Chapter 3

Aria of the Black Sword, second in command of the villainous organization The Black Snake along with her master, Rain Grey, has been a regular since the first installment of the series, and a powerhouse who's stood her ground while many of her comrades have been torn apart by the protagonists.

Above all, my most trusted right-hand man in the world.

"Hey, you guys, get off the train now."

She hauled herself up in front of the approaching snow-white knights.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible."

"...!"

An air of bewilderment settles over the knights as they see the jet-black saber in Aria's hand.

"You can't possibly...!"

The situation is tense, as if it could explode at any moment. Turning to the knights, who have their hands on the hilts of their swords as it is, I say.

"Stand down."

I said, not bothering to rise from my seat.

"I have no intention of causing unnecessary disturbance. I promise you, if you stand down, we will go quietly."

I know they won't listen, but I say it anyway, out of politeness, because it's not a lie.

"You expect us to believe that?"

"It doesn't matter if you believe it or not."

I said.

"I'm not making a suggestion or a favor."

"Then what is it?"

"Mercy."

Not all villainous groups are bloodthirsty combat fanatics. At least I wasn't.

I like to avoid avoidable conflicts and pointless fights whenever possible.

"Ha! You talk big words."

The knight snorts and draws a sword from his sword belt and a silver chain glows eerily along the blade while the knights follow in unison and assume a combat stance.

I don't think we're going to get much further with this conversation since I wasn't expecting much in the first place.

There was only one thing to do, then.

"Alice."

"Yes, sir!"

"Move the train all the way to the Empire."

"And not eat...?"

"Don't eat."

"And don't eat the train?"

"...Do as I say."

She was really going to swallow the train.

I was dumbfounded and replied

"Yes, I'll do as you say!"

Alice replied with a wide grin, and at the same time, hilariously, the shadow at her feet tore her mouth open in a grotesque crescent moon smile.

"It's Black Snake!"

"Snakes, do you think I'll let you have your way...!"

In the face of the writhing shadows, the knights don't panic and mouth our identities. As if they were the proud knightly organization of the nation but were helpless and powerless to do anything about it.

"No, we'll let you go."

But Alice is not their opponent.

"─Because that's what the leader wants."

"!"

Realization dawns, and she moves faster than Alice's shadow, which spreads across the field.

As I said, this is a game world.

Also, in the setting of the Heroic Age series, the knights in the Crusader Knights are usually around level 50. This is not a low level by any means.

However, in the case of Aria of the Black Sword and her master, Rain Gray, who you'll encounter throughout the story were both <Lv.??? >.

It's literally a question mark, so you can't tell. For reference, all encounters and battles are forced defeat events.

I don't know how strictly this world is governed by systemic rules, but one of the things I do know is that my level number and my knowledge of the game is never meaningless.

Right now, the performance of Aria's Black Sword was proof of that.

-Clang!

A black, dark trajectory slithers along the blade toward the white knights like a lopsided splash of color.

The tip of the blade danced but no blood splashed, no armor was cut and no screams echoed because it's not being swung to cut.

-Swish, swish, swish!

Instead-it crumpled.

Like crumpling a piece of paper between two hands, the entire 'volume' of her sword's trajectory was compressed into a small sphere.

The entirety of the knight's body, armed with heavy armor, was compressed into a ball and sucked into Aria's sword just like being sucked into a black hole.

It was like being sucked into a black hole....So I took a cigarette out of my arms again.

"Ah, ah...."

Several knights disappeared from the scene, they literally disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

After seeing that, the knights who hadn't yet caught in the realm of the Black Sword froze.

Their hands grew weak, and the swords they held fell to the ground. Only then did they hear a sound, the sound of metal hitting metal.

I couldn't see them, hidden by their helmets, but it wasn't hard to imagine their faces, stiff with fear and loss of will.

The entire area, including the man, compressed into a tiny sphere, sucked in, and disappeared.

You could say they were eaten by the sword.

Moreover, the landscape is no longer a game's technology or graphics that you see on a monitor.

It was real, it was alive and it was happening right in front of me.

In a sense, the ability being so absurdly unreal is many times creepier than Alice's "eating".

"Whoa."

I'm down to my second cigarette.

This is why I can't quit smoking cigarettes.

I'm going to die of lung cancer because I didn't know why I was possessed and tried to live.

"Nobody...."

Aria spoke up from among the frightened and frozen White Knights.

"Your will is absolute, and no one can interfere."

I adjusted the hilt of the black sword in my hand. For the record, I was on my third cigarette at the time. I'll be paying for another cigarette as soon as we get off the train.

"Because I won't let you do that."

I can't see Aria's eyes, hidden by the black bandages. But her voice was deeper and darker than that.

"Yeah, right!"

Alice's voice seems to lighten as she laughs loudly.

"We're not going to let that happen, are we, Aria?"

"Yes, Alice. We won't ─never."

"...."

With their resolve behind me, I sit back in my cabin chair, unmoving.

The cigarette I'm holding in my mouth is slowly burning away, and it feels like my insides and lungs are burning with it.

"Monsters, monsters...."

A snow-white knight muttered in a trembling voice.

Something that not even the elite of the Holy Kingdom could understand, even those who were willing to die in battle.

In truth, I couldn't understand it either, I didn't know anything about it.

Why they were there, and why the organization called the Black Serpent was loyal to its leader.

The incomprehensible loyalty that Aria and Alice show in front of me now. No, I don't know if you can call it loyalty, it's more like a blind obsession.

I wished there was some sort of in-game information.

What the hell is the purpose of this organization?

What does this man here, the 'leader', want?

Why do they have such absolute, almost obsessive loyalty to him?

Maybe the "real" Rain Grey knows why but I didn't and I couldn't ask Aria or Alice about it.

At least I could explain it outside of the game.

They have to continue the series anyway, so they don't want to leave any loose ends untied, and since it's so hard to explain, they'll just chalk it up to the unknown purpose and plan of the Black Snake.

Fucking assholes, that's why you're not going to the majors and you're going to be fucked for life.

Now I had to explain it.

No, I didn't have to explain it, I had to know why.

By the time I was down to four cigarettes, there was no sign of the Crusaders left.

It was as if they'd never been there in the first place.

Aria brushed off the tip of her blade, as if brushing away unwanted blood, and slid it into the scabbard at her back.

Then, with no one left to stop the train, Alice's shadow moved.

The morning light streaming through the carriage windows had faded. The whole place grew dark, as if it were the middle of the night, and the shadow didn't stop there, slipping into the body of the train.

Along with it came the most unlikely of miraculous sounds. It was the sound of the train's barrels suddenly lighting up, belching out steam, and racing down the tracks.

I looked out the window of the train, shrouded in shadows and unable to see anything, and thought about what was to come.

We can't leave the Holy Kingdom and ride straight to the Imperial Capital. I'll have to get off along the way, outrun them, change trains, buy some cigarettes, and make it to the capital in time for the secret auction.

Then I'll rescue the holy maiden who's about to be sold into slavery at the Imperial Secret Auction.

Why save her?

Because if I don't save her, the protagonist will.

She's the one on the cover anyway, and she's the clue to unlocking the story of this pre-order, untested game.

That's where it starts.

I thought about it, flicked the cigarette out of my fingers, and slipped my hand back into my pocket.

I just realized that was the last one.

Ah.