End Online: Volume 2 (17 page)

"I really don't want to die," I speak
to the rest of the party, "I also suspect the prisoners should be in some
cave behind them, I can’t see any sort of camps out in the open at least. Do
you think we could circle them and release some of the prisoners while
they are distracted?"

"That sounds, like it could work
actually." 

"A true man would charge sword first through
the battle field!"

""Again,
 
go die by yourself!"" I am
in sync with Verde again
 
with responding to
 
the idiot prince.

Despite his words, he still follows us as we
travel into the mountains.

The terrain is incredibly rugged in the
mountains. Fen and I move through them relatively easy, Verde is okay, but
Prince Charming is hopeless in his heavy armour. These mountains
 
prove to be clearly not
 
meant for ordinary players to
climb, often giving us dead ends where we cannot pass any further.

We spot
 
a
strange black and yellow striped
 
tiger as
tall as a person from a distance away. It has two slightly curved horns on its
head which occasionally send sparks of electricity arcing between.
 
Given its sinister look, I analyse the
beast.

'Odd, it is a knight class? Grigor was a
boss class while Fen is a Queen Class. I wonder what they could mean. We most
definitely should not be here!'

Warning the other two about the creature and
how dangerous it is, we all hold our breath and hope it does not notice us
hiding behind this rock. A spark shoots between the horns, shortly enveloping
its body as it flashes away like a bolt of lightning.

What a monstrous speed! Even Fen next to me has
a startled look on her face.

"Okay, we need to head to that mountain
over there, the one without the top on it. We also need to hurry before
anything else that spells death happens to cross paths with us!"

With the other two agreeing, we flee across the
terrain to the mountain I mentioned. If I recall correctly, this is the
mountain behind where that army is fighting.

Approaching behind the mountain we find a small
cave leading into it. Verde is the one who speaks up first.

"Umm. Just a question, is this possibly a
back entrance to where the townsfolk are being held?"

We all look at her, nodding our heads that it
is definitely possible. I personally can't imagine a single mountain holding
two dungeons.

Walking inside we see the notification saying
'Entering Grael's Lair'. 

"Mmm, Grael?" I question as we walk
into the darkness.

The cave isn't so dark that I can't see at all,
it seems to be a game element that in most dungeons, and various other places,
that you can see even without a light. Although vision is limited to about ten
meters in every direction, everything looking like dark shadows more than
anything.

Mindlessly wandering for about ten minutes,
 
I spot a natural light source. It
is awfully suspicious that we haven't come across any enemies yet.

Entering the light, my world suddenly becomes
flooded with colour. Even if it is just stone walls, there are various minerals
showing through where the walls have been cut.

Looking up towards the light source of this
hundred meter diameter reveals this cavern has no
 
ceiling. The
 
mid-day sun blazes through where
the top of the mountain should be.

The walls are strange, with deep gauges running
up them. However, the most impressive thing
 
is
the hulking black mass in front of me. It is probably about seventy to eighty
meters long, taking up most of the floor space in this massive space

It appears to be covered in some sort of
crystalline black scales, almost glossy at close appearance.

We walk around the object, following the wall.
As soon as we get around the front, we freeze in our steps.

I kind of already knew it, I'm sure the others
probably guessed as soon as we entered the cavern. But I didn't want to believe
it.

"A-Analyse."

"Hah... hah. I-it's level is f-five
hundred and s-sixty five..." I let everyone know just what we are dealing
with, even though all our faces are already as pale as they possibly could
become.

"Also," I put on the smile of death,
"Have I ever told you all about my skill, the one that automatically
causes enemies to have the 'aggro' status towards me?"

Grael has one of its slitted dragon eyes open,
fixated directly on me.

-Lost-

The dragon, Grael, has one eye open, its deep violet pupil
fixated on me. A trickle of sweat rolls down my back as I feel I most
definitely have its ‘aggro’. Although, Instead of being intimidated by my
aura, it seems to be excited for a fight.

‘As if I would fight this thing!’

There are three exits in this circular grotto, excluding the one
we entered from. Fortunately, one of the tunnels out is just a few meters
behind us. Everyone is also aware of the exit, ready to flee. Prince Charming
is completely pale in front of the dragon. Despite all his earlier bravado,
when it came down to the moment, he clearly had nothing to show for it.

If I am to be the target of this dragon’s attack, I will not be
able to escape with everyone else. In my mind I replay the image of the
prince getting incinerated, but this time I include myself in the picture next
to him.

‘As I thought, definitely no good.’

“Everyone, I have its aggro so I can’t escape with all of you. I
will attract its attention while you all escape. Now, RUN!”

I break off from the rest of the group who run for the nearest
cave, allowing them to flee without any resistance. The dragon responds to
my movement by lazily raising its enormous tail.

