79 – Different Kinds of Parties

30th Floor Archimedes

I connected to Yihwa's Crest spirit, to find several members of Team Sweet and Sour sitting around a table looking gloomy.

"What's wrong with you guys?" I asked, making the fiery spirit float over the table.

"Dr. Dua! It's terrible. Mr. Khun lost the all-in gamble on that last fight between that princess and his cousin," said Yihwa.

"I see. That's unfortunate, but it's fine," I said.

"See? I told you to chill," said Derf using Gyetang's mouth.

"What do you mean? Without a team leader in the 2nd round, we're screwed! We've lost the wager!" Wangnan said.

"Only two team leaders had points left, and one had only 1 point. That isn't enough to have an actual competition in the second round. 1 point can't buy anything." I said. "So the hosts will have to do something else, they won't run the tournament with only one team and a win by default. Just wait for Khun to come back with news after they hold the gamblers' meeting."

"Oh…OK," said Wangnan.

"For now, just relax at the party. There's nothing else you can do anyways," I said.

"What about the weapon? Any news about that?" Akraptor asked, referring to what I told him 2 years ago.

"I'm still investigating it, but they've hidden it well. FUG will most likely be smuggling it into the second round somewhere to give it to Viole, but what happens after is the problem. The other faction must be planning something, because they wouldn't just hand it over to him without a way to control him," I said. "The answer may lie with the Acorn Workshop…I was able to sneak in with a Shinheuh. I'll update you all if I find something useful."

"That's good news, at least," said Yihwa.

After that, I left them to their own devices.

In reality, this whole weapon investigation thing was just a way to appear like I was doing work to help. I already knew the other FUG faction's plan, and so did Hwa Ryun, I assumed. Wangnan's team had no role to play in the Thorn's handover, but if things went similarly to canon, their presence would be needed during the 2nd round to make sure everyone could escape at the end.

Would things really go the same way? Maybe not.

But this whole Workshop Battle was practically rigged, so I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

The Workshop hosts themselves were working with Rankers within FUG. Aside from their monetary motivations, the tournaments were simply engineered to get the pieces into place while looking like a legitimate competition for Regulars on the surface.

This was all done so that it wouldn't devolve into a fight between Rankers.

Most of the heavy hitters from the FUG team and our teams didn't match off against each other during the Plug game, despite its "random" drawing of groups. Besides Ran and Anak, who actually should have been allies if Ran wasn't being forced to be part of the FUG team.

By taking each other out in a way that made them unable to fight in the next round, this drastically reduced the firepower available to our pro-Viole side.

My own match with Varagarv was a surprise, but they were probably testing me out just as much as I was testing out Varagarv, who was one of their secret trump cards, and he hadn't used his full power either.

At least half the gamblers were FUG plants, if I recalled correctly, maybe even all of them aside from Khun and Leesoo.

With so many FUG plants, it would be simple to make the final round only consist of FUG teams. However, the Workshop only had a business deal with FUG, not real loyalty, which was why they still cared about the legitimacy of the competition with their audience.

But even if our teams would be allowed to participate, the rules could be set up that we'd be at a large disadvantage, especially as they now had a good excuse because all the leaders except for Reflejo, representing Viole's FUG team, and Ron Mei, representing Varagarv's team, had failed their all-in gambles.

In the end, this would likely turn into a fight between Rankers anyways.

I'd be best off simply staying out of the way.

O O O

[Interlude]

Wangnan and Akraptor sat with Chang Blarode and Quaetro, the two elite Regulars whom team S had previously met while climbing, and who were sent up by Khun together during the bullet game. They were excitedly talking about the events of the group fights.

Then their attention was drawn by the clamor of other Regulars. When they turned, they saw princess Androssi in a stylish matching top and skirt with a long white shawl that reached the ground as if it were a dress, escorted by Axion in a tuxedo and a similarly long shoulder cape on his left.

"She's even prettier up close…" Wangnan said, drooling.

"She's a fierce woman," said Akraptor. "Did you see her fighting in the stadium? It wasn't as flashy as Axion's battle with Varagarv, but she was just as overwhelming."

"She fights brutally without mercy, but her opponents were too easy," said Chang Blarode. "I'd like to see how they team up."

"A fearsome combination," Akraptor said, nodding.

