Stay With Me

“So, this is what an actual loot looks like?” Teri glanced at the item and back at Taku and Yayoi sitting beside him. “And this… is our first ever since we woke up in this dungeon…”

Defeating the White Knight was a relatively manageable task, mostly because Yayoi and Taku were there. Yayoi was strong. Taku was only getting stronger. She could literally murder them both if Taku wasn’t as scary in his own right. Teri, on the other hand, had a slightly sturdier weapon, a shitty shield, a magic ring, and his maximum effort to count on.

The pink room had weird, sexual vibes.

That was it.

As per Taku’s words, nothing in it was enchanted. Teri thought about taking the chains off the dolls and using it as some kind of weapon or at least a part of his armor. But it was too heavy. He was the tank, but it seemed like taking hits for his friends wasn't the best way to go. There was some weird smell coming off it as well. It was something that bothered him and that Yayoi laughed at when she saw him trying to smell it.

So, it made sense for them to pass the pink room and go through the door—the same door the White Knight used to get to them. For the first time, they got into a room that led to nothing. There were also no monsters around. There were no traps either.

What met them was the interior of a shrine; large wooden floors, a number of pillars adorned with metallic talismans, each carved with images of the sun. As usual, everything was made of paper. The scent of candles, ink, and incense suggested that this area, regardless of the fact that it was right next to a weird sex room, was used as a place of worship and prayer. Added to the idea was how their eyes were led to an altar holding an image, a sculpture of a priestess surrounded by pink paper cranes.

In front of this image is a jet-black Yumi bow—acording to Taku, who was willing to throw hands so Teri wouldn’t call it a Japanese bow. They sat near the prized weapon, knowing that the area seemed safe enough. The statue’s presence felt comforting as well.

“I’ve never imagined I’d see Yayoi look so serene and pure,” Taku joked, pointing them to the image. “Damn—”

Yayoi punched Taku’s shoulder and both of them laughed. A pained look was cleverly hidden beneath her smug gaze. Teri could tell that much.

“But it must be weird… seeing yourself like this,” Taku continued, forcing a laugh to lighten the dimming mood. “But hey, you got a statue so…”

“It could be worse,” Yayoi replied as she gazed at the statue bearing her likeness. “It’s weird as hell, but I don’t hate it as much. If anything, I’d be mad if our mom was there instead of me.”

Taku looked down.

“I…”

“So—” Teri interrupted, leading their attention back to the bow. “Do you guys know how to use this? I don’t. It’s a whole set. There’s like… two quivers worth of arrows, an arm guard, and a pair of gloves. Seems like a proper and decent haul to me.”

“Nah. Hell no, especially when our lives depend on it. Besides, it’ll mess up my build. The best we can do is carry it with us and trade it with another party. But is it even enchanted?” Taku replied, his voice not as loud and energetic. He touched the bow, and after three seconds, a single tear ran down his cheek. “Motherfucker…”

“And there it is…” Yayoi crossed her arms and grinned.

Taku wiped his cheek, a comical rage burning in his eyes. “Lady Luck woke up in a good mood today. But surprise, surprise. She decided to spread her legs our way and piss all over our hopes and dreams. Life… Life is indeed cruel.” He stifled a cry as he turned his pained look toward them. “It’s enchanted; it’s a named item too, so you know it’s good. It calls itself the Trueshot Bow. It’s… reasonably powerful. Anyone can tell that this is a magic item, but it will take them a while to figure out what it does—unless you’re the Wizard King. Regardless, I’m telling you right now that it’s a risky item to trade.”

“Wait, you wanna break it?” Teri replied. “Why?”

“Pretty much.” Taku looked at Teri and filled the following silence with a hearty laugh. “But yeah… Morally? No. Strategically? I’m somewhere in the middle. Personally? Yes, definitely. If I meet someone out there who’s good with a bow but can’t find the weapon of their dreams, I’ll give them a firm slap on the back and say, ‘Hey, me too.’”

Teri grimaced. “Is this about the Hot Rod?”

“Yes—”

“Alrighty! Let’s pull the conversation back a bit,” Yayoi interjected, glancing at the bow and back to both of them. “What do you mean ‘strategically?’”

Taku widened his smile. “The bow is good—so good that we can get a bunch of items for it with the help of my boundless charisma. But like I said earlier, it’s risky.” Taku held up a finger. “The Trueshot Bow… lets you make it so that the arrows you should could appear a meter away from its actual position. This means I can shoot someone in the face and make it look like I’m shooting them in the leg.”

“So, you can pretty much make a shot that looks like it’ll miss and have it actually land.” Teri scoffed. “It’s pretty much unblockable if the user knows what they’re doing—”

Yayoi clapped Teri’s shoulders, smiling. “Unless they’re against me.”

