Chapter 4: The Puppet’s Coffins

Chapter 4:
The Puppet’s Coffins

 

—1—

 

AS KANATA RESUMED his patrol of the city, two figures faced off on the roofs of Manaloch.

Kotone stood in her light robe and adjusted her simple gauntlets as she stared at her opponent with emotionless eyes.

Bosgin was a giant of a man—inhumanly large with his bald head towering twice as high as the top of hers. With the nickname of Big Arm Bosgin, his biceps were nearly as large as her waist.

“Lovis is takin’ his sweet time with someone else. No problem to me if he does,” said Bosgin as he glanced in the direction of the Adventurers’ Guild. “I asked him to come along and give us a hand with the fight, but you were always gonna be my target.”

“You’re the leader of this mess…” said Kotone, glaring at Bosgin as she raised her gauntlet-clad hands in a fighting stance.

Bosgin smiled, though it didn’t reach his glassy eyes.

“You’ve done quite the number on my men, haven’t you?” he said.

“…What are you after?”

“Don’t play dumb. You were supposed to get an item from those pansy knights at the Guild.” Bosgin tried to hold back a chuckle.

“If that’s what you were after, you just needed to attack the knights. Why not jump them before they ever got into the city? It looks like your goal was to cause trouble here.”

“Ha! I thought you’d be a brat who’d rely on your gift skill to avoid trouble at any cost, but you’ve been a thorn in our side, haven’t you now? And you still haven’t figured it out yet?”

Kotone’s eyes narrowed as Bosgin spoke, a crease forming between her brows. Bosgin was an unpleasant man, hiding a cold intelligence behind his ogrish appearance.

“Well… I could say we wanted to strike fear into the heart of Manaloch to spread the name of the Cup of Blood. Would you buy that?”

“Are you screwing with me?”

“No! I like you, Aries’s Hand! I like clever girls!”

Bosgin ran his fat tongue over his lips, then he pushed off the roof and came rushing at Kotone. Below his feet the tiles and shingles fractured and fell like dead leaves.

Swinging his massive fists to bring them down at her feet, cracks formed around him, and the roof began to buckle. Kotone lost her footing as the timbers gave way beneath her.

“Don’t go gettin’ surprised by something like that!”

Kotone regained her balance and dodged her way to safety.

“Hm? Seems you are used to a fight. But ya came unarmed. That won’t help the Aries’s Hand much, will it?” asked Bosgin with a smirk.

“I have these,” said Kotone as she showed him the gauntlets, then raised her arms and fell back into a fighting stance.

“You gonna go mano-a-mano, with me? You must be kidding!” said Bosgin as he swung his massive arms at Kotone.

As he approached, Kotone said, “Bosgin, also known as Big Arm, leader of the massive criminal organization the Cup of Blood. Criminal scum and a potential humanoid dragon. A living, breathing natural disaster…”

She dodged his attack by moving closer to his chest, then struck him hard there. Bosgin went sailing through the air.

“Gah!”

“Sorry, but I’m not going to lose to someone like you,” she said.

Kotone followed up with a flying kick to his gut as he soared defenselessly through the air. But he grabbed her ankle a fraction of a second before it landed.

“Don’t let your guard down, clever girl.”

He used all his strength to fling her upward, the muscles of his left arm bulging and expanding.

“Ha ha ha… Ya say you ain’t gonna lose to someone like me, girlie? I’m the one who beat every one of those thugs into line and made the Cup of Blood! You want to get things done, you best be willing to crack a few heads.”

“Spacetime Magic Level 8: Dimension Pocket.” Kotone cast while still in the air. In her hands she gripped a shining blue axe, five times as long as she was tall. “Ancient Axe of the Giant.”

Her eyes locked onto Bosgin, and the axe moved in a perfect arc as she swung it. It sank deep into the roof that he was standing on. One moment, cracks ran throughout the entire building. The next, it collapsed. Bosgin fell two stories onto the rubble-strewn ground. The attack made his opening strike look anemic.

He was covered in blood and lay writhing on his back. Kotone looked down at his broken form; the massive axe had already been sent back to the Dimension Pocket.

“G-gurgh…” Blood gurgled from Bosgin’s mouth. It was a fatal wound. Both arms were broken by the impact of his fall.

“I came to terms with cracking heads a long time ago. Tell me your goal. How’d you learn about the Red Staff of Authority? Where is it now?” asked Kotone.

“Y-y…” Bosgin’s voice was weak. Kotone leaned in slightly to hear him. “You really are the kind of girl I like.”

His voice was odd—his tone and way of speaking was changing. Kotone frowned.

His eyes, about to close a moment before, snapped open and looked at Kotone as he swung his massive, broken arms. That should have been impossible for a man on death’s door, and Kotone was forced to leap backward to escape the blow.

“You still have that much strength in you…?” she asked, stunned.

He stretched his arms out and then cracked his neck.

“Hmm… Can I make do with this? Such fragile puppets, always causing me trouble,” he said, his voice suddenly taking on a jarringly feminine tone. He then looked around him. “Well, this seems like a suitably private location. Death Magic Level 11: Puppet Coffin!”

Jet-black magic circles appeared around Bosgin. The light from the magic circles took form, turning into three physical caskets.

“L-Level 11?!” said Kotone, her eyes going round.

Kotone had seen her fair share of fights against high-level opponents. Partly because of the power of her gift skill, but mostly because she was a traveler and could never escape the gods’ constant gaze and meddling. Her fate was one of forever being drawn into battles. She hated that and longed to draw her manga in peace.

She’d seen a lot, but an enemy classified as a humanoid dragon could only cast, at most, a level 10 spell. People who could use levels 11 or 12 were rare. Bosgin was only a humanoid dragon if you combined his strength with that of the Cup of Blood. To see him cast a level 11 spell with no preparation—while on the brink of death—was truly bizarre. Especially when she’d never heard of him using spells at all.

“I…thought you made yourself the leader by your physical strength alone,” said Kotone.

