The Crow Saintess and the Magpie Bridge (1)
When facing a powerful enemy, there's one more way to win, Harang.
──Tap.
Once again, a translucent chessboard overlays my retina alongside the status window's filtering.
Thinking back, it wasn't the usual game sound effect at all.
- Just overwhelm them with sheer numbers. This formation is called Alekhine's Gun. Named after a chess champion.
This is the sound of chess pieces moving.
An Yuho must be connected to the status window somehow. Maybe she's made some kind of deal with Demian and keeps sending me messages.
- If the Queen and two Rooks are aligned like this… on the same file, it's easy to break through the opponent's defense. It's such a threatening move that they have no choice but to sacrifice pieces to block it.
Plus, she's the only one who'd come up with a name like Abraxas.
It's a fitting name—tied to Demian, strong enough to repel an alien god from beyond.
'…This one has massive backlash later, but I have no choice but to use it now.'
Perfect copies of myself.
That's how a mere boy soldier from a neighboring country's war earned the title of war hero.
From the shadows behind me, countless versions of "myself" keep appearing, endlessly replicating.
"You—what the hell is your true identity?!"
The creature, a mass of flowers shaped like a colossal dragon with the Cardinal's severed head grafted onto its forehead, hurled the question at me.
"Shade. Leader of the thief guild Moonshadow. That's who I am."
"That's not the issue! Shade, you're tampering with the domain of a god right now! This can't possibly be an ordinary ability…!"
Even with that grotesque form before me, my clones charged forward, swords raised to kill.
"A mere human, perfectly replicating himself?! This is taboo…! Even recreating the First Saintess exactly in the Holy Kingdom was impossible…!"
"Feeding someone a dead person's hair, nails, or skin scraps wouldn't achieve that anyway."
─Clang.
I drew the holy sword Einherjar straight from its scabbard. Stepping onto the Flower Dragon's body, I began carving into it.
I'd once seen an illustration from a datamine that showed Raybi's real name and her transformed flower form.
Normally I'd avoid spoilers, but the fact that the first limited character had a terminal illness had set the community ablaze.
That's why An Yuho once told me that even though I hated this game, playing as Demian would produce a different story.
'Phantom, can you find Raybi's location? You should be able to track her scent even in this mess.'
- Got it! Understood!
──Kagagagak!
Together with my countless clones, I slashed the massive dragon's body over and over, climbing toward its head.
Like autumn leaves falling, countless flower petals scattered as its form began to collapse in an instant.
Just as someone once said in a nightmare—if one sword isn't enough, then hundreds or thousands of swords can kill anything.
"Isn't it strange that you can wield the holy sword even though you're not the Hero? How can an ordinary human without qualification swing a sacred relic granted by the gods…!!"
"Your tongue gets longer when death is near, Cardinal. Even if you say that, I won't spare you."
──Fwoosh.
The Flower Dragon that the Cardinal had become kept trying to talk while spewing green spores from its mouth.
In the original story it would have just turned into a giant flower to fight the player, but now—perhaps because we were underground in Elysium—it revealed a far more powerful form.
Those spores were like poison so fine it was invisible to the eye. It was probably trying to stall for time and kill me.
In the game, it was probably a gimmick that inflicted deadly poison. I lightly tapped my mask twice and activated the filter function.
"Sorry, but I already know all your strategies."
I just need to end this as quickly as possible.
Phantom and Raybi could get poisoned too, so finishing this fast is the only way to avoid problems.
Having played this game until its service ended, I already knew the weaknesses of the bosses that appeared.
"I've already prepared for poison."
Even if it mimics a dragon with flowers and wears a shell that swords and magic can't penetrate, we have numbers on our side.
"Daggers have their limits. What now? Even if I try to bind it with steel threads, it'll break free right away."
"It's immune to normal swords and magic too. Looks like the meteor turned it into a real dragon."
"Then wouldn't it be best to just burn it completely? We could even destroy the R'lyeh Text it made itself. Natural disasters can't be stopped, after all."
"Not yet. Until we rescue Raybi, setting fire to that body is forbidden. She might suffocate if we're not careful."
On top of that, because we were all the same person, our thoughts aligned perfectly and our coordination was flawless.
My clones beside me swung daggers to cut down the endlessly regenerating flowers or tried to trap the creature with steel threads while exchanging opinions.
"Without Raybi, we could just pour oil and burn it—it'd be over in no time…. Guess we can't."
We still hadn't pulled Raybi out of its stomach. She was the vessel the Cardinal needed to resurrect the First Saintess. We had to rescue her as fast as possible.
- Found her! Right side, near the flank! That's where the scent is strongest!
"Thanks, Phantom."
──Crack, clang!
I slashed the spot Phantom indicated with Einherjar, revealing Raybi entangled in flower stems.
She hadn't been digested yet.
But seeing her clothes slightly torn and melted, it was clear she was in danger.
"How dare you try to take the vessel from me…!"
"Vessel? That's how you see people? Well, I guess you wouldn't have gathered a hundred orphans to clone the First Saintess otherwise."
"You think I'll just stand by while you wag that serpent's tongue like Eden's snake…?!"
Shashashashak!
