Chapter 33: Chapter 33

The magical girls materialized outside the entrance to their new dungeon. With three runs completed, it was time for them to head home. Clare looked around for threats. There was another party on the road up ahead, walking in the direction of the city. A nameplate told Clare that they were in the Valiance Soldiers guild. She had heard that that organization banned women inmates from combat roles for purely misogynistic reasons. Still, there was no reason to suppose that they might attack with more than insults.

Clare noted that Sara was also looking to the other adventurers, and she no doubt had similar thoughts. “Looks clear,” the healer said. “Everyone stay alert.”

As they had on the way to the dungeon, they all watched in different directions while they walked—Clare in the front, with Sara and May watching to either side, and Pari in the rear glancing frequently behind her. This second tier dungeon was further away from the capital than the Stronghold of the Giants had been, so there was more opportunity for trouble. Especially since there were dense woods on one side of the road.

Movement from the woods a short time later proved to be a couple of wandering orcs. Clare and May each dispatched one of the monsters with a quick crit.

When a real threat finally emerged several minutes later, it took a much more innocuous form—an eagle drifting overhead. Any number of noncombatant animals populated the world of Fantasy for the sake of realism. They did not have nameplates. But this creature did.

“There’s a combat pet,” Clare told the others as she brought them to a halt, pointing out the bird. “It belongs to a hunter called ‘Lissa.’ Pari, wasn’t that the name of the woman with Cassandra?”

“It was. ...She found us so fast.”

“Cassandra has her sources in Felorius,” Sara said darkly. “People who observe and use return texts to give her instant reports. Not every traitor is as open about it as Cantor.”

Pari looked upset. “Knowing Sandra, she probably looks for inmates who have poor families on the outside and offers to provide for them. As cruel as she can be, she prefers the carrot to the stick.”

“Just what we needed,” May complained. “An all-knowing enemy who can’t be killed. The ‘Dread Queen’ lives up to her title. ...Should we head back to the dungeon?” she asked Sara.

“We’d never make it. Unlike us, our adversaries can afford transportation.”

It was only a few seconds later that Clare heard a noise around a bend in the road ahead. Eventually a horse-drawn covered wagon came into view, approaching rapidly. It was being driven by a max experience NPC of the hunter faction.

The four women materialized their armaments and waited on the arrival of their enemies. Clare glanced at Pari—this time, the mage appeared steady. The wagon came to a halt nearby, and four hunters emerged. Besides Lissa were three men—two were angels, one was an elf. Angels did extra damage, while elves had bonus mana. The ice tribe players had the same frenzy ability as goblins.

“Go after Lissa,” Sara whispered to Clare. The tank nodded. She was still the most talented in the party at PvP training, so it made sense to pit her against Cassandra’s most experienced warrior.

“That elf looks familiar,” Clare added quietly.

“The ‘treacherous’ vampire,’” Sara realized. “I’ll deal with him.”

It took several seconds for Clare to check, but all the interlopers were at twenty percent XP. By their mana totals they had rare gems—but that was hardly surprising.

The enemies summoned their own weapons. Lissa’s were spiked cold iron gauntlets, enhanced by the ice strike spell. Jagged shards of ice shifted rapidly over the armored gloves like the action of an electric knife. Because they counted as weapons rather than armor in the game, Clare’s sword would not be able to cut through the gauntlets. Still, her opponent’s weapons were not a popular choice—they were heavy, did little to extend reach, and the fingers of the armored gloves could be moved only slowly. Of course, eight years was plenty of time to master an unconventional weapon.

Lissa spoke. “Parisa, surrender yourself and the lives of your companions will be spared.”

“Absolutely not. We’ll win this.”

“You have no hope of victory. ...The rest of you will delay your executions if you stay out of this—and you’ll win the Queen’s gratitude. She can grant many favors, in this world and outside it.”

“We’re not selling out our friend to your tyrant,” Sara told her impatiently.

“Let’s get this over with,” Clare added.

“Cram it up your ass, you blueberry bitch.”

“Those were poorly chosen last words.” Lissa told May. Clare’s HUD informed her that combat was about to begin. The ice tribe player and her allies charged at the magical girls.

Clare engaged Lissa. It immediately became obvious what a formidable opponent she was facing. The tank only narrowly evaded attempts by Lissa to grab onto her arms or shield. But the hunter dodged or blocked attacks with ease. Her counters left Clare retreating more often than not.

she realized in surprise. Her only chance was to hold out long enough for one of her comrades to come to her aid.

From what little Clare caught of the other fighting, the battle was going better for the rest of the party. May’s opponent looked to be on the defensive in the face of her swift onslaught, while Sara kept up her usual jumping evasions and cunning strikes against the old enemy.

“It was a pity we didn’t get to fight more last time,” the former vampire told the healer. “You’re just as fun as Ward.”

Sara thrust at the elf, and he narrowly turned aside the point of her spear with his pole-ax. “If you think killing is fun, you need to reevaluate your life,” she told him coldly.

Pari and one of the angels exchanged glancing blows as they circled, but they seemed evenly matched. The angel was also trying to draw his opponent into a grapple—no doubt to restrain her for capture. That explained why he fought with only a short sword. Pari repeatedly used her instant burst as a distraction—both the flash of lightning and the pain required discipline for an opponent to ignore.

