“That’s…not blood . ”


    Shin mumbled to himself, still in a fighting stance, while looking at the blue vapor-like substance exuding from Ishkar’s neck .


    The exploded skull vanished as if melting away .


    It ended all too easily . That was the reason why Shin hadn’t lowered his guard yet .


    Shiden’s offensive power was high . With Shin’s stats, it was probably possible to KO even Ishkar in one blow .


    And yet,…even considering this, there was no challenge . It felt “boring” .


    “!? Wait, what was I thinking just now!?”


    Shin felt his fighting spirit boiling, as he was facing a powerful opponent . However, he felt that hisst thought hade from apletely different source .


    As if someone other than him was inside his mind .


    “… . as I thought, you aren’t down yet . ”


    Before the frowning Shin, several ice pirs sprouted from Ishkar’s neck . In the blink of an eye, the pirs fused into one and rebuilt Ishkar’s head .


    It was notpletely made of ice: the horns and eyes were a deep blue . Shin felt some sort of will behind the eyes gazing at him .


    “If you’ve revived, all I have to do is defeat you one more time . ”


    Shin forgot what he was thinking about for the moment and kicked the water, moving toward Ishkar, the explosive propulsion letting him close in on the dragon instantly .


    Ishkar, however, blocked his advance by freezing the seawater around Shin .


    Shin immediately cast magic to destroy the ice . However…


    “I can’t break it? I’ll just smash it then!”


    Magic should have been able to weaken the binding’s effects, but it failed . Shin guessed it was probably because of a particr skill Ishkar possessed, so he decided to force his way out of his bonds .


    Half of his body was already frozen, but he could still swing his arms and legs to break free . Maybe thanks to the effects of his resistances, only the surface of his body was frozen .


    As soon as Shin broke free, Ishkar’s arms swung down towards him . Shin noticed, but before performing an evasive maneuver he swung 『Moonless』 around him .


    While swinging 『Moonless』, in a sweeping motion, Shin heard cracking noises from the katana’s tip . The sources of the sound were Ishkar’s scales, which had changed color to blend in with the seawater .


    It was 【Dead Fragment Drops】, one of Ishkar’s attacks which had imed the lives of many a yer in the past . The scales were very difficult to see, extremely sturdy and numerous, characteristics which made them extremely troublesome to deal with . They caused the yers to separate and attacked them individually .


    Shin knew how sturdy the scales were, so he activated the Katana-type Martial skill 【de Breaker】 to destroy the scales as they headed towards him . While Shin was busy dealing with the scales, Ishkar’s ws bore down upon him too .


    “Hhngh!”


    Against the sharply gleaming ws, Shin chose not to defend or dodge, but to attack .


    He turned his back to Ishkar and spun once in ce . His right leg kicked the water and the left leg, taking advantage of centrifugal force, countered the ws with a roundhouse kick .


    Barehanded-type Martial skill 【Rolling Wave Strike】 .


    The kick, unleashed with a burst of white foam, released a controble shockwave when it shed against Ishkar’s ws . Focusing the impact on one point allowed Shin to crush Ishkar’s ws, like a raging wave .


    “With this difference in size, it sure isn’t easy . ”


    Shin had crushed Ishkar’s ws, but also because of their difference in mass, he couldn’t maintain his position just by using the seawater as a foothold . He suffered no damage, but was pushed back and forced to withdraw .


    That instant, a familiar voice reached his ears .


    “Shi—n!”


    “Tch, who’s getting in the way now…in…the way? No, I…wait, that’s…?”


    Every time he thought, he felt something unfamiliar creeping in his mind . He shook his head to get rid of it, and then he noticed what Tiera was riding on .


    While not asrge as Ishkar, it was a silhouette of much greater size than Shin or his party . Eyes concealing intellect, powerful limbs, and its greatest characteristic: nine tails .


    “Yuzuha, is that you?”


    Thanks to the contract bound with Yuzuha, Shin quickly realized that Tiera was approaching him while riding on her .


    Yuzuha arrived next to Shin in the blink of an eye, stopped as if screeching to a halt, pushing Tiera out with her back, then turned towards Ishkar .


    “I shall hold him back . ”


    With Yuzuha’s words echoing behind her, Tiera headed towards Shin . Moving at a speed she couldn’t reach by herself, Tiera opened her arms and legs wide .


