MINOR WOUND

Your health has decreased by 5%

Dallion winced as one of the paws stretching from the chainling’s body slashed his right side. Unable to attack him through direct means, the creature had resolved to launching strands and appendages from its body. Most of the attacks were easy to evade, but now and again some would hit, chipping away at Dallion’s health. For the first time Dallion saw what the guardians facing him must have felt. Now that the roles had become reversed, fighting off a stubborn opponent refusing to die became increasingly annoying.

“Keep attacking!” Dallion shouted. “I’ll be the bait!”

Having the other guildmates help would have been a huge plus, although he still could only rely on one of them. Falkner, who had the most skills of everyone present, still refused to get involved; he kept his distance from the chainling. At least Bel had joined in actively, throwing knives at a distance. The way she was able to keep bombarding the creature with knives while only possessing half a dozen was extremely impressive, not to mention raised a few questions. According to what Nil had told Dallion, one had to enter double digit territory in order to summon weapons directly in their hands. Technically, it was possible that Bel had increased her level to double digits since they met. However, she definitely wasn’t back during the selection trial and was still able to pull it off, or so Dallion remembered.

I’ll have to ask Nil about this as well. Dallion sighed mentally. The questions were getting more than he could remember.

MINOR WOUND

Your health has decreased by 5%

Another strand pierced through Dallion’s leg, reducing his health to two-thirds. This time, though, he took advantage and managed to land a shot in the creature’s torso. The damage didn’t seem too high.

Well, I can be a nuisance as well, Dallion thought. This was definitely going to be a war of attrition. There was one main difference, something that had taken Dallion a while to notice: this entire battle he had barely used markers. That wasn’t to say that the markers weren’t there, they were appearing in their signature colors for all to see. Unlike before, in nearly all cases they appeared fragments of a second after Dallion had already started the sequence. It was almost as if they were following his movements.

Thanks, Nil. All your training paid off. Dallion smiled.

“Falkner, get your head in the game!” Bel shouted.

Maybe it was the high pitch of her voice, or the fact that the chainling’s movements were getting slower, but the boy came out of his mental paralysis. Taking a step back, he looked at the situation, absorbing everything that had happened in the last minutes. Then, after another moment of hesitation, he darted forward.

Falkner’s attack method was vastly different from the other two. While Bel and Dallion relied on ranged attacks, the boy resorted to melee. Reaching out, he summoned his weapon—one that Dallion hadn’t seen him wield before—a polearm.

New marker patterns emerged. Starting from the weapon, they stretched towards the chainling in the form of a prolonged cone. The strange thing was that the cone was hollow inside.

When he saw the attack trajectory, Dallion jumped back. Even if they were on the same side, he doubted that things like friendly fire were ignored in normal combat. Instants later he was proven right.

CRITICAL HIT

Dealt Damage increased by 200%

MINOR WOUND

Your health has decreased by 5%

Two red rectangles appeared in the air. One was the result of Falkner’s attack on the chainling, the other—the result of Dallion not being able to move away fast enough.

Damn it, Falkner! He thought, although at the same time he was pleased that the boy had finally joined in the battle. With all three fighting the chainling cub, things were starting to look better by the minute.

“You take close combat!” Dallion instructed. “We’ll support you with ranged. Okay?”

Falkner attacked again in response, causing two new red rectangles to appear. This time, all the damage was done to the enemy.

“Can anyone see its health?” Dallion asked, even if he suspected what the answer would be.

“It should be zero by now,” Bel replied.

So much for helpful comments.

“Do you have any idea, Nox?” he whispered.

The crackling didn’t respond. The ongoing fight kept it on edge. Faced with a great unknown, Dallion decided to take a gamble and do one thing he was getting progressively better at.

“Bel, cover me!” he shouted, hoping she would understand the reference.

Letting go of his blade and dartbow, Dallion reached for his lyre. He then took a deep break and focused on the emotions streaming from the chainling.

The more Dallion focused, the more the chainling looked like a black hole—at least the one described in YouTube videos. A giant emotionless void surrounded the creature, enveloping it complete. Bloodlust streamed from the edge of the void, radiating everywhere about. That had to be the reason why Dallion had felt the bloodlust long before seeing the creature. Given that Nox had started acting funny from the second level on, there had to be a lot of bloodlust involved.

However, things didn’t end there. There was an incredibly faint trace of further emotions trying to crack through the void. It wasn’t the first time Dallion had felt them, but this was the most pronounced. Apparently, they appeared whenever the chainling received damage, only to dissipate soon after.

Here goes nothing. Dallion concentrated on the feeling of bloodlust.

It was easy to match the strings that resonated in a similar fashion. However, when he pulled them, there was no sound. Confused, Dallion tried again. He could see the string vibrate, but still heard nothing. No marker appeared, not any other indication he had succeeded or failed. It was as if the bloodlust couldn’t be copied.

