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At the end of the miasma-filled valley awaited them…a mysterious tear through the air that appeared out of nowhere.

“A rift…no, somehow it looks more like a scar?”

As Crim muttered with curiosity, Sorleon, Reinhard, Cheval, and Julia all collectively turned away nervously.

“I never thought we’d encounter *these things* in a game of all places…”
“I know…but Amari is leading the development team, so I can see how it happened.”
“True enough… But I really don’t like the look of it.”
“I had never seen one before… so this is how it feels…”

The four of them voiced their opinions in a low voice, clearly suspicious of the strange tear.

…And then.

“Indeed, that is a scar.”
“A scar opened here in the center of the continent.”
“”What’s left of the wounded earth as the power of the Underworld Tree’s power attempts to break its seal.””

Two voices from unknown girls reached them, speaking in turns, and then in unison.
Then they emerged from amongst the rocks on the valley sides, two young and innocent looking girls…one with hair tied on the left side of her head, the other on the right, like a pair of twins with symmetric styles.

“And who are you two..?”

Crim stepped forward, representing the players, and the two girls answered while holding hands.

“We are the descendants, of those entrusted with protected the hallowed power entrusted to us during the reign of the Red Lion Emperor, for this moment.”
“We are the descendants, of the tribe that safeguarded and perpetuated the power of the Sephirs, granted by the Red Lion Emperor.”
“”We are the lowest seat of the Sephir Maidens.””

The two girls reached for the hem of their skirt, elegantly raising them while giving a bow as wings of golden light unfolded behind them.
They looked almost the same as the ones Julia showed just earlier.
The only difference was that Julia had three pairs for a total of six, while the girls only had a single pair of two wings each.

Julia was supposed to have a Unique Species like Crim, so the chances of her being present there were quite low all things considered, so there was no way that the event required her participation to be completed.
So Crim figured that the intended solution to get through the valley was to meet those two girls, and advance while protecting them.

“So about this scar here, may we attack and destroy it?”
“You may, go ahead, only-”
“Once you get close, its guardian will be made manifest.”

The Winged Light sisters answered Crim’s question…and just at the same time, something flowed out through the upper corner of the scar.

A head, neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, chest, waist, hips, knees, and ankles, all represented as 16 dark purple octahedrons like the joints of a puppet, took their place in mid-air as black miasma condensed between them to form the body, which stretched to an enormous 20 meters.

The ground shook as the figure landed in front of Crim and the rest, clearly carrying more weight than its appearance would suggest.

“I see, so that’s this area’s boss.”
“Yes, you’ll have to defeat it if you want to reach the scar.”
“And we can’t clear off all the miasma in this location.”
“”So good luck to all of you.””

The Winged Light sisters announced that for all players to hear, and hastily retreated from the frontline.

*Well, at least that’ll make things easier for me.*

There was nothing worse than having to fight a boss while constantly keeping someone safe, so Crim appreciated that they stepped back.
That also applied to the other players, who all looked relieved.
Then again, the boss had not started attacking yet, merely watching the players.
But the small movements it did showed that there was no limit to its joints’ rotation. It had a humanoid shape, but was not constrained to human movements, making it difficult to predict its eerie behavior.

*Figures this would be an area boss, this might be a difficult battle.*

Just as Crim was getting ready to go all out…

“…Sorry, Sorleon. We’re late.”

Despite everyone being itching to explore the new area, there was one person who had been mysteriously missing…and whose voice now stopped Crim from charging at the enemy.
That new arrival, heaving for air from hurrying to get there…wearing a brand new set of red leather armor, and a pitch black demonic sword with a flickering blue line of light, was that red-haired young man Crim and her group knew so well. Together with…

“I mean, really it was Haru who got here late.”
“I’m sorry Suzaku, I was caught up with work!”
“My bad, there were a lot of things to get ready for the new event.”
“We tried to get at least Haru to leave early, but it didn’t work out. We’re really, really sorry!”

Behind Suzaku was the usual bard girl Haru and…a black wolf Warbeast girl fencer with a cool boyish haircut, and a sheep Warbeast with a cute voice and spellcaster attire. They were their new party members.
And seeing Suzaku surrounded by those three girls…

“You Harem gathering b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲.”
“Just go explode will you?”
“I don’t want to hear that from you two, shut up!!”

Crim and Frey both spat out those words, dripping with derision.
And Suzaku fired back, as those two had no right to complain.
All of the players around them also nodded in agreement, though it was dubious with who they were siding in that situation.
…But that did not really matter.

“Well, however it may be, first we need to deal with that thing.”
“So that’s the first boss of the new area. It’ll be the perfect victim to suffer the results of our two months of training.”

Crim’s wings unfurled behind her.
Suzaku also activated his silver armor.
As they grinned fearlessly at the boss…despite its lack of emotions, it seemed to stagger back in fear…