Side Quest 1 : Nat 1 at Gilt Coffer, part 4

Beyond the reality that a teammate's death could be devastating for the guild and the mission—with a massive penalty—losing Lyra, or any other companion, had never crossed our minds.

Having faced missions far more dangerous than a mere heist and rescue, we never expected to face such a dilemma.

"What if we take her to the Luminaria Cathedral?" I said, trying to sound brave. Caneky raised an eyebrow, deadpan as usual.

"And you think she'll behave the entire trip... without eating us?"

"Tie her up and bring her to a Noctamer?" Lisian commented. Itzamune shook his head.

"We have to decide quickly. We still need to deliver the money to the villages and remove the beasts from the racetrack. Time is running out."

Edna fell silent, opening the mission screen.

[MISSION: Some nobles are getting rich off the war dishonorably. It's necessary to show that the Luminaries desire peace, even if it means going against their own people who have no respect for life.]

[Stolen Money: 19,997 / 18,000]
[Monsters Rescued: 45 / 45]

We checked our screens—no mistake. The same message stared back at all of us.

[SECRET MISSION: An unknown monster wants to prevent the rescue of the Nightspawns. Although they are demons from Tenebris, feeding human greed has awakened their wrath. Eliminate the creature to prove that Luminaria does not bow to the corrupt or to the bloodthirsty entities of Velsha.]

[Monsters: 0 / 1]

Lisian's voice cracked. "This is a joke, right? Anyone else seeing this nightmare or is it just me?"

"This... this wasn't on the mission before," Caneky said, as the window updated again.

[WARNING: The morning mist has protected both the creature and the fleeing Nightspawns, but once it clears and the first rays of dawn touch the Blightborn, it will perish and the Secret Mission will be a FAILURE.]

[FAILURE PENALTIES: -5,000 HP (permanent)]

Caneky’s eyes widened in horror after crunching the numbers. "Minus five thousand permanent HP!? That's like—half our base health, and three maxed-out healing spells!

[TIME UNTIL DAWN: 05:00]

The countdown began as the mist started to reveal a starless sky, and the blue flame of the lanterns slowly extinguished.

"What are we going to do?" Edna whispered, barely audible.

I tried to console him, but his desperation overwhelmed me.

"RONIN! What are we going to do!? I don’t want to kill Lyra."

Those words set off Itzamune, who suddenly burst into tears and, with a guttural cry, rushed directly toward the creature that Lyra had become.

"Wait! Don’t go near—WOW! Wow... hey, put that down now."

Edna rushed to intercept the beast before the paladin could reach it, but the gentle shark, now empowered by the barbarian’s RAGE, bared his teeth and fiercely protected the declared Blightborn. With one sudden move, he raised his trident, stepped between us and Itzamune, and charged directly at our group.

"NO ONE IS LAYING A FINGER ON HER!"

"Hey, buddy, calm down," Caneky approached slowly until Edna grabbed his robe and pulled him back.

Itzamune wasn’t kidding. He really attacked Caneky without warning.

"Back off, Can! Show your familiar beast. I know you always put the mission first. If I don't see it, I'll cast my last Holy Tide on you."

Our warlock yanked the paladin away from the trident. I collapsed under the tension.

"Not nap time!" Edna shouted, rushing over.

"I can’t think with you breaking my eardrums."

"Hurry, whiskered butt. Time’s running out," Lisian said, watching the timer.

My purring calmed me as Lyra, or what was left of her, stirred.

"Ronin... hurry," the lizard said, fear in his voice.

The first rays of sunlight lit the horizon, and the Blightborn growled in pain. Itzamune dropped his trident and ran to catch the shadowy lunar specter as it tried to rise.

"Ronin... If you’ve got something, say it!" Edna called, daggers ready.

Like divine inspiration, I jumped up and ran to Edna, grabbed one of his vials from his belt, and sprinted toward Lisian.

"Use your last healing spell on this potion. Edna, pin down the legs! Itzamune, open Lyra's mouth! Caneky, help him!"

Everyone moved at once. Lisian finished the spell and handed me the potion. I dashed over, gripped the trident, tilted the blade toward Lyra, and poured the potion down it so it ran into her open mouth.

"Now run!" I yelled as we all fled.

At dawn, the Nightspawn’s shadow dissolved with a shriek. Ash fell and my companions covered their ears, some terrified, others anxious.

