Mid-afternoon greets us with yet another platoon of silvery-armored traitors blocking our path forward. With Reuben Khol as nothing but dead weight, and Nora on my shoulders, we’re immediately at a disadvantage. In squares, they line up before us. I’m not exactly sure what to expect of this.

Pierce takes a stand before them. “Soldiers— or perhaps former soldiers... of Seynith, with who do you side?”

We’re currently on this sorta outcropping, where the small army is just below. Maybe Pierce was anticipating more of a reaction, but nobody says a thing.

“Let me ask again... With who— does your allegiance fall?” he calls out. “I am Vice-Admiral Pierce, for the glorious Adventurers Guild. Knowing that, mine falls with Seynith and His Highness. It goes without saying anyone opposing him or his people is an enemy of mine. To support the ones guilty of abducting the princess of Seynith is a crime I will not forgive.”

He’s still met with silence.

“...Why didn’t we ask the same stuff with the last batch of these traitors...?” I mutter.

“Because someone was too eager to kill, and spilled a quarter of their forces’ blood before I could crest the ridge,” he replies, looking back down to me. “But they don’t respond regardless, so the events of prior are likely now to repeat.”

Nora looks off in the distance, a blatant attempt at removing the attention from herself. I sigh, and slowly let her down off my back. Pierce does something much similar, though instead choosing to toss the unconscious Reuben to the floor like a sack of flour.

“What the hell are you doing, you bumbling brute?!” Reuben shouts, wriggling in his binds.

“Ah, so you’ve awoken,” says Pierce.

“Go to hell!” he retorts.

Pierce turns to Lilith. “Make sure neither of these two try anything. If the girl does, restrain her. If the worm-son does, kill him.”

“I know what to do without you telling me,” Lilith replies.

“...Avette and I will rid of these traitors,” he finishes. He then approaches me. “How shall we deal with this?”

“You take the left half, I take the right,” I say. I can’t help but give a weak chuckle. “Man, this much killing should be illegal. No, wait— Wrong choice of words.”

“Don’t overthink it. This is far from the peaceful world you know.”

“Yeah—“ I say as I gather a running start. I can hear the enemy readying their blades. And despite it all, I let out a loud laugh. “Ain’t that the goddamn truth!”

At the slaught— err, battle’s end, Pierce and I meet back in the middle.

“It was one sided, to say the least,” he says.

“Right?! I mean— is it bad that I don’t feel anything in doing this?”

“Have you ever stared into the frightened eyes of someone begging you to have mercy?”

“Err... no? Should I be worried about you...?”

“I was only making a point. If the only ones you’ve killed were those who had enough backbone to accept their fate, then it is only natural.”

“Eh...? Wait... that makes sense. Kinda...?” I think back. The first man I killed... He cursed my name till the second he lost his head. I haven’t felt that guilt before because I’ve let them go if I start to feel anything. And these guys... Any normal soldier would turn tail and run as soon as they realized they were on the losing side. But they didn’t. The last one standing stood the same as when they were all together— almost like a video game. Either they have wills of steel, or...

“Ah, shit, I think I’m gonna puke,” I mutter.

“What’s gotten into you?”

“Think we just killed a bunch of innocent soldiers who happened to be brainwashed?”

“Without a doubt,” he replies.

“Then what the hell are—?!”

“You obviously don’t know what it means to be brainwashed in this world,” he says. “It’s just as the word suggests. Their brains are wiped clean. Everything that made them what they once were is no longer there. Unlike what the media in your world may lead you to believe, there is no real way to return the mind of someone who has lost it. In a sense, they are already dead. We are just the ones laying their bodies to rest.”

“...So we’re going to kill the guy that did this, right?” I mutter, gritting my teeth.

“Of course.”

“Even if they beg for forgiveness?”

“Oh, they will. And I do not intend to give them any.”

“Good. If for some reason I end up trying to spare him, then drive that weird sword through his heart for me.”

