Shallow murky water intermittently passes under our feet as we continue our way down the long ‘corridor,’ which must really be just an old storm drain to keep the castle from flooding. Reuben hasn’t since said anything, which makes it hard to discern whether he’s telling the truth or not. But now too much time has passed, and he’d probably think I’m actually worried if I say anything now. So all I can really do is trudge on, through what smells like decomposed leaves and drowned rats.

“The door,” says Reuben finally. “It’s up ahead.”

“Great. Make sure you stomp real hard on your way to activate any mines that might blow us to pieces,” I mutter.

“There aren’t any traps down here,” he replies. “At least, no magical ones. The stupid soldiers with the loud armor kept making them explode when they happened to wander off.”

“Are you saying there’ll be more once we go through that door you mentioned?” I ask.

“Only the really lost ones,” he says. “But if the traps didn’t get them, the rat-people probably would have. They like to eat human.”

“Rat people? Just what the hell kinda place is this?” I say.

“Didn’t I tell you? A dungeon.”

“A... Wait, so not only is it a literal dungeon— like with cells and stuff, but it’s also that kinda dungeon?”

“And we’re at the very top,” he chimes. “You’ll probably have to fight the Rat King before you can get up to where the princess is!”

“A real dungeon, huh? Then this ‘Rat King’ is the boss?”

“Yep! I saw it eat a whole battalion once before!” says Reuben. “Remember how hard it was to beat m— I mean, to almost beat me?”

“Hey. If I was at my best, I’d have picked you off on my own. After all, you just kinda... crumpled after I broke your bowstring.”

“Ahaha! I let myself get caught!” he stammers. “Well, anyways... Even I try to avoid that thing. The rat people are the reason Caldevar is just a bunch of broken buildings.”

Seriously...? No joke...? Who the hell just cranked up the difficulty settings...?

“We’re starting on level one,” Reuben continues. “Father calls the monsters on this level the ‘rat peons.’ They’re really weak, but watch out! Their fangs have a poison aspect.”

“Can I assume they’re typical monster types? Like, the ones that turn to ash when you kill them?” I ask.

“Yup! And they won’t stop coming at you until you destroy the room’s spawn pool! They’re great target practice, and they never run out!”

“And drops? What kinda drops do they have?” I ask.

Reuben smirks. “One giant rat tail! Oh, and a special drop called an ‘ancient coin,’ if you’re lucky.”

“...Do they, by any chance, hold any... monetary value...?” I mutter. I know, I know. I shouldn’t be thinking of profit right now. But when I get back I’d kinda like to sleep in a bed that’s not stuffed with straw.

“Dunno. I always throw them into the lake,” Reuben replies.

“Yeah... that figures,” I sigh. “Are the girls really trapped all the way past the final boss?”

“Yup, and there’s a special path that will take us straight back up to the castle!”

“Good, good. Wait... Why the hell didn’t we just go with Pierce, then?!” I exclaim.

“Because then I wouldn’t get to see you fight the Rat King!” Reuben laughs.

“You think this’s all some kinda joke?” I shout, yanking his rope. “We don’t have time to be clearing whole-ass dungeons! How long is this one, even?”

“Don’t worry about it! All the monsters up until the last levels are super easy, even for a weakling like yourself!”

“Say that again, I dare you...” I mutter.

“Ah! The door!” Reuben glimmers, seeming to void all conversation we’d been having at once. He runs out to the extent that the rope lets him, and just points once he can’t get any further.

The door itself doesn’t seem to be anything special. Certainly not to the extent of a proper dungeon. If what Reuben says is true, then were the rat people attracted to the creation of a new dungeon? Or did the rat people’s attack on Caldevar all those centuries ago lead to the mana’s creation of the dungeon? Was this place even blessed by the mana? I think it might just be a rat’s nest.

I shuffle aside my anxieties for the moment and push open the door with one hand, holding my sword tight in the other. Peering through, I see that it’s pretty dark. There isn’t anything at all within the ignited Kenkui’s ring of light, which admittedly, isn’t all that distant. I decide it’s best to just take this challenge head on, causing me to step inside without a second’s delay.

