God’s Guide for Teasing Heroes

*KAZUE POV* 

  

  

"What happened?" <Kazue> 

I tried to keep my eyes open but I still could not fathom what just transpired. 

The black hole in the air had transformed into a sphere and enveloped me and my party members. 

  

  

The scenery around me had suddenly changed. 

A while ago I was just standing inside a cave when I dispatched one zombie. 

The scenery changed in the instant the black sphere enveloped us. 

No one of us could react, it happened so fast that none of us were able to do a thing. 

  

  

I made a blinking motion as I tried to understand what just happened. 

The feeling of a déjà vu filled me. 

This reminded me of what happened over a month ago. 

Yes, the time when our class was transported to another world. 

  

  

Right away I looked back to check on my party members. 

All of them were there. 

Charlotte, Grace, Amy, Lucas, and Rio. 

I let out a sigh of relief after I saw them. 

I looked around to check for our surroundings. 

After I confirmed that no monster was around, I walked toward my party members who appeared to be in disarray. 

"Char! Are you alright?" <Kazue> 

I called out to Charlotte as I walked toward her position. 

"What happened" <Charlotte> 

She asked as I walked toward her. 

I answered. 

"I don’t know." <Kazue> 

I had no idea what just happened. 

Lucas, Amy, Grace, and Rio gathered in our position to ask the same thing. 

But as expected no one of us seemed to know the exact answer. 

  

  

Rio walked next to me. 

"Kazue, it seems like we have been transported to a dungeon." <Rio> 

Just like me, Rio had experienced something similar to this before since she was together with us when our class got transported in a very similar manner. 

"Yeah, it looks like it..." <Kazue> 

It appears that both of us came up with the same conclusion. 

  

  

"What are you two talking about?" <Amy> 

Amy asked as she notices that the two of us seemed to be talking about something. 

"Ah, it's just that we think that we have got teleported into some sort of a dungeon." <Kazue> 

"huh?" <Amy> 

Amy showed me a confused look. 

 
 

 
 

"I can't explain it as well but… we think that is the case." <Kazue> 

"Hmmm..., I could not believe it but it looks like that is what’s happening right now." <Charlotte> 

After assessing our situation for a little bit, Charlotte agreed. 

Since none of us knows what happened, we can only assume. 

"Well, since we’re not sure, we just have to assume that, that is the case then?" <Amy> 

 
 

  

  

From the looks of it, all of us including myself are feeling anxious. 

Although we are trying to calm down, I could sense anxiety from everyone. 

The only thing that is keeping us calm was the fact that we are together. 

It appears that we trust each other enough to feel that if we were together, we can somehow make this through. 

I believe that that is true for my party members as well. 

At the least, that is what I felt. 

  

  

"What will we do now?" <Lucas> 

Lucas asked as he saw that most of us have somehow got a grip on ourselves. 

"What to do... huh...” <Charlotte> 

Muttered Charlotte while thinking. 

 “Hmmm, our first priority is to somehow escape here... I guess." <Charlotte> 

She said in a reassuring tone. 

"How are we supposed to do that?" <Amy> 

 
 

 
 

"haha..." <Charlotte> 

Charlotte made a sarcastic chuckle before answering Amy. 

"I do not know... But, I know that nothing would happen if we just stay here. We must find a way out somehow." <Charlotte> 

Although her words did not sound very confident, those words still gave us a glimpse of hope. 

It gave us a reason to do something about our situation. 

"You're right... Arghhh!... whatever!" <Amy> 

Amy annoyingly yelled back. 

"We can do this” <Lucas> 

Lucas cheered. 

We all agreed and nodded. 

 
 

 
 

To escape the dark dungeon, we ventured forward. 

The surrounding looks like an underground labyrinth. 

The walls, ceiling, and floors were made out of stone bricks. 

From the looks of it, the place gives the impression of an old ruin. 

The place was covered with mold, dust, and pieces of bones. 

There are torches hung on the wall that mysteriously burns continuously without any fuel. 

This torch keeps the place lit which allows us to move much easier. 

  

  

Our party walked into this labyrinth as cautiously as we could. 

We maintained our formation as we move forward. 

I am staying in front leading the way. 

A few steps behind me was Rio who was helping me keep an eye on our surroundings. 

