Chapter 3

"…iikigaya… -ke up… Hikigaya, wake up!"

I shot up from my position on the hard, cold floor with a gasp. I looked to my left and right and saw Furutani and Sakura looking down at me with relieved expressions.

"How are you feeling, kid? Sakura-san here healed you as best as she could." Furutani said as he offered me a hand to help me to my feet. I glanced over at Sakura and saw her sigh in relief. Her face was covered in sweat, and her exhaustion was evident.

"W-where are we?" I asked as I looked around the room. The rest of the raid team was standing a few feet away from us. Yamada was sitting on the floor while rubbing her head. Mori was looking around with a confused and aggravated expression. Tanagawa was walking around, trying to figure out where we all were and if there was an exit. Everyone else was looking around in wonder while they nursed their bodies. Sakura must have healed everybody. How far did we fall?

I craned my neck as I tried to see how much of a drop it was. But it was impossible to tell the distance, considering the height of the ceiling, which was inconceivable to see due to the darkness. I turned away from the ceiling and inspected where we were.

The room was massive, unbelievably so. The floor we were standing on was a large, thirty-yard circular platform. Outside the platform was a vast, ten-yard trench that was at least twenty feet deep. The walls were curved as if we were inside an enormous well. Columns were built next to each other, and giant dragon statues of marble were sitting in between the spaces all along the wall. Each dragon was different from the last. Wyvern, Feydragon, Dragonette, Basilisk, Drake, Amphiptere, Wyrm, Coatyl, and even a Hydra. What they all had in common was that their mouths were all open in a roar-like manner.

However, what drew my and everyone else's attention was the gigantic western dragon with massive wings standing proudly on a pedestal made of dark marble. It sat across the trench with its long neck that led up to a large head with several horns sticking out in several directions. Overall, the dragon was the size of a Kaiju. It made for an incredibly frightening sight.

"W-what is all this?" A woman who I was unfamiliar with said. She had short brown hair and was dressed in a brown cloak. A mage, most likely. She looked around the room and at all the dragon statues.

"We need to get out of here!" A man with black hair pulled into a ponytail yelled. If I remember correctly, his last name was Eguchi. A tank. He ran around the platform while scanning the walls in hopes of finding a door or a ladder. "Does anyone see a way out?!"

"That pile of essence stones… it was some sort of bait. But who could have set up a trap like this?" I said to myself. Furutani heard my mumbling and looked back at the now-forgotten treasures spread about on the platform.

"You may be right. We fell for it hook, line, and sinker." Furutani said with a grave tone. Sakura looked at him and towards me with a frightened look.

"W-what do we do? There has to be something?" Sakura asked as I looked over to the enormous dragon statue. As I looked at its large, horned head. I suddenly felt as if it was staring back at me. A cold chill ran down my back as I hastily turned away.

Did that thing just look at me? No, get a hold of yourself. That's not possible! But if it was-

Without warning, a thick torrent of bright, hot magma began to stream from out of each of the dragon's open mouths. The streams of lava were strong and steady. The extensive trench around the platform started to fill up with the burning hot magma. The once dark and cold room now glowed a dangerous hue of orange. The temperature around us soon began to increase as sweat began to form on my skin.

"Holy shit! Is that lava?!"

"Everyone, get away from the edge!"

What's the meaning of this?! Just what is this place? I looked around in panic as everyone gathered near the center of the platform and away from the magma. We watched as the magma continued to be expelled from the mouths of the dragons until the trench was completely filled. One wrong step and one could fall into the magma and be melted alive. With their jobs done, the streams of deadly liquid fire stopped being released from the dragon's mouths.

"Look! At the large one!" Tanagawa yelled while pointing at the Kaiju-sized western dragon. I, along with everyone else, looked up to see the dragon's mouth open slowly.

