"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Huli screamed and slammed a fist into the wall, causing it to crack and shatter. Everything in the queen's room had been destroyed in her rage.
"Oh, what's got you so worked up?" High snickered and leaned against the wall casually.
Huli glared at the masked man. "Don't even start. We followed your plan! You said we could get the guilds to weaken each other and that your agent down below would stall the two captains and weaken the two members of the seven, but you were dead wrong! Not only do I sense that they've dealt with Farkiss, Phoenix Flight, and Pantheon are working together! They're marching here as we speak, ready to destroy us!"
"So what?" High shrugged.
"So what? What do you mean, so what! The reason we did this was that facing both guilds, three members of the seven, two captains, and two vice captains, as well as every member of the Licht-Fulk guards, would be completely impossible!"
High laughed. "Yeah. That does seem pretty bad when you put it that way, doesn't it! Why did you guys even listen to me?"
"You bastard!" Huli lunged at the masked man and struck out with her claws, but she only hit the wall he had been leaning against, slashing it apart.
"Relax." High pressed his back to hers, having appeared behind her, and he now leaned on the kitsune. "I'll be the first to admit that my plan might not have gone the way I wanted. Is what I would say if things weren't going the way I wanted."
Huli growled again. "Are you saying you planned to betray us from the start?"
"Oh, please, this isn't a betrayal. I just didn't tell you guys everything I know." The masked man casually reached up and patted Huli's head as if she were a dog. "I have another plan. One I've been working toward. I'm sure your buddy understands. The Sea God knows how I roll, after all, so he was likely expecting this."
Huli spun around and tried to slash him again, but High side-stepped it once more and placed a hand on her hip, pulling her into some sort of weird dance. "L-Let go of me!"
High ignored her demands and began to waltz around the room. "See, the issue so many people run into is trying to make a single plan work. That's never been my style, though. My father was very dramatic and I helped him build a giant suit of armor which was made to break the wall at the end of the universe and reach the path of Rome."
"What?"
"Don't worry about it. The point is, thinking logically, that's just not something I like to do. Why come up with one big plan when I can prepare for a hundred different things? I got Davi in the realm down below because, on the off chance he wasn't the person Haru spoke of, then he'd be able to help the Licht-Fulk live down there and survive with Bolem. I got rid of the captains because if Davi was that person and he did escape, then he could use the captains to seal the demon away."
"Those two plans go against one another? You made a plan for him being stuck and one for him getting out?"
"Exactly. You never know which way the story will go." High dipped Huli low to the ground. "Life is like a fairy tale. Beautiful in the way it sometimes doesn't make sense. Plans fail because of people, so you simply must make a plan for every person. In the event Davi did escape but wasn't the person that he should be, I took action to get Storymaker placed into the hands of someone who could use it. That's a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. I made a plan for if someone turns into a demon, a plan for if the demon gets out, a plan for if it gets sealed away, and I even made a plan for if all those plans break. Now, of course, most of them don't work, and I'm really just winging it."
"Seriously?"
"Nah, I'm lying. God, I love lying."
"What!"
"Oh yeah, I do have 'a' plan, but why would I ever tell you that?"
Huli's scowl grew. "You're seriously the worst."
"I am, aren't I?" High took her hand and brought it up to his mask and pressed her knuckle to it as if he could kiss it. "Don't worry. The plan is certainly a plan just as the floor is made of floor."
"Every word you say makes me want to kill you."
"Well, save that energy for yourself. As you said, the groups are coming this way." High chuckled, and he walked behind Huli, giving her shoulders a massage. "You're going to be the MVP."
Huli just sneered. "Whatever. Rage hasn't killed you yet, so I'll leave you alive for now only because he deems you worthy. We will kill the seven that are here and reach the world we desire."
"I learned long ago that we often don't get endings we want." High's jokey tone faded slightly. He even stopped touching Huli, and his arms dropped to his side. "A good story has a lot of twists, right? Well, sadly, whoever is in charge of writing out the fates of us all seems eager to give a lot of us twist endings. I do wish we were in a world where we all got the ending we deserved, but that's not the case, now is it?"
"That's why you must try."
"Yeah. I agree with you." High gave her a nod. "Trying is important. Winning more so. You know you're not coming back, right?"
Huli didn't glare at him. She just stared flatly at his mask. "I am aware." She glanced back to the window, sensing the approaching mana. "Farkiss was my friend. He's long gone. As are most of the people I know. If it is my time to go, then I'll go, doing what I do best. I'm not scared to die at the hands of a couple of Arcane Knights. Don't tell me you've actually come all the way here to comfort me or something?"
High let out a loud laugh. "Sorry, but not even I'm that crazy. Go off and die. Get yourself killed all for a group of eight people who are thousands of times older than anyone else and have likely forgotten what emotions are like. Do your job as a pet."
"You're a real asshole."
