The Final Desperation

Later that same night, Genji snuck out of his room and followed the queen down to her basement. His compass tracked her position, and he noted all the turns she took.

'Left, right, right, straight.'

Pairing this with the speed of her gait, he managed to form a rough outline of the basement map. After recording this in his notebook, Genji returned to his room. The following morning, Genji found another wanted notice slipped under his door. This time, the illustration was of a crystal coffin with a dormant girl inside.

"Aurora, the Sleeping Beauty." At this point, Genji was certain these targets were determined based on their appearances. While Genji didn’t know how the queen obtained this information, it was undeniable that these targets were peerless beauties, albeit somewhat demented and hiding a deadly side.

Genji walked out of his room and headed into the city. His presence wasn’t required today since the castle was holding another recruitment session. They had been doing this since receiving the update about their situation a few days back.

Genji brought some breakfast along the way and entered the Tooth Fairy’s shop. He emptied his collection and received 1,174 credits for his items. Adding the 11 from last time brought his total to 1,185. Out of this, he spent 675 on 45 portions of fairy dust and 500 on a special potion.

[Potion of Enlightenment]

Rating: Epic

Effect: Upon consumption, enter a state of enlightenment that allows you to learn, develop, and conceive new ideas easily. Lasts for 2 hours.

Description: A magical concoction that the Tooth Fairy rarely sells. You are lucky to find one in stock.

 

Genji thanked the Tooth Fairy and leisurely spent the day relaxing. The work would only get more hectic from here on out, so he needed to take every moment to adjust his condition, lest he snap from the stress.

The next afternoon, the whole expedition gathered at the front gate once more. The team recruited three official members while a platoon of 100 men accompanied them. The numbers were lower since people had received word of the high casualty rate and were reluctant to apply.

Fortunately, this acted as a filter and left only those confident in their strengths. All three new members had powers around Edwin’s level, with one even surpassing him.

The troops were armed with mediocre equipment since the castle struggled to provide everyone with quality exploration gear. Most of them had to form groups of 5 or 6 to share compasses and companion prisms, as the supply couldn’t meet the demand.

Now that the officials knew about the dangers of this investigation, they were less liberal with their resource distribution. Basically, they weren’t expecting many of them to return alive. The castle mages gave an official sermon and prayer before sending them off.

The group followed Edwin’s lead and marched through the zones again. The journey was very smooth since the team had cleared the path on the last traversal. This persisted until they reached the zone before everything diverged from the recorded information. If memory served Genji correctly, the next zone would contain the strange shadow people with powerful stealth abilities.

Edwin warned the entourage, and they stepped through the border. The group warily marched through the zone, clenching their weapons with anxiety. Edwin periodically glanced at Genji, hoping to get any hints about an ambush since he was the one who sensed the shadow people previously, but Genji shook his head every time.

They passed through undisturbed, and Edwin's frown deepened. 'What’s going on? Why is everything different again?'

It was only after a few more zones that Edwin realized the cause: the zones were the same as the map. Of course, they would be safe—they’d been cleared already. While some monsters had respawned further out, they weren’t too big of a threat since their weaknesses were known. In this manner, they reached the village without hiccups and began their second investigation.

The soldiers searched the outskirts while the main team headed inside to do a detailed review. Strangely enough, the scene was messier than before despite no traces of anyone else entering. If the previous visit resembled an uncanny emptiness, then this one was like a scarred girl.

Barrels were knocked over at random, grime was smeared on the fences, and many doors were smashed. They even found finger marks that could only be left if someone was dragged across the floor while desperately trying to hold themselves down. It was very messy.

"What happened here? Did the villagers suddenly come back and ruin this place before disappearing again? Why is everything so mucky?" the lumberjack inadvertently asked.

"That’s what we’re here to find out," one of the new teammates, a proficient tracker, answered before crouching down to examine the traces. "At least 10 days ago, maybe 2 weeks."

"Impossible! We were here only days ago, and none of this was present," the lumberjack said.

"Say what you want, but the dust build-up doesn’t lie. Unless this happened after you left. Can you show me where you walked? Maybe I can find some clues."

Under the man’s request, the team reenacted their path and mentioned any notable actions they took. However, the dust in these areas was undisturbed, leading the tracker to conclude that the layer must have formed after the team left. Yet this line of reasoning had its own issues, mainly what caused this scene, and why there weren’t any traces of it.

"At this point, I’m starting to think the villagers really returned," the lumberjack said defeatedly.

"No, that doesn’t make sense either," the tracker said. "If they did return, why didn’t they contact the capital? And why would they sack the place before disappearing again?"

The team scratched their heads over this problem when Genji spoke up. "Can I propose a different theory? What if this is the first time we’re entering this place and the place we visited was a replica? The two might look the same, but it’s actually a different location?"

"That would explain our confusion, but what’s your basis for this theory?" asked the tracker.

"The damage doesn’t match." Genji pointed to the fence post the lumberjack destroyed before they left. "He broke it around the middle and the lead fell off, but it’s intact now. Unless someone replaced it, or the damage got reversed, I can’t think of a better answer."

