The Mysterious Game (10)

"We’ve arrived."

"Shall we take a look and see what’s there?"

Even with the screen zoomed in again, the exclamation mark was now almost close enough to touch. My avatar, leading the minions, was heading straight there to clear the quest he’d discovered on his own.

And there it was when he arrived. Something so ominous that even the trees and grass around it had been dyed black and warped simply from its presence.

The polluted area was larger than an entire athletic field, and at its center floated a single black jewel about the size of a human head, exuding a sullen, sinister aura.

My avatar automatically analyzed it. But it was impossible to learn everything. The lack of Insight made that clear.

There, the original quest was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠completed and a new one was issued. I could see why that thing had to be removed.

From what I’d learned so far, this world was currently being eroded by the world known as the Demon Realm. But the invaders from the Demon Realm were, just like the local factions, nothing more than competitors for the player.

And competitors were meant to be eliminated.

"No reason to refuse."

I accepted the quest. At the same time, the avatar moved. He shot the tentacles on his black carapace straight toward that black magic stone, the source of all the trouble.

"It seems the intricately designed erosion system isn’t going to go down without a fight. The magic stone is vibrating and deploying a defense."

"W-What?!"

But with Agares’s words, the avatar’s tentacles were knocked back. At the same time, the space beneath the black stone rippled, and monsters began bursting out from below.

The choices appeared in an instant. The things that had burst forth were pale-skinned monsters walking on two legs, each wielding some crude weapon in one hand.

Their identity was revealed by the information hovering above their heads.

"Your avatar and your faction, having chosen to fight, are now engaging those dreadful demonic tribes in combat."

There, I chose battle for now. In truth, I had no choice. With the enemies already practically at arm’s length, turning and running would probably only get us hurt more.

"As expected, they’re on a different level from ordinary beasts. But look—your troops aren’t nearly as weak as they might seem."

Tense, I watched the battle unfold in a way I couldn’t directly interfere with. Agares, as always, was calm, but I honestly couldn’t relax.

For one thing, the enemies were on an entirely different level from anyone we’d met so far. They weren’t like the small-time mountain goblins who’d been doing nothing but pillage, nor like the villagers who’d been stumbling around in confusion. These ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were the real thing—true warriors.

With my own eyes, I saw one of my minions collapse, its neck severed by a sword swing from one of them.

"Of course, we do suffer losses. But please, watch with trust. In the first place, nothing in this world is free—not growth, not anything else. This game is no different."

"No need for that in a game, either."

I let out a hollow laugh at my own mutter. I understood what Agares meant. I could see it with my own eyes, too.

My avatar, the Grand Lord, and Lena, who was fighting fiercely at his side, were both growing steadily stronger even in this very moment.

"Do you see it? They are as serious as you are. You’re not the only one who wants to win. They may be nothing more than units in a game, but they, too, are struggling to survive in this brutal contest."

Agares’s voice shook my heart as it watched the scene before me. He called them units in a game, but the idea of something in a game fighting to live was a contradiction.

The vitality I could feel from them, especially from Lena—the only minion with a true self—made it impossible for me to look away.

Notification text kept popping up above Lena’s head. I finally understood why compatibility had to be checked when Essence Infusion was used to create minions.

I didn’t know what that girl was fighting for, but I could tell how fierce her will and desire were. And those things became a kind of fuel.

Fuel that allowed them to reach a realm of growth and evolution—the sort of realm that minions, who merely obeyed orders without any will of their own, could never possibly attain.

"Thirteen of the seventeen minions originally made from villagers have become combat-ineffective, but that hardly matters, does it? Minions can simply be made again."

The once-tense battle inflicted heavy damage on both sides. But there was a vast difference between how the enemy and our side dealt with that damage.

The Grand Lord drove his tentacles into the corpses of fallen allies, recovering nutrients and essence.

And then, by sinking his venomous fangs into the enemies that rushed forward, he forcibly infused them with essence in return. Though once again only twisted, mindless monsters emerged, the Grand Lord’s method of turning foes into allies rapidly widened the numerical gap.

