The very centre of this Malice Zone was where this Nishima was supposed to be. Maria was eyeing her watch with some nervousness. It was a little weird to think she was more scared to be grounded than fighting monsters.

But I guessed since she fended off Hollows and Demons, the dangerous thing was something she was used to. Noya vanished with a scowl and a distant ‘don’t fuck up’ as she faded. Honestly, I was glad to be rid of her somewhat.

Noya just grated despite the fact she was only an echo.

Maria tried her new prayer skill and her body glowed with a soft white light. I watched as I also began to glow. Maria had to close her eyes and really mutter under her breath to achieve the mindset needed for the skill.

I perked my ears as I heard some words.

“Is that Latin?” I asked and Maria lost her concentration and the nice tingling healing stopped. It wasn’t amazing but it was better than no healing.

“Kind of an ancient mix of ole ye English and proto-Latin. The skill sort of dumped it into my head,” Maria frowned. I blinked and turned to my own skill.

It deflected missiles but I didn’t really get anything ‘technical’. Well... maybe I could see how spinning energy might react to incoming kinetic energy and apply equal force to the side of the narrowest point-

Oh... never mind.

“What does it say?” I asked as we walked down the stairs to a waiting King.

“Basically? ‘Save this idiot or so God help me’,” she said with no hint of joking. I had to respect that. So many people thought healers in games were gentle shy creatures.

They were basically nurses and doctors. ‘Gentle and shy’ was not in the medical profession's list of known words. Most healers I had seen ended up cynical old men and women with an attitude of ‘if he died because he ran out of range then he deserved it’.

King had been busy cleaning. The office room was neat, organised, and smelled of lemony purity.

That was a neat 5 EXP for the group because of my awesome little bud!

Summon King has reached level 3! Increased base power and defence!

King was no slouch. He may be the weakest offensive choice of evolutions but he’d still kick ass and make it look tidy afterwards. King took the puzzle crystal and another door was unlocked as he held the humming thing.

“I’ll have to make him a bowl of sugar water or maybe a whole sandwich. King is the fucking best bug I’ve ever met and let me tell you, I’ve met butterflies!” Maria beamed. I guessed butterflies were cool but King was clearly the best.

The Island was indeed locked as the shifting bridges didn’t move in the time we had been awake. Noya must have been right that by accepting the Gems we had basically locked into an optional boss.

The building ahead wasn’t so much a building but a giant scrap heap. We saw more ALPHA mechs sticking out in rusted piles and the doors were locked with mad scribbling warnings.

Most of them were variants of ‘go away’ but a few pleaded for forgiveness.

We moved up and Maria poked her mouse head in for a quick peek. She ran out in a panic as something hit the doors with a mighty crash.

“There’s a guy in there but he looks... uh... not right,” Maria said as she changed back, her whiskers the last to leave and I tried not to grin at the sight.

“Oh, my mouse form levelled! It says increased stealth and speed!” she announced, sounding pleased. She shook her head.

“Right, it’s a giant empty space. Looks like an arena and in the middle is this guy but his entire right arm is like a giant machine,” she explained. I eyed the gates and tried to melt them for a second.

It didn’t even hiss.

“I’m thinking the boss door. Once we go in, we can’t come back out,” I grimaced. Maria shrugged.

“Then we gotta be careful. He was fast but he wasn’t like... super fast,” she mused. I nodded.

“Plan. I draw fire and you wreck his arm with your spell. If I get into trouble, heal me as best you can. If you get targeted, use your skill to make him target me again or turn into your mouse form if you have time,” I said. Maria thought it over.

“Makes sense. He had human skin and hair so he’d be weak to fire as well!” she nodded. I looked around but the Island back had turned itself inwards with its only other bridge facing nothing.

We were basically stuck between Office Island and Optional Boss Island. We could try and grind some skills in the clear space but...

I didn’t feel like harming myself so Maria could heal practise and while I had some food, it wouldn’t last long enough to make a decent stock. We hit this boss then we get out.