Immediately as I do, multiple braziers suddenly ignite in each corner of the medium-sized room. The gnashing of large teeth is what follows, and through what look like large puddles of violet goo come crawling up the mangiest, most gnarled creatures I’ve yet seen. They look almost like hairy humans, but much more stout and with the heads of mutated rats. Their ‘skin’ is showing through their fur for the most part, and I use quotation marks there since most of it is just big lumps of irritated, pus-coated scabs. Their eyes are white all through, and some of them are missing parts entirely. But all seven that have showed up are each carrying rusty swords that look like long meat cleavers.

They seem to not notice me at first, bumping around each other and chattering a godawful sound with their teeth. But it doesn’t take long before their attention is brought to the near end of the room where I’m standing. The first looks at me and cocks its head before practically dislocating its jaw to let out a horrid cawing noise. The others take notice and abruptly spring to attack.

The first takes a leaping swing at me, which I block and swiftly decapitate. Its disembodied head lets out a gurgling sound before evaporating into black dust. The others are upon me by this time, and I dash to the side to evade their unified attack. My movement is impeded with Nora on my back, but not enough so that I can’t finish them with relative ease.

I spin around, cutting one in half before skewering another on the backswing. The dust they make discombobulates another, which I take down by kicking it over and crushing its chest with my foot. Three left. With a quick parry, another is left vulnerable. I heave it into one behind it before driving the blade through them both. The last one left seems unvexed by its companions’ deaths, which I can only suppose is the norm for monsters. But its chance to strike under the cover of the rest is gone, and is therefore defenseless when I knock aside its weapon and cleave it from shoulder to waist.

“B-Burn the spawn pool!” Reuben calls.

I ignite Kenkui and drive it down into the murky substance just as another begins to poke from it, going cleanly through its skull. The whole thing goes up in flames, and burns for a few seconds before disappearing completely.

“Ooh, look! An ancient coin! Lucky!” Reuben chimes, pointing to the floor with his foot. “I’m gonna go throw it in the lake!”

“Not— gonna happen,” I reply, picking it up before he can. Not that he could in the first place, with his hands bound. I shove it into one of the small pouches near my waist, with my thinking being that I can examine it more thoroughly once I’ve finished my business here.

“I’ll pick up the rat tails!” Reuben sings, hopping over.

“And how do you expect to do th—“

He bends down, opening his mouth to try to grab one with his teeth.

“...Dude,” I mutter.

A good dozen or so rooms later, and I’m starting to see a shift in things. The rats are getting more and more coordinated after every pass. Some are even carrying halfway decent weapons. Not that they’re much more difficult to handle, but it’s making me wonder if the boss is really anything I should be worried about. I mean, it’s bad game design to have just a bunch of low-leveled enemies before an endgame boss. Scratch that— it’d be bad design in general. But regardless, I can feel that we’re getting close. And I don’t want to be caught with my pants down, so I’m trying my best to keep my guard up for when we get there.

The final rat person of the thirteenth room is one with a plain iron sword and some kind of simple chest plate. It attacks with much more precision than any of its counterparts, and for a split second I’m on the defensive. I block twice and land a near perfect parry on the third, but it manages to swivel around to avoid a fatal blow. It’s starting to piss me the hell off. I once again take to the offense, throwing two slices that it slinks around.

“You little shit!” I holler, driving forward a third. It chatters as if mocking me, before sprinting back towards me.

Suddenly, I feel a weight off my back. Nora leaps into the air, pivoting upside down and landing behind the creature before driving her two knives like a pair of scissors through its throat.

“...So you’re able to walk again, huh?” I say to her.

“Eh? She shouldn’t be able to,” Reuben mutters.

“I don’t like being carried,” Nora replies.

“Th-That isn’t explanation enough to—“

“It is.”

“But it really isn—“

“It is.”

She walks over to the door leading to the next room, placing a hand on it to open it. I quickly put an end to the spawn pool and reluctantly join her.

“All these rat tails are really going to waste...” Reuben mutters.

“What the hell are they good for?” I reply.

“Hehehe, that’s my secret,” he grins.

“Whatever.”

