'Mid-rank knights. This must be a C-rank Rift of the aura nature.'
I muttered inwardly, looking at the suits of armor tumbled across the floor. C-rank is the lowest grade of Rift. Of course, that was no reason to relax. C-rank or not, a Rift is a Rift.
There were two big reasons a Rift is such a fucking pain.
The first is the Rift's stat adjustment. When a player enters a Rift, the stat that counters that Rift's nature is adjusted downward. For an aura-nature Rift, for instance, the black-magic stat — aura's counter — is lowered. Conversely, the Rift's wraiths and Aberration get adjusted upward. And the adjustment grew stronger the higher the Rift's grade. The reason a Rift is so fucking hard.
That should certainly be the case, and yet—. I glanced down at my hand. The clammy breath peculiar to black magic sounded nearer than before.
'My black-magic stat got adjusted upward.'
Not a large boost — a slight one — but the important thing was that it wasn't a reduction. On top of that, my stats were blocked at their ceiling. So even a slight boost was bound to make a big difference.
The reason a stat that should have been lowered was instead raised was obvious.
'The Luck stat is at work.'
Clearly the effect of the Luck stat I'd taken as a tutorial reward. Of course, this was possible because it was a C-rank Rift. To block the downward adjustment in a higher Rift, I'd need to invest more in the Luck stat.
Anyway, the second reason a Rift is such a fucking pain is 'finding the Aberration.'
To clear a Rift, you have to deal with the Aberration. The trouble is that the Aberration hides. Rifts come in many kinds. Some are mazes, like this one; others are entirely different worlds, like an ancient city or a hanging garden. Because of that, the rules for finding the Aberration differ from Rift to Rift. Which is why finding it isn't easy.
A Rift's difficulty climbs fast as time passes. C-rank now, but give it a little time and a Rift will shoot up to A-rank in no time. How fast you found the Aberration was the crux.
Of course, right now it wasn't much of a problem.
'Because I have Evangeline.'
Evangeline is a Rift's guide — a human compass. With Evangeline, there was no failing to find the Aberration.
'Then isn't everything solved?'
The first reason a Rift is a fucking pain, the stat adjustment, was solved by the Luck stat; for the second, finding the Aberration, I had Evangeline. Both were solved.
'I could even do a speedrun of this.'
Just then, Milo strode over. He must have had a rough time in that brief span; his cheeks were red.
"D-did you take my baton?"
Milo asked, stammering. I nodded lightly.
"Pocketed it earlier, yeah."
"Why—. No, just give it back, quick. I've got to send a signal. So a rescue team can......"
"No need."
"......What?"
"Because I'm the rescue team."
"This is a real lunat......"
I pointed at the armor tumbled on the floor. Wraiths fresh off the kill.
Milo blinked dumbly.
"I'm really losing it—."
At a loss for words, Milo dragged a hand down his face.
"And if we send a signal, these students won't come out of it unscathed."
I pointed at Andy and Evangeline. Milo's eyes hardened.
"Us?"
"The Central Library is a strictly off-limits area. Entering it without permission and causing a Rift means demerits, and possibly even suspension."
"S-suspension?!"
Andy's and Evangeline's eyes went round. Milo, too, looked at me in shock. Evangeline hurriedly stepped forward, shielding Andy.
"Andy was dragged along by me. Andy did nothing wrong."
Evangeline said with a firm face. Andy nodded at once.
Just then, Milo cleared his throat and said,
"Ahem! That's just too pitiful. They're freshmen who only just finished the entrance ceremony."
"Right! We're fresh young freshmen, give us a break!"
Evangeline shouted boldly. I nodded as if grudgingly giving in.
"Then we'll have to close the Rift as fast as possible, before anyone outside notices it. A speedrun, then."
"Speedrun? What's that?"
"Closing the Rift as fast as possible. Evangeline, read the translucent window in front of you."
"How do you know about—"
Evangeline stammered, flustered.
Just as I have a quest window, Evangeline can see a quest window inside a Rift. Unlike my quest window — so shabby the name 'quest window' was wasted on it — Evangeline's was extremely useful. Because it tells you the Aberration's type and name, right down to the Rift's traits.
"Read."
I ordered curtly. My earlier warning must have worked, because Evangeline — who'd normally have protested 'why should I?' — answered right away.
"The target is a Wandering Knight called Von Derk! The Rift's nature is aura! Grade C!"
A C-rank Rift, as expected.
The problem was the keyword 'Wandering.' It was a tricky keyword. An Aberration with the Wandering keyword doesn't stay in one place; it keeps moving. In a Rift where you have to deal with the Aberration as fast as possible, the Wandering keyword is fatal.
But right now it was fine. Because I had Evangeline.
"Evangeline, lead the way."
"......Me?"
"Her?"
Evangeline and Andy reacted at once. I nodded lightly.
"Just go wherever the feeling takes you."