    She probably meant for Shin to catch her . Slightly confused, Shin opened his arms wide too .


    “—-eh?”


    Just before they could touch, Tiera used her arms to change direction .


    She only moved a few cemels: from a course that would have led her to embrace Shin, she changed to a head hugging course .


    Shin would have never expected Tiera to change course: the surprise, added to his initial confusion, prevented him from dodging .


    As a result, Shin’s head ended up firmly nted in Tiera’s chest .


    “Begone, evil! Be purified!”


    “!?”


    Tiera shouted, still holding Shin’s head tightly .


    Divine-type Skill 【Purification Verse】 .


    When Tiera was still a Priestess of the World Tree, she used this skill to purify the surroundings before invoking the spirits . The skill removed and prevented status ailments from the user in a set radius around them; however, she was supposed to have lost it along with her Priestess job .


    The aura that enveloped Shin’s body dissipated . After making sure that it was really gone, Tiera let go of Shin .


    “Ah… . had I turned nasty or something?”


    The aura disappeared thanks to 【Purification Verse】, and Shin felt that the unusual presence inside his mind was gone .


    While fighting he would instantly forget about it: now that it was gone, Shin clearly grasped that unusual feeling and was shocked .


    “You had an aura around you that master and the others said they had never seen before . Your way of fighting was violent too . Don’t…make us worry like that . ”


    Tiera talked with a very serious expression . Shin thanked her honestly .


    “Where are Schnee and the others?”


    “Some sort of invisible wall won’t let them through . I don’t know the reason, but only me, Yuzuha, and Kagerou could pass through it . ”


    Shin looked towards Schnee and the others and found them shooting skills towards an apparently empty space . As Tiera had said, their skills stopped and disappeared abruptly after traveling to a certain point .


    “I don’t get what’s going on either, but we better wrap this up quickly . You stand back, Tiera . Yuzuha and I are going to end this now!”


    Tiera nodded and withdrew, while Shin again faced Ishkar . His eyes now showed a light that was not present before .


    —–Boundary Guardian  level 1000


    The name disyed by 【Analyze】 was not Ishkar’s .


    Shin recalled Ishkar’s mention of a “power that devours even miasma” . Ishkar’s consciousness was probably not present anymore in the monster .


    The boundary guardian-turned Ishkar unleashed its lethal breath, which Yuzuha neutralized with five types of magic . Shin advanced under her massive body .


    The two contenders exchanged attacks that would definitely inflict great damage if not blocked, so Shin was able to prepare to strike without Ishkar noticing .


    Shin was now about 10 mels under the guardian’s chin . For the monster, it was aplete blind spot .


    “(I’m going to attack too . Please keep it busy a little more)”


    “(Understood . )”


    Shin was reminded of how adult-like Yuzuha’s original voice sounded, while he held


    『Moonless』 with the opposite hand .


    He aimed at the guardian’s jaws and activated a skill .


    Katana and Darknessbination skill 【Hollow Shackles】 .


    Shin threw『Moonless』, wrapped in a dark aura, with all his might . The katana turned into a pitch ck sh and stabbed the monster’s jaw, without being hindered by its scales, then released its effects .


    “■■■■!! ■■■■!!!”


    Forced to face upwards because of 『Moonless』’s stabbing impact, the Guardian’s head was wrapped tightly by ck bands extending from the katana .


    The ck bands covered most of the monster’s head, then gained even more momentum and proceeded to wrap around the Guardian’s entire body .


    The monster tried resisting, but Shin’s boosted stats had also reinforced the bands’ binding power .


    Because of this, the Guardian couldn’t tear through the bands fast enough: new ones would be generated and tie it down again before it could gain any freedom . It was impossible topletely seal the monster’s movements, but now the Guardian couldn’t move as freely as before .


    “Yuzuha! Maximum firepower!”


    “Leave it to me!”


    In response to Shin’s words, a globe of golden light formed in Yuzuha’s mouth .


    Shin cast a magic spell alongside her .


    Globes containing magic power of each of the seven elements appeared around Shin . Red, blue, brown, green, yellow, white, ck: all seven spheres were around one mel wide .


    Shin then extended his right arm forward and all globes gathered in one spot . The seven globes fused together and started glowing in the same golden color as Yuzuha’s .


