Curse and the Holy Land (1)
A Hero-rank adventurer has visited the inn!
Is this what it feels like when Superman shows up at the last second? My hand, already reaching for the power button, froze mid-motion — then shot straight toward the inn.
"You've got to be kidding me. Right now? Of all times?"
At this point, I was starting to seriously wonder whether the developers were watching my game screen in real time. But that was a problem for later. What mattered right now was the Hero-rank adventurer who'd just walked into my inn.
I entered the building and found a black-haired warrior woman standing there blankly, poking around the place with short, restless steps. She had a face that looked like it came with a temper.
"Name's Friga? Class is Barbarian Warrior."
I'd been planning to hand over that axe I'd made earlier, and her concept matched it perfectly. I dragged the Dragon Hunter's Axe from my inventory and dropped it onto Friga.
oderuφt tΘ!
"Wh-what? Why is she suddenly—?"
I'd only meant to give her the axe, but Friga burst into full-on sobbing. She was an SD character, sure, but they'd made her so pretty that watching her cry that hard actually made my chest hurt a little.
"Why is she crying like someone just ruined her life…"
Was this some kind of special event? Kenis had been the only Hero-rank adventurer before this, so I had no idea whether this was normal or not.
Ding-dong—
A message window popped up over the screen, briefly covering the still-weeping Friga.
A Hero-rank adventurer is crying sadly. What will you do?
…What is this. No, seriously — what is this.
My brain short-circuited for a second. The kind of choice prompt you'd only ever see in a cheap mobile ad was sitting right there on my screen, live.
"I kept calling this a trash game and now it's actually becoming one…"
Did the developers genuinely think this counted as an event? If they really put this in on purpose… I had some serious notes for their sense of design.
"…It's a translation error. Has to be."
I forced the happy-circuit into overdrive and tried to stay positive. An event had triggered either way, so after a moment of hesitation I tapped Comfort Her.
A pretty character was crying, which was sad enough on its own — and "Scold Her" just felt like it would lead somewhere ugly.
Shaaaa—
Sparkling stars appeared around Friga's face, twinkled for a beat, then vanished with a little pop. It looked exactly like the star-dust effect from a bargain-bin free-to-play game.
"God… the effects are so cheap it hurts…"
I'd been spending money on this thing lately because my brain was fried, but watching that effect almost felt like the cracks in my skull were sealing back up.
gr¤tias tΔbi
Friga beamed like she'd just won the lottery. Even as a stubby little SD character, a smile that bright was almost enough to make you fall for her.
"Yeah, well. If you're happy, that's what counts…"
Friga took the weapon, and a moment later she vanished from the inn in a swirl of light. Time to attempt the Ancient Frost Dragon boss fight again.
I needed to check whether Friga could actually be deployed.
"Hoo…"
I let out a shaky breath and re-entered the boss battle. Kenis and the Ancient Frost Dragon were still frozen in gray — and standing right beside Kenis was Friga.
"…!! Nice!! It actually works!"
I offered a silent prayer of thanks to the developers. Whether this was intentional or a bug, I had no idea.
Either way, it was good for me.
I unpaused immediately.
——————!!!
The Ancient Frost Dragon roared with raw fury. I slapped the first skill off cooldown — Fluttering Breeze — onto Friga.
A small wind sigil lit up at her feet, and her movement speed surged.
Then she charged, golden axe blazing in her hands.
"Hyaaah!"
KRAAAANG!
"Whoa, that damage is brutal."
Friga's axe buried itself in the Ancient Frost Dragon's torso, and a massive chunk of the dragon's HP vanished. At the same time, a glittering character flashed into existence along the side of the screen.
"What is that?"
I glanced sideways at the glowing letter — and in that split second the dragon drew in a breath and unleashed a torrent of flame straight at Friga.
"W-wait! No, you absolute maniac of a lizard! Who uses an AoE like a basic attack?!"
Blue fire swallowed Friga in an instant. The entire screen vanished under the blaze. I had nothing off cooldown — nothing I could do but stamp my feet and yell.
"Come on! Please hold on! Please…! Please just survive!!"
I clasped both hands and prayed to anyone who would listen. If Friga died right here, the whole run was finished…! Please…!
Then the flames blanketing the screen cleared —
And Friga was still standing. Not a single point of HP missing.
"What, is this a bug? A bug kicked in here?"
I offered another round of thanks for the developers' slapdash coding. For this one moment, this wasn't a trash game — it was a god-tier masterpiece.
Hwaaaak!
I fired off Sanctuary Declaration the instant it came off cooldown. A golden wave rippled outward with Friga at its center. Right after that, I enchanted her weapon with the Fire attribute using Feeble Flame.
"Haaahp!"
Buffed up, Friga charged again. The Ancient Frost Dragon spread its wings, trying to take to the air.
"Not happening."
I aimed at the dragon's wings and dropped Lightning Strike. No spamming this time — careful, deliberate shots, one by one.
The dragon crashed back down, and Friga's axe came screaming in after it.
KWAANG!
KWAAANG!
Every time Friga's axe connected, another glowing character stacked up along the edge of the screen.
Five. Six… seven.
Seven characters arranged themselves into a circle at the side of the display, twinkling like they were begging to be tapped.
"…Is this some kind of skill?"
On a hunch, I touched the letters —
Chiiing—
A ring of golden light bloomed around Friga's axe. Seven golden circles formed along the weapon's trajectory.
Every time the Dragon Hunter's Axe passed through one, it accelerated explosively.
