The fated day finally arrived.
After four straight years of adventuring, leveling, and extensive training, we were all finally ready to take on the Monster Queen, the "Boss" of this world.
Below is a list of all our statuses:
Dralk Galdren
Race: Human
Occupation: Hero
Level: 122
HP: 245,370
Mana: 152,010
Werd Vesdrel
Race: Human
Occupation: Tanker
Level: 102
HP: 301,170
Mana: 33,400
Gala Fretle
Race: Human
Occupation: Support
Level: 89
HP: 83,200
Mana: 82,990
Alene Oroland
Race: Human
Occupation: Witch
Level: 91
HP: 52,120
Mana: 201,930
Hisami Enatsu
Race: Human
Occupation: Witch
Level: 98
HP: 59,650
Mana: 222,810
Our stats were not only increased due to the gear and equipment we use but due to our rigorous training over the past four years as well.
A good example of this was Dralk, who can be seen early in the morning swinging his sword in the royal garden, with the sun rising in the background.
Me and Alene's training under Master Renel was in no way lax either, and in the recent months, he increased his strictness to prepare us for the incoming raid.
Gala and Werd were doing their own training as well. Gala excels in terms of speed and agility, so she's worked on this to compensate for her weak attacks to the point where it wasn't an exaggeration to call her the fastest sprinter this world has ever seen. Every day she would run across town, wiggling her way through the heavily crowded streets without hitting a single person, running from one side of the capital to another all in under monstrous seconds.
Werd, on the other hand, was our tanker, which meant that he had a lot of HP and had the highest defense stats among all of us, earning the nickname "The Great Werd Wall" (I did not think of this name, and until this day nobody knows who first came up with this). During his free time, he would usually travel outside of Elcor and into the mountains, sometimes staying there for weeks to enhance his defense stats with his trusty shield.
Gala found this habit of his sometimes annoying since he doesn't come back for long periods of time. So when Werd returns from his long journey, it was mostly because Gala personally searched him in the forest just to retrieve him.
How sweet.
Lately, their relationship continues to blossom every day, and overtime hints were thrown around which meant that the affection might not be one-sided after all.
Surprisingly, Dralk and Alene also started to become more intimate with each other. It could be the fact that they were childhood friends that contributed to this. Or maybe I wasn't aware of their relationship until recently.
One day, as I woke up early in the morning to grab myself a cup of coffee (I couldn't drink that much coffee in the past life due to my sickness, but since I wasn't sick anymore I could drink lots of them now) when I spotted Alene stealthily moving along the hallway. She was looking left and right for people that might see her, but she didn't seem to realize that I was looking at her from the far end of the hallway. She made her way downstairs to the garden with Dralk trying not to be seen and starting that day she trained alongside him every morning.
How sweet.
This undoubtedly makes me the third wheel in both of these situations, but who cares?
It's fun being the third wheel.
I get to see their relationship grow over time, and every once in a while I get to push the lovely couples into a bunch of romantic situations every time I got the chance, thanks to my superior intellect. In the end, I watched them flirt in these situations, making me happy in the process as well.
But anyways.
Fast forward a bit.
Thanks to intelligence reports gathered over the years concerning the location of the Monster Queen's headquarters, last month a recent find finally reveals the precise location of it, and so we mobilized right away.
Dralk, Werd, and Gala immediately went out to buy the necessary gear and upgrades for their armor and weapons, while me and Alene got busy making magical items.
More specifically, potions.
However, there was a problem.
The potion bottles were too big, and we could only bring a few with us, which obviously wasn't enough.
This was another time where I was bestowed by my superior intellect a gift in the form of a great idea - a magic pill.
It was like a vitamin dosage contained in tiny chewable, the ones that melt in your mouth similar to kid's tablets. But, instead of vitamins, we will be putting magic boosts instead.
If you can drink magic water to boost stats, then why not eat it?
Even Master Renel liked this idea (commenting that one day when I retire I could make a business out of this for money), and with his help, we finally had enough pills we needed for the upcoming battle.