“Pretty much.” Taku crossed his arms. “We’re essentially giving someone a weapon that they can use against us. The same case applies if we leave it lying around until someone picks it up, which gets more complicated since we do have an asshole faction to watch out for.”

“We’re wasting such a good weapon, though,” Yayoi said.

“That’s true,” Taku replied. “We’re breaking it unless you’re cool with killing someone who used this bow against us or if your sister could use this. It would be cool if she did, though. Buuuut… if she can actually use this bow, we still have to actually ask her if she wants to use this—”

“Not a problem,” Yayoi replied with a faint smile, her tone a bit dark. “I can have her use this—”

There came a scream.

It was faint.

It probably came from the corridor. And now that Teri thought about it, he forgot to close the door leading to the pink room.

Yayoi froze, a bit confused. Her mind seemed to race, comparing and checking if the scream she heard was from her sister.

Teri was the same. He found himself gazing at Yayoi, waiting for her to say something.

Judging that the voice belonged to a damsel in distress, Taku grabbed his staff and led the group’s charge toward the sound. He shouted, urging the two to stand up and follow him—and they did so without question.

Taku opened the door and led Teri and Yayoi into the pink room. The two gave him a quick thanks and picked up their pace, with Yayoi pushing forward and activating her spell to scan their surroundings. Then, she gazed at Teri and held up two trembling fingers.

Yayoi was telling the truth but not the entirety of it. She must have had her reasons. But Teri didn’t have the time to entertain other thoughts right now.

Teri puffed out a breath and activated his zone, his aura surging the moment he planted his feet and kicked off the ground. In a second, strength burned through his blood and he became more aware of every fiber of muscle he had in his body. He pushed forth into the main corridor with his shield raised and bar mace ready.

Three figures. Two Gray Knights. Essentially the same as the White Knight they faced minutes earlier, except for the color of their armor. One was by the door. The other one was in the corridor already. Both were armed with longswords. Below them was a high school girl with long dark brown hair. She was in tears and about to pass out.

This changed things.

There was no room for second-guessing. Teri would rely on his allies, after all. He smiled, dropped his bar mace, and stretched his right arm toward the Gray Knights. His ring let out a purple gleam. He shifted his zone to make his presence known.

The two monsters looked at him.

Good.

“Switch.”

Teri swapped positions with the girl and shifted his zone again, boosting his reaction speed and his overall physicality. The Gray Knights flashed their blades. Teri dodged a blade aiming to cut his neck and another aimed to punch a hole through his heart. He pulled out his dagger and stabbed one gray knight in the leg in between its armor. Too bad it wasn’t enough to stun it. Teri weaved through two more attacks, the first aimed to cut his face in half and the other poised to cleave through his side. He answered by punching the same Gray Knight he stabbed with the edge of his shield—that didn’t work either.

Keeping them in place was the best he could do. Teri accepted that fact once again. Ten to fifteen seconds had passed. At the rate he was going, he was going to get stabbed through the heart at the thirtieth second. The thought hurt less this time, however. He remembered his friends and realized he wasn’t weak. Not by a long shot.

“—Hack.”

Both of the Gray Knight’s heads flew backward, their bodies following right after. Teri deactivated his zone and collapsed as a sharp pain hit the side of his head. He glanced to the side, his vision a bit red. Yayoi was moving toward him, smiling proudly as if he did a good job. The girl was already in Taku’s arms—who looked genuinely worried about the girl’s wellbeing.

But Yayoi stopped.

Right.

The door where the other Gray Knight was. It was open.

The sound of fighting filled his ears.

Yayoi’s smile faded as she turned to face the room. She stepped back, her head straight, her eyes glistening, and her mouth half-open. Her expression shifted from joy, to confusion, to despair, and then to anger.

The door that welcomed her was large and metallic, carved upon it was a crimson rose, stained with ikemen graffiti begging them to go inside.

Yayoi was gazing at the sub-boss room.

“Sachi… I was right… you’re really…” Yayoi whispered, almost a whimper. “I’m—”

She activated her zone, her presence surging and burning of pain… of worry and regret. Her whole body trembled. Her nose started bleeding. Tears of blood welled up and ran down her eyes. She stifled a cry.

It was the first time Teri felt Yayoi’s aura like that. He knew that it was somewhat possible that it could carry and impress some kind of emotion, but not this much. Teri’s chest tightened. It was as if she were spelling her feelings out loud. Her confident self was gone.

Teri knew this look.

Yayoi would go to her sister’s side or die trying. She broke into a run—or would’ve. Teri activated his zone to flush the pain out, got on his feet, and grabbed her hand. He refused to let go.

“You…” Yayoi bared her teeth, her eyes seething with nothing but murder. “She needs my MY help. I’m giving you two fucking seconds to explain what the hell you’re trying to pull or else—”

Teri slapped her in the face.