He endures, but only until his stamina runs dry. We need to reform the line, and only one person can do it.
"Diavel!" I shout. "Reform the formation! Grizzly and I will buy time! Tsubame-chan, keep up support fire!"
"Y-Yes, got it!" Tsubame-chan sobs, firing arrows.
Sinon, risking fatal close range, unleashes arrows. The Skull Reaper intercepts most, blocking headshots, but her fire-infused arrows, closer now, finally chip the Kobold King's HP. The boss slows, almost wary of her, but its eerie expression suggests it's waiting for something.
"Squads A and C, fall back and heal!" Layfox orders, stepping in for the frozen Diavel. "B, um… surround and attack! D and E, handle mobs!"
Her commands pale compared to Diavel's, but players, driven by survival instinct, start reforming. That's the worst mistake. As the raid regains shape, some players change.
"Argh!?"
"My back!"
"My body's moving on its own!"
The bile-struck players' backs bulge, sprouting skeletal parasites. Like berserkers, they attack allies blindly. Smith and I abandon our roles to save them.
A spear-wielding player, screaming, nearly impales Layfox. I parry with my battle axe, saving her. She's frozen, tears streaming, overwhelmed by the chaos.
"Five infected," I curse. "Sinon, will this work!?"
I pull Black Oil Fruit from my storage—a parasite counter Sinon recommended. With Sinon single-handedly tanking the Kobold King, she can't respond. I drop the bag, grab a handful of the small, bitter fruits, and scatter them at the spearman. Some enter his mouth, twisting his face in disgust, but the parasite remains.
No effect? Not enough? I grab more, deliberately taking a spear thrust to the gut to halt his attack, then shove close, stuffing his mouth with fruit.
"Gah!" he collapses, body contorted. The parasite shatters with a crack.
It worked! Enough fruit frees them. I eat a phosphorescent herb to heal the spear wound. Smith, fighting an infected swordsman, strikes the parasite directly. It has HP, and attacking it works—but damages the host too.
"No good," Smith says. "We'd need to heal them while removing the parasite."
So, Black Oil Fruit is the only way, but it means restraining frenzied players and force-feeding them while dodging robots and the Kobold King. "That's insane!" I snap.
The worst keeps coming. Grizzly, who'd avoided infection behind his shield, writhes as a parasite emerges from his back.
"Sinon, get away from Grizzly!" I yell.
Focused on the boss, she doesn't notice until it's too late. Grizzly's mace, likely H6 (Heavy 6) for STR-focused power, slams her. The single swing takes a third of her low-HP, light-armored frame. She skids across the floor, dropping her bow, and staggers up. Grizzly, unnaturally agile for his confused state, charges her.
"What do I do?" I mutter, already running.
"How do I escape this?"
I knew the answer all along.
"How do I fix this? How? How?"
It's obvious. The front's collapsed. We're dying. We're just soldiers waiting for death. Screw that. I'll survive—no, I'll kill the Kobold King and claim victory. I know what to do.
Sinon, unable to dodge, blocks the mace with her dagger. The heavy, skill-enhanced strike snaps it, slamming her into a wall.
"Run!" I scream. "Get out!"
The dagger mitigated damage, but her HP hits the red zone. Grizzly raises his mace, his plea—"My daughter's waiting!"—mixing with a roar as he aims to crush her.
Death comes suddenly. Sinon, stunned from the impact, stares up at the mace poised to end her.
No… no, no, no! Die here? In this place, without achieving anything, without gaining 'strength'?
Reality is cruel.
But Sinon rejected death.
A memory surged—the day she held a gun, the iron weight that took a life. Blood drove her mad, planting deep fear. To conquer it, she dove into GGO's virtual battles. But the Death Gun incident showed reality's death invading the virtual. So, she sought a new battlefield: Dark Blood Online.
Its dark, desolate world and PK-driven chaos promised new strength. Yet, it was a death game worse than Death Gun. What was the point of her desperate month-and-a-half struggle for 'strength'?
She didn't know. But strangely, she felt fulfilled—because of her allies. In GGO, temporary parties were common, but none shared a month and a half of life-and-death trust. Neither reality nor virtual worlds held such reliable companions.
I should've told them.
Regret for the Blue Knight and the Pure White Warrior.
She was never honest, too stubborn to admit she'd grown attached to their party, fearing its inevitable end as a solo player. They were precious. For a month and a half, they let her fight fearlessly. Diavel saved her from the Dark Rider repeatedly. Ku risked himself to protect her.
Thank you for never abandoning me, for fighting as true allies. She wanted those words to be her last.
But her prayer was consumed by a spark of virtual fire.
Metal clashed. The Battle Axe skill Grind Bear parried Grizzly's mace. Against STR odds, he made the impossible possible with a dual-skill Rabbit Dash combo.
Long white hair flowing, he stood shielding Sinon.
"Ku…" she whispered.
She should've fled, but that small act of naming him was both her salvation and her mistake. As Ku glanced back, his eyes stole her breath.
She'd seen those eyes before, but now they were dominated by something darker—a predatory gaze, like a spider hunting prey. It obliterated the budding warmth she'd felt for him, replacing it with terror.
Yet a tear fell—not from fear of his monstrous gaze, but from pity, like when she tried to stop his PKK rampage.
"Don't look," Ku said softly, warning her of what he'd do, urging her not to follow his path.
Grizzly's HP was below 40%, drained from tanking. His stamina, spent on that skill, left him gasping. In this state, every hit was critical—Sinon had taught Ku that.
He knew what it would do. Was he clinging to a miracle or resolved from the start?
"Sorry, Grizzly," Ku said. "To neutralize you, this is the only way… no, the fastest."
"No! My daughter's waiting!" Grizzly begged, a madman's plea.
Ignoring him, Ku dodged the flailing mace and, with full force, severed both of Grizzly's arms with his battle axe.
The burly limbs fell at Sinon's knees. She touched them, stunned, then let out a voiceless scream. Grizzly's HP, already low from dismemberment, drained completely. His final gaze wasn't at the game's cruelty but burned with resentment toward one player—Ku.