The three coffins started rocking back and forth.

“Clever girl… Now let’s begin what I really came for, Kotone,” said Bosgin, his eyes looking in different directions and his tongue hanging from the corner of his mouth. “I think this little puppet won’t be enough, so I’ll need to use my others. While it’s unfortunate I didn’t manage to get by without them, you’ve left me with little choice. Perhaps I should have led Lovis a little more directly.”

Bosgin bent his joints in strange directions, putting them back to where they were before the fall.

“Who are you? You never were Bosgin, were you?” asked Kotone as she glared at the animated body. She retreated a few steps, raising her gauntlet-clad hands. If her opponent wasn’t the leader of the Cup of Blood, it was someone even worse than him. She realized that this was no longer a situation she could handle on her own.

Two of the Puppet Coffins popped open. An arm reached out of one and pushed the lid aside. A sleeper had awoken.

“Well now…is this lovely little lady my opponent? If it’s for justice’s sake, then we shall have a fair fight!” said the man who appeared, leveling his longsword at her.

He was an attractive man with a golden beard that joined with his sideburns, his impression both immaculate and rugged. The blue and gold of his armor marked him as a member of the Royal Knights. Kotone remembered hearing stories about a man with his appearance.

“Impossible… Hundred Monsters Gallan?!” she exclaimed.

It was a title as much as a nickname. A knight who could stand against waves of enemies was given the title of Hundred Monsters. At any given time, there were over a hundred Royal Knights in the king’s service, but maybe only ten in a generation were given the title of Hundred Monsters. They were the kingdom’s last line of defense against demon kings and humanoid dragons.

Gallan had gone missing three years earlier. Because he had apparently been acting strangely for a while before then, there were rumors that he was a spy for another country. And yet, here he was…

“I don’t enjoy fighting other humans, but it appears I have no choice,” said the man climbing out of the other coffin. “And just to clarify—just because I don’t enjoy fighting humans doesn’t mean I’m not good at it.”

He had long hair and a monocle. There were leather belts strapped all over him, from which hung all sorts of weapons—a bow, a sword, a spear, and an axe, to name a few.

This was Barrot, an S-rank adventurer given the nickname “Dungeon Master” for his habit of going into high-level dungeons alone and coming back alive.

Kotone looked at the two men, her eyes narrowing. Both of them were strong enough to stand against Kotone one on one. The third coffin didn’t move, but there was obviously something hiding inside.

“…Barrot the Dungeon Master. You never belonged to an organization, so you were never listed as missing,” she said.

“It was better that way, actually,” said Bosgin’s body. “I wanted to leave our Gallan here in the Royal Knights as long as possible, but their rules are so strict. Not all of the Royal Knights are morons, and it would’ve been a problem if they traced him back to me.”

Kotone had some idea about the true nature of the Puppet Coffin spell that Bosgin had used. She had heard of death magic that manipulated a person’s soul, allowing the magician to control the target’s body while leaving their personality intact. The legends said those spells were used in ancient times by spies to take over countries and enact evil plots.

Considering Bosgin’s tone before it changed, and how Gallan and Barrot sounded now, their personalities were still there. The caster was warping their thoughts and perceptions, making them act as the puppet master wanted. But considering how Bosgin was acting now, it was possible that his body had become so damaged that his personality and thoughts had been completely subsumed.

Bosgin, Gallan, and Barrot were all equivalent to S-rank adventurers, and now all three were pawns. That meant she was facing a humanoid dragon of at least medium power, perhaps stronger. Why did they want the Red Staff of Authority? It was nothing more than a decoration.

“Why? Someone as powerful as you shouldn’t need to attack a city just for money…” asked Kotone, shifting her eyes between the three men.

“You shouldn’t underestimate the Red Staff. Someone running wild with that weapon would be unstoppable. The royals of old killed the traveler who owned it and hid the Red Staff. Quite foolish of them to let the knowledge of its power fade over the ages,” said Bosgin, the corners of his mouth curling up. As a man of few expressions, the smile looked unnatural and creepy.

“Are you saying you can use the staff? It’s got strict requirements for equipping it. And…it seems you must have planned for that. But maybe you don’t have it yet. It looks like the Royal Knights managed to hide it well…unfortunately for you,” said Kotone.

Bosgin opened his mouth wide in a laugh. At the same time, Gallan and Barrot also started laughing in sync.

“What’s so funny?” asked Kotone.

“I’m sorry, miss,” said Gallan, “We’ve already taken the Red Staff of Authority from my three compatriots. Bosgin’s Cup of Blood underlings were more than enough for that. Really now… The training of the current generation of Royal Knights leaves much to be desired.”

“Besides, we never thought it would be all that difficult to procure the Red Staff,” added Barrot. “It was easy to get info on the knights’ route. The moment the staff left the castle guarded by only three low-level knights, we were worried that it would get stolen first by someone else. I know they’re shorthanded, but the Royal Knights really should have been a bit more careful, don’t you think, Gallan?”

Kotone’s eyes opened wide. She still wasn’t sure why Bosgin had come after her if they’d already stolen the Red Staff, but the entire situation was growing more ominous by the moment.

“Watch your tongue. An unaffiliated adventurer like you wouldn’t know anything about the doctrine of the Royal Knights. They’re always short on people since they’re constantly on the lookout for humanoid dragons. You can’t blame them for using a token force to transport a trinket. Besides, I bet things are still chaotic since I went missing,” said Gallan with a shrug, his tone slightly joking.

“My apologies, Gallan. But what I’m trying to say is that they should have seen this kind of thing coming, don’t you think? They shouldn’t have transported an item with a connection to the gods without planning for this eventuality,” replied Barrot.

The two chatted back and forth, smiling. It was nothing but disturbing to Kotone.

“…If you already have it, why are you causing this much trouble in the city? Shouldn’t you just leave?” she broke in.

The three all looked at Kotone at the same time and smiled.

