After Shinichi finishes and leaves for work, I grab book four and continue reading.

Today was pretty uneventful, thankfully, so I end up finishing the fourth book and get about half way through the fifth book.

It should be close to the time Shinichi returns from work so I close the book, return it to the bookshelf.

Just as I remove my hand from the book, I hear a loud crack.

It’s thunder and it seems that it’s raining outside and I didn’t even notice.

I peek my head through the wall to look outside and sure enough it’s pouring down.

Wow, it’s really coming down.

I didn’t think there was a typhoon headed this way.

I didn’t hear about a typhoon coming.

Ok, I haven’t been listening to the radio or catching the news so how WAS I supposed to know if a typhoon was coming, if this even is one.

I hope he has an umbrella.

As I finish my thought on that, he finishes walking up the stairs and heads down the walkway to the door.

Carrying his usual convenience store dinner in the store provided bag, he’s drenched from head to toe.

Well at least his food is dry, I guess.

He enters his apartment, drops his food off on the counter and heads to the bathroom to peel off his wet clothes and get into something dry.

He’s soaked all the way through his underwear so that had to come off and I got a see that lovely view that I missed so much.

He throws a small towel on his head, puts on some sweats, grabs his dinner and heads for the PC.

While he logs in, he eats up his dinner and gets greeted with a message from Aleena.

Aleena>Heya! Think you can give me a hand with Duke Angar in Xvalbard (ズヴァルバード)?

So, she needs his help fighting…a Duke?!

Now he’s going to kill some royalty?

Just when I think I understand this game it always shows me something new to confuse me.

He replies back to her.

Aleena

Aleena>Knight if you don’t mind. I’ll come Healer.

Aleena

With that he changes his character to Knight and fast travels.

The screen changes and his character is standing in a snowy field.

There a lot of tall hills and some rocky cliffs in the distance to the left and right of him.

He looks around and starts heading up the hills and makes his way to this black stone archway atop a white stone platform with black stone steps leading up to the platform.

Waiting on the platform is Aleena.

I recognize her.

She’s the one who was wearing the Rouge’s outfit I fell in love with and decided to wear during Shinichi’s dream sessions.

However now she’s wearing the same Healer’s outfit that Shinichi wore the first time we were able to have a stable dream meeting.

It’s flowing white robes with accents of red and a hood.

She has a shield on her arm and a Hammer on her waist.

Once he gets there, he greets Aleena.

Aleena>OK I’m ready to summon him.

Summon?! I don’t get it.

Aleena

Aleena places this black bone on the platform and a magic circle appears and a reddish light shoots up into the sky.

Out from the light steps an imposing figure about a half body taller than Shinichi’s character.

It’s black with traces of dark red highlighting bony protrusions from the body to include the front facing horns on its head as well as long outstretched bat like wings.

It’s holding a scythe in its hands.

The name above it is Duke Angar.

Oh! So THAT’S the Duke.

“You dare summon me, you foul creature! I will smite you for the glory of the Demon Lord!”

Wow scarry!

Wait Demon Lord?

Why’s it always a Demon Lord?

Shinichi reaches his right hand out and a flash of light shoots out to blind Duke.

Shinichi and Aleena both draw their weapons and attack Duke Angar.

Shinichi has total control of the … the Demon?

I mean it looks like a demon and he’s a duke in service of the Demon Lord.

So, yeah a Demon.

The Duke is solely focused on Shinichi while Aleena keeps him healed and attacks with her hammer.

They battle for a long time and finally beat him.

The body disappears and in its place is the scythe that Duke Angar once held.

Aleena

Aleena>Woot! I got it finally!

Aleena

Aleena>OK, just a sec.

Nothing happens on screen for a few seconds until, Aleena holds up the scythe and her outfit changes.

Her outfit is all black armor with similar red trimmings to that of Duke Angar.

Aleena

OH! Demon Knight, interesting.