The co-hosts Io and Punk were playing music on guitars in the background.

After getting away from all their admirers, Androssi and Axion found a spot among the dance floor.

"This feels nostalgic," said Androssi, moving in a slow foxtrot facing Axion. "How long has it been since we've been to a party like this?"

"You know the answer. At least four years, by my count," said Axion. "We went to one on the 25th Floor, right before we separated, when we danced just like this."

"I wondered if you'd forgotten," said Androssi.

"How could I forget such a beautiful image?"

"You'd better not or I'd have to kill you."

Yihwa walked over to Wangnan's table and sat down.

"Decided to join the party after all?" Wangnan asked.

"Weren't you going to find the alligator?" Akraptor added, referring to Rak who had been with their team in disguise but had stormed off somewhere after the fights ended and missed the meeting with Axion using Yihwa's Crest spirit earlier.

"I couldn't find him, so I thought he might've come to the party," said Yihwa, noticing that Blarode and Quaetro were both looking in a particular direction.

She followed their gaze to see Axion and Androssi dancing.

"Since you're here, might as well enjoy the party then," said Akraptor.

"Doing what? I'm not going to drink with you guys," said Yihwa, eyes glued to the scene.

Akraptor smirked. "You know, he'd probably accept if you asked him for a dance."

"What? Who says I want to?"

"What, she likes that guy?" Quaetro asked.

"N-no! Don't cause misunderstandings!" Yihwa said heatedly.

"Don't be shy, flame thrower. If there's something you want, you gotta give it your all! You won't know unless you try," said Wangnan with a grin and a nudge.

"Hah! That's right, embrace the fire, girl! If he refuses, just make yourself hotter to catch his eye!" Quaetro said.

"What kind of dumb advice is that?!" Yihwa gave him a scornful look. "Even if you make a pun, that's not how it works!"

"I agree. You don't need special powers, all you need is courage to put yourself out there. What do you have to lose?" Wangnan asked.

"What about you, o' fearless leader? Why don't you go ask the princess for a dance?" Akraptor asked.

"What?! That's crazy!" Wangnan cried. "I can't do that, she's the princess!"

"Hah! What was all that big talk earlier about putting yourself out there? You gotta give it your all, right?!" Yihwa said, nudging him back in imitation.

"She'll just reject me like everyone else she ignored on the way," said Wangnan.

"So you're just afraid of being turned down!" Yihwa said.

"So are you!" said Wangnan.

"No I'm not, I just don't want to get between them!"

"Oh so you admit you do want to dance with him," said Wangnan.

"Shut up! What's your excuse? Isn't it because you know you're not good enough for her, you smelly monkey?"

"Damn flame thrower, I'll show you! Nobody is too good for this talented and handsome Ja Wangnan," said Wangnan, standing up.

"What, you're seriously going to do it?" Quaetro asked.

"Hell yeah, what have I got to lose? I'm gonna ask and you're all gonna seethe once she accepts," Wangnan said arrogantly before adjusting his tie, and patting his suit to make sure he looked fine.

"Oh shit, we can't just let him steal the princess!" Quaetro declared, standing up as well. "I'm gonna ask too!"

"Don't get infected by their stupidity, Quaetro," said Blarode, standing up as well and putting a hand on his teammate's shoulder.

"Bro, what if she actually accepts?" Quaetro asked.

"I believe the princess respects strength. As one of the top five E-Rank Regulars, naturally I have the best chances here," said Blarode before walking forward. "So I should be the one to try."

"Wait, what?!"

"Hold it right there, I said I was going first!" Wangnan said while running forward to get past him.

"Damn you guys!" Quaetro chased them as well.

"They're really going…" Yihwa said with surprise. "Arghh! I can't let these idiots show me up!"

She found her resolve and charged forward as well.

Akraptor watched dumbfounded as the three guys fought to race ahead, shoving, burning, and jumping over each other, causing chaos with nearby party attendees, before they unceremoniously crashed together near the princess and Axion.

Akraptor snickered to himself quietly, pressed his fingers to his forehead to cover his eyes, then laughed uncontrollably.

Axion and Androssi stopped and looked at them with surprise and curiosity, before Wangnan shot back up and straightened himself out to approach her.

