“… . eh? You’re…Shin?”


    “!?”


    Shin was surprised to hear his name from Milt’s lips .


    His face was visible only from the eyes and above .  【Analyze】 couldn’t be used when the target’s face wasn’tpletely visible .


    Milt was one of the top yers among those caught in the death game . It wouldn’t be strange for her to identify Shin via 【Analyze】, but it was a mystery how she had found out it was him before even trying that skill .


    “(I will deal with her . I don’t know if Milt noticed your presence too, but it’s best if you stay hidden . )”


    “(Understood…her spirit’s condition is abnormal too, please be careful . )”


    Shin nodded without turning back and emerged from the water as naturally as he could, in order to keep Milt’s focus on him .


    His eyes never left Milt .


    “How did you know it was me?”


    “I have practiced spirit techniques focusing on the water element, after all . My Undine is a dear friend, and you were underwater . I don’t think I need to exin further . ”


    “Ah, a technique that wasn’t in the game…no, I should stop thinking in these terms . ”


    Shin didn’t know what spirits were . He discarded that opinion, reminding himself to stop thinking with a game-like frame of mind .


    “I’m d you understood so quickly . I too have something to ask you, can I? I didn’t contact the others, so rest easy . ”


    “Well isn’t that grand . What do you want to know?”


    Milt’s expression became stern after Shin’s question . After staring at Shin for several seconds, she spoke .


    “Are you really Shin?”


    “At the very least, I think I am . I don’t know if it’ll be enough proof, but I remember the battle when I cut you down . ”


    Shin talked about his final battle with Milt . Some of the information he mentioned was only known to them .


    “I see, you really are Shin…but if you are in this world, then it means you died? Did someone kill you? Or was it a monster?”


    “No one killed me . I was pretty surprised myself when I got here . ”


    “I bet . I waspletely lost too, at the beginning . ”


    Shin continued the conversation while studying Milt’s reactions . Time passed, but no other presence was entering his field of perception .


    Rather, Shin noticed that Milt’s way of talking had changed . Her polite speech was gradually turning into a somewhat childish one .


    “You came here to destroy the ritual, I guess?”


    “Who knows . ”


    “You don’t need to hide it . I’m sure you did . The Shin I know would never ignore something so cruel . Because Shin is scary… . and… . kin…d… . ”


    “… . . Milt?”


    Shin called to Milt when her words started to sound feverish . She had been talking happily until a moment ago, but her expression had gradually turned into a grimace of pain .


    “Ah, aaah…Shi…n…? It can’t…be… . I’m, dea… . . d…? Aaah…Shin…Shinshinshinshinnn!!”


    Milt started moving while repeating Shin’s name .


    Creating ripples in the water, she moved next to Shin in an instant . Even if her mental state was abnormal, her physical body remembered her movements and reproduced them perfectly .


    A deranged smile was on her face .


    “I felt something was off…so I was right . ”


    After muttering a curse, Shin prepared to fight back . He caught her right hand, which was aiming for a palm strike, with his left hand, then stopped her left knee strike with his right hand .


    Milt, thus unable to move one arm and leg, tried to kick Shin with her right leg . Shin let go of her limbs and dodged the kick aimed at his chin .


    He had cast 【Cure】 to heal her status ailments, but ck mist had covered the attacking Milt’s body; the magic skill had not affected her .


    However, Shin’s 【Cure】 had dispelled most of the ck mist . Using it one more time would have likely generated the desired effects .


    Possibly because of the mist’s disappearance, Milt’s expression started to seem confused . She had put distance between them, as if scared by something, and started to attack randomly, like aplete beginner .


    Shin drew closer to Milt, while nullifying the continuous magic attacks with his innate resistance .


    “I wan…ted . . wanted…to see yo… . where… . fight…sleepy…scary…”


    The wordsing out of Milt’s mouth were scattered, broken . Shin thought she was reliving memories of the death game .


    His assumption came from the knowledge of her reason for being so obsessed with fighting .


    “… . am I, alive? I will, wake up? No… . if so…then…”


    Milt’s next words cleared all of his remaining doubts .


    “Someone, please……………kill, me . ”


    “I refuse . ”


    Milt’s words left her lips as tears streamed down her cheeks, but Shin refused her .


    He stopped both of her arms with his right hand, then grabbed her head with his left hand .