All our preparations only took a day and by the next day, we headed for the Monster Kingdom.
The place was quite far, and so our journey was expected to last a full two months, so we had to act as quickly as possible to arrive there.
On the way we stopped in Sirvaelin for a bit to stay the night, all of us reminiscing about our first introductions that happened in the small town.
I was also reminded of Quine, wondered where she was now, and what she was doing currently. Unfortunately, we had to leave immediately the next day, so my trip down memory lane ended as we passed Langle Field, the place where I first appeared in this world, hoping to come back there again one day.
After crossing the Bercut Mountains, we ended up on Monster Kingdom soil. Usually, these places are depicted in fiction as "dark, gloomy places, where the rays of the sun never reach the ground; eternal darkness ruling over the land" etc, but in reality, it was the opposite. It was sunny on the other side, and the patch of grass was as green as it gets. However, the only downside of this peaceful land was the strong monsters living and roaming around it, so we completely obliterated anything that dared to attack us.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
After a few weeks of wandering through forests, plains, and valleys, we finally spotted a castle in the distance as we emerged from a cave.
Unfortunately, it seems that we were too late, having lost the element of surprise since the castle had mobilized. Someone probably caught word of our arrival, and they went ahead of us and warned them, giving them enough time to prepare to meet us on the battlefield.
And so we did.
We had to fight through a wave of coordinated attacks coming from the front door, and even after pushing through and making it inside the complex, we had to battle bosses on each floor, getting harder and harder as we continued up the flight of stairs.
Once in a while we would take a quick break and reorganize our tactics, before once again diving into the brutal hell that awaits us all.
Finally, we reached the top floor, and as we entered it seemed to be a throne room, with tall pillars on side of the walls and a long carpet that went from the door to the throne, to where a girl was sitting.
The first feature that I noticed was her skin, which was as white as snow. Her short, light purple hair extended to her shoulders, and her dark purple eyes had three dots under one of them as well, similar to mine but horizontal compared to my triangle-shaped pattern. She had the body of a seventeen-year-old, which was well developed. Clad in a dark, gothic dress, she gazed upon us, sitting on the throne with an amusing look to her face as if she was shocked yet curious as to why and how we came here.
"So you have finally found me, oh great heroes? Have you finally come to defeat me, once and for all?" she said, as she got up and slowly walked towards us.
We all entered into our battle stands as a reflex.
She eyed us one-by-one as if appraising us, saying, "I see that you have chosen good companions, Hero. Although the odds are in your favor, I should have no difficulty in dismantling you all - hmm?"
Once her eyes fell upon me, she momentarily stopped.
"My, aren't you an interesting fellow," she said, addressing me. "What is your name?"
Huh?
Was she seriously asking for my name, moments before the battle that could decide the outcome of the present world begin?
I looked at Dralk, waiting for a decision from our leader.
He nodded, giving me the go signal.
"Hisami. My name's Hisami Enatsu. Why do you ask?"
"Have you ever thought of the meaning of your birthmark on your cheek?" she asked, pointing at the dots on my face with her finger.
What?
Why bring up the three dots now?
"I don't see why this is so important - "
"Silence, redhead. It turns out that your member right here might be hiding a secret from you all."
"........"
Everyone's attention was suddenly focused on me.
"I'm not hiding any secrets. I would never do that to my friends."
"Are you sure about that?"
"What, do you know what that secret is if it ever existed?"
Please, tell me.
I seriously have no clue what she was saying.
"In this case, I shall explain to you, Hisami. Think of this information as a gift, from one immortal to another."
"...!"
Ooh, so that's what she was talking about.
"The gift of the goddess... Is that it?"
"So you aware of it. Maybe you aren't so ignorant as I thought, after all."
Hey. That hurt.
"Wait, wait wait wait wait." Werd interrupted. "I do not understand a thing you two are discussing right now. What do you mean, 'from one immortal to another'? And what is this about the gift of the goddess?"