    Hepta-Elemental Composite Skill 【Elemental Order】 .


    The two-mels golden sphere, capable of striking the weak point of all elements, merged with Yuzuha’s breath, a unique skill named 【Supreme Catastrophe】, and pierced the Guardian’s head .


    “Off with you!”


    Shin and Yuzuha kept releasing their skills, while changing their directions . The golden spheres of light moved from the monster’s head to its torso, tearing through its body .


    Blue vapor was released from the monster’s severed torso, but that too was consumed by the golden light and disappeared .


    “We destroyed all we could see, but…”


    The opponent was capable of regenerating its head . For added safety, Shin and Yuzuha cautiously studied their surroundings .


    “Shin!”


    As they were doing so, Schnee and the others approached them . The barrier that had been blocking them had disappeared apparently .


    “Sorry for making you worry . ”


    “No . . if you are all right, then it’s enough . ”


    Relieved, Schnee put a hand on her chest .


    “So, what are we going to do now? Differently from outside, there’s no miasma in here . ”


    “Ishkar’s transformation was bizarre as well . It wasn’t supposed to have regenerative abilities like that . ”


    Filma and Shibaid voiced their doubts, while looking at the space where the recently disappeared Ishkar used to be .


    “It turns out there was something else inside it . The name disyed was Boundary Guardian . ”


    “Never heard that name before . ”


    All members present nodded to Schnee’s words . Yuzuha — still in her adult form — also said that she didn’t know about it .


    “What could have happened here…? It looks like I changed too…it could be tied to the reason why I was brought here . ”


    Ishkar had mentioned a “return against your will” . It could mean that, had Shin not resisted, he could have returned to his original world .


    It was just a possibility, so he had no intention of trying . More than that, Shin was intrigued by the word “Boundary” .


    The real world and the game world . Maybe it was guarding the boundary between the two?


    That would generate another series of questions, but being a game’s world, it was not too strange for such a creature to exist .


    Supposing that the yers dead in the other world lived here . That normally, the boundary could not be crossed without dying, but Shin had crossed over without dying…


    (Could it have had a reason for wanting to get rid of me?)


    To go all the way of taking over Ishkar’s body to attack me…could maybe mean that I can be the cause of some disaster? Or maybe it was just trying to remove an extraneous object?


    “… . I just don’t understand . ”


    Shin sighed while looking at the space Ishkar used to upy . He pondered for a while, but in the end it was all his imagination, his delusions . He had no idea about how things could actually be .


    “Shin, look . ”


    “… . the stopgap keeping miasma in check is gone, so it’s flowing out?”


    Shin looked in the direction Tiera pointed at and saw a ck mist appearing in the previously empty space . In its center there was a sort of rectangr object .


    Because of the mist only its silhouette was visible, but it was just as Shin remembered .


    After defeating Ishkar, the certificate proving victory over a level 1000 monster, materials, gear, and other item cards appeared . Apparently, most of the miasma was housed by these items .


    “Tiera, please . ”


    “Yes, leave it to me . ”


    Shin and the others kept the miasma from spreading, while Tiera purified the main mass . Maybe because the Guardian was gone, the miasma vanished with an ease that surprised even Tiera .


    “Eh? This is…”


    “What’s wrong?”


    Tiera looked at the stack of purified item cards . The illustration on the top card made her react, surprised .


    Shin became curious and took a peek in Tiera’s hands . The top card of the stack had the picture of a crystal glowing in rainbow colors .


    The item name was 『Divine Beast Crystal』 .


    “Seriously…? This is the item that lets you summon a divine beast!”


    “Eh…?”


    Monsters called divine beasts, like Element Tails and Gruefagos, could not be tamed normally . But with the item that Tiera was now holding, the Divine Beast Crystal, they could be called temporarily as an ally unit .


    Divine Beast Crystals appeared as rare drops after defeating divine beasts and allowed the summon of a monster just like the defeated one as an ally .


    It was a one-time use item, but if used against boss monsters as a trump card, it was powerful enough to change the flow of battle .


    Depending on the monsters they could summon, Divine Beast Crystals could have the same value as Ancient-grade equipment .


    “…hey, if I use this, won’t Ishkar be able to resurrect?”


