The night of the battle, one hour before zero o'clock.
Hitori took a step forward.
[you have entered the ninth floor]
He stared at the night sky from the translucent roof, he looked down and walked through a portal to enter the tenth floor.
[entered the tenth floor]
Hitori did not pull his hands from the jacket's pocket. He looked at his left side, a big wall stood in between him and the other side. On his right side, is an open area with the debris of rocks and walls.
'She must be over the other side.' Hitori walked to the right side but did not see anyone there, 'Where then?'
Squeak!
Hitori heard a cheerful bird's happy squeak, his head jerked to the left side. Hitori pulled his hands out as he strode to the other side of the dungeon.
'She must be near her nest.' Hitori was sure of it. He came to a stop when he spotted a young girl in a lab coat sitting next to a phoenix bird who was twice her size.
Reon sensed Hitori staring at her, "Cute… is not she?" Fierce was sitting in her nest like a coiled snake and Reon was petting her neck.
Hitori walked to Fierce as he summoned a few fire gems. Fierce's attention shifted from Reon to Hitori immediately.
"And greedy." She sighed, "I just fed her some gems…"
Fierce tried to get up from her nest but Hitori decided to hurry up before she rises. Fierce leaned forward to take the gems off Hitori's hand.
"And Fierce," Hitori said.
Fierce gobbled them gems down, the fire burning on the tips of her claws, and her tail flickered.
"Y- yeah, it did." Hitori nodded, still amazed.
"Aww, she is just so cute!" Reon spread her arms to hug Fierce by her long neck.
Hitori chuckled. He walked near the nest, Hitori noticed a burning flame in Fierce's eyes, "She is not a full-grown Phoenix yet."
Reon pulled herself together, "Well, but she sure had a growth spurt," said Reon.
Hitori sat to the other side with Fierce in between him and Reon. Fierce surely had grown a lot since the last time Hitori had seen her.
Before only her tail was on fire, now her claws are too. Soon her head and nape will have flames dancing over them. The battle was close but Fierce was not a full-grown boss yet.
"I think she is not ready for the battle yet," Hitori said. He pulled his hand on Fierce's head as she leaned into her nest, "I am worried."
Reon started petting her too, "She will be alright. We will protect her," Reon said, she smiled.
They both spent a minute petting Fierce's head and neck. Hitori remembered the incident from the Ax Stone bridge.
"You should have told us," Hitori said, "that you have Aerophobia."
The first thing Hitori did when he logged out of the game was open his browser and search– 'Fear of heights is called as'.
Reon glanced at him and hesitated, "Then," she giggled, "you should have told me that you were cultivating such a cute daughter,"
Hitori's heart skipped a beat when Reon used the word 'cultivating'. Hitori was sure he was not the only one with the ability to cultivate.
But Reon continued, "He should have told me how serious and personal things between you four are…"
"Of course, they are." Hitori interrupted her, "Why else are we fighting with our lives on stakes then?" Hitori stopped petting Fierce, and Reon slowed down.
"Kamiya should have told me about his trauma…" That left Hitori speechless. He could not come up with a better comeback.
"Even I want him to tell me about his past… just what had happened between him and Kuzu, Onogi! Even I want to know…"
Reon stopped, she was surprised, "You do not know either?" she frowned; Hitori shook his head.
"No…"
"I am afraid," she said, "Kuzu is going to use Kamiya's trauma against him."
Reon looked straight ahead, she pulled her hand down and got up from Fierce's nest. Fierce looked up at Reon as she got up.
"It is just like that, Hitori-san." Reon did not look at Hitori, "We do not go around telling our fears and weaknesses to everybody."
"Unless you are going to or have involved others, you do not tell your fears to everybody." Hitori got up too, "Kamiya has involved us– it sounds like I am blaming him." Hitori scoffed, "But they know my identity now," Hitori said.
"Kuzu…" she muttered, "if we lose this battle… we will lose every dungeon we have conquered." She turned to Hitori, "I do not want to lose the first dungeon I have ever conquered."