"Questions one would expect from a meat brain," the Monster Queen sighed.
"Hey! Werd isn't a meat brain! Don't call him that!" Gala snapped.
"Allow me to explain," she said, ignoring Gala's outburst. "The sign of the three dots on a living being is an indication that that creature is immortal, incapable of dying by old age."
"How do you know that?" I asked, curious.
"Why I am one myself," she said, pointing at the horizontal dots under her eye. "I have been alive for more than two hundred years, and the sole difference between me and those that die is my birthmark. Our birthmark."
I see.
Hygieia gave me the gift of immortality, and the sign of someone being immortal is the presence of those three dots as a birthmark.
"When were you planning to tell us this?" Alene meekly said, with concern in her eyes.
"I swear I was planning to tell all of you this. I just don't know how to approach you guys about it."
"How long have you known about this?" Gala asked.
"...Ever since the beginning."
I didn't explain "the beginning" specifically.
Honestly, I still couldn't tell them the real secret I had, making my statement as blurry as possible.
I was from another world.
That was a secret I would have a hard time explaining.
"You know, that's kinda cool," Werd said. "You get to live longer than people, see the future of the world, and how my great-great-grandchildren would look like. Aren't you curious too, Gala?"
"Wha - Why as me?!" she exclaimed, bushing.
Damn. Unintentional or not, that was a smooth move by Werd.
"We'll discuss more of this when we go home. For now, we fight," Dralk said, readying his sword.
"Alas, let us not waste any more time." She said in a loud and bombastic voice, spreading her arms. "My name is Tanielenvaskia van der Lesserjidisilik, the direct descendant of the great Desdone! Now, let our legendary battle commence!"
"Attack!" Dralk shouted as me and Alene fired magic at the girl, causing a loud explosion. A huge cloud of smoke appeared, and it seems like the girl (I don't know how to pronounce her name so I'll just call her Tania) released a spell to counter ours.
But our original intention was to blind her temporarily.
"Eat this!"
Dralk suddenly jumped out of the smoke, swinging his sword at Tania. The blade hit her skin, but his weapon was met with a loud clang. Seeing the danger, he immediately leaped back.
"Not bad, hero. I will admit, you successfully managed to chip away a small amount of my health with that clever move, but unfortunately, it would be the last."
She raised her hand and immediately fired magic at the stunned hero.
"Watch out!"
Werd managed to get in front of Dralk and shield him just in time, as the intense attack refused to penetrate the shield.
Seeing the opening, Gala sprinted forward, dagger in hand, while I fired off a spell. It was an upgraded version of the fireball, this time ten times hotter and faster.
Tania once again countered my spell, while Gala capitalized the wide opening by dealing two slashes to her neck.
"...?!"
Tania reeled in shock, as the sounds of metal clashing behind her were accompanied by sparks.
Before making contact Alene secretly applied magic on the blade, making it temporarily hot as it clashed with the Monster Queen.
However, this attack proved futile, as the burned wounds on her back healed in an instant.
Ever since the battle, Tania's face was relaxed, as if she was enjoying the sight before her. But now, the color on her face faded, and a manic look filled with rage quickly replaced it, with a grin that extended from both sides of her face.
"Alright, playtime's over! She exclaimed. "It's time for you to witness the true power of the Monster Queen!"
The air around her suddenly became tense as her lavender-colored eyes now shone, as if a light switch was activated inside her.
"Everyone, on your toes!" Dralk shouted.
Instantly the room was engulfed in flames as if we were inside hell itself.
The intensity of the heat inside the room was now chipping away our HP bit by bit, so we had to act fast.
Dralk continued to launch coordinated attacks alongside Gala, while Werd always shielded them from the Monster Queen's attacks.
Once in a while, I utilized my legs and fired a barrage of magic up close, while Alene stayed in the background, busy replenishing everyone's HP. Sometimes one of us would get hit, evading Werd's defense and sending them flying to the wall, so we had to constantly move around the room to avoid them as well.