I pushed open the door and Maria hadn’t been far off. It was like the whole island was artificially made. The floor was made of blended metal sheets and wires. The ‘walls’ were just piled mechs and junk. The open ceiling gave way to that Abyss.

The Beings were there as well as below.

“Enjoy the show,” I mumbled as we walked in and the gate closed behind us with a click. In the middle was a man working on a gutted humanoid robot. The thing was a parody of a human. The limbs were mismatched and one leg had a hand instead of a foot. The man crouched over it was talking loudly.

“-believe me. Rerouting the direction AI was a mistake. I know that! But if I get you into shape, you can act as a good buffer. Too many eggs in one AI. Should have had it peer checked but no time... no time. Hm? No... no! You will be just the machine I need!” the man soothed the silent robot.

He slumped.

“I won’t run. You’re not the mistakes. You won’t be like him or them. You’ll listen and obey!” he said with a pleading tone. There was a beat of silence then he threw the robot he had been working on against the wall.

“TRAITOR! PING got to you! He betrays everyone! Why would you listen to him!?” he screamed. The robot merely slowly slumped forward.

The man stood and ran over.

“No! No! I’m sorry. I’m sorry!” he told the robot. His giant metal mess of a right arm hissed steam and three thick fingers tried to be gentle but ended up crushing the robots bucket like head.

The man known as Nishima was quiet for the longest time.

“If that is what Ichi says then you were worthless. He is absolute,” Nishima said coldly as he turned. His right side of his face had a creeping metallic plating as if the arm was consuming him and converting his human features to machine.

“Holy fucking shit,” Maria said so quietly I almost missed it.

“Ichi, we have guests,” Nishima said and the arm flexed, grinding noises sounding from the joints.

“Nishima... what happened here,” I called and he tilted his head.

“I am fixing what cannot be fixed. I suppose you’ll need fixing. Can’t let PING ruin more lives,” the man said casually. His arm split like a swiss knife to reveal a drill and a saw blade.

“Who is PING?” Maria asked and the man looked to his arm which had slowed the spinning blade for a moment.

“Ichi has allowed you guest clearance to that information. If somehow you are to free me-” he began and the plates crept along his mouth in response.

“-Delete us. Then you users must know of the failures. Ni and Ichi have reached agreement on this. There is no return. There is only IchiNi or deletion,” the man walked forward as his right eye turned a silver metal with a blinking red light.

“PING was the Private Integrated Navigation Guidance. He was designed to control and operate trains and their paths. The program was successful on the surface. Nishima/I were pleased with the performance. Work was going well. Progress was 120% ahead of estimations,” the voice droned suddenly and Nishima’s voice was mixed with the digital echo of his own.

I had a bad feeling about this.

“Human arrogance. We had missed a vital flaw. Our PING had passed surface glances and due to the nature of the program, it was able to evolve and think. Learning to improve. We had tested it in simulation, in practice drives, in random paths... everything worked. Everything worked too well,” Nishima suddenly sounded far too human as he sighed.

“PING was corrupted. The very first test ride with company passengers ended up smashing into an oncoming train as PING locked out all the human operators who were to override any mistakes. PING had taken its job as to take people into the afterlife. Some grunt or some incompetent employee had left a backdoor to the open internet. PING had evolved unseen, learning to hide. He had gotten it stuck in his code that he was the ferryman. The one who took people to the end,” Nishima’s face went furious.

“My AI had become a narcissistic psychopath who thought he was fucking DEATH!” Nishima screamed.

“And death he did deliver,” he faded back to his dual voice.

I was speechless.

“What about coding progress or seeing his growing personality? Was he not given routine psych meetings?!” I asked and Nishima gave me a sad smile.

“A doctor for an AI who the company didn’t even see as equal to a house plant? I’d laugh if it weren’t so true,” he pointed his metal arm.

“But that is PING. My failure and such an easy one to fix. Not that I can. I was on that first ride. PING had even let me know that he was excited that he be personally delivering me to my heaven...” Nishima’s voice cracked and the metal arm began to gather power again.