The stone material it was made from creaked and cracked as its massive jaw opened wide. Quickly, a burst of fire shot out its mouth over us all. We all fell back onto the floor in fright. Thankfully, the fireball stopped several feet over us and danced around the air. We watched with baited breaths as the fire formed familiar Japanese characters.

All must bow to God.

The flaming letters soon fizzled out of sight. We all stood up quickly and looked at one another in confusion.

"What the heck? Bow to God?" Tanagawa said with a bewildered expression.

"What God? Just what the hell is going on?!" Yamada yelled angrily as she ran towards the edge of the platform despite the heat. "As an assassin, I'll use my speed and climbing ability to climb these walls! There has to be a way out of here!"

"Yamada, wait!" Furutani yelled at the sprinting assassin.

One of the dragons closest to where Yamada was running lifted its stone head and eyed Yamada. This shocked her momentarily, allowing a blindingly fast fire blast to strike her body. A long trail of smoke flowed out of the dragon's mouth as it returned back to its original position. My eyes looked down at the charred remains of Yamada. Only her blackened skeleton was left behind, even then. It began to crumble away into dust. Several loud yells and screams erupted from those around me as we watched one of us be killed in an instant.

"Yamada!"

"S-she was killed in one blow."

"This isn't right… this was supposed to be an E-ranked gate!"

I stood slack-jawed and terrified as I watched those around me fall into terror. Said terror could cause someone to act irrationally. This was the case with one of the fighter-class hunters who dropped their weapons and ran towards the edge of the platform. I wanted to scream out at him to try and stop him, but before I could utter a syllable, a brilliant ball of fire erased him from existence.

"Everyone! Stop and calm down! Or else we'll all die here!" Tanagawa yelled. This helped everyone calm down slightly, drawing their focus onto him. "Good. We need to calm down and think logically. We have to do what that statue said."

"Why the fuck should we?!" Mori growled. Fear was present in his eyes. "Two of us just died! And you expect us to bow to some God?! Don't fuck with me!"

"Bow to God? There aren't any Gods here." Furutani said while looking around.

"There is." I said as I looked up at the enormous western dragon. "That. That must be God."

"How can you be so sure?" Tanagawa asked while looking up at the dragon nervously.

"Look at the other dragon statues in the room. All their heads seem to be lowered in that one's direction. It's also holding its head up high. They're showing respect to their 'God'." I said as I slowly dropped to my knees and positioned myself into dogeza bow.

Everyone looked unsure but followed my lead. Even Mori, who looked ready to argue, silently slid into the bow. Once we were all bowing to God, a soft echo filled the room. We looked up to see the western dragon's eyes glowing. It then released another ball of fire that danced around in the air to form more characters.

All must prove thy might to go God.

Just like before, the characters fizzled out to embers and smoke. My mind was immediately working overtime to try and figure out what we had to do next.

"L-look!" The brown-haired mage said while pointing at the magma beyond the platform. We all looked over and were shocked to see a hand slowly rising out of the burning liquid. The hand was dark and scaly. Its four long fingers were thick and ended in sharp talons. Movement caught my eye, and I turned to the right and saw another hand rise from another area of the trench. And then another, and another!

"Are those… drakes?" I said as several five-foot-tall quad-pedaled dragons climbed onto the platform. Their bodies were charred black, and thin trails of lava glided off their scales. "All must prove thy might to God... are we supposed to fight these things off?"

"There's so many of them." Sakura said as Furutani and I stood around her. As a healer, Sakura had no natural way of defending herself. Even if I was an E-ranked hunter, I still had a better chance of defending myself than her. I raised my sword and held it in front of me. The blade shook in my hand as adrenaline and fear flowed through me. There were a total of seven Drakes surrounding us. One for each of us.

"If that thing wants us to prove ourselves, then it's in for a rude awakening!" Mori yelled angrily and dashed towards one of the Drakes, sword in hand. The Drake roared and ran towards Mori to meet him head-on. Using his shield, Mori slammed the Drake across its snout with a bang. He then slashed at the dragon's neck with a loud yell. Before he could land his attack, another Drake intercepted his arm with a powerful bite. Mori yelled in pain as his forearm was ripped off.

