After our battle with the Elimination-Type Golems, we decided to take a short break. The most troublesome γ-type golems had been destroyed, and we had collected their remains. Additionally, Jigoro had disarmed the device that had been deploying the Jammer Field. As a result, we anticipated that we wouldn’t immediately face any catastrophic threats.
I was the first to take a break. After logging out, I quickly hydrated myself, had a light meal, and used the restroom. In the real world, not much time has passed, but in the game, it must have been a little less than an hour. While hoping that nothing had gone wrong, I logged back in.
“…Phew, it seems like nothing happened.”
“Welcome back~!”
“Yeah, it was pretty quiet around here.”
Ruby and Genjuro, who had been protecting our avatars, spoke in a relaxed manner. Ruby was munching on sugar-coated nuts, and Genjuro was sipping from a leather pouch containing a liquid. Both of them were enjoying the food items sold at the Birdy Perch. By the way, Karl had curled up and was sleeping.
“I’ve never heard of that food before. Is it tasty?”
“Well… it’s okay I guess?” Ruby said.
“The taste is quite subtle overall. It’s regulated by law, so there’s not much we can do about it.” Genjuro added.
The regulations Genjuro mentioned related to a past trend known as the VR meal diet. This diet involved consuming meals in the virtual world and convincing oneself that one had actually eaten, thereby imposing dietary restrictions.
As a result, reducing the number of meals led to a surge in people suffering from malnutrition, far surpassing the cases seen during the ancient fad of carb-restricted diets. Consequently, regulations were put in place to ensure that the food available within virtual spaces either lacked flavor or required exorbitant costs to enjoy.
“I’m back.”
“I came back!”
After some casual conversation, Jigoro and Iris returned. This meant that the three of us who had taken a break earlier had now returned.
“Well, we’ll take a break then!” Ruby said.
“I’ll leave my body in your care,” Genjuro added.
With these words, Ruby and Genjuro logged out. Now, should I replenish the talismans I’ve expended until they return? I’ve used up most of what I had crafted, after all.
――――――――――
You have received a notification from the management.
――――――――――
Oh? A notification? At this time? What could it possibly be about?
“This… is it related to an event?”
The content of the message was an announcement regarding an event to be held during the Golden Week. In fact, there had been an announcement about the event on a day when I had to work overtime, and we had already decided not to participate in it. The reason being that the next event was “Defend the Mining City!”… it was a defense battle at a mining site threatened by a horde of monsters.
There’s no way we could participate! Well, it’s not a definite rejection, as some of the second-batch monster players occasionally teamed up with human players. However, the incident where we slaughtered all the top players at the time is still fresh in memory. Moreover, I aspired to be a villain more than anything else. Why should I join forces with human players for a defense battle?
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking…”
There was a strange rule for this event that required participants and non-participants to declare their intentions in advance. During the break time of my overtime, I had sent a declaration of non-participation from the tablet device my account was linked to. However, this message from the management had been sent only to the monster players who had declared non-participation. The content of the message was something that truly excited my heart.
“‘To the Battlefield of Blood’… The details are unclear, but is it an event where players attack and conquer the mining site players are defending alongside the local monsters?”
The announcement screen displayed only the name of the event and a touchscreen to declare participation or non-participation, with no specific details written anywhere. Having almost no prior information didn’t make it seem very pleasant. However, there was a significant issue with this.
“But everyone else has plans… except me.”
The event was scheduled to start in two days, beginning tomorrow. However, everyone else except me had prior commitments, and they were of the non-cancelable kind.
Iris, Ruby, and Shio, the trio of girls, were heading to the “Flower” country in the Aquaria Islands as escorts for a Birdian merchant. Originally, it was part of the training for those who were challenging the “Trial of the Azure Moon” alongside Shio. However, Iris and Ruby had taken the opportunity to join in, hoping to acquire the unique technology and items of the “Flower” country.
Jigoro and Genjuro—these two battle maniacs—would accompany them partway on their journey. However, they were going to a place associated with an old friend of that Birdian Elder, who was also a battle maniac. It seemed that the Aquaria Islands had a place that resembled a paradise for monsters and that Birdian elder had acquaintances among the residents there.
