Blood sprayed out of my left shoulder, joined by searing pain, as a spear slashed across it. I clenched my teeth to suppress a gasp of pain. The soles that threw the spear drew a stone axe and charged.

  A gunshot rang out from behind me. It was swiftly followed by Robert's voice as the soles came at us

  "Dante, are you okay?" he asked.

  "I'm fine," I answered.

  One of the soles thrust a spear at my face. I swept it aside with my rapier before thrusting back, hitting the creature in its heart. The monster fell dead. But three more of its kind crawled over its corpse.

  "I cast fist!" I shouted while punching at them with my left arm.

  My head burned as a spectral fist collided with the soles. Once more, a group of them was reduced to bloody stains. Still, I didn't waste any time.

  I turned to Robert. He was using a flintlock pistol to parry incoming blows with one hand while cutting with his blade in the other. The weapon Robert carried was a basket-hilt broadsword. It was being swung in arcs to keep the soles at bay.

  Robert was lucky that our attackers' spears were short. Otherwise, they would easily outreach him. But without his bill hook, Robert was vulnerable.

  One of the soles saw an opening. It rushed in and jabbed its spear at his gut. I jumped at it, swinging my blade and knocking the creature's polearm to the side.

  My rapier thrust out. When I pulled it back, one of the soles' eyes was dangling from its tip. The monster screamed in pain and stumbled back. Another cried and thrust at me, forcing me to parry its spear.

  "Dante!" Robert shouted.

  "Not so loud," I replied. "I'm right here."

  "I can handle myself. You don't need to worry about..."

  Robert started, but he didn't get to finish. I noticed a soles rushing in and thrusting at his leg. My rapier was busy parrying another spear blow, so I struck out my foot to kick the new attacker's weapon to the side.

  A sharp pain flashed through my calf. Blood gushed from my shank as a spear was embedded deep in it. I let out a gasp of pain, struggling to avoid screaming.

  "Dammit!" Robert shouted.

  He pulled out his last gun and fired it at the soles that stabbed me. The creature fell dead, its brains splattered over the tunnel's floor.

  "I'm not letting you get hurt, Robert," I said. "I didn't warn you about this enough, and I should have."

  A bundle of soles charged me as I almost collapsed to my knees. I thrust my left arm out, shouting all the while.

  "I cast fist!"

  The magic punch turned the monsters into paste. However, more of their kind rushed in to take their places. Robert jumped in front of me, swinging his sword to hold them back.

  "Don't worry about it. It's not like I'd believe you. Hell, I don't think anyone at..."

  Before Robert could continue, I saw a spear flying at his face. I dropped my rapier and grabbed the boy with my right arm. Then, I yanked him back just in time to avoid the projectile.

  A harsh pain flashed through my back. I turned to see that one of the soles standing behind me with a bloody axe. With fear in my eyes, I reached for my rapier.

  A spear flew through the air and embedded itself in my right arm. I let out a cry of agony as blood sprayed out of my body. With all my wounds, parts of my clothes were stained red.

  "Dammit!" Robert shouted.

  He cleaved the soles who grabbed me in half. Its intestines spilled out on the dirt floor. Robert grabbed my body and yanked me back to the cave wall. All the while, he parried incoming blows so fast that I thought his arm would catch on fire.

  "Back here!" I called out.

  Robert leaped towards me, placing his back against the wall. I thrust out my left arm one last time. Pain wracked my entire being as I did.

  "Just die already!" I shouted.

  Another headache wracked my mind. I started seeing spots and stars. Faint images of fire flicked in the background. However, I had cast the spell.

  More of the soles turned into a red mist...but it wasn't enough. Their horde seemed endless as more of their kind crawled over the dead. They opened their mouths wide, their broken teeth dripping with poison. Horror struck me as I realized what they were planning on doing.

  Disabling us, then making sure their venom brought the final blow. After causing them this much trouble, there was no way the soles would grant us quick deaths. We'd spasm out from their poison. Foam would exit our mouths. It would take us hours to finally die.

  I lashed out with my fist again. But before I could even speak, a great pain flashed through my mind. I let out a scream of agony and collapsed.

  Before I could hit the dirt, Robert grabbed my shoulder and yanked me up. The pain was so great from the injuries as well as his hand digging into me that I felt like I'd pass out.

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  "Oh, no, you don't!" Robert shouted. "If you're dying today, you're dying standing!"

  He struggled to beat back the soles with his sword. A spear flew through the air, cutting across his shoulder. Robert let out a gasp of pain, and a pair of soles hit his sword with their weapons. It flew from his hand, landing on the tunnel's ground.

  Everything slowed. The soles grinned maniacally upon seeing us disarmed. What little hope was still present on Robert's face left it. My eyes saw orbs floating through the air. I felt a pit form in my stomach.

  So, this was where I died?

  In the game, I never made it past the first boss. But reincarnated into it...I wouldn't even reach the first boss. There was nothing else I could do. It was over, and...

  ...why did I feel a sudden warmth?

  A blast of fire came down from above, washing over the soles in front of us. They screamed in agony as they were charred to a crisp. I felt a wave of heat blast over me, despite the flames themselves not touching my body.

  The very second the fire stopped, Augusta landed in front of Robert and I. Her flamberge rapier was drawn. I couldn't see her face, but her body radiated raw anger.

  There were more soles in the tunnels, and I saw their beady eyes shrinking. They gave off an aura of sheer terror as they took slow steps back. I heard them speak words in some archaic language.

  "Erim dingir!"

  "Erim dingir!"

  "Erim dingir!"

  Their cries were silenced by a wave of fire that blasted out of Augusta's sword. Screams of pain echoed through the tunnels as the girl walked through the darkness.