"Princess Androssi, My name is Ja Wangnan, the future King of this Tower, May I have a dance with you?" He asked, holding out his hand.

"Future king of this Tower? Are you suggesting that you're going to overthrow my father?" Androssi asked back, unimpressed with her arms crossed.

"Uh…what I meant was, after he retires! Yeah—"

"No, thanks. Not interested," said Androssi.

Blarode pushed Wangnan aside before taking an elegant bow.

"May I have the honor of—"

"Sorry, no."

Quaetro shoved Blarode aside, jumping up and down. "How about me?"

"Definitely no."

"Could I have a dance with you?" Another, softer feminine voice asked from the side.

"No, I don't lean that—" Androssi started automatically before even seeing who it was.

"It would be my pleasure, my lady," Axion said.

Androssi turned to see Axion taking the hand of an ecstatic Yihwa and moving away.

"—that way," Androssi finished slowly.

Wangnan, Blarode, and Quaetro came up beside her.

"You got dumped," they said in sync.

"I did not! It's the standard etiquette to dance with different people at a formal party like this!" Androssi said.

"Really? So how about you dance with me?" Wangnan asked again.

"I said no already."

"Why not?" Wangnan asked.

"Yeah, why not? You don't have a dance partner anymore," said Quaetro. "Might as well pick one of us."

"No. Why are you guys being so persistent? Take a hint!"

"Oh fair princess, I come before you with an important message! Please listen to me!" Suddenly Gyetang was in front of her, glowing yellow, a sheathed sword strapped to his waist.

"Huh?" Androssi narrowed her eyes at the oversized chicken and his familiar aura.

Gyetang kneeled, "My friend was on a team with Khun Aguero Agnis. He fought heroically against the dastardly FUG and traitors on his team, but succumbed in the end. However, he was able to send me an important coded message just before he died and tasked me with delivering it to you!"

"And that is…?"

"Please, let us first move away from prying eyes and ears," said Gyetang.

"Fine. Don't follow me, or you'll regret it." Androssi glared at the other three, quickly taking the excuse to get away.

"Got it princess!" Wangnan nodded and grabbed the other two before they could protest, having remembered the situation with Gyetang's wish.

Quaetro resisted at first, but Akraptor had also made his way over at some point and helped the other two to restrain him from doing anything stupid.

Once they moved away a bit, Androssi whispered as they walked. "Thanks, but what's going on Derf, why are you with this bird?"

"Oh, this guy really is Khun's old teammate that died. He joined the kid's team just for the chance of meeting you, the princess. But since he's dead, Axion thought he could give Khun some closure by fulfilling his teammate's wish," Derf whispered back, still using Gyetang's mouth.

"Oh, it was something like that? I guess I don't mind then," said Androssi. "I didn't know you could control dead bodies."

"Normally I can't. But this body is technically alive after Axion revived the cells, just without the soul," said Derf.

"That's creepy," said Androssi, stopping to examine the other 'Regular'. "So there's no actual message then?"

"Nope. How about a dance with me instead?"

"You wish," said Androssi.

"I sure do," said Derf. "Come on, give this chicken man a reward for his heroic sacrifice. Khun promised him."

"What's that got to do with me? He wasn't my teammate and didn't die for me," said Androssi. "And whatever deal Khun made was done without my consent. Besides, it was only to meet me, not to dance."

"Yeah well I'm bored, and I bet you are too. You got any better ideas?"

Androssi glanced around the party room, all the people still staring their way, Axion and that Yeon girl still dancing, the hosts playing their guitars, people drinking and talking…

"Fine," said Androssi. "Are you sure you can dance in that body?"

"No but that's what makes it exciting!"

O O O

In a different section of the party, Horyang was feeling troubled. The Living Ignition Weapon, who had been with Team Sweet and Sour up until the Arlen's Hand incident, had since been forcibly recruited onto the FUG team, just like Novick and Ran from Khun's team.

He had resisted fiercely at first, but he had been mollified slightly after hearing from his brother Cassano, who hosted the Devil of the Left Arm to his Right Arm, that their mother figure, Sophia, was waiting to see him. Sophia, a researcher, was their main source of human contact during the Living Ignition Weapon experiments.

However, the reunion was not all happy. He had put on his best face in front of her, but what he learned had him deeply conflicted.

