My fist was stopped by a hand clad in a white glove.
That is to say, a hand materialized out of thin air and blocked my punch.
"...?!"
Before my startled eyes, other body parts began to form above the hand.
*Swish-swish-swish*-
Flies and rats, crows and fog...
All sorts of grotesque and dark entities suddenly appeared from all directions, coalescing to form a wrist and forearm, then joining together to create an upper and lower body, finally shaping the remaining parts of the figure.
Within seconds, a towering man stood before me.
Dressed in an all-black coat, a matching tricorn hat, and a white crow mask.
He looked like a plague doctor from medieval times, with a long-beaked crow mask.
His appearance was so distinctive that I instantly recognized who he was.
'A big shot has arrived.'
Master of the plague.
Black Plague One.
The Wound Opener, the Embodiment of Pain, the Screaming Pus...
'...and all other kinds of disgusting titles. A named monster.'
Commander of the Plague Legion.
His name was, Raven...!
Whoosh!
With a casual wave of his hand, Raven sent me flying back with my fist still extended.
An uneasy silence settled between Raven and me—the master of the plague. We stood there, glaring at each other.
Salome, who had been alternating her gaze between the two of us with wide eyes, finally squawked.
"Hey, Crow! Why did you arrive just now? I almost died, you know!"
"Shut up, wench."
Raven growled with his deep, gravelly voice.
"An embarrassment you are, a Nightmare Legion Commander who struggles against a mere human... You should be ashamed before your king."
"Uh, eek! But this guy, my mind control didn't work on him!"
"What? Your mind control...?"
From within his crow mask, a spark lit up in the monster's eyes.
"Seems like you have some hidden tricks, human."
"Plenty, monster."
As I casually shook off my hand, Raven's tone deepened even more.
"...Ah, I see. I have now realized who you are."
"Oh, have you? You're pretty quick on the uptake."
Even though I mocked his theatrical tone, Raven wasn't fazed.
"Ash. Ash 'Born Hater' Everblack. You are the one opposing the king."
"Kinda embarrassed with all these fans. Want an autograph?"
Continuing to taunt him, Raven flapped the hem of his coat, spreading dreadful dark energy all around.
"I shall turn you into a puddle of blood with my power right here-!"
A pitch-black, sticky fog erupted from Raven's body and engulfed me instantly.
As the fog touched my skin, blood began to ooze out, blisters started to form, tumors and rashes spread like wildfire–
"Cut the crap, will you."
...or so it should have.
Irritated, I channeled my magic power and waved my hand, instantly dispersing the black fog that had covered me.
All traces of the plague that had covered me were gone.
"What...?!"
A surprised Raven let out a confused voice. I waved away the fog around my face with my hand.
"Ugh, this is really disgusting. It would be good to have at least a mask... no, a gas mask would be better."
"You bastard, how did you...! My plague...!"
"What a plague of words you've got."
I chuckled and eyed the monstrous figure in a crow-like mask.
"You're just a clone, aren't you?"
"...!"
"The plague your clone spreads isn't real. It's Illusionary Pain. I know everything."
Understanding the named monster's skills and behavior patterns was basic knowledge.
'Raven can create clones identical to itself.'
The skill name was [Illusionary Pain].
Raven had the ability to create clones that could appear simultaneously across multiple battlefields, spreading plagues over wide areas.
It would seem like an insurmountable monstrosity at first glance.
But every monster has its weak points.
The plague spread by the original Raven is real, but the one spread by its clones is fake, merely an illusion.
If you couldn't differentiate between the two, you'd be helpless against the spreading cloud of disease.
But if you could distinguish them, you could locate and eliminate the original, thereby putting an end to this Nightmare Legion commander.
'And the Illusionary Pain spread by the clones is a type of mental status ailment.'
It was similar to the Succubus spell.
My passive skill, [Unyielding Commander], could completely counter it.