    “Come back to normal already!”


    The skill he used blew away all the mist haunting Milt’s body .


    He had infused more magic power in this second 【Cure】, which easily blew past the mist’s resistance and healed Milt’s status ailments .


    Milt’s status was now normal . However, possibly because of the mental burden, she had lost consciousness .


    Shin couldn’t leave her lying naked like that, so he materialized a mantle andid it on her .


    “If even someone her level ended up manipted, there are demons on a whole other level than the one in Bayreuth . ”


    “A Duke ss, maybe? Or even…”


    “Could be a Grand Duke . ”


    Milt’s stats were high enough that, with the right equipment, she could fight toe to toe with Kagerou . Being a poison user, she had trained her resistances to status ailments too .


    Despite that, she had been affected by powerful status ailments .


    Whoever had put Milt under their control was someone with abilities equal or superior to hers .


    “Hn…”


    While Shin and Schnee were talking, Milt mumbled softly .


    As she slowly opened her eyes, maybe because she noticed the presence of people in the vicinity, she looked towards Shin .


    “Eh…Shin…?”


    “Hey there, you’re awake?”


    “Ah, yes… . eh? Shin!? Why!? Aaah! Why am I naked?!?”


    Milt fully regained consciousness, slightly panicking after noticing her state . She apparently had no recollection of recent events and was rightfully confused, voicing questions such as “Where am I!?” or “Why is my body all sticky!?”


    “Er… . anyway, let’s calm down, OK?”


    “Shin, why are you naked too…? C-could it be that you have taken advan–?!”


    “I haven’t!! And look better, I’m wearing a swimsuit! I’m not naked!”


    Shin couldn’t help but interrupt Milt’s words, whacking the girl looking up at him, wrapped in the mantle, over the head .


    “Hitting her on the head in her current state would be too much, I think…?”


    “Nah, no problem if it’s her . ”


    “Uuh…you’re merciless…”


    Shin looked over at Schnee, showing her that there was nothing to worry about, then turned to Milt again .


    Milt had somewhat calmed down, thanks to Shin’s chop, and focused on understanding her current situation and whereabouts .


    “So have we calmed down now?”


    “My head hurts, though . But thisck of mercy is just like you, Shin . First of all, could you tell me what I was doing here, and naked?”


    “Before that, tell me how much you remember . You just jumped at me, you know . Well, I guess you could wear something first . ”


    Shin demanded an exnation from Milt, arguing that he had the right to ask first .


    Milt put some clothes on, finally looking presentable, and started talking while massaging her head .


    “… . . and that’s all I can remember . It’s all blurry after that…I felt my consciousness return fully when I saw your face in front of me . ”


    Milt exined how she had joined ‘Ouroboros’ Hollow’ in her search of strong opponents; she had visited this cave in an escort mission for the Summit Faction, but then her memories became muddled .


    She had surely met someone, but couldn’t remember who it was .


    “I see, they basically did what they wanted with you . ”


    “Aah…I have no excuses . ”


    Milt’s head hung in shame for letting something like that happen to her .


    Having fallen to someone’s maniption had hit her deep .


    “Shin, you’re going to rescue the person I kidnapped, right?”


    “Yes, along with someone else though . ”


    “Could you take me with you? I have to put an end to what I caused, with my own hands . ”


    Her tone of voice was calm, but Shin felt that Milt was angry .


    She had a peculiar code even in her PK days; she would only start a fight to the death if the opponent agreed to it . Even if she had been manipted, she probably didn’t want to me others for something she had done .


    “More fighting power is always wee, but there are people close to the girl you kidnapped on our side, you know?”


    “That’s fine . Or rather, that means I should do it even more . I only kill when I am attacked with killing intent, or the opponent agrees to a duel to the death . I dislike and have no intention of assisting kidnapping or ckmailing . I had no control over what I did this time, but it doesn’t change that it was me . I have to make amends . ”


    Milt’s expression stiffened .


    Shin saw it and thought that she wasn’t trying to deceive them .


    “(Schnee, what do you think?)”


    “(At the very least, I don’t think she’s acting . Because her contract spirit seems to have cated too . It was probably concerned about its master’s abnormal state . )”


    After hearing Schnee’s opinion via Mind Chat, Shin thought that it could be a good idea to bring Milt along .