“Ah ha, isn’t it obvious?” asked Gallen

“There’s no way to use the Red Staff of Authority on its own,” Barrot said. “How boring is it to get one piece of the puzzle while the other is hidden from you?”

“You should always steal the key along with the lock,” Bosgin added. “Or in this case, should I say the Aries’s Hand along with the staff?”

“The key and the lock… No…” said Kotone, sweat beading on her forehead.

She was the key to be stolen. Puppet Coffin was a spell that let them freely control other people. Their goal from the beginning had been to capture Kotone and her Aries’s Hand. And to do that she had to be drawn out of hiding in Manaloch.

“I thought I might subdue you if I tried going after you with one little meat puppet at a time, but you turned out to be stronger than I expected,” said Bosgin as he stepped forward. At the same time, Hundred Monsters Gallan and Barrot the Dungeon Master moved. Gallan raised his sword, and Barrot drew an axe and a sickle on a chain. “But you’re not strong enough to take all three at once!”

These three were probably around the same strength as S-rank adventurers. She had managed to keep the upper hand in a one-on-one fight with Bosgin, but this was the first time Kotone had ever faced odds like these.

Kotone was level 208, a level far above the minimum requirement for being an S-rank adventurer. She didn’t broadcast her own level to others, but she knew she was among the top ten most powerful people in the kingdom. It had been high enough that it made her the de facto guardian of the city of Manaloch.

She could only check their level, HP, and MP, but it would at least give her a clue about how she should proceed.

“Status Check!”

 

BOSGIN BOWGRANE

Race: Human

Lv: 173

HP: 148/865

MP: 18/709

 

GALLAN GASTIALA

Race: Human

Lv: 210

HP: 966/966

MP: 1029/1029

 

BARROT BARMILIO

Race: Human

Lv: 189

HP: 895/895

MP: 890/890

 

“…Not good,” muttered Kotone.

The average level was 190. Normally, you’d only get a lineup like this when fighting a demon king.

The one she should target would be Bosgin. While Bosgin might be the lowest level and severely injured, she still couldn’t take him lightly. His bones had broken in multiple places when he fell, but that wasn’t slowing him down at all—even now, his movements were unnatural, like his limbs were being jerked around by strings.

Barrot would be next, and she’d deal with Gallan later. He didn’t seem to be the kind of swordsman she could land a decisive hit on while she was dealing with multiple enemies.

Barrot threw the counterweight on the opposite end of the chain from the sickle. It was a complicated weapon—the chain could be controlled by the weight, or the weight could be controlled by the chain. If she didn’t defend well against it, she could end up wrapped up and unable to move. Kotone handled it neatly by punching the weight away with her gauntlet.

“Barrier Magic Level 6: Divide.” Gallan raised his sword, which emitted a physical barrier of light. It split the floor as it rushed at Kotone. She leapt to the right and evaded.

At the same time, Bosgin moved in that direction and swung his arm. They had locked down Kotone’s movements with the chain and Divide, then sprung the trap when she moved in the only way she could.

Their coordination was too perfect. There really had to be a single person controlling all three of them.

“Ah! Spacetime Magic Level 8: Dimension Pocket!” said Kotone, raising her hand toward Bosgin. “Aegis the Defender!”

In her hand appeared a massive circular shield, its diameter as wide as she was tall. It was a shining silver color, with a carving of a woman’s face in the center. Blue gems were embedded in the engraving’s eyes.

Bosgin’s arm crashed into the shield. For an instant, it seemed as if the shield would be flung aside by his blow, but Kotone struck the back of the shield with her knee, using the impact to support the aegis.

Light poured from the gemstones, and Bosgin stopped moving. Tremors ran through his body as he tried to struggle free, but he wasn’t going anywhere.

“Hmph… It counterttacks with a freeze. Nice item,” muttered Bosgin through a clenched jaw.

Kotone tried to feint around the shield to finish Bosgin off, but Barrot’s chain flew into her path. Gallan came in from the other side, aiming for the opening Kotone left when she bent and moved back to avoid the chain.

“Unfortunately for you, there are too many of us,” said Gallan.

“Dimension Pocket!” A jade-colored sword appeared in Kotone’s hands. “Aeolus the Blowing Wind!”

A wind spirit residing in the sword increased its speed. It allowed the wielder to strike faster and harder, but it was difficult for an average swordsman to control.

“Did you decide you lacked the skills to fight me? How careless of you, to think you could win against me with a sword that relies on speed,” said Gallan.

He rapidly thrust his sword three times. Kotone guarded against two with her own sword and then evaded the last by leaning out of the way.

She counterattacked, and Gallan defended with his sword. The blades locked together.

“Huh… It seems you haven’t given up on skill. I retract my rude comment from a moment ago, but this is as far as you go,” he said.

He pushed heavily onto the blade and flung Kotone back, forcing her to lose her footing. She gasped as Barrot’s chain wrapped around her left arm when she stumbled back.

“Gah!”

Barrot immediately threw the axe he’d been holding, and Kotone ducked to avoid it. Gallan used the opening to move in close for another attack. She guarded against his blade with her gauntlet, but the impact rattled her bones.

As she stumbled, Barrot quickly drew in the chain. Kotone was pulled into the air, only to stop against Bosgin’s massive fist as it crunched into her gut.

Bosgin licked his lips. “Ha ha, I hadn’t expected you to hold out this long. I really do like you. I’ll make sure to take good care of you.”

Kotone slammed into the ground. She tried to stand, but Gallan struck the back of her head with the flat of his sword, and she crumpled to the ground.

Try as she might, she couldn’t force her body to move. All she could see with her barely open eyes was Bosgin staring down at her.

“Ha ha! Now I have both the Red Staff of Authority and Aries’s Hand. Even the Gods can’t stand against me!”

“Hm…but now we’ll need to swap someone out,” said Gallan, his hand on his chin in thought.

“You’re right. Barrot, let’s rock-paper-scissors for it,” said Bosgin as he held out a fist.

Barrot nodded and held his out as well.