“Watch out!” Bel shouted, just in time for Dallion to evade the black strands heading his way. Almost simultaneously Falkner did a piercing attack aimed at the chainling’s weak spot. Sadly, the strike missed its mark. With a twist, the creature managed to move away just enough so that the tip of the polearm hit its side. The damage was negligible, although it managed to cause an eruption of emotions for Dallion to see.

Fear, hate, hope… that was a strange combination of emotions to have. Even so, Dallion grasped the opportunity, focusing on the easiest. Still in the air, his fingers pulled the lyre’s strings. This time there was a reaction. The blue marker indicators emerged, starting their movement along the strings to its extremities. Waiting for precisely the right moment, Dallion played the strings again. Alas, as the sound was made, the void smothered everything, making the chainling impervious again.

I have to time it as well? Dallion grumbled. It was like having a timer within a timer. He had to wait for the creature to get damaged so he could even start affecting it. At the same time, he had to be fast enough to do so before the window of opportunity closed. He also couldn’t go faster than the music marker allowed him. If so, there was only one course of action left.

“Falkner, land a critical hit!” Dallion shouted.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to do.” For once the boy had lost its cool. “It’s not that easy!”

“I’m not asking if it’s easy. I need you to do it so I can try something.” Dallion glanced at Bel, then back at the creature. “Bel, you try as well! I only need one hit from you two. After that…” After that there was no telling what would happen.

In a best-case scenario, Dallion would be able to keep the creature frozen for a few seconds, which would be enough for his guildmates to finish it off. However, there was always the fear that the music could somehow force the chainling in its second form. There was no evidence that such a form even existed, but after all the games Dallion had played he had his fears.

“Aim for the eyes!” He shouted.

The instruction brought some confusion to Bel and Falkner, but more importantly it confused the chainling more. For a fraction of a second the creature paused, adjusting its stance to protect its eyes. That proved to be fatal. Two aim markers emerged on its chest. The attacks were done simultaneously, but it was Falkner’s tip that hit the spot.

CRITICAL HIT

Dealt Damage increased by 200%

Now! Dallion pulled the strings. As before, they resonated with the fear hidden within the target. The hunch that the emotions were visible longer when a critical wound was dealt turned out to be correct. When Dallion played the chord for the second time, there was a reaction, though not what he expected. The creature didn’t freeze. On the contrary, the chainling’s entire silhouette bubbled, as if something was trying to burst out of it. Moments later, it did…

Emotions more powerful than anything Dallion had seen so far streamed out of the void. Clearer than before, it was now obvious that they were aimed at the chainling itself. Both the fear and anger were directed at the creature itself, while the hope was… directed towards Dallion?

“Whatever you did got it mad!” Falkner jumped away.

Bel threw half a dozen knives at the beast. All of them hit the torso, yet the one aimed at the weak spot missed its mark. Right now, though, that wasn’t the most important. Matching the timing, Dallion played another chord.

As before, the emotions intensified. The void surrounding the chainling had fractured, allowing a peak to what was inside. Shapes of blue hue emerged—a heart, a brain… and they didn’t belong to the chainling. Or rather, they didn’t belong to the chainling in its present form. Dallion had only had his music skills for a short period of time, but there was one thing he could recognize instantly: the shape of emotions belonging to a human.

“Stop attacking!” he shouted, playing the next chord. “Keep your distance but don’t attack!”

“Are you crazy?!” Falkner shouted. “These things heal! If we don’t kill it now, we’ll—”

“We’ll be killing a person!”

The words tasted bitter as Dallion spoke them. The concept was enough to make him sick. The creature they had been fighting, the ferocious chainling that was the source of chaos and destruction in this world, hadn’t killed the missing guild members… it was one of them. There could be no mistake. They must have come across something that had transformed them into monsters, just like had happened to the shelfeys. From that perspective, chainlings weren’t actual creatures, they were more like parasites that found a host and transformed it to something that suited their needs. That explained their awakened power and intelligence. It also meant that back in Dherma village, the hunt had involved chasing a human.

Was it possible for that to be true? Such an important detail would have been shared by someone. At the very least, Havoc would have said something. The large man had claimed to have hunted chainlings before. Could it be that he was aware but had chosen to keep it a secret? Even if so, why had everyone else remained quiet?

“Dallion, what are you doing?” Bel asked. “We must finish this.”

“No!” Dallion played the chord. Not yet.

No one could say that the creature Dallion had helped hunt was human or ever had been. Maybe it had become twisted to the degree that there was no way to bring it back to humanity. Even if that were the case, Dallion had no intention of letting this happen here. The opponent he was fighting, as lethal as they were, was clearly a person and if there was a chance they could be saved, Dallion was going to take it.

We were brought here to find those that had gone lost, he told himself. This is what I plan on doing!

The next chord filled the air.