Kitakyushu Dungeon—-
〈Ms. Reiss...〉
〈Come to us, Ms. Reiss...〉
〈The world requires your rebirth...〉
"Friend Rei? Hey, Friend Rei, wake up!"
Rei's eyes opened, and she noticed Rika and Sōshin standing over her, their faces full of concern.
"Oh, hi, guys!" she greeted. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough that you had us worried sick!" Rika replied. "What were you whispering?"
Rei covered her mouth. "Me? Nothing. Nothing at all, hehe! Erm, where are we?"
She looked around, noticing they were inside a castle-like hallway, filled with knight statues in armor lining the walls.
"No clue," Rika stated. "This place is weird. I think those statues are looking at us!"
Sōshin waved to one of the statues. "What if they're friendly, Big Sis Rika?"
"Sōshin, the weird dungeon objects are never friendly. Besides, we're in this hellhole with no Zaria, no Nonoka, and no Master to keep us safe."
Rika helped Rei up. "We're gonna need you, Rei."
"Okay, no problem—-!"
A statue turned its head to look at Rei, and her body immediately froze. Images flicked in her mind—-children screaming, flames destroying buildings, dark figures prowling the streets.
"Ahh!"
Rei fell, but Rika caught her. "Goodness! Rei, are you okay?"
Rei rubbed her head. "I—I'm fine. My head's just a little fuzzy, that's all. We can keep moving!"
Rika and Sōshin gave her a pair of worried looks, but they relented and walked side by side as the trio advanced through the hallway. The heads of the statues turned to glare as the kids walked past.
The group turned the corner, which led into another hallway, this one darker and more ominous than the one before. A red-like substance was splattered across the ground.
"Is that...?" Rika gasped. "Blood?"
She covered Sōshin's eyes as they kept walking, with Rei being cautious to step over the blood. The hallway continued further until the trio reached a sealed door, with a knight standing guard.
〈Halt.〉
The three jumped back.
"Whoa!" Sōshin blurted out. "Knight is alive!"
The knight stepped forward, causing the kids to back away. Its head peered down, causing its dark gray eyes to bore straight into the kids' faces.
〈Why do you disturb this place...?〉
They shared a look before Rika cleared her throat, putting on her best smile. "We...uh, we wanna get stronger, Mr. Knight! Can you let us pass?"
〈Strength...〉
It straightened up.
〈...is a privilege that not many can enjoy. What is the reason you seek to gain strength?〉
"To survive?"
The knight remained silent for a long while before turning towards the door.
〈Interesting.〉
It placed its hand on the door, and with a bunch of creaks and groans, the door opened. Behind the door was a void-like sky, studded with stars. Below was a platform, with four quartz-white bridges connected to it and a massive sigil hovering in the center.
Each bridge had a chamber connected to it, with sealed doors blocking off entry. The knight motioned them onto the closest bridge.
〈Follow me.〉
The kids followed, with Rika nervously looking over the edge of the bridge every chance that she got.
The knight stopped once they reached the center, putting a hand onto the floating Sigil before turning its attention back to the group.
〈Strength is not just offensive. It is defensive.〉
Monsters began forming atop the bridges, marching towards the center platform as the knight moved away.
〈Protect this sigil with your lives, and we shall see if you are worthy of true strength.〉
A second later, it crumbled into pieces.
"Wait!" Rika called out. "Aren't you gonna help us? Give us some tips? Come on! We're at a disadvantage here!"
〈Rule: Defend the Sigil.〉
〈Sigil HP: 100%〉
"...Great."
〈Wave 1: Goblin Swordsmen, Skeletal Raiders, Pirate Orcs. Level: 55,000〉
Sure enough, from the first bridge marched an army of goblins wielding sharp metal swords, malice in their eyes. Sōshin revved himself up, jumping back and forth.
"Let's do this, friends!"
Before Rei and Rika could stop him, Sōshin rushed forward, speeding through the first wave of goblins and knocking them off the edge. A few tried to swing at him, but Sōshin simply avoided them and pushed them off.
"Sōshin!" Rika shouted. "Be careful!"
From the bridge to their left, orcs began marching. One jumped into the air, landing right beside the sigil and causing it to shake.
〈Sigil HP: 100% → 92%〉
Rei blasted him off with a moon beam, before rapidly firing more at the remaining orcs, keeping them from advancing. One orc spun in a circle before throwing his club at the sigil.
Rika wasted no time forming two sigils in her hands and merging them.
〈Sigil Created: Ultimate Defense.〉
She rushed over to block off the orcs, and when they tried to attack with their weapons, Rika reflected the damage at them, causing them to tumble atop each other and fall off.
Another one trapped her in his grasp, but Rei blasted him in the face, dropping him as well. Rika nearly fell off the edge, but Rei grabbed her arm.
"Don't fall, Rika! I've got you!"
Rika frantically tried to regain her balance and clung to Rei with all her might. "Please don't drop me! Ahh! Hold me!"
The two girls fell back onto the platform as Sōshin quickly knocked the rest of the goblins off before returning to them. Before they even had a minute to recover, skeletons riding on horses began emerging from the final bridge.
"Sheesh," Rika groaned, dizzy. "Can't they give us a break?"
Rei used her power to form a shield around both her friends and the sigil. The skeletons fired arrows at it, partially cracking it. Sōshin threw out his hand.
"I've got this, Friends! Jugen-Sōunsha: Jiritsu Sharyō Henkei!"
The skeleton in the front's body began moving awkwardly, before turning its horse around and charging into the other skeletons.
Once every last one of them had fallen, Sōshin waved his arm, and the one he was controlling vaulted off as well.
