“That’s a very nice harpsisword you have there,” Lady Marigold noted as the group rode in the carriage.

It was an incredibly large carriage, more spacious and luxurious on the inside than an Earth limousine. What was more, there was a selection of expensive liquors near the noble’s seat, along with what appeared to be a belt of metal badges. From what Nil had said, those were opera plays performed by echoes. It was amusing to see that nobles went around with their own collection of songs and movies. One probably cost more than the entire Icepicker guild could make in a week.

“I was very lucky to get it, Milady,” Dallion replied. “Would you like to…” he hesitated. Would the offer be viewed as a threat?

“Don’t be so tense. What would an old woman do with a weapon like that?” the woman asked, genuinely amused. “I take it, you're skilled enough to play it?”

“Only in the awakened realms, Milady.”

“Oh, that’s a pity. Back when I was a girl, there were real harpsisword operas at the imperial court. The performance would play, sing, dance, and fight all in one with magnificent precision. Nowadays it’d be lucky to see a play that has only two of those activities, and even luckier if they do them well.”

Dallion swallowed.

“Who did you buy it off? I haven’t seen that type in quite a while.”

“To be honest, I don’t know, Milady. The person who sold it to me disappeared along with his shop a few days after I got it.”

There was no need to add details. The more details the more suspicious was Dallion making this seem. Sadly, it seemed that it was already too late. A faint note of curiosity flickered within the noble. Without warning or request, she reached towards the sheathed weapon. Before her fingers could touch it, three of the strings of the harpsisword vibrated.

Lady Marigold instantly stopped.

“Protective girl, isn’t she?” the woman asked.

“Apologies, Milady,” Vend intervened again. “He’s still figuring things out.”

For once, the noble didn’t have anything to add. Instead, she kept glancing at the weapon for a while longer, before pouring herself a glass of extremely fragrant cherry alcohol.

As far as Dallion could tell, there was no change in the noble’s emotions, but he knew that not to be true. She had visibly reacted to the harpsisword’s vibrations. Several seconds later, the weapon’s strings went still.

What happened, Harp? Dallion asked.

I think it would be best if you pretend all that didn’t happen, Nil suggested. Just stay quiet and let Vend handle the situation.

But what happened?

Your guardian reacted to a noble.

I think I got that, but why? What would make—

Your guardian doesn’t accept Lady Marigold as her noble. To simplify it for you, your harpsisword chose you over her.

No one attempted to start a conversation during fifteen minutes it took the carriage to reach the Stone Garden. Once there, Vend was the only one to step out. Holding the lady’s hand, he set foot in the garden.

“Time to go,” Vend said to the rest of the group.

Getting the hint, Veil, Gloria, and Dallion reach out, grabbing hold of his forearm.

AREA AWAKENING

The familiar landscape of stones and pillars surrounded them. For a split second Dallion wondered if he wouldn’t see an entirely different aspect of the noble—probably her, as she was in her thirties, or younger. Anticlimactically, the woman was just as she was before, even to her clothes. No weapons, shields, or pieces of armor were attached to her, almost as if she weren’t here to fight, but just on a brief vacation.

“So, this is the garden from the inside?” The noble looked around. “Dreadful place. I still don’t understand why my nephew likes it so much. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t improve the place, I’d have it transformed into something useful.”

“Maybe next year he will, milady,” Vend said.

“Oh, Vend.” The woman shook her head. “That’s one of the things I like about you. Always so certain about uncertainties. Come along then, let’s get this done.”

“The location is twenty minutes away, milady. How do you want us to do it?”

“Carry on as usual. I’ll follow you up to the danger area, then let you do your thing.”

“The danger area is a bit bigger here, Lady Marigold,” Vend clarified.

“Ah. The projecting rocks.” The woman nodded. “In that case, I’ll have to take a bit of a risk, won’t I?” The familiar smile returned to her face. “Just don’t take too long.”

“We’ll do our best, milady.”

The group set off forward, while the noble remained deliberately behind. At first Dallion would turn around every few seconds to make sure that the lady was well and within distance, but he soon gave up. Seeing the old woman at exactly the same distance, no matter whether they doubled the pace or slowed down, felt unnerving.

“Same plan?” Dallion asked.

“Unless something goes wrong.” Vend nodded. “You take out an arm, then we do the rest from a distance.”

Earlier the plan had sounded quite solid. Now that they had to do it for real, many were starting to have doubts. Veil, who had been reduced to a taunter, didn’t look at all pleased. Even he had to agree, though, that the role was perfect for him. During all the scouting battles, he was the one who kept fighting furiously at close range, and the guardian would have remembered that.

Just take care of the left arm, Dallion told himself. Once that was done, Gloria and Vend would do the rest.

COMBAT INITIATED

The colossus emerged from the ground as expected. Used to them, it didn’t waste time throwing as many heavy boulders as it could in their direction. The rate was slightly more aggressive than before, but not so much to require a change in strategy.

“He’s a big one, isn’t he?” Lady Marigold said, safely out of the guardian’s range. A few smaller pebbles rolled towards her, stopping a foot away.

Vend didn’t respond, slowing his pace of running slightly so Veil would take the lead.

“Get ready,” the elite shouted to Dallion.