Nora presses the door, and it slowly creaks open. We’re met with something somewhat new, a long corridor that curves lazily to the right. The dungeon so far has been an array of rooms, sometimes with multiple exits, but they’ve all led to around the same point. This is the first long hallway I’ve seen here.

“It’s right up ahead!” Reuben hollers, rushing forward as far as his rope will let him.

“Yeah. Gathered that much,” I say.

We begin down the hall with Reuben in the front, then me, and Nora not too far behind. The hall is long, and the curve actually ends up at a shallow descent which leads us deeper underground. Other than the echoes of our feet against the ancient stone, it feels like for the longest of time, we walk in complete silence.

Three minutes, or what feels like three hours later, I feel Nora’s hand on my shoulder. I turn to her, but it looks like she won’t completely meet my gaze.

“Sometime,” she mutters. “...S-Sometime... There are things that I want to tell you. That I want to talk with you about. And I will tell you... Sometime.”

“Can I ask something?” I say.

She hesitates for a moment, but then nods.

“Did you know those soldiers were brainwashed... when you...”

“The simpler answer is yes, I did. And... no, as well.” Nora pauses a second before continuing. “Their minds were devoid. I could somehow see into them, and they all... weren’t there. I know what it is you really want to know, and the answer is I don’t know myself. So no, I didn’t know before that they could not be saved.”

“Then...”

“Everything and more, I will tell you. Even if it takes years for that time to come, I want to tell you.”

“...Wait... And what about now?” I ask. “I think I know what’s about to happen here. And it will happen, unless you tell me what’s going on.”

“I will... but I need you to promise me something. That... you won’t forget me, no matter what.”

“What? Of course I wouldn’t,” I say. “You’ve been asking me that for months, and my answer isn’t any different than the first time. How could I?”

“It’s just that—“

“Quiet now, both of you—!” Reuben hisses. “The king is in the next room, over there. See the exit? We need to be— C-Cyrus—!”

I hand Reuben’s rope to Nora, and by the time he calls my name I’m already on my way to the exit. I take out Kenkui and ignite it in a fiery blaze. The exit’s door is busted in as I kick it through. I find myself in a large open room, dimly-lit by braziers in the far corners.

The room smells of death. Like corpses laid out for a week. I turn to face the ominous presence that’s just to my left. A pile of bones still red from being picked clean lay crushed and splintered under the solid weight of the figure above. Squatting at an already massive height of maybe two stories tall is a bulbous, horridly scabbed and pus-coated monster that makes it look like the rat people before had flawless skin in comparison. The area around its long snout is dripping with bits of flesh and ground bone powder.

“Is say you’re an ugly bastard, but that much is a given,” I say. “I’m gonna take all my pent-up frustration out on you, alright?”

Of the abilities I possess, only one combination is of interest. I’ve dubbed it ‘The Executioner,’ a combination of enhancements that relies on absolute muscle control and advanced reaction speeds at the cost of a good deal of stamina. I know any kind of muscle enhancement isn’t good for my body in the first place, but I don’t care. I’m gonna kill it and then I’m gonna force Nora to tell me what she was going to say. Yeah, that’s exactly how it’s gonna go down.

In what I’d call the boss’s ‘intro animation,’ it slowly lurches itself off of its throne of human remains, looks me through, and lets out a menacing roar. I subconsciously feel my stamina take a hit, but in turn the power in my chest seems to only expand. From past experience, I’ve been able to cleave down whole trees with one swing. I’m gonna do the same thing to the creature’s leg.

As I burst forward, running significantly faster than I could without, I manage to get up close enough to take a swing at it. The power exerted by my arm causes steam to lift from my skin as I drive my blade at the beast. But then, he was gone. I hastily interrupt my motion to turn around. I quickly glance over the area, when suddenly it crashes down from above, knocking me backwards quite a ways.

I manage to keep my ground, but I’m still stuck in shock at its speed. I start back towards it, carefully examining it to see the exact moment when it leaps. But this time, it doesn’t leap. It instead swivels on its feet and whips its long, bare tail at me. I just barely duck under it and continue forward. I guess it’s surprised that I dodged it, and it takes a second more for it to leap than before, long enough that I’m able to graze it with a quick swing before it disappears again. But I won’t be tricked again.

