116 - Arseria Forest
"Aaaah... haaa... No... I don't wanna get eaten... It hurts... Kyaaaaah!"
It was right after I'd taken down the second corpse as well. The necromancer Nocturne clutched her head and let out a guttural scream.
Again. At this point, having this laurel leaf started to feel like more of a curse than a blessing. Black runic tattoos crawled out from her hands, slithering over her entire body. The girl, her pale skin now covered in dark blotches, collapsed to the ground with a thud.
"You killed them. They're all dead. It's over now, haha... haa... ugh..."
The girl's neck twisted unnaturally. Eyes blazed from the shadows beneath her robe.
"So I'll burn you all the same."
Necromancer 'Nocturne' summons random 'Puppet 3'.
Infamy difficulty set to 10.
Empire's Last Swordmaster · Reinhardt Schipot (0/1)
"Why's he taking it out on us?! Everyone with a laurel leaf seems totally unhinged! Except sis, of course...!"
"I'll explain later. Focus on the enemy now."
I'd thought knowing just the enemy's info would be enough for the Nightmare clear, but sneaking in some world-building study during dinner time? Unexpected. Now that I knew Nocturne's identity—and my own—her despair made perfect sense.
The air grew heavy all at once. The already sticky, humid atmosphere thickened like glue, choking my breath.
A clay puppet rose from the ground, gradually gaining color and form. From the swirling vortex, a man reached for his greatsword.
It was clearly out of range to hit us, but...
> [SaveTheGradStudent: I forgot! NoName, back up now!]
Adella, sensing danger on instinct, shoved me aside.
"Sis!!"
"...?"
A slash cleaved the horizon horizontally. Ku-goo-kwang! A violent gust of wind pressure swept the ground in its wake.
"Ow, it stings...!"
Adella, taking the full brunt, clutched her head and rolled on the floor. The tip of her ear had been sliced clean off by the razor-sharp blade.
"Heal...!"
Red blood soaked her face around the wound. I tried a mid-tier heal in a hurry, but the magic wouldn't activate.
Reinhardt's force field has been deployed. Healing magic cannot be used.
Helpful timing, as always. I tore off a sleeve from my clothes and staunched the bleeding on her ear for now.
"Hic... My ear hurts so much... It didn't really get cut off, right? My ear's still there?"
"Keep fussing and it'll hurt more. Stay still, stop the bleeding, and get out of the force field fast."
"If I go, what about you?!"
"Wait too long and I can't heal it. Wanna live with half an ear forever?"
"What?! It really got cut off? Nyaaaaah!"
Overreacting about a sliced ear. This was the girl who'd taken a knife to the leg without flinching. Now tears streamed down her face over a little cut. At least she knew tissue regeneration magic, so as long as she could cast, she'd be fine.
> [LGChaos: Sorry. I've never encountered this boss either...]
> [SaveTheGradStudent: Pros don't get it either. How do we even handle this.]
Swordmaster, huh. If it was this world's swordmaster level, was it on par with Klaus? Reinhardt Schipot—had to be the one Alphonse Schipot mentioned. But a long-range attack out of nowhere from the start... Perfect chance to witness Alphonse's unique magic firsthand. He wouldn't show what a real long-range strike was without demonstrating it properly.
Caution: This video contains spoilers. Viewer discretion advised.
Hey, you there—passing by? I'm Nocturne Nailingk. Got a minute? If not, wanna hear my story anyway?
So, like... Every time I woke up, it was endless agony.
> [Nocturne Nailingk!: Get out here right now!]
I didn't even open my eyes at the calls for me. From the moment my eyelids were pried open, it was hell.
> [Is your brain rotted? Be grateful we're keeping you alive! Wanna end up like the others?]
Just threats. They couldn't kill me anyway. I was one of the few chosen test subjects—a resource, a nutrient source. Names I heard more than "Nocturne."
Despite my struggles, I was dragged off by the old men again. What they wanted was obvious.
> [Here, take it. No time, swallow fast.]
They handed me a purple pill. A month's worth of demonic energy in one. Never seen one before... I'd sworn to push to the brink and die, but fear hit first.
> [Quit resisting! Want me to crack your skull first?]
Resisting adults was pointless, but I thrashed with all my might. All I got was merciless beatings, regret, and endless self-loathing filling the voids.
Then thorns erupted from the floor.
> [Ahh...]
Thorns smelling of soft earth pierced my hands, arms, legs mercilessly. Pierced through. The forge reek of iron vibrated. Even my death throes were denied—the last thorn crunched into my throat.