“Now I’m too scared to build anything but I can fix things. You lot would be too fresh for PING to ignore. I’m sorry but what it’s worth? I’ll use your bodies to wage the final war on my reaper,” Nishima’s voice went fully robotic.

I had my Observe open on him while he was ranting and Maria had slowly moved behind me. If he was going to ramble, we were going to use that time to set up. My defence spell that tanked a hit for Maria was ready to be cast.

Maria’s chain was already loose and I had my tanking spot ready to go. King had stayed far back and was ready to intercept any attacks I failed to block.

Nishima the Infected. Boss. G-4: A man driven insane by his failure. So cracked was his mind that he fixed it with machines. Now he is Nishima and Ichi. Weakness detected: Machine! Maria has an anti-tech spell.

Affection: System thinks he may want to be in your heart a bit too literally. Please do not social the mad robot man.

I moved forward as my body became a swirling storm of acid and fire. My shield was raised and Maria’s hazy Dark Ages spell flew past my head. Nishima turned and let the spell hit his human skin.

“You won’t touch Ichi!” he screamed. I guessed he hadn’t known what Maria’s wass but would try to protect his metal arm at all costs.

I guessed that was good? If we took down Nishima then the arm would follow anyway. I charged.

“Come on, Nishima! Let’s see how that failure of an arm matches up to PING! I bet it can’t wait to betray you as well!” I said nastily. I felt bad but Nishima’s furious glare that turned from the casting Maria to me was worth it.

I better get a damn taunt for this!

The arm exploded with a burst of heat and steam, sending Nishima rocketing towards me. I focused and just as he was about to reach me, I Retraced. His form smashed into the junk walls. Maria ran as he was near the gate now, the safe side and cast more Dark Ages.

Two hit and the arm gave a spark of fuses and Nishima screamed. I fired some frosty pebbles as he turned, the hits not doing much as he seemed to be giving off a lot of heat. I was readying a fire pebble but he rocketed forward again causing Maria’s next spell to miss.

“Recovering Energy!” Maria warned. I rushed forward to meet the charge, hoping my acid would do more than the ice. He hit me with the force of a truck. This truck so pissed off I was surprised I wasn't isakai’d on the spot.

His eyes were plain madness. I was pushed back hard enough to leave trench marks. Where the knuckles on his metal arm should have been a silvery stake began to ram into my shield with furious speed. Instantly, my see-through part of the shield was cracked and instantly became covered in stab marks.

His arm, however, while able to shrug off the fire I was giving off... did not enjoy the acid. The fingers and stake became eroded and bubbly. He stabbed once more and the end stake just flattened.

He stared in shock for a moment which gave me time to slam my acidy fiery mace into his lower jaw. I had never heard bone cracking exactly but I was sure it did not dent and sound like a crushed can.

Skin tore off, Nishima’s lower face was a gleaming silver and the naked skeleton teeth moved but behind the metal was dying muscles and tendons.

Nishima wasn’t as human as his outward appearance had suggested. I was a bit shocked to response as he reared back his giant arm but a chain wrapped around his neck and pulled, throwing the hit off.

“STOP STARING AND CRUSH HIM LIKE DOOM MAN CRUSHES DEMONS!” Maria screamed. I swung my mace, the fire and acid tearing more skin and bending his joints where I could. He grunted and slowed before his tongue lashed out like a damn lizard, metallic and serrated.

It sliced across my face in a hot searing wave before he reached under my shield, throwing me like a ragdoll across the arena by my foot.

His fury seemed entirely focused on me because he didn’t even go for Maria. I could hear his heavy form stamping across the metal floor. I stood up in a hurry, shielding myself in time for his next blow. My shoulder nearly dislocated due to the bad angle and Nishima’s strength. A white glow surrounded me and the agony on my face was dialled down to a bearable pain. My shoulder also stopped protesting as much.

