Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

Traces of strange destruction found in the forest. The trees leading toward the village were blackened and rotting, and a few crystal-like substances clung to the surrounding area. Following this trail, we came across *it*.

By the time we arrived, we were in a corner of town where several houses had already been brutally reduced to rubble. Cutting through a group of townspeople who appeared to be evacuating, we found ourselves face-to-face with a bizarre monster.

Its shadow-like black body…possibly a Phantom, was covered in crystal-like formations. Its upper and lower body were separated at the abdomen, and it moved with complete freedom around the crystal-like structure at its center, making its movements extremely difficult to predict. Its sword—a cluster of crystals covering its entire left arm—inflicted wounds that caused agonizing pain, as if something were slowly seeping out from the injured area. We also had to contend with ribbon-like, shadowy tentacles that kept welling up from all over its body and the ground nearby, leaving us completely overwhelmed.

My sword felt heavy. The armor I donned wasn’t heavy at all, but it was weighing me down so much that I felt like I was about to drop to my knees at any moment. And my attacks were barely effective, if at all. The crystals were hard and virtually indestructible, yet there was no resistance whatsoever whenever I struck at the places not covered by them. Some of Sol’s Light-attribute techniques seemed to be effective, but they were nowhere near enough to turn the situation around. Combined with the small, flying, mouth-like creatures that occasionally pestered us from the sky, we were slowly but surely being cornered.

.

“Rage! Sol?!”

When I arrived at the edge of town, what met my eyes was a scene I couldn’t believe, no, a scene I didn’t want to believe; the sight of the two of them covered in blood and kneeling on the ground.

“I-I’ll heal you right…”
“You idiot! Why did you come?!”
“Iris, run! Hurry!!”
“…NO! I… I want to fight too! I’ve decided that!!”

I wouldn’t run. It was too late to call this “persuasion,” but I had to tell them what I wanted to do. A light flared at the tip of my staff. Their condition was far from normal—first, I had to get them back in top shape.

“Range set, complete. ‘Rest Field’!!”

The array of light that spread around the two of them began to dissolve the evil entities clinging to them. Next, a basic heal. Before my eyes, their wounds vanished completely.

“I’ll recast the array to match your positions with each recast. Keep moving! ‘Wide Protection’! And ‘Vice Edge’!!”

The three of us—myself included—were enveloped in a thin barrier of light, and their weapons glowed white, imbued with a purifying power effective against the undead and psychic lifeforms.

“……I understand. If that’s what you want, Iris, I won’t say anything else.”

To my surprise, Sol gave his permission with unexpected ease.

“Man, you just can’t be honest, huh? We actually planned to take you with us for good starting today.”

At those words, I blinked in surprise.
…So, it turns out both of them had been listening and thinking things through after all.

“…I’m sorry about yesterday, you two.”
“Me too… I didn’t consider how you felt, Iris. Please forgive me.”
“I’m the one who should be sorry… I was wrong. And to be honest, you really saved us. Iris, give us a hand!”
“…Yes!”

I gripped my staff tighter and took a fighting stance. No trembling. I’m okay—I can do this!

.

“I’ll tackle those mouths up above! Cover me, you two!”
“Cover her, Sol! Imma hold the guy off for ten seconds!”
“Sure, he’s all yours. Okay, Iris, whenever you’re ready!”

Shadow tentacles closed in from all sides. Until just a moment ago, they’d been impervious to attacks, but now, Rage’s sword—shrouded in white light—easily sliced them away. The few that managed to break through were entangled by the spell Sol had cast, “Chain Bind,” immobilizing them. Feeling a gentle hand on my back, I completed the incantation and unleashed the spell at full power.

“Divine Spear! Lea Lea Lea! …Fire!!”

With my wings of light flapping, I added an extra line to the incantation, and seven light spears—more than before—shot upward, aiming not to hit but to knock down the “Mouths” circling overhead. I’d noticed this during the mountain bandit incident before, but this verified it: deploying these wings enhanced the performance of certain spells, allowing me to exceed the limits I had in the game. The recoil was correspondingly greater, but it was gently absorbed by the defensive magic cast by Sol, who was providing support from behind, minimizing the physical strain on my body.

“…In ten seconds, I’ll deploy ‘Rest Field’ around Rage-san again.”
“I’ve completely subdued the ‘Tentacles’ on both sides… I’ll work with Rage to push the front lines forward. Iris, be careful too.”
“Yes, Sol-niisama.”

