A Six Out of Ten Entrance

Dahlian and I kept exchanging anticipated glances between us and at the elf, and apparently, we’d done it so much that even he couldn’t ignore us anymore. Sloane sighed and turned to us. “Is there something you two wish to say to me?”

“Yeah, we wanna know your backstory,” Dahlian bluntly said.

“You really meant it when you hate beating around the bush, huh?” I said, gawking at him.

“Yep.”

Sloane frowned and resumed walking. “My past is no one’s concern.”

Dahlian threw his hands. “The hell you mean by that? It is to us!”

“I think that’s his way of saying that we should mind our own business,” I whispered. “I wouldn’t like being forced to talk about my past either.”

“Tsk, fine, I won’t press further, but the next time you hold back on your magic when we need it most, I’ll beat the snot out of you. Sounds fair?”

“Fair enough,” Sloane said nonchalantly.

Dahlian and I gave each other one more look of disappointment before sighing and moving on. The rest of the walk through the tunnel passed in awkward and uncomfortable silence, occasionally interrupted by the torchlights flickering as we walked past them. By the time we reached the end of the passageway, a massive, wooden door greeted us.

Dahlian approached it first, cracked his neck, and raised a curled fist, but Sloane yanked him back before he could punch it down.

“Hey, what—mmrph?!”

Sloane cupped his mouth and shushed him. “Wait, there are people inside,” he whispered.

Dahlian blinked.

In that silence, the three of us picked up faint noises behind that door. We all glanced at each other before sneaking up and pressing our ears against it.

What sounded like swords clashing leaked out of the door, followed by flames roaring around.

“Hah, is that all you got?!” a familiar voice shouted. “I’m sure you already know better than to underestimate me!”

The three of us raised our brows at each other.

That voice…! It was Ashrenne! So she was here after all! Was she fighting in this dungeon this whole time?!

“Oh no, I’m not,” said a new, soft-spoken voice. “I’m just trying to get you to stop underestimating me.”

Sloane slowly widened his eyes and turned pale. “This… this voice,” he sputtered. “It’s her… the goddess herself…”

“Ehhh?!” Dahlian and I whispered. The three of us immediately leaned our heads against the door again.

“It’s hard not to when you’re throwing all your followers at me and not yourself, you know,” said Ashrenne.

“Trying to taunt me, aren’t you? You should work on that if you want to rouse me that badly,” said Florathea. “Here, allow me to demonstrate what true provocation looks like.”

Silence briefly hung over the scene, followed by a sudden burst of flames hot enough to even reach us and heat the metallic parts of the door.

“Yeouch!” We all jumped away from it, our hands and ears lightly singed.

“Francis…?” Ashrenne asked, her voice dropping in pitch and quivering. “You… You dare… to use his body…?”

“You asked for it.”

“That’s a low blow… especially coming from you of all people. You’ve changed.”

“So did you.”

“Urgh…!”

A series of sword clashes loudly echoed through us, drowning out whatever dramatic conversation was going on in there. We didn’t have to hear any more to figure out the situation, though.

Looks like we showed up just in time. We all looked at each other again, sharing the same thought.

“The honor’s all yours,” I said to Dahlian, stepping away from the door. Sloane creased his brows and inhaled as if he wanted to say something against it, but in the end, he reluctantly gave in and stepped back.

Dahlian cracked a devilish smirk, took a few steps back, stretched his legs, and charged head-on. With an aggressive swing of his leg, he smashed the door wide open and sent wooden scraps soaring over an underground arena, smacking the chains dangling loosely around the stone walls and littering the stairway descending to a circular platform.

Ashrenne jolted and whipped up toward us, wide-eyed and speechless. A silhouette behind her also did the same.

I expected Dahlian to theatrically announce our arrival like we were some comic heroes, but instead, he spun toward Sloane and me, still wearing that devious look on his face.

He promptly snatched our lapels and hoisted us over his shoulders.

“Eh?” I squeaked.

“Oh no,” Sloane murmured.

“Let’s do this! All three of us!” said Dahlian, sprinting away.