I may have zero confidence about being able to fight this
dragon, but I am quite proud of my speed. This may be the scenario where a
rabbit could not possibly hurt a bear, but the rabbit will live if the bear
can’t catch it.

Circling the dragon, its tail strikes with the intent of
squashing me. Despite its massive size, the attack struck down like a bolt of
lightning, completely throwing me off guard.

The attack comes down with pin point accuracy, and unless you
have more speed than this attack, it is a completely unavoidable attack.
However, the attack only flattens my afterimage, where I was less than a
second ago.

The entire earth begins to shudder beneath my feet,
followed by a shockwave from the blow. My body is treated like a rag doll,
blowing me away with the force of a brick wall.

‘What the hell was that? Was that attack for real?’

A few thoughts cloud my mind as I fly through the air,
disappearing the moment I hit a wall on the other side of the cavern. The blow
against the wall rattles my entire body, riddling it with pain.

Huh, pain? Letting out a cry in agony, a deep heat resonated
throughout my body, causing my bones to scream under the pressure.

I don’t understand it, there is supposed to be a limit to pain
in virtual reality. Sure, the VL can induce pain, but it should only be
able do so in minute amounts.

Luckily, the pain I felt is still nowhere near what it would
feel like in real life. But it was still beyond the threshold of what should be
possible.

The dragon slowly turns its head to face where I landed, now
with a bored look in its eyes. A ‘stunned’ icon is still flashing in front of
my eyes, preventing me from moving.

As the status effect runs outs, most of the pain I felt subsides
and is replaced with weariness. I only having thirty percent of my health left
as well.

I notice that directly next to me there is one of the tunnels
leading away. Before the dragon can react, I scurry across and exit the boss’s
area. Less than a minute passes as I force my legs to run though the pitch
black tunnel, barely able to even see the walls.

A roar reverberates the entire tunnel and all of a sudden light
starts to enter.

Turning my head to glance at the source of the light, I see a
crimson wave of fire billowing its way down the tunnel. The fire occasionally
flares blue, but only for short moments. Seeing the torrent closing the distance
between it and me, despair starts to set in.

***************************************************
***************************************************

-Verde-

We found a rear entrance to the mountain yet something
seemed off. For a hidden entrance, it was not hidden at all. If the beasts
outside were any indication, the monsters inside should be overwhelmingly more
powerful. That is the way dungeons are, monsters inside tending to be stronger
than those outside.

The inside of ‘Grael’s Lair’ is also rather eerie. The path is
pitch black, if one of us was to fall too far behind they would disappear from
sight and be lost to us.

The walls are made out of two different kinds of rocks, but
without any light they only appear in grey scale. This whole cave also does not
appear to be natural, almost as if it was dug out. The jagged walls look like
they were carved by the swings of hundreds of picks, or some kind of large
claws.

There also appears to be no monsters at all. Considering that
this is a dungeon, it is extremely suspicious!

Before long I see a natural light shining from around one of the
corners, lighting up the red and brown walls. The entire path here has been a
single route, no splits in the path, and no difficult terrain either.

Rounding the corner, there is a grotto with the sun shining
through the open mountaintop. Inside of it is a hulking black mass of some kind
of glossy scales. Getting closer I get a closer look at it.

‘Huh. Isn’t this…?’

Walking around it my fears come to life. Directly in front of us
is an enormous dragon. With one eye resting on us, my heart begins to pump
harder in my chest.

“Hah… Hah. I-its level is f-five hundred and s-sixty five…” Lost
speaks the words with a disheartened laugh.

I can feel my life leaving me, already accepting death. Sir
Laurence next to me has also forgotten his pride and gone pale.

‘That fool! Why couldn’t he die alone.’

Upon Lost’s words, I take the only path to survival and
flee while he distracts the dragons attacks away from us. I know quite well how
fast he is, he should at least be able to dodge any of the dragons attacks.

I run to the nearest tunnel with Sir Laurence and Fen. It is
barely five meters away, yet it feels like a mile.

I run into the darkness without looking back, fearing
a breath of fire or some magical projectile would be right behind me.

The walls slowly turn to greyscale, no more light reaching our
location. The pathway in front of us splits up into three different routes,
each branching out into the unknown.

“Sir Laurence,” I speak now that I feel safe, “there is no way
that dragon can get us now, but we need to get out of here.”

The man in question slowly nods his head. Now away from death’s
door, he has regained his composure. He doesn’t say anything though, so I
continue speaking.

“But to do so, we are either going to need to go back past the
dragon, or find another exit. We need to meet up with Lost as well… Hey,
where’s Fen!?”

Sir Laurence only shrugs when I mention Lost, but he show some
concern when I inquire about Fen. This guy must be the shallowest guy I have
ever known.