At the party, by the efforts of Verdi, Prince, and Miseng trying to play matchmaker while disguising themselves, he was temporarily separated from team FUG and found himself alone with Goseng, his former teammate whom he'd had a crush on.

So when Goseng confided in him her thoughts and regrets, Horyang shared his troubles too.

"…I met Ms Sophia," said Horyang.

"The researcher you were fond of? So you came to meet her? That's nice that you found her!" Goseng said enthusiastically.

"She didn't stop the experiments," said Horyang with an uncomfortable face.

"What?"

"The experiment that had been done to me and Cassano…they had made another already…and they completed one. She knew everything from the beginning. That we would become like this. The reason that we could live on…was because of her love. But if it was fake…if the smiles, the names…was just to make her research succeed, then must we really become devils?"

O O O

Cassano leaned against the wall in a deserted spot outside. Like his brother Living Ignition Weapon, he was contemplating a similar question, after meeting Ms. Sophia in the Acorn Workshop and discovering that she continued to experiment on other subjects, Beta and Emily.

In his hands, he held the Emily app device, and posed to her a question.

[Does Ms. Sophia really love us?] -Cassano

[She doesn't love you.] -Emily

A hooded and masked figure stepped out from around the corner.

"Not going to join the party?" The figure asked.

"There's nothing there for me," said Cassano. "Why did you want to meet? It was you that contacted me using Emily, isn't it…A?"

"Yes. To tell you that the swordsman has escaped already, through the passage below the bed. He may have discovered Emily's chamber, or at least the gate to it," the figure answered, now identified as Axion in disguise using the codename he told Cassano before at the bullet game before the Archimedes, when he intercepted the fight between Cassano and Hatsu.

"He is of no consequence. The guards can deal with him. Was that all?"

"I am just curious about something. You let him go on purpose both times, right? Are you intrigued by how he made his sword stronger through training? Were you trying to see if it was the sword, or the person that grew? That's why you destroyed his sword, right? To see if he could continue growing without it. A weapon, that is."

"…you may be right. For a swordsman who has relied on his sword all his life and is useless without it…what will become of him when he loses it?"

"But it's not hard for him to just get a new sword. The real question you're wondering is, what will become of a Living Ignition Weapon that loses the devil inside, that defined his whole life, right?" A asked, alluding to the possibility of one of the Devil of the Left Arm and Right Arm brothers losing their hosted devil, as if he already knew what Cassano intended to do to his fellow Living Ignition Weapon, and that the man was troubled over the decision.

Cassano scoffed. "No. The answer to that is obvious. He will have no purpose, if he even survives. What I wanted to know is…why do we need such weapons? Why do people go to such lengths to make such weapons? And is that the limit of what we can achieve, are we truly so useless without a powerful weapon created from the countless sacrifices of others? Is this the only way?"

"I see. You're wondering if it would be worth it. Whether you truly need the complete Devil," said Axion.

"Hm. Why do you care? What is your role in all this anyways? Since you are aware of the swordsman and the layout of the facility, you must have business with the Acorn Workshop. What is your goal here?" What he left unsaid was the question of whether that business would interfere with his own.

"My role? Merely a wanderer with an interest in curiosities. But if you wish to know, my current goal is to acquire the research data on Ignition Liquid and Living Ignition Weapons,"

"Is it wise of you to tell me this?" said Cassano. "Even if you are an associate of Rachel, if you intend to continue that experiment…"

"I would merely take the results of their research, just as you intend to do the same, in a way," said A, bringing out a hand from his cloak to hold up his own Emily device. "What has already been done cannot be erased, after all. Besides, did you not wonder if there was another way? If there is an answer, it can only be found by studying it deeply."

"Was there something in particular you wanted from me?"

"Cooperation. To achieve a mutual goal. Haven't you ever wondered, how did they plan to control you if you rebelled? They have created such powerful weapons, were they so arrogant that they could deceive you forever only with false love?"

"Powerful as we are, they have people that are still much stronger. We were incomplete experiments, beneath their concern, powerless to change our fate, until Headon chose us," said Cassano.

"What if I told you they have a specific countermeasure against Living Ignition Weapons?"

"You mean the Boiling Acid?" Cassano asked.