I exchanged glances with him; we both smiled briefly and immediately moved to our positions. It had truly been a long time since I had stood shoulder to shoulder like this with them. The front lines were slowly but surely advancing. About… fifty meters to go.

.

It seemed its attacks had a curse effect; if you took damage, your abilities plummeted. However, as long as I was here, we’d be fine operating around the “Rest Field” I’d set up on the ground. If we stayed calm and handled this carefully, we could maintain the upper hand. I took a deep breath and surveyed my surroundings once more… Just then, I noticed the “Mouths” that had been wandering around suddenly all snap open, turning toward us at once.

“Watch out, both of you! I have a bad…?!”

Just as I was about to warn them that something was coming, I realized it.

*“GYahahAHaAahaAAHaaAaa!”*
*“sSssso smOOth, sO SmoooOotHHh, HAHahAhaHa!”*
*“moRE mOrE MoRE moOrEEE shOW yOUR SCarEd faCEEeee!!!”*
*“hAHAAhAha prINceSs iS cRying, ahAhAHahA!!”*

All at once, a cacophony of unpleasant voices erupted.

“Gah?! W-what is this… My strength…!”
“D-damn it… Is this sound itself a curse…?!”

Right before my eyes, the two of them, taking the full brunt of the sound, dropped to their knees.

My heart felt like it was about to stop.

Why—why here, at a time like this, of all times, did *these guys* have to appear?

My gaze locked with the red light of the single face belonging to “that thing”—the main entity in the back. That’s right, the eye. I recognized that eye. I also recognized the small objects surrounding it and its tainted set of teeth.

“No… that… can’t be…”

My knees went weak in an instant, and I plopped down onto the ground. My heart was pounding violently. My vision warped and twisted.

“You idiot! Run?!”
“Iris, behind you!”

“…Huh?!”

As if sensing an opportunity, three “Mouths” encircled me, closing in.

*“c’mOn pRinCEsS Let’S pLAy LEt’s plAY leT’S pLAyYYyY!!!!”*
*“iT’ll feEL goOoOod, GOooD, gOoOOoOOoooOoOODDd!!”*
*“PpppPpRincessS loOK SooO dELiciOUusS, bbbiTE BitE biTEE BITee”*

“KYAAAAHHH?! …Agh?!”

I felt my body being pulled by something, followed by a fleeting sensation of weightlessness, before my whole body was slammed hard against the ground, leaving me rolling over and over again. Most of the impact was absorbed by the Protection spell, but the sudden movement made my inner ears scream in protest, and I staggered to my feet, my body still unsteady.

“OooOOoOo O o o, Iiii I I?? Ir irrrr iRIIIIIIiiSs-chAaaAaaanNN?”
“Eek?!”

Right in front of me was *his* face. A crescent-shaped red line split across his featureless, pitch-black face, and a sticky, overly cheerful voice—one that sounded like it might make a “squelch” sound—made my body stiffen.

“IRIS! Damn it, these guys are in the way!!”

Rage’s shout sounded distant. I was completely isolated, right in front of the enemy.

“Ah, aaaaaah…”
“LelELEELeet’Ss plAAaaY sSoMetHinG ffFfuUUUnnNN, pprINCesSssSS!!”

As I shuffled on the ground, trying to move back and get away, countless shadow-like things stretched out from its body, and my limbs were quickly restrained. A thin, paper-like protective light barely prevented direct contact, but even beyond that, an overwhelming chill—terror, a warning of danger—seeped through. I knew I mustn’t touch it directly.

Then, crack, crack—the barrier groaned, and the sound of the protection spell nearing its breaking point echoed eerily in my ears.

“Eek, ah… p—Protection!!”

The moment a new barrier enveloped my body, the original one vanished into thin air, leaving behind only fragments of faint light.
No, this wouldn’t hold. The barrier I thought I’d recast began to creak again, and cracks spread across it with a sharp crackling sound.

“No, ah… Wide Protection!!”

Another one. The previous Protection shattered in less than twenty seconds, and the shadow lunged at the newly added barrier.

“N-no, too… too fast… Aaaah?!”

…The cooldown for “Protection” was about one minute; I couldn’t use it again for nearly forty seconds. “Wide Protection” had a cooldown of one and a half minutes. With shadows crawling all over my body like this, “Solid Ray” wouldn’t even slow them down for a moment.

“AAHHH?! Protection! Protection?! Why, why?!”

It’s too late. It’s too late! It’s too late?!

The final barrier was already riddled with cracks, and yet Rage and Sol were far, far away!

.

Crack, crack—the sounds of that final resistance echoed hollowly in my ears, like a countdown. In that moment, stretched out as if into infinity, all I could do was watch in despair.