A familiar burp echoed, then a thud. Silence followed, then a feathered body appeared in the clearing.

"Lyra!" the shark cried, cradling her.

We followed in silence as our friend's sobs broke the moment.

"It can't be..." Lisian muttered, joining Itzamune. Her tears sprouted flowers in the field.

"This isn't fair!" Caneky muttered, hiding tears while Quetza wept beside him.

Edna managed to smile warmly despite the pain. "Hey, champ—we’re right here. We all hurt, but I know it’s cutting you the deepest."

"It’s so sad! So terrible!" I wailed while holding my hat in my hands. "A poem for the brave and bold Lyra, whose final words were her creed, a war cry. I’ll carry them in my soul, for you’ll live on in every one of my battles. You, who inspired many fights—and won them all—were our safe place and gathering point, a gift in the storm. And though I could say so much more, what hurts the most is knowing that the words Itzamune holds in his heart... will never be heard."

"What words?" a cheerful voice said, then came a familiar hoot.

"That the sweet merfolk paladin is deeply in lo..." Petals hit my face—Lisian’s attempt at an assassination.

"Lyra!" Edna shouted, silencing my cries.

Our adorable barbarian had awakened from what we believed was her eternal sleep. She sat up from Itzamune’s warm embrace, frozen since he realized she had spoken. Too embarrassed to move, the blush on his grayish skin gave off a strong smell of fried fish.

Lisian gently moved the stunned paladin aside and then handed him to Caneky, who took the trident and poked him several times to snap him out of it. Meanwhile, I tried to catch my breath and clear every last petal from my throat.

A melody played as a notification screen appeared, signaling the end.

[Stolen Money: 19,997 / 18,000]
[Monsters Rescued: 38 / 38]

[Blightborn Defeated: 1 / 1]

[COMPLETE MISSION: Deliver the 18,000 gold to the village folk.]

"Wait, 38? Didn’t we rescue 45?" Caneky asked. Lyra burped. "Guess 'rescue' means ‘out of the nobles' hands’ this time."

"It says we took 1,997 extra gold from the nobles. So it’s ours!" Edna said as other players shouted inside.

"The Hostile Manifestations are outside, team! Death to the Heralds of Ruin!"

"Ugh... Again? I’m tired of NPCs dropping surprise missions right after we finish these side quests."

"You can't beat the game's AI. Just survive and enjoy," Lisian said, ready to run, frustrated.

As Edna tried to snap Itzamune back to his senses, Lyra squinted at the horizon.

"I can see the village chiefs coming with the other players. They must be here for their gold and to help."

"Doesn’t look like that," Edna said as complaints rose about the freed beasts attacking before dawn.

"Maybe we can talk to them," Itzamune said, just before an arrow struck his dorsal fin. "Ouch!"

"I don't think they want to listen," I laughed. "Edna, paralyzing potions?"

Edna shook his head, biting his lip.

"Lisian, sleeping spores?"

The druid also shook her head, clearly exhausted.

"Itzamune?" I asked the paladin as the warlock removed the arrow. "Caneky?"

I didn't need a response. The lizardfolk's familiar signaled I was still deep in debt.

"Why do I even ask? Ah! Edna, do you still have the little bombs?"

My partner-in-crime lit up and pulled out the flask, which Lyra grabbed at once.

"Great! Let’s do this, team!" shouted the half-owl in that all-too-familiar tone.

"No..." Edna's eyes widened in terror.

"Lyra, no!" Lisian and I shouted, alerting everyone to what was coming.

"Eat gold, losers!" she shouted as she tossed the entire bottle and took off running. "Lyyyyraaaaaaaaaaaa!" she screamed, striking the money bags with her axe. "Jankiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiins!"

Gold exploded into the air and rained down, causing what we estimated to be five points of non-lethal damage per coin. As other players scrambled to recover the money and heal the villagers, we were rewarded with a giant MISSION COMPLETE sign.

Once we were far enough from the racetrack, we agreed to return to the guild camp to naturally recover our health. We said our usual goodbyes and wished each other luck surviving the day away from the monitors, since some of us had early work.

However, before logging off, I couldn’t help but wonder why the side quest suddenly changed, how Caneky’s illusion turned Lyra into an unregistered Blightborn, and—worse yet—if killing her would’ve locked her status as a Nightspawn forever.