Behind Rio were Lucas, Charlotte, and Amy; ready to act at all times to support us. 

Grace was at the back of our formation, she was making sure that our rear was always covered. 

  

  

We moved without knowing where we are and where our feet were leading us. 

None of us knew if we are moving to the exit or moving closer to a more dangerous place. 

Despite knowing this we had no choice but to move forward, all we can trust right now was our instinct. 

  

  

As we moved, we encountered several monsters along the way. 

All of the monsters we encountered there were undead-type monsters. 

Zombies, Skeleton-types monsters, and undead hounds all of which were “E” or “F” rank monsters. 

Enemies that we have no problem dealing with. 

We moved forward without knowing where the path leads to. 

 
 

 
 

Time passed... 

We have been exploring the labyrinth for about 4 hours now. 

We did not know if we have gone closer to the exit or further. 

No, we are not even sure if there is an exit. 

We started to look for clues. 

After all, we had no idea how we got here in the first place. 

We had no way to know. 

But, we all knew that we will not be able to escape here if we just stand and do nothing. 

And so, rather than filling ourselves with doubt we just push forward while hoping that we are nearing the exit. 

Then, we arrived at a cross path. 

We can move to the right, to the left, and straight ahead. 

We also have the option to go back. 

  

  

"I think we should stop now." <Charlotte> 

Charlotte called out to our party. 

"Eh? but..." <Amy> 

"I know Amy, but I think we should rest for now. We should also discuss what to do as well, so I think we should make a camp here for now." <Charlotte> 

As Charlotte said, we decided to stop here. 

We made camp in that place where the three-path met. 

  

  

Charlotte took 2 red crystals out of her bag. 

It was the size of a fist. 

Amy and Lucas also took the same crystal out of their bags. 

They placed them on the floor and Charlotte started to pour some mana into them. 

  

  

"What is that?" <Rio> 

Rio asked as she watched Charlotte take out beautiful red crystals. 

I was curious as well since I did not know what Charlotte was doing as well. 

"Oh, this? It's a Flame Mana Crystals." <Chalotte> 

"?? Flame Mana Crystals? What does it do?" <Rio> 

With an awkward look on her face, Charlotte explained. 

 
 

 
 

“Oh, you don't know what a Flame Mana Crystal is? Fufufu, As expected of Kazue's friend. You two lack common knowledge." <Charlotte> 

Charlotte said with a smile. 

"Well... haha..." <Kazue> 

I could only laugh lightly at those words. 

It can't be helped. 

I and Rio are not originally from this world as a result we lack the common sense of this world. 

Since Charlotte did not know about that, she just assumed that the two of us lived in a place that don't use such things. 

 
 

 
 

"Oh well... Yeah, these are Mana Crystal. Specifically, this one is a Flame Mana Crystal. These things can be found in dungeons where fire-based monsters live. Like any other mana Crystal, they contain Magic Essence. 

Here take a look, If I pour some of my mana into this crystal..." <Charlotte> 

Charlotte manipulated her mana into the Mana Crystals. 

The Mana Crystal glowed bright red. 

Charlotte placed the Crystals on the floor and... 

"As you can see, you can produce fire from it...” <Charlotte> 

Flames began to emerge from the mana stone. 

The Flame Mana Crystals look like burning charcoals. 

With just the three Mana Crystals, it was able to produce a small campfire-size flame. 

  

  

"Heeeee... that's amazing." <Rio> 

Rio let out a sound from her mouth out of her amazement. 

I was also impressed, but I tried not to react. 

I just wished that I have one of those things at my disposal. 

I will make sure to ask Shai where to buy one when I return to the Imperial Capital. 

Surely, I am confident to find one being sold at the Scale Atelier. 

  

  

Our party made a circle around the flame. 

At first, we tried to come up with a plan to escape the labyrinth. 

But not knowing where the entrance or the exits none of us could think of a way to escape. 

In the end, we just decided to choose a path to take, 

We had 4 options as to where to go. 

It's either we take one of the three paths, left, right, or forward or we can just turn around and go back. 

  

  

We decided to move forward and took the forward route. 

We thought of splitting the party into 3 and seeing if one of the three paths could lead us out of the labyrinth. 

But then, we decided to just stick together, rather than risk having a casualty. 

  

  

We took our turn to rest. 