"Yep!"
"So, what are you going to do?"
High hummed, and he walked over to the window. "Me? Well, I think I should pay Davi another visit."
Huli gave a nod, and she turned around to leave. She paused when she was at the door. "Do you think he is that person? The one that Haru apparently spoke of? The one who is meant to do what even she couldn't?"
High folded his arms and looked down at the city below. He mulled over the thoughts for several seconds. He thought of Davi, and then his thoughts went to the others. Rage, The Lord of Threads, Tik, Rosette, Bloom, Monarch, Adam, and finally Mordred. The eight people who had seen the same things Haru had seen.
"No."
"No?"
"Not a chance." High let out a bitter laugh. "He certainly fits right at home with those eight, doesn't he? I guess it does make sense when you consider the different paths and the worlds that must have come before. No, I doubt Haru would ever pick one of those eight, and if she would never pick them, then there is also no way she'd ever pick someone like Davi Hawker."
"Then why even go through all this trouble? If you don't even think he is the one, why not let Rage kill him from the start?"
High hummed. "Well, I could always be wrong. But also, lately I've been thinking a lot. Maybe it's old the radiation getting to me. I didn't use to think this much. I guess the infection has been gnawing away at my mind. In the end, I guess I just wanted to try. You know? See what happens. Even if he isn't the one, even if Haru never left behind some greater goal, even if all that I did proves to be for nothing, it's nice to have a bit of hope. Hope's what gotten me this far, after all."
"I said it already, but I'll say it again. You. Are. Weird."
"Yep! Now, go on, you die for the cause while I go and have a friendly chat with that Davi fellow! I hope he likes tea."
Huli opened the door to the room, about to step out into the hall. "Let's do our best. I don't know what outcome we'll get or the fate that awaits either of us, but let us have some hope and strive for a victory fitting of our status."
Hope was a powerful thing. It could also make people make some pretty dumb choices.
Still, Huli decided to have hope. From the beginning, she had been born into this family. The dungeon that created her had been discovered by Rage, Adam, and Bloom, and they adopted her into their group and spoke of a better world. A world that would never exist so long as this one stood in the way. And so, she wasn't scared of the death that could await her, nor was she afraid of a couple of Knights.
After all, she was part of the main cast in a novel, and the good guys always win.
Always.
***
Their group was massive. Like insanely huge!
Phoenix Flight and Pantheon marched side by side, along with a dozen golems and several Licht-Fulk soldiers. All of them had the same destination.
Thanks to the magic that Sky had used, all the Licht-Fulk were asleep. This meant that they didn't have to worry about any of the civilians getting in the way or becoming confused. Several of the guards also broke off from their large squad and started to make sure all the people were okay. A few members from the Pantheon guild also stayed behind to serve as an extra layer of protection to keep the sleeping people safe in case the battle went wrong.
"Saving the princess and myself was wise," Sunny spoke as the group made their way toward the castle. "We'll be able to convince a ton of the guards to side with us."
"We might not even need to do that," Whisper said. "I don't sense a ton of mana up ahead. Just the kitsune, the core, and two other massive ones." Since they were still missing their captains, Whisper had effectively become the leader for both guilds. This was not because she was a vice captain, but instead because she kicked the asses of anyone else who tried to take her spot. "With any luck, we can just beat them and get this over with."
"Luck? We're next to the Phoenix Flight gang." Battery said bitterly.
"Yeah." Cinder nodded and hummed. "Maybe we should have left them behind?"
"We can hear you, you know?" Mama Herta said flatly.
"And?"
"You guys are going to eat your words when we fight!" Falco grinned. "Just wait till we show off our epic scales."
"Yeah!" Ghost announced. "Phoenix Flight is awesome!"
"Well, we'll have a good time to see what you can do." Whisper noted. "I think it's best if you guys take out the kitsune while our guild goes for the bigger threat."
"That won't be needed." Ragna shook his head. "I, Clause, or Vlad, can handle the kitsune on our own."
"Maybe before it became a boss, but as it is now, it'll be tricky," Cinder spoke up. "That kitsune became a boss, and boss kitsunes are very dangerous. Not only is their shapeshifting far stronger, but they also gain the ability to create clones of themselves. These clones are usually half as strong as the original, but the thing is, their clones can also make clones, and while yes, they do get weaker, you'll eventually be overwhelmed with sheer numbers. Luckily, they can't do this at super fast speeds, and so if a strong enough group attacks them, their numbers will eventually be overwhelmed."
"Vlad can still handle it on his own," Ragna assured.
"Can he?" Battery glanced at Vlad, who was riding on Gormay's shoulder, hunched over, playing on his gaming device. "Because he doesn't look that tough."
"Yo dick ain't tough." Vlad's sudden response caught everyone off guard, and it caused Battery to stumble and trip over his feet, dropping to the ground. Vlad didn't even look up; he just kept playing. "One of the mana signatures is gone. Pay attention, dumb fucks."
