Chapter 29 :

Episode 7 : Captain (3)

My memories were still missing some of its puzzle pieces which meant I only remembered my precious time with my comrades.

On the other hand, my hatred for the ‘Creators’ and their creations remained as strong as ever.

Just from their appearances triggered me so much that I wanted to sever their heads.

[Demon transformation ended.]

My wings and horns dissolved into dusts from top to bottom. ‘I can't allow them to see me in my demon form.’

‘Because no beings would ever take kindly to a demon.’

I looked at Mirai before shifting my gaze over to Raiden who had Behemoth on his head with his tail swaying around. "Everyone. No matter what. Don't say a word until I say s-."

"Oh my~! Look at this, sister!"

At that moment, I quickly turned around.

Three angelic ladies floated in the air above me, looking down on me and the large hole in the surface.

"Whoa! There's a player here!" Tanzanite exclaimed as her wings were flapping out of control.

Zircon grabbed Tanzanite's wings. "Calm yourself, dear sister."

"I can't believe we have to deal with this.." Turquoise frowned, hugging her book.

‘New creation.. I see. Those ‘Creators’ are too lazy to handle things by themselves huh?’ I pondered with a smirk on my face.

Tanzanite must have seen me smirking because she asked. "What's so funny~?"

"..It's just that I'm lucky to see three beautiful women right in front of me."

Obviously, it was just some excuse I came up. ‘It seems they don't know me..’

Those bastards (←referring to ‘creators’) haven't learnt their lessons about not informing their creations about me, nevertheless, it was an advantage to me anyway.

‘My powers are limited by the system once again..’ I thought.

"Sister, he's the ‘Last’ player." Turquoise reported the information she got from her book.

"Apparently, he got a hidden stage and a hidden..quest?" Turquoise was stunned to see something odd.

"Find the one who gave him that quest." Zircon advised her while being composed.

Turquoise trembled a bit after seeing the information, becoming more surprised. "...This!"

She hovered her book toward her sisters to show them the shocking news.

Zircon and Tanzanite leant in to have a closer look of the book, viewing the information and when they did. Their expressions were soon filled with perplexity.

I wondered as I glanced at the katana. ‘Lucifer. You didn't expose your identity, did you?’

"No, master. Everything related to me is glitched, as a result, they wouldn't find out about me." My katana spoke to me inside my head.

‘You did well.’ I patted the katana's hilt before gripping it.

"How could this be?! Why is it glitched?" Tanzanite panicked.

Zircon rubbed her chin before switching her gazes toward me. "Who gave you this quest?"

I stared at Zircon and lied. "I don't know."

"Are you telling the truth?"

"Why would I lie?"

Tanzanite seemed to have calmed down because she suggested. "Sister~ Why don't we report this to Emerald?"

"Indeed, we will." Zircon stopped looking at me when she talked.

All of the sudden, Turquoise suggested something absurd. "Sisters. I presume we give him an escape quest."

Tanzanite glanced with wide eyes and scolded her. "We can't do something out of order!"

"What's your reason, dear sister?" Zircon asked.

Turquoise nodded and explained her reason. "Stage #9 will soon begin in about a few days, and from what I understand, his hidden Stage's time limit will passed Stage #9 and #10."

"Oh..! I get it~! It would be a shame not to participate in Stage #10~!" Tanzanite spoke after she finally understood Turquoise's reasoning.

"I see. Very well. I shall give him the quest." After Zircon finished talking, she manipulated something in the air.

Eventually, a panel showed itself with a twinkling sparkle in front of me.

[Quest : Escape.]

+

Task: Defeat the ogres.

Time Limit: 10 hours.

Reward: 10000 coins and enter the Stage #8.

Failure: ???

+

While I was reading, Zircon gave me more restrictions.

"You are restrained from having your two powerful friends to help you."

[Restriction has been added to the Quest.]

+

Restrictions: Unable to have ‘Atsushi Mirai’ and ‘Takumi Raiden’ to support you.

+

Turquoise read the quest's description and became flabbergasted. "Sister! This is nearly impossible for anyone in this early stage!"

Tanzanite also joined in. "Right! None of the players can handle an ogre, not alone 100 of them!"

"If he can't do it, then so be it. But if he wants to, the reward will be high." Zircon closed her eyes as she elegantly stated, turning her back on me to have a look at her sisters.

"But sister! Even if he could get the reward from his hidden stage and quest early, this is still too muc-" Tanzanite and Turquoise both exclaimed until someone disturbed them.

It was me who interrupted their conversation. "I'll do it. However, can I ask you a favor?"

Zircon turned around to smile at me. "Go on."

Turquoise and Tanzanite's faces were carrying dumbfounded expressions, staring at me with faces that meant ‘Are you out of your mind?!’.

I shrugged my shoulder as an answer to their expressions. "I want my reward to be ‘Exp’."

Zircon with her eyebrow rose as if she was interested in what I was thinking. "Give me a reason why."

I thought for a second. ‘I don't really need coins as of this moment. Yeah, sure. Coins allow me to buy better weapons and armor, but I already have those.’

I observed the clothes that I got from Mirai as a present. ‘These clothes are made by Mirai's silk. From what I recalled, her silk is stronger than any metal in this world, therefore, making this the best armor one could get.’

‘And as for my weapon, well.. I got Lucifer already.’

After that short period of time, I gave an answer that satisfied Zircon's curiosity. "As those two ladies had said, I would get my reward from the stage and quest anyway. So I don't want more coins, instead I want experience."

Zircon after receiving my answer, appeared to be a little suspicious of me. "Very well. Your reward will be changed."

[The Quest's reward has been replaced!]

"Out of curiosity. How will you deal with this Quest? You see, I'm quite intrigued." Zircon admitted before nodding to Turquoise.

Turquoise flinched slightly but had no choice but to obey her sister's order.