First, I, Amy, and Grace took a rest. 

Then Rio, Charlotte, and Lucas. 

We rested for about 3 hours each. 

It may sound short but sleeping for 3 hours is better than not having one. 

  

  

After all of us have rested we continued to explore the dungeon. 

We took the middle path and moved. 

  

  

On the way, we encountered more monsters than we did before. 

The rate of our encounter increased by a bit as we went on deeper. 

  

  

"We are encountering more and more monsters." <Kazue> 

Rio who was following behind me walked to me faster so she could walk almost next to me. 

"Should we go back? I mean we are encountering more and more monsters." <Rio> 

"Hmmm... I don’t know... We should ask our leader." <Kazue> 

 
 

  

"Char!" <Kazue> 

I called our leader, Charlotte who was a few meters behind me, and Rio. 

When she noticed my call, she jogged toward Me and Rio. 

"What is it?" <Charlotte> 

Our other party members went closer to us as well. 

"We are starting to encounter more and more monsters. I'm just going to ask if we should go back or not." <Kazue> 

Charlotte noticed this as well. 

Sure, we are managing the monsters just fine. 

If the trend of us encountering more monsters goes on. 

It will not surprise me if we encounter a monster that we would have trouble dealing with. 

Charlotte went into deep thought. 

  

  

"This is problematic... I have no idea what to do." <Charlotte> 

Charlotte said as she was not able to decide what to do. 

I could not blame her nor did our party members. 

No one of us knew the right answer after all. 

There are only 2 choices from here. 

It was either we go on or go back. 

  

  

She took a quick deep breath. 

She looked at me with a serious face. 

"Kazue, what do you think should we do?" <Charlotte> 

"Sorry, Char I have no idea what to do as well." <Kazue> 

Charlotte closed her eyes and squinted a bit. 

"then let me change my question for a bit." <Charlotte> 

With a more serious look on her face, she said. 

"Tell me... what is your instinct telling you right now? should we continue? or should we go back and try the other path." <Charlotte> 

 
 

 
 

"eh? with just my feeling?" <Kazue> 

"Yeah, just your feeling..." <Charlotte> 

"..." <Kazue> 

I closed my eyes and asked my entire being. 

Honestly, I was feeling that we should really push through this path. 

I tried to channel my focus to where I felt the other path leads. 

Even though it was very faint. 

I could feel it. 

My gut is telling me that the path we chose was the correct one and the other ones were more dangerous or lead to nothing. 

 
 

 
 

"Are you sure to just trust my feeling for this?" <Kazue> 

I asked Charlotte again. 

She nods back at me. 

"I have confidence in your senses Kazue. You have saved us a lot of time before with your sharp senses. And... to be honest, that is the only thing we could rely on at the moment. So, what do you think?" <Charlotte> 

I bit into my lips and talked in all honesty. 

"It is just my feeling but... I think we should push on." <Kazue> 

Charlotte looked me in the eye, then she nods. 

"I see... then we will push on." <Charlotte> 

"Kay~" <Lucas> 

Lucas casually said in response. 

"Agreed~" <Amy> 

Amy said as well. 

"Everyone... Are you sure you're going to trust me with this??" <Kazue> 

"ahhhhhhggg! Just shut up and walk! we decided to trust you so on to it!" <Amy> 

Amy became annoyed and came up to my face. 

"But..." <Kazue> 

"No buts! We trust you; we will not blame you even if the boss would appear up ahead. We just have to kick its ass if that time comes!" <Amy> 

Amy said while her face was close to mine. 

"Amy..." <Kazue> 

I said with a down voice. 

I took a glance at Charlotte and saw her giving a nod and a smile. 

 
 

 
 

 "well that's it~ chop chop~" <Amy> 

-sigh- 

"Haaaaaaaa~" <Kazue> 

I let out a huge sigh and straightened my body and gave up on it. 

We braised ourselves and walked forward and continued toward the path. 

  

  

Rio went next to me and whispered. 

"It's nice to see that these guys trust you, Kazue" <Rio> 

Rio said to me with a smile. 

I looked at them as Rio said that to me. 

"... really why would they trust me too much?" <Kazue> 

"Well, you might not be able to notice it but you are an amazing person, everyone could just trust you." <Rio> 

"... you're overestimating me." <Kazue> 

"we'll see" <Rio> 

I decided to move on and continue moving forward and said to myself internally. 