"Ah, no!"

That was the moment Lena, fighting there, had her belly pierced by a merciless enemy spear. I went rigid, my whole body trembling in shock as I held my breath.

...

‘I have to... protect the Grand Lord!’

Lena clenched her teeth. The exhilaration and madness of life-or-death combat suppressed her fear and swallowed her whole. In the midst of that, she realized the Grand Lord’s intent and stepped forward to draw the enemies’ attention.

While she pulled their eyes to herself like that, the Grand Lord recovered nutrients from the fallen soldiers and at the same time forcibly infused the enemies with essence, turning them into allies.

"Guh..."

The Cave Hobgoblins, enraged by the Grand Lord’s actions, only grew fiercer. This was, after all, a battle that would continue until one side had slaughtered the other completely; they fought with the clear determination to finish it.

Lena was steadily being pushed back. She fought using the tentacles that were one of the hallmarks of Ascalas to the fullest, but the weapons of the Cave Hobgoblins—higher among goblin kin—swung without mercy.

One by one, the tentacles that had burst out through her back were sliced away and dropped to the ground.

‘I can’t retreat.’

But before the Grand Lord even needed to command her, she had already resolved herself.

Her life had already been saved. And she had already exacted revenge by executing the hateful traitors. To repay that debt, serving him was only natural.

"Where do you think you’re going!"

Grinding her teeth, she sent out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all her strength in a tentacle strike that pierced straight through an enemy’s neck. For the moment, the Grand Lord could not rely on Devour and Essence Infusion to carry the battle so easily.

She understood her role. Even if the Grand Lord currently possessed the strongest combat power, he was not, by nature, one to stand on the battlefield.

It was her role to step forward and fight the enemy head-on. She was not the one to be protected by the Grand Lord; he was the one she had to protect.

That was why there was no hesitation in her movements. To block an enemy charging at the Grand Lord’s flank with spear in hand, Lena threw herself forward at once.

"Ah..."

The spear, tearing through flesh and muscle to churn through her organs before piercing out her back, burst through her body. She grabbed the shaft immediately, but the enemy twisted it to sever her breath.

Even after becoming Ascalas and transcending the human category, this was still a crushing blow far beyond the durability of a mere low-grade minion like her.

‘Please... save me.’

She had steeled herself for this, but when reality actually came, it was hard to remain composed. As the spear was pulled free and she lost consciousness, she begged to be saved without even realizing it.

With her consciousness, the connection to the Grand Lord also began to blur. More than anything, Lena despaired at the fact that she was becoming alone again.

But then, at that very moment, through the connection that was about to snap, Lena could feel the Grand Lord’s, and beyond that, the being’s, powerful will.

"It’s only natural to prioritize the avatar. The avatar is your life itself. Minion Lena has fulfilled her duty."

"Save her. Save her."

"One of the Ascalas avatar’s defining traits is its remarkable vitality. Thanks to the web of consciousness centered on the Grand Lord, even severe injuries can be revived if they are simply regenerated."

He decided, the instant the choice appeared, to save Lena. Naturally, the cost was enormous. Most of the nutrients and essence he had accumulated would have to be used to restore her body.

But he didn’t care. More than that, his heart—and even his reason—were both telling him that saving Lena, the only minion with a truly intact self, was the right thing to do.

Lena did not rise back to her feet right away, but the five or six hobgoblins that remained were badly flustered by the giant spider’s movements and hesitated.

And when their own grotesquely twisted, mutated kin charged alongside those spiders, even in their rage-fueled, magi-drunk state they began to feel fear and tremble.

"Wipe them out."

He muttered in fury. And as if hearing him, the Grand Lord stood atop the fallen Lena and sent out his tentacles, one by one severing the breath from the enemies restrained by his subordinates.

Merciless tentacles, venomous fangs, and claws.

Normally the Grand Lord showed not even a trace of emotion, but at this moment, as though inheriting the will of the being controlling him, a faint ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but unmistakable anger could be felt.

At the same time, an inexplicable number tucked away in some forgotten corner, unnoticed by anyone, rose ever so slightly.

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