Aleena>HEHE! Come to the Dark Side! We goth the pain you are looking for. www

Aleena

Aleena>Oh, I hope you’re, ok?

Aleena

Aleena>Oh no! You better get some sleep then.

Aleena

Aleena>Thank you and thank you so much for the help getting it. Sleep well and get better.

With that exchange he logs off right there in Xvalbard, shuts his PC down, crawls into bed and instantly falls asleep.

I go to the bathroom and look around for a digital thermometer.

Ah there it is.

I grab it and check his temperature.

38.4’, that’s pretty high.

I look over at the clock and it’s 12:32am.

Guess this is my chance to test my theory.

I go ahead and put my hands on his face and enter his dreams.

* * *

I open my eyes and I’m in Xvalbard.

I look around and don’t see Shinichi anywhere.

Off in the distance I see some towers behind the hills to the north.

They are made from the same black stone that was used to make the arch way.

Looks like that’s a good enough place to start looking for him.

I sneak my way along the premade path to what I think is a castle avoiding any monsters along the way.

As I round the corner of the rocky outcrop, I get a full view of sure enough a huge castle.

The snowy and rocky fields give way to a snowy pathway to a black iron gate.

On each side of the pathway is a very steep drop to a miasmatic bottomless pit.

I don’t see any guards at the gate and the bars have such a huge gap between them.

What is the gate supposed to keep out anyway?

You know an unguarded gate from my experience in reading these types of stories in novels usually means it’s a trap or a trapped gate.

I approach the gate and look around for any traps.

That’s odd there doesn’t seem to be any at all.

Maybe I’m over thinking this.

I mean this IS an online game world this dream is modeled after.

Not to mention there’s a ton of tough looking monsters nearby that should keep most riff raff out.

Well here goes.

I squeeze myself through the bars and come out the other end to be greeted with a voice saying, “You’re pretty gutsy to be sneaking in Castle Vahssil (ヴァーシル城) like that.”

I almost let out a huge scream but do jump up in shock.

I ready my knives and the voice says, “WAIT!”

I look right at him and he’s a goblin or what one would usually think of when a goblin is described to them.

It says his name is Scurvax above him.

“I’m not on anyone’s side here I usually peddle my wares to Demon Folk and Adventures alike.”

“Oh, I see but why would the…um Demon Folk let you sell stuff to their enemies?”

“Some of us Goblins follow the Demon Lord while others like myself follow profits more.”

“I can admire that. I was always one to march to the beat of my own drum as well.”

“So, what brings you here anyhow?”

“I’m lookin’ for my fiancé. You seen anyone come by here lately?”

“Well, I may have seen him and I may know some other things too but, as I mentioned I like profits if you get my meaning.”

“I figured as much. As a Rouge I’m usually not one to give money so freely, I’m usually the one taking it if you get MY meaning.”

“Oi oi, no need to be so hostile! Throw me a bone here, ok?”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help getting into character.”

“Don’t scare me like that miss.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“So, what’s it gonna cost me to tell me where Shinichi is?”

“Usually, I trade some long-lost artifacts to adventurers to… well I don’t know or care what they do with it. I get my profits for a bunch of junk. But you just want info so a small amount of Jin should do it.”

“Oh, ok. What price are you looking at?”

“I guess it all depends on the questions you’re asking.”

“I really only have two questions. Have you seen Shinichi and where do think he went to?”

“Hmm, I’d say that is worth 1990 Jin.”

“I see.”

I reach into my coin purse and grab the exact amount and hand it over to the goblin.

“Thanks a bunch, miss. OK, so I saw some guy who was wearing this shiny white armor. He didn’t look like he was here to look for items with that outfit on which usually means he’s here to pick a fight with the Demon Lord.”

“I guess my next question would be how do I get there? This is a pretty big castle and looks like it has a lot of confusing twists and turns.”