The moment I tried to pull Raybi out from inside, the Cardinal cursed and thrashed violently. Flowers and vines grew in an instant, trying to swallow me whole.
"No matter how many clones you make, if I just target the main body holding the holy sword…!"
Crunch.
My limbs were bound. For a moment, I couldn't resist at all. The Flower Dragon's forehead—where the Cardinal's severed head was attached—turned toward me.
It opened its massive jaws, preparing to spew deadly poison breath and melt my body entirely. If it kept Raybi inside, the breath wouldn't reach her.
But—
"Finally showing your real face. Makes sense. If you want to attack me, you have no choice."
I had been waiting for this moment.
"…What did you say?"
The Cardinal's dumbfounded voice showed it had realized something was wrong. What I needed to deal with wasn't the Flower Dragon after all—it was the Cardinal's main body parasitizing it.
Creak, crack.
The endlessly growing vines twisted my arm and leg joints while branches tried to pierce my lungs and heart.
"I deliberately provoked your attack. I figured you'd let your guard down the moment you thought you could definitely kill me. You never struck me as the cautious type."
"……!!!"
"Now's the time. Burn it."
Hearing my words, it immediately tried to hide its severed head and escape elsewhere.
But—
Crunch—!
It was already caught in the trap I'd set. Because Raybi the Saintess was nearby, the steel threads couldn't be undone by ordinary means.
I'd coated them in oil and used my copied clones to bind the Cardinal's main body so it couldn't escape.
"Damn it, when did the clones get this close…!"
"I figured if I ran straight for the forehead or hid nearby, you'd notice. It was a diversion."
─Boom! Boom! Crash!
The Cardinal thrashed its massive body, slamming into walls, trying to shake off my clones like ants, but it wasn't enough.
"Get off! Get off me! I can't end here…! I have a mission to recreate the mythical R'lyeh in this world as well…!"
"Ignite."
Chichichichik, clang!
Fwoooooosh—!
At my command, the clones holding the Cardinal down with steel threads struck their daggers together, creating sparks that set the oil ablaze.
Not a wide-area burn—the attack focused on a single point: the area where the Cardinal's severed head was attached.
"No, no…! I can't die so meaninglessly…! To a mere human who isn't even the Herooooo…!!"
"Your life really is tenacious."
Slash.
With my clones' help, I escaped its bindings and immediately climbed the Flower Dragon's body until I reached its forehead.
My arms were broken and shattered, bones exposed, and my legs barely responded—but it didn't matter.
The sword that slays a fallen priest who rejected death and clung to life by parasitizing flowers.
This was enough.
"Valtreia Empire Swordsmanship, First Form—Heaven Severing."
"You said you could only copy techniques and abilities…!"
"Who said that? If that were true, I wouldn't have become the leader of a thief guild."
Slash, kagagagagak—!!
I didn't need to copy it separately. Stealing an enemy's weapon or technique and turning it against them was everyday life for me.
Northern barbarian swordsmanship, imperial swordsmanship, magic—I could do all the minor ones.
Relying too much on abilities only narrows a person's perspective and creates weaknesses.
"…There were times when I couldn't copy abilities either. I've always prepared countermeasures. I won't fall so easily."
"Th-the gates of heaven were right in front of me…! The moment to resurrect the First Saintess was so close…. Khak…!"
─Thud.
I drove Einherjar into the Cardinal's mangled severed head. The holy sword, imbued with the power to banish evil, reduced it to ashes.
Shashashashak.
Having lost its core—Cardinal August—the Flower Dragon withered, lost balance, and collapsed.
Thirty seconds until it completely fell apart. Far below, the section where Raybi had been trapped was exposed once more.
"I'm counting on you. I need to reach her."
"Do we really have to save her? She seemed to hate you."
"No choice."
"Right. That's just the kind of person you are."
Step.
Using the surrounding clones and steel threads, I grabbed their hands or used them as stepping stones, moving in an instant.
"I've come to save you, Raybi."
"Sh-Shade-nim…?!"
──Tap!
I scooped Raybi into my arms like a princess and successfully escaped from the falling Flower Dragon's body.
* * *
"I'm glad you're safe."
"Ah, yes. Th-thank you. Shade-nim… could I stay like this a little longer?"
"Why?"
"Hugin and Munin are descending, so I can't see anything right now and I'm scared…. I'm actually congenitally blind."
"Alright. Do what you want."
Strangely, Raybi's face was flushed bright red. The moment I held her, she didn't struggle at all—instead, she gripped me tightly so she wouldn't fall.
The sight of the 182cm-tall Saintess, slightly shorter than me, clinging to me like a baby bird stirred something nostalgic.
Back when I'd rescued her from the cage long ago, she'd been terrified and I'd held her just like this.
"Thank you. As expected, you're very kind, Shade-nim…."
Her breathing was so rough that I could feel it on my skin. If someone else saw, they'd probably think she was burying her face in my neck and sniffing me.
She'd clearly recognized my voice earlier, but being unable to see must still be frightening.
"Haa, haa…."
The moment I wondered if she'd been poisoned by something else without my knowledge—
[Raybi's Favorability: 10%]
What the hell is this.
Wasn't it supposed to be negative?