Why did their duo composition have to be the perfect counter for me? This is why pick and ban is important, you know?
"I don't know how you saw through my clone technique and my Illusionary Pain, but—"
Raven spat out the words, a boiling voice tinged with black energy erupting from its body.
"There's one thing you've overlooked, O ultimate adversary."
"What's that?"
"Even with just the physical strength of this clone, I have more than enough to rip you apart and kill you!"
Raven's enormous figure lumbered closer.
Hmm, that might be true... even in the game, each clone had quite a bit of health and attack power. They're probably stronger than me right now.
'But that's for an EX-grade weak commander like me.'
What about an SSR-grade top-tier assassin character?
In a flash—!
As I thought that, Verdandi appeared beside me, emitting a burst of light.
Seeing Verdandi suddenly appear, Salome, who had been cornered, dropped her jaw.
"What, what?! I sealed the passage, how did you get back...?!"
"Is that all you can say? 'How did you, how did you?'"
I smirked. At the same time, my eyes briefly glanced at the dagger now in Verdandi's hand, previously at my waist.
A Blink Dagger.
Though Verdandi is the current owner, I had brought it into this room.
Verdandi used the dagger's special ability to teleport beside me. It's an incredibly versatile dagger.
"Verdandi, how about your comrades?"
"I've successfully rescued everyone."
Standing in front of me, dagger aimed at the monsters, Verdandi spoke in a deliberately brusque tone.
"...Thank you, Ash. Truly."
Yet there was a faint hint of emotion in her otherwise restrained voice.
I chuckled softly. That's good to hear. Everyone has been rescued.
Salome then took a swipe at Verdandi.
"You, elf...! Are you breaking the alliance with me?!"
"Don't talk about alliances, Succubus. We were never on the same side to begin with."
"Wh-what?!"
Verdandi spat out fiercely.
"True, on the surface, humans and elves might be enemies. But if we both face a common enemy known as monsters..."
Verdandi glanced at me, a subtle smile crossing her lips.
"Enemies of enemies can become friends."
I returned the smile.
Raven, who had been silently watching us, slowly lowered his stance. Completely relaxing his battle posture, Raven spoke.
"...I shall retreat."
"W-what did you say?!"
"In the absence of my original self, this avatar's combat capabilities are limited. Retreat is logical when chances of victory are low."
"Y-you coward! So you're going to run with your tail between your legs?! How shameful!"
"..."
"Where's your main body in all of this? Where are your minions?!"
Ignoring Salome's berating, Raven shot me a sidelong glance.
"We shall meet again, player... Ash."
"Just like a third-rate villain, spouting clichés before running away."
I waved my hand dismissively.
"I won't go after you. Hurry and scuttle away, you ugly bastard."
Thud-!
No sooner had I finished speaking than Raven punched a hole through the wall, creating a massive exit.
Swish!
White crow wings sprouted from Raven's back.
Grabbing Salome by the scruff of her neck, Raven flapped his wings and flew out of the building.
I might have missed the chance to finish off Salome, but there was no way to stop their retreat after Raven's avatar appeared here in the first place.
I had already accomplished my original mission here. No need to overdo it.
"Y-you'll see, Ash!"
Dangling from Raven's fingertips in a hideous pose, Salome squawked.
"I will imprison you in my dream, just you wait!"
"Do you actually aspire to be a third-rate villain or what..."
"You will kneel before me, call me 'Master Salome, Master Salome,' and submit! Just you watch!"
The figures of Raven and Salome grew distant.
I clicked my tongue. Try it a hundred, a thousand times. Like my passive skill is going anywhere.
"..."
I watched the increasingly distant figures of the two Nightmare Legion commanders and bit my lip. Encounters with them were becoming far more frequent than before.
It wasn't just the boss stages; I might have to deal with them everywhere from now on.
The real battle with them had begun.
***
Since the elevator was shut down, Verdandi and I descended to the first floor through the hole in the wall.
