Chapter 41: A Major Threat

"That's… a dungeon core?"

John was staring a bit too high up.

"No, you idiot! Look down!"

While John was indeed looking at the incredibly bright and shiny mana crystal, the real threat was the cluster of rocks in front of them.

"There's, uh… some crystals. What's the issue?"

"That's a crystal crab," Fate said in a low tone. "They're known for their impenetrable defence and surprisingly quick speed. But, more than that, they're known to defend their sources of nourishment to the death."

"So… the dungeon core."

"Exactly."

Prota was staring up at the crab. She could feel the amount of mana coming from the beast, and it was huge.

"Anyways, that's a crab? Looks like a pile of rocks."

"That's part of its defence. The mana it's absorbed has caused it to mutate."

"...great."

"Do you have any more explosives?"

"What do I look like, a demolitionist?"

"...great."

John was worried. While the strange beasts might have been a "twist" to Fate, for John, who was regarding this as a story, this was nothing abnormal. He was still waiting for the "twist" to come, and this giant crab definitely wasn't it. He did have explosives, but if he was going to use them, it wasn't going to be on this thing.

"Hey, Fate," John whispered.

"What? Do you have a plan?"

"Do you think it tastes good?" John's mouth was drooling. "I haven't had crab since I came here."

"You want to eat it?!" Fate hissed. "Are you out of your mind?!"

"You know, you sure don't act like a hero. You should chill out a bit more."

"I only act like this around you! Anyone would! You're insane!"

John looked back at Prota, who had a look of disappointment on her face.

"...fine. What's the plan?"

"Well, we have to secure the mana core. We can't leave without it. But, on top of that, if we want to keep looking around…"

"This is the most likely place."

"Right."

"...so it's a guardian. For something more than the dungeon core, maybe?" John muttered. "Hey, Fate. Be ready for… actually, never mind."

"What do you mean, never mind?!"

"Just fight well."

Fate closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Fine. Let's do it."

"Can't Kit help us?"

Fate and Kit looked eyes.

"No," Fate said, shaking his head. "Or, more precisely, she won't."

"She won't? Is she insane?"

Kit hissed at John.

"I'm not taking my statement back. We don't know what's coming next. If our enemy really is here-"

"She'll intervene then," Fate assured John. "John, I don't know why you know so little about Mythics, but she can't just intervene whenever. We have to do this on our own."

"Fucking [Mentors]," John muttered. "Fine. Let's go."

Fate's sword began to glow as he began to unleash his mana. Similarly, Prota's eyes and hair began to light up as she circled the mana in her body, preparing to unleash a powerful spell.

"Do you know anything about the anatomy of this crab?"

"Other than its incredible defence and surprising speed? No," Fate shook his head.

John nodded. "Go for the stomach or the eyes," he suggested. "Those are probably weak spots."

"...got it."

Fate would've probably figured it out on his own, but John was thinking about something Zero had told him a while ago.

"You're an [Anomaly]. John, this world was originally a story that never had you in it. Your existence has changed the [Plot], and in order to compensate, the [Plot] had to be altered."

If the [Plot] was altered, then that meant it was going to compensate for his presence. If he thought outside the box and considered that as well, would the [Plot] counter him and make things even more complicated?

Well, now was as good a time to figure out as any, right?

"Prota," John said in a low tone. "How much mana can you take from that thing?

"Little bit," Prota muttered. "Too much."

The core was way too fat. It'd be like trying to drink a whole lake using a bowl. It wasn't like there were no upsides. At the very least, she'd have an infinite source of mana. Maybe she'd learn a new kind of magic, too.

John looked at the giant crab. It still looked like a pile of rocks to him, but if Prota was saying there was a core, then there was no mistaking it.

Fate gripped his sword. "There's no point in waiting anymore. The first strike is ours."

With a cry, he leapt up and plunged his sword into the crab's back, waking it up. It screeched loudly, causing the cavern walls to shake. Unfortunately, Fate was right. The crystals on the back were an incredible form of defence, and Fate's sword barely made a dent. He jumped as the crab shook him off, landing on the ground.

"Split up and dodge!" Fate yelled, running around. "It can only target one of us at a time!"

The group scattered. Fate immediately changed course and attacked the crab again, chanting before firing a massive fireball. However, as the smoke cleared, the crab wasn't even mildly hurt. It roared and scurried over to Fate.

The thing sure was fast for its size.

"How the hell is this thing balanced?" John yelled, uselessly firing his rifle. What the hell was he supposed to do here?