"He's got a mouth on him, huh." Whisper frowned. She then tried to use a bit of mana and reached out toward the castle. She could feel the kitsune's energy coming toward their group as well as the core and the powerful force of mana, but the second one she had felt, the one of the masked man who attacked Ken and Olivia, was gone. "Damn. One of them slipped away? When did that happen? Some sort of teleportation magic?"
"Maybe pay more attention next time," Vlad grunted.
"I liked him better when he didn't talk…"
"Most of us also liked him better when he didn't talk!" Ragna announced happily. "Sadly, we're stuck with him."
"Oh, but he really is good at what he does." Clause said quickly. "Trust me, Vlad is the real deal."
Whisper turned toward the old man, and her look softened slightly. "If you say so, Clause. I'll put my trust in you."
"We've arrived," Sunny called out when they all reached the center of the city, where the Royal family's castle resided.
All the guards who had been guarding it the day before were absent. The entire city was quiet, and the orb above, the sun, casted a strong glow, lighting the windows of the castle up and bathing the structure in a golden aura.
Even without true mana sensing, Olivia felt a tension in the air, but her eyes were not drawn toward the castle, but instead toward the figure who stood outside of it. She had expected Huli to hide from them and use clones or maybe send the confused Licht-Fulk guards they still had out, but instead the kitsune stood in front of the large doors that led into the castle herself. It was her real form as well. She was taller than the clones, more feral looking with jagged claws and nine tails. She hadn't yet taken on her true form and still appeared as a beautiful woman, but the power she now radiated was intense.
Like Farkiss, Huli had evolved and become a boss monster, so her level of strength was far greater than it had been the first time she tried to kill Davi.
Still, no matter what her strength was, there was simply no way for a boss monster to survive an all-out encounter with two guilds, that is, unless they were the Blood Hydra, the strongest recorded boss monster to date.
Huli was strong, but she wasn't that strong, which was why it was so odd she came out here on her own.
"It's a stalling strat." Battery said casually. "She's going to try to hold us off as long as possible while the real boss, the one in the castle, does his little plan. Whatever that plan is. She's just here to slow us down and weaken us. Phoenix Flight, you guys will stay here and battle her while Pantheon goes on ahead. We'll take care of the boss inside. If you guys finish before us, which I doubt you will, then catch us and play support to us."
Ragna shook his head. "No. We're coming with you. The threat inside the castle is on the level of a captain. It's best to have as many Knights as possible. Vlad will handle the kitsune on his own. Then he'll catch up to us."
"I thought it was already explained to you why that's a bad idea." Cinder frowned. "A single person shouldn't fight a boss kitsune. Even if Vlad is far stronger, the clones will eventually take him out."
Ragna folded his arms and gave a slight grin. "There are two people that I would say are above me in the Phoenix Flight guild. See, I'm not the fastest, the strongest, the most durable, or the smartest, but I often am considered to be one of the best guildmates by those who know me, thanks to my years of training, and yet two walls stand in my way that I haven't been able to climb around, no matter how hard I try. The first is Captain Laerton. We're about equal in terms of stats, and yet her skills far outweigh mine, and her desire to win is one unmatched. She'll fight with weapons I've never heard of, and is something akin to a wild beast. Wild, unpredictable, and overwhelming, I've never once stood a chance. That said, I can at least fight Laerton, and while I never win, I have managed to bruise her. When it comes to Vlad, not once have I ever been able to land even a slight blow upon his flesh. In our guild, Vlad has never known defeat."
Vlad slid off Gormay's shoulders and began to walk toward the kitsune in the distance. He begrudgingly placed the gaming device in his sleeve and kept his cloak on, keeping his form concealed.
"Approaching me on your own?" Huli's form began to grow. Pink fire swirled around her, and she dropped to all fours, her body expanding, ripping her robes open, and fur rapidly forming across her flesh. In only a few seconds, she had grown to the size of a small building, her nine tails covered in fire, and jagged claws jutting from her paws. "I guess the Knights are dumber than I thought they would be." The pink fire flowed from Huli, and a smaller kitsune appeared, still massive in size, sporting eight tails. A second one appeared, then a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, and the process kept going until there were a few dozen, all with eight tails, while the nine-tailed fox glared at her prey. "We are here to keep you, Knights, at bay. None of you will make it past me."
Vlad yawned. "Row Circuit Blade." Swirling mana flowed from his hand and formed into a sword made of white and black energy. It looked as if a thousand threads had woven themselves together into the shape of a blade, forming a longsword that Vlad held.
"Circuit magic?" Whisper's eyes widened. "How does he have that type of magic? That doesn't make any sense. That's the magic of the king?"