“Was it ever a question of whether I would?”

“Good point. And good talk. Shall we?”

“Let us question the brat. Then we will take the castle by storm.”

“Ahh, can’t wait.”

He pauses, then turns to me.

“Before I forget... Don’t you have anything else to wonder of?” he asks.

“Huh? Don’t think so. Why?”

“I just figured you would be relieved to know that the girl— That Nora wasn’t just killing haphazardly.”

“What...? Wait, do you think... That she already knew they were brainwashed?”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not. Maybe this will assuage your worries. Or maybe it will only pique them.”

“What do you think?”

“Why do you ask me?”

“Well because I’m at the end of my fucking line here. She’s been in a slow spiral for the past six months but I was too dense to notice it until now when it’s finally gone and uppercutted me in the gut.”

“I see. Well... I cannot vouch for my own ability to justify human cognition, but I also don’t see anything you can do to change that right now.”

“Yeah— well now that’s the fuckin’ problem, now isn’t it,” I mutter. “Alright, I get it. I was all gung-ho just a second ago. Let’s just kill the bastard responsible so I can make things right in my own life.”

As we approach the planing where the other three are, I’m pleased to see that nothing bad has come of it. Reuben is still wriggling in his binds, but with such thin features, it’s no surprise he hasn’t gotten anywhere.

“There,” says Pierce. “Now that the second nuisance is dealt with, let us now handle the first.” He grabs Reuben by the ropes and hoists him well off the ground.

“Hehe, finally come to admit your weakness, Vice Pitiful?” Reuben jeers.

“Question number one. What is your father’s business with the princess?” Pierce demands.

“No clu-u-u-ue,” Reuben sings.

“Let me ask this again. What are your father’s intentions for the princess?!” he bursts, shaking Reuben’s rope.

“Dunno-o-o,” Reuben replies.

Pierce, evidently trying to hold back a cry of outrage, drops Reuben back to the floor.

“Ow, that hurt! Go to hell, Vice Admiral Piss!”

“Question two,” says Pierce, leaning in. “Answer this truthfully, or I will turn that bow you love so much to a pile of ash.”

“Ehh?! H-Hey, that’s no fair! Go to hell! Go to hell!” Reuben protests, flopping profusely along the ground.

“Who is your father working with? Who helped him achieve such a task?”

“You mean Baldy?”

“‘Baldy?’” Pierce asks.

“Big red robe, shiny bald head— Oh, and scary eyes! He stopped all my arrows when I shot him yesterday!”

“A red robe...? A mage, then? As we suspected, but...” Pierce pauses. “And what is his real name?”

“Only saw him once.”

Pierce lets out a sigh. Slowly, he shuffles off to the side and picks something off the ground, the bow Reuben had used in our fight. Pierce lifts a knee, raises the wooden thing high over his head, and—

“No, stop! I’ll tell you everything! Everything I know!” Reuben exclaims.

“Start talking,” Pierce growls.

“O-Okay... S-So I don’t know anything about my father’s plans... But I do know where the princess is—! She’s in her own cell in the dungeon with all the others!” he says.

“The others?”

“There are a lot of girls down there.” he says plainly.

“Hold it,” I say. “...Girls? Other than the princess?”

“They’re for the soldiers. That’s what father said,” he replies.

“...The kidnappings!” I exclaim. Pierce and Lilith look to each other. I clear my throat. “Over the past six months, Nora and I came across dozens of missing persons notices. All girls. All disappearing in the same way. I mean, with how many people there are in the First Rung, I couldn't gather the correlation to prove it was one single kidnapper. Even so, I looked into it for weeks, but not a single clue came through. If what this kid is saying is true, then all those missing girls—“

“Are here in Caldevar,” Pierce nods. “That explains how all the soldiers were brainwashed.”

“What’s that have to do with anything? Should they even need that if they’ve been brainwashed?” I ask.