From above, we must've looked like ants, moving around clockwise and counter in circles, trying to flank the enemy in the middle from the rear.
However, even though we were fighting for not only our lives but for those that could fall victim to it in the future, I couldn't help but notice the couples secretly flirting during the fight. For instance, every time Werd would shield Gala from attacks, the former couldn't help but smile at her, while the latter does nothing but blush. Alene occasionally stops and stares at the hero's fluid movements of his attack, only to be rescued later by himself as a stray magic blast nearly hit her.
Both men were playing prince, while the women were playing damsels in distress.
Wow. Amazing.
Even in the midst of a literal life and death battle, I was still the third wheel.
Tania seemed to notice it as well and sighed every time a flirt happens., her face showing that she was cringing inside.
"Although I do not necessarily mind romantic affairs, their seemingly useless moments of affection during a battle makes me a little uncomfortable, making me look like a third wheel instead of an enemy here."
"First time?"
Yup. She feels the same way I do.
The lovebirds didn't seem to notice our mutual agreement, as they continued to harass Tania with barrages.
----------------------------------------
After some time of cycling between attack, defense, and healing (the pills proved to be very effective during the battle), our momentum was slowly starting to run out of steam, as fatigue started to plague our bodies.
The Monster Queen seemed fine, although there were some small signs that she was getting a bit tired as well.
So, Dralk devised a plan.
We would try to render the Monster Queen unconscious, and trap her in this very room, unable to escape nor cast any magic spells.
It sounded like a risky plan, but if we were to keep their leader from ever seeing the light of day, perhaps we could send the Monster Kingdom into chaos, destroying itself from the inside.
Since the Monster Queen relies on magic to attack, removing said magic would be taking away her primary weapon, and, as she displayed in her fight that she neither had a sword or any experience with weapons at all, it would only leave her tough skin as a defense.
Of course, canceling the magic in the room would also cancel our magic, but that's a risk we were prepared to take. We needed to act quickly because me and Alene are very vulnerable without our magic attacks.
Neither Dralk's nor Gala's weapons could cut through her iron skin though, so the only option they have is to target the back of her neck to knock her out cold.
We tried the plan out.
Still surrounded by the intense heat, we started focusing on the magic cancelation spell.
It was working too.
The fire, which was made out of magic, started to fade rapidly. In an instant, the room was normal again, and the Monster Queen finally lost her powers.
"H-Huh? W-What happened to my - "
While she was distracted, Dralk went behind her. Even though she managed to look at her back, she couldn't do anything to stop the back of the sword from making contact with her neck.
With a loud thump, she collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
We all stood there for a moment, dumbstruck at the situation before us.
Then it hit.
We finally managed to defeat Tania, the Monster Queen.
The cold room was filled with cheers all around, sighs of relief, and a lot of romantic kisses from both couples. This made me laugh.
The job was finally complete.
After years of preparation, our efforts were finally repaid.
Although even if we managed to defeat the Monster Queen, there was still a minuscule yet real possibility that the Monster Kingdom wouldn't collapse, and it will only result in a temporary hiatus to the eternal war between good and evil. Surely, as history would tell us, someday another one would take to the throne and rule once again.
But that was a problem for the future generation of heroes to deal with.
In our time, we brought peace to the world.
Me and Alene's mana were drained due to the complexity of the magic sealing spell, so it would take weeks for us to recover.
The room was canceled with mana, so no matter how much magic Tania tries to cast when she wakes up, it wouldn't even begin to manifest. The walls and door were made of magic-resistant materials as well, something not even her iron body break.
In a sense, she created a cage for herself.
This would ensure that she won't be leaving this room for a long time, and any outside attempts of unlocking the door or blasting the walls open would be futile.
But, just in case, since I was immortal, I made a mental note to check on the spell every once in a while in the future.
And so, having claimed victory over the Monster Queen, we locked her inside, leaving her unconscious, while we made our way back to the capital to report back to the king and return as heroes.