"Nani? You're telling me you slashed that guy over a dozen times, and he even tanked a full round of your bombardment?"
Kaguya stood with her hands on her hips, looking utterly incredulous.
"And he's still not dead?"
Leila shrugged. "No idea. Maybe he's got some rare skill. Every swing I made was meant to kill, but that brat was still bouncing around like nothing happened."
The straightforward blond Elf immediately seized on the key point, fixing her "judgmental" stare on her pink-haired Pallum comrade.
"Leila… you deliberately tried to kill an innocent adventurer?"
Alise nodded emphatically. "That's so unjust! Lady Astraea would be in tears right now."
Leila clutched her head. "Look… he was wearing a Dark Faction outfit, Lion. I honestly couldn't tell the difference, really!"
Alise cut in before Ryuu could continue her accusations.
"Shouldn't we be focusing on finding him first? With wounds that bad, he won't last long in the Dungeon."
Ryuu nodded seriously. "Dragging a body like that, he can't have gotten far. I'll—"
"Let me go," Kaguya interrupted, stopping Ryuu in her tracks.
"We don't even know if he's friend or foe, and he's carrying dangerous stuff like Fire Stones. If it's just an internal Dark Faction squabble, sending a naïve little white lily like you over there… I'm afraid someone would end up buried without even knowing how they died."
"What did you say, Kaguya?!" Ryuu's brows shot up. "This is clearly our fault! We have to make it right—"
Alise quickly pulled back the fuming Elf. "Alright, enough. Arguing won't help—finding him is the priority."
She shot Kaguya a look to get moving, while soothing the stubbornly righteous Elf.
Leila cast Kaguya a pleading glance before closing her eyes, waiting for healer Maryuu to arrive.
---
In a back alley.
Charles dragged his heavy steps forward, panting for breath.
Several fierce battles had drained what little stamina he had left. Now that the adrenaline was fading, the waves of pain flooding through his body were hitting him all at once.
"I really overdid it this time…"
He downed a bottle of stolen high-grade potion.
A curse was still suppressing his natural regeneration. Other than the gaping wound in his chest, his burns, cuts, and punctures were all healing painfully slowly.
"Still… taking down three Level 1s and a Level 2—can't say it's a loss."
From what Charles knew of Falna, PvP experience gains far outweighed PvE. Take the Amazons of Telskyura for example—raised from childhood in deadly, survival-of-the-fittest combat, they'd cultivated fighting prowess far beyond most familias in the city.
Historically, Orario's largest leaps in adventurer levels often came after Dark Faction assassinations; the ones who leveled up purely through monster kills were rare.
"Heh… after my next Falna update, my Endurance should skyrocket. Maybe I can even set my sights on a great feat…"
Glancing at the pitch-black tunnel behind him, Charles leaned against the wall to rest. He truly couldn't move any farther—his [Fragile College Student] endurance penalty made prolonged high-intensity fighting impossible.
Two death matches had left him completely immobilized.
Shhh… shhh…
The eerie sound of crawling, like limbless creatures dragging themselves along, filled the air.
Charles suddenly remembered—there weren't only Dark Faction members here. Countless wandering monsters roamed these tunnels. From the darkness ahead, swarms of Killer Ants poured out, while cracks split open in the walls and ceiling to disgorge hordes of Unicorn Rabbits.
The Dungeon was alive—and it always struck when adventurers were weakest.
"Damn it… a monster feast!"
He tried to draw his weapon, but whether from blood loss or exhaustion, he couldn't even muster the strength to grip it.
"My skill probably reached its limit, huh?"
[Fragile College Student] made him hard to kill—but not impossible.
Life and flesh could be replenished with [Go Wherever You Want], but other, more delicate reserves couldn't be restored so easily.
It felt…
…like being drained dry by a sister-in-law who wouldn't stop even when you begged for mercy.
"Useless piece of trash…"
Charles tossed aside his longsword, pulling out a captured magic sword and swinging it hard—stone spikes erupted from the ground, skewering the oncoming Unicorn Rabbits.
He downed another high-grade potion; his wounds began closing slightly, his stamina returning just a bit. But it was a drop in the bucket.
Another swing, another burst of magic—and the sword shattered into fragments.
A fence of stone pillars rose before him, buying a moment's respite.
Leaning on the wall, he dumped his last potion over his head, his wounds knitting just enough to lower the stamina cost of moving.
Just as he turned to leave, he heard more rustling and guttural monster cries from the other direction.
Surrounded!
In the next moment, a brilliant slash of light exploded from the far end of the tunnel. Countless monsters screamed in unison—then fell silent.
Clack, clack, clack.
The sharp sound of wooden geta striking stone made cold sweat bead on Charles' forehead.
Like a Yamato Nadeshiko from a painting, a black-haired, kimono-clad girl walked toward him with a smile. If Bell had been here, he'd have blushed and thought, "This is exactly the kind of encounter I've been dreaming of."
If she hadn't been holding a bloodstained katana, that is.
"Well~ my little one, thank you for looking after my junior," Kaguya said, narrowing her eyes with a faint smirk.
To Charles, that smile was only slightly less terrifying than a demon's.
"You… stay away from me!"
He raised the hilt of his broken magic sword in a ridiculous attempt at defense.
Kaguya was a Level 3 with swordsmanship mastery at its peak. In the near future, she'd be able to use her cunning and blade to wound even the famed "Gale."
Charles might not give a damn at the so-called "Iaijutsu" style, but right now he had to admit—she was stronger. No trickery or desperate bites would get through her guard.
She did exactly as he expected, sheathing her sword and dropping into an iaido stance.
"Charles' adventure ends here. The new world has no room for old baggage."
Charles spread his arms, closing his eyes to accept his fate.
He wondered if [College Fragile Student] could still revive him if his head came off.
And…
Before, he'd never known the pain of dying with unspent money in his pockets. Now he knew—
—It fucking sucks.
But the expected pain never came. A flash of wind tore through him instead, his white robe shredded into ribbons.
"I don't like your outfit much…"
Kaguya began to sheath her blade—but froze when she saw his injuries. A sword wound straight through his heart from the left ribs, charred flesh scattered around it, and a hand nearly carbonized down to the bone.
"Are you… a human or a ghost?"
Charles glanced at the barely-attached flesh of his left arm.
"So that's why I'm so weak… guess I really am messed up."
Kaguya said nothing.
"You're not going to kill me?"
"…Gomen."
"Then… mind giving me a hand? I think I can still be saved."
Hearing her apology, Charles knew there was hope—and immediately pushed his luck.
This little favor could be leverage for a year.
"Leaving a wounded man to die… even trying to finish him off… Is that the 'justice' of the Astraea Familia?"
"You've got a point. Maybe I should finish you off here to cover it up," Kaguya said with a cold smile.
She was glad it wasn't the youngest member here—if it had been that idealistic Elf, this brat would've had her wrapped around his finger.
Realizing Kaguya wasn't like Ryuu or Alise, Charles instantly surrendered.
"Sorry it was a joke, spare me! Great hero!"