If something bad would happen I would make sure none of us will get hurt. 

  

  

Indeed, there were more monsters in the path as we went on. 

We eventually encountered a stronger monster on the way. 

 
 

  

"Hyaaa!!!!" <Kazue> 

I slashed my katana horizontally at the neck of the monsters ahead. 

It was a ghoul, a monster that is very similar to a zombie. 

But unlike a zombie, this monster was a lot stronger, faster, and sturdier than a normal zombie. 

It was giving off a fouler smell more than a zombie. 

The ghoul also had a sturdier body that managed to gobble up several of my attacks. 

Its body was covered with some protective aura from the mana it had. 

It took several attacks from me, Lucas and Charlotte. 

Finally, we managed to kill it by severing its head from its body as the protective aura had weakened from all of our attacks. 

  

  

"Whew... This monster is strong." <Kazue> 

I said after letting out a breath. 

"Yeah, I only heard about it on stories of some of the senior adventurers I met before but I think this thing is called a Ghoul." <Charlotte> 

Charlotte went closer toward the headless body of the undead. 

"Green body, magical protective aura, and fast movement... there is no doubt this thing must be a ghoul." <Charlotte> 

"Really?! A ghoul is a D-rank monster, right?!" <Kazue> 

I vaguely remembered a ghoul back when I was researching the monster in the Artesia E at the guild library on my first day. 

  

 
 

I imagined fighting this 1 on 1. 

[This monster was the strongest monster I face thus far. A D-rank monster huh...] <Kazue> 

The ghoul’s protective aura and the way it moved. 

Without support, the current me would have a hard time finishing off one. 

I was able to easily defeat this one because of my party members. 

  

  

"Wow! A D-rank Monster! We managed to defeat one!" <Amy> 

Amy went close to the monster we just defeated and look at it curiously. 

"It's all thanks to Kazue. If it's just us it will be a hard task to do." <Charlotte> 

Charlotte said looking back at Amy 

"you're overreacting. I am sure the four of you can defeat one." <Kazue> 

"Sure, but not as easy if we have you." <Lucas> 

Lucas said while still looking around. 

I felt a hand over my shoulder, I looked who it was and saw that it was Grace. 

She was giving me a thumbs up. 

With her usual lazy voice, she said. 

"Good job" <Grace> 

  

  

-Kasha- Kasha- kasha- 

A sound reverberated from behind us. 

It was faint at first but we managed to catch up to the sound. 

The torch had not illuminated the path bright enough so we are unable to see from where the sound was coming. 

The sound was still far away since it was still weak. 

But we were sure that the sound was getting closer to us as it was getting louder and louder. 

"What is that noise" <Amy> 

Said Amy in a soft voice almost whispering. 

  

  

"I don't know... but it seems to be a sound of metal grazing each other." <Charlotte> 

We’re all looking in the direction where the sound was coming from. 

Kasha- Kasha, kasha- kasha- 

"It's near." <Grace> 

Intently looking at the direction of the noise we waited until we can perceive the source of the sound. 

We waited for the figure to show itself. 

It was still about 15 seconds after we noticed the noise. 

Anticipating it to appear from the path where we came from. 

We felt as if we were looking in that direction for longer than a minute. 

  

  

The sound suddenly stopped. 

All of the hair on my body stood up. 

My eyes instinctively widen. 

- Kasha- Kasha- kasha- 

- kacha-Kacha- Kasha-  

- kasha- kacha-Kacha-  

- Kasha- kasha- kasha- 

The sound from before sounded much faster than before. 

Whatever it was I knew that it was moving fast in this direction. 

I instinctively breathe in air as I hear the fast interval of the sound that seemed to be running toward us. 

  

  

"Run" <Kazue> 

I said to my party members. 

Without any hesitation, they started running. 

Unlike before they immediately run at my instruction. 

Maybe it was from the fact that when the last time I said something similar, a bad thing happened. 

  

  

I made sure to stay behind all of them. 

Rio was in front leading and clearing the way for us. 

Unlike before when I was staying in front of the group it was different this time; I was running behind them. 

I decided to stay back so I could protect them from the dangers of the thing that was chasing me. 