“Ah… ah…”

Crack—the final barrier vanished into thin air.

“Ugh—?! No, nooooooo?!”

With a slithering sound, the shadow finally wrapped itself directly around my arms and legs.

“Eek?! kh?! NOOOOOO?! A A A A A A AA A AAAAA!! AAAAAAAA!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!”

In that instant, my brain sparked from a shock that exceeded its capacity. A fierce chill pierced my entire body. Something cold, heavy, and hideous—a thought—flowed in from the places it touched, clashing with the purifying power of my body that was desperately resisting from within. The impact tore at my body from the inside out, causing it to convulse violently and chaotically.

—My consciousness went completely blank.

—But in the very next instant, the shock jolted me awake. Again and again.

The tentacles that were entangled around my limbs easily lifted my small body into the air and began to creep toward my core without hesitation. Before I could resist, they ravaged me; in an instant, the things restraining my arms slipped under the hem of my clothes and began to lick my torso from beneath. The same thing happened to my legs, my knees, my thighs, and above. It crawled all over my pale skin, and each time, that hideous thing seemed to penetrate it, as if trying to cover my entire body. What was invading my skin quickly swallowed me whole, and in an instant, it stripped me of my ability to resist.

My body was desperately resisting, but the sheer volume of what was being sent from the shadow crawling all over me was overwhelming. My futile resistance was easily swallowed up, and my body, which had been twitching violently, gradually slowed down. My limp body was being squeezed tightly, creaking and groaning. Dangerous cracking and snapping sounds echoed from all over my body. Yet, I felt no pain at all.

My body was surrendering to the invader. It was as if every blood vessel in my body had been replaced with ice water, occupied by something cold and horrifying—so dark and frozen that I could no longer move a single finger, except for occasional spasms and slight twitches.

“…Ah… ah… eek?!”

A chilling sensation ran down my spine as something touched a place it shouldn’t have. With just that slightest contact, the abominable substance surged into my body with a force incomparable to anything before, defiling me deeper and deeper.

Finally, the fleeting, flickering wings of light vanished, scattering a few feathers, and the staff I’d held until the very end clattered to the ground from my limp, powerless hand. Sensing that my resistance had completely vanished, I somehow felt that it had finally set its sights on ‘that place’.

—No… I’m being rap…

.

“NOT ON MY WAAATTCH!!!”

Before I knew it, Rage had switched to a sword enveloped in a malevolent force field, and he sliced ​​through the ground along with the tentacles that had been restraining me. The shadow that had covered me vanished in an instant, and my body, now without support, was about to fall to the ground… but was caught in Sol’s arms.

“Sol! Take Iris and run!!”
“…I’ll be right back! Until then… you have to hold on!!”

Wait, Rage is… Reiji’s going to die?!
Reiji’s back receded as he remained alone among the enemies. No, this just puts both of them in a desperate situation. No, please don’t do this—not now, after he finally accepted me.

“……Rei…ji…!”

The hand I tried to reach out with couldn’t hold on for even a moment and fell, defeated by gravity.

.

.

.

.

“…Finally gone, huh.”

I readjusted my grip on the sword in my hand.

At any other time, this was a plain, jet-black longsword, but by activating a feature called Dragon’s Eye Unleashed, it transformed into a greatsword enveloped in a force field—the Dragon Gem series “Arsley, the Destructive Sword.”

Back in the game, this was crafted using Dragon Gems—a drop item with an extremely low drop probability from an already rare dragon-type raid boss—along with an abundance of other rare materials also obtained from even more raid bosses. It was a weapon truly meant for hardcore players, with only a handful of owners across all weapon types in the entire game—and it was my trump card, one that even Sol envied.

Sure enough, I confirmed that in its Dragon Eye Unleashed state, I could actually inflict damage with it.
However, that didn’t mean the situation would improve.

The downside of this weapon… in exchange for increased power, it drained the owner’s stamina. In fact, right now, the tube embedded in my right arm was flashing red, and something was flowing from my body into the sword.

In a game, this would be HP, but actually using it like this feels dangerous—as if my very life force is being sapped away. With my body already severely weakened, how long can I hold out against an opponent who gave me a hard time even when I was at full strength…

“…Guess I just gotta pull it through.”

That faint, weak, and anguished voice—calling out my name just moments ago as Sol carried her away—still echoed in my ears. I can’t just disappear and leave her alone in a world like this.

No matter how hopeless it may seem… I’ll keep fighting until the very end. ¹