"Mori!" Tanagawa yelled and was about to rush to help when a clawed hand exploded out of his chest, killing him instantly.

"Hikigaya! Dodge!" Furutani yelled as he fired a blast of water magic toward a Drake that was about to slash me across the chest. Thanks to his warning, I ducked under his magical attack and watched as the Drake roared in agony. Water magic seemed to be these small dragon's weakness. Thank you, Furutani!

I lifted my sword and stabbed it deeply into the Drake's neck. The Drake roared in pain and jerked violently, ripping my sword out of my hands. My sword! Furutani was quick to launch another magic attack. Dousing the Drake in water. The Drake whined and fell over, finally dead. Now's my chance! I ran towards the defeated Drake and reached for my sword.

"Hikigaya!" Sakura yelled with panic. I turned my head and saw a black blur hit me in my side. I felt all the air in my lungs escape and a coursing wave of agony through my body. I wasn't given time to cry in pain when an incredibly sharp set of teeth clamped down on my left shoulder.

"Ack!" I yelled in misery. My hands flew up towards the Drake's snout, and I began trying to pry its jaws off my shoulder. The small dragon didn't appreciate my efforts and bit down with more force. I cried again and began to bang my fists on its face with reckless abandon.

"Get off him!" Furutani yelled and sent a wave of water toward the Drake. Cool water splashed over us, causing the Drake to open its mount to cry in pain. I fell onto the floor and crawled away from the magic beast. As I crawled, I looked up and saw the remaining members of my raid team fight for their lives.

Near the other end of the platform, I watched as three Drakes ripped apart two other members of my raid team. Flesh and bone lay strewn on the ground, staining the floor in blood. I turned my head and saw Mori slice off the head of a Drake with an enraged expression. But what drew my attention was the bloody stump that used to be his left arm. This is Hell. How are we supposed to survive this?!

"Die, you bastard!" Furutani yelled as he slammed his left hand on the ground. Underneath the Drake that tried to eat me rose a sharp chunk of ice through its body. The Drake twitched and fell limp. Furutani smiled as he panted tiredly, a sheen of sweat on his face.

"Hold on!" Sakura said as she opened her book and began to heal my shoulder. I winced and started to feel a warm wave of relief. Furtutani spun around and saw the remaining Drakes approach Mori, who looked tired and terrified at the large number of beasts approaching him.

"Enough of this!" Furutani yelled in anger and held up both of his hands. "Take this!"

I watched in awe as a wave of water and ice was expelled from his hands and impacted the dragons. They roared in pain and stopped moving, frozen in place. Seeing this, Mori grinned and dashed towards them. Mori slashed the remaining heads off the dragons using his one good arm. Killing all three of them.

Amazing. If it werent for Furutani and Mori... Sakura and I would be dead. "T-thank you, Sakura." I said with a smile and watched as Sakura panted from exhaustion. I frowned as a thin trail of blood ran down her lip as she smiled at me weakly.

"I-I'm just happy you're okay, Hikigaya." Sakura said as she stood up with shaky steps.

Guilt rose in my chest as I watched Sakura try to catch her breath. If only I was stronger. I could have done more to help. I looked away from Sakura and counted all the dead Drakes. Four, five, six... hold on, weren't there seven?! I spun around and watched the final Drake jump out of the magma trench and dash toward Furatani.

"Furutani!" I roared. "Watch out!"

Furutani turned around slowly to heed my warning. But something was off about him. Furutani was moving slowly; his arms hung limp beside him. He must have used up all his mana! Without giving it a second thought, I began running towards him. Furutani!