    It would mean to add a former enemy among their ranks, but Shin knew Milt’s personality; he was sure that even if they didn’t bring her along, she would act on her own .


    “Got it . You cane with us, and it’ll be a great help if you cooperated with us . But only if you don’t act on your own ord . If you stand in the way of our objectives, then I really won’t have any mercy . ”


    “I know that well . Fighting against you is an extremely charming prospect, but I couldn’t enjoy it in this situation . ”


    Milt seemed to understand that she wasn’t actually trusted and nodded with conviction .


    “No need to be charmed . We’ve wasted enough time, let’s go back for now . You have 【Shapeshift】attached, yes?”


    “No problem, look . ”


    Milt answered Shin’s question and transformed her equipment .


    Her battle wear, oriental styled with a great amount of skin exposure, changed shape adhering to Milt’s body .


    “A school swimsuit…but why…”


    Milt’s transformed swimwear left Shin at a loss for words . Like a good student, she even had “Milt” printed on the swimsuit’s chest area .


    Re-attaching the enchantment 【Shapeshift】 as many times as needed would allow the user to pick their favourite type of swimsuit .


    For that reason, during the game era very few wore swimwear considered “for fetishists”, like school swimsuits or string-type swimwear .


    “Hehehe, I will let you know that this shape grants a 10% speed boost to underwater movement!”


    “Who even programmed this…”


    Shocked and defeated to learn of this surprising bonus, Shin swam back at high speed, his party in tow .


    “I might as well introduce you, she’s more or less my former support character, Schnee . She’s strong, but don’t get any weird ideas . ”


    Thinking it weird to not do their introductions, Shin decided to do it first .


    “And this is Milt . She’s an advanced yer they used to call “Milt the Poison Lolita” during the game era . ”


    “Po, poison Lolita…?”


    “Hey!! What kind of introduction is that!? I didn’t choose to be this short anyway!”


    Shin had exposed Milt’s nickname in apletely casual manner .


    Milt’s height was the same as her real body, 145 cemel .


    She had apparently used her real self’s face in the game, with her still innocent-looking features, more on the cute than the beautiful side .


    However, her body was a junior high school student’s at most . It would be a bit of a stretch even to think of her as a high schooler .


    One of VR’s characteristics was the inability to change significantly not only one’s facial features, but also one’s physique .


    “She got that nickname because she looks like a lolita and is a poison user . They also called her stuff like “Mini Berserker” . ”


    “There’s always something saying how short I am ! My main job is conjurer after all, and I might be small but I’m not t!”


    Saying so, Milt pushed up her chest with her hands .


    The swimsuit, which was already considerably stretched, changed shape under Milt’s hands .


    Her chest had been “touched up” to the point that one could imagine she had went a little overboard when creating her avatar . Such symbols of maternity was already quite prominent in their natural state, but now they looked slightly lewd .


    Added to Milt’s looks, this Lolita + Big breasts + School swimsuitbination created a very “dangerous” view .


    “If you have time to act silly, then speed up . And once we get onnd, stop messing around . ”


    “First you reveal my nicknames, but then you ignore me, huh…reminds me of how cold the old Shin was . ”


    “It’s just your imagination . Do you feel any change in your condition, by the way?”


    “Ah, no . I’m alright . Even if I was under control, I was practically sleeping . My head doesn’t hurt or spin . No problem even I’m poked fun at, like you just did . ”


    Milt had noticed that Shin had tried to annoy her on purpose and stoppedining .


    She didn’t look like she was forcing herself . Her HP and MP had not changed either and her status showed aplete recovery .


    “Anyway, I have to apud yourck of any reaction after seeing this physique of mine . And I thought that this kind of body would be more popr with boys than my real life one . ”


    What a shame…so muttered Milt, in a manner that made it hard to tell how serious she was .


    Shin didn’t find Milt unappealing either . But he wasn’t the kind of person to react to nudity or sexiness in a situation like that .


    “You’re a mystery as usual . ”


    “A woman of mystery, that’s who I am . ”


    “Don’t puff up your chest dressed like that . We’re almost there . ”


    Shin spoke while looking at the light filtering from above the water . The three had reached the shore in a few minutes .


    “Sir Shin, who is this person?”


    Their return had been slightlyte, but the party hade back safely . Noticing the added presence of Milt, though, spurred the question from Konig .