Bosgin threw rock and Barrot threw paper. Bosgin nodded.

“Between Kotone here and the A-rank adventurers of this city, the Cup of Blood has taken quite the hit. There’s no longer as much value in keeping Bosgin around. Oh well. Given how things turned out, I don’t feel sad cutting him out now,” said Bosgin.

He brought a hand to his own throat. Kotone wondered what he was doing as she looked up at him.

He squeezed hard, and his thick neck snapped in an impossible direction. Blood, vomit, and feces poured from his body, and his eyes rolled back into his head as he collapsed to the ground. It was as if the strings that had been controlling him had been cut.

“Aah! What did you do?!” shrieked Kotone.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” asked Gallan.

“Just making space to welcome you, Kotone,” said Barrot.

They chuckled as they moved toward Kotone. Beset with terror, she lost consciousness.

 

—2—

 

“SO SOMEONE who looks like Bosgin was spotted in the city?” I asked.

“Yeah! For some reason, he stuck around even though they already took the Red Staff of Authority,” said Bennet.

I’d run into Bennet again while I’d been hunting down the remaining Cup of Blood members. Now he was shadowing me whether I liked it or not. He’d already recovered Noelle and taken her to a safe place. That’s when he heard about Bosgin.

“…So, why didn’t you go look for Bosgin yourself? Why’d you come all this way to find me?” I asked, glaring at him.

Bennet smiled in an attempt at flattery as he grabbed my shoulder. “D-don’t be so cold, Kanata. Why don’t you just let what happened when we first met be water under the bridge?”

“Please don’t touch me.”

Bennet took his hand from my shoulder and gave me a sly wink, but then his face quickly turned serious.

“To be honest…” he said sadly, “Bosgin’s not the kind of enemy that someone like me or Noelle can handle alone. I don’t want to be an embarrassment as a knight, but if I let arrogance lead me to do something rash, it will likely just end in a bigger disaster. Honor is important to us knights, but we’re best used as a shield to protect the country. I can’t let my priorities get reversed and make protecting my honor more important than protecting my country.

“Bosgin’s in a whole different league. He’s a real threat, and this whole situation stinks. These people could have been heroes, they could have been anything they wanted, but they’re so twisted, they want to be murderers. And Bosgin is a murderer who leads other murderers. We have to strike him down, here and now. Defeating him will save thousands—tens of thousands—of victims he might brutalize in the future.”

There was passion in Bennet’s voice. I’d thought he was a pathetic guy with no real convictions, but I felt like he believed in what he just said.

“I’m sorry, Bennet, I’m the one who said mean things instead of focusing on the danger the city was in,” I said.

“And besides, this is our last chance to get the Red Staff of Authority back! I thought it’d be impossible, but if Bosgin is still here, the staff should still be here too! No matter what else happens, if I can’t get that back, my family’s name will be ruined! Argh, what would my father say?!”

I facepalmed, trying to hold back my annoyance. Protecting the country aside, he had some personal issues he was still trying to work through.

“Do you really think Bosgin is still in Manaloch?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. But…it’s possible that someone more dangerous is using the commotion caused by the Cup of Blood to enact their own plan. And their goals probably aren’t aligned with Bosgin’s.”

“Someone more dangerous…?”

Bennet nodded and said, “When I got Noelle to the evacuation point, I heard that the leader of the Black Reapers…Lovis…had been spotted.”

“Lovis, huh…” I tapped my chin with a finger as I thought. A moment later, an image of Lovis groveling on the ground came to mind. I felt myself frown.

“Seriously? Are you telling me you’ve never heard of him? He’s a dangerous, battle-obsessed maniac. The reapers aren’t as big as the Cup of Blood, but there are actually quite a few knights who consider them more dangerous.”

“No, I know him…it’s just…”

“Lovis is probably trying to outsmart Bosgin and nab the Red Staff for himself. I think Bosgin probably hasn’t left Manaloch because Lovis has him pinned down. I mean, it’d be great if they kill each other, but…the problem will be if Lovis really does get his hands on the Red Staff.”

“What would happen?”

“There’s no telling what Lovis might do. He’s not the kind of easy-to-read person who’s only motivated by money. He’s deranged. Even outlaws have a sort of code amongst themselves, but he doesn’t follow that at all. If he’s got the staff…we’ll never get it back.”

“Huh. I feel like he’d just give it back if I asked…”

“Kanata, this is not the time to crack jokes.” Bennet looked toward a nearby building. The roof was broken, a gaping hole in it. The buildings nearby seemed damaged.

“Bosgin was spotted in this direction,” he said.

“Looks like there was a fight. Maybe we should check it out,” I suggested.

Bennet and I exchanged glances and nodded, then approached the ruined building.

“Dammit, the door’s warped. Come on,” complained Bennet as he tried to open the door. I kicked the wall beside the door, opening a hole.

“Let’s hurry. If he’s not here, we’ll have to keep moving to catch up,” I said.

“Uh…yeah. Of course.” Bennet nodded and followed me in.

Inside was a massive man who had collapsed on the ground, covered in blood and his own filth. His neck was twisted at an impossible angle, and it was obvious he was already dead. Bennet stood there dazed, staring at the corpse.

“Bennet, is that…?”

“D-definitely… That’s Bosgin. But how did this happen…? L-Lovis must have done it…” he said fearfully.

“Oh… Do I have visitors?” came a voice as a tall man appeared from the shadows. Bennet rushed to draw his sword, but it fell from his hands the moment he saw the man.

He was wearing the same blue armor with gold patterns that Bennet wore, only slightly more ornate. He was a large man with blond hair cut in the style of a lion’s mane.

“L-Lord Gallan!” said Bennet, dumbstruck.

“Oh, Bennet! Long time no see. Ha ha, I knew you were a knight when I saw your armor, but I wasn’t expecting you. You’re starting to wear that armor well, aren’t you?” Gallan gave a friendly wave to Bennet.