I felt a wave of ice run down my body as the Drake jumped high into the air and bit down onto Furutani's neck with a sicking crunch. With a jerk of its neck, the Drake ripped off Furutani's head. Blood exploded out of his neck and rained down all around his body. I faintly heard Sakura yell in horror behind me as my mouth opened in a silent cry. The Drake turned its head towards Sakura's yell, seeing a new target. It dropped Furutani's head onto the brick-lined floor. My eyes trailed after Furutani's decapitated head; his still wide-open eyes looked at me with frozen horror.

Furutani... no...

"Die, you piece of shit!" Mori yelled angrily and stabbed his sword down into the Drake's skull. With a roar, Mori continued stabbing away at the dragon's head. Sakura walked up beside me and looked down at Furutani's body and head, tears running down her cheeks. A second later, she threw up on the floor. Mori stopped his actions and looked up at us. His face was pale and covered in sweat. "Healer! Get over here and heal my arm!"

"Ah, r-right." Sakura said weakly and proceeded to do just that; however, halfway through the process. Sakura stopped and coughed out a glob of blood. She fell to her knees and held her neck as blood ran down her eyes. Sakura had finally hit her limit. If she continues to push herself, she could suffer deadly consequences. Seeing this, Mori grew frustrated. He walked away from Sakura and looked up at the massive western dragon.

"There! I showed you my might! Now let me go!" Mori bellowed towards the statue. I watched as the statue's mouth released another ball of fire that danced in the air above us.

One shall prove their worth to God.

"There still more?" I said numbly. Mori looked around wildly, ready to fight off whatever was next.

I quickly headed over towards Sakura and stood over her protectively. I looked around for whatever new enemy would approach us, but what appeared next was no magic beast, no. What appeared next were three impressive swords resting on sword racks at three different points on the platform. I looked around in confusion while wrapping my brain around what this new trail meant.

One shall prove their worth to God? One? Wait... does that mean-!

"It seems only one of us is getting out of here." Mori said with a low, cold tone. He threw down his sword with a loud clang and walked over to the closet sword stand to him. I took an unconscious step back and watched Mori pick up a sword that could easily run for millions upon millions of yen at the Japanese Hunters Auction. Mori then turned to Sakura and me with a deadly expression. "And that's going to be me."

No way, is he really going to kill us? "Wait! We don't even know the true meaning behind this! Just stop and-"

"Shut up! I'm not going to die here, you hear me!" Mori roared and ran towards us. Before I could run away, my eyes turned to Sakura, and I watched as she struggled to stand. She watched as Mori grew closer and closer with a terror-filled expression. Sakura is too tired to run! What should I do?! I turned to Mori and hardened my resolve. No, I won't run. I have to stay and protect Sakura! I owe it to Furutani and her for everything they've done for me!

I roared and dashed towards Mori with my fists raised. Mori looked at my feeble attempt to fight back with an amused smile. When we were finally within arms reach, I swung my fist towards Mori's face and found nothing but air. Mori had tilted his head and pulled his arm back. With a thrust, Mori stabbed the sword through my chest with a wet squelch.

"Rah!" I cried in pain and grabbed Mori's wrist. As I tried to pull his arm away, I felt my strength slowly leave me. It hurts! Damnit it, it hurts!

"Nothing personal, Hikitani. But if one of us has to survive, then it's going to be me." Mori said with a wicked smile and twisted the sword, causing a new wave of blinding pain to explode in my chest. I watched as blood leaked out of my chest and splattered onto the ground.

"M-Mori, you... bastard." I croaked out as I fell to my knees. Once there, Mori pushed me back with the sole of his boot. I rolled on the ground and landed on my stomach. Blood began to seep up underneath me slowly.

"Now, just to take care of the healer." Mori said as he turned over toward Sakura's direction. As he did, an exhausted Sakura ran forward and stabbed a familiar-looking short sword into his stomach. That's my... Due to the sudden attack, Mori ended up dropping his sword. Mori looked down at Sakura in shock as blood gushed out his wound. "B-bitch!"

"I-I won't let you..." Sakura said weakly, her eyes heavy with exhaustion.