"No, That is only for melting you down to be repurposed. I believe they have another means of simply suppressing the power in your bodies. Something that would be your weakness. Don't you want to know what it is, in case you have to face it in the future?" Axion asked. "This too, would be part of their research data."

"And you want my help to get it," said Cassano.

"Correct. I can try to steal the data and the files they have lying around, but I cannot be certain I can decrypt or understand it without one of the researchers' cooperation," said Axion

"Even if I agreed, what makes you think that I can be of any use in this? Ms. Sophia is the only researcher that speaks to me, and she will not simply hand over this information if I ask."

"Have you actually shown her any interest in that information before?"

"…perhaps not. But I fail to see why she would disclose such valuable information," said Cassano.

"And yet, did she not eagerly show you her latest research? Beta. Emily. What purpose could bringing you to Emily's chamber and revealing her nature serve?"

"A false façade of friendliness," said Cassano dismissively.

"She has no need of you anymore, Cassano. The experiment was completed. Even if you were not going to bring Emily to Rachel, the Workshop would have completed its bargain with FUG with the completion of Jyu Viole Grace. You, your brother, even Beta…none of you have roles to play anymore. So, what is her true purpose?"

"What are you trying to say? That it's some sentimentality? She does not love us. We were but tools. Perhaps, she feels some sick satisfaction that we are still in the palm of her hand, even after leaving the Workshop for so long and obtaining our freedom," Cassano said bitterly.

"Or perhaps, Emily can be wrong. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

"I have no reason to believe you over Emily," said Cassano.

"Did you know that Sophia was also an orphan from the Middle Area?"

"What?" Finally, Cassano's expression changed.

"Try asking Emily why Sophia chose to join the Acorn Workshop," said Axion.

Whether because of curiosity or hope, he did not know, but Cassano did as A suggested and asked the question.

[To give the orphans of the Middle Area power so that they can be free!] -Emily

"Now ask Emily 'what is love?'," said Axion.

[What is love?] -Cassano

[Love is a bus! You have to chase it and then you can only get off where they drop you off.] -Emily

Cassano stared with a confused expression at the answer that the chat app's intelligence stole from another user in a previous conversation. It was actually half of Androssi's analogy when Emily had asked the Princess for advice on love.

Axion simply silently waited to see what kind of conclusion the Living Ignition Weapon would draw.

After a while, Cassano put the Emily device away and looked at A. "I see. Love is a subjective topic…it's something that Emily can't give a clear answer on. But that doesn't necessarily mean she's wrong, either, does it?"

Axion shrugged. "I'm not here to convince you otherwise. The important part is, as you say, this is a subjective topic. The answer isn't actually yes or no. Emotions exist in degrees, and are comprised of many overlapping feelings. Whether it's a strand of attachment, an attempt to rationalize her actions, or the simple need to share her accomplishments out of pride, any one of these can become an 'opening' for you to use. Even if you are just a tool, you can still frame your request in terms of her worldview…if she wants to believe that all the terrible things she did were for the sake of a noble goal like freeing the orphans of the Middle Area, then let her believe that revealing the secrets of her research to you would help achieve that goal."

"You make it sound easy, but I'm not the kind of person with the skill to deceive someone like that. My intentions will be obvious."

"So what? People go to great lengths to hear only what they want to hear, and avoid seeing inconvenient truths. You should know this well, having personally experienced it. And you have nothing to lose by it. At worst, it becomes a way to distract her from your real objective," said Axion.

After a while, Cassano closed his eyes slowly, and re-opened them taking a deep breath. "Very well. I will try to ask her. However…if I am successful, she will probably tell me everything I need to know about that 'weakness', in which case, what would I gain from handing over the rest of the data to you?"

"That's a fair point. But even if you knew the weakness, that doesn't mean you can defend against somebody exploiting it, right? It's unlikely that the researchers would've created a counter-countermeasure, since they are the ones who would've used that weakness against you. Therefore, I will help you devise a defense using that data."

"That sounds tempting, but sharing my weakness with you in the first place is also a risk for me, isn't it?" asked Cassano. "How do I know you'll fulfill your end of the bargain afterward, or that you'd even be capable of devising a defense? It might not even be possible, or it might take too long to be useful."

"You're quite shrewd, aren't you? Alright. Is there something that would satisfy you as a guarantee? Or is there something else you'd rather I do for you instead?"