Circuit Magic, the energy the King of Esteria created to create Circuit Cores and forge his Arcane Knights. The thing that allowed the system to run, and operate, and the reason system windows existed in the first place, and why Knights could view their stats.
Vlad, a member of Phoenix Flight, had the same magic.
Vlad kept going. He used a second spell. "Ril Circuit Save." Vlad let out another tired sigh, and then he rushed toward the kitsune with his blade!
"He's just charging in there?" Battery asked in stunned silence. "Against so many?"
"He is." Ragna nodded. "Because Vlad doesn't know defeat. He is the man who has never been harmed."
Huli glared at him and spewed out a wave of fire, which Vlad narrowly dodged with a mana step. Several of the clones swatted at him with their claws when he got close, and he deflected their attacks with his sword. Using another mana step, Vlad appeared in front of the boss kitsune, and he struck out with his blade, but one of the clones managed to block the strike with their tail. His sword got stuck in their flesh, and before he could react, the maws of a kitsune were on him, tearing off his arm. Vlad collapsed to the ground, blood flowing, and the rest of the kistune tore into him, claws and teeth ripping him apart!
Vlad was dead.
And then-
Vlad let out another tired sigh, and then he rushed toward the kitsune with his blade!
"He's just charging in there?" Battery asked in stunned silence. "Against so many?"
"He is." Ragna nodded. "Because Vlad doesn't know defeat. He is the man who has never been harmed."
Huli glared at him and spewed out a wave of fire, which Vlad narrowly dodged with a mana step. Several of the clones swatted at him with their claws when he got close, and he deflected their attacks with his sword. Using another mana step, Vlad appeared in front of the boss kitsune, and he struck out with his blade, but one of the clones managed to block the strike with their tail. His sword got stuck in their flesh, and so he dropped his sword, letting it go, and jumped back, avoiding the teeth that tried to tear off his arm.
"Row Circuit Sword." He recreated his sword and dodged another kitsune's strike and this time landed on its paw. He ran up it, weaving in and out of attacks he couldn't even see, doing so as if on instinct, and landed on the real Huli's nose, about to ram his sword into her eye, but one of her flaming tails slashed out and tore Vlad's head off!
Vlad was dead.
And then-
Vlad let out another tired sigh, and then he rushed toward the kitsune with his blade!
"He's just charging in there?" Battery asked in stunned silence. "Against so many?"
"He is." Ragna nodded. "Because Vlad doesn't know defeat. He is the man who has never been harmed."
Huli glared at him and spewed out a wave of fire, which Vlad narrowly dodged with a mana step. Several of the clones swatted at him with their claws when he got close, and he deflected their attacks with his sword. Using another mana step, Vlad appeared in front of the boss kitsune, and he struck out with his blade, but one of the clones managed to block the strike with their tail. His sword got stuck in their flesh, and so he dropped his sword, letting it go, and jumped back, avoiding the teeth that tried to tear off his arm.
"Row Circuit Sword." He recreated his sword and dodged another kitsune's strike, and this time landed on its paw. He ran up it, weaving in and out of attacks he couldn't even see, doing so as if on instinct, and landed on the real Huli's nose, about to ram his sword into her eye, but one of her flaming tails slashed out. Vlad blocked it with his blade, and the attack sent him flying back.
He spun in the air and threw his sword, smacking Huli in the nose right as she got ready to spew a wave of fire at him. This caused her attack to miss. Vlad then stepped to the side as one of the clones slammed their tail down where he had been, and he grabbed the sword that had been jammed into their tail earlier and ripped it out.
"He hasn't even been hit despite fighting so many foes," Whisper said in awe. "He's weaving in and out of the way of attacks so easily. Even having the advanced form of Danger Sense and the ability to read intentions, a person wouldn't be able to dodge so easily. He's amazing?"
"He is, isn't he?" Ragna chuckled. "I don't think I've ever seen him be hit. Not once."
Vlad charged toward the horde only to suddenly trip over his own two feet due to a misplaced rock, and he slammed into the ground hard. The kitsune dropped on him and tore him apart, killing him.
Vlad was dead.
And then-
"Seriously?" Vlad let out another tired sigh. "Stupid rocks." He was back in front of the Huli horde, and he could hear the others talking. To them, the fight hadn't even started yet. To him, this was his fifteenth time redoing it. "Okay, so feint left, then right, block, dodge, she'll parry my block, side step, get my sword back, oh, and watch out for uneven flooring. Shit, this sucks, can't I just play my games again?" He rushed toward the kitsune with his blade! "Let's try this again."
And so, Vlad began his fight with the kitsune again, all thanks to his spell, Circuit Save. A spell that allowed him to save his progress and revert back to that point.
Yes.
Vlad was going back in time.
The reality was, he wasn't the man who had never been harmed. Vlad was the man who was stubborn and willing to learn a person's every move so he could beat them in a no-hit run.
Vlad was a gamer.