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Today I'm alone with Alessia and Delia in the no man's zone, while the three annoying beauties have a day off from their bodyguard work and are taking advantage of it to be trained by my parents.
They seem to be pleasantly surprised by the positive and growth mindset with which the three women are taking their training and, according to them, it would do me good to follow the three girls' example a bit.
What my parents don't seem to remember is that, when I received their training, I was much, much younger than the three annoying beauties.
And they also don't seem to take into account that Irina, Miria, and Zia have significantly higher stats than I did.
So it's much easier to maintain a 'growth mindset' in the face of how unfair and depressing it is sometimes to be trained by two people with more than 50 points in Luck.
After several hours of exploration, we suddenly heard some shrill screams coming from somewhere off the trail.
In the no man's zone, being such a huge and changing area, there are some people who use slaves as sacrificial pieces to test the safety of certain areas or the tactics and skills of certain monsters.
It is not something very common, as I imagine it is not a very well-seen practice, but from time to time I have witnessed such situations.
That, I believe, is precisely what has caused those individuals to start screaming in that manner.
Based on the way they are screaming, it appears that these people are in real danger of dying.
I have never given much importance to these kinds of things, as I have more than enough of my own problems without worrying about the fate of strangers.
That's why I have always turned a deaf ear to the cries of pain and pleas for help when I heard them.
This cost me a bit at first, due to the impulses of the Hero class, but I've learned not to worry about that sort of thing.
However, this is the first time I'm going to experience such a situation while accompanied.
And I suspect Delia won't be pleased with my typical response to this type of situation.
"Delia, please, don't g-" I start to say but I stop talking as I watch the fox girl run off in the direction from where the screams are coming.
'Just as I imagined... She's run off as soon as we heard the screams.'
"Delia! We had agreed that you wouldn't do that anymore," says Alessia, raising her voice and running after our girlfriend.
'Haa...
It seems she can't fight her