It is most definitely odd, with her speed she should have been
running ahead of us. But she is not there when I look behind us. I also only
just notice through the party information that Lost’s health has been reduced
down to thirty percent!

Something inside of me aches when I see that. I don’t want him
to die! The thought alone makes me feel queasy. I only came on this journey for
him. I even risk somebody who has previously met me in real life seeing
me. A single word to my father about me playing an online game is enough
to ensure my VL is permanently taken away from me.

At this moment, an enormous roar reverberates through the
tunnel. I feel a little insecure as dust rattles loose from the ceiling, but it
passes quickly

As for that wolf girl, don’t tell me she… No, of course she
would.

***************************************************
***************************************************

-Lost-

Facing the oncoming wave of fire, I allow my tired muscles to rest and
sink to my knees. With the tunnel around me slowly glowing brighter shades of
red, all the doubts in my heart start to surface.

‘Can I even do this? Once again, I am going to die. I keep
losing more and more money, my bank less than a quarter of what I had. The
apple sales helped a little, but they barely covered half of my expenses. I am
only left with four thousand dollars and that number keeps shrinking.’

‘I lost my legs, I lost my two sisters to my Aunt. How long
until I have lost everything. Hah, Lost, such a befitting name for me.’

‘For four months I have clung to this game, I even feel like
there is nothing else I can do. I want to see my sisters, but I don’t want them
to see me. I need to be able to make them proud. I realize that right now I am
a failure of a brother, but what can I do!’

“What should I do!?”

I scream into the oncoming fire, closing my eyes
as the roaring of the inferno slowly grows louder.

“…LIVE!..”

A pure, crystal clear voice rings throughout the cavern. Opening
my eyes wide, I see a silhouette in front of the fire.

Fen is dashing towards me at an alarming speed, much faster than
I have ever seen her move before. Leaning forward with her centre of gravity
close to the ground, she almost appears to be flying across the ground.

Behind her, blockades of ice are constantly being formed. Only,
they do not hinder the blaze at all, turning to steam before the fire even
reaches them.

I notice that’s her magic is also running low, only twenty
percent left.

Upon reaching me, she does not stop running. Grabbing me by my
cloak, she shows her astonishing strength as she picks me up with a single
hand. While being dragged through the air by Fen, I feel powerful gusts of hot
air coming from behind us, propelling us forward with each burst.

Oh, I see. The barriers of ice are not meant to stop the flames,
but the instant evaporation causing the air to expand behind us, keeping us in
front of the flames. What incredible intelligence, how did she come up with
such an idea?

We flee down the winding path, barely able to keep in front of
the rolling waves of fire behind. Not even the corners slowed it down one bit.

We get to a point where Fen suddenly stops, slamming me into a
crevice in the wall. The space is easily large enough for one person, but
slightly too small for two.

With a smile on her face, tears welling up
in the bottom of her eyes. She speaks four words.

“…Don’t… Be sad… Live…”

My entire chest constricts.

This artificially intelligent girl, the same one that invaded my
VL. For her to speak such words as a red death approached closer. For her, who
left me to die by goblins, tried to kill me countless times. To all of a sudden
want me to live.

All she is, is somebody else’s creation. Yet, the way she
acts, it is as if she is alive? She does not have a body in the real world, but
she has everything anybody else has. When she was a wolf, she respawned. But
once she became my companion, I received a message that death was the end for
her. Surely she must know this.

Why would she give up her permanent life for me, someone who
will respawn after death?

It can’t be, she saw my despair in the face of death and wanted
to help me? Why go so far?

Torrents of questions run through my mind, but they all
start with one word.

‘Why!?’

I don’t want her to go. I don’t want to lose even more!

Reaching out, surprise shows on her face as I pull her into the
crevice with me. Holding her as tight to me as possible, I get nearly her
entire body into the slit in the wall.

Using one hand I open my menu as fast as possible and unequip my
leather chest piece. It is not much, but it allows me to pull her against me
tighter and bring the last bit of her body out of the inferno’s path.

Not a moment too soon, all of a sudden everything outside is
enveloped in swirls of red. The red light blinding me as soon as it enters my
vision.

Even without being able to see, I can feel Fen’s body against
mine now that the armour is gone.

The soft tenderness of her body.

Her face buried into my shoulder.

Arms tightly wrapped around my waist.

A few minutes pass and the flames gradually decrease, returning
everything to darkness. Finally, everything is over.

Fen lets go of me, sinking down to her knees.

“It… hurts…” The strain in her voice expresses that she is
actually feeling real pain.

The party window shows that she is down to twenty percent
health, a flashing icon of a flame next to her status. Panicking, I look
down at her. A small fire is on her back, not burning through her clothes but
still burning.