The building had quite high ceilings, so it was a bit of a drop, but Verdandi easily carried me down.
In the hall of the first floor, the rescued NPC prisoners sat with blank faces, wrapped in blankets and robes.
My party members were giving them water and rations.
"Hey, guys!"
Verdandi ran toward a group of green-haired elves who were sitting with wan faces.
It was the NPC party, the Holy Grail Seekers.
"Hey, are you guys okay? Snap out of it!"
"..."
"It's me, Verdandi! You recognize me, right?"
However, the elves remained unresponsive, their eyes cloudy and unfocused, paying no attention to Verdandi's words.
Verdandi's face fell, her expression crestfallen. I softly spoke up from behind her.
"It'll be okay."
"Huh?"
"They've been trapped in the Succubus dream for a long time. Given enough time, they'll recover."
In the game, heroes who had fallen under the mind control of the Unholy Legion often suffered from aftereffects. However, they all recovered over time.
They would need time, too. Time to adjust to the shock of being thrown from a sweet dream into a harsh reality...
"..."
Verdandi clenched her mouth shut. I handed her a pouch I'd brought with me.
"Here, Verdandi."
"Huh?"
"Sunflower seeds. Ever since I mentioned I was looking for them, they keep coming in."
Verdandi took the pouch hastily with both hands. I gave her a slight smile.
"Share them with your comrades."
"..."
"Don't hold back. All of it."
Slowly, Verdandi took out sunflower seeds from the pouch and fed them one by one to her comrades.
The previously dazed elves gradually began munching on the sunflower seeds.
Did the sunflower seeds hold some sort of memory for them?
Tears began to fall, one by one, from their dried eyes.
Life slowly started to return to the eyes of the hazy elves.
"Haha, wow, seriously."
Watching this, Verdandi wiped the corners of her eyes and also popped a sunflower seed into her mouth.
"You all look so dumbfounded..."
Then, like a hamster, or like a child savoring a piece of candy, she began to nibble on the sunflower seeds slowly.
As I stood back and silently watched,
"In our homeland... in Yggdrasil, which used to be the capital of the Elf Kingdom, sunflowers bloomed everywhere."
Godhand, who had stepped up behind me, softly began to speak.
"It was the continent's largest habitat for sunflowers. Now it's all burned down."
"..."
"The children would snack on sunflower seeds, and the adults would make alcohol with sunflower honey. In those peaceful times, sunflowers were always part of the scenery of our homeland."
So for the elves, it was comfort food... soul food, so to speak.
Suddenly, memories of my own childhood came flooding back.
When I followed my parents to the countryside during the holidays, sunflowers would bloom abundantly along the road.
On the car ride home, my family and I would snack on sunflower seeds together.
With old pop songs playing on the radio, humming along.
"..."
It's a landscape of memories that can never be revisited.
I wondered if those elves were each seeing a similar landscape in their minds.
Watching the Holy Grail Seekers, laughing and crying while eating sunflower seeds, I turned away.
The trio from the Shadow Squad awkwardly watching their senior elves caught my eye.
"Now, you guys, too."
I took out another pouch of sunflower seeds from my pocket.
"You've worked hard. Have some snacks."
Buddybag and Burnout, and even Godhand, looked hesitant.
But the Shadow Squad awkwardly smiled and began eating the sunflower seeds.
According to what I had heard from Godhand, both Bodybag and Burnout were born after the destruction of the Elf Kingdom. Yet,
"This is delicious! Takes me back!"
Bodybag said, grinning cheekily.
Nod, nod.
Burnout seemed to agree, nodding her head emphatically.
Even if the form was a bit different, they too must have their own memories associated with sunflower seeds.
Just like everyone around the world has memories tied to their own "soul food," regardless of race or environment.
With a slight smile, I popped a seed into my mouth.
It tasted a bit different from Earth's, but it wasn't bad.