“The human mind isn’t that simple. It requires motive to perform even the most basic of tasks,” says Lilith. “Give an empty man something like pleasure, and they will guard it with their lives in fear of losing it again. If... If those poor women are being used in that way...”

Suddenly, a pain shoots through my heart. I clutch my chest. My skin grows hot, and sweat begins to pour down my face. Images flash through my mind, but I’m unable to comprehend them quick enough and they sink back down to the depths in which they came. I gasp for air, and eventually my skin cools and I’m able to think with a level head.

“Cyr! What happened? Are you alright?” asks Lilith.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine, I just...” I pause. “I’m fine. Sorry.”

It felt like something I’d kept repressed had suddenly emerged for just that quick moment. For that moment, I felt this flurry of emotion, like extreme sadness, frustration... But it’s gone now. As quickly as it had come on.

“I-In any case, we’ve got another objective now,” I continue. “As it stands, we’re out to do three things: Delve deep into the Caldevar Dungeon, rescue the princess as well as the kidnapped girls, and kill Wyrmton and his subordinate. Or vise versa, whichever comes first.”

“In that case, perhaps it would be best to split up,” says Pierce. “It may sever our strength, but with the power we each possess as individuals, I can see no further problems arising.”

“That was a death flag, if ever I heard one,” I mutter. “If you think that’s best, then you and I can—“

“No. Lilith and I will track down the organizer of this travesty,” he replies. It may be late for the thought, but despite Wyrmton’s obvious treachery, he is still a noble. Without a title like mine... If you were to strike him down, the other nobles would likely order your execution regardless.”

“Shit, really...?” I say. “I mean, they gave off shitty vibes each and every one of them, but to think that they’d really stoop that low...”

“...However, if you took on the other half of this mission, quite the opposite would occur,” he continues. “Rescue the princess, and should they be there, free the enslaved women. It is about time to put that sense of heroics you keep spouting off on to the test. If that is truly what you believe in.”

“Eh?”

“I once thought that that recognition was the last piece I was missing,” he says. “But now that I’ve found that piece, the one that fills that gap in my soul the most, I realized I want nothing to do with it. So, as to fulfill your goal, rescue the princess. Be the hero this day, and allow me to instead stain my hands in—“

“Booo—! Boring! Stupid story!” Reuben hollers from the ground.

“And why should I care what you think? You are just baggage. I should kill you where you lay, ” Pierce replies.

“...He does bring up a point, though,” I mutter.

“Just as I thought! Touching words are wasted on you, Avette!” Pierce hollers.

“Th-That’s not what I meant—!” I sputter. “I mean— what are we going to do with Reuben? And Nora, since she can’t walk...”

“...Oh, is that so? Apologies.” Pierce clears his throat. “We can kill the worm-son now that we have all we need from him. As for the girl— you haven’t had any trouble carrying her so far. But you may have to carry the princess out, as well. What is your strength index?”

“I mean... I can break palm-sized rocks in my hand now, if that’s any indication,” I say. “...with my power, that is...”

“You should do fine. Now... let us be rid of this little—“

“Hold on,” I say. “Reuben Khol’s been to the dungeon before. He might know how to get there.”

“Go to hell! ‘He’ is also present and able to hear people talking about him!” Reuben retorts.

“If you think you can use him, then be my guest,” Pierce shrugs. “I personally can not wait to be rid of him.”

“Cyrus has my back! Cyrus won’t let you kill me! Because Cyrus has already fallen to my incredible power!” Reuben taunts.

“It’s not too late to change my mind,” I glower. “Uh... Pierce, if you’d please cut his legs free— I’ll have him walk on his own.”

Pierce does so, and hands me one end of Reuben’s rope. He then grabs him and pulls him to his feet. Then a fleeting thought has me wonder where he found this rope in the first place.

“I won’t let him outta my sight,” I say. “We can split off once we get up to the keep. Assuming this castle adheres to basic fantasy ruined castle trends, there should be an entrance to the dungeons around there.”