"Hmm. How strong are you?"

"Let's just say…I wouldn't even need to know your weakness to defeat you."

"Is that so? Then, you wouldn't mind guarding me until my mission is complete, right? It should be simple for you if you are that strong. If you do that, then I'll hand over the data you want, excluding information about my weakness, after we meet Rachel."

"…interesting. This way, you can make sure the mission succeeds, test whether I really am Rachel's ally, and if I lied, you'll have backup to deal with me once we arrive," said Axion.

Cassano remained stoically silent.

"Haha, I like it, it's quite a convenient plan, since I planned to meet up with her eventually anyways."

"We are agreed then."

O O O

35F Hell Train

Team Darul had gone up ahead as I ordered, and then I rendezvoused with them after taking some time to myself to heal up my Beastionts.

After the initial excitement at the entrance, we settled into a relatively quiet pattern, moving through the passages within the Train at a steady pace.

It was similar to an RPG dungeon crawl, with the maze-like passages, random encounters, and puzzles to navigate.

Just a lot more tedious and generally less fun considering the scarcity of loot or rewards, and the lack of any XP bars. Plus the life threatening difficulty for unprepared Regulars, and additional pressure from the requirement to make a certain amount of progress to reach the required test zones before the Train arrived at the next Floor.

The designers of the Hell Train, which by ancient lore might have been the Workshop in cooperation with the Floor Administrators, made it for Zahard's original party in mind though, so that's how the difficulty was probably scaled.

"The passages are completely filled with enemies now…it will be difficult to keep moving forward like this," said Darul, viewing multiple screens on his Lighthouse receiving intel from the Scouts' Observers and his own Cubes.

There was an artificial day and night cycle on the Train.

During the day, it was largely peaceful, though enemies guarded various points in the passages. They didn't attack unless provoked or if we attempted to pass them.

But now at night, enemies had spawned everywhere.

"There's a huge wave of monsters coming this way!" said Scout One through the Pocket transmission.

Darul barked out orders to get in a defensive formation and ordered the Scout's return.

I looked at the disappearing bodies of nearby monsters which had been ripped apart by the bear and wolf Beastionts, from the specialized bear-wolf-beetle-team, and clicked my tongue.

"This sure is inconvenient. These things look like living beings but they're all just projections of some sort. We can't harvest any meat for food from them," I said.

"And without a replenishing supply of food, it will be difficult for your Shinheuh to stay active given how long we need to be on the Train…" Darul said, understanding the problem quickly.

"See if you guys can handle this yourselves. I'm going to call back my beasts. This is only the beginning and should be the easiest, so your team will need the experience," I said. "And start looking for a place to camp. From now on, we'll fortify our position at night and continue moving forward during the day."

"Understood."

On the Hell Train, most of the enemies during daytime were just automatons, artificial constructs with no biomass to them.

And now these night time monsters were also useless for biomass.

The Beastionts could hibernate and stay in the Bowls to minimize energy expenditure, but it would be difficult to acquire materials for regeneration.

I had brought along some Shinheuh corpses and fodder in one of my Bowls, but I had to be conservative with them.

I, my avatars, and the Beastionts all needed to eat. Thanks to photosynthesis, we had significantly reduced nutritional intake requirements, but it depended on the quantity and quality of light exposure,the air composition, and any clothing vs photosynthetic skin cells exposed, which was further reduced in efficiency by the active skin aesthetic/texture. Similarly, Shinsoo did wonders for the body but didn't quite erase nutritional needs either.

Although it wasn't shown in the canonical story, this was one of the reasons that getting on the Hell Train was considered expensive, even though there wasn't actually a fee to be paid for boarding.

Regulars all needed to prepare for up to a year's worth of supplies and the storage items necessary for it all, since there was no easy way to resupply while on the Train, unless you were willing to get off at one of the later stations where the Train made longer stops, or found one of the special rest areas on the Train.

And of course, storage items were fairly expensive for Regulars, the most common one being the Pocket, which really only offered pocket-sized slots to put things in.

Something super convenient like Manbarondenna with its house sized storage in a briefcase capable of storing anything was simply unheard of without great wealth like that which Khun had stolen from his family vaults.

I didn't even have Manbarondenna with Sasha, because I'd given it to the Axion avatar for its mission to steal materials from the Workshop.