A month's hell began.
...
...
Hell only worsened. A day-trip required a month's rest, but the cycle shortened. Emerging from darkness without even screaming, I just wanted to die. No human could endure it—never again.
I'd heard biting your tongue kills. Should I? Or that sharp twig on the floor—slash my wrist?
My pounding heart now ached too. And then.
> [Endure.]
"...?"
A voice soft as spring breeze. Turning, another test subject like me.
> [First same-type you've seen?]
No way. I'd been here five years. What shocked me wasn't that.
"Your ears..."
> [Oh, this?]
Her ears were enormously long—at least half her face size. I'd endured every hell here for five years, yet only small lumps on mine from pill side effects. How long had she been trapped?
> [Dunno. Recent tests? Maybe a year. It was cherry blossom season then too.]
A year buried, unable to see, hear, move—only feel pain. Not normal. And neither was her mind: stuttering, forgetting her words, drooling with mouth agape.
But when lucid, we'd talk.
> [When that tree grows fully, a demon summons to this world.]
The thorns were roots of a massive tree. Its name: Yggdrasil.
> [Not long now.]
Demon summon? Not my problem. My daily hell was bad enough.
> [Family? From where in the Empire?]
I did. Loving mom, siblings—faint memories. Bound hand and foot, carted here for weeks, I told her.
But how'd she know I spoke Empire tongue?
> [Didn't know? Everyone here is Empire folk. You, me, the old men.]
Shocking. Our suffering? To grow that tree. Empire sacrificed slave kids like me.
> [But no fruit for years.]
Explained intensifying tests.
> [But hope remains.]
Pigeon sent for rescue—someone would come. Despair and hope intertwined. If rescued, family reunion?
Gathering courage, I whispered, "Let's survive and meet again."
But day after day, she vanished from the forest.
Ah... Wait... Story's not over... Still busy? Can you save me?
Here in Arseria Forest, where flowers sparkle like dazzling stars— Kyaaaaah!
[-WareSoft-]
Watching Nami effortlessly handle the Empire's last swordmaster, Nocturne felt a mix of absurdity and fear.
'The puppet's losing...?'
Even now, borrowing demonic power split her head. She'd sacrificed her life to draw all the laurel's mana, sharing Reinhardt's vision.
A blade with imperceptible edge flew. The puppet's lingering instincts warned: Dodge now or lose your head.
No technique in the movements. Nocturne just let the corpse move as it willed.
Shieeeek— Like wind hitting a window, but the power immense. Heart raced. She kept closing her eyes on each attack.
Combat for survival wasn't her forte. Yet the puppet faced Nami thanks to the laurel. Amid relentless bombardment, it carved paths. Feeling it viscerally, Nocturne wanted to cry.
'Just die already... Please! Just die!'
Did her will transmit? Reinhardt lunged forward, aura surging madly into the sword. Nocturne bore the pain of tearing arm muscles, hand ripping off.
"Guh...!"
Instinct screamed: final strike. Eyes open this time, she couldn't close her mouth at the sight.
The giant's body impaled on her sword, dangling midair. One arm supporting the swordmaster's immense weight—horror struck. How could a man look like chicken on a spit?
She hurled the sword into the wall whole, slowly approaching. Weaponless, but facing abyssal depths terrified naturally.
Tak—
The reaper's footsteps reached her, yet Nocturne Nailingk couldn't look up. Her hands throttled her own neck. Dying now, huh. Finally.
Days scraping by under the crown prince for survival flashed. Karma returned. Resigned, she looked up—stunned.
"Sis?"
Vision blurry near death, but unmistakably the test subject from Arseria Forest.
"Hic... ugh... heek... S-sis... It was you. Sorry for not recognizing..."
Realizing her executioner was "sis," sorrow surged, tears flooding. Odd relief too.
"My family... all dead... Pope burned the forest... Hic..."
"No, your family's all alive."
"...! Really...? Can I believe you again, like back then...?"
Tears trailed over blackened skin. Nami brushed shadows from her face.
"Yes, Nocturne Nailingk."
"Thank you... Sis, make sure to live... on..."
Nocturne's body slumped. But her tiny hand clung to Nami's finger.
Necromancer · Nocturne Nailingk defeated.
I gently closed her eyes, pocketed the laurel ring, and exited the cave.
Nami suddenly looked skyward at the indifferent heavens. In a world without elves, an elven-claiming woman's low voice echoed.
"This world's a real shitshow too."