The Bird's Trap (8)

I ran and ran, tearing ragged breaths from my lungs. The dungeon we were after, though, showed no intention of revealing itself — as if it had crawled into a hole and pulled the dirt in after it.

"Master, you need to go this way."

"Hah... yeah? Then let's move."

"...Would you like to rest first? You look quite exhausted."

"I don't look exhausted. I am exhausted... ugh, I'm dying... but if I get there late I'm completely screwed, so we keep going."

I could barely string a sentence together between gasps. Still, thanks to Aquaril reading the wagon tracks stamped into the dirt, at least we weren't lost.

We ran for the dungeon again.

And then what? What the hell do I do when I get there?

I was sprinting my lungs out to save Kanisia, sure — but what was I actually supposed to accomplish once I arrived?

To take down the Blood Axe King, Palos's Bird had thrown a mountain of monsters at him. Masters and fairies, really. The ones we'd already dealt with hadn't been that strong. Five underdeveloped fairies had been enough to wipe them all out.

But those weren't the elite forces of a secret organization like Palos's Bird. In army terms, they were privates — maybe PFCs if they were lucky. The lowest rung of the organization.

The real powerhouses were with the Blood Axe King.

So the answer is the prayer meta?!

The best-case scenario right now was that Kanisia hadn't entered the dungeon yet. If I could talk her down — or knock her out cold — she wouldn't go in. The Blood Axe King would die, and I could leave Chinnimoni with Kanisia and move on to the next city, just like I'd originally planned.

But when has life ever gone the way I wanted?

If life had ever gone my way, I wouldn't have died in my last one.

The worst-case scenario for me...

The absolute worst case was Kanisia fighting the powerhouses Palos's Bird had prepared, all to save the Blood Axe King.

And if that happens, what are my options?

Two.

Fight alongside Kanisia. Or...

Abandon her.

Kanisia was a waste to lose, but I didn't have a choice. I had zero interest in dying in some dungeon. Honestly, coming this far was already me giving it my all.

Sure, even if I died, I could resurrect. I had more than enough gems for that.

But what would that change? If I died in a situation like that, popping back up on the spot wouldn't get me out alive. I'd just get dragged off as some fascinating specimen and subjected to every torture and human experiment they could dream up.

I had absolutely no desire to go through anything that horrific.

But if I do fight...

This was only the worst-case scenario I'd cooked up, of course. Just because life never goes my way doesn't mean it always goes the worst possible way either.

...Right?

For a split second I saw the dump truck barreling toward the bus I'd been riding in my previous life. I shook my head and shoved the thought away. Why the hell did my past death keep popping up at the worst possible times?

Anyway, if I do end up fighting... Status window.

I still had sixty-four points of Potential sitting unused. I'd been saving them for when I hit a higher rank, but if I decided the fight was winnable, I wouldn't hesitate to dump them all right then and there.

Sixty-four points would let me push my main stats — Strength, Vitality, and Durability — all the way to sixty. Factor in the extra eight from the Avatar of the Serpent of Greed trait...

Still not enough.

I was estimating the enemies I'd face at a maximum of five-star, minimum high-end four-star. A four-star could push their stats to eighty. Even dumping every last point of Potential, I couldn't match that.

At the lower ranks, a gap in stats barely matters. The higher you climb, though, the more brutally a single point of difference shows.

I'd need to see their status windows myself to get a real estimate, but my read right now was that even a full Potential dump wouldn't close the gap.

The weakest of the weak just weeps.

"Weepy-weakling."

"Pardon? Master, what did you just say?"

"Nothing. Just felt like crying."

Aquaril, who had been running ahead, glanced back at me and tilted her head like I'd grown a second one.

Anyway. First things first — we have to get there.

We ran hard for the dungeon.

Kanisia's spear punched clean through a Master's throat. He clutched at his neck, frantically trying to staunch the blood, but it was hopeless. A hole the size of a fist had been torn through his windpipe. No amount of pressure from his hands was going to stop what was pouring out.

"Gahk!"

"Master!"

"You fucking bitch!"

The fairy who had just watched her Master die screamed and charged Kanisia, abandoning her shield and gripping only her sword. The will rolling off her was unmistakable — even if she died doing it, she was going to kill the woman who had killed her Master.

But there are things willpower alone cannot do.

Kanisia stepped back with perfect composure, then drove her spear forward like a thunderbolt. The fairy who had been charging her in a mindless rush impaled herself on it. From the side, it almost looked as if she had run onto the spear of her own accord.

"Ghk! D-die..."

The spear had pierced her heart, but the fairy kept coming, one dragging step at a time, driven by nothing but the need to avenge her Master. The spearhead punched out through her back.

"I'm sorry."

A spear of condensed mana materialized behind Kanisia as she offered the apology. It shot forward and burst the fairy's head like overripe fruit. Her body shuddered once, then dissolved into light and vanished.

"Now! Fire!"

The mages gathered off to one side unleashed everything they had. Fire, ice, wind — every element they could conjure came crashing down on Kanisia at once.

"Master!"

Abraham, Kanisia's fairy, the one who carried the massive square shield, lunged into the path of the barrage and raised it.

A chain of explosions erupted against the shield, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one after another, like a string of bombs going off. Abraham grunted under the impact — but he was unharmed, and aside from a few scorch marks on the shield itself, so was everything behind it. A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠white aura shimmered around his shoulders like heat haze. Before the magic had even begun to fall, Abraham had activated his skill.

Body Enhancement let the user raise either Strength or Durability depending on how much mana they spent. Abraham had poured all twenty points of his Mana stat into Durability. At an exchange rate of five to one, that bought him four extra points, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bringing his Durability to forty-one.