"It's not! This shouldn't be in a dungeon of this calibre! I don't know what's going on!"

John grit his teeth. "Great."

He ran back, unable to do anything. He'd be more than happy to let everyone else do all the work, but that probably wasn't going to happen here. They'd surely need his help. This wasn't something they could do alone.

…alone. [Anomaly]. Was this crab something that wasn't supposed to be here?

Why was he so focused on helping? He wasn't the one that needed training or improvement. Although he hated to admit it, he was a stereotypical overpowered character when he needed to be. There was no improvement for him. [Infinity] was essentially a cheat code, and paired with [Reset], it essentially left no room for him to grow. 

But these [Characters] did need to grow. Otherwise, they'd never get anywhere. So why did he want to help?

You care for them, don't you? a little voice in his head whispered to him.

Then let them die, another voice countered. Since it doesn't matter whether or not they live. Do it on your own. As you've always done.

Two opposing sides, fighting for him to choose one side or the other. 

"Fuck off," John frowned and shook his head. 

He didn't need the complication of an inner dialogue right now. He'd just put it off. He'd leave it to the last minute, and when he needed to make a decision, he'd do it then.

As he'd always done.

"John! A little help?" Fate yelled. He really seemed to be struggling. 

"Why don't you use your full power?" John called back.

"What are you talking about?"

"Surely you have something else up your sleeve, right?"

Fate paused for a moment, caught off guard by John's words.

"Shit," John cursed. He watched as a giant boulder fell towards Fate, who had reacted just a little too late.

Fortunately, there was someone a lot more capable than him.

"No!" Prota cried out, pushing Fate out of the way with a giant block of ice. She staggered and threw up a mouthful of blood from the surge of power she'd just used, but it was better than Fate dying.

Just because she was John's protector didn't mean she'd sit idly and let Fate die.

However, just because Fate was alive didn't mean that everything was going swimmingly. Both Prota and Fate were stunned and wouldn't be able to fight for a bit. The crab, on the other hand, was mainly unharmed.

"Fuck it," John muttered. From his pocket dimension, he pulled out the first thing that came to mind. 

[A flashbang?! Can you stick to the genre of this story? Why do you even have that?]

[shut the fuck up im busy]

With a shout, John drew the crab's attention, then threw the flashbang with all his might right into the thing's face. At the last second, he turned away, but the sound still rang in his ears. He didn't have time to stop. With a grunt, he picked Fate up and carried him over to Prota, who was almost fully recovered.

"Prota! Run!" John yelled, pointing at a small crevice. Prota nodded and started sprinting, casting one look back at the crab, which was still stunned by the bright light and loud noise.

"Huff… huff... This sucks," John panted as he wiped his forehead. "You good?"

Fate's eyes snapped open as he jumped up.

"You. What do you know about my power?"

"You're clearly not using all of it," John sighed. "You're the hero, aren't you? You're strong, but this can't be it. Come on, show me something! This isn't everything, right?"

"I can't use all of it," Fate muttered. "I can't control it. It's too much for me right now."

"...shit," John cursed. "Fine. We'll do it my way. You remember what I said about its weak points, right?"

"...yeah?"

"Good. Keep that in mind. Oh, and get a potion ready."

"A what?"

The crab was now fully recovered, and it wasn't happy. It was skittering around, looking for its enemies. It didn't have to look for long. John sprinted out full force into the open, waving his arms.

"Hey! You little rat fucker! Over here!" John yelled, waving his hands. The crab spun around, its massive legs skittering all over the cavern floor.

"Yeah, that's right! I… uh…" John's voice trailed off as he failed to come up with an insult. "I… Fuck you!"

The crab probably didn't understand a word John said, but it had found a target to go after. It didn't seem to have too complex a thought process because it began chasing John without a second thought. 

"Yeah, come over here!" John yelled, running away as fast as he could.

"John, what are you doing?" Fate yelled, unleashing another blast of magic that once again did nothing.

"I'm distracting it, idiot!" John yelled. "I can't do something! You can! Go!"

However, they were still missing one team member. Prota. She was watching, frozen solid, as John weaved between the crab's legs, barely avoiding fatal injury after fatal injury. Kit whimpered, nudging Prota, but she just watched.

[Prota its John]

Her hands shook as she pulled up the message. He was messaging now?

[hey i cant die so just listen and follow what i say]

She looked at him, but he was too busy sending messages to notice.

