Chapter 378: 378. Land of Nerosal

The rest of the day was spent roaming the underground ruins. Despite multiple examples of copyette architecture, all of the tunnels and chambers had been picked clean of anything of value. With the exceptions of several statue chambers and a few pits too deep to explore, there wasn’t a single item of interest. The only living creatures were rats and insects, and the only echoes and guardians—those that the group had brought in.

Dallion used his Zoology skill on animals any opportunity he got, but even so all that the trio managed to find were a total of two more Vermilion’s Tears rings. In each case, the rings were lacking guardians, simply left within various copyette statues. Normally, that would have been a course for celebration. However, none thought they had done a particularly good job. For one thing, the ring at Performer’s Plaza wasn’t among the found. That begged the question how many others they had missed.

“I think we’ve found all we could find,” Vend said. “We can continue later.”

“Do you have anything urgent to do?” Euryale snapped at him.

An uneasy tension appeared. Dallion could feel that the gorgon was more on edge than normal, and for some reason he didn’t think it was only because of the Star threat.

“No,” Vend said in an annoyingly calm fashion. “He does.” He pointed at Dallion. “Also, so do you. The tournament will start in an hour. That means that the overseer will be in the stands. Weren’t you going to tell her about all this?”

The gorgon’s snakes moved all about.

“Don’t do that,” Eury said, pointing a finger at Vend’s face as she did. “I hate it.” Then, without another word, she turned around and continued along the tunnel, holding the lantern.

Dallion didn’t immediately follow.

“What’s that about?” he whispered, quietly enough to make sure that Eury couldn’t hear him.

“The usual,” Vend whispered back. “She doesn’t like leaving things half done. That’s what makes her a good hunter, and so difficult to be with. You have other things to worry about, though. You’re close to the final round.”

“Vend… there are things a bit more important than winning the tournament.” Even if it means that I’ll owe that snake the general one more item.

“Who said anything about winning? You’ve reached the flashy rounds. From here on, it’s all about the spectacle. While you’re on the field, thousands will watch your every move, including cultists. If they see you acting any differently, what do you think they’ll do?”

“In that case, I’ll just surrender.”

“You’re not listening to me. You’ve reached a stage at which you can’t surrender. Regardless of your reason, the countess will lose face, and more than you suspect. This is more than a blemish on her festival. The imperial has found you amusing enough to wager on you since the second round. If a member of the imperial family loses due to your unexplained surrender, who do you think will be blamed?”

This was precisely why Dallion disliked politics and intrigue. There were too many spoken and unspoken rules to keep in mind, not to mention all the latest gossip, family relations, acquaintances and whatnot. Fighting and leveling up was a lot easier—or at least, a lot less bothersome.

“How do you know?” Dallion asked.

“Lady Marigold told me.”

That explained a lot. Dallion could see the old noble bragging how much she had won off him, or complaining about how much she had lost, respectively.

“Alright, then. I’ll do my best to put on a good show.”

“Do your best not to get hurt,” Vend said sharply. “With a mage present, there will be no mercy. Your next opponent will do their best to hurt you as badly as possible. Only the regulars are left at this point, and they don’t like surprises. Not to mention there are those who want to earn a few points in the Archduke’s good book. Being the one who “punished” the one who defeated a member of the Archduke’s family will earn them a lot.”

Great, Dallion thought. More politics…

“Besides, Eury will be upset if anything happened to you. Let’s go. She’ll be mad if we keep her waiting.”

“You seem to know a lot about her,” Dallion noted.

“I‘d hope so. We were an item a year ago.”

The sentence couldn’t have been more shocking if Vend had tried. All of a sudden Dallion felt like an idiot. He had all those abilities, skills available to only a handful of people in the world, and yet he had failed to see something so obvious. To make matters worse, no one had told him, not even made a hint. Or maybe they had, but Dallion was busy worrying about something, like he usually did.

Thanks for the heads up, Nil, Dallion thought.

Considering everything that happened, adding more confusion to your life was hardly a good idea, the echo replied. It’s not like you weren’t warned.

I would have preferred to have known.

I strongly doubt that. But even if you had, what would have happened? At best, a quite awkward situation, considering how many flaws you used to have before reaching your current level. In any event, that’s something to worry about after the festival is over.

Good to know your priorities aren’t messed up…

It took half an hour to reach the arena’s entry spot. Unlike before, Eury had insisted that they use the proper entrance. Vend tried to argue a bit, but ultimately gave in. Unlike the “entrance:” beneath the stairway, the entrance was a lot cleaner and well organized. Also, it was much better guarded, even if they were on the wrong side of the door—after all, their goal was to prevent people from going in, not getting out. Having someone known from the inside—and then turn out to be Nerosal’s only gorgon—created quite a stir among the guards. For a moment, Dallion feared that Eury would resort to petrifying them, but it quickly became apparent that she could create a similar effect.

In the past, Dallion had always suspected that Eury played a more important part in the city than she claimed. Having city guard lieutenants and captains visit her shop as often as they did was enough to give him such an impression. However, even he didn’t suspect that she was answerable directly to the overseer herself.

A few words were enough for Dallion to be ushered up to the arena main floor and directly to his own waiting room. There was a whole table full of food, most of which Dallion hadn’t seen in his life. However, eating was the last thing on his mind right now.

Three Vermilion rings—four if counting the one they had failed to retrieve. How had the Star managed to find so many? And after finding them, why had he just left them in the ruins beneath the city? Something didn’t feel right.