The square shield in his hands was a two-star piece with an excellent property attached: a twenty percent increase to magic resistance. Thanks to that, both Kanisia and Abraham came through that terrifying magical bombardment unscathed.

"Damn it! Master and fairy alike — they're both monsters! Prepare another volley! They won't survive a second one!"

Gabri, leader of the Gabri Family, ground his teeth at the sight. At his command, every Master and fairy with a mage class began preparing their next round of spells.

His read was correct. Abraham had blocked the barrage magnificently, but the shock that had slammed into him was enormous. If another volley like that came down, he would not hold.

"...I'm sorry, Abraham. I never should have brought you here."

Kanisia bit down on her lip as she watched his hands tremble violently on the rim of the shield. The thought that her innocent fairy was about to die because of her was enough to drive her mad.

"Heh heh heh. Even if you had not brought me, Master, I would have followed. Should you leap into the fires of hell, I would leap in beside you."

Abraham's words were endlessly gentle, meant to comfort her. And that gentleness only drove the blade deeper into her chest.

"...Abraham."

"Yes, Master?"

Kanisia called his name, fighting back tears with everything she had. Then she said something he did not expect.

"When I charge them, you run the other way."

"...What do you mean by that?"

"It means you're useless, so get ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out of here. I can kill those bastards just fine on my own."

The words were meant to wound him. But they were a dagger driven into her own heart.

How could Abraham possibly be useless?

His mere presence at her side had always been an enormous help. When the Blood Axe King was devoured by the monster called Greed and began treating her as a subordinate rather than a friend, a loneliness so chilling it made her skin crawl had come for her. She could no longer feel the warmth of another person. Everyone around her called her by a stranger's name — Princess Lora.

The urge to go home kept rising in her, unbidden. Back to the hometown where she had been happy. Family was there. Friends were there. Neighbors who had doted on her were there.

The only reason she had endured this long was Abraham.

From the day she first summoned him until this very moment, he was the one who had stood at her side. He had guarded her so steadfastly that she had been able to bear even that crushing loneliness.

That was why she wanted him to live.

Even if a Master dies, their Fairy does not. They grow weaker, but they can go on living. Kanisia knew perfectly well what kind of life awaited a fairy who had lost her Master... and even so, she could not bear the thought of Abraham dying. She did not want him to suffer anything as terrible as death.

"Get lost. I don't need the likes of you."

Abraham was silent for a moment after those cold words. Then he threw his head back and laughed, a big, unrestrained sound.

"The hell are you laughing at? Stop laughing and get out of here!"

"Master."

"What!"

"If you say such things while weeping, how am I supposed to leave?"

"...Huh?"

Kanisia hurriedly touched her cheek. Her fingers came away wet.

"Th-this is...!"

"You need not say another word, Master."

"I shall not die. Nor shall you. We will cut them down, and we will save the Blood Axe King as well. So do not grieve so. Honestly, even as a lie, those words just now wounded me."

"You idiot!"

Abraham squinted and put on a show of being hurt, and Kanisia's tears came flooding out. She scrubbed them away roughly and turned a pair of reddened eyes on the enemy.

"If you die, I'll kill you myself. I'll summon you right back and beat the hell out of you! So... don't you dare die, Abraham."

"Good heavens! Master's hands hurt terribly... I truly must not die, then."

"Let's go together."

"Yes, Master."

Fourteen spears of mana bloomed into existence behind Kanisia's back. Abraham tightened his grip on the shield.

"Kill those bastards!"

Kanisia and Abraham charged.

Steel hissed. Blades bit. Spears punched through flesh. Screams tore across the battlefield as blood fanned through the air in bright red arcs. Kanisia moved like a dancer, and every time she swept her spear, a spray of crimson painted the empty space around her. Distant enemies she pinned with thrown mana javelins; anyone close enough caught the spear itself.

The spears the soldiers carried were ordinary weapons, and after a few swings the shafts snapped. Each time one broke, Kanisia snatched a fallen weapon off the ground or ripped one from an enemy's hands and kept going.

Abraham used his shield to take every blow meant for her. One enemy fell. Then another. Then more.

But the wounds on Kanisia and Abraham kept multiplying. Their enemies were not straw dummies. Weaker than Kanisia, yes — but they knew their way around a fight. The moment her fatigue showed a gap, swords and arrows and magic came screaming in without hesitation.

"Hah... hah..."

"M-Master..."

In the end, Kanisia could not weather the assault. She dropped to her knees in front of them. Abraham had nothing left either. He could not even stand.

"This... this fucking bitch! What the hell is this?!"

Gabri, who had watched the entire fight unfold, exploded. They had started thirty strong. By the time the fighting stopped, barely twelve were left standing. Seven Masters and eleven fairies, dead. More than half the Gabri Family's fighting strength, wiped out by two people. Gabri had privately prided himself on commanding a force that could stand comparison with the Blood Axe King's. The humiliation was staggering.

"You miserable bitch... die!"

Enraged, Gabri ripped a sword from a fairy's hand and swung it at Kanisia.

That was when it happened.

Something cut the air with a vicious whistle.

"Master, look out!"

"Wha—?!"

A spear came flying from somewhere behind them, straight at Gabri. If the fairy beside him hadn't yanked him back, it would have punched clean through his chest. The spear buried itself in the dirt and quivered hard enough to hum.

"W-what the hell..."

"...This is?"

Kanisia's eyes went wide as she stared at the spear planted in front of her. A black shaft engraved with gold — her spear. The one she had been using.

"...Hah."

Kanisia turned toward the bellow behind her and let out a long, shaky breath of relief. Alan was there, bent over and gasping like he'd just outrun death itself.