The monster flowed like a dancer drifting across the stage. It looked like… well, a dancer. A beautiful woman’s figure- slim, long legged, her pleated skirt reaching just below her knees and the sleeves of her long sleeved shirt stopped just before her delicate fingers. The cuffs of the shirt were very wide, I noticed, dyed yellow with blue roses embroidered on them. Her face was covered with a porcelain mask. A single blue horse was drawn on it.

She was stunning. And plainly a monster. From her long fingers spun a tracery of blue magic, slowing Versai. Another covered the headless monster with a blue glow. She cast with wide sweeping gestures, her yellow sleeves fluttering like banners. It wasn’t lively, like Hare Hare Yuuki, it was more sad, somehow.

“She’s a support type! Rache, new target- hit the support type! Kim, can you do anything to stop her casting?”

“That wannabe backup dancer? Sure. I won’t be able to buff while I’m doing it though.”

“Do it!” Versai was winning the duel with the giant, and Mika was punching holes in him like a machine. They would win this, so long as an unforeseen variable didn’t pop up. Like a support type.

Kim bolted from my side, wand spinning. She lunged right into the dancing monster’s face. The spinning wand danced with its red flames, seemingly blinding the masked adversary. The monster leaned back and tried to brush away the wand. Kim slid to one side, then was right back in front of “her.”

I got a front row seat to a dance off. It was the damnedest thing I had seen since coming here.

Kim didn’t let having only one arm slow her down. She twisted and stretched, shifting her body around from the tips of her toes all the way up to the top of her head. There was a pumped up energy to her movements. I don’t know how to describe it- the closing credits to Jujitsu Kaisen more than ballet? You wouldn’t call it ballroom. Not when she was that aggressive. Kim was constantly invading the other dancer’s space, never quite touching her.

The masked monster was trying to evade Kim without touching her either. She was more smooth in her motions- she swept her sleeves out and around, folding forward and crouching, standing all the way up and leaning back so far, it had to be magical. I think she was trying to distract Kim long enough to buff the brute.

She swept and twisted and writhed, and- hand on my heart, it was beautiful. Hot as hell, but beautiful. She was anything but a backup dancer. She had that sakuga.

It was just possible that my newest doll might be a touch catty. Cute as could be. But catty.

Versai wasn’t cute. She was bulling through whatever the debuff was. Her shield turned into an offensive weapon. Rather than just deflecting blows, she pushed the brute’s hands open wider and jammed the sword home. She bashed with the shield edge.

Her blade sunk into the brute’s feet, into its knees. Mika was contributing, but it was very clear Versai could have soloed this whole fight. She wasn’t just stronger than the brute, wasn’t just better equipped, She was the better fighter.

Every time I thought I had a grip on what made Six Stars special, Versai showed me another layer. This wasn’t a question of raw stats. The way the clawed hands slid off the shield, the way her sword dove in and out of the monster like a seabird fishing…

I tried to think of who she looked like. It wasn’t like Saber. Saber was overwhelming strength more than finesse or skill. Maybe someone from Samurai Champloo or Vinland Saga or something.

Ah. Vinland Saga. That’s it. She’s been fighting forever. Seen so much horror and death, this doesn’t even phase her. It’s just another day in her life. She’s not even going to remember this mook. The memory will wash away, like the blood off her blade. Blood washing away blood.

Are… all the Six Stars like this?

The brute’s death was anticlimactic. Versai smashed her shield into its chest, tore open its guts, and that was that. It fell over in a spray of gore. Rache suddenly appeared behind the dancer and hacked down with her saber, sending the head flying. Pretty blue hair, I noticed, even matted with black blood.

Rache had been running around the room to build up some speed. Guess it was enough.

“Check the hallway is clear!” I barked. Trying not to think about the fact that I just saw what looked like a human decapitated, and on my orders.

Rache zipped past Versai, managed to not slip on the bloody floor, and carefully peeked down the hallway. She then opened the door wide, stepped back towards me and reported.

“No banditos in sight. Range is free and clear.”

I took a moment to compose myself. My summons were fine. I checked everyone over. Judith looked mildly interested in all that was going on, but otherwise fine. Kim looked like she had just had a vigorous salon sesh and was ready for her fans.

Mika, likewise, was ready to rock. Well, no, not “rock,” she was fidgeting and fussing with her shield, but that was her idle loop. She was fine. Versai… flicked the blood off her sword like an absolute beast, sheathed it, tossed her perfect blond hair over her perfect shoulders, and looked like Odin’s favorite valkyrie.

“Anyone injured?”

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“I took some dings, but nothing serious.” Versai reported.

“Little road rash never slowed me down!” Rache agreed. Everyone else was fine.

“Judith, loot the bodies please.”

The meaty man dissolved in a flash of light, leaving behind a card with a picture of a helmet. It looked like one of the bits of starting loot the devs had provided and I hadn’t yet found a use for. Most of ‘em were tied to specific summons. What was this?

Kingdom’s Armory- Vaspevania Guardsman’s Helmet. Usable by- Direct Damage. Armor +3.