    “Ah…I’ll exin, so please listen until the end . ”


    As Milt would join their entourage, her true identity had to be revealed .


    Milt, above all, was Hermie’s kidnapper . If they hid the truth now, and it was revealed by a turn of eventster, things would likely take an unfortunate turn, so it was decided to reveal the truth now .


    “………”


    After the exnation, Konig remained in deep silence .


    He had grabbed his de’s hilt as he heard the neer’s name, but somehow Shin managed to exin to the end .


    “You really don’t remember anything?”


    After a long silence, Konig asked a question with a calm tone .


    From Konig’s viewpoint, as one of the victims and Hermie’s personal guard, simply hearing “she was manipted, there was no other way” was obviously not enough to convince him .


    “I can’t make any excuses about that . But I too resent having been used that way . Shin saved me after all, so I want to show my gratitude . I know my words are less than convincing, but at least I am confident I could match a divine beast in battle . ”


    Milt spoke while looking directly at Konig . Her eyes expressed that she had no intention of backing out .


    “I knew it would turn out like this…”


    Shin had expected this development, so he carried Konig away, without missing a beat .


    “Sir Shin, I do not mean to doubt you, but will this really be all right?”


    “I know what you mean . But it would not be wise to act separately . You also know how strong she is, right?”


    Konig was not in prime condition at the time, but Milt had easily bested him . Her stats were also higher than his .


    Even using Shin’s map and detection abilities to the fullest, it would have been difficult to find Hermie, who was not a member of their party or a support character .


    The cave interior, which was mostly artificial, was quiterge, even considering only the extent they were aware of . They had to look for Hermie while avoiding traps and enemy eyes, definitely not an easy feat .


    Even if they let Milt go, if she was found Shin’s party’s freedom of movement would be limited as well; and if a Grand Duke-ss demon was among the enemy ranks, they would have to go confront it .


    Considering that there were also chosen ones among the enemies, there was nothing to lose in having as much fighting power as possible .


    “Well, if we used one of these we wouldn’t have to worry about betrayal . ”


    With these words, Shin pulled out one of the Submission Cors retrieved from Bulk’s room .


    “Guh . ”


    Konig let out a frustrated grunt .


    He too knew that Milt’s eyes were not lying .


    Besides, he probably would not want to use the Submission Cor on someone who wasn’t some despicable viin, but had just been manipted .


    “… . I suppose there is no other way . ”


    Konig cast away his personal feelings and agreed .


    “My name’s Milt . My race is High Pixie and I’m a Conjurer . This is my dear Undine friend, her name is Nel . Anyway, everyone is so strong here! Why don’t we fightter?”


    Milt introduced herself to the party while Shin was away . Although thest part was unnecessary .


    After that, they heard from Milt all the information she remembered about the cave’syout, to specte where Hermie was held and the ritual would take ce .


    After all party members reviewed their roles, the party started moving .


    ◆◆◆◆


    “To think that it’s possible to speak underwater . ”


    Tiera muttered thisment while swimming next to Shin on their way towards the cave .


    Her swimsuit was a brilliant green bikini, and a ne imbued with the skill 【Dive V】 floated above her chest .


    “Even though I’m using the same skill too, I have no idea how it’s possible to talk underwater though . ”


    “There’s no air forming around our mouths either, so it’s a mystery how we can breathe too . Well, thanks to this we can move through the water, so I suppose I’ll just ept not understanding how it works . ”


    The whole party was heading towards the underwater cave’s entrance .


    Yuzuha and Kagerou were in tow, dog paddling behind them .


    They passed theke where Shin and Milt met and proceeded forward, wary of any traps or guards .


    As long as Shin and Schnee made full use of their detection skills, only an exceptionally intricate trap could slip through their vignce .


    “There are a lot of dwellings and storage rooms in the shallow areas . I guess the more important parts are deeper?”


    “Probably, yes . I remember I went down a fair distance . Even though this isn’t their headquarters, the Summit Faction is arge organization . They even reinforced the cave’s walls to prevent them from crumbling easily . ”


    “I should have guessed . When there are full of holes, all it would take is just one earthquake to wipe it off the map . ”


    The walls were bumpy and uneven, but the path was wide enough for 4 adults to walk side by side .


    There also were manyrge hall-like clearings, personal rooms, and storage rooms; if they had built so many without reinforcing the walls, they would have definitely crumbled sooner orter .