  I looked at Robert. His expression was pale with dread. Then, a flash of light lit up the tunnel. More cries echoed. By the time I turned back, all was dark again.

  More light illuminated the darkness, revealing that we were surrounded by countless soles corpses. Some of them were little more than piles of ash. Augusta was standing in the tunnel, her composure like that of a vengeful god. Several soles were on their knees before her.

  "Shashuningin! Shashuningin, en!"

  I couldn't understand their language, but it was obvious they were begging for mercy. The soles hadn't even tried attacking Augusta. Was she more powerful than I thought, and did the soles somehow know that? Or was there some other reason why they weren't attacking her?

  The screams of the soles drowned out my thoughts. If Augusta understood what they were saying, she didn't care. This was, in every sense of the word, a massacre.

  A while later, the three of us were out of the tunnel. Robert's injuries were treated with incredible swiftness while mine, due to me having more, took longer. These were preliminary treatments before we were brought to the nurse. Augusta wasn't hurt.

  The school staff questioned us intensely about what happened, both before and after we were brought to the medical bay for magical treatment. After the three of us were released, a moment of awkward silence passed over us in the hall.

  "Dante, Your Highness Princess Augusta," Robert broke it. "You...you saved my life. Thank you."

  I held up my hands.

  "You don't need to thank me, Robert. I didn't warn you as much as I should have," I said.

  He scoffed.

  "It's not like I would have believed you. Besides, I would have been in danger whether or not you were there," Robert stated. "So, don't worry about it."

  As much as I wanted to argue this point, I decided to accept it. I turned to Augusta.

  "Thank you, Augusta," I said. "We would have been dead without you."

  The girl took a deep breath. Then, she pulled me close in a tight hug.

  "Dante. I'm sorry I didn't get back sooner," she shivered.

  I hugged Augusta back.

  "It's alright," I told her. "You came in just in time."

  We broke our hug, and Robert's voice came to my ears.

  "What were those things that attacked us, anyway?" he asked.

  I turned to him

  "They are called soles. They are the cannon fodder and vanguard forces of the anti-gods," I answered.

  Robert shivered. For a moment, fear and panic flashed through his body. Then, a contemplative look crossed his face.

  "And what were they doing in this school? We don't have anything extremely religious here," he stated.

  "If I knew, I would tell you," I shrugged. "Soles aren't very smart, so maybe they attacked the wrong target?"

  "Maybe, maybe not," Robert's eyes narrowed slightly.

  Then, I turned to Augusta. A sense of awkwardness filled me up. I rubbed the back of my head.

  "So, I'm not exactly in a position to complain since you saved my life. But I'd like to know if you were following me around all day," I said.

  Augusta tilted her head. She seemed confused.

  "Is it...a bad thing to follow someone around?" she questioned.

  "Generally speaking, people don't like it. They call it stalking," I explained.

  "Oh. I'm...I'm sorry. I didn't know," Augusta said.

  Just how horrible were her parents? They didn't even teach her things like this!

  I quickly waved my hands in the air.

  "You don't need to worry," I replied. "You didn't know, so I'll forgive it. And anyway, you saved me. So, I wouldn't mind it if you followed me around more often."

  Robert looked away.

  "I don't know if we should be encouraging her...but..." he frowned.

  "Not following me in secret but openly," I clarified. "Why were you tailing me, anyway?"

  Augusta paused a moment. Hesitation flashed in her eyes. The girl's face and voice were normally expressionless, but now...

  "I...heard a rumor that you were talking with Millia about a game."

  What?

  "...you were playing it with Robert and Janek, but not me."

  WHAT?

  Someone overheard my talk with Millia? It looked like they didn't hear all of it, or at least misunderstood it...then again, the people of this world didn't exactly have a frame of reference for video games. Or for being characters in one.

  "...I admit that I got jealous when I shouldn't have," Augusta said. "We spar every day, so if you wanted some time away from me or were mad that I kept beating you, I'd understand."

  I swiftly raised my hands, rapidly thinking of excuses.

  "I'm not mad, Augusta! Not at all!" I stated. "Let me explain what Millia and I were talking about."

  Augusta gave me a single nod.

  "Okay," she said, her voice becoming fully stoic again.

  "I've never heard of any games from you before," Robert raised an eyebrow. "So, I'm interested in this too."

  Thankfully, Robert's interjection meant things didn't get too awkward as I thought of an excuse.

  "I'm making a game. It's a very new concept for a game. Nothing like it's been done before. And I was talking with Millia about who might be interested in play-testing it," I lied, realizing that I'd have to pretty quickly tell Millia about my deception. "We just didn't think you'd be interested, Augusta."

  The princess spoke fast.

  "I am interested. Robert is interested too," she said.

  Rage flashed through Robert's face. The boy folded his arms.

  "This is just like you nobles, assuming that I'm interested!" he declared.

  Then, Robert realized who he was yelling at. His face showed utter fear, and his skin turned pale. I suspect he also remembered our earlier talk. He held up his hands in an apologetic manner.

  "I'm sorry if that sounded a bit harsh..."

  "Are you interested?" Augusta asked.

  "I...I am," Robert admitted.

  He let out a deep sigh.

  "And even if I have to play a game with nobles, it's...as long as it doesn't interfere with my club activities, I should be fine."

  "Great!" I gave them two thumbs up. "I just need to talk to Janek, and we'll be good!"

  My schedule was now packed:

  Classes.

  Making a game.

  Explaining how badly we might have fucked up to Millia.

  Going through Janek's bonding event.

  And, a new idea that came to mind, having a bonding event with Augusta since Millia wasn't interested.

  Still, I noticed something else.

  "Augusta, is your hair more white than before?" I asked.

  "It's nothing, Dante," she answered. "Don't worry about it."

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