Even though we are running, the thing that was chasing us is slowly closing the gap. 

  

  

I ran while looking back from time to time to check at the thing chasing us. 

I was able to get a gist of the shape of the thing chasing us. 

It was humanoid in shape and standing at about 3-meter-tall. 

"tsk" <Kazue> 

I clicked my tongue. 

I knew right away that this monster is bad news. 

  

  

"FASTER!" <Kazue> 

I shouted not minding if other monsters would hear my voice and get attracted to us. 

I was sure that the thing chasing us is much more of a problem than any monster we encountered so far. 

Moments later. 

  

  

We arrived in a large open area. 

A room that had an empty throne made of bones. 

The room was a dead end. 

"It's a dead-end!" <Rio> 

Rio said in a loud voice. 

"What should we do?!" <Amy> 

Amy said in a panic. 

  

  

"Ahhhhh! I think we have no choice I guess we just have to fight our way out of this one." <Lucas> 

Lucas said while preparing his bow and taking an arrow on his quiver. 

"I-I-I guess you're right. I guess we have no choice." <Amy> 

Amy staggered while talking, she was shaking. 

I grit my teeth and prepared my weapon. 

  

  

-Kasha- Kasha- kasha-  

-Kacha- Kacha- Kasha-  

-Kasha- kacha-Kacha-  

-Kasha- kasha- kasha- 

The sound became louder and louder. 

As luck would have it, the room where we are right now was well-lit with the torches around the room. 

The ceiling was about 15-meter-high while the room itself was wide, about the size of a gymnasium  

- Kasha- Kasha- kasha- 

- Kacha-Kacha- Kasha- 

The sound began to slow down. 

Kasha- Kasha- kasha- 

Finally, the monster appeared. 

  

  

"What the..." <Rio> 

"Hey hey hey... you got to be kidding me..." <Lucas> 

"Is that..." <Charlotte> 

Amy took a step back after seeing the monster. 

"Hiiii" <Amy> 

She was shaking and her footing was unstable. 

I felt that my lower body is shaking from fear. 

My other party members were the same. 

The monster looked so intimidating that I felt like running away. 

  

 
 

"Undead Knight... C-rank monster..." <Charlotte> 

Charlotte said in a shaky voice. 

I knew by just looking that this monster is something I could never dream of defeating as I am right now if I was alone. 

The monster that just appeared right now was a skeletal monster wearing full-plated armor. 

It was carrying a black sword and a huge shield in its hands. 

Only its head is the only part that was exposed without any armor. 

It had a human skull. 

Around its body was black smoke, most definitely it was mana. 

I could just tell that this was not an ordinary monster. 

  

  

"Water ball!" <Charlotte> 

A water ball flew toward the Undead knight. 

But it used its shield to block the magic that Charlotte released.  

Even though the situation seemed hopeless Charlotte was still able to fire a magic spell. 

I could see the fear in her eyes but she has not fallen into despair. 

The magic just now only says that she has not given up. 

[As expected, leader.] <Kazue> 

 
 

  

I tighten my grip on my sword following the lead of our party leader. 

I took my usual place in our formation, the vanguard. 

"AMY, I NEED YOUR SUPPORT." <Kazue> 

Calling out to Amy, I asked for support. 

"Y-Ye-YES! YES! Leave it to me!" <Amy> 

My voice seemed to have wakened her up. 

She immediately cast support spells on me and our party. 

"Strengthen! Quicken!, Strengthen!, Quicken!, Strengthen!, Quicken!, Strengthen!, Quicken!, Strengthen!, .....) 

Amy cast support magic on each one of us. 

Strengthen which increases our STR by 2 and quicken which increases our AGI by 2 points. 

  

  

The Undead night started charging at us. 

Me being the vanguard I could not allow it to attack Charlotte, Lucas, and Amy so I intercepted its charge despite the difference in our size. 

It did not mind me and moved forward to attack Charlotte. 

It seemed that it wanted to attack the rear first, ignoring me. 

If that were the case there is a high chance that this monster might be smart. 

If not it just wanted to attack the one who attacked it first. 

"Charlotte! it's targeting you! keep your distance." <Kazue> 

I shouted making Charlotte know that the Undead night was after her. 