Sara was kept busy with her healing. When Lissa used her frenzy ability, Clare was forced to counter with the guard spell just to stay alive. Each of the hunters proved to have their own self-healing spell, so critical hits were the most likely route to victory.

“You can still surrender,” Lissa said. Clare did not bother to dignify this with a response.

A sudden dive attack from the hunter’s eagle caught Clare off-guard. She ignored the scratches left by the talons across her face, and only barely managed to block a follow-up punch intended to drive the spikes of the gauntlet into her heart. The hit to Clare’s shield was so hard that it sent her stumbling back. Lissa had the hunter’s strength enhancement—this meant that Clare would be finished if she were drawn into a grapple.

The distraction of the pet only made Clare’s situation even more difficult. For now the bird regained altitude, but it could attack again at any moment. Sara’s healing removed the pain from the eagle’s attack.

Finally Clare found a potential opening...but it proved to be a trap. Lissa anticipated her strike and neatly caught the tank’s sword in one of her armored gloves. The hunter then used her considerable strength to pull her opponent’s weapon away from her.

Clare’s only options were to stand her ground by releasing the sword, or to hold onto it and be drawn fatally close to her opponent. She chose the former. Disarmed, she then concentrated on desperate evasions for the two seconds until her lost sword returned to her inventory.

The tank would have been killed if not for May, who happened to be nearby. The demon-player managed a swipe at Lissa, delaying her for a crucial moment. This bought Clare the time she needed to summon her sword to her hand once more.

“Keep her occupied!” Lissa shouted disapprovingly to her minion.

“Ma’am!” he answered apologetically. May’s brief diversion from her primary opponent caused her to lose initiative, and now it was her turn to back away from her opponent.

Clare did not see the bird once more swooping down on her from behind...but she heard its squawk when a sudden thrust from Sara’s spear struck home. The bird dropped to the ground with a bloodless wound on its head.

Unfortunately, this strike left Sara briefly vulnerable to her opponent. He managed a savage blow to one of her arms that left it temporarily unusable. The healer desperately evaded follow-up attacks, still holding onto her spear with her functioning arm. Thankfully, Sara survived long enough to regain the use of her arm and continue her fight.

That was twice now that Clare’s comrades had endangered themselves in aiding her. And still there was nothing she could do but defend herself from attack after attack, offering only token offense in return.

Clare was beginning to lose hope. But then May managed to wound her opponent in the arm. This left him vulnerable to several follow-up attacks. None were crits, but thanks to her damaging spells they still countered his self-heal and brought his health to zero. The enemy collapsed.

“May, help Clare!” Sara shouted urgently.

May attempted to flank Lissa, but the hunter was too canny. Outnumbered two-to-one, Lissa was finally on the defensive...but in the minute of attacks that followed, neither Clare nor May could land a telling blow. The hunter kept dodging, and kept looking for openings despite her inferior tactical situation. One minor mistake and either of Lissa’s opponents would be awaiting their execution.

Sara finally managed to maneuver her own conflict closer to Pari’s, and with an unexpected stab of her spear impaled the mage’s opponent right in the back of the head. In turn, Pari flanked Sara’s enemy and swiftly eliminated him. This time, he had no opportunity for a final remark.

Now out of time, Lissa launched herself recklessly at Clare. The tank narrowly avoided a fatal strike to her head, while her blade emerged from Lissa’s back at the location of the hunter’s heart.

Allowing the corpse of Lissa’s character to hit the ground, Clare stopped to catch her breath. Despite her human stamina bonus, she had been dangerously close to bottoming out on the stat. Sara’s mana situation had not been much better. Clare’s HUD informed her that the battle was over, and everyone’s experience went up one percent. They all disappeared their weaponry.

“May...” Clare began. “Thank you for your help. I wouldn’t have survived without it.”

“Don’t mention it. I don’t know if I would’ve lasted half a minute against Lissa on my own—so it’s not like you have anything to be ashamed of.”

“They were all more difficult to defeat than I’d hoped,” Sara observed. “But we did it.”

“Sandra’s not one for half measures,” Pari explained. “Those were her best people.”

The horse-drawn carriage vanished with the usual animation, followed by the four bodies. The enemies had all logged out.

“So, how does it feel to finally have your first lethal PvP outta the way?” May asked Pari.

“It’s a relief. I was pretty scared, and I think it held me back a little. But if I had to fight him again, I’d be more confident. Maybe I could even win pretty fast.”

“That’s good,” Sara told her. “As long as Lissa is a tier ahead of us, none of us can hope to defeat her one on one. If we face this group again, we need to clear out the other three as quickly as possible.

“...Maybe there are steps we could take to make ourselves harder to find, but we’ll worry about that later.” Apparently, Sara had an idea along those lines—but most likely she did not want to discuss it now because it would end up on their show. “We should also review all the available combat footage on Lissa again. And get in more training against opponents with gauntlets.

“Anyway, let’s get back to the safe zone—there could be other hunters looking for us.” The party then started home.