148: The Descent, Part Eleven

The Descent, Part Eleven

Neve looked back and forth between the orc beyond the crevice and the girl standing next to her. 

"Um... Are you sure that's him?" She whispered, trying not to alert the orcs around them, though they were far enough away to where Neve wasn't too worried. 

She was concerned enough, though, after what she'd just heard. 

The little girl did not respond. Staring through the literal hole in the wall, she just stayed still, frozen, as Neve's mind quickly began running in circles. 

[Okay, okay, so. That's her dad. That's... Really, really unfortunate. So,] she thought, closing her eyes and pressing her back against the rock wall, [what exactly does the System want me to do here? Am I supposed to fight this guy right in front of his daughter? Was letting her come with me a bad decision? I just... Fuck.] 

To make matters worse, while the distance from the orcs in this river meant that they couldn't really hear Neve, seeing her was an entirely different matter. 

And she was fairly certain this invisibility was about to run out. 

Whatever choices she could consider, however, were narrowed as Lamrosh ran in, through the crevice. 

Now, she had two options. 

Follow her or walk away. 

Neve breathed in, looking through the crevice and seeing Lamrosh walk up to her father. The man did not react to her presence. 

[... I guess this is the moment of truth, actually. Is this what the System meant by "rescuing" her?] 

If that was the case, then her next move was obvious. 

[Yeah, alright. I'll do it.] 

Thus, just as her invisibility went away, Neve walked through the crevice as well. 

A pair of blue torches cast an eerie haze over the pair of orcs up ahead. 

There was nothing else in this room. It was a boss arena if Neve had ever seen one. 

She walked up a couple of steps but remained close to the crevice that had taken her here. If a fight was to break out suddenly, she didn't want to be so close that she got caught by surprise. At the same time, if Lamrosh ended up being in danger, she wanted to be close enough to be able to do something about it. 

However, as the girl's father looked up and Neve saw that his eyes weren't blank like any of the other orcs she'd seen up until now, she realized that something else could happen right now. 

"... Father?" Lamrosh called out hesitantly. 

"Hm..." A guttural, curious hum came from the taller orc. The man looked down at Lamrosh with searching eyes, like he was wondering if she was some sort of illusion. "Lamrosh..." He finally muttered, after a while. "So, they finally threw you down here too? The bastards..." 

[Pretty well-spoken for a boss battle,] Neve thought, raising a brow. [Is this a Lia scenario? He has a personality of his own?] 

"Well, seeing that you've survived... I am glad that they did. Now, I will truly hold no regrets when I wage war." 

The little girl didn't seem to comprehend what he was talking about. Instead, she just started crying, saying: 

"I-I missed you!" 

Rather coldly, her father said nothing in response, simply pulling her in for a light hug. 

As he did that, however, finally, his eyes fell on Neve. 

"... Who is this?" 

Neve shifted, gripping her shortsword a little more tightly. 

The little girl ceased her sobbing long enough to look back at the healer and then go: 

"She's Neve! S-She's good, she helped me find you!" 

"Hm...?" 

[Where exactly is this going?] Neve wondered. [I'm getting antsy.] 

His eyes scanned her, roaming up and down her body while Neve waited. Eventually, Neve's question received its answer. 

"Oh," the man finally said, "I remember you." 

[... What?] 

He gently pushed Lamrosh to the side. 

Walking forward, his robes dragging along the dirt floor, he walked up far enough to where he towered over Neve, standing at least two heads taller. His beady, brown eyes carried the edge of someone who'd stared death in the face many times. His arms, noticeably smaller than the warriors Neve had seen on her way here, were no less scarred. Additionally, most of the man's body was covered in old bite marks, parts where his flesh had been torn by fangs. 

Neve took a couple of steps back. A dark aura was suddenly coming out of the man. 

  "Yes," he continued. "Long have I been planning my vengeance. Building one piece of the plan after another. But, it was your kind that struck me down before I was able to bring it to fruition. Time and time again. I remember." 

[My kind? What the hell is he-] 

Once Neve understood what he was getting at, her eyes widened. 

[Wait... He doesn't mean...] 

Shaking his head, he added:

"I have received so many opportunities. And, every time, it is someone like you who ends it all for me." He breathed a long sigh that Neve could feel carried years of experience in it, and his posture straightened up a little, as though he'd just shed several pounds with that one breath. "But, now that my daughter is here, I can feel it. This time, I will succeed." 

From his robes, he pulled out a staff. One that was half the length of the one Neve usually carried. 

"And, my plans will begin this time with your end, *human*." 

Neve raised up her sword defensively. 

It did not matter. 

"W-Wait!" Lamrosh called out. 

But, before she could say anything else, a sword made of magic was projected from the end of his staff. Firing out like a crossbow bolt, it was launched straight into Neve's stomach. 

It was strange, though. She'd tried to react, tried to move out of the way, and it was like her body just didn't respond. 

It wasn't a case where she simply did not have the speed to do so. No. Her body legitimately just did not react to the signals her mind sent it. 

As she lay there, on the ground, the magical sword disappeared and all that was left was a massive hole in Neve's stomach. 

Naturally, she tried to reach into her Inventory and get herself a Minor Healing Potion. The man looked like he was about to stop her but Lamrosh stood between them before he could do so. 

"W-WAIT!" She yelled out. "She helped me!" 

"... Be that as it may," the man replied, "she is an outsider. A dangerous one at that. I've died seven times to her kind already. I will not do so again." 

He raised his staff just as Neve lifted the potion to her lips. As the sweet liquid slid down her throat, Lamrosh once again interrupted him. 

"NO!" She yelled out. "She helped! She's... She's not bad." 

Neve was healed but remained on the floor. 

She could not move. She could not stand up and defend herself like she wanted to do.  1

[What the hell is going on!?] 

"Neve," Tamira suddenly whispered in her ear. "I would advise that you pay attention to what's happening in front of you. Just saying." 

Hearing that, Neve calmed herself down and brought her eyes back to the exchange happening just a few feet away. 

Lamrosh's father looked down at her, and then back at Neve. He was conflicted, clearly. But, that did not last too long. 

"I would have expected you to grow up quickly after everything that's happened," he stated. "It seems you are still a child, though. Very well. I will at least not kill her before your eyes. Guards," he spoke to some orcs who Neve was fairly certain had not been standing there just a moment ago, but suddenly appeared by her side. "Take her away. I will execute her later." 

With that one command, Neve was dragged out of the boss arena. 

Lamrosh watched her go with a guilty, sad expression. 

Neve was then dragged down the latter half of the river she'd seen before, the part that she'd been curious about. She found out where exactly it led as she was taken into a narrow area, where a water-covered natural staircase formed leading Neve down to a makeshift dungeon where a single wooden door was meant to keep Neve from escaping. 

Here, the orcs threw her in unceremoniously and left. Though, oddly, Neve only heard them take a few steps before they went silent. 

Neve rolled on her back and stared into the pitch-black darkness. 

[So...] She thought, as the orc's words went through her mind again. This was the part of his statements that she couldn't stop thinking about. [He remembers the previous 9 teams' clears? He said he'd died at least 7 times...] 

Neve sighed. 

[What is that supposed to mean? What am I supposed to do with this information?] 

"That's up to you to decide," Tamira whispered. "I hope you enjoyed participating in that cutscene! That said, the next time you walk into that room, you *will* be fighting him. So, please, prepare yourself." 

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