As for me, I was in a bit of a dilemma since both of them had invited me to come along. Both options held their own appeal. If I were to join Iris and the girls, I might be able to learn more advanced [Talismanry]. On the other hand, accompanying Jigoro and Genjuro might lead me to unknown magic.
“Ah, brother. You’re going to the event, right?” Jigoro asked.
“You don’t need to worry about us,” Iris added.
“Well… sorry about that.”
But more than anything, I couldn’t pass up the chance to play the villainous role in the event. They knew that about me, which is why they said it with wry smiles.
“We’ll be waiting for your tales,” Jigoro said.
“That’s my line too, you know.”
“Please look forward to what we bring back as well!” Iris added.
With this, my plans for the days ahead were settled. It had been a while since I had gone on a solo adventure, but that was alright in its own way. While crafting talismans, I found myself thinking about the event tomorrow.
◆◇◆◇◆◇
After Ruby and Genjuro returned, we resumed our exploration. Along the way, I informed them about the event. Both of them seemed a bit disappointed, but they understood.
“…According to the map, this is as far as it goes.”
As we advanced, kicking aside the golems that appeared, and while checking the alchemy and magic item shops, we finally arrived at the last readable point on the map mentioned on it. From here on, we had to proceed blindly.
“…A fork in the road out of nowhere?”
Nevertheless, before us lay a fork in the road. Well, which way was the right one?
“It’s not like thinking will give us the answer, so let’s just go! Iris, which way is better, right or left?” Ruby said.
“Uh! Um… I guess right?”
“All right! Right it is, then!”
Although our decision at the fork in the road was somewhat arbitrary, we chose to proceed along the right side. I hope this was the correct path, but who could be certain?
After walking for a while, we came across a sign affixed to the wall. We had spotted several signs along the way, and while not all of them were in good condition, some of them did reveal our destination if they were well preserved. This one seemed to be in relatively good shape, and we could read it clearly.
“Yeah, this is good.”
The sign had an arrow and the words “Central Administrative Building” written on it. The path ahead would undoubtedly lead us to our destination. I was grateful for Iris’s intuition.
“Let’s keep going this way. It seems like the right choice.”
“That’s a good sign. Makes things less troublesome.” Genjuro said.
“I’m relieved it was the right way,” Iris added.
Genjuro seemed to be in a better mood now that we knew we were on the right track, and Iris let out a sigh of relief as if she had been worried about her decision, even though it had been Ruby’s. It was a conscientious gesture on her part.
With the reassurance that we hadn’t taken the wrong path, we continued onward through the passage. Along the way, the signs were generally in good condition, and since there were only two junctions, there was no room for confusion.
“Once we go up this escalator, we should be near the entrance to the Central Administrative Building.”
“…Seems like this one isn’t working either.”
“Can’t be helped. More importantly, once we get up here, it’ll be the surface, right…”
“Most likely. We’ll probably get attacked by those harpies.”
Perhaps for security reasons, the exit from the underground city was situated a short distance from our intended destination building. This meant we had to make our way from the underground exit to the building’s entrance on the surface. In doing so, we ran the risk of being detected and attacked by the harpies with their uncanny tracking abilities.
“We’ll have to move as quickly as possible.”
“I,I’ll do my best!” Iris said.
Although Iris was accustomed to rapid movement using her tentacle, she was the slowest among us at her normal speed, so she was putting in her best efforts. As a last resort, Karl could carry her while flying, so there was no need to stress too much.
“Alright… Let’s go.”
We ascended the stationary escalator and emerged on the surface. The moon still hung in the sky, indicating that we hadn’t spent an overly long time underground. However, after numerous battles with the golems, it felt like a long-awaited return to the surface.
“Gyaaa!”
“Gegyah! Gegyah!”
“Whoa! It’s a swarm of harpies!”
As we emerged on the surface, we found ourselves surrounded by harpies! I thought that we might have been ambushed, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
“It appears that there are some nests of harpies on the rooftops of nearby buildings.”