    “Summoned monsters usually disappear after a set time…I wonder, though . In this battle against Ishkar some unknown force interfered after all . ”


    No one knew what could happen to this area of the sea, were Ishkar to disappear . The sea dragon’s resurrection would be the most favorable oue .


    “Do try . If I can use my power on it, I shall lend you my aid . ”


    “Are you sure? Your power hasn’t returnedpletely, has it?”


    “That is of no concern . The absence of this area’s master is a much more pressing matter . ”


    Yuzuha, who did not know how long she could keep her current form, urged Shin to use the item, so he agreed to .


    “… .e . ”


    Tiera held the Divine Beast Crystal high and pronounced the keyword . The crystal then shattered, emanating a rainbow light .


    The light gradually took shape: after five seconds, it had formed Ishkar’s silhouette . When the light eventually disappeared, before the group was Ishkar, looking exactly the same as when they had entered the room .


    “Hmm, I see . ”


    The summoned Ishkar did nothing, simply floating in ce . It was waiting for orders from its summoner .


    “Do you think you can do anything?”


    “Be patient for a while . ”


    Yuzuha then extended one of her nine tails towards Ishkar . She ced the tip of the tail on the dragon’s jaw, then stopped .


    A few secondster, Ishkar and Yuzuha’s bodies started glowing . They continued to do so for about 10 seconds, then the light dimmed and disappeared .


    “This shall be enough . ”


    Yuzuha then changed back to small fox mode . She still had nine tails though .


    “I’m slightly tired . Hold me . ”


    “Hm? Ah, sure . Thanks . ”


    Yuzuha floated lightly in the water and cuddled up in Shin’s bosom . Her small fox face looked somewhat satisfied .


    “It appears you have won”


    Just as the group rxed a little, Ishkar’s voice reached their ears .


    “Do you remember?”


    “That maiden used my soul’s crystal . Would you understand if I said ‘back-up’?”


    “Well, I would have never expected a divine beast to say ‘backup’…”


    “It’s just a fragment embedded in my memories . Now that the Ley Lines are free of contamination, my servants above should quiet down too . You have my gratitude . ”


    Ishkar had already taken care of the Three Sea Beasts apparently . The merpeople and fishpeople were not in immediate danger anymore at least .


    “I wish to express my gratitude, but that fox has already taken away part of my power . I cannot do much . ”


    “Hey, Yuzuha! What tricks are you pulling, taking advantage of a situation like this?”


    “I made it possible for him to stay here and connected him to the Ley Lines . As you know, the Ley Line was already shut where I used to be . Let me have that much . ”


    The power that Yuzuha took from Ishkar would return over time, so Ishkar did not want to seriously find fault with her .


    “Well, we didn’te here looking for something anyway, and it looks like Yuzuha got closer to returning to her original form, so that’d be enough for me . ”


    Shin looked at Schnee and the others, but they all shared the same sentiment .


    “Just one thing, then . Do you know anything about whatever possessed you?”


    “Hmm…I remember that you were its target . That its objective was to remove you from this world . Only these two things . ”


    “For what reason?”


    “I could not say . But it was something that even miasma cannot affect . It wiped the miasma I was holding in check as if it was mere smoke . ”


    An existence superior to miasma . Shin had no idea what it could be, nor did Schnee and the others, who all shook their heads .


    “It was an utterly unknown existence . Do be on your guard . ”


    “Yes, I got it . ”


    Shin finished talking with Ishkar . As Yuzuha had turned back too, they left the royal chambers .


    Events other than their initial goal of helping the merpeople had happened, but Shin thought that, all in all, the result was positive . He could not be sure, but he felt that the power within him was not something negative either .


    The party proceeded through the now miasma-free corridors .


    Ishkar had resurrected, the merpeople and fishpeople avoided destruction .


    Tiera and Yuzuha powered up, the party’s overall power increased .


    Not all results were to rejoice about, though . Something had definitely been proved in the battle against the Guardian .


    Those stopped by the barrier, and those allowed in by the barrier . Their hearts were clearly divided .


    Schnee’s heart, especially, was riddled with thousands of small ripples .


    With each member holding different thoughts in their hearts, the party left the dungeon .


    At the same time as Shin concluded his battle against Ishkar, one man arrived in Barbatos .


    At the moment no one knew, naturally, that he would bring a great trial to Schnee…