[I need to get close to dying like really close so just help fate ok? I wont die i promise just go]

She saw John wave his hands as if to close a window. He wouldn't be looking at his messages anymore. Why did he have to be so reckless? How was she supposed to protect him if…

No. If he was sure about this, then she would listen. She had to follow through. If John was confident in his job, then she needed to be confident in hers. All she needed to do was follow his orders.

"Fuck!" John gasped as he narrowly dodged another leg. He was sorely tempted to just activate [Infinity] and make things easier for himself, but the headache it gave him was simply not worth it.

Besides, there was something else John had on his mind.

Emotion. It was a cliche, but it was a logical one. People surpassed their limits during bursts of strong emotion. John didn't know what Fate thought of him, but if John got close to dying, Fate would surely react somehow. Intentionally manipulating the emotions of others in order to trigger some kind of awakening. Sure. Why not? Of course, Fate was probably supposed to awaken some other way, but if the [Author] was going to play around, then so could he.

He was a [Writer]. He'd write Fate's growth on his own.

"Guh-!" John gasped, barely jumping out of the way. "A little help?"

"Help yourself!" Fate growled.

As John had predicted, Fate did have something of a hero complex. Seeing John in distress was really making him panic. Thousands of ideas were running through his mind, none of which were really working. Magic, swordsmanship… nothing. Fate's physical strength was good but nothing to brag about, meaning it would be useless to punch the thing. He considered a sword dance, but that took too long to set up…

"What do I do?!" Fate growled in frustration, gripping his sword harder. 

"Any time would be great!" 

He was starting to get tired. Why was Fate taking so damn long? At this point, he was considering letting himself get hit, but thankfully, the crab solved that problem for him. With a loud screech, the crab planted itself into the ground. John stared in confusion but then felt his body tense up as the ground began to rumble.

"What the-"

Below his feet, a small blue crystal began to poke out, and his eyes widened.

"Oh, shit."

He threw himself to the side as a crystal erupted from the ground, and he barely avoided being skewered by the thing. Scrambling to his feet, he continued to run as crystal after crystal popped out.

"It can use magic?!" Fate yelled as his sword bounced off the outer shell once again.

"Who the fuck cares? Can you kill this thing already?"

John looked back to yell at Fate, but that was the single mistake he wasn't allowed to make. He tripped. It wasn't a large trip, just a bit of a stagger as his foot caught on a small rock, but it was enough.

A crystal pierced through John's stomach, turning him into a human donut.

"John!" Fate yelled, reaching out. Time seemed to freeze.

How did things come to this? This was supposed to be a reconnaissance mission. Why were they dealing with a beast like this? Heat began to grow in his core. Was he going to be helpless in this life, too?

John wasn't conscious enough to see it, but he would've been pleased. Fate was growing.

But Fate wasn't the only one that was growing.

"John…"

Prota stared with shaking eyes. He couldn't die. She knew that. He'd just told her that. He'd even predicted this. She knew what was going to happen. Then why was her entire body shaking with emotion?

Rage. Fear. Despair. Helplessness. 

The world stopped existing for a moment. The only thing she could see was John's body skewered on the crystal, dark red liquid slowly dripping down the blue crystal. Her breaths became heavy. The symphony of sound dimmed, the only noise remaining being the sound of her own pants.

In. Out. In. Out.

She could do it. Her magic wasn't strong enough. But her specialty wasn't magic.

With a terrible cry, she threw everything she had at the crab. Her own life was at risk, but that was insignificant. She would kill this thing, no matter what. The creature that'd done this to the one she was meant to protect would pay. Her tendrils flew out in a fury, piercing the creature's core, absorbing it as fast as possible. Prota filled her staff to the brim, but even that was starting to get full.

There was nowhere else to put her mana. 

It began leaking out of her. Light began pouring out of her eyes, but she kept going. 

[Overload! Overload! Overload!]

She wouldn't stop. The creature was only half empty. She couldn't stop now, there was still more-

[Warning! Proceeding with your action will result in immediate death! Please discharge!]

…discharge?

It was pure instinct, but she put her hands in front of her. It was the same pose she'd done when facing off against the knights and paladins. That was right. Come to think of it, she'd absorbed a soul back then, right? That was way more mana than what she was handling right now.

With a cry, a pure white beam of mana erupted from Prota's hands, smashing right into the crab. Surprisingly, its defence was so good that it didn't die, but the sheer force of the attack flipped it over, revealing a soft vulnerable bottom. That was all she had. Her body was punishing her for doing something it shouldn't have, and blood was pouring out of her head, soaking into the ground as she fell unconscious.