“Ehh, wrong!” chimes Reuben. “Dungeon’s to the west! Won’t be able to get to the dungeons through there unless you go a-a-all the way past the throne room where father’s holed up!”

“The throne room? That is where we will find him, then?” says Pierce. Reuben abruptly covers his mouth. “Very well. Then you will lead Avette to wherever the best dungeon entrance is, wherever it may be. Lilith and I will go straight through the keep, minding the traps that are clearly set out for us.”

“And we’ll do the same,” I reply. “Should we go?”

“I would say we are as prepared as we can be. Let us head off,” Pierce nods. He drops down from the raised planing and then turns around to help Lilith down as well.

“Ready?” I ask, turning to Nora.

She nods, but doesn’t say anything. Big surprise there. I turn back around and help hoist her up onto me. Her legs dangle uselessly behind me as I try to wrap my arms around them for support.

“Hey, hey, you’re too slow. That girl is slowing you down,” says Reuben.

“And whose fault would that be?” I grimace. “You’re gonna pay for that, y’know. Don’t think you’re being let off the hook.”

“I lied about severing the girl’s leg tendons, by the way,” he says. “I just tweaked a nerve that paralyzes muscle movement for a bit. She was being annoying, you know.”

“And of course you think the logical thing to do would be to shoot her in the legs,” I glower.

“She’ll be able to feel them again in an hour or so. And walk just a bit after that.”

“You’re still getting what’s coming to you,” I mutter.

“Can’t wait!” he whistles.

The castle sits atop a steep hill nestled against a long cliff face. The hill itself falls off into a lake, where it becomes its own cliff of sorts, and in it you can just barely see an old inlay where the dungeon entrance supposedly is. There is a small pathway just before the large castle gate that I would have missed entirely had I not already been looking for it. Reuben, who I’ve had walking in front as a sort of sweeping stick, stops at it and looks down the way.

“We go down here,” he says.

“Then this is where we part ways,” Pierce replies, walking up from behind us. “We meet up here when our job is done. Keep an eye out for traps, especially once the princess and the other girls have been freed. There will most certainly be some, and I cannot guarantee they will disappear when the mage is dead.”

“Yeah. Why do you think I’m having Reuben walk in front of me?” I say with only a hint of sarcasm.

“Then farewell. I wish you luck in your endeavors,” he says. “Oh— by the way, why don’t you take this? Use it as leverage if you need help keeping the worm-son in line.”

He hands me Reuben’s unstrung bow. He then turns back ahead, and he and Lilith move on without another word.

“Come on. Quit staring and let’s go,” says Reuben, lightly pulling at the rope with the weight of his body.

“You’re still a meat shield. Don’t start getting cocky just because you have the front,” I mutter, handing the bow over my shoulder to Nora. “Get moving. I’m ready to have this long behind me.”

...Or so I say. I hate to admit it, but Pierce kinda made a fair point back there. If I take credit for rescuing the princess and the other kidnapped girls, they’ll practically beg me to accept the title of Hero. And Pierce’s already cool with leaving it to me, so there’s no worries there. My goal is fast approaching, shaping itself right before my very eyes. I mean... I figured I’d be a little more liquid when the time came around, but what can I say.

“You have that creepy look on your face again...” mutters Nora from over my shoulder.

“Eh—? H-Hey, shut up. You’re imagining things,” I sputter.

“No matter,” she huffs, falling back into silence.

“I’m not creepy. You’re creepy,” I mutter under my breath.

We start walking at a medium pace, being careful to heed the obvious need for caution while traversing such a thin path. As we go along, the way just keeps getting steeper, and the cliff down below keeps getting closer and closer to the ground under our feet.