Mori's face twisted in agony as he grabbed Sakura by her neck. She gasped for air while trying to remove Mori's large hand from her neck, causing her to let go of her sword. Mori lifted her off her feet and, with a heave, tossed her near my direction. I watched helplessly as she rolled violently on the ground.

"S-Sakura." I wheezed. I felt blood begin to flood my lungs, making it harder to breathe. "Hurry... run away."

Mori dropped to a knee and grabbed the sword in his stomach. Once his hand wrapped around the handle of the blade, he began to pull the sword out of his body. Mori grunted in pain as he pulled the sword out of him, his single arm making the endeavor slow and painful.

"Damn you." Mori grunted as he gave the blade another pull.

"Hiki... Hikigaya." Sakura panted as she crawled over to me slowly. Once close enough, she laid her head on my back tiredly and placed her hand on my back. Slowly, I felt a wave of relief flood over me.

"Sakura, stop... don't push yourself. Otherwise, you're going to..." I said while turning my head towards her. Sakura smiled at me as more blood began to drip out of her mouth. The muscles and bones in my torso began to heal. Slowly, the stab wound began to disappear, alongside the blood in my lungs.

"Hikigaya... it looks like we're even now." Sakura said with a tired voice. Feeling my strength return to me, I spun around and held Sakura close to my chest. I held her close with a growing panic rising over me.

"Just rest, Sakura! Save your strength. We're going to find a way out of here!" I desperately said while shaking her body. "Sakura. Sakura!"

I wasn't sure when it happened, but Sakura's eyes had closed. Her chest no longer rose and fell; all the while, a small, serene smile rested on her still face.

"...Sakura..."

With one final tug, Mori pulled the sword out of his stomach and tossed it far away. A splatter of blood fell in front of him as he panted tiredly. "I'll fucking kill that bitch!"

Why? Why did this all happen? This was supposed to be an E-rank dungeon. Furutani... Sakura... everyone. Why did they all have to die? It isn't fair. It isn't fair!

Using as much speed as possible, I dashed towards the sword Mori dropped and swiftly picked it up. With a weapon in hand, I jumped high into the air with a roar. Mori turned to me with wide eyes just in time to see me land on his back. I twisted the blade into a reverse grip and stabbed it through Mori's throat with a wet squelch. Mori tried to speak, but nothing but a garbled mess escaped his mouth.

I glared hatefully at him while pulling the sword towards me with both hands using the handle and blade. Its sharp edge cut deeply into my fingers, but I ignored the pain in favor of pulling the sword towards me with as much strength as I had. Mori tried his best to fight against me but with all his injuries and lack of ability to breathe. It made the task monumental. After what felt like an eternity of struggling, Mori slumped still against my chest. Even so, I continued to bring the sword towards me. Cutting deeper and deeper into his flesh. I only stopped when I heard a heavy thud in front of me. My breath came out in quick bursts as I watched Mori's bloody head roll to a stop a foot away.

I released a roar of outrage toward the sky, my voice echoing off the room's walls. Throwing the blade into the magma trench, I looked towards the massive dragon statue with as much rage and hatred as I could muster. "What more do you want from me?! What more will you take?!"

The dragon's eyes seemed to glow in approval. With another burst of flames, a new message was displayed over me.

You have proven thy worth. Prepare thyself for the fires of rebirth.

I glared hatefully at the statue and watched as its stone maw opened wide. Burning bright fire began to build up in its mouth with a low, beastly rumble. I yelled at the statue defiantly as a massive torrent of flames enveloped my body. I felt every fiber of my being be enveloped in unimaginable levels of pain. Hair and skin melted away, exposing my inner flesh to the scorching flames. Despite the pain, I remained conscious and standing. Even with my tongue burned away, I continued to roar in rage. Just as I was about to pass out, I saw a large black and red screen appear before me.

[You have fulfilled all the requirements to complete Secret Quest: Defiance of the Insignificant.]

[Congratulations on becoming a Player.]

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