“Where are we going, Carol? Where’s Narumi?”

“Just follow me, okay? We’re almost there!”

I followed Carol through the maze of alleys and accesses. It’s hard to run through the twists and turns of such narrow paths, but we don’t have time to waste. That mermaid monster Narumi’s facing sounds much stronger than the fish me and Katja dealt with. I haven’t seen it yet, but I have a bad feeling about this…

“What happened, Carol? While I was gone… They said you wouldn’t wake up, then you ran off on your own. Why?” I asked with a ragged breath.

“I… I’m just as confused as you are! I had to come here! When I woke up, I just felt like I had to come here…” Carol clenched her fists painfully.

“You felt like you had to come here? Why? How did you even know there were monsters here?”

“I just told you. I don’t know! I didn’t tell you before, but ever since I went to the other world, something has been wrong with my head. I’ve been hearing a weird voice… and my head has been hurting non-stop! I couldn’t take it anymore!”

“Huh?” I nearly stumbled upon hearing that. Hecate’s words flashed through my mind. A curse… That’s how she put it… That weird magic on Carol’s ankles… Is it the reason for what’s happening to her—the reason for her not waking up? I don’t get it… “Was it because of the voice, then? Did it tell you to come here?”

“It was because of you!” Me? Carol snapped back. Did I do something? “No… Forget what I said. My head is still not working properly.” Carol shook her head and focused on the path ahead. “Tsk… I had to prove myself… I’m not on the level of Hecate, or Katja, or Narumi… You’ve seen their weapons before, right? I can’t even handle that yet! I have to use a regular weapon like you. I’ve been training for so long, though… It’s unfair… I don’t want to drag them down forever. I came here because I had to prove myself! I had to show them I would be fine on my own!”

“But that’s dangerous… What if something had happened while you were on your own?”

“You think I don’t know that? I know that, okay? I know… There are better ways to do this… If it wasn’t for these stupid voices, I would have never done something like this…”

“Carol…” Her situation is a lot more complicated than I thought… Just how much changed in the few days I was away? “Let’s hurry and get Narumi back safely. I’ll do whatever I can to help you afterwards.”

“A- alright…” Carol and I keep running until we hear the sound of metal clashing nearby. “That must be Narumi… She’s close.”

We left the maze and arrived at an open area near some water. Just like we expected, Narumi was there, holding a long, two-handed axe in her hands. A big wave glides along the surface, with Narumi in its sights. Narumi’s axe has a single blade on one of its sides, and Narumi smashes it into the ground, splitting the wave in two.

Her opponent was the mermaid, swimming inside the wave, using its momentum to close the gap and lunge at Narumi with a trident. Narumi brings one of her hands closer to the axe’s head, and a big clank is heard as their weapons clash. What a powerful sound!

The mermaid looks almost like a normal woman but somewhat strange. Her face looks like that of a normal human, if not for her eyes being like those of a fish. Her hair was blue, with white fins poking out where the ears should be. Her lower body was that of a fish, as normal mermaids are, but after the water from the wave dispersed, her tail turned into a pair of scaly legs. Just like the fish monsters’ legs from early. The only piece of clothing she wore was a frilly swimsuit covering her chest… I’m not sure what to think… She looks pretty dangerous…

I’ll really have to give it my absolute best. I got lucky earlier with so many weak enemies around, but this time, I’m not so lucky. I won’t be able to rely on Violence Impulse against her.

“Narumi!” The mermaid followed up after her weapon clashed with Narumi. I couldn’t just stand by watching, so I jumped in with a single Slash Flurry cut aimed at her. The mermaid stopped her advance and jumped back to dodge my attack.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Iroha!? What are you doing here?” Narumi turned to me in surprise, almost forgetting the threat of the mermaid.

“We’re here to help you. Have you learned anything so far?” My gaze was locked in the mermaid’s direction. Narumi remembered what was going on and recomposed herself.

“Watch out for her magic. That’s probably the most dangerous thing. She’s capable of manipulating water, and she can even freeze it. It takes her some time, though.” Narumi answered calmly and accurately.

“Got it.” While the two of us were talking, the mermaid prepared for her next attack. She grabbed the trident with both hands and glided along the wet floor straight at us. She was fast, but easy to read. Narumi and I dodged out of the way as the monster shot past us. “You should get out of here, Narumi. Go back to Hecate and Katja.”

The mermaid turned around and closed in on Narumi. With less speed this time. “What? I can’t do that when there’s an enemy right here!” The mermaid stabbed with her trident, but Narumi deflected and dodged her attacks. Narumi jumped back, and the mermaid didn’t immediately give chase, realizing the exchange was a stalemate.

“You can’t fight her because of her appearance, right? The others told me about it. Head back to the car. I can take care of the mermaid.” After Narumi put some distance between the two of them, I was now the mermaid’s closest target. Her thrusts are swift and aimed to kill. I Slash Flurry her trident away in panic multiple times, buying me time to escape the onslaught. Wow…

“I can’t let you fight her alone! You’ll die!” Narumi runs next to me so that we can fight together. I’ve already revealed much of my skills today, but I would still like to keep some of it hidden. Without her here, I wouldn’t have anything to worry about.

