by Hiro Ainana
> Skill Acquired: “Sword Catching”
The woman was still taken aback at having her sword stolen away when I planted a hand on her shield, forcibly creating distance between the shield and the woman’s body.
She moved her free arm to block my attack, but she was too late.
A light jab with my fist was all it took to render the woman unconscious.
I turned around to defeat the woman with the scimitar, but she had apparently already self-destructed and passed out when she fell before.
Confirming that the battle was over, a corridor opened to the throne platform.
I was afraid that the women’s lives would be in danger if I left them like this, so I used all the stamina potions I’d found in the Guardian Knight’s Area to heal their wounds.
I had wanted to save at least one just in case Mia needed it, but I would have felt terrible if one of the women died because I’d held back, so I spared no expense.
Of course, it would be a waste to let a busty, beautiful woman die, but more importantly, I felt sympathy for the way their boss had used them.
Stepping into the corridor, I set my title to the one that Zen had desired.
The sound of Zen’s applause echoed in the hall.
“Most wonderfully done. Welcome, new hero.”
He manipulated a shadow to carry the Holy Sword Gjallarhorn over to me.
“Is a hero what you were after?”
“Indeed.”
“Then why wouldn’t you just go to the Saga Empire instead of going to all this trouble?” I asked, my voice sharp.
The sight of the bloodied women had shocked me more than I’d realized, as my heart seemed to be raging.
“Hmph, the hero of Parion? By the time I arrived, he had already been sent home.”
“Won’t there be another one?”
“Is it that season already? Such unfortunate timing.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Even if I explained, you wouldn’t understand.”
He didn’t seem to have any intent of answering me directly.
I tried to calm my heart and mind as we continued the exchange.
“Well, Sorceror…or should I call you Undead King? Do you really just want to die?”
“The answer to that is both yes and no.”
“I’m not looking for any Zen riddles here.”
Hearing my answer, Zen laughed like someone who’d lost his mind.
In the shadow of his hood, the two purple flames wavered madly.
“Ba-ha-ha-ha! Well, is that so? I see now. You are not the descendant of a hero but a fellow visitor from the land of the gods.”
“I don’t know any such place.”
Wait, I feel like maybe Japan used to be called that either before or during the war…
“Ah-ha-ha-ha, there’s no use trying to deceive me. What did you pray to the merciless god for? What did you wish? What did you desire?”
“I didn’t ask for anything.” Because I’d never met him. “I guess if I had to pick something, maybe I wanted a vacation?” I definitely spent plenty of time wishing for that.
“Fwa-ha-ha-ha, how very selfish. Certainly most befitting of a hero.”
“What did you wish for, then?”
And also, if you were reincarnated, why isn’t your race human?
“Surely you know? Do you not see it at this very moment? I am the king of the night; undead, immortal. I prayed to the almighty god for a body that would not die, a life without hunger, and the power to strike back against wanton violence.”
“So that’s why you were reborn in such a body…”
His arms still spread wide, Zen ceased his loud laughter and slowly shook his head.
“You assume too much. No, the god allowed me to be reborn as a healthy baby. Under his watch, I was raised by good, respectable parents, and I was even destined to meet a brave and beautiful spouse of whom I was most undeserving.”
Then why…?
“I became too accustomed to my new life. Despite the fact that my previous life had been stolen away so violently, I became convinced that this time would be different.”
Zen removed his hood.
The two purple flames burned inside his hollow sockets, lighting his skeletal face.
“I was imprisoned by a noble who had become smitten with my wife and executed for a crime that I didn’t commit. When I was resurrected in this form by the god’s blessing, the first thing I saw was the heads of my parents, lined up along with those of the rest of my family. And underneath them, the body of my wife, thrown away like a broken doll…”
There wasn’t a single tear on his white cheek.
Instead, the purple flames in his sockets burned with rage.
“I have no need for your pity. I revived the bodies of my family as undead monsters, as well as those of many others who’d died under similar circumstances, and I turned my fangs on the nobles who held all the power at that time, destroying everything.”
There was no way that he could shed tears, of course. He was a skeleton, after all.
“After I obtained my revenge, I had intended to journey to the afterlife, where my wife awaits me. But the god’s blessing will not allow it. Even the Turn Undead spells of priests, even the Holy Sword I worked so hard to obtain, cannot bring me death.” This time he said his feelings out loud. “Truly, I have been cursed.
“Hero, verily, you are strong. Strong enough that you might well lose yourself in your desire for more power. But do not forget this. Man is weak. If you hold dear the girl who was with you, then be wary that you do not abuse the power the gods have given you.”
I felt as if I’d been given similar advice back in the general store.
“This power is too much for any human. Do not meet with a fate like mine…”
“…Thank you for your advice.”
I etched his words onto my heart.
“Now then, hero. I have said all that needed to be said. Deliver the final blow! Destroy me, before I am completely transformed into a demon lord!”
