Chapter 2 — Escort the Payload

Exe was excited at first.

We had nowhere else to go, and we had to finish this stupid dungeon to get out.

I grabbed his hand, pulled him closer, and mumbled, "I'm… I'm sorry, alright?"

I admitted he was right.

Exe sighed.

"It's fine. Just trust me more, okay?"

I nodded.

"As your older sister, I won't make the same mistake twice."

As we got close to the carriage, he said, "It's fine."

Tenka climbed over his arm and slipped inside my dress.

"WAH—Te… Tenka?!"

I sighed.

"So what's the plan?"

Exe stopped in front of the carriage as the door opened.

"Let's just get back home."

We entered the carriage.

There was a box sitting in the middle of the seat. Exe opened it while I looked inside, too, but there was nothing there.

The doors slammed shut.

I was pulled inside while my lower half was still outside for a second before snapping in after me.

The driver cracked his whip.

The carriage took off with Exe and me inside.

I grabbed onto the seat and yelled, "Exe, what the hell is happening?!"

"My guess is—we have to protect this empty box," Exe said. "It's our precious cargo."

A glass screen appeared in front of us, showing a map.

We were about five miles from our goal.

Exe looked out the window.

"Don't get too comfortable."

As soon as he said that, he sliced a goblin trying to board the carriage.

I manifested a blood moon dagger, opened the door on my side, and jumped onto the roof.

Exe looked at the screen from inside the carriage.

"WE GOT 4.5 MILES LEFT, AND THAT'S ABOUT TWO MINUTES AT THIS SPEED!"

I got into position, rising onto my tiptoes.

"It's fine. I'll handle this."

I started to spin and raise my legs like a demon ballerina, but faster and sharper.

As I danced on the roof of the carriage, staying inside the square, I let go of my blades.

They began to orbit around me.

A goblin tried to lunge.

My moon blade had already finished him.

I kept dancing, spinning, raising my leg high, moving on my tiptoes left and right without leaving the roof of the carriage.

I called this dance—

Nocturne of the Half Moon.

I continued to dance while my blades made sure no monster interrupted my performance.

Exe kept watching the screen.

"We've got three miles left! Keep it up!"

I continued dancing while Ren and Fubuki held the inside, stopping anything from breaking through.

One goblin came through the window.

Ren and Fubuki immediately started ripping into its face. Then they jumped back, and Exe kicked the goblin out.

It hit the ground and got run over by goblin riders.

The carriage started picking up speed because of the open space ahead.

Then it launched over a massive gap.

I kept my balance on one foot while we flew through the air.

Two harpies came at me, their talons reaching to claim my life.

My blades ran through them both.

I landed back on the carriage roof as my blades returned to me and continued orbiting.

They still assisted Exe inside the carriage.

Exe was being pushed back by three goblins, his back against the floor. Ren and Fubuki were dealing with others, but my blades cut through the goblins before they could overwhelm them.

Ren got up, knocked a goblin out with her rabbit feet, then looked outside.

She ran to Exe and told him something in his ear.

Exe looked up.

"She's pushing herself, and we're less than a mile away already."

Back on the roof, I started speeding up my Nocturne of the Half Moon, keeping my blades sharp and killing anything that came close.

Then the carriage came to a complete stop.

It tossed me off.

I landed upside down on a wall.

I wiped sweat from my face while Tenka came out and helped cool me down with her ears.

I climbed down and retracted my Ichor moon blades.

Exe came out of the carriage.

The box inside vanished into purple mist.

He sighed and walked toward me.

Then we both heard a door open in the wall.

Light shone from inside.

On it, the words read:

Floor Three.

I looked at Exe.

"Why am I playing a real-life video game right now?"

Exe shook his head.

"I don't know what Drago's plan is, but we gotta hurry up."

As we climbed, each step lit up the stairs beneath us.

Exe spoke freely.

"So what's the plan when we get out of here?"

"Well…" I said, "I need time to process how oblivious I've been so far, and I need to have a stern conversation with Drago."

Exe grabbed my hand and stopped me mid-step.

"Are you sure he'll still be there?"

I looked at him and paused for a moment.

"I really don't know. Honestly, I want to get out of here and get to the bottom of this."

Exe continued to follow me as we climbed.

We finally made it to the third floor.

In the center of the room was the same box that had been inside the carriage.

Exe and I stood away from it near the doorless entrance.

Exe took one step forward.

The box burst open.

Purple smoke filled the room.

I covered Exe's mouth.

"Is that Miasma?"

Exe pulled back.

"What the hell is Miasma?"

I stared at the smoke as it filled the room, then started to condense.

"It's an old form of demon magic used by our ancestors."

The purple smoke condensed into a massive ogre.

It roared so loud the room shook and expanded, giving us more open space to fight.

Exe took the lead.

He slammed his palms onto the floor while dropping his scythe beside him.

Rabbits emerged from the cracks.

About twenty fully grown demon rabbits appeared and rushed to assist him.

I sighed, getting ready to perform Nocturne of the Half Moon again.

This time, I assisted Exe while he took the lead and proved himself.

Exe charged in fast, dodging and rolling away from the ogre's swings.

The ogre reached behind itself and pulled out a massive log, bringing it down toward Exe.

Exe stopped and took a stance, ready to meet the log head-on.

As he swung, rabbits erupted from the ground with his strike.

Together, they shattered the log.

Exe took a moment to breathe.

The ogre punched him in the face.

He flew into the wall, but his rabbits came in and braced the impact.

Ren came out of his jumper and whispered in his ear.

Exe wiped his mouth.

"Yeah… I gotta summon him."

Then he yelled at me while I was mid-dance, parrying and stabbing the ogre's hand.

It healed instantly.

"GIMME A SECOND! I'M BRINGING OUT ANTHONY!"

I groaned, still dancing.

Exe stood and grabbed his scythe.

Ren and Fubuki gripped the scythe with their teeth and paws. Their eyes glowed as if they were answering Exe.

He smiled, tightened his grip, and snapped the scythe upward.

It spun violently in midair.

I stared as Ren and Fubuki spun faster and faster with it.

Their eyes started to merge into a small red-and-green circle.

I yelled while still dancing.

"Is he here yet?!"

The ogre kept trying to advance, but the rabbits attacked its legs and feet, slowing it down.

Exe shouted back, "It's almost open!"

He clenched his fists together and spoke to the portal like Ren and Fubuki could hear him.

"Come on, girls… open the gate."

The circle created by Ren and Fubuki merged with the scythe.

A portal opened.

Exe shouted toward me while I pushed the ogre back.

"IT'S OPEN!"

Exe peeked into the portal and shouted into the underworld.

"ANTHONY!"

A massive bark echoed back.

Moments later, something slammed against the other side.

Exe reached into the portal and pulled.

A massive hellhound burst through, immediately licking Exe's face.

The portal snapped shut behind it.

Ren and Fubuki dropped to the floor and slowly hopped back toward Exe.

He picked them up gently.

"Get some rest while you can," he said. "I need you to open it again soon."

They crawled back into his jumper and fell asleep.

Tenka slipped out of my dress and jumped toward Exe, wrapping herself around his neck.

Anthony lowered his head, lifting Exe slightly as he stared down the ogre.

He let out a deep bark.

Exe smirked.

"Yeah, buddy… I need you to handle that."