Before I know it, the path is replaced entirely by wooden platforms suspended by metal pikes driven into the stone walls to our right. The hill far down below recedes slowly into the rocky lake shore, making for a rather disconcerting shuffle to the outcrop in the cliff— made worse with the fact that I still have Nora on my back. By the time we get across, my palms are so sweaty that I have to take off my gloves to dry them. After, I look towards the entrance to instead find a large metal grate blocking our way.

“Alright... now what?” I mutter.

“I can slip through these bars easy,” says Reuben.

“Well unlike you, I’m no half-pint,” I say. “Alright, just stand back. I’m gonna try something.”

I take out Kenkui and hold it in front of me.

One aspect of my power is that I can pick and choose exactly what it affects. In this case, I imagine my fortitude increasing significantly. Put into what the Bloodstained Hero said regarding Ira Caelorum, I guess that augmentation falls under the ‘willpower’ aspect of the three. I clear my head and imagine an invisible force that flows as freely as the air.

‘Mana which surrounds me, fills my being and quantifies my soul, I ask that you inhabit my blade so that I may conquer this obstacle and reach my objective within,’ I say in my head.

It was the one phrase the Bloodstained Hero had me memorize to perfect the Blade Synchronicity technique. A way to bypass the training I would otherwise have to endure. I just have to state my intentions to the mana to get it on my side, as I understand it. From there, I can control the output using my own mana. So really, I don’t have full control of it. To put it in other words, I may be the tinder that sustains the fire, but to light it on my own is something else entirely. That said... what I can use now is already pretty incredible.

“Focus the power... An explosion of magical power contained in the blade,” I mutter. “Keep it contained... Keep it contained...”

The blade begins to heat up, slowly growing red as mana is forced through just the blade at its most chaotic state. It’s really inefficient, and I can feel my energy slowly draining from me, but I’m still confident it’ll work. I place the blade through one of the bars and begin to slowly drive it horizontally. At first, not much happens, but as I press harder I see the bars begin to glow red where my blade is touching it. It’s not long before I push completely through the first one, and the second the second, third, and fourth. I take my blade and do the same down below until there’s a cut space in the grate plenty big enough for me to fit through.

When I release the Synchronization, I immediately feel the full extent of my weariness. To keep that up for as long as I did, I must’ve used up more mana than I intended. Honestly, it feels like I just went out for a long run— but with more of a... soul-tugging aspect, if you will. This isn’t good. If I need to use Blade Synchronization again, I’ll be in trouble.

“Hey, lemme rest here a minute,” I mutter. “I just... I...”

But as I say it, I suddenly feel a weird sensation coming from my back. It starts around my shoulder blades and crawls down my spine before shooting back up and spreading out to my limbs. I’m then enveloped in this sort of warmth that relaxes my muscles and makes my head feel a little light.

“Woah, your cape! It’s glowing!” Reuben exclaims.

“Eh—? Oh, would you look at that,” I say. “Wait... Oh, no shit! Wasn’t the cape made out of some sort of... mana-absorbent material? So that’s how it works, huh...?”

My mana levels seem to be stabilizing. Not that I really know how to measure for sure. But the strained feeling is gone, which is good. Strangely, my cape has gone from a crimson color to a light gray after the glowing faded. But what’s most important is that I’m feeling perfectly ready to take on whatever comes next.

Reuben first steps through the hole, and I follow a few paces behind. No traps so far. But I am starting to feel this steadily increasing sense of an imminent dread. Totally unfounded, right? I mean, what’s delving down a pitch black corridor under the crumbling castle inhabited by a maniacal rapist with his own private army of brainwashed soldiers? Fuck me, if I didn’t get the short stick on this one.

It’s maybe a few dozen meters down that Reuben suddenly stops and turns to me. There’s this weird look on his face, and he’s got on a creepy smile. The light just barely reaches here, and I’m using a much less powerful version of the same fire Synchronus I’d used before, so the light it casts on his face makes it only worse.

“I forgot to mention one more little detail...” he says. “This dungeon... Anything your friends find above... is nothing compared to the horrors you’ll find down here.”