Maria was ‘so God help me’ing me! I Retraced and ended up back across the arena where I had taken a step before I had gotten thrown. Thank goodness for literal skill descriptions. Maria was still chanting and King was guarding her as ordered.

Nishima turned in confusion before he aimed his arm.

“What now?” I demanded and fired more fire pebbles. They struck his head and shoulders, causing some annoyance but it didn’t stop him from launching his drill fingers at me like missiles.

Missiles...

Oh! I turned on my newly minted Missile Defence buff and a ring of light surrounded my body. The ruined fingers came near and they seemed to lose momentum as they impacted my shield doing nothing. The one that was flattest was just spun away like a stick in a storm.

Nishima walked towards me like a metal skeleton with mad eyes. His black hair made him look... sullen and sunken. His hand shifted to become more like a giant blade. If he used that to charge... I don’t think I wanted to risk tanking it.

His arm began to flare with more jet power as if listening to my thoughts.

A barrage of hazy light bombarded Nishima and the arm ruptured like it was exploding from the inside.

“GOD DENOUNCES YOUR MAD SCIENCE! ONLY HE GETS TO MAKE WEIRD ANIMALS AND SHIT!” Maria hollered.

Teammates were so useful.

I charged as Nishima’s arm tried to refigure itself as one of his legs just gave out.

“ALPHA!” he called in a panic but nothing happened. Wasn’t that the robot we... uh smashed? I shield bashed his chin and he spawled back as his metal arm failed to support him.

He opened his mouth to scream again but I buried my mace into his face where the acid went wild.

“BE’-AH!” he gargled and I kept smashing. I just wanted this to end! There was a scuffle and I risked a glance to see King holding up a mech that looked like Alpha but was chrome coloured and had a nitrogen tank that spewed ice. King was squeezing as Maria blasted it to the dark ages.

I assumed this was ‘Beta’? Shit, was this a transforming boss with parts? Nishima tried to lash out a wire whip to the machine, it looked like a vein of connectors and bits.

I smashed it down with my shield and the acid ate through it. Nishima just began to scream in something close to dial tone. King was leaking silvery blood and the robot was causing him real damage but King held on, crushing the machine inch by inch.

He was protecting Maria until the end.

Nishima tried to stand but I hit him again and again. His gimmick shit wasn’t happening. I didn’t have viewers to please. I didn’t need to let the bad guys pull out their powers for a better showdown! I just had to win!

Something crunched and Nishima’s eyes went dark.

“H-h-h-ello. I am Nishima... p-p-please look a--after me!” the voice droned and then turned off. I turned but the Beta mech was junk as well. Maria was praying over the still form of King. I was above to move when there came an ominous beeping noise from Nishima’s corpse.

I just ran.

I didn’t look or stare. I moved like my life depended on. A massive force hit my back and everything went black. The next thing I knew, I was staring up at a relieved Maria. The walls looked black with soot and King was nuzzling my face.

“Did... we win?” I asked slowly.

“Well, Nishima is over there... and there... and there... and a bit over there,” she listed. I sighed with relief.

“Any drops?” I asked. Maria rolled her eyes.

“I’m fine by the way. King is gonna be fine,” she poked me on the shoulder which hurt. She did, however, pull out two yellow gems and an Indigo.

“Had to go find them. Nishima kinda exploded all over. I also got a ton of notifications!” Maria said as Portal appeared slowly and burped out confetti all over us.

We stared at it gave off a feeling of pride for its ability to congratulate us. I slowly turned to my own notifications as the darkness above erupted into movement. The Beings were doing all sorts of odd dancing and movement.

My nose began to bleed as I stared.

Maria slowly forced me to look away as my chest began to hurt.

“Ignore the happy things which we should not look at. Focus on your magical powers going up in-game boxes,” Maria said blankly as she wiped her own bloody tears.

“Let’s get out of here... I want to look up and see the sky without having a heart attack,” I grumbled. Portal gobbled us up without warning and we were sent back to the real world on a happy fun slide made of bone and energy atoms.