Chapter 10
If you asked people to name the most unbearable kinds of pain, you'd get all sorts of answers.
But there was one answer that always came up.
Hunger and sleep.
The same held true for a candidate for sainthood and a princess.
"Urgh...!"
I'm hungry.
Laura Crown was on her knees, clutching her stomach.
This was worse than anything she'd felt during the two weeks she'd spent wandering the stench-filled underground passages of the kingdom on her way to the continent.
Lydia Straw was no different.
She'd never felt hunger like this—not even when she'd fled day and night, chased by laughter, without food or water for days while blending into a line of refugees, leaving a burning village behind.
It was hunger so intense her hands and feet trembled.
We need to eat something.
No. If we don't eat, we'll die.
Ordinary food didn't seem like it would satisfy their hunger.
They had to drink warm blood and tear into flesh.
Right.
Their eyes met in midair.
Let's eat that commoner. If I die for the royal family, that'll be an honorable death.
Let's eat that poor soul who wasn't even chosen by God. God will forgive me, too.
In any normal state—or rather, if they were normal humans—neither of them would ever have thought such a thing.
And just as if they'd agreed, Laura took out a coin while Lydia opened her hand.
-Kwaaah!
A horrifying pressure began to bear down on their bodies.
Overwhelming fear.
A pure, absolute terror that threatened their very survival, incomparable to any hunger.
What did it matter if they were hungry? Once they were dead, they wouldn't feel hunger anymore.
God or royalty, everyone was equal before death.
Their bodies froze.
And at the same time,
-Shaaah!
A wind blasted through.
No, a gale blasted through.
"Ugh...!"
"Kyaa...!"
At the same time, the hunger weighing them down vanished as if by magic.
As though it had never been real to begin with.
The two stared at each other blankly,
-Shaaah!
Once again, they heard a sword cut through the air, and the wind rushed in.
"Get a hold of yourselves."
A voice, terrifying beyond words, reached the two of them.
A man stood there, sword drawn, radiating a menacing aura.
Without even glancing at them, he stared at the mass of flesh before him.
Only then could the two of them turn their eyes toward the mass of flesh.
They'd been so consumed by hunger they hadn't even realized there was a mass of flesh nearby—but when had this man appeared?
Had he endured that hunger from the start?
Gulp. Laura swallowed, and Lydia looked at him.
If he were willing to help her, he might be able to aid her great undertaking.
Thinking that,
*
-Click!
I sheathed the sword I'd drawn.
Thank goodness. The gale doesn't hurt me that much, at least.
Thinking I could use it a few more times, I kept clenching and unclenching my fist.
<-Fuck!>
Then there was that voice in my head.
Did it just swear?
Is this a side effect of having high mental fortitude?
Or is it really a curse?
Still, if the price of using the cursed sword is occasionally hearing a "fuck" in my head, I can put up with it a hundred times over.
Just as I thought, high mental fortitude is the way to go.
I looked at the heart throbbing and pulsing before me.
The moment the message said I'd resisted the hunger, the first thing I did was tense up.
That's the basics of party play.
In <Dark Fantasy Saga>, mental attacks and status effects didn't hit the whole party—they affected each person individually.
Some people would be affected, and others wouldn't.
And honestly, I was immune to all mental attacks, but the others probably weren't.
I wondered how to suppress it, then came up with the simplest solution.
Couldn't I just crush it with sheer force?
Hunger, shmungering—if I maxed out the power of my Stigma, it should work.
Thinking that, I tensed up as hard as I could.
And as a result...
"...Huff. Huff..."
"Haa... Hhh..."
My eyes met the two women, groaning and clutching their stomachs.
"Get a hold of yourselves."
At my words, the two of them straightened up.
I checked my condition.
I could use Swift Slash once and Gale twice, maybe.
Iaijutsu... if I used it, I probably wouldn't have an arm left.
I should either train more or find some way to strengthen my body further.
For now, let's leave some of it to those two instead of relying on me alone.
Hey, you two. From now on, I'm out of strength, so you'll have to do a good job taking it down.
"I'll handle it. Cover me."
When did I ever say that?!
"Let's go."
[The two of them witness your magnificent display!]
[Awe rises!]
[Awe: 35%]
[Warning: Once Awe drops, it's difficult to recover!]
"..."
It really feels like it only tosses me information when I need it.
But there was still a way.
[Empowered Strikes Remaining: 2]
I saved my Empowered Strikes because I knew this would happen.
Using Gale once or twice shouldn't put too much strain on my body.
So...
I drew my sword.
My arm tingled just from doing that, but what else could I do?
"Follow me."
As long as I could swing it.
I kicked off the ground and ran.
The air brushed past my cheeks.
"I pay. For greater speed."
Along with Laura's voice,
-Ting!
I heard a coin flick through the air.
Laura's buff skill took effect on me,
and my steps grew just a little lighter.