On the rooftops of the buildings, there were nests constructed from the bones of monsters and the debris of collapsed buildings. And there were a lot of them, suggesting that the central part of the “Ancient Ruined City” was the stronghold of harpies.
“””Geaaaah!”””
“””Gyogeeeeh!”””
“Don’t just stand there in awe; let’s run!”
We found ourselves gazing at the harpy nests, almost as if we were trying to escape from reality. However, there was no time to be lost in a daze. We have infiltrated into the harpies’ territory, especially its deepest parts, and they were all in an agitated state. The atmosphere was tense as if they were going to attack at any moment.
“Everyone, close your eyes! Star Magic Circle, remote activation! Flash!”
I quickly used the blinding spell, Flash, and at the same time, we turned and began to flee. With no time to search for handholds with her tentacles, Karl carried Iris and flew. It was a full-on escape!
“Gyaaaaah!”
“Kyooaaaah!”
“They’re fast, and there are too many!”
“Damn it! Can we make it out of here?”
The distance from the exit to the central building turned out to be surprisingly long, and because of that, the harpies, who had recovered from the flash spell, swarmed us all at once. Moreover, their voices carried an unusual sense of anger. It was a natural reaction on their part, but for us, it was the last thing we needed.
“Well, how about this! Magic circle, remote activation! Summon evil spirits! And summon skeleton shield warrior! Summon Demilich! Undead Boost!”
I used [Spirit Channeling] to summon evil spirits into the air that would attack randomly and bolstered the skeleton comrades I had conjured through my [Summoning Magic] with enhancements using [Necromancy] before deploying them on the ground. With this, we should be able to hold some of them, if not all of them, back.
“Geee! Geee!”
“Gyogeeee!”
“Grrruuuh!?”
“Hey! Their number has increased!!”
Damn it! I prepared that decoy using most of my magic power, and yet more than half of them are coming towards us! We’re almost at the building, but at this rate, we’ll be surrounded! There’s no choice; I have to play my last card!
“…Send in the strongest one; Summon Abyssal Beast!”
I resorted to using the Abyssal Beast Summon, which was a random gamble when it came to what would be summoned. This nearly depleted my magic power reserves. Please, let it be something powerful!
As I activated the spell, a dark hole opened in the ground. The effect resembled the Tarrasque Battle, but what emerged was…
“…Nothing happened?”
“What, really?”
Strange, wasn’t it? Last time, a massive creature emerged right away. Could it be…
“Failed at the last moment!” Jigoro said.
“Ugh!”
“No time for complaints; run!”
D-Damn it! Could it really fail here? It was beyond unexpected that there was a probability of the Abyssal Beast not showing up!
“Damn it! We’re surrounded!”
“Is there nothing we can do?”
In the end, I found myself in a situation where I had used almost all of my magic power. And yet, now that I am useless, the circumstances were worse than the last time when I was forced to flee even when I was in peak condition.
“Let’s break through the encirclement by force if we have to!” I said.
“In that case, allow me to assist you.”
“””””!?”””””
The voice that replied to my words was that of a woman, but not that of Iris or Ruby. When I looked in the direction of the voice, all of us were taken aback in more ways than one.
The first reason was that the person who had appeared was a human woman. She was a tall, beautiful woman with long black hair flowing down in a sharp women’s suit. Her appearance, which could only be described as that of a cool career woman, was completely out of place in the current dire situation, making it a surreal sight.
The second reason was that the beautiful woman clearly held a machine gun in her right hand; it was also an item nearly as tall as her. She effortlessly lifted it with one hand and aimed it at the incoming harpies.
“Fire at will.”
Ratatatatatatat!
As the beautiful woman delivered her cold command, the machine gun spewed gunfire. Its power, which could instantly kill a harpy in a single shot, was incomparable to that of the security golems’ guns. Considering it was fully automatic, it was a formidable force in the eyes of the enemy. The harpies that stood between us and the mysterious woman fled in a hurry.
“Now’s our chance.”
“A-Ahh! Let’s hurry, everyone!”
Thanks to her skill, one corner of the encirclement collapsed easily. Seizing that opportunity, we dashed towards the building.
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