The Floor of Eternal Night (3)

In the sagas of the North, it is said that when Ragnarok comes, these two wolves will swallow the sun and the moon whole.

The moon's already been swallowed, so that thing is probably Hati.

Zion had never imagined she'd be fighting a monster modeled on a mythological being on a mere 2nd Floor. Someone else, however, had already moved — a full step ahead of her.

Rin. A High Ranker, and not the sort to stand in the back and watch. Even if it was only a little — she wanted to be of some use to her unni.

"Full Moon Slash!!"

A blade flashed in the pitch-black dark. The sword-light it carried was a blue so cold it raised gooseflesh — a flame-like shimmer of azure ki that condensed in an instant, swelling into a vast, perfect circle. A frigid full moon, blooming as it tore the stormclouds apart. In the space of a heartbeat, that blue edge screamed toward Hati.

GRAAAAAAH!!

Mythological monster or not, Rin was a High Ranker in her own right. Shearing off a single leg was well within her power. The mountain of Hati's body lost its balance and crashed down, and a colossal quake rolled through the 2nd Floor.

"Zion!!"

"You have my thanks."

Kueang, kueang!!

Zion and Fafnir, however, never felt the tremor. They were already airborne, having leapt together into the high dark. Fafnir — grown now to the size of a large dog — had plastered himself to Zion's back like a living shell, clinging on with shameless confidence. Thanks to that, she could throw everything she had into the attack. She was a little worried, of course. But he was a dragon.

"Fafnir. You can hold on, right?"

Kueang?

"Meteor Kick."

Blue flame ignited at the tips of her toes, then carved a cyan trail through the dark as she fell. The instant Zion's Meteor Kick slammed into the beast, a colossal blast erupted and blue fire surged skyward.

What the hell happened in this place, back then?

The blue flames scoured the earth and drove the darkness back. And from within that fire, someone came walking out at a leisurely stroll — a woman with platinum-silver hair, a veil in which black and white existed in perfect harmony, and a habit of deepest black.

Not a scratch on her. Rin could only gape. Who in their right mind would look at that and think rearguard?

The vanguard protects from the front. The rearguard supports from behind. Every adventurer in the Tower knew that much. Zion's strength was a complete repudiation of that common sense.

Which would mean… back when the Demon King still reigned, even a rearguard had to be this powerful?

What kind of hell had her unni walked through? Fresh respect for Zion welled up in Rin, thick and earnest.

It was, of course, a thoroughly one-sided misunderstanding. Zion had merely customized her avatar to look like a nun. Her main class had never been Priest — it was Infighter. Not that Rin had any way of knowing that.

"Zion! Look at the sky!"

"The shadow is coughing up the moon."

Kkyaaauuuu!!

As Hati crumbled to ash in the blue fire and vanished, the shadow at last disgorged the moon it had swallowed. The moon found its place again and spilled a gentle light across the world, and the pitch-black dark began, slowly, to recede. Perhaps his heart had swelled at the sight. Fafnir threw his head back and howled, for all the world as if he were trying to impersonate a wolf.

"Hah… we made it through that somehow."

"Don't let your guard down just yet, Rin. Have you forgotten?"

"Huh?"

"If there's a wolf that swallowed the moon… then there's also one that swallowed the sun."

"……!!"

Thoom. Thoom.

Enormous footfalls shook the earth. Even the gentle moonlight that had been holding the night began to give way before a wash of gold. It was the beast that had swallowed the sun. Embers of the stolen star ran along its fur, scattering light like molten gold.

GROOOOOHHH!!

Red flame poured from Skoll's enormous maw and crashed over the two of them in a wave. The heat was staggering. Without Zion's Battle Aura, there would not have been so much as a bone chip left — they would have melted where they stood.

Rin faltered, just for a moment. Hidden Boss or not, this was still only the 2nd Floor. Firepower like this was insane.

"Recovery."

"Thank you, unni."

"This is nothing at all."

A gentle warmth rose to meet ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that hellish heat, and every scrap of spent stamina flooded back in an instant. Rin looked at Zion with fresh awe. How could anyone look at a monster like that and not so much as flinch?

The question died like a last ember. She already knew why Zion could be this calm.

Unni has walked through hell more times than I can count. So I… I can't let my heart break here.

The legendary Saintess. The great hero who had struck down the Demon King. But how much had she lost on the way to that name? How savage a hell had she endured to stand ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠here?

That was why Rin could not fall. Someday, she would stand at her unni's side ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as an equal — as a proper companion. She would.

Mythological monsters just casually showing up as bosses… I guess the people who live in this Tower don't have it easy either.

Zion, for her part, was busy being impressed by the adventurers who had to fight things like this.

A candle crackled, its light falling across the pages of a weathered tome. The girl sitting with it was a striking thing — petite, with a fall of violet hair. Or rather, a woman who looked like a girl. The moment Violet had been handed the old book, she had sat down in the chapel and begun to decipher it.

"That's what it says?"

"It is. Is there a problem?"

"…That doesn't make any sense."

"Hoh. And on what grounds do you say that?"

"That 'divine beast that sinned and was banished,' and the 'golden forest' — I think I know what those are."

The divine beast that had sinned and been banished was the Golden Gryphon. The golden forest was the Forest of Divinity. There was no clearer answer than that. The problem was when Ifrit had received the book from Zion — long before the three of them had ever set foot in the Forest of Divinity to clear it.

Which meant that if the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠old book's contents were accurate down to the last syllable, as Violet claimed, then this book was—

"A book of prophecy, or a chronicle… no. Perhaps it's both."

"Don't tell me the whole thing is a record of everything Zion's going to go through?"

"One could certainly read it that way."

"Then what's the next chapter?!"

"Now, let's see…"

The breathless, smothering heat that the sun-devouring beast poured out without rest had claimed dominion over the Floor of Eternal Night. The only reason Rin could still move through it at all was Zion's overwhelming buffs. Faded Valor — the white longsword she had received from Zion as a reward for slaying the Golden Gryphon — sought the beast's legs once more, just as it had before.

"Kh…?!"

A numb, electric jolt ran up her arms, and Rin grimaced. This was a monster that had swallowed the sun centuries ago and gifted the world an endless night. It was not something a freshly minted High Ranker could face alone. Alone, that is.

Rin lifted her head. The sky above was turning strange. Heavy stormclouds were blotting out the moon and the starlight both.

Crack. Crackle.

A current that did not belong began to gather around Zion. Blue sparks leapt viciously from her body. Skoll — the wolf that had swallowed the sun — turned its blazing, sun-gold eyes away from Rin and toward the place where Zion stood.

Grrrrh…!!

"Where do you think you're going!!"

That presence was not something to ignore. Sensing the threat, Skoll dismissed Rin entirely and lunged to put Zion down as fast as it could. That was its mistake. Rin was a High Ranker. She was far too dangerous to simply step over.

Blue sword-light began to draw a full moon once more. Full Moon Slash. Her trump-card blade caught Skoll's foot, if only for a moment, and held it.

Battle Aura was, without question, an efficient skill. But was it Zion's only buff? The answer was no. Battle Aura was simply so cost-effective that she had taken it as her basic support skill, nothing more. It was only natural that her main class — Infighter — would have a dedicated buff of its own, and a good one.

A thunderclap tore through the world as if to split it open. Lightning fell from the heavens and wrapped around Zion's body like armor — a buff skill entirely unlike a Priest's Battle Aura. One that only an Infighter could wield. Its name…