“I still have a lot to learn, s-sir!” said Bennet.

“Do you know this person?” I asked, and Bennet nodded slightly. Gallan seemed happy, but Bennet’s face showed unease.

“Y-yeah… I know him, but it’s weird,” said Bennet quietly, so only I could hear. “He’s a knight among knights, one who’s been given the title of Hundred Monsters Knight. In a one-on-one fight, I’m certain he wouldn’t lose to Bosgin. But…”

“But…?”

“He… Lord Gallan disappeared three years ago. Since then, no one’s heard from him at all. I was sure he was dead.”

Bennet seemed more confused than happy about this situation. He seemed to think Gallan being alive was a very strange thing indeed.

I looked back to Gallan. He was still smiling and waving at us. For some reason, though, his smile felt artificial, and it didn’t reach his eyes.

“We should be careful of him then, you think?” I said, lowering my voice. Bennet nodded so slightly Gallan probably couldn’t see.

“If it really is him, I don’t understand why he’d be here. To be honest, there were rumors that he was a spy for another country, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s strong enough to be called a Hundred Monsters Knight. He’s a knight charged with killing demon kings and humanoid dragons… Bosgin and Lovis are nowhere near him.”

After speaking to me, Bennet turned back to Gallan.

“Lord Gallan… If I may ask, what have you been doing this whole time, never contacting the Royal Knights? Why have you been hiding for so long? And why are you in Manaloch now?”

“Come now, it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, and you’re not being very friendly, Bennet.”

“I want to celebrate this reunion, and I don’t want to doubt, but…”

Gallan scratched his head. “Long ago, if I gave an order, you’d drop everything to follow me and agree with everything I said. Ha ha, well, looks like our little Bennet is all grown up.” Gallan smiled sadly.

He was looking at Bennet apologetically. I didn’t know Gallen well enough to think he was an impostor, but his movements were…wrong.

Gallan’s expression tensed. He walked our way and said, “I left the knights because I had something important to do. I can’t tell them what it is just yet. But maybe I can talk to you about it, Bennet.”

“Huh…?” Bennet took a step forward, drawn in by what Gallan said. I stood there, unmoving, not knowing what to do.

“The reason I lied to the knights and left… It has to do with this meat puppet, Bosgin.” Gallan pointed behind him to Bosgin’s corpse, without turning around himself.

There was something else that was bothering me. Bosgin had a lot of wounds, but none of them were from a sword. There were a lot of bruises from blunt strikes and scratch marks. Most importantly, the wound that certainly killed him was his twisted neck, not something you’d do with a blade.

I didn’t know Gallan’s fighting style, but I was sure he wasn’t the man who killed Bosgin.

“The reason I left the knights… The reason I left…” Gallan closed his eyes, his hand touched the hilt of the sword on his back. Bennet saw, and his eyes grew wide in realization. “Sorry, I can’t actually remember why.”

Gallan smiled a tense, artificial smile, then drew his longsword and thrust it toward Bennet.

“L-Lord Gallan! Why?!”

“I can’t have any more people seeing us. No telling tales…so I’ll kill the knight first, then I’ll take care of that lowly adventure over there.”

I jumped and quickly slipped between them, pushing Bennet’s shoulder to fling him backward.

“Look out!” I shouted.

“K-Kanata!”

Gallan laughed. “Huh, with that speed, you seem to be pretty high-level. But did you really think you’d go unharmed after jumping in front of a Hundred Monsters Knight?”

Gallan lunged forward and struck with his longsword. I took a step back and dodged a strike aimed at my stomach. Gallan followed up with a swift slash from the opposite side. I ducked.

He locked his eyes on me in a shocked glare. He clearly hadn’t expected me to dodge two attacks in a row…but he didn’t stop moving. Following the momentum of his sword, Gallan raised his blade to the sky.

“You surprised me…but we Hundred Monsters Knights have a sword skill to deal with an unarmed humanoid dragon. It will certainly be enough to take care of you.” Gallan pointed his sword directly at my chest. “Rakshasa Destroying Series.”

As Gallan struck out at me, I turned aside to evade. He then swiped his blade across as he leapt up, which I ducked to avoid. As he came down to the ground, Gallan followed the force of the sword to spin around and attack me from the opposite side. I stood my ground and threw a kick at his chest as he did.

“Gah!” Gallan twisted in the air and landed on his feet.

“N-not a scratch on Kanata… But Lord Gallan’s in a completely different league from the members of the Cup of Blood…” said Bennet, frozen in shock.

“If I hadn’t been wearing the armor of a Hundred Monsters Knight, I’d be dead. Who are you…? I can’t believe I don’t know about someone like you,” said Gallan, pointing his sword at me again. Sweat ran down his temple.

Just then, a crack ran through his armor. Chunks of broken metal fell to the floor. Gallan’s eyes grew wide as he looked down at the falling shards.

“Impossible… It was just a kick… This armor is a national treasure! It can withstand an attack from a dragon. How could it break so easily?!”

“Gallan-san, was it?” I said, lowering my foot. Gallan seemed to finally remember he was in the middle of a fight and hurriedly raised his sword again as I said, “Would you mind telling us everything? I don’t plan on pulling any more punches.”

Gallan’s mouth froze open, then he said, “That wasn’t your full strength?”

He was most likely around level 200. If I really went all out with a kick against him, it wouldn’t just be his armor that broke. It would end the fight in one hit. But just because there was such a huge difference in our levels didn’t mean I didn’t have to worry about him running.

I needed this man to explain the strange events happening in Manaloch.

“K-Kanata…h-how strong are you…?” Bennet’s mouth hung open as he pointed at me from behind. But he quickly shook his head and glared at Gallan. “L-Lord Gallan! Tell us everything! Why did you betray the knights?! Are you one of the ones causing the disturbance in Manaloch?!”