Just after it disappears, I leap backwards, avoiding the impact range of its body attack when it comes crashing down again. As it does, I dash back towards it and land a heavy hit to its large stomach. It reels, thrashing around in response and again whips its tail. Of course, I don’t just dodge, but instead I take its tail’s momentum and use it to completely sever it as it passes by. The tail flails on the ground for a few seconds before disintegrating.

“Cyr!” I hear from the side. Nora has just caught up, and I can see Reuben pulling back in restraint.

“Stay back!” I yell. “I’ve got this!”

“No! I can’t sit on the sidelines any longer!” she exclaims.

“Do what he says, stupid girl—!” Reuben shouts in his struggle.

The Rat King, whose eyes now glow a dark red, notices the two of them and suddenly shifts his attack. Reuben realizes this just in time and suddenly rushes forward, slamming into Nora and causing her to fall forwards, just out of the way as the boss crashes down on top of them. Nora is blown to the side, but Reuben was directly below it. I see him for just a split second, coughing up blood from the impact just before the debris clouds my vision. But through it, the monster jumps once again, this time straight at me. I grit my teeth and prepare for another attack. My legs are getting sore, and I can sense ‘Executioner’ fading. I don’t have too much mana left either, but if I want to kill it now, I’m going to need to use the Synchronization technique as well. I slide past the fast-approaching boss and land a projectile attack to its back using the air Synchronus. It snarls and whips back around.

“Yeah, just keep your eyes right here, you mangey tub of lard,” I mutter, keeping its attention away from Nora. Oh, and Reuben too, I guess. He’s way too strong to have died to that. But I’m probably gonna end up carrying him, anyways.

The Rat King bounds towards me, but the loss of its tail has wreaked havoc on its sense of equilibrium. I slide under its charge attack and completely cleave its back left appendage from its body. With the loss of support, it slams into the ground and slides a good ways before scampering up onto its good hind leg and screeching furiously at me. It tries to jump, but it can barely get off the ground with only one leg. This is my last chance. I rush him, throwing one, two, three air Synchronus in alternating degrees to further injure the rat while I’m at a distance. Once I’m close enough, I switch tactics by using the fire Synchronus in a horizontal manner across its large belly to slice it open, then using the lip of the wound as a stepping stone to go even higher. I kick off, and now I’ve come face to face with the Rat King.

“Now die, you bastard!” I yell, winding up to throw the rest of the ‘Executioner’ power into this last attack. I feel my arms start to burn, steam rising from the gaps in my armor. I yell once more as I send the shot that runs clean through the Rat King’s neck. An eruption of black dust fills the air around me, and I begin to fall back to the ground. The Rat King has disintegrated completely by the time I land once more on the solid stone floor.

“...Nora,” I say. The dust has cleared, and I see her just starting to stand. “Now I’m going to ask you this, and I expect you to answer to the best of your ability.”

Nora breathes heavily, and she’s bent over in some kind of pain. She must’ve taken more damage than I thought. But that doesn’t mean I’m backing down now.

“What I’m going to ask is...” I say. “...That you tell me exactly what it is on your mind that now isn’t supposedly the time for. I won’t accept any excuses, only the answer.”

“...I’m sorry. But we won’t have the time, the way things are going.” She lets go of the wall and glances to me with a distant look. It takes me a second, but I realize she isn’t actually looking at me in the first place. Rather, something just beyond. I spin around, but nothing’s there. I could sense that there was just a second ago, but it’s gone. I turn back around.

“It’s about time you made it here, wielder of the Ira Caelorum. Though... that isn’t quite right, now is it?”

I snap to attention as I notice a red-robed man standing not too far from Nora.

“Bald head, red robe... scary eyes,” I mutter. “You’re—“

Before I can finish my sentence, something thin and fast flies past me and hits some sort of barrier right in front of the red-robed man. I turn, realizing Reuben’s bow is no longer fastened to my back. In the rubble of the ruined floor where Reuben was attacked by the Rat King, he’s sat up on one knee. Reuben has his bow outstretched, his other hand open by his ear like he released an arrow. Blood runs down his face from beyond his hairline, forcing him to hold one eye shut. He seems weak, like that one shot took it all out of him.