Most teams resorted to lugging around their stuff in Light Cubes, and that was another reason why every team needed a Lightbearer. Even bad ones were in high demand, if only to serve as a mule.

I pondered over how to manage the available troops, then decided to recall the more vulnerable wolf Beastionts and tiger, leaving just the high defense bear and beetle as reserve forces in the back of our formation, while my snake stayed wrapped around my body in Compressed form.

Our Scout rushed back, and then the big wave, dozens of monsters, came less than a minute after.

They were small boar-like creatures about half the height of a human, with tusks in front, which charged en masse and they almost immediately broke through Team Darul's front.

"Arrgh, shit!" Fisherman 2 cursed as a tusk boar bit into his leg and refused to let go even after getting stabbed multiple times with his Needle.

Spearman 1 moved forward to supplement the front, and Darul used a Lighthouse barrier to buy some time.

Spearman 2 threw spears onto the other side while the boars charged smashed into the barrier repeatedly.

Cracks started to form while Fisherman 2 finally killed the boar biting him after he activated his Reinforcement spell crest and received some help from Scout.

Darul sweated while glancing at the horde of monsters and the initial combat results. "We can't afford to hold back! Everyone activate your crests to full power now!"

Once everyone powered up, the boars were at the front were pushed back a bit, and Darul released the barrier to generate a disruptive Shinsoo field to restrict boars' movements further back so that the Fishermen, Scout, and Maid could engage fewer enemies at a time while the Spearmen continued to launch spears from behind.

After a long and grueling fight, the team was exhausted and suffered many injuries, but defeated the wave.

"Good work, everyone. If you keep it up, you'll grow quickly and soon this level of challenge will seem as easy as breathing," I said encouragingly, despite being a little disappointed. This fight would have been easy with even a single monster Beastiont to help them, which just showed how large the power gap was.

"Really, you think so, Lady Sasha? Felt like we were barely hanging on there," said Spearman 1, sitting on the ground.

"I've…never…felt so tired…in my life," said Fisherman 2 between gasps.

"We have to do this every night…for a whole year?" asked Fisherman 1, leaning against the wall.

"I'll help a bit next time, you can't overuse the crests either after all. But this is simply the minimum qualification to be on this Hell Train," I said while moving to heal the group. "You just have to get used to it, and increase your skills quickly. No pain, no gain."

There was a collective groan.

"We all knew what we signed up for. Be grateful that we can be here at all, and that Lady Sasha can step in when things get too dangerous," said Darul.

As we set up camp that night, though, I inwardly considered that this might simply be the limit of their talent.

This was not a game after all, they could not simply gain XP to level up.

No matter how hard they were pushed, there were those that just wouldn't be able to keep up, whether for lack of talent, or will.

And there was also a limit to the things I could give them.

Nevertheless, I had to stay with the group for now. Even if I would be slowed down this way, pushing forward alone carried a different risk.

There were hostile beings lurking on this Train that could conceivably kill me in a single hit, whom I did not want to face yet, who might wake up to hunt down powerful Regulars that stood out too much.

At the very least, having others slower than me around to distract such enemies was still useful, however distasteful it was to sacrifice subordinates in such a way.

About an hour later when we had set up camp in a defensible spot, we had another encounter.

"There are some Regulars coming this way," Maid reported on the Pocket transmission, while acting in a Scout role keeping watch. "It's the three that left early back at the entrance."

"Should we drive them away?" Darul asked.

"No, if it's just those three, it's fine. They're probably just looking for a secure location like we are—" I said, before getting interrupted.

"Ah, the grey haired guy found my observer! He's trying to talk to it!"

"What's he saying?"

"Um, I'm not sure. My observer is too low grade, it doesn't have sound transmission," said Maid.

Of course her Observer didn't have audio.

O O O

A/N: Been a while since I wrote any ANs. Anyone still here? If you are, thanks for following along all this time. It seems like many are bored or didn't like the direction of the story since the prequel, which I'm not surprised about given that it was more about using the mind vs. the more power fantasy adventure of the later worlds. But it can't be helped, I still enjoy writing these parts so we'll just keep going as long as I want to write it.

Also friendly reminder that you can join the discord (invite code in my profile) to chat about anything or access prerelease chapters slightly before they're published here.