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After running through the fort, the three reached the rooftop…where they became dazzled by what they saw.

It had become night at some point, so the sky above was filled with twinkling stars and the moon shone brightly, with no clouds to obscure them. The tranquil lake also reflected all of that, duplicating it all.

They were standing in an arena that almost seemed to be floating through space, surrounded by stars above and below. And amidst all that stood Bifrons, waiting for everyone.

“…Huh, at least thy taste in choosing locales seemeth decent. Hast thou uttered thy final prayers yet? I warrant none would rue having this scenery as the last sight they behold.”

Crim’s provokation…worked only for a moment, as Bifrons soon composed himself again to reply with a cold tone.

*”I never intended to run away. All I wanted was to find a place that would allow me to unleash my full power in this body…!!”*

In the end, his voice rose into a shout, and his body dissolved into strand-like shadows, which twisted around, swelled, and soon took a new form.

Now, he looked like an enormous skeleton wearing a robe and holding a scythe, like a grim reaper. That appearance alone was far more menacing, and would make anyone’s hairs stand on end.

“…Is that his real form then?”
“Oh, this fight has a second phase?”
“Focus, you two! Things aren’t looking good so at least take cover!!”

Crim and Setsuna looked up in wonder, but Elmir noticed the immense magic gathering around them. He quickly grabbed their collars and dragged them behind the staircase they had used to get there.

…A moment later, a hellish wind that putrefied anything in its wake blew through the rooftop.

◇◇◇

“…Death on touch seems a bit too extreme…”

Crim muttered that after trying out something. She had peeked out from the wall she was hiding behind, and thrown out a piece of monster meat from her inventory.

As soon as that meat made contact with the black wind circling around Bifrons, it decayed and fell apart. Just making contact with it was enough to receive an enormous amount of damage.

There was only one way to fight. Come out when the wind subsided, and retreat once it began to blow again.

At least there were various types of containers strewn about the rooftop, so there were plenty of places to take cover in. But Bifrons could also kick through and destroy objects, so their numbers would decrease as the fight went on, eventually leaving Crim and her group fully exposed.

During one of the times when they were taking cover from the black wind, the three began to discuss their strategy.

“Elmir, tell me, how many times hast thou sought to use Enrage?”
“…I’m sorry I’m so useless as a tank.”
“That is not mine intent, I hold thee not at fault. I simply wish to know.”

She felt bad for Elmir’s reaction so she tried to comfort him a bit, saying it did not really matter. It was just that from the moment the fight started, Bifrons had been intent on focusing all his attacks on Crim.

For some reason, it did not matter how much Elmir tried to pull aggro, the boss ignored him, like he had a mind of his own.

“So he really is the same type as Belial…”

That seemed to prove something to Crim, but her whisper was carried away by the wind, and the other two could not hear her.

“I’m really sorry. I really can’t get him to focus on me, he just ignores everything I try.” Elmir was also getting fed up with the way Bifrons acted. And it also hurt his pride as a tank…

“It is not thy fault, Elmir. I believe there lieth another cause for that.”
“Hm? What do you mean?”

Crim had picked Elmir instead of someone else from Lua Cheia to verify that.

“I already suspected it would not work. Thy earlier attempts downstairs to use Enrage upon him were futile as well, were they not?”
“Umm, Master? What are you trying to say?”

Setsuna was struggling to follow, while Elmir listened attentively to Crim who was sharing her theory with them.

“There’s no aggro system for him. He acts and reasons just like us, players…it’s like *he’s got a grip on this game’s systems.*”

The two took a moment to process what Crim had just said.

“So…you think he’s actually a player?”
“Or could it be someone from the development team playing as him?”
“No, I don’t think that’s it either. It’s something similar, but not quite. At the very least, I doubt he’s someone who also lives in our world.”

Bifrons did not seem to be controlled by another person from the real world. He was undoubtedly a being from this world. But then again, there were plenty of NPCs that seemed to exist outside of the game’s systems.

For instance, there was Belial, who ignored all area boundaries to curse enemies. That kind of behavior was different from the regular boss enemies, which were all fully bound by the system.

There was an even more extreme example of that with Da’at Seyfert, who now lived with Lua Cheia in their castle. When Crim logged into the game for the first time, Da’at had corrupted Crim’s spawn coordinates to send her to Schwarzwald, a clear violation of the system rules.

Maybe Bifrons was yet another of those rogue entities, with the power to alter the rules of the game through some still unknown means.

“Hrnghh…somehow I’m even more confused than before…”
“…Let’s leave the thinking for later. To sum things up, don’t think of this as a boss with AI routines, but more like a PvP fight.”
“…Okay, I can understand that. Let’s do it then!”

After pushing all those complicated things out of his mind, Elmir smiled with reinvigorated energy…and then a shadow loomed over the place where they were taking cover.

They all dispersed as quickly as they could, just in time to avoid the scythe that fell like a guillotine.

*”Are you done talking yet…!”*
“Yes, sorry for the wait.”

Even then, it was clear that Bifrons was targeting Crim more than the other two, and she gave a nod in response while holding out her hand.

“It seemeth we have made thee wait. To make amends, we too shall go all out.”

As she announced that, the Shape Shifter TPH-R on her finger began to transform, turning into the handle of an enormous sword.

“…Ragnarok Weapon…!!”

A blade that shone like twilight rapidly grew out of the handle, adding a red hue to the light of the starry sky. Then she gave the enormous sword a test spin, pointing it straight at Bifrons, who had twitched slightly just from seeing that weapon.

“The time of retribution for thy sins is at hand… I, the Scarlet Demon Lord, shall mete out justice…!”