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Around an hour had passed since the fight against the girl calling herself Cluh-Luh began.

“Let’s do it, Hinagiku! Shooting Howl!”

Lycoris’ rifle produced a loud sound that resembled a beast’s roar as a torrent of light emanated from it. That pierced through all the tentacles in its way, completely swallowing Cluh-Luh.

“Gh…uh..!”

It caused her to stagger a bit, but it was clear that did not deal too much damage. Before Cluh-Luh could recover, Hinagiku rushed in, her blade clad in blue flames that devoured evil.

“…Master Art, Nine Forms.”
“…Ghah?!”

The regular Katana Skill had nine Forms. But there was one secret spell that unleashed all of them at once, Nine Forms. Blue afterimages overlapped, forming countless sword slashes, all of them converging on Cluh-Luh’s body.

“Match me, Crim, Cyclon Drive!”
“Leader, you as well, Cyclon Drive!”

Frey and Reinhard unleashed a powerful wind spell at the same time, sending spiraling wind blades that scraped along the ground as they flew at Cluh-Luh.

“With this…!”
“It’ll be over…!”

Crim and Sorleon ran alongside them, their twin blades and scythe reaching Cluh-Luh’s body at the same time. This time they scored clean hits.

“Ghah…! Ah…I see…hahahahah…so this is it, I just lost!”

Cluh-Luh lost her balance and began vomiting a black translucent liquid, clearly different from blood.

“Did we…win?”
“Was that it…?”

The players began to whisper to each other, unsure of whether they had actually won.

It feels really anti-climactic, doesn’t it?

There had been no second phase or anything, it felt too strange to end the fight just like that, and that made the players confused.

“Hah…hahah… I’ll thank you just once, humans…now…”

But Cluh-Luh began to laugh, almost as if mocking the players. There was no mistaking the emotion in her voice, it was glee.

“My chains…are finally broken.”

Her laughter ended abruptly, and then her body fell limp on the floor. Only the strange hat she was wearing seemed to sink into the floor and vanished.

“Ack…hah…”

All the players stared at Cluh-Luh in confusion, as the tentacles veiling her body were gone, revealing a white dress instead, and she just coughed painfully.

…And then Crim jumped in.

“Freya, use your healing magic on her!”
“Huh?! Ah, umm…okay!”

Crim shouted orders at Freya as she bit her finger and activated Life Essence, dripping her own blood into the girl’s mouth.

“Wait, what are you doing…”
“I’m not sure myself, but I feel like it’s the right thing to do..!”

Everyone looked at Crim with confusion, as she was desperately trying to heal the enemy they had all fought earlier. Crim did not let that bother her in the slightest, focusing entirely on healing Cluh-Luh with Freya. And in the end…

“I’m…I’m fine…now… Sorry for all the…trouble…”

Cluh-Luh’s face was pale, but she gently tapped Freya’s hand, telling her it was enough. Seeing that, Crim and Freya let out reassured sighs. She then weakly propped her upper body to sit, looking completely different from before.

“Thank you…very much.”
“…Who are you?”
“I don’t have a name… You can just keep calling me Cluh-Luh if you want.”

She lowered her head as she replied. Her bangs were trimmed slightly above her eyes, and her hair reached down to her waist. Her face features were soft, but had a certain dignity to them. It was a frail type of beauty.

“…Wait? Huh? Aunt…?”
“Hm? What aileth thee, Sorleon? Thy countenance is as one who hath beheld a ghost.”

Crim tilted her head, seeing Sorleon react in a very strange way.

“Sorry, it’s nothing… She just reminded me of someone I know.”

Sorleon just turned around as he mumbled an explanation, but then went to form a small circle with Cheval and Reinhard, whispering about something.

“No…they’re similar but not quite the same, so maybe they just reused some lingering character data, don’t you think?”
“So that’s what that person looked like when they were young?”
“No way… Even if they just look similar, I don’t want to be pitted against that person…”

Crim just looked puzzled at those three whispering among themselves. Meanwhile, there were already plenty of players who had been charmed by the girl. Somehow, the players had moved to the girl’s side simply because of her appearance.

Crim shook her head, seeing that once again cuteness trumped everything else, and then together with Freya, they took the girl by hand and helped her sit on the bed.

“Thank you very much, umm…”
“I’m Crim.”
“And I’m Freya, umm…can I call you Lulu?”
“Lulu… Heheh, that sounds cute.”

Lulu chuckled a bit, liking the nickname Freya had given her, and then repeated it in a lower voice.

But right after, the whole building shook violently, and a large quantity of bubbles began rising in the sea, visible through the glass walls. It seemed like everything was starting to move upward.

“Say, what was that tremor just now?”

Crim asked the girl, who seemed the most likely to have an answer. The response came quickly.

“That… it’s the movement of R’lyeh rising.”
“Rising? But didn’t the submerged city already come to the surface?”
“No… not yet. That was just the beginning. Once it’s fully emerged, there will be no stopping it. Before that happens, I must go and seal him away… even if it costs me my life… I have to.”

The girl’s voice trembled slightly as she spoke, and it filled the players around her with a deep sense of pity. It was incredible how quickly she had gained their trust, but some began to grasp the gravity of her words.

Those in Crim’s group who had studied a certain myth quickly realized what was happening, and if that was truly the case, things were about to take a very dangerous turn.

“Then who exactly are you…?” Sorleon finally found his voice.

The girl placed a hand on her chest and explained, “I come from a time long past. I willingly became a sacrifice to imprison him within my body, containing that cosmic horror. Then, I was put to sleep for an eternity.”

“Then… what was that about the chains breaking?” Sorleon asked.

“Yes… he took control of my body while I slept, and as I was injured in battle, the seal weakened. Somehow, he slipped through and escaped.”

The girl lowered her gaze, gripping the hem of her skirt in frustration. Gasps rippled through the group as she continued.

“This city is rising now. And with it, he will awaken… that accursed God, the Great Old One… Cthulhu.” Her voice grew somber as she uttered the name.

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