"I know!" <Charlotte> 

She began moving further back observing the movement of the Undead knight. 

  

  

"Rio! Grace! Help Kazue attack the Undead knight! Lucas tried to support me as much as you can!" <Charlotte> 

Despite knowing that she was being targeted by the Undead knight Charlotte still instructed us. 

At that moment I could not help but feel awe at Charlotte. 

As expected of our leader, I said to myself once again. 

  

  

I leaped toward the Undead knight whose back turned on me. 

I instinctively knew that attacking this monster's armor would not do anything to it. 

To deal damage, I have to target a part of its body that is not protected by armor. 

The skull... 

But... the monster was too tall for me to reach it. 

I needed to jump just to reach its exposed skull. 

 
 

 
 

I jumped to attack the monster. 

With all my strength I swung my sword downward on its large skull. 

-Thud- 

I felt as if I hit a very hard object. 

It was the same feeling when I strike a dull knife on a chopping board. 

"Kuhg!" <Kazue> 

I felt a knockback from my sword that felt like it had bounced off the head of the Undead knight 

"It's hard" <Kazue> 

Since my balance was off, I fell to the floor and rolled. 

I immediately found my balance and used the momentum of my rolling to stand up. 

  

  

Rio and Grace followed up and attacked the Undead knight who is still focused on Charlotte. 

Rio used the arm blade and tried to punch her blade into the Undead knight's eyes. 

Grace swung down her dagger with her two hands and used all her strength to stab the skull of the Undead knight. 

At the same time, Lucas fired an arrow at the monster. 

As expected, both of their attacks were useless. 

I observed the reaction of the Undead knight and noticed something. 

  

  

"That... could it be..." <Kazue> 

I prepared to attack once again to try something out. 

Again, I run toward the Undead Knight. 

I leaped once again so I could reach its head and strike it with all my might with a vertical swing. 

Just like the last one my attack was deflected by the sheer hardness of its skull. 

Unlike the last time, I was prepared for the resistance and I was able to maintain my balance. 

I shifted my body and tried a follow-up attack this time a horizontal slash. 

  

 
 

-Thud- -Crack- 

This time, I managed to create damage to its head. 

I saw its eyes glow and shifted their attention from Charlotte to me. 

  

  

It made a clanking sound with the fast opening and closing of its mouth. 

The sound of its teeth grinding with each other in fast intervals reached my ear. 

It swung its sword toward me, clearly, the monster was targeting me now. 

I jumped to the side to dodge the attack of the Undead knight. 

  

  

The power from the swing was tremendous that it managed to sink its sword into the brick flooring. 

Rubble from the brick flooring flew as it smashed into the floor. 

I managed to dodge the powerful blow but the Undead knight used its shield to drive me away. 

I felt a dull force as it used the shield it held in its left hand to bash it into my body. 

The large shield that was almost as big as I am, pushed me away. 

The power of the Undead knight was no joke 

I was sent flying and tumbled to the ground until I hit the wall that was about 3 meters away. 

  

  

The Undead knight pulled its sword from the ground. 

As I was still lying on the floor, the Undead knight rushed toward me. 

Coincidentally the distance of the Undead knight gave me enough time to gather myself and react to its attack. 

With this, the Undead knight used a thrusting strike with its sword. 

I dodged the attack at the last moment and jumped up and managed to slip in a light counter and strike as I was in the air. 

It did nothing this time. 

I felt the pressure of the thrusting blow of the Undead knight’s attack smashing the floor from the wind pressure it made. 

Using the Undead knight's arm as a foothold, I prepared to attack one more time. 

It shook its shoulder to disrupt my balance and my attack failed to land on its skull but it landed on the Undead knight's armor instead. 

 
 

 
 

-clang- 

The sound of the two-metal crashing with each other was heard. 

"Kuh" <Kazue> 

My hand feels numb from that attack. 

I used that moment to kick myself out of the reach of the Undead knight by jumping behind it. 

  

  

I moved to get myself back into formation as the party's vanguard. 

"Kazue!" <Party> 

Said my party members who were concerned about me. 

It can't be helped since it almost had me there. 

The Undead knight got me cornered for a moment but fortunately, I was able to react on time. 

"Are you alright?" <Charlotte> 

Charlotte asked. 

The monster was trying to pull out its sword from the ground as we speak. 