What do I do…? Do I just go all out and start using my skills like crazy? Katja and Hecate already saw Violence Impulse. It doesn’t get much crazier than that… Maybe it does… That one is just speed and strength. Sticking to a wall is a bit stranger… Is there anything I can do? Is there a way to solve this without revealing more?

“Hey!” I say in the mermaid’s direction. “Can you understand me?” Why do I understand the people from the other world? When the game was just a game, I could understand everything because it was made in my language. The other world is not a game anymore, yet I still understand what everyone’s saying. Do they speak the same language as me because that’s what they spoke when their world was just a game?

No. That can’t be it. I don’t remember if it was ever confirmed in-game, but there’s no way everyone in that world speaks the same language. I’ve been to both human and demon territory, and I understood both languages. But they probably don’t understand each other. Is it the VISS Driver? Does the VISS Driver let me speak with the people of the other world, regardless of language? If that’s the case, maybe I can speak with the mermaid.

When she hears my words, the mermaid twitches before looking at me. I think it worked. She seems confused, but at least I caught her attention. “Why are you doing this? Why are you here?”

“Are you serious, Iroha? Do you really think you can speak with a monster?” Narumi probably hadn’t tried it, but it was working. The mermaid slowly walked towards us, trident in hand, but her lips opened up.

“Ki- kill… Must- kill- Usurper… False Queen- kill… Kill- kill- must kill- the usurper…” What the hell? What was that? The melodic yet disturbing voice tried answering my question, but I couldn’t make sense of her broken words. She’s here to kill a usurper? What’s that supposed to mean? She’s after a specific person? Who? I doubt we can communicate any more than this. The way she spoke sounded more like she was regurgitating someone else’s words rather than speaking for herself.

“U- usurper… ki- kill…” Me and Narumi were ready for an attack, but the mermaid suddenly stopped. She looked around in place, as if searching for something. That reminds me… What’s Carol up to? She’s been really quiet since we got here… I use the opening to conduct a search of my own and find Carol in the worst possible place.

“That idiot…” Carol was sneaking up on the mermaid, slowly closing in from behind. What the hell is she thinking? Is this what she meant by proving herself? She’s only putting herself in danger. I really thought she had calmed down, but…

As soon as she was close enough, Carol held up her sword and swung down at the mermaid with all her might. She would have actually landed her hit if only the mermaid’s attention was still focused on us. She quickly turned around and blocked Carol’s sword with her trident. Their weapons clashing emits a loud, electrifying noise, quickly followed by the crunchy snap of one of the trident’s teeth breaking. Carol had the element of surprise on her side, and the mermaid was forced to defend in a hurry. The result was a rushed defense that damaged her weapon. I guess Carol knew what she was doing…

Carol ended up not harming the mermaid, and she wasted no time in retaliating. She maneuvered around Carol’s attack and pointed her hand at her attacker. Not even a second later, a powerful stream of water shoots out in Carol’s direction. Carol loses her footing and gets propelled backwards until she slams into a nearby wall.

The mermaid’s trident then hits the floor. She dropped her weapon and raised both her hands. She quickly conjures an ice javelin above her head. Oh no… Is this her magic? This is bad… Carol’s still reeling from the impact. She can’t defend herself like this! I gotta do something! No matter what it takes!

I was about to jump between Carol and the mermaid, but Narumi beat me to the punch. She dashes straight at the mermaid just as she lowers her hands. The javelin rips through the air for a moment, but Narumi hits it with her axe at the beginning of its flight. The ice shatters instantly. A translucent mist lingers in the air as Narumi stands face to face with the mermaid. She dropped her weapon earlier. She has no way to defend herself. It’s the perfect opportunity! Narumi raises her axe almost by instinct. One swing is all it takes now! Narumi clenches her teeth, tenses her shoulders, then jumps back…

She turns her back on the mermaid and dashes to Carol’s side. Narumi… Seeing her opponent give up the perfect opportunity, the mermaid picks her trident back up and lowers her stance. It’s that swift lunge again. Narumi finally reaches Carol, but she doesn’t turn around again. Has Narumi given up? Did she think the mermaid would show her the same mercy? She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t finish her off, but… That’s alright… We came here to save her… Not just her body, but also her mind… I’ll protect you, Narumi. I’ll kill so you don’t have to!

Agility Burst! Just like I thought, the mermaid’s lunging at them. She’s holding her broken trident with both hands, cutting through the air with incredible speed. I have no plan, but I must try something! I’ll die if something goes wrong… I’ll die…

Soon enough, I arrive at my destination. I place myself in front of Narumi and Carol, but what do I do now? How am I going to defend against her trident?

Seeing a new target in her path, the mermaid adjusts her aim. The trident is now locked onto my chest—onto my heart. I have to do this! I won’t get another chance! I need to use Slash Flurry just so I can position my sword to block in time. Blocking the tip of a trident with the thin blade of a katana is no easy task. Our weapons clash, but my sword gets caught in the trident’s weird shape, and it barely slows down. Oh… This is it…

“Nghhh!”

“Huh…? I- Iroha?”