Encore 7 — Right on Time (III)

In the left tunnel, Yuichi and Isla were walking with a flame floating beside them while Sylus, Ms Kin, trailed from behind.

"Yuichi, why did you do that?"

Sylus asked.

"What, he was trying to play leader when he's not even the strongest. He should've just listened. That sealgate disabled idiot."

"Yuichi!"

Isla shouted at him.

"Even as the teammate who believes in you and as a girlfriend, I'm trying to support you. Don't go saying things that are offensive behind your friend's back."

Even Kazuya could not deny that what he was saying was wrong.

"Right, sorry."

He looked at the ground.

As they walked deeper, the concentration of footprints increased.

"What was Kazuya on about though? These footprints were not forged. I can tell."

Isla commented about the prints.

"Sometimes, instincts have a better hold on someone compared to logic. You understand, don't you, Yuichi?"

Sylus commented, looking at Yuichi with her yellow eye.

"Shut up."

He said, scratching his head.

They finally saw an exit to the tunnel. Isla called out to the other two.

"We seem to be here in the boss room. Kazuya should be running back right about now."

Isla and Sylus got ready, meanwhile, Yuichi was stuck in his thoughts.

(Shit... Even if I was angry, the things I've done and said are unforgivable. I should've just forced him to come with us. Talking about his disability was rude too. Next time I see him, I'll apologise.)

Yuichi gave into his guilty conscience.

[Welcome to my dungeon.]

A voice echoed within that space.

The boss room was a room of rock with more azure crystals than usual. There was not a single ice mirror in the boss room.

In the centre of the boss room was a throne, occupying the seat was skeletal, rather elegantly dressed. It had a crown on, along with silk robes and a staff in hand. He had a slightly darker blue glint in his eyes compared to the others.

Without a doubt, this was a Lich.

"Get ready!"

Sylus said.

Isla was thinking of spells to cast while Kazuya drew his katana.

[It's pointless.]

As the Lich opened its mouth, a voice came out. The three were shocked.

"You can talk?!"

Isla exclaimed.

[Of course, I can. I have been in this place for years. Years ago, a mysterious mage taught me how to.]

The Lich said.

It did not seem to be hostile.

Yuichi gulped his saliva.

(K-Kazuya did say that some Lichs do have human intelligence. But, there's no way. We found the boss. It's fine.)

The boy resolved himself, cladding his katana in fire.

"Today is your end, Lich."

The skeleton put a hand forward.

[Please, please, there's no need to fight. Let's talk.]

"Shut up, if we don't kill you, then your dungeon will be brought into the real world and the monsters in it will leak into the real world and kill people."

The Lich shook his hands, backing away slightly.

[Hold on! The only reason I summoned that infantry is because she told me to! Honestly, I'd rather not fight you, humans!]

"Yuichi, hold on!"

Sylus interrupted.

Isla and I both looked at her, surprised.

"She?"

She repeated.

[I'm not the boss of this dungeon! I used to be! It was a while ago when a girl came in here! She had a bad vibe about her. If I messed with her, I would die! Again!]

The Lich honestly seemed scared.

As people who have hated Imperi, no matter what type, Isla and Yuichi were confused. They did not know what to make of the situation.

Isla cannot forget the scene where Alpha killed her sister in front of her. Yuichi cannot forget the scene of rubble crushing his parents and younger brother due to Alpha's mana.

Due to their pasts, they harbour intense abhorrence for Imperi, yet, here, they could not attack the Lich.

It felt human. They did not want to kill it.

"Describe her appearance."

Sylus was interested.

[She wore a blindfold and had pink hair. That's all I can remember. Ah, she also had black snakes around her.]

(That sounds exactly like how Ouroboros looks! If the Black Array Incident was four days ago, then the Imperi have been making moves behind our backs!)

She panicked in her mind.

[That girl told me that I give up leadership to another monster. Or I die.]

"Monster? Leadership? Tell me."

She needed this information if she wanted to know what Ouroboros and the Imperi were planning.

[The monster is on the other tunnel. It's called a Skeletal King. It's much more powerful than a Lich like me.]

"A S-Skeletal King?!"

Isla and Yuichi exclaimed.

"Then, Kazuya is--"

[About the leadership thing, it's about the leadership of the--]

Suddenly, the glint in the Lich's eye disappeared and he stopped talking. He lowered his head.

"Oi, Lich, Lich, Lich!"

Sylus shouted at it, wanting more answers.

Suddenly, a third eye grew on its forward. It opened. The eye was black and the iris colour was red.

The Lich looked at the group once more.

[You've spoken enough, you dimwitted Lich.]

The voice changed.

To Sylus, it sounded familiar. She would not forget the voice of the girl who caused the Black Array Incident.

"Ouroboros! You are behind this!"

[Ouroboros? Me? Ah, you're probably allied with the Magi. That's a cool name I attained for myself.]

Isla and Yuichi stared at Sylus.

"What is this? It just keeps on getting more and more confusing."

The white-haired girl muttered to the boy next to her. Yuichi agreed.

"Tell me, what are you after?"

[If you know me, then you must've seen my video. I want Alpha back. You, humans stole him from me.]

"Then you're asserting that that bastard is alive?!"

Isla clenched her fist and gritted her teeth.

Though she knew that the girl was speaking through the Lich, she still wanted to give that skeleton a piece of her mind. Unfortunately, Sakura Hysteria is the weakest in the cold.

[Of course. No Imperi would die being sealed. He's somewhere in Japan.]

"You liar!"

Yuichi burst out and ran toward the skeleton.

He slashed at the Lich.

Black snakes pierced out from behind the throne and caught Yuichi in the air. The flames on his sword dissipated.

[Now, now, don't miss behave, otherwise, you'll suffer the same fate the Lich did.]

"Suffered?"

Yuichi repeated, struggling to escape the clutches of the black snakes.

[Did you know that the Imperi who can talk naturally are high-ranking ones like Dragons? Lichs aren't able to speak, not under any natural circumstance.]

The girl speaking from the skeleton chuckled slightly. It then turned into a maniacal laugh.

Maybe due to her conditioned mind, Sylus was the first one to catch on.

"Any natural circumstance? You can't mean that the Lich was--"

[Exactly! The Lich was originally a human! All of his memories were placed by me!]

"The Lich was..."

"A human?"