Sloane let out his usual half-assed groan while I screamed at the top of my lungs, succumbing to Dahlian’s shenanigans and flailing our arms and legs. He leaped high into the air, and for only a brief moment, we hovered over the battle scene before gravity kicked in and sent us diving and crashing right onto the silhouette.

A cloud of dust expanded from the crash site, forcing Ashrenne to cover her face and back away. She coughed, fanned them away, and gawked at the three of us now standing triumphantly on the arena.

Well, it was only Dahlian who was actually standing and striking a pose. Sloane and I unfortunately faceplanted on the ground with our rears sticking up, already on the verge of passing out.

“Wow.”

That was all Ashrenne said.

“Wow,” repeated the soft voice.

Aaaand nothing else happened.

Everyone just stared at us, especially at Dahlian and his cheekiest grin yet. “Hahaha! How’s that for an entrance?” he asked, his hands on his hips.

But nobody answered him.

“...I wanna go home,” Sloane grumbled.

“For once, I feel the same way,” I mumbled.

A soft giggle eventually broke the awkward silence, though. We all turned to a wispy, light green glass orb floating far from the arena, flickering in amusement.

“Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to poke fun at anyone,” said the orb. “I was just wondering when you three would jump into the fray with us.”

Sloane groaned and pushed himself back up on his feet. “So you’ve already sensed us coming?”

“Of course. I also witnessed all that chaos happening in the entrance. You’re quite the force of nature, Haruma.”

“Gee, thanks, I’m flattered,” I muttered, getting back up next and dusting my clothes.

Ashrenne raised a brow. “What did you three do?”

“Haha! Haruma was awesome! He blew up and smashed all sorts of things on our way here!” said Dahlian, throwing a thumbs-up.

“Don’t make it sound like I’m some sort of violent criminal!” I shrieked.

“Nevertheless, Haruma was indeed the reason we’ve managed to get this far,” said Sloane, yawning and walking away. “And since we’ve found Ashrenne, I’m no longer needed…”

Dahlian snatched his collar and dragged him back. “Not so fast, buddy. You’re still in the same boat as us, and you barely did anything, so no excuse for you.”

“Noooooooo… My sleeeep…”

Ashrenne deeply sighed and facepalmed. “You guys, I swear…”

For a split second, she stretched a faint smile before she spotted a silhouette rising from the dust. She abruptly rushed over and shoved Dahlian away. “Watch out!”

“Eh—!?” Dahlian fell on his side, barely missing a massive thorn that could’ve pierced through his stomach.

But instead, it went through Ashrenne’s.

Dahlian, Sloane, and I all watched in horror and despair as she collapsed and stained the floor crimson red.

“No! Ashrenne!” I screamed, rushing over.

“No way, Boss?! Why’d you do that?!”

“Ashrenne…!”

All three of us frantically rushed over and kneeled before her.

Ashrenne coughed and clutched her bleeding stomach. “Guys, r-relax, I’m… fine,” she sputtered.

“No, you’re not!” I shouted. “Why… why did this still happen?! I’d already sworn to save you this time!”

“H-huh? ‘Th-this time?’ Did I—urgh—die… in your visions… o-or what?”

“I-it happened much later, a-and definitely not by whatever this… thing is!”

We all turned to the approaching silhouette, revealing itself as a rotting corpse wrapped in tree branches. It also had blond hair and wore a ragged knight's armor with a torn, high-ranking badge and a shining wedding ring.

Ashrenne gripped her stomach tighter. “F-Francis…”

“Francis? Is he… who I think he is to you?” I reluctantly asked.

“You… d-don’t know? Does th-that mean… this never happened… in your visions?”

“Yeah, it never did. I swear it. I-I never knew any of this could happen—”

“No, th-that’s not it.” She tossed me a sad, reassuring smile. “If this r-really is the first, then… I’d actually… want to thank you.”

“Huh? For what?”

“For giving me… a chance to see him again… i-in this path you’ve carved for us. I thought… I’d lost him forever. So, thank you… for making it happen in this reality, Haruma.”

I slowly widened my eyes, and my shoulders became light. Those words froze me on the spot, but at the same time, they also ignited something inside me, something I thought died a long time ago.

Before I knew it, I drew my sword out of my head.