Hitori stared into her eyes. He nodded after a second, "We would not let them do it."
"You underestimate Kuzu's skills, Hitori-san…"
"I am just confident in my skills." Hitori shrugged, "If Kuzu wins… we will lose our dungeons, surely, but danger will follow us everywhere."
Reon stayed silent, "I will tell you something interesting about Kuzu." She turned, "He is in the final year, by the way. But when he was our age… I remember an incident."
Reon walked past Hitori and sat near Fierce, she was already asleep. Hitori sat beside Fierce.
"When Kuzu was our age, he met Onogi. They say Onogi and Kuzu got into a deadly battle where they almost killed each other but Onogi… he won in the end."
Hitori looked at her and listened silently, "Before working under Onogi before Kuzu killed his first man at the age of sixteen before Kuzu killed tens of men on Onogi's orders; he used to rule his middle school– not just his– but every Science middle school in Tokyo."
Hitori nodded, "Amazing."
"He started learning martial arts at the age of seven," The same age I started playing games, Hitori shouted, "he used his skills to beat every opponent."
"I see. Well, I know few martial arts myself," Hitori said.
Reon lifted her eyebrow, "Let it be." She sighed, "You would not get it unless you see Kuzu in action yourself."
"I would not," Hitori said, "I would not get it even if I see Kuzu in action."
Reon gritted her teeth and frowned.
"Anyone can do backflips inside a game, anyone can KILL inside the game."
Reon banged her fists on the rock and woke Fierce, "Why are you not taking this seriously?! Why are you making jokes about such a serious matter?"
Reon stormed away from the nest and stood a few feet in front of Hitori. He sighed as he petted Fierce to sleep before getting up.
"I am always serious," Hitori told her. He walked up to her and stood beside Reon who had folded her arms angrily, "I just do not want you to be so tense even when there is an hour to the battle."
Reon curved her lips, "Exactly," she swung her head at Hitori, "there is only one hour left."
She walked away from him.
"Really, Hitori-san, you know what is at stake." Reon unfolded her arms, "Our dungeons, our reputation, our lives."
"Dungeons are safe, neither I nor Kamiya cares about our reputation, and we will protect our lives."
"Kuzu will rule over the gaming world if he continues to take down pillars like you, like the unbeatable duo out there, and other rookies!" Reon pointed her hand in the air as she spoke, "If we do not stop him right now, he will become even more powerful."
"I know, I know." Hitori raised his hands, "I am aware of the stakes."
"Oh, you are not!" She scoffed. Reon moved her hand up her forehead. She shook her head, took a deep gulp, and walked towards Hitori.
Hitori watched as Reon strode towards him, "If we lose right here, right now; Kuzu will not stop here, this will not be THE end."
Reon lifted her finger, Hitori felt she might poke his eyes with her finger before stabbing them.
"Kuzu will hunt you down in the real world too, he will come for you in the real world too. And," she paused, "he is ten times stronger in the real world, not everyone can kill or do backflips in real life."
Hitori swayed his eyes away from Reon. She realized the distance between Hitori and herself, so she took a step back too.
"If we win, he will want revenge; and if we lose, he will want more power and more satisfaction." Hitori stood straight, "In both cases, he WILL come for us anyway. Due to his vengeance or his greed. I prefer he comes due to his vengeance."
Hitori turned to walk back to Fierce. Reon was silent due to Hitori's logical reply. Running was not a choice.
"Believe me," Reon said, "if it happens, Kamiya will die." Hitori stopped, he turned his head and looked at Reon from over his shoulder, "Kamiya… Will… Die…" she shook her head.
"We all die one day." Hitori looked at his hands and imagined Kiku living her last moments.
Silence filled the tenth floor. No one spoke anything, Reon felt she should not have said that.
But the silence was soon disturbed when they received a message from Kamiya.
[Both of you, come down at once!]
Hitori and Reon lifted their eyes off the screen to exchange glances.
[It has started. Kuzu's men are assembling.]
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