"Ah, the feeling—"
Evangeline pressed both index fingers to her temples. The pose called the 'Evangeline Radar' in the game. To think I'd see that idiotic sight in the flesh.
"Okay! Got the feeling, dead-on! Whoosh whoosh!"
Evangeline strode off briskly. A retreating figure that inspired no confidence whatsoever.
"Is this for real?"
Andy asked in a voice like he was holding something back.
Sadly, it was real.
***
An Elite Corps guard who finds a Rift has one role. To enter the Rift, learn its nature, and set off a signal flare.
An Elite Corps guard is a scout. A scout who has to stake his own life. When a guard stakes his life to send the signal, the academy assembles a Rift Response Team of professors and dispatches it.
There's a reason people say that if you find a Rift you should just run and resign.
And he says he'll close such a Rift himself. As fast as possible, no less. It was insane talk. But the one who said it was Grave. The Grave who'd wiped out, in an instant, the four mid-rank knights Milo had struggled against—
'What the hell did this bastard used to do.'
Milo muttered, guarding the area around Evangeline and Andy. His back was damp with tension.
The actual students, Evangeline and Andy, were at ease.
"Mmmm! This way! The feeling went pop!"
"Earlier you said whoosh!"
Evangeline and Andy squabbled and bickered. Not a trace of tension anywhere in them. The mood was less a Rift than strolling an academy hallway.
"More of them! Clear them, please!"
Evangeline pointed at five newly appeared knights. Clear five mid-rank knights, she says—. A bizarre way to put it, but Grave nodded as if it were nothing.
Black chains went for the knights. Not once did the knights manage to block them. The chains pierced them with ease. A victory so light it felt hollow. The reason Grave and company could be at ease.
'Is this right?'
A Rift was supposed to be hell. There were even professors who'd entered a Rift and died. Milo felt as if everything he'd known about Rifts was being denied.
After walking a while like that—.
"Isn't this where we were before?"
Andy said, pointing at the floor. Four dark-red suits of armor lay fallen there.
"These are the knights from earlier. Didn't we come right back to the same spot?"
"S-seems like it?"
"Seems like it?!"
"Heh heh."
Evangeline let out an awkward laugh.
The problem was what came next.
Splosh, tak. The familiar chilling footsteps came again. The problem was that they came from every direction. Hideous knights walked out from every passage around them. At least twenty of them. The cold light their auras gave off lit up the dark maze.
At that absurd number, even the ever-confident Evangeline went pale.
Just then, Grave took Evangeline by the shoulder.
"In a Rift, you're never wrong. Trust yourself."
Grave said it in a firm voice without a shred of doubt. A voice strangely full of conviction.
The strange part was that Grave's own face was sour. He held her shoulder with only his fingertips, too. As if he hated to touch her.
Still, thanks to it, the dispirited Evangeline grew spirited again.
"Hmph, of course! Because I'm Queen Evangeline!"
Evangeline's chin and shoulders rose high.
The dark-red knights strode closer. Over twenty enemies closing in from all sides bore down as a vicious pressure. Milo's throat went dry with tension. He clenched his fists and readied to fight.
Grave said in an indifferent voice,
"Don't get in the way."
'In the way,' of all things—
In that instant, black chains scattered in every direction. The chains were so fast they were hard to follow with the eye. The knights raised their auras and blocked them. The chains weren't repelled by the auras; they coiled around them like snakes. The knights tried to shake them off, but the chains had already wound tight.
A horrid energy rose from the chains. A curse vicious enough that even the distant Milo could feel it. The curse slowed the knights, and slowed, they could no longer block the chains. The chains pierced them with ease.
The number of knights had grown, but the result was the same as ever. The only difference was the number of knights tumbling across the floor.
"Wow! Boss, you're amazing!"
"Amazing, nothing! It's only natural! Black magic counters aura!"
Evangeline said sharply. She was right. Black magic holds an absolute advantage over aura by affinity. There's a reason a black mage is called a knight's natural predator.
But there was a limit to that, too. Those knights weren't ordinary mid-rank knights. Having faced one himself, Milo could be sure. This wasn't simply a matter of affinity. Grave was overwhelmingly strong.
'Just what did this guy do before he came here—'
Milo thought it once more and swallowed dryly. Grave was still expressionless. As if this much stirred nothing in him.
Why would a man that strong work as a guard? Milo couldn't understand it at all.
"Evangeline, don't stop walking."
"I-I was walking!"
This time even Evangeline faltered a little.
A little later, the sound of a crude instrument came from somewhere. A small sound, but in the deep quiet around them it was so out of place it rang out clearly.
"Found it."
Grave stepped forward. The corners of his mouth were raised high. He looked genuinely pleased.
Just then, someone patted Milo's shoulder. It was Evangeline.
"You've got a graceless senior! It must be hard on you!"
Milo couldn't bring himself to answer.
I'm the one who's the senior. And he's the rookie, no less.
Milo couldn't say it.