The lumberjack and hoodie guy browsed their memories and confirmed this did happen as Genji said. Everyone else could only trust their word since they weren’t present at the time.

"But then what did we encounter?" asked the lumberjack.

"I might have an idea," another new teammate said. This was Vivian, a historian and one of the original explorers who contributed to the map they were using. Her work was particularly significant because she standardized the collected information and recorded the nuances of each zone.

"Some teams inexplicably disappeared back when we were creating the maps. They would report their findings after clearing a zone and the direction they were heading in, but then lose all contact. We sent search parties after them, but there weren’t any traces in the supposed destination. It wasn’t until we comprehensively explored the surroundings that we found their corpses in a far-off zone. Their journals mentioned a strange creature that distorted the boundaries and how they inadvertently ended up there. Do you think it’s the same creature?"

"Maybe," Edwin replied. "The descriptions match our experiences. I can’t say for certain since there are a lot of unknowns."

"Understood. I’ll classify these as speculations. For now, let’s call this creature a Boundary Warper. We don’t know much about it, but it seems to overlay new dangers on the existing zones and distort the reality we’re used to."

The team nodded and regrouped with the troops. They asked if the personnel found any clues, and one group stepped forward. "We saw marks on the west side. It seems like something big had dragged some bodies across the border."

"Let’s check it out."

When they reached the location, the tracker examined the tracks and confirmed their validity. "There’s dried blood and human skin mixed in with the dirt. I think it’s from the villagers."

With no other leads, the expedition stepped through this boundary and arrived near a stone bridge. The bridge was of decent size, capable of fitting multiple cars beside each other and stretching on for half a kilometer. Moss grew between the cracks, giving it a neglected feel.

On the other side was a green field full of lush grass and wandering animals, a stark contrast to the barren landscape they were on. There was a shallow river beneath, swishing gently and providing condensation for the light fog above.

They approached the overpass and tested the structural integrity. A few specks of limescale broke off with their steps, but the bridge was otherwise undisturbed.

The mist grew denser as they crossed, eventually blocking all vision. Suddenly, a rumble sounded beneath and a large silhouette flew up from the waters. After arcing above them and soaking their clothes, the figure landed with a mighty stomp. The figure waved to disperse the nearby fog and a bulky behemoth with rough, grey skin appeared in their sights.

The being stood five meters tall and had untrimmed hair, a shaggy beard, gleaming red eyes, tattered leather pants, pointed ears, and sharp nails the size of knives. This was the water troll living under the bridge.

"Who’s that trip-trapping over my bridge?" the troll bellowed as it stared down at them.

"Your bridge? Isn’t it my bridge?" someone sarcastically retorted.

The troll looked over and frowned, revealing yellow crooked teeth. "Ye’re bold, eh? Fine then. For each one ye feed me, I’ll let four others go by."

"Sorry, but we don’t even have enough people for ourselves. Why should we pay your exorbitant toll?" Genji pointed his saber at the troll and the team surrounded it.

"Then all o’ ye shall be my supper!" The troll drew the giant club on its back and lumbered toward them, delivering a wide swing once it got within range.

Genji jumped over the strike and landed on the troll's hand. As Edwin blocked the attack, Genji ran up the arm and made a light graze on the face. The troll bit at him, but he'd already kicked off the shoulder. At this moment, the projectiles landed on its tough skin, battering it with bruises.

These injuries rapidly healed, but the wound on the cheek festered like a pimple. Genji descended and left another cut down the troll's back. The lumberjack hacked down on the knee, the tracker severed its ankles, hoodie guy glided his scythe between the muscle fibers, weakening it, and Vivian cursed the troll with debuffs.

The troll's skin grew taut against its muscles and steam wafted out of these wounds. The skin gained a hint of red, and the troll's strength increased. Now, every swing of the troll conjured a light hurricane that disrupted the incoming arrows.

The melee fighters were indifferent to this change and sliced away with their dexterity. The troll grew redder with each passing moment, and its regeneration factor also became noticeably faster. Wounds that would normally take two seconds to heal now closed in a fraction of that time.

Muscle fibers became tougher and more resilient, often demanding more effort to cut through. If the fighters couldn’t keep up, the weapons would get stuck in the troll and prompt an immediate counterattack.

Genji was among the weaker attackers, so he backed off after a few rounds and opted for medium-ranged streaks of cutting intent. This continued for several minutes with no significant results.

The troll was boiling red by now, and every swing threatened to crush the fighters into a paste. It roared angrily and stomped toward the distant soldiers.

"Retreat!" Edwin shouted upon realizing its objective. The squad obeyed his instruction and fled off the bridge.

The main fighters sought to stop the troll, but it remained adamant about the soldiers. Since it was so difficult to hit these pesky flies, it would settle for the helpless lambs.

Suddenly, Genji smashed a gel bomb on its face, inducing a severe coughing fit. The fighters capitalized on this moment and focused their attacks on the ankle, attempting to cripple it. Regenerating sinews fought against metal blades, but the blades eventually won with the help of poison.