Gallan stood frozen for a moment, but he eventually placed a hand on his face, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

“Hee hee hee… Ah, I suppose I couldn’t get the Red Staff of Authority quite that easily. Really now, I’ve stayed hidden just so I wouldn’t run into an opponent like this. How irksome,” said Gallan, his speech pattern suddenly changed. He glared at me between the fingers of the hand that hid his face.

It wasn’t just the words he used—his intonation, cadence, and the entire impression his speech gave had completely changed in the blink of an eye.

“Lord Gallan? No! I knew it! You are an imposter! Is it mental manipulation? Release Lord Gallan!” shouted Bennet.

“I’m glad this happened after I managed to secure the Red Staff. If it had been before, then I might have been defeated. Cutting it close, hm?” Gallan raised his longsword. “This isn’t a spell I like to use lightly, but I have no choice… Death Magic Level 11: Puppet Coffin!”

Jet-black magic circles appeared around where Gallan stood.

 

—3—

 

THE BLACK MAGIC CIRCLES transformed into three black coffins. They started to rattle and shake. The front coffin opened, and a person appeared from inside.

“No rest for the weary, eh?” said the man as he appeared from the black coffin. He had long hair and wore a monocle. Leather belts were strapped to every part of his body, and he was covered in all sorts of weapons: a bow, a spear, a sword, an axe.

He looked at us and smiled gently. He then took a sickle attached to a long chain from a belt and readied it for battle.

“Barrot the Dungeon Master?! Wh-where have you been?! Wh-why are you here?!” cried Bennet when he saw the long-haired man. Barrot waved back at Bennet.

“I’m flattered that a knight would have such a high evaluation of me. Ha ha, no, I’m just a sad man who enjoys a bit of dungeon diving.”

“I can’t believe I’d be forced to use Puppet Coffin twice in one day. Though, I suppose I should have been ready for an opponent like this. It’s not like they would let me get the Red Staff of Authority without some serious trouble,” muttered Gallan, a hand pressed to his face, though he looked at me and raised his longsword. Barrot grinned and looked at Gallan. They moved at the same time.

Puppet Coffin was death magic, but it being death magic didn’t mean that these two were necessarily dead. There were many spells within the field of death magic that took control of a living person’s mind.

“I can’t kill them…” I said.

“That seems a bit optimistic, doesn’t it?” said Barrot as he prepared to throw the counterweight. Gallan raised his sword to the sky at the same time.

“Barrier Magic Level 6: Divide!”

His sword shot out a physical slash of white light that split the floor as it came toward me. It seemed to be a spell intended to control the movements of his enemy.

I just stood there and let it hit me. The light disappeared the moment it touched me, thanks to Lunaère’s robe.

“What the…?” said Gallan with a scowl.

The chain wrapped around my extended arm.

“And there I have you!” said Barrot happily.

“I’m the one who has you,” I said and pulled the chain. Barrot flew through the air toward me.

“Impossible!”

I punched Barrot in the face. He sailed away in the direction he’d just come, and the force snapped the chain into pieces as he crashed into the ground.

“If you could just take a nap, please,” I said.

Gallan swung his sword at my back, a huge slash with all his force behind it. I turned my arm behind me and caught the blade between my thumb and forefinger.

“Seriously?!” groaned Gallan.

He tried to pull his longsword back, but it wouldn’t budge. I drew my sword with my other hand.

“Ah!”

I made one strike with the Heroic Sword of Gilgamesh, and a pale blue glow filled the air. A massive gash appeared in the floor and the ceiling, following the arc of the swing. Gallan’s longsword broke and evaporated, destroyed by the magic of my sword.

Gallan was flung back by the force of the impact and fell to the ground. He lay on his back, weakly extending his arms toward the ceiling.

“Th-this is too much…” he said.

I returned my sword to its sheath. Hopefully, those two wouldn’t be getting back up any time soon. That would buy me some time to take care of whatever was controlling Gallan and Barrot.

“So powerful…” said Bennet from where he was hanging back behind me.

I stared at the two remaining coffins.

“How about you come out now?” I said.

The lid of one of them shook, and a pale hand came from inside, pushing the lid aside. The girl who sat up had a somewhat cold expression and black hair cut into a short bob. Her neatly cut bangs swayed as she looked at me.

“K-Kotone-san…?” I said.

“Oh…Kanata,” she replied with no expression, though her tone seemed somewhat sad. She raised her fists toward me. “I’m sorry. I know I said I’d look out for you, but things have changed. I’m going to fight to kill you, so please run as fast as you can.”

I steadied my breathing. I wasn’t mentally prepared to see someone I knew step out of one of those boxes. There had to be some way to save her. Maybe it was good luck that they kept Kotone alive to use her for the Puppet Coffins. I might still have a chance to save her.

“Aw, look at that… Hee hee, you two were close,” said Gallan as he stood shakily and laughed at Kotone and me.

My eyes narrowed. I’d aimed to knock him unconscious. Apparently, I held back a bit too much.

“Don’t worry. Once this fight is over, we’ll make you one of us too. Unfortunately for Mr. Bennet over there, he’s a bit too low a level. You pass with flying colors though, Kanata,” said Barrot as he stood slowly, wiping the blood from his mouth and smiling. But then his eyebrows creased, and he looked confused as he said, “Oh…but that means I’m next up to die? Gallan’s stronger than me. Kotone obviously has that fun gift skill to top it off. Hmm. Ah well.”

He smiled without a care in the world as he spoke of something terrible. It was horrifying to hear someone be so blasé about their impending death.

Barrot’s gaze dropped to his own hands, and he tossed aside the broken chain. “A shame. And I liked that thing too,” he said. “The chain’s pretty tricky to get the hang of for battle, but I had fun mastering it. You should try it out sometime, Kanata.”

I bit my lip.

I didn’t think I’d failed to judge my strikes twice in a row. It was possible Puppet Coffin was simply manipulating their thoughts to keep them from losing consciousness. It was probably abusing their bodies beyond their limits, as well.

“Gallan, use this,” said Barrot as he took a sword from the belt on his back and tossed it to Gallan. Gallan caught the sword and raised it toward me.