 
 

 
 

"I am OK, but more importantly I figured out how to fight this thing." <Kazue> 

"Hmm! Tell me about it." <Charlotte> 

"Have you noticed? The black aura leaking out of its body has thinned out." <Kazue> 

"Now that you pointed it out it sure did. What about it?" <Charlotte> 

"The black aura is acting like another layer of protection. In every attack that we manage to reach the black aura is significantly reduced. Just like with the ghoul." <Kazue> 

"I see... so we just have to attack it while its black aura it… wait..." <Charlotte> 

  

  

The Undead knight managed to pull out its sword that was stocked on the floor. 

The black aura from the Undead knight started to thicken bit by bit. 

"Ahahaha, so the black aura regenerates huh..." <Charlotte> 

Charlotte laughed as she saw that the aura of the Undead knight was regenerating. 

"Come on... that's cheating." <Amy> 

Amy said. 

"I guess we just have to attack it until that black aura is gone." <Kazue> 

I said. 

"I guess we should..." <Charlotte> 

 
 

  

I prepared myself once again. 

The Undead knight turned around and faced us once more. 

"Water ball!" <Charlotte> 

"Power shot!" <Lucas> 

Lucas and Charlotte cast spells and powerful skills. 

A glowing arrow and a fast-moving ball of water flew toward the Undead knight at an amazing speed. 

It used its shield to block it. 

 

 

I saw a tongue coming out of the mouth of the Undead knight. 

It was the only part of its body that is made of flesh. 

It looks disgusting and frightening at the same time. 

"Uwah..." <Kazue> 

 I prepared myself to attack it with all I had. 

Sweat was pouring down from my head. 

  

  

The Undead knight raised its sword and the sword has begun glowing. 

We noticed it right away and realized that it would perform a skill. 

It swung down its sword and released a black force flying toward us. 

  

  

A black crescent-like force propelled from its swing. 

It was a ranged attack. 

I kept my cool and moved my body to the side to dodge it. 

Then the Undead night continuously used that attack to fire at me. 

Because of that I was not able to close our distance and was forced to use all my movement solely on dodging the black force that the Undead knight fires at me. 

 
 

  

Rio used her stealth to sneak into striking distance and managed to land a blow with her Arm Blade. 

It seemed that the Undead Knight was using the black aura surrounding its body as fuel to launch the ranged attack at me. 

Because of that, the aura protecting it was not present. 

I think the Undead knight decided that I was the only one who could land a significant attack. 

The Undead Knight focused all of its attention on me. 

I was forced to dodge all of its attacks that keeps me on the defensive. 

Unknowingly Rio was there to attack. 

She managed to damage the head of the Undead knight herself. 

  

  

Looking shocked, the Undead knight swayed its body vigorously to get rid of Rio who managed to land an effective blow. 

There was a huge hole in its crown from the attack Rio landed with her arm blade. 

Rio jumped off and ran from the Undead knight. 

  

  

It now shifted its focus to Rio. 

Rio moves faster than the Undead knight making it unable to catch her. 

The only reason why we were not able to outrun it a while ago was that both I and Rio was pacing ourselves to run with our party members since both Amy and Charlotte had low AGI. 

In fact, in terms of speed Rio had the same AGI as I have with all her equipment. 

"Even without the Aura, this thing is a tank! I used both of my Critical and Lethal Strike skills and I only manage to do that much! Sorry, Kazue." <Rio> 

"No thanks to you I can finally go on the offensive!" <Kazue> 

  

  

While the Undead knight was distracted, I used that moment, I moved as fast as I could to close the distance between me and the Undead Knight. 

I jumped and tried to land the decisive blow. 

The aura from its body was gone, if I manage to pull this off, I will give it a good amount of damage. 

I had to jump to reach and attack the head of the Undead knight. 

This action was indeed risky but I had no choice since the Undead knight was wearing full plate armor and the only spot where we could manage to sustain damage is on its exposed skull. 

The Undead Knight was able to notice me and managed to counter my attack. 

Since I was in the air, I was not able to shift my movement freely and all I could do was block the attack. 

  

  

-Clang- 

I used my Katana to block its sword. 

"KAZUE!"  

All of my party members screamed as they saw me getting hit by the swing of the Undead knight. 