“Long... Long time no see... Baldy,” he breathes.

The red-robed man frowns as he smashes the discarded arrow underfoot. The light leaves Reuben’s eyes, and he collapses.

“Alright, what do you want, stereotypical baddie number seven hundred and twelve?” I say.

“...I have come to set some things in motion,” he says. He strolls over to Nora and grabs her by her hair, pulling her up so she’s nearly off the ground. “For this, I just need one little girl.”

“If you’re casually grabbing my partner like that, then you’ve obviously already come to grips with your own demise,” I mutter, gripping Kenkui even harder. “Put her down. Now.”

“The fact that I welcome death and am holding your partner by her scalp are two separate entities,” he replies. “To put this aside, let me ask you something else. Do you know of Caldevaric Brain Slugs?”

“Put her down, and I might be inclined to answer,” I say.

“By the time I put her down, said parasite will already have done its job. For you see, it has already embedded itself deep within her subconscious. It is only waiting on my word to rewrite her brain entirely.”

“That so...?”

I may not be the best judge to tell if someone’s telling the truth, but it really doesn’t seem like he’s lying. Maybe it’s just how new I am to this world, but I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that psychic slugs exist. But assuming he isn’t lying, then I just need to distract him until I can think of some way out of this.

“Mind if I ask you something now?” I say. “Why her? What do you hope to gain?”

“A tool,” he replies. “Perhaps an ally. But what we truly seek lies within her.”

This causes me to freeze up for a moment. “... A-And what do you mean by that?”

“Of those you have acquainted yourself with, we have found her to be your greatest weakness,” he says.

“‘We?’ You wouldn’t happen to be allied with those creeps from Velaruux’s tomb, would you?” I mutter. “And how, exactly, is she my greatest weakness?”

“She is your greatest weakness— in that she is one you could never strike down, even should she become your enemy. It is one of many tactics we possess to counter Scourge.”

This rubs me the wrong way.

“You... Bastard!” I shout. “Leave her out of this!”

He throws her towards me, and she crumples on the ground. I rush over to her and scoop her into my arms.

“Just what do you think you’re doing now?” I glower, scowling up at him.

“By the name which my master has granted me, I, Elstaire of the Six, release the seal which beckons the rebirth of this lost soul into that of a new vassal,” the robed man chants.

“W-Wait—! N—“

Nora’s body suddenly convulses, and she tears herself from my arms. She grips her shoulders and with wide eyes her mouth opens to scream. As she does, a pale violet light explodes from her body, and I move to shield my eyes but the brightness easily penetrates it.

“Nora!” I know I shout, but my voice is drowned out by a high pitched ringing in my ears.

As the light dims, I find that the man named Elstaire is gone.

“Nora!” I shout. “Nora, where are you?!”

I get to my feet.

“To end is to begin anew.”

“Nora?”

“To begin anew is to stare ahead, blissfully unaware of that which came before.”

“N-Nora...?”

I’m suddenly hit in the back of the head. The sheer intensity causes my head to spin for a moment. I scramble to my feet and meet head-on whatever it was.

“To begin anew means to burn the bridges of one’s past in pursuit of something greater.”

The violet light hangs around Nora like a sickening halo. She’s floating high above me, with her arms out like a crucifix. Her eyes are blank, devoid of any emotion.

“N-Nora!” I scream. “Snap out of it, Nora!”

I know it won’t help.

‘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.‘

‘Yeah. I know.’

“My purpose stems from a single negative thought.”

It’s Nora’s voice saying that. But it’s not coming from her mouth.

“That thought was a handhold for the darkness to creep in. One single thought.”

I’m at a loss. Screw this mission. What do I do...?

“Now the final bridge stands before me. The bringer of the darkness. I will burn it down.”

That feeling I had was right. But I never thought it would happen like this. There she is, high above me, with a power I can’t comprehend. An enemy... that I can’t fight.