It was a gray tier item- trash. I guess Armor +3 wasn’t a lot. On the other hand, it was +3 more than zero.

“Who here is direct damage?”

“Mika is.” Mika piped up, looking worried.

“Anyone else? Versai?”

“I’m vanguard. Different thing. They are called “direct damage” but “ranged” might be an easier way to think of it.” She shook her eye-searingly beautiful head. “But they are also different from artillery. Why, I don’t know.”

“Right. Mika, this is for you.” I handed the card over to her. It turned into a round, flat helmet in her hand, and she set it on her head. Painted steel- it reminded me of those Doughboy helmets from WWI.

Did the helmet go with the white jacket with useless straps and dangly bits, soft white turtleneck underneath and a short skirt over thigh high boots that made up the rest of her look? It did not. She looked even more lost than before, but still game to try. Mika, with her pavise shield and World War One style helmet… it all kind of fit thematically. You could imagine her peeking out of a trench.

“Here’s what the other one had.” Judith handed me a crystal. I had to suppress a gasp. It glowed with a faint blue color, a blurry face inside.

“A directed summons crystal. One battle, one enemy and we got a directed summons crystal and armor. No wonder those other Tower Masters would risk it all in these dungeons. This is a treasure trove!”

“Ancient ruin. This is a bar, not a dungeon.” Versai corrected. She then muttered. I didn’t quite catch it, but it sounded like “Sort of a bar.”

I mentally sighed. “Everyone squared away? We find everything here? Good. Let's press onto the next room.”

We marched the whole six steps to the next door. I brought everyone in for a huddle. Given the noise of the fight earlier, secrecy should be a non-factor, but I didn’t want to potentially miss out on exploiting some dumb AI.

Who had two thumbs and had played all the Rainbow Six games? This guy. Time to see if those room clearing tactics were as legit as advertised.

I gave my orders in a whisper.

“Here is how we do this.” I checked the hinges. “The door opens inwards, knob’s on the right. Rache, you stand on the right of the door, back to the wall. When I give you the signal, you reach over, turn the knob and open the door as quickly as you can, keeping your back to the wall.”

I pointed where I wanted everyone to stand. “Versai- you are shield up, directly in front of the door. Kim, back and right of Versai. Your job is to keep her buffed and the enemy debuffed, assuming there is one. Mika, you are back and right as well, directly in front of Kim.”

I didn’t like the words “as a human wall” but it was what I was thinking. “Judith, you can back up a few paces and also keep your back to the wall.” Was everyone where they needed to be? I think so. Best I could come up with, anyway.

“Mika, DO NOT FIRE unless given orders. Understood?”

“Mika understands!” She nodded firmly. I didn’t know if there was a friendly fire mechanic in this game. I did know I didn’t want to find out with no medic handy.

“Same to you, Rache, stay put unless ordered.”

“Got it, Boss.”

I’m about to order a room cleared. I have them set up like they were SWAT, and we are about to clear a room. My heart should be racing. The blood should be pounding in my ears. I should be short of breath.

I looked over a Rache. “Open on three. One. Two.” I slashed my fingers down, pointing at the door. “Three.”

Rache twisted the knob and shoved. The door swung open and Versai bulled into the room. I could hear a smashing noise- sounded like one of those headless guys. Kim started casting, making it look elegant and fun. Based on the racket, not to mention the repeated, meaty, chunking noises, it sounded like it was going all Versai’s way.

I caught Mika’s eyes, and pointed down the hall where the unopened doors were. I didn’t want anything sneaking up on us. I worried for nothing. There wasn’t even a hint of movement in the hall. Eventually the chunk noises stopped in the little room.

“Versai?”

“All clear. You should probably come in.”

Well that sounded ominous. “Mika, keep watch.”

I went in to see what was troubling Versai. She looked a little scuffed, but basically fine. “How are you holding up?”

“Fine. Between Kim’s buffs and the big guy being trapped in this small room, it wasn’t anything too hard. Just got my shield up and got stabbing. Take a look at this room, though.”

I looked around. A comfortable double bed, a small wardrobe, a washbasin and cloth, a little vanity with a small mirror on it. It was pretty simple, very clean, and if dimly lit, well, I could understand that. The red curtains were a nice touch. Contrasted well with the blue rose painted on the wall. Nice to see people caring about aesthetics and design even in a dungeon.

“What am I not seeing?”

“Look in the wardrobe.”

There was a single dress hanging in there. Powder pink, flattering, with trailing yellow sleeves.

“Huh. Some kind of uniform for the bar?”

“Sort of. I don’t want to talk about it. Look, just touch it.”

I did.

Special costume- Blue Rose Red. Adds +5 to all stats, plus an additional +5 per stat when deployed with other Blue Roses of Gradden March, per Blue Rose Awakened Soul. +10 to all stats when deployed with Carousel. Exclusive to Becky.

I flashed back to the only completely useless summons in the tower. What was it she kept saying? You are my boss, but not the boss of me? Something like that. So just who, or what, was Carousel? And just what was Becky?