I may never make it to where you are. No, I…"
"Did you not hear me? How about I ask you again? What's your name?"
"Ah, sorry. I don't think it'll matter if I tell you, but sure, I'll answer… I'm Brain Unglaus."
Succuronte's eyes opened wide. "What?! The Brain Unglaus?"
"No way! That's him?! He's not impersonating him?"
"No, Coccodor, there's no doubt about it. A valuable weapon shows a warrior's rank. If he's really who he says he is, such a katana makes sense."
Brain grinned bitterly. "The fact that most of the people I've met today know who I am…might have made my old self happy. But now I can't really say I care."
Succuronte's following smile of goodwill confused him, but his unmade questions were cleared up immediately. "Hey, Unglaus! Why don't we quit fighting? A man of your caliber should be one of us. How about it? Want to join? I'm sure you'd be able to be one of the Six Arms. I can tell you're that strong by looking at you. You're the same as us... You want power, right? I can see it in your eyes."
"…Well, you're not wrong."
"In that case, the Eight Fingers isn't a bad gig. For people with strength, it's the best place to be! You can even get your hands on magic items as powerful as that sword you're holding. Check out my orichalcum mail shirt! My rings, my clothes, my boots, they're all magic! Brain Unglaus, join us! Be one of the Six Arms with me!"
"… Hahaha, shut up. You guys are nothing. Worse, you're lame."
Succuronte's face froze at Brain's unbelievably insulting answer.
"Say What?!"
"You didn't hear me? I said that the bunch of criminals you belong to is worthless…" Compared to the power of Nazarick, it surely is.
"Y-you bastard! …H-hmph. If that's what you think, then I'll show you how wrong you are. I'm as strong as you, if not more!"
"Maybe you're right. But I don't think I'm strong. I've seen what real strenght looks like." Brain took pity on the frog sitting comfortably in his well thinking he was powerful and gave him a genuinely compassionate warning. "And that goes for you, too. As you said, we're about equal, which is why I'll warn you. We're not that great at all."
Brain turned to check over his shoulder on Climb, who had just finished drinking a potion. "And I've learned something. Strength for someone else's sake surpasses the strength of one alone." Brain smiled. It was a friendly, pleasant smile. "Maybe it's only sunk in a little, but I know."
"I have no idea what you're talking about… It's too bad, Unglaus. I can't believe I have to kill the genius swordsman who once gave Stronoff a run for his money."
"I wonder if you can really kill me, swinging your sword only for yourself."
"Yeah, I can. I can kill you without breaking a sweat. I'm gonna kill you, and then I'm gonna kill that brat lying on the floor. I'm not playing anymore, and I'm not holding back. I'm going all out!"
Without taking his eyes off Succuronte, who had begun casting a spell, he cautioned Climb when he sensed movement behind him. "Don't move, Climb. You're not fully healed, right?" The boy stopped. Brain smiled and, with the same surprise he'd felt at himself earlier, said, "Leave the rest to me."
"Thanks." Brain smiled instead of responding and sheathed his sword. As he lowered his hips, he flipped his sword and sheath upside down.
"Please be careful. Succuronte uses illusions. Not everything you see will be real."
"Hrm… That does make him a tricky opponent…but that's fine."
Brain silently, motionlessly watched Succuronte. At some point, five images of him had appeared. Not only that, they appeared to contain magic sparks, shrouded in something like mantles of shadow. He had no idea what kind of spells those were.
"Thanks for the prep time! Give a caster a little time and they can become even stronger than a warrior. Your defeat is now certain, Unglaus!"
"Yeah, don't mention it. Now that I talked with my friend here, I know for sure that I'm not gonna lose!"
"Shut your mouth! You didn't move because you're protecting that brat? How nice of you."
He heard Climb shift on the floor.
The boy must have felt bad for giving their enemy time to cast. And that was why Brain announced, loud enough for Climb to hear, "One hit."
"What?!"
"I said I'm finishing this in one hit, Succuronte."
"Just try it!"
Succuronte charged at Brain with his afterimages trailing behind him. He came into range and Brain turned around, calmly showing Succuronte his defenseless back. Then at what seemed like a godly speed, he attacked right over Climb, drawing his sword with a flash into space where no one was to be seen. Then there was a crash and the walls shook.
Climb, from the floor, and Coccodor turned toward the source of the was Succuronte. His body was on the ground, not so much as twitching. His sword lay nearby. Brain's single blow had knocked Succuronte back, slamming him into the wall with unbelievable momentum. If he hadn't struck him with the side of his blade, he would have been cut in half, even with his orichalcum mail. Or so one might think after witnessing such a blow.
"…It doesn't matter if an opponent is invisible, my martial art Domain can still detect them. Using auditory illusions to draw my attention forward while attacking from the rear… That's a great plan, but it wasn't going to work on me. And it was stupid of him to go for you, too. He was probably going to kill you and then say, See, you couldn't protect him, but he diverted too much attention from me to target you. Did he forget who he was fighting?" Brain smiled at Climb. "See? One hit!"
"Magnificent."
Another voice's "Magnificent" overlapped with Climb's. The two of them were taken by surprise—it was Sebas, but that wasn't what shocked them. They were startled at the direction it came from for a reason. They both looked to where Coccodor had been standing and found that Sebas was over there, with Coccodor crumpled up on the ground.
"When did you get here?!" Brain asked.
Sebas answered calmly. "Just now. It seems like you didn't notice because you were both so focused on Succuronte."
"Oh, I see…," Brain answered, but he didn't really think it could be possible. I was using Domain! It covers a small area, but if he ran in a straight line in front of me, he should have been in it. But I didn't detect him…? If all Floor Guardians are like that, this world will bow to Nazarick sooner than I thought…
"I went ahead and saved all the prisoners. Also, apologies to Climb, but several people put up quite a bit of resistance, so I was forced to kill them. Please forgive me… but I guess I should heal him before I say all that."
Sebas went over and put his hand to Climb's abdomen. It was only for a moment. He barely even touched him when he was already pulling away, but the effects were dramatic. Even after taking the potion, Climb's face had been pale due to all the blood he'd lost, but now color returned in the blink of an eye.
"You healed me… So you're a priest?"
"No, I poured chi into you."
"A monk! I see, that makes sense." Now Brain understood why Sebas didn't have any armor or weapons.
The butler gave him smile back. "What are you two planning on doing now?"
Climb got up with a movement that showed he was as healthy as ever. "First I'm going to run to a guardhouse, explain what's happened here and see if we can get some soldiers to help us. I'd like you to hold the fort down here while I do that since it's possible that reinforcements from the Eight Fingers will come."
"That sounds fine to me. But could you leave me out of your explanation? I originally came to this country for business, so I'd rather not poke my head any further into its underworld."
Brain hesitated before saying: "It's fine to mention me if you have to, but I'd rather not.
"Ah. Understood." That said, he thanked them both and ran off.
As soon as Climb left, Brain turned to the elderly butler. Finally, I can explain.
"Sir Sebas, Lord Oshikuru sent me your way. The objective was to destroy this place together and let the local authorities handle the survivors, both victims and criminals. It seems everything went smoothly."
Sebas felt relieved, then smiled at Brain and at himself. "But of course. The Supreme Beings' plans never fail, whether we know them or not. All of us dance in the palm of their hands."