The pressure continued building up, greater than anything Dallion had felt. Even when fighting for his actual life, he still allowed himself a hint of recklessness. Being watched by the Lady, though, made him feel as if he were back in elementary school during test day with an education inspector there. It was always said that the “visitor” was only there to observe, and it was just a day like any other. All the children knew it wasn’t and, in more cases than not, that made them tense up.

Snap out of it! Dallion’s echo shouted. There will be time for that later.

Dallion blinked. From the side, his humour was really crappy, but it did the job. Gripping the hilt of his harpsisword, he played a chord.

Slowness emanated from the weapon. Several seconds were needed to match the vibrations of the guardian, but finally Dallion saw his efforts pay off as a speck of sand of slowness attacked itself to the overall mass. It was by no means a lot, but it was a start and something he could build on.

“Charge!” Veil shouted, giving the go-ahead sight for the rest.

Gloria and Vend went to one side. From here on, they would be responsible for chipping off what health they could after Dallion was done. Focusing as much as he could, Dallion split into five instances. All five easily reached the mountain of stone unimpeded, largely thanks to Veil’s actions. Once there, one of the instances fell back, while the other four attempted a series of different attacks.

In each case, the goal was the same—cut through the mesh while it was flimsy and then slice off the tendon before getting the terminal damage. Four instances performed their attacks, slicing the protective layer of air currents. The mesh pattern suddenly shifted, killing off three of them on the spot. The fourth managed to create an opening, but was also killed before making it through.

Damn in! Dallion chose the instance he had held behind, then split into three more instances.

This was what happened when attack strategies weren’t tested out. Back on Earth, Dallion had seen enough boss-instance raids to know what would bring to disaster. Even with the best team, it was next to impossible to do a world first kill on the first go.

Playing a chord of calm and warmth, Dallion did a series of cone slashes, attempting to cut a hole through. His hope was that the music would act as a local anaesthetic, preventing the guardian from noticing him meddling with its defences. To his relief, the attempt succeeded.

The blade cut through the outer layer of the mesh with each, then continued the motion, carving a hole further in. Two layers of air disappeared, then three, then four, finally allowing him the space to pass through.

“Shield, cocoon me,” Dallion whispered as he pulled back his sword, rolling into a ball mid-air.

The shield obeyed on the instant, its dimensions matching the size of the opening.

Lux, give me a push.

Instantly a force shoved Dallion forward. There was no resistance. A second later, the shield returned to its normal state—Dallion had gone through the guardian’s defensive perimeter.

That wasn’t exactly part of the plan, was it? Nil said, in a combination of scorn and pride.

It is to a degree. In any event, it’s close enough.

No red rectangles had appeared, which was good—it meant that the guardian hadn’t noticed the breach. All Dallion had to do now was cut off a tendon and—

You’ve got a problem, Gen said. Look behind you.

Dallion glanced over his shoulder. The hold that he had made moments ago was completely gone. That just made things a whole lot more complicated. It wasn’t a matter of Dallion being trapped—the plan didn’t involve him surviving either way. What the plan did rely on, though, was there being a way for the noble to reach the guardian for the final kill, and if the defensive mesh could repair itself—for lack of a better word—that became an impossibility. Worse of all, there was no way to tip Vend and the rest off without attracting the attention of the guardian.

Scenarios started playing out in Dallion’s mind. Sadly, all of them were pretty much the same. At his level of mind, and under pressure, he couldn’t come up with anything worthwhile in that amount of time. The only choice was to go on with the plan.

A targeting marker appeared just above the giant’s shoulder. Dallion gritted his teeth.

Give me a bust, Lux, he thought. Nox, stay out of sight.

Meow?

Sorry, buddy, but I don’t want you to be seen on this one. I’ll find you a scratchy toy to play with later.

With a chirp, the firebird landed on Dallion’s back and propelled him forward. Since it took care of all the navigation, Dallion only had to worry about getting the strike right. Gritting his teeth, he split into two instances. Both reached the spot at the precisely same time and hit the target with one precise chopping strike.

CRITICAL WOUND

Dealt Damage is increased by 200%

ARM SEVERED

Enemy will no longer be able to make use of its LEFT ARM.

The air tendon snapped like a piece of rope, letting boulders crash down to the ground. The guardian roared in pain, grabbing its shoulder with its right arm. As it did, it inadvertently crushed one of Dallion’s instances out of existence. From this point on, the stakes were real. Dallion didn’t have the mental strength to think of more instances.

As expected, the wound had caused the guardian’s health to drop down to forty percent. From here, even a series of daggers would be enough to finish it off. If Dallion wanted, he could end it all now, with a well-targeted strike to the left leg’s tendon. Unfortunately, that was out of the question.

“The mesh restores itself!” Dallion shouted. “If it’s anything more than a cut, it—”

Before he could finish,two things happened simultaneously. The wind currents around the guardian changed, filing in all gaps as they created the perfect defense. This time, though, it wasn’t only the surrounding ones that did. The forces that held rocks together shifted, causing the mountain to crumble to the ground like a pile of rubble. A split second later, they reassembled, creating something completely new.

“Stone scorpion!” Vend shouted. “Everyone, get back! Protect the noble!”

Just great, Dallion thought, as Lux kept him in the air. It turned out the guardian really did have a second form.