〈Wave Complete.〉
Rika wiped the sweat off her brow. "Nice job, guys! We didn't die!"
Rei dropped her shield. "I won't let you guys die! Pinky promise!"
"I wonder who the next opponents will be. Hopefully, they go easy on us this time, right?"
〈Wave 2: ???〉
A robed figure holding a holographic cube in hand slowly walked across the bridge, tossing the cube up and down.
"H—Han?" Rika questioned. "What are you—-?"
She stopped. "Wait, that's not Han..."
The figure paused. "What a shame. I'd heard you entered this dungeon alongside our former superior. But to see you in such a sorry state is very...disheartening, old friend."
The three kids looked at each other, and Rika pointed around. "Umm, who is he talking to?"
He cracked his neck. "And you've brought my daughter here, nonetheless. How amusing..."
In the blink of an eye, he grabbed Rei by the neck.
"...Zenovia."
Before anyone could react, he slammed Rei into the ground hard, cracking the Sigil significantly.
〈Sigil HP: 92% → 62%〉
"Rei!" Rika exclaimed.
She tried to grab the man's arm, but he backhanded her hard enough to send her flying into another bridge. Sōshin delivered a barrage of high-speed punches to the guy's arm, but he batted the boy away with ease.
"Stop!" Rei begged. "Don't hurt them! Who are you?"
"Come on, do you not remember me?" the man taunted. "Even after all these years, you cannot be so dull, can you?"
〈Wave 2: Leader of the Munjinsha Elite—-Hakyoku no Kijin. Level: ???〉
Rika gasped. "L—leader? Here? Why here? We're only on Floor 1!"
Rei blasted Kijin off her, but he barely even flinched. "The power is still there...but weakened. Ahahaha. This should be fun."
Beneath his hood emerged two glowing red eyes.
"Jugen-Tōshi: Senjin no Kama."
A large double-bladed scythe formed in his hand, and without warning, he threw it at Rei, who threw up her shield.
The scythe immediately shattered it, slicing a gash into Rei's side. Rei immediately grabbed her wound, stumbling.
"Ow..."
"Hey! Stop!" Rika demanded. "He's not even going for the Sigil!"
Kijin immediately appeared next to Rika, raising his blade. "Quiet, girl."
Before he could swing it, Sōshin jumped in front of the blade, and Kijin knocked him clean off the platform with one strong blow, causing him to fall into the void.
"Sōshin!" Rika screamed.
"NO!" Rei blurted out.
Kijin flexed his hand. "Pathetic child. Saving a girl so worthless. Ahh, well. That's humanity for you. I would have let him live, too."
Rika reached out into the void, crying, and as Kijin prepared to strike her, a gigantic moon blast struck him, catching him off guard.
"R—Rei?" Rika questioned.
Kijin swiped the blast aside, noticing a shift. Rei was standing there, suddenly taller, with longer hair, and glowing white eyes.
"Ah. Now that's the Zenovia Reiss I remember."
"Rei" began breathing heavily, raising her arm. "You...you're going to pay."
Kijin laughed a dark, menacing laugh that chilled Rika to her core.
"Am I now? Let us do the tango, no?"
A large moon-like object formed above his head, and Rei swung her arm down hard. Kijin sliced it in half with one strike before launching his scythe at Rei.
"Die!"
She kicked it hard enough that the entire blade turned into a flash of white light, and using her moon beams, she vaulted forward, pummeling Kijin repeatedly.
To her shock, he stood there, easily withstanding the blows. In the blink of an eye, he held her up by her neck.
"I save your feeble life, and THIS, is how you repay me? I was hopeful your time in Okinawa would open your eyes. I see I was mistaken."
He tossed Rei into the Sigil.
〈Sigil HP: 62% → 29%〉
"No...no..." Rika murmured. "Everything...we're gonna lose...everything...!"
With an inhuman scream, Rei unleashed a powerful blast at Kijin that pushed him back. Moon crests formed in the air, which Kijin deflected with another scythe.
Rei's body began to glow bright white, and Kijin stared at her, unfazed. A cannon-like object formed above her head, firing large moons at the man, who cut them down with swift strikes.
Rei formed a large crest in her hand and began slashing at Kijin with it like a knife. The man deflected and countered with one arm, while Rei formed a second moon crest and tried to stab him in the chin with it, but he disarmed her with his scythe.
Rei headbutted him again and again, but Kijin didn't move one inch. She kicked him in the side, but he caught her leg in his grasp before flipping her over.
"Feeble," he stated. "You've got a long way to go. But do not worry, Zenovia. You and my child will be Mujinsha soon, or be cut down."
With a sharp slash, Rei got sent back, collapsing to the floor and struggling to get back on her feet.
"The Destroyer must be destroyed. Take note of this, Zenovia..."
He launched his scythe into the sigil.
"Failure is only but a hindrance."
The scythe shattered the sigil, and with a bright flash, the sigil exploded.
〈Rule Broken. Enforcing Penalty.〉
The entire room began to shake and destabilize, and Kijin pulled the holographic cube out once more, which floated before him.
"The boy's power serves well. We shall meet again, 'little sister.'"
And in a flash of holographic light, Kijin disappeared, leaving Rika and Rei to fall off the bridge and into the void below.
???—-
Sōshin's motionless body was lying on the ground next to a river filled with black water. As the water splashed against his face, footsteps could be heard approaching the boy.
"Hmm," Neraziria remarked. "What do we have here?"
Sōshin coughed up blood, and with a snap of her fingers, a glowing purple forcefield trapped Sōshin within.
"Lord Kijin and Master will be very happy to see you alive, Sōshin Shikōki."
And she, with Sōshin in tow, descended into the rampaging river.
——