“Kanata, it appears that you are quite high in level. However, I have learned methods for fighting superior opponents,” the knight said. “Ha ha, if I didn’t know that much, I wouldn’t have lasted very long.”

Barrot took a knife from a belt around his leg and gently swiped it through the air to test it.

“This is my back-up poisoned knife. Not my first choice, but I’ve still got some tricks up my sleeve. Hope you’re looking forward to them.”

I looked at Barrot, Gallan, and then Kotone in order. I pushed back feelings of frustration and took a deep breath. It was going to be all right. If their minds were just being controlled, then there should be a way to save them.

“I’ll get Pomera-san to come heal you afterward, so please forgive me for this. I’m going to be a bit harder on you now,” I said.

“Ha! He’s looking down on us. That’s adorable. This kind of battle is best for getting the blood pumping. Let’s have another go, Kanata,” said Barrot confidently as his eyes narrowed in enjoyment.

I looked at the last coffin, the one in the back.

Were they still unwilling to send out their big guns? Or was the person in charge of Puppet Coffin hiding in that one?

I wasn’t entirely sure who I was going up against, but I could make a guess by piecing together clues from their actions. Most likely, Bosgin had just been a puppet, same as Gallan and Barrot. They were all under the effect of a spell that left the target’s personality intact while manipulating their actions. The plan was most likely to have the Cup of Blood attack and then steal the Red Staff of Authority while the gang acted as a distraction.

I knew that much, but there were still some things that didn’t fit together. If this person could call out Gallan and Barrot whenever they liked to send on a rampage, it should have been easy for them to steal the Red Staff from Bennet and the knights. It seemed too roundabout to get the Cup of Blood involved.

The person who cast Puppet Coffin was abnormally scared of showing themselves. The only conclusion I could come to was that they were using the Cup of Blood to hide any traces of their identity and involvement.

“Fighting the puppets won’t get me anywhere. I need to drag out the puppeteer,” I said, glaring at the final coffin.

“Dimension Pocket… Gandiva, the Celestial Bow of Fire.” A magic circle shone around Kotone’s hand, and a longbow wreathed in flames appeared from inside.

“Ooh, the bow of destruction that only high elven royalty and powerful spirits can use! I’m surprised you have something like that, but I guess it’s what one should expect from the Aries’s Hand,” gushed Barrot in surprise when he saw Kotone’s flaming bow.

“You’ll make a fine little puppet… If the spell doesn’t take while you’re alive, we have a solution for that as well,” said Gallan as he raised his borrowed sword and came at me.

Barrot followed close behind. He tried to use the opening made by Gallan to strike with the poisoned knife.

Kotone loosed an arrow from the Celestial Bow of Fire. I ducked to avoid the streak of flame, and the arrow struck the wall behind me. The missile melted through the stone, and it continued to fly into the city. Flames licked the edges of the hole and quickly spread.

“Th-that’s a magic weapon of mass destruction! That’s not something you can just go firing all over town!” protested Bennet to no avail. It seemed both Barrot and Kotone weren’t pulling any punches; they were going for a strategy that could potentially overwhelm a higher-level opponent’s defenses.

“Spirit Magic Level 5: Will-o’-Wisps!” cried Gallan, and a magic circle appeared around him. The light coalesced and formed two more Gallans.

My senses told me they weren’t mere illusions. Since he knew that magic attacks wouldn’t get through, he needed spells that would deal physical attacks.

“Not going to make this easy,” I sighed.

I could tell by their movements that they knew I was higher level. They switched to strategies that were more roundabout—ones that had high burst firepower or ones that kept them at an advantage. It suggested they had far more fighting experience than Evil Priest Notts or the demon king Mother had.

The Gallans came slashing at me from three different directions at once. Kotone timed an arrow to match and let it loose toward me. But it looked like she didn’t care at all if her arrow hit Gallan, as long as she hit me.

“You won’t be able to handle this! No matter how high your level is, you won’t escape uninjured if you’re hit by the Celestial Bow of Fire!” shouted Gallan.

I opened my senses to the flow of magic and determined which of the Gallans were the fakes. Leveling two strong kicks at the doppelgangers put them out of the fight quickly—their bodies split in two, tumbled over the ground, and turned back into light.

Then I swept my leg to trip the real Gallan. He fell hard, his shoulder crashing into the ground. I felt bad, but I quickly followed up by snapping his legs. I didn’t want him back in the fight, and Pomera should be able to undo the damage once things were sorted out.

“I-I can’t keep up at all… This is madness!” groaned Gallan. “But you can’t evade arrows from the Celestial Bow of Fire!”

I might not be able to evade them, but they also weren’t much of a danger to me. As one shot toward me, I caught it with my hand. The red flames were about to explode, but I covered them and crushed the arrowhead in my fist. Flames spurted from between my fingers, and I put them out by waving my hand. Gallan’s eyes grew wide as he stared in disbelief.

I grabbed Barrot’s arm and held it back as he tried to stab me from where he’d been hidden behind Gallan. The blade stopped just before my face. Barrot pushed his hand forward, but he couldn’t move my arm.

That’s when I noticed the knife’s black blade was shivering and a purple light was beginning to leak from along the edges.

“That isn’t poison,” I said.

“You truly are formidable, Kanata…but this is the end.” Barrot smiled.

It wasn’t just the knife. Several of the weapons strapped to Barrot were shaking and shining purple.

I’d seen this in Cocytus. It was called agniraz—an explosive made by demons that could be detonated with a magic command.

“A poisoned knife wasn’t going to do anything against someone like you. Sorry, but you’ll have to die with me. As we stand now, everyone but Kotone will perish. But that’s the price that must be paid!” Barrot dropped the knife and wrapped his arms around me.

“K-Kanata!” cried Bennet.

“Run Bennet!”

Time was running out, so I focused my speed and strength to strip the weapons from Barrot’s belts. One by one, they fell to the ground, then I scooped up the adventurer in one arm and the knight in the other. A few moments later, I cleared the blast zone just as they detonated.