So stated the sorcerer Zen, or rather, the Undead King Zen.
I drew the blade Gjallarhorn, as if possessed by his madness.
It was a curious sword, with a blade twisted like a drill.
I held the blade up once as if in prayer, then thrust it into the Undead King Zen with all my might.
“Gah…ha-ha. Ena, my angel Liltiena. I will be with you again at last…”
Zen’s body crumbled away like sand.
A moment later, his empty robe fell to the floor.
As the dust settled, I heard the words I thank you… echo faintly on the wind.
> Title Acquired: Undead King Slayer
> Title Acquired: Cradle Explorer
“Heh-heh-heh… Well, that was a failure.”
“Yeah, that’s a failure, all right.”
Two small violet lights rose from Zen’s collapsed remains.
“So long, hero.”
“You win this time.”
I sensed so much evil from the lights that I reflexively slashed at them with Gjallarhorn. However, they scattered for only a moment before re-forming and floating up to the sky.
“Let’s meet again, yeah?”
“See you later.”
Before long, the two lights seeped through the ceiling and disappeared.
Were those angels? They felt really evil to me.
But I had no time to contemplate that now. Because…
“The following is a system message. The Cradle’s self-destruct sequence has been activated. Staff and trainees, please escape the premises immediately. I repeat…”
…I heard this announcement.
I rushed over to Mia. She was still unconscious, so I put the mana potion to her lips. Since I’d never used this potion before, I gave it to her one third at a time; luckily, she woke up just as the bottle was finished.
“Mia, do you know who I am?”
“…Big brother
?”
Uh, no.
Mia’s blurred eyes came back into focus.
Her stamina hadn’t recovered enough yet, so there was no awareness in her eyes.
“Where am I?”
“The throne room in the Cradle of Trazayuya.”
At my words, Mia forced her unresponsive body to move so that she could look around for Zen.
“It’s okay; he’s not here anymore. He’ll never bother you again.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
This was no time for a carefree chat.
“The Cradle’s self-destruct sequence has been activated. Staff and trainees, please escape…”
I had to stop it, and fast.
“Mia, can you stop the self-destruct sequence?”
“I’ll try.”
Mia’s body was still weak, so I lifted her up and brought her to the operating panel.
After attempting several different operations, Mia shook her head.
“Can’t.”
You sure give up fast.
I understood what Trazayuya was complaining about now.
I took over for Mia and tried some operations myself. It was all in Elvish, but that was fine.
I used the touch panel–like interface to find what I was looking for.
There it is.
I checked the details and clicked my tongue.
“Satou?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Don’t worry. I’ll get you out of here.”
It seemed that Zen had never planned on sacrificing Mia, either: There was an escape teleportation setting specifically for her.
However, all the other features were locked.
If I stayed close to Mia, I could probably be transported out with her, but then I couldn’t even save the women below this platform, never mind Number 7, who was still back in the Guardian Knight’s Area.
I went to all that trouble to keep them alive before, so it would be a real shame to let them die now.
It seemed that I could change the timer on the teleportation setting, so I set it back by a minute, then carried Mia down the stairs.
I adjusted the countdown timer in my menu to match.
This convenient feature was probably meant for timing when to recast support magic buffs. It was a simple feature, but it had gotten a great deal of support from the users in the last game I’d worked on.
“Mia, listen carefully.”
“Mm.”
Having gathered the women together, I gave their hands to Mia. To make sure she wouldn’t let go, I secured all their hands together with a leather strap.
“There’s still one more I have to help.”
“Satou!”
Mia’s movements were terribly weak, but she still tried desperately to stop me.
Keeping an eye on the countdown timer, I patted Mia’s head.
“Don’t worry; I’m not going to die.”
Fifteen seconds left.
“I promise.”
“Promise— Promise, okay? You have to protect me! You have to!”
Mia forced her trembling lips to shape the words as fast as she could manage.
Three seconds left.
“Yeah, I will. I’ll come out alive.”
I nodded reassuringly at Mia as she disappeared, spirited away by the teleportation system.
I had no interest in committing suicide. So I’d definitely get out alive.
With the Holy Sword Gjallarhorn in hand, I leaped out into the great hall.
Mia’s escape was probably the trigger. As soon as she and the women had been teleported out, the Cradle’s self-destruct system started going into operation.
The walls and ivy that made up the corridors had turned brittle and white.
Luckily, my “Trap Detection” skill alerted me of any areas that might collapse underfoot, so I avoided them easily as I bounded down the hallway.
As I was racing down the first grand staircase, the ceiling started to flake and crumble.
One big chunk started to fall in my path, but I gave it a flying kick to send it out of the way.
“Ugh, salty!”
Is this white stuff salt?
I spat out a chunk that had flown into my mouth.
It wasn’t the classiest move, but nobody was around to see it anyway.
Using the stairs normally would take too much time. I jumped down along the thick pillar that supported the spiral staircase instead.