“As luck would have it, I have also been selling maps here to adventurers for a while now. Just 3000 Jin. Wanna buy one? I’ll even throw in a couple of extras for just 30 Jin more. It’s a great deal isn’t it, miss?”

“Hahaha! You really are something. OK I’ll take it all.”

I hand over 3030 Jin to him.

“You’re a great customer, miss! Here’s your map. I’ve marked the best route to the throne room. Also…”

He sprinkles me with something and I can no longer see myself.

“…this should make you undetectable to 98% of everyone here.”

“Not to sound ungrateful but, only 98%? What about the other 2%?”

“Those are really nasty Demon Folk here. Usually someone in charge of a group here. Best to stay as far away from them as you can if you value your life.”

Oh the irony of telling that to a ghost.

“Ok I got it. Thanks for the help. I got a fiancé to find.”

“Good luck miss, you’re gonna need it.”

I make my way through the winding halls of the castle and come to another gate similar to the one at the main entrance.

According to the map there’s about three of these including the main one however, just under the bridge leading to this gate is a secret entrance and a staircase that goes up to the top floors.

Who would design a castle like this?

I guess from a game design it probably works but, this wouldn’t work so well in a fantasy novel.

Not to mention I got this cheat from Scurvax that helps me sneak around here like I’m some kind of ninja.

I start to climb the stairs and oh boy is it a lot of stairs.

This many stairs in a spiral would make anyone dizzy.

Lucky for me I never had a problem with spiral staircases or amusement park rides.

I reach the top and it appears to be a dead end.

Well, this started with a secret entrance so there should be another one here.

I put my hands on the wall and start to feel around.

Oh, what’s this?

I push on the wall and it starts to move like those wall panels you see in one of those period dramas where the ninja come out of the walls to try to kill an important member of royalty or something.

This door unlike those in the shows is many times bigger and made of stone.

I push it a little bit and poke my head through the space and look around.

I see a couple of I guess those are Demon Folk. They look really similar to that duke Shinichi and Aleena fought but much smaller.

Ok, the name above them says Major Demon Folk so that’s pretty on the nose.

I wait until the Demon Folk are not looking this way and then quickly exit making sure the door is closed so they won’t know I’m here.

I look around the room some more and to my left is another gate that I can just slide through.

I go over and do that and come out the other end on a terrace connected a long bridge with no railings.

It’s a long way down so I’d hate to fall from here.

Good thing I’m not afraid of heights either.

Why do they have such a dangerous bridge here?

They really don’t care about safety here.

Well, I guess the Demon Folk do have wings though.

On the other side of the bridge is another terrace attached to solitary tower.

Apparently, that’s where the throne room is.

Kind of an odd placed to have that.

I follow the bridge and come to the terrace.

The door to the throne room is huge.

I mean like 4 times my height.

In the middle of the door is a stone that is pushed to open the door but, since it’s big and also taller than me to reach I can’t open it that way.

In the corner of my eye, I spot a smaller button similar to the one in the door which is a bit bigger than my hand.

I guess that makes sense since some of the Demon Folk are about my height so, they’d need a way to get in.

Well, hopefully it’s not a doorbell because that’d be embarrassing.

I press the button with my hand I hear some clunking noise and then the sound of chains moving.

The door opens up so, I might as well go inside.

I enter and the door slams shut.

“Ah, another interloper I see.”

I hold my hand up and I can see it.

Oh well nothing I can do about it now.

So, this is the Demon Lord.

He’s huge like three times the height of Shinichi.

From a design standpoint he looks like the duke but also a bit wider and carrying a huge sword.

The room is huge with a small set of stairs leading to a platform with the throne sitting on it towards the back.

I see Shinichi in front of him kneeling down with his sword pointed down.

He looks like he’s been here for a while fighting the Demon Lord.

I run up to Shinichi.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine but I think I bit off more than I could chew here.”

“Yeah, you been known to do that in the past.”