When the agniraz exploded, it formed a massive black pillar of fire. The floor burned, and nearby walls shattered.

“That was close…” I said with an exhausted huff.

I dropped the two puppets to the ground. They were more of a danger to themselves than they were to me, so I snapped all the joints in their arms and legs while mentally apologizing to Pomera.

“You’re…invincible…” said Bennet, shrinking away from me.

“I hoped it wouldn’t come to this,” said a muffled voice, high-pitched like a child’s. “I wished to avoid standing out, to avoid drawing their gaze, but…it seems that is no longer an option.”

The final coffin opened. A young blonde girl emerged and walked over to stand beside Kotone.

She wore a black-and-blue dress with a ribboned headband. Her cute outfit didn’t match her evil aura. There was a cold-hearted glint to her world-weary eyes. She gnawed on her finger in annoyance as she glared at Bennet and me.

The aura the girl gave off had an air of inhuman magic. It was close to the feeling I got from Lunaère.

Held in her right hand was a bright red staff.

 

—4—

 

“I HAD HOPED to take you off guard and finish you off with the agniraz explosion. I’m surprised you avoided it,” said the blonde girl as she chewed her fingertip until it was raw.

The way she spoke, the way she moved…it was all the same as when Gallan’s personality had been overridden. At least now I knew who the puppet master was.

Bennet’s face twisted in disbelief when he saw the girl. “Corpse Doll Alice?!”

I glanced at the knight. Apparently, she was famous in Locklore—but as usual, this was news to me.

“You don’t know about her?” asked Bennet when I looked at him blankly. “Corpse Doll Alice is a magic user who became a lich. It’s said the real Alice could single-handedly stand against an entire country if she wanted. She’s about as strong as humanoid dragons can get!”

“A lich, huh?”

That did make sense. The aura coming from her was similar to Lunaère’s. And she seemed a little young to have that high a level.

“But… Alice was killed eighty years ago. No one’s seen anything of her since!” exclaimed Bennet.

Since she had Puppet Coffin, that explained where she’d been hiding out. Though, if she was strong enough to take on an entire country by herself, I couldn’t imagine why she’d been lying low.

Once someone became a lich, time lost most of its meaning. It was true for Lunaère—just decades and centuries with nothing to do but study magic, gain levels, and goof off with hobbies.

Meaning…I might have just bitten off more than I could chew. I guessed Lunaère was over level 5,000. What was Alice’s level? I needed to know if I could handle this on my own or if I needed to go find Philia for backup.

“Status check!”

 

ALICE AZCAROLL

Race: Lich

Lv: 666

HP: 2997/2997

MP: 2687/3396

 

That’s it…?! That’s what qualifies as a high-level humanoid dragon?!

I’d thought she would at least be a higher level than Mother, who was almost level 1,000.

Apparently Lunaère wasn’t powerful because she was a lich, she was powerful because she was Lunaère.

“R-run, Kanata! Alice is in a completely different league. We’ve got to find a way to report back to the royal family! Forget about the Red Staff! This is the end for Manaloch!” shouted Bennet, his eyes filled with dread as he tugged desperately on my arm.

I shook him off gently.

“I’ll manage. You should get out of here, Bennet. It’ll be easier if there aren’t any bystanders,” I said.

“St-stop being so casual about this! I know you’re far stronger than I am, but Alice is a legend! This isn’t a Hundred Monsters Knight or a Dungeon Master; this is a whole different level!” he said as he drew his sword and steadied his nerves. “I’m a knight. I-I can do this! I’d draw her attention on the count of three. You run back as fast as you can. A-at least this way, even the royal family can’t blame me for the Red Staff. Tell my father…I died like a knight.”

“No, really… Bennet, get out of here.” I appreciated his feelings, but this was going to be an easy fight for me as long as I didn’t have to worry about protecting innocent lives.

“You don’t trust me? H-hah, I get things done when I need to. T-trust me,” he continued.

“Oh…yes. Travelers can see their opponents’ levels, can’t they, Kanata? From what I’ve seen of you so far, I’m probably not much of a challenge to you,” said Alice, her expression fierce.

Bennet looked shocked as he stared at Alice, then turned back to look at me.

She continued, “I don’t know why someone as terrifying as you appeared out of the blue. I was going out of my way to settle this peacefully… But know that you are a bug.”

“A bug?” It seemed like a strange thing to call someone many times more powerful than her.

“Hee hee, don’t think you’re the first. There have been others like you. You’re very rare, but incredibly high-level people like you appear from time to time. It’s mostly when a special gift skill malfunctions. In the past, other travelers called those people ‘bugs in the system’.”

“Ahh, that kind of ‘bug.’ That’s just—”

“I imagine the gods hate you more than most.” Alice’s face split in a terrible grin, revealing her jagged teeth. A long, reddish tongue hung from the corner of her mouth, her cuteness subsumed by evil.

A shiver ran down my spine. Alice clearly knew a lot about Naiarotop and the other gods, and there was clearly something I was missing. Alice knew I was a far higher level than her, but her confidence hadn’t faltered.

“Hee hee, let me explain, sad little boy. The higher beings do everything they can to reduce the interference by bugs as much as possible. History keeps repeating itself…and the bugs always lose. If you truly attempt to interfere and make a nuisance of yourself, they will kill you along with the rest of the world.”

I gulped.

Naiarotop’s responsibility was to maintain this twisted world and was most likely trying to control the number of high-level people to maintain balance. They would surely be thinking of ways to handle me, the person who’d gained more than 4,000 levels despite being thrown into a dungeon to die as a joke. I wasn’t just an annoyance to them—I’d become an obvious threat.

“So the obvious reason why it was so easy for me to get both the Red Staff of Authority and Aries’s Hand?” Alice stepped onto a pile of debris and licked Kotone’s cheek. “It’s simple, Kanata. This is what the gods had planned from the start.”