At the same time, Fate was also panicking. Millions of thoughts ran through his head.

He'd failed to save someone. He'd failed to save someone after everything he'd been through, after all this power he'd been given… what was the point? Why had he made that promise?

"You're clearly not using all of it. You're the hero, aren't you?"

The words echoed in his head until they became deafeningly loud, bouncing off his skull over and over until they became the only thought in his mind. 

"No," he gasped, shaking. "That's right. Now's not the time to be afraid."

Power surged from his core into his hands as pure destructive power started emerging from his body. He felt something snap inside of him. It was like a dam breaking, allowing the millions of gallons of water from behind to rush out and swamp everything in sight.

"I'll do better. It shouldn't have taken your death to understand that."

His sword began glowing white, but it didn't stop there. It kept glowing, brighter, stronger, until it was like a miniature sun, glowing a brilliant gold.

"No more running."

With a yell, he leapt up and plunged his sword deep into the crab's abdomen, using it as a handle to launch himself even further up, pulling his sword with him. Fate's sword started to glow, emanating an aura that shone around the blade, creating a giant sword, like a weapon meant to be wielded by a god. With a single strike, Fate swung, cleaving the monster cleanly in two.

"That's… all I got…"

With that, he, too, passed out.

~~~

"What the… am I alive?"

"Shh. Focus on recovering."

"...Kit?"

John frowned. He'd been impaled, no? He'd seen the crystal coming and had tried to avoid getting hit in a vital organ, but he didn't have high hopes for survival.

"It seems you're recovered enough to recognize me," Kit said. "You're lucky I didn't sense anyone nearby."

"How did you-"

"Fire is destructive. But it's also a symbol for warmth and comfort."

John opened his eyes and watched as a soft, warm flame wrapped itself around John's stomach. He focused his eyes a bit further up and saw Kit looking at him with an almost sad look.

"You gambled on them, didn't you?"

"I did what?"

"You ran in and gave them a chance to do something," Kit said. "I've never seen someone like you. Despite being powerless, you drive one more powerful than you to be even more powerful."

"...what are you talking about? You sure you've got the right guy?"

John was about to say more, but then gasped as Prota flung herself onto him.

"Don't. No more, John," she pouted as she buried her face into his chest. 

"Ah… right."

John closed his eyes and put his hand on her head. That was right. People weren't robots. You couldn't tell them "don't worry" and expect them not to worry. He had to remember that in this world, he was the strange one.

"And Fate, too," Kit said as Fate also walked over. 

"...hey."

"Hey."

"It shouldn't have taken that. I'm sorry."

"Sorry? For what? You know what? Don't answer that. We're alive. That's all that matters."

"And thanks. For helping me use my powers."

"So what, it's all unsealed?"

"Just a little," Fate said. "It's a little complicated, but… I'll be sure to work on it."

John sat up with a grunt and looked around. It was a little hard with Prota still clinging to him, but he was the giant crab cleaved in two. He shuddered. That had to be Fate, right?

"How long have I been out for?"

"A day," Kit informed John. "Everyone else is rested up. I treated you last."

John got up with a grunt and immediately regretted it. His body yelled at him, telling him to lie back down, but he didn't have time for that.

"Prota. Ice me up."

Prota raised her head from his chest and looked at him with a frown. She must've been really upset.

"No. John stays here."

"But I-"

"Stay."

"...fine."

Kit got up with a small laugh. "It seems she's the one really in control here. Don't worry. We found a small door, and it looks like no one's home."

"You-" John started, but Prota glared at him.

He nodded, but he was worried. This was it. This had to be the twist. He'd been worried about this. What if the crab was supposed to be here? What if there was something even worse behind that door?

"Come on, Prota," Fate said. "Oh, and…"

Fate turned to John and handed him a potion. "You told me to get this ready, right?"

John just smiled as he took the drink, downing it before falling to the floor. Kit turned back into a fox, and the party approached the door. The enemy. This was what they'd come for. Anything could be behind that door. Anyone-

"Is someone there?!"

A young boy burst out from the door. He was short, with shaggy, messy hair, and his skin was dark and tanned. He only wore a simple cloth for clothing, and even that was torn up and messy. Chains hung from his wrists and ankles, and his ribs showed through his chest. Then, what came out of his mouth next was completely predictable.

"Please! Help us!"