Normally I wouldn’t be able to do that, but my “Fear Resistance” skill kept my cowardly heart in check. Partway down, I stabbed the Holy Sword into the pillar to slow my descent.
The sword served its purpose well without breaking, so my shortcut past the last eight floors of stairs succeeded.
I rushed toward the giant hole in the outer wall, stepping all the way to the edge.
At this point, I had to admit that I experienced a bit, just the tiniest amount, of hesitation.
I took a single deep breath, pushing down the fear. It wasn’t easy, even with the help of my “Fear Resistance” skill.
I steadied my resolve and stepped forward.
I was just doing a jump down, same as before.
If anyone had been watching from outside, I was sure it would have looked like I was jumping to my death, but it was actually a calculated action.
I used the cracks and bumps in the tree’s bark as footholds, hurrying downward.
If I fell too far away from the tree trunk, I was keenly aware that I would tumble head over heels straight to the bottom, but there was no use worrying about that.
The difference in scale was enough to override that fear.
The bumps and cracks were the same size as they’d be on a cliff or a rock face. Even if they were a little far apart, I wouldn’t fall more than three hundred feet before finding another protrusion to grab on to.
Normally, the height alone would’ve been too much for me, but I’d dealt with a similar height before I arrived in Seiryuu City, so I was fine.
Experiencing a thrill not unlike skydiving or riding a roller coaster, I descended to the Guardian Knight’s Area on the 100th floor.
“Seriously?”
Since I had been descending at nearly the same speed as a free fall, I should’ve had plenty of time before the crumbling white salt swallowed up the whole area, but…
“…The roots collapsed?”
I hadn’t noticed as I descended before, but now I felt the tremors as the giant tree’s roots collapsed and sank into the ground. The dissolution into salt must have started down there, too.
At this rate, I might not be able to use the route I’d been planning on.
But, well, it’d probably work out somehow.
With a Holy Sword, I sliced an opening in the outer wall of the Guardian Knight’s Area. This time, instead of Gjallarhorn, I used Excalibur. I’d switched them out because the odd shape of Gjallarhorn was ill suited to cutting.
The Divine Blade I’d used to defeat the greater hell demon before was powerful, but Excalibur was no slouch, either. It was terrifyingly sharp.
I cut through the outer wall without any resistance and made my way into the Guardian Knight’s Area.
Number 7 was still unconscious, so I slung her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes and broke into a run.
However, my destination wasn’t downstairs.
“Are you here?!”
“Mm-hmm.”
Dryad Number 2 responded lazily to my summons.
Her voice was quite calm, giving no indication that she was afraid of dying as the tree collapsed.
“Can you send us out of this tree?”
“Nope,” she replied smoothly.
That was okay; I figured that might be the case…
“But if you give me more magic and seeds for the catalyst, I could send you down a detour to the old trees in the basin.”
…but Dryad Number 2’s grinning face told me my other plan might not be necessary.
I had plen
ty of magic. But what about the “seeds”?
“Will any kind of seed do?”
“Yeah, I just need it as a means to forcibly link up with the interrupted connection, so any kind of seed is fine as long as it’s a plant.”
I should’ve grabbed some of the fruits that I saw on the way up before.
There were none in the Guardian Knight’s Area, but I’d probably find some if I went one floor up.
…Wait, I do have something that should work.
“If this is good enough for the seed, please do it.”
“Hey, now… This should be fine, but I need three times the magic you gave me before, y’know! Don’t come crying to me if you shrivel up.”
Three times that amount would be about 1,000 MP.
I had already recovered all the magic from before, so a third of my total amount should be fine.
“That’s fine. I’m counting on you.”
“’kaaay.”
I took out the handkerchief full of nuts and berries from Storage and handed it to Dryad Number 2. These were the gifts I’d received from those beastfolk kids before.
Dryad Number 2 chewed up the nuts and gulped them down, then reached her hands out toward me.
As soon as she planted her lips on mine, she started to suck up my magic with a vengeance.
As my magic was consumed, I felt a chill not unlike the kind that comes with blood loss. It was a similar sensation to when I’d used Meteor Shower.
With a wet smacking sound, Dryad Number 2 pulled her face away from mine.
“Mm’kay, I’m connected.” Looking satisfied, the dryad took my hand and led me into the fairy ring. “Okay, let’s go!”
When she gave the word, face glowing, a ring of shimmering green spores rose to create a gate.
After a slightly uncomfortable sensation, we were teleported to a hollow inside a thousand-year-old tree.
“Thanks for saving us, Dryad.”
“Mm, no problem,” Dryad Number 2 responded amiably. “I got a whole lotta magic out of it, too.”
She giggled lightly, then gave me a puzzled look.
“By the way, aren’t you going to run?”
“Run?”
Why…?
The rest of my question didn’t make it out of my mouth. Looking in the direction that Dryad Number 2 was pointing, I felt the blood drain from my face.