I ready my knives and wait for the Demon Lord to make his move.

Shinichi gets up, casts a healing spell on himself and then readies his sword and shield.

“Let’s make it to the platform so we get some high ground.”

“OK I’m right behind you!” I reply.

We run past the Demon Lord and run up the stairs.

I guess being small against him can be a useful.

The Demon Lord swings his sword toward me and suddenly Shinichi appears in front of me with his shield up.

The sword hits the shield and Shinichi turns his head to me.

“Go! Get up the stairs.”

“But you…”

“I’ll be right behind you so, GO!”

I run up the stairs and after Shinichi brushes the Demon Lord’s sword aside with his shield follows through with a sword attack to the Demon Lord’s sword arm, then turns and follows after me.

“GRRRRAAAAAH! I will destroy this future you seek! Humanity cannot be allowed to move forward. Your destiny is to be death and hatred. Your hope is an illusion.”

Ah there it is.

There WAS something imbedded deep in him stopping him from moving forward.

He’s clearly not a yokai so it’s just probably something in his subconscious taking control of him.

Some force is trying to stop Shinichi and Hiroki from succeeding.

At this point I don’t care; I just need to stop the Demon Lord from killing us both.

No, WE need to stop him, together!

Shinichi gets up the stairs and we take battle positions.

The Demon Lord recovers, lumbers to us and readies another attack at Shinichi.

The Demon Lord raises his sword up preparing to bring it down.

Shinichi readies his shield preparing for the attack.

I notice an opening and attack the Demon Lord’s belly, swiping my knives across it.

The Demon Lord’s sword slides off Shinichi’s shield and clanks on to the ground as the Demon Lord grabs his stomach with his other hand.

“I got an idea Shinichi. Can you keep him distracted?”

“Yeah, I’ll make sure he is completely distracted.”

Shinichi raises his hand out and a flash of light hits the Demon Lord’s face dazing him.

I reach into my pocket, get a 10-Yen coin and put it on the knife Shinichi made.

The coin melds into the knife and I run toward the Demon Lord, jump up and stab him in the head.

I hop down next to Shinichi.

“WE GOT HIM!!” I yell.

“Yes, we did!”

“I may have failed but we still have the child.”

With that statement the Demon Lord is engulfed in a bright light and fades out.

On the ground is the knife that Shinichi had made for me.

The outer walls of the throne room start to dissolve away and reveals the wooded area we were at when we first started this journey together.

“I knew there had to be something here.”

“I guess I had a feeling too. Maybe that’s why I made that knife. What did the Demon Lord mean when he said they still have the child?”

“There is someone you may meet in the future but he is a four-year-old now so it’ll be a while. I don’t know the details but, his mother is currently watching over him.”

“I see well I guess I’ll look forward to seeing him in the future.”

“Hold on I thought Hiroko took care of the… thing whatever it was.”

“Maybe it’s not completely gone or the Demon Lord didn’t know that…Hiroko was it…already took care of the enemy.”

“Both hypotheses are sound. I think I’ll have to see how things are going with Hiroko. Other than that, I gotta ask one more time. Are you going to visit Takahiro?”

“Yeah, I think I will. I feel better so I will go and see what he has.”

“Whew. I’m so glad.”

As I finish saying that, darkness starts to make its way towards us.

“I don’t have much time it seems so I need to say things will get better, I promise.” I continue.

“I know, I can feel it now.”

As the darkness is about to overtake us, I hold the blade out to Shinichi.

“Keep this blade with you as a reminder of our hope of the future. Things will be better from now on so try to be happy.”

“I will try.” He lets out as the darkness finishes and I open my eyes.

* * *

I’m back in his room and he still is asleep.

That’s odd.

Usually, he wakes up when the darkness kicks me out.

On his forehead is the 10-Yen coin I used.

I take the coin and place it by my photo.

I’ll watch over him for now and wait for him to wake up.