by Sakon Kaidou
“The Shades and Death, They Beckon — Erlkönig.” The voices from the shadows spoke what were unmistakably grand words of power — a skill.
Suddenly, all the shades turned from black to crimson and rose up as arms with the most menacing of claws. I felt like I was looking at the nightmare of a child still afraid of the dark. Shades small and large... the darkness of every corner became monsters full of pure malice.
“King of Assassins,” Figaro muttered in surprise as he began evading.
The shadows of the trees in the garden, the shades of the ruined building, the blackness beneath the broken lanterns, and even the darkness following Figaro became crimson, gained an extra dimension, and clawed towards him. However, though the claws were menacing, the shadows themselves were far more scary, for everything they touched simply crumbled.
The trees in the garden, the ruined building, the broken lanterns — all were consumed by the shadows they made, crumbled to pieces, and scattered.
It was like watching the deceased invite the living to the afterlife — beckoning straight out of hell.
The shades were encroaching towards Figaro like a raging wave.
“These shadows are an Embryo’s ultimate skill!” I shouted, more certain than ever.
Before they’d appeared, I’d heard the word “Erlkönig.” That was the name of a certain poem by Goethe and a song by Schubert based on it.
It was about the Erlking beckoning a child to his death from the shadows of the night forest, and it was a perfect fit for what I was seeing.
Another thing to note was their menacing presence, as it matched those of the skilled rankers I’d faced in many mock battles over the past month.
Figaro had said they were made by the King of Assassins — a job Marie had once told me about. It was the Western equivalent of her Death Shadow, meaning that he could very well be on the same tier as the Superior Killer. This ultimate skill alone was enough to tell that the King of Assassins was among The Lunar Society’s best.
However...
“Something’s off,” I murmured.
The shadows were attacking Figaro, but not as intensely as you’d expect. It almost seemed like they were focusing on keeping him in check and preventing him from acting, rather than actually killing him. A portion of them were positioned around Tsukuyo Fuso, too.
I momentarily assumed that they intended to limit Figaro’s movements and make it easier for her crescent moons to hit, but for some reason, she created some sort of barrier around herself.
That was probably another one of her High Priestess skills. After she’d put it up, it didn’t seem like she had any intention to attack anymore.
The shadows alone weren’t enough to defeat Figaro, and Tsukuyo Fuso was focusing entirely on defense, making it seem as though they were stalling.
“What good can come of that?” I thought out loud.
The first thing that came to mind was that they were waiting for reinforcements. However, no matter how great of a clan The Lunar Society was, I couldn’t help but doubt that they had that many Masters that could turn the tides of this battle, especially since Figaro only grew stronger with every passing second.
Would something change if they bought enough time?
“Ah...?” I silently gasped as I realized that the shadow beneath my feet had become quite long.
For a moment, I thought that the shadows were about to attack me, too, but then I realized that it was natural — an effect caused by the sun slowly sinking below the horizon.
Well, it’s gonna be night soon, I thought. Wait... night?
“Is that what it’s about...?” I murmured.
A while ago, Figaro had been looking at the sky with obvious panic in his expression. Had he, perhaps, not been looking at the sky itself, but at the way it was darkening? The night was Tsukuyo Fuso’s Superior Embryo, after all.
Given that, I could assume that...
“...It gets stronger when it’s night?”
In the PK clan massacre clip Marie had shown me, in Tsukuyo Fuso’s battle against me, and even now, she’d only ever used her night when it wasn’t actually night.
So, would something change if she used it at nighttime? Would it allow her to use something she couldn’t during the day? Like, say, her Superior ultimate skill?
“That’s most likely correct,” said Nemesis telepathically. “With the growing darkness, I can feel that Kaguya... her Embryo... is growing stronger, as well.”
Her words supported my conjecture.
If that was really true and they were actually stalling until nighttime, it meant that Tsukuyo Fuso was fully confident that she could defeat Figaro if she got to use her ultimate skill, and this was backed up by Figaro’s panicking.
Because of this, Figaro had to defeat her within the little time we had left until night, but the shadows were preventing that.
I looked and noticed that, sheltered by her barrier, the aberration was casting some sort of magic — most likely support spells to help the King of Assassins and his shadows.
I also realized that the shadows protecting her were not only keeping Figaro at bay, but also preventing him from going above her.
“They’re not letting him use the ace up his sleeve,” I said.
No matter how tough the barrier and how resilient the shadows guarding her, they could all be broken by powers surpassing them.
Figaro had one such thing — the Superior special reward, Gloria α’s item skill, “Fang of Gloria: Overdrive.”
During the Clash of the Superiors, it had delivered heat that’d completely annihilated Xunyu and even blown away the arena barrier’s upper part. That skill could instantly vaporize the shades and make short work of the aberration’s barrier.
The fight had been going on long enough for him to accomplish that feat without much trouble.
But, alas, he couldn’t use it now.
Why? Because we were at the royal capital.
Indeed, The Lunar Society’s headquarters was in one of Altea’s residential districts.