There was a brief knock on the door, after which an elegantly dressed woman entered.

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“The tournament will start in ten minutes,” she said with a polite bow. “Your grid position is seven.”

“Thanks.” Dallion smiled. “I would have checked the tournament ring in a bit.”

“No need for apologies, sir. Challengers of your rank don’t need to occupy themselves with such trivial matters. We are to inform you of any events in person.” The woman took a few steps toward him. “Your ring, if you please.”

Dallion looked at his hand. Only now did he notice that he had started to amass quite a few rings of his own. He pulled off the one he had received from the tournament organizers and gave it to the woman.

“Thank you. Is there anything you would require before the spectacle?”

So, they really refer to it as a spectacle now? Dallion thought.

“No.” Dallion was about to turn around when he changed his mind. “Actually, yes. I’d like to see the field before the fight. Can I do that?”

“Of course,” the woman replied, not in the least bit surprised. “It is natural for first timers to want to see the field. Please, follow me.”

Don’t forget your trial with the distractions, Nil said as Dallion followed the woman along the hallways to the arena field. All you need to worry about for the next twenty minutes is the actual fight.

There are distractions and there’s gut, Dallion said. Don’t worry, I just need some air. It’ll help me clear my mind.

You say that as if I don’t know you. The old echo sighed.

Ten feet before the field, the woman stopped. Arena rules forbade her from being seen by the crowd. It was all for the audience from here on. As a rising star, Dallion was expected to make a solo appearance, so he decided to take full advantage and even do something somewhat unexpected.

Stopping five feet from the exit, Dallion took the kaleidervisto from his holster boot and held it in front of his right eye. At this point, all his opponents knew that trick, so revealing it wasn’t such a big deal.

The moment Dallion came into view, cheers filled the arena. The stands roared in acknowledgement to the challenger, who had reached this far on his first go. The atmosphere was electrifying, making Dallion wave back despite his initial reluctance. For a moment, he understood what MMA fighters felt when they made their way to the ring.

All the nobles had gathered, filling their section of the arena. Dallion’s imperial fan was leaning forward, eager to see his champion, much to the annoyance of the mage behind. On the next balcony, the countess remained as calm and majestic as always, waiting for the precise moment to mark the start of the round.

Just a massive distraction, Dallion told himself, looking through his kaleidervisto. There were a lot of echoes about, but only the overseer had a black silhouette.

Careful, dear boy, Nil said. She doesn’t like being reminded of her nature.

Thankfully, the overseer was too busy to pay attention, engaged in a conversation with Euryale. There was no mistake what the conversation was about. Dallion watched as the gorgon took a leather pouch from her belt—no doubt the one containing the Vermilion rings—and handed it over the overseer. As the pouch passed over the stone fence between them, a new black silhouette appeared. The difference was that the silhouette wasn’t caused by a person, but part of the arena itself.

“No!” Dallion shouted, but it was already too late. Tendrils shot up from the stone, entangling the pouch, as well as the overseer’s hand.

AREA AWAKENING

A green rectangle emerged in front of Dallion, pulling him into the realms. More alarming, though, was the fact that green rectangles had appeared above everyone’s head, like a layer of green glass above the entire arena stand.

You are in the land of NEROSAL

Defeat the guardian to change the land’s destiny.

What the heck? Dallion looked around. He, and every other awakened at the arena, was in awakened gear. Everyone who wasn’t an awakened remained in their seats, motionless like ash gray silhouettes. That wasn’t the only difference. Dozens of chainlings had appeared, converging on the nobles’ sector. The overseer was doing her best to fight them off, but their numbers were too great, making the whole thing end in a temporary stalemate.

“Help the overseer!” Dallion shouted. Unlike everyone else, his new ability allowed him to see what everyone but two others could not—that the overseer was none other but the city’s guardian.

“You’re really come a long way,” a familiar voice said next to Dallion. “I’d almost call it commendable, if it wasn’t pointless.”

Dallion’s whip blade moved on its own accord, extending so as to hit the being that had just appeared. Inches before hitting its target, however, an unknown force made it stop mid-air.

“Arthurows,” Dallion said, fighting to suppress the fear inside of him.

“Been a while, Dal.” The Star smiled. Unlike all the previous times, he was dressed in a simple pair of black jeans and t-shirt with the word “Star” written in front. “Congrats on your new skills, by the way. Must have been difficult to get them.” Envy the size of melons formed within Arthurows’ body. “Not that it matters. They won’t lift a finger to help her.” The star pointed at the overseer.

Groups of city guards had joined the nobles in the area to fight against the formed chainlings. However, all of them were protecting the countess and the imperial guest. Other than Euryale, not a single one was doing anything to assist the overseer.

“She’s strong, but soon she’ll fall, and they won’t even notice.”

“This was your plan?” Dallion asked. “To take over the city?”

“Destroy it,” the Star said with glee. “Oh, I’ll leave a few survivors—enough to spread the world of what happened here. You’ll be among the survivors, of course. Least I can do for a fellow Earther.”

Lux, lift me up! Dallion ordered.

Before the firebird could do anything, an ink-black cloud appeared above Dallion.

“I wouldn’t,” the Star said. As he did, eyes and mouths appeared all over the cloud’s surface. “It’ll be impolite to run off. Not after they’re about to get the spectacle they deserve.”

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