With a final bellow, hoodie guy severed the leg and sent the troll tumbling down. A disgruntled growl echoed from the troll as it sought to regain its footing.

The team refused to give it the opportunity and constantly hammered its head with attacks. After a few tries, the troll realized it was futile and covered its face, guarding it against any fatal attacks. Now, it wanted to stall until the team’s stamina waned and the attacks relented.

At this moment, a powerful laser beam descended from the skies, evaporating half of the troll's head. The final recruit of the team had taken action and crippled the defenses. Despite this, the surrounding tissues still writhed, seeking to close the wound. The troll's vitality was astonishing and made it extremely difficult to kill.

"Keep the wound open for a few seconds," hoodie guy said, spinning his scythe overhead. A black mist manifested and slowly grew darker.

Seeing this, Genji canceled the energy vortex forming within his weapon and joined the team in maintaining the wound. Since someone else was offering to use their ultimate, why should he expose his abilities?

Soon, the mist grew so dense that not even a ray of light could penetrate it. A massive crisis assaulted everyone's senses and prompted them to back off, wary of hoodie guy's attack. It felt as if they were staring death right in the face, capable of reaping their lives with a single cut.

Hoodie guy rushed forward and slammed the tip of his scythe into the barely open wound. All the mist poured down the weapon head and corroded the flesh beneath. In a matter of seconds, only a putrid puddle remained, stinking up the air with pungent rottenness.

Hoodie guy pulled out his scythe, and a faint wisp of energy flowed into his body. This energy was faint and would have been imperceptible if it hadn't caused his aura to fluctuate slightly.

Genji would know because his energy reacted the same way every time his maximum energy increased. He had become so accustomed to it that he knew how to hide it from everyone else.

'A stat-increasing talent? He doesn't seem too familiar with it. Did he obtain this during his promotion to the 3rd step?'

Hoodie guy picked up the club, the loot from this fight, and stored it away. The team watched enviously, but they didn't say anything. They had no use for it, nor did they want to lug around such a large weapon. The only ones with puzzled expressions were Edwin and Kathleen, who couldn't help but notice the similarities between his and Genji's behavior.

'Maybe they just both like collecting weapons?' they thought, trying to justify the act.

The team regained their composure and called for the soldiers to return. They then continued across the bridge and eventually reached the other side. The fog faded behind them, and warm sunshine greeted them.

They took a short break to recover from the battle before searching for traces of the missing villagers. Along the way, they found three goats of different sizes resting near a rock. Upon noticing them, the smallest one called out, "You all look so tired. Why don't you join me on this rock and enjoy the sun? Don't you think it's a beautiful day for that?"

"No thank you," Edwin replied. "We still have work to do."

"Come on," said the middle-sized goat. "A little rest won't hurt. You've fought hard against the troll. You deserve to reward yourself."

"No," Edwin said firmly. "We must go."

"Don't be like that," said the largest goat. "Everyone's tired. You can use this chance to replenish yourselves. Don't you see how lively the animals are?"

This caused some soldiers to hesitate and plead with Edwin to agree. "Sir, they're right. We are running a little low on food. Why don't we—"

"No!" Edwin sternly cut him off. "I don't know what games they're playing at, but it's obviously a trap. We're leaving. NOW!"

This silenced them, but their thoughts remained on the idea. Every few steps, they would look back at the lush field, imagining the succulent animals they could catch. The further they got, the more frequent and infectious these glances became. Eventually, they stopped moving altogether, and everyone stared longingly at the passing animals.

The main team grew frustrated with this scene but didn't know how to break the trance. Were they just going to leave them behind? That didn't sit right with them. Although the castle wasn't expecting many survivors, there was still a big difference between that and total annihilation.

Genji understood their dilemma and drew his weapon, brutally cutting down the closest person.

"Hey! You can't do that!" the troops protested.

"And why not?" Genji coldly asked.

"Because—"

"I don't give a fuck. You either start moving or I start killing. There's not much difference between that and you buffoons disobeying orders. Either way, none of you will make it back alive. So which one is it?"

"Bastard! This is treachery! The queen will- "

*Puchi*

Genji cut down the speaker and indifferently glanced at the squad. "I don't have time for games. I'll count to three. If anyone is still thinking about staying, then I'll personally ensure you stay forever."

"One," Genji's voice rang out, sending a chill down their spines. Although Genji was alone, his ruthlessness instilled fear and unease in their hearts.

"Two." The troops gave one last unwilling look back, and Genji raised his saber in response.

"Thr—" Before he could finish the word, everyone turned around and marched forward. Edwin gave Genji a thankful look and led the group out. In this team, Genji might be the only one who dared to disregard his reputation like this.

"Shucks. They resisted the temptation," the smallest goat said as the troops left.

"At least we got two of them," said the medium-sized goat.

"Much better than when I knocked the troll off the bridge. Oh well, time to reset the trap and wait for the next victims," said the largest goat. With that, the two bodies Genji cut down morphed into animals, joining the goats' paradise forever.