I closed in on the heart before me.
The heart opened, spilling stomach acid.
There was far less than before.
"I beseech the Lord for mercy. Please, block it...!"
Behind me, Lydia emitted a white light and blocked the stomach acid.
With a hiss, the stomach acid hit the white wall and fell away.
I drew my sword.
[Empowered Strike is used!]
Light gathered on my sword.
I raised the sword and lightly cut through the air.
-Krrrcrack!
With a tremendous sound, the sword slash tore through the air and struck the heart head-on,
-Kiiiiii!!!
Something let out a scream of pain.
At the same time, tentacles burst from the split heart.
"What? It's not dead yet?!"
Laura's shocked voice came from behind me.
I knew it.
That's how games go. Just when you think, "Did I get it?" there's always a last-ditch pattern. That's the charm of <Dark Fantasy Saga>.
What a shitty game.
I saved an Empowered Strike because I knew this would happen.
Once again, light gathered on my sword.
In the same stance, I cut through the air once more.
With a whoosh, the sword wind cleaved through the air again.
This time, I cut off all the tentacles and tore the heart to shreds.
[Debuff: Severe Muscle Damage]
[Your muscles have been severely damaged! Any further strenuous movement will cause permanent injury to your body!]
"..."
My arm wasn't just tingling anymore; it hurt.
I finished it by the skin of my teeth.
Thank goodness I'd predicted the last-ditch pattern and saved an Empowered Strike for it.
I approached the limp heart.
-I'm hungry...
The heart muttered.
This was what made Stigma so terrifying.
To be consumed by your own power and turn into a monster.
And the one best suited to hunt such a thing was someone with the same Stigma.
The heart mumbled, then dropped an item.
-Clatter!
Something like a black stone.
Right. This was what I was looking for.
The black stone you got for defeating an environmental Corrupted.
In the game, it was called <Proof of Subjugation>. It was what you'd call a trade-in item.
You could collect these and exchange them for useful items with the exchange clerk at the academy. Build up enough affinity with the clerk, and you'd get access to useful events and items, too.
It was even really pretty...
"I-It's collapsing!"
Laura's scream pulled me from my thoughts.
A rumbling sound came from the ceiling.
Laura ducked, and Lydia tried to put up a shield, but—
"Stay still."
At my words, the two of them stopped and looked to me.
The surrounding objects didn't collapse when an environmental Corrupted disappeared.
Sure enough, the writhing walls of flesh vanished as if by magic,
"..."
"..."
"..."
What we found ourselves facing was the gaze of countless people.
Their eyes turned toward me and the others.
"...D-Did they defeat it...?"
"The three students?"
Voices full of shock rang out, but the moment I looked their way, everyone fell silent.
[Everyone is astonished and in awe of your accomplishment!]
[Awe rises!]
[Awe: 70%]
[When Awe reaches 100%, a random stat increases!]
"..."
A random stat increases? In this game where raising stats is a pain in the ass?
Now I have even more reason to raise Awe.
Thinking that, I looked at the others.
Laura brushed back her hair as if she were used to hearing things like this, while Lydia blinked her big eyes and looked around, as if the people's praise—or shock—was unfamiliar to her.
Their gazes landed on me, and I looked back at them before opening my mouth.
"Eyes down."
Your faces are making me nauseous.
*
What a shitty game.
The player rumored to be the best at <Dark Fantasy Saga>.
At the very least, his guides were always helpful, and no one doubted he was the player who'd gotten the farthest in the game.
But it had been several days since he'd disappeared.
<Where'd that guy go?>
<Username: I Love Rolling>
[You know that player who was always way ahead? Did he get kidnapped into the game or something? Why hasn't he been around?]
ㄴSeems like he got kidnapped to another world
ㄴI wanna go too, wanna do all sorts of stuff with Aila
ㄴSo he was suicidal, huh;
Sometimes people posted asking if he was okay, but those posts were all buried under one thread.
<Hey, the boss heroines are giving out quests?>
<Username: The True Wife Is the Immortal Girl>
[Attached image]
[If you get an overwhelming result in a quest, heroines like Laura give you quests. Seems like a route-changing quest? But the conditions are ridiculous. I don't think you could clear it even with cheats.]
ㄴHow the hell do you beat this;
ㄴAre they telling us to be reborn?
ㄴI put 20 runs into this and couldn't beat it. Doesn't seem like they meant for it to be cleared?
The discoveries never end; they've found yet another new route.
*
"Help me."
Laura stood before me with her arms crossed, sweat beading on her brow, but still met my gaze.
Her blonde hair fluttered before my eyes, and her eyes glittered in the light.
She twisted about as she opened her mouth, looking either embarrassed or afraid—I couldn't tell.
"I-I think you could help me."
Before I could even wonder with what, I already knew my answer.
"Get lost."
Is she out of her mind?