    Shin’s party proceeded deeper and deeper while checking the map for the room they were looking for . Since they searched each floor they visited, their progress couldn’t be very fast .


    “What’s this?”


    Roughly 1 hour since they started their descent, Shin’s 【Magic Sonar】 picked up arger clearing in the map .


    It was farrger than the rooms used as storage rooms . It appeared that there was something in the back of it, but 【Magic Sonar】 couldn’t scan the roompletely, so it was only partly disyed on the map .


    “Could it be the ritual site?”


    Schnee whispered softly .


    “It could be . What do you say, Milt?”


    “I think you guessed right . I do remember it was arge room . ”


    It was possible for Hermie to be imprisoned near the ritual site; Shin and the others proceeded downwards, while searching the surroundings even more carefully than before .


    “… . . Shin . ”


    As they were descending, Shibaid called to Shin, who was walking next to him .


    “What’s wrong?”


    “It certainly looks like there are Grand Duke-ss demons here . ”


    “I can’t pick up anything in my detection range, though…?”


    “I can feel their fighting spirit . This stale, foul feeling…it’s a “War God”-type, no doubt about it . ”


    Shibaid’s eyes were fixed in one direction as they walked, his words filled with conviction .


    Shin asked Schnee with his eyes, but she shook her head .


    As Schnee had previously felt something other than miasma, Shibaid had probably felt something the other party members couldn’t .


    There was no proof for his words, but no one doubted Shibaid . Konig and Milt knew that it was not odd for those who dedicate themselves to battle to be able to feel the presence of other powerful warriors .


    Tiera also did not say anything, probably because she too possessed a simr unique sense .


    “A solo type, maybe . Hopefully there aren’t raid types then . ”


    The humanlike demons called “War God”-type,pared to raid-types, had fixed conditions to defeating them, so it was not impossible to take them down even when fought for the first time .


    They were still powerful enemies, but considering the expected spent time and sustained damage to defeat them, they were still easier targets than others .


    “We’re almost at what could be the ritual site . Let’s continue talkingter . ”


    The whole party shut their mouths at Schnee’s warning .


    The detection fields did not pick up anything in particr .


    With Shin and Schnee leading, the party headed towards the ce thought to be the ritual site .


    “Kuu! This ce is yucky!”


    “Gruu!!”


    Yuzuha and Kagerou suddenly became agitated . Their whole bodies’ fur stood up, as if they were trying to intimidate something .


    “What’s wrong now?”


    Yuzuha answered Shin’s question, expressing her thoughts while stumbling on her words .


    ording to her, this location was a node of Ley lines, but because of the miasma their original function was inhibited .


    “You can feel it?”


    “It’s the same as the ce I was before, it feels sick here, kuu…”


    The clearing seemed absolutely normal, but they soon realized that there was a veryrge magic circle drawn on the ground . The material reinforcing the walls and ground was clearly different from the other rooms too .


    Apparently, this magic circle was part of what was negatively influencing the flow of the Ley lines that Yuzuha had talked about .


    “The stench of blood is strong here, after all . Who knows what gruesome things they have been up to in here…after all they did to us, let’s show them what our craft can do . ”


    In case they couldn’t find Hermie, the party retraced part of the magic circle, in order to prevent it from activating .


    Shin was not familiar with magic circles sorge as to epass a whole floor, so Schnee directed the operation .


    “Okay then, time to see what’s ahead . ”


    After the modification of the magic circle waspleted, the party assembled before the door leading beyond the ritual site .


    It was a heavy door 4 mels high and 3 mels wide . It was locked as well, but before Shin’s party the lock was no different than a toy .


    Shin and Shibaid pushed open the door, which clearly had to be guarding something important .


    Maybe because it had been used with care, the door opened without so much as a sound . The scenery behind it, however, was something no one could have expected .


    “Are you kidding me . . ”


    Shin unconsciously muttered under his breath .


    Before their eyes lied a gigantic crystal, roughly 10 mels tall . Its transparency was so high that it looked like artificially polished ss .


    Because of that, the thing…rather, the living being inside the crystal could be clearly seen .


    “Is that…Filma?”


    Schnee whispered the name of the person in front of her eyes .


    It was, without a shred of a doubt, Shin’s 2nd support character, Filma Tolmeya .