A sonic-boom effect trailed behind the blade.
KWAAAAANG—!!
The axe, blazing gold, came down on the Ancient Frost Dragon's skull like a judgment —
——————!!! ——————!!!! ———…
The dragon's bones shattered completely, and it collapsed.
"Whoa… whoaaa—"
My mouth fell open on its own. The skill Friga's great-axe had just unleashed to finish the Ancient Frost Dragon — the effects, the spectacle — kept looping through my head.
Above Friga as she raised her axe, the stage-clear banner floated into view.
But I just sat there for a while, still riding the afterglow, unable to pull myself together.
Ba-bam—!
A fanfare blared like it was trying to snap me out of it.
"…A Dimensional Gate?"
"…Mmm…"
Kenis slowly opened her eyes on a soft bed. A chandelier swam into blurry focus overhead, and an unfamiliar patterned ceiling beyond it…
She sat bolt upright. Her eyes went wide as she whipped her head around, taking in the room.
"Where is this?! Agh…"
The sudden movement set her whole body screaming in protest. She curled in on herself instinctively and carefully retraced her last memories.
She had split the ancient dragon's flame with her holy sword and driven the blade into its maw…
And then she had blacked out.
"The Ancient Frost Dragon…! Commander! My Lady!!"
Even as she fell, the dragon had still been standing. Pierced by a holy sword, and still standing.
Grim possibilities flooded her mind. Her eyes trembled with raw panic.
Tap-tap-tap—
Footsteps — several of them — approached from beyond the door. People who had heard her cry out came running.
BANG!
The door flew open and a crowd poured in.
Among them were Commander David and Friga.
"Kenis! You're awake!"
"Thank goodness you're up, Kenis!"
People ringed her bed on every side. Kenis's eyes found the Commander and Friga among them, and the tension in her gaze finally eased into relief.
"My Lady! Commander! You're both safe!"
"Huh? Oh — us? We just got a little banged up, that's all."
"Her Ladyship carried the day. Without her, none of us would have made it out."
"Aww, don't make it weird. I didn't do anything that special."
Kenis's eyes went round. Then she noticed the enormous axe hanging across Friga's back.
"My Lady… that axe…?"
An extraordinary weapon of golden light. Somehow, Kenis felt something from it that reminded her of her own holy sword.
Could it be… that she, too…?
Catching the look in Kenis's eyes, Friga grinned and gave the axe haft a casual stroke.
"Yep. That so-called god handed me this thing."
"I see! That is truly wonderful news, My Lady!"
"Is it? Well, I went and had a little chat with him. Gave him a piece of my mind while I was at it. Yelled a bit, too."
"Ah — haha… I see."
Friga shrugged with a smug look on her face. The Commander and Kenis both managed awkward smiles.
Talking about a god like a buddy in front of holy knights was, without question, blasphemous —
But the expression on her face as she touched the axe and spoke of the divine looked genuinely pleased.
"Ahem, ahem!"
A pointed cough cut through Friga's cheerful rambling. Behind her stood someone who looked like a priest.
"You two — I understand you're glad Lady Kenis has regained consciousness, but… she is still a critical patient. She needs rest."
"Ah. We've been keeping the patient far too long, haven't we."
"I'm afraid so… I need to examine Lady Kenis's condition, so I would be grateful if you would both clear the room."
"Fine, fine. Kenis, we're heading out! Once you're back on your feet, you and I are going a round!"
Friga came and went like a storm, same as always. At the priest's request, the crowd around Kenis's bed filed out in a noisy rush.
In the quiet that followed, the priest spoke to her.
"First of all, Lady Kenis — I am relieved you have come to."
"Ah… yes."
"It may not feel real to you, but you have been unconscious for six full days."
"Pardon? Six days?"
Kenis jolted in shock. Even accounting for the strain of splitting the Ancient Frost Dragon's flame, six days of lying still?
The priest regarded her startled face and continued calmly.
"There is physical injury, of course… but the more serious matter is something else entirely."
"Something… more serious?"
"A curse."
"A curse…?"
A curse on her? The priest met her bewildered eyes and explained carefully.
"…Near the place where the Ancient Frost Dragon appeared, a site bearing traces of a wicked ritual was discovered. Heretics, most likely, used the aid of demons to resurrect a buried dragon corpse."
"Heretics…"
"The problem is the lingering malice that remained in that dragon."
"Malice?"
"Yes. A ritual that offered the demonic beasts of the Mount of Demonic Beasts as living sacrifices, tore their souls apart, and used them to revive the dragon… The Ancient Frost Dragon was, in itself, a mass of powerful obsession and hatred."
The priest's voice dropped lower.
"When you drove your holy sword directly into that enormous mass of malice… the Ancient Frost Dragon carved a powerful curse into your soul."
"Th-that can't…"
"That curse is slowly siphoning your soul away to the demons… The six days you spent unconscious were almost certainly because of it."
"Demons…"
Tears welled in Kenis's eyes. She carried the duty of a hero.
Was she supposed to simply waste away under a curse like this?
"At this rate… one month. Within the next month, Lady Kenis, your soul will be gone."
"Is there — is there a way? Can the curse be broken?"
The priest gently wiped her tears with his sleeve.
"…There is exactly one method."
"R-really?!"
"Fortunately, yes. Whether it will work, I cannot say for certain — but I believe it will."
The priest looked at Kenis and smiled.
"Lady Kenis. Let us go to the Holy Land."