I was blasted toward the empty throne. 

My body crashed into the throne of bones. 

The throne is now in a mess it became a pile of bones after I crashed on it. 

I felt pain all over my body. 

  

  

I lifted my body on all four. 

I felt a hot sensation running down my head. 

-Drip, Drip- 

I saw drops of blood coming from my head and dripping on the floor. 

I felt light-headed. 

"Status" <Kazue> 

With the ring on my finger, I checked my status. 

  

 

  

 
 

Although I managed to block the attack. 

It still puts a punch. 

"wow... I am sturdier than I expected." <Kazue> 

I was expecting to have sustained more damage than that what I saw in my status. 

Staggering, I stood up knowing that I was fine. 

  

  

Amy rushed towards me. 

"Heal" <Amy> 

"Thanks, Amy." <Kazue> 

"Are you a-alright?" <Amy> 

"I think so... sorry..." <Kazue> 

"Why are you apologizing right now?" <Amy> 

"We are here because of me, if only we had chosen another path or come back, we should..." <Kazue> 

"Stupid... no one here is blaming you." <Amy> 

"But..." <Kazue> 

  

  

"Strengthen, Quicken." <Amy> 

Amy cast a support spell on me. 

"Shut up, if you're really sorry then defeat that monster first." <Amy> 

"... yeah... yeah... you're right..." <Kazue> 

Amy slapped me on the back. 

"Now go!" <Amy> 

"Thanks, Amy" <Kazue> 

"Impf, what are you saying? Are you stupid?" <Amy> 

"Hehe, you're tsundere like always..." <Kazue> 

"Tsun... what's that?" <Amy> 

  

  

Right now, the Undead knight was chasing after Rio. 

It began firing its ranged attack toward her. 

Rio was able to skillfully dodge all of the attacks well with her speed 

In turn, she was pushed into a corner. 

When Rio was about to get trapped. 

"Power Shot" <Lucas> 

"Water ball" <Charlotte> 

Both of Lucas and Charlotte's attacks landed on the skull of the Undead knight 

The Undead Knight was staggered. 

It had been a while but we managed to see it weakening. 

Grace also got in some attacks while the Undead Knight was staggering. 

  

  

I rushed forward to attack as well. 

"HAAAA!!!" <Kazue> 

I climbed the body of the Undead knight and used its shoulder as a foothold. 

With all my might I stabbed my Katana into the head of the Undead Knight. 

I saw that my sword was plunged into its skull. 

Forcing it to pierce into the skull, pushing it further down. 

  

  

The mouth of the Undead Knight made a sound as it opened and closes. 

We fell to the floor. 

The Undead knight was still trashing as it fell on the floor while my sword was still pierced on its head. 

I pull the other sword I carry and used it to stab the face of the Undead Knight while I was standing over its armored body. 

  

  

Stab, Stab, Stab 

I repeatedly stabbed its head with my other Katana and little by little the skull began to crumble. 

The Undead Knight threw its sword and shield and grabbed me in its arm. 

It locked me into its body and began hugging me with the intent to crush me. 

I tried to resist but the Undead Knight was a lot stronger than I am. 

But with my strength, I was able to give it some resistance. 

  

  

While the Undead Knight was trying to crush me. 

Rio and Grace used that moment to destroy the head of the Undead knight and eventually kill it. 

Before it was able to crush me, my comrades were able to kill it first. 

  

  

Amy, Lucas, and Charlotte rushed toward us and pulled me away from the Undead Knight. 

"Kazue! What the hell are you thinking?!" <Charlotte> 

"Sorry, I thought that I could have killed it but it managed to get me instead..." <Kazue> 

"Sorry, my ass! what if Rio and Grace could not kill it on time?! you could have been crushed to death you know?" <Charlotte> 

"Like I said... I am sorry..." <Kazue> 

  

  

Grace pointed in the direction of the piles of bones where I crashed earlier. 

A black portal appeared and was floating over the destroyed throne. 

Everyone stared at it. 

“It’s that thing again." <Lucas> 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Author Note: 

Alright! We managed to catch up with our weekly update officially! 

I hope I'll have enough time to make more character Cards and maybe even colored and refined artwork for this later on~. 

All I have here so far are sketches after all. 

Anyways! 

Thanks for reading~ 

v>.<v