If he were to launch Fang of Gloria, it would easily pierce the building and burn the homes outside the complex. To avoid that, Figaro would have to do as he’d done against Xunyu and slash upwards from melee range, or aim it downwards from above.
The enemies were fully aware of that, and they were making sure those scenarios didn’t happen.
The shadows had surrounded Tsukuyo Fuso and were preventing him from getting close, hindering his movements so he couldn’t go above her. This meant that as long as those shadows were there, Figaro couldn’t use the ace up his sleeve... and had no chance of winning. However, he had yet to find the location of the King of Assassins, and there was little he could do against them.
To break this deadlock, we had to...
Nemesis sighed. “I don’t even need to read your mind to understand what you’re thinking.”
Yeah, I thought. We’ll have to do this without becoming a hindrance for Figaro, but I’ve decided on what to do.
There was only one way to turn this situation around — we had to get rid of the King of Assassins and make his shadows vanish.
It might’ve been bold to state that I could make that happen, but I had to kill him and let Figaro move freely if I wanted him to win against Tsukuyo Fuso.
First, I looked around, but I didn’t see the KoA anywhere within my visible range.
Granted, the moving shadows and the darkening skies greatly hampered my visibility. Not to mention that...
“Though I’m free to move, it’s clear that they have no intention of letting me escape,” I said.
The crimson shadows were surrounding the battle area like a wall. The only shadows that hadn’t been made crimson were those around me and the aberration. It was to protect her... and to keep me alive and bound. Whether by escaping or by death, they had no intention of letting me go.
Not like I wanted to run away, but still.
Honestly, I could probably brea
k through the shadows surrounding us by imbuing Silver with Purifying Silverlight and charging towards them, but the KoA would most likely instantly curb me.
I’d been told that it was a job much like Death Shadow, so I simulated that scenario while picturing Marie in his place. She would attack me from a blind spot the moment I tried to move, and the King of Assassins was surely capable of the same thing. Of course, since they had no intention of letting me escape or die, he’d only make me Faint again.
“Hm?” I murmured.
Wait a second, I thought. Something’s not right here.
If they really had no intention of letting me escape, why hadn’t they just made me Faint again the moment I’d awoken? In the first place, why hadn’t they just...?
“Gh...” My thoughts were cut short by Figaro’s grunt, caused by one of the crimson shadows touching a part of his body.
From the point of contact, the shadow began to encroach on Figaro’s skin, damaging him in the process.
This affected his speed, causing many shadows to charge and attempt to consume him.
He wasn’t able to escape, and the crimson shades overwhelmed him, but then...
“■■■!”
...Figaro released the familiar, inhuman roar as he equipped his Gloria α and made the surrounding shadows evaporate.
He was using the standard version of the Fang of Gloria skill, not Overdrive. Instead of launching the vaporizing breath of light, it merely coated the blade in it. Nevertheless, its damage was immense, and it made short work of any shadows in its way.
I could even picture him charging through all the shades and closing in on Tsukuyo Fuso, but both she and the King of Assassins were aware and well-prepared for that scenario. Were he to get too close, Figaro would be completely surrounded by both the shadows and the Lunar Reduction Field. No matter how powerful he was, he would be able to do little against such a number of shadows while weakened.
“Then perhaps he should refrain from using the sword, and instead opt for the appropriate ranged set-up?” Nemesis commented. “He was using arrows and chains until now, after all.”
That’s reasonable, but I don’t think it will work, I thought in response.
No matter how well-adjusted for the situation, I didn’t think that any ranged weapon he had could deal fatal damage to her while under the effects of the Lunar Reduction Field, and fatal damage was the only thing that could kill the High Priestess.
Again, the only real way to break through it was to use Fang of Gloria: Overdrive, which could instantly kill her even with all the defenses and damage reductions, and...
“...Wait.” I stopped my train of thought.
Nemesis, what did you just say? I asked.
“‘Ranged weapons’?” she said. “Or did you mean the thing about the arrows and chains?”
Chains... That’s right, the chains, I realized.
The Crimson Dead Keepers that Figaro so loved had the skills “Range Extend” and “Auto Enemy Detect.”
I’d watched Figaro hold mock battles against Marie before. When enhanced by his Superior Embryo, Auto Enemy Detect was so powerful that it could even find Marie when she was using her maxed-out Conceal skill. The only time the chains didn’t track her was when she used the Death Shadow ultimate job skill: the Art of Vanishing.
Because of this, the current situation struck me as odd.
Despite the King of Assassins hiding somewhere in the surrounding space, the chains Figaro had been using were only going for Tsukuyo Fuso, which could only mean that the King of Assassins wasn’t actually in this space. However, even if he’d disappeared with a skill similar to Marie’s Art of Vanishing, he was definitely keeping it active for too long. It should’ve been too taxing in MP or SP to both vanish and use his shadow attacks at the same time.
From what I could tell, Erlkönig was most likely a Type Territory Embryo. Many of that kind could only influence their Masters’ immediate vicinity, so it was hard to imagine that he was manipulating all these shadows here from a distance at which Figaro’s chains, imbued with Range Extend, couldn’t reach.
All of that made it clear that the KoA was nearby, but in a place where neither Figaro nor his chains could find him.
“Does such a place even exist?” asked Nemesis.
Normally, it wouldn’t, I thought in response. But if you ignore the means he would go about to get there, and assume based on what’s happening... you can find one place.
“Ah!” she gasped upon reading my mind, as certain questions flashed through my head.
Why couldn’t Figaro’s chains find the King of Assassins?
Why hadn’t I been assigned a single person to keep me in check?
Why wasn’t I able to log out?
Why hadn’t they made me Faint to keep me from running away?
Why were they half-ignoring me?
All of that connected, and I came to a conclusion.
“Ray!” Nemesis exclaimed telepathically.
Nemesis! I replied in thought, giving her an order.
“Very well!”
She instantly transformed into The Flag Halberd, and I quickly imbued her spearhead with Purifying Silverlight. Then, silently, yet forcefully, I thrust it into my own shadow.
Instead of digging into the floor, the light-clad spear sunk into my shadow and made sounds of tearing and clashing metal as it hit something. After a moment of silence, something began pushing the halberd’s spear back.
“How insightful of you,” said a voice from inside as dual blades emerged from my shadow. They were holding my halberd from going any further.
Then came the arms, head, and the rest of the body. The King of Assassins was now out of my shadow and stood before me, in the flesh.
“I must commend you for realizing,” he said as blood flowed out of his shoulder — most likely the injury I’d just caused. “For reference, would you mind sharing how you came to this conclusion?”
I’d expected to catch him completely off-guard, but it seemed that he’d stopped it with his dual swords before my spear had sunk in any further.
It was an impressive feat, considering how much he was focusing on controlling his shadows. Clearly, he was as skilled as the many rankers I’d faced. However...
“Don’t you have something more important to do than checking my answer sheet?” I asked.
Right now, his focus had shifted away from his shadows. The movements of the crimson shades behind him had become slightly duller.
It was quite remarkable that my attack and our exchange had only had such a meager effect on his control. However, his opponent wasn’t lenient enough to ignore that mistake, no matter how slight it was.
“■■■■HHHH!” the Over Gladiator roared as he carved his way through the minutely-slower shades.
Figaro rid himself of much of his equipment and adorned his AGI-focused gear, along with the strongest blade in his arsenal.
He dashed through the shadows, cut them down, climbed the roof, and leapt upwards, bringing himself above Tsukuyo Fuso — a place from which he could use his strongest attack. Then he began summoning all the brilliant light stored within Gloria α.
“Ah...!” Tsukuyo Fuso gasped as she quickly discarded the wand in her right hand and raised both her hands to the sky, as if to praise the real moon now lording over the young night. “Return to a Life Most Rightful — Kagu—” She spoke the name of her ultimate skill, but alas, she was too slow. Before she could complete it, Figaro had finished his swing.
They had both started their actions at the same time, so it was only natural for Figaro — the one with far greater AGI — to finish first.
Indeed, this moment of victory...
“Fang of Gloria: OVERDRIVE!”
...belonged to the swiftest and the strongest.
The pillar of light coming from above burned the crimson shades, the active barrier, the night Superior Embryo, and vaporized Tsukuyo Fuso.
Thus, the battle between the Over
Gladiator and the High Priestess — two of the Kingdom of Altar’s Big Three — ended with Figaro’s victory.
◇
Following the conclusion to the fight, both Figaro and I faced the King of Assassins.
But instead of doing anything we’d expected...
“Gentlemen, allow me to express my gratitude.”
...he actually thanked us.
“What do you mean?!” Nemesis exclaimed as she returned to her human form, the indignation and confusion in her voice all too palpable.
I was as surprised as her. I’d prepared myself to fight the KoA and other adherents as they tried to avenge their spiritual leader or something. Instead, all I’d gotten was gratitude.
Why?!
“Lady Tsukuyo desperately wanted a way to while away the time,” he courteously explained. “Not being able to participate in the incident at Gideon made her quite frustrated, you see. She often asked me if there was something she could do to divert herself.”
Wasn’t she doing that just by being online on Dendro? I wondered, baffled.
“And now she’s met a Master as intriguing as yourself, then gone on to fight a fellow Superior, and received the death penalty. In my humble opinion, that should be more than enough to disperse the frustration she’s built up over the last month.”
“So... she just wanted to kill time?” I asked.
“Indeed.”
“...She’s pretty dead, though, isn’t she?”
“Indeed. I believe that experiencing death, too, was good time-killing.”
I was speechless. Wow, uh... This guy’s actually the type who wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice his master if she so willed it.
“You’re the same as ever, KoA,” said Figaro.
In response, the King of Assassins courteously bowed and said “Thank you for the praise.”
“No one’s praising you!” Figaro, Nemesis, and I replied in perfect unison.
I’d honestly had no idea Figaro was the type who could deliver a brusque retort.
“So, right now, Tsukuyo Fuso is...?” I asked.
“Lady Tsukuyo is most likely rolling around in her futon and throwing a tantrum while howling, ‘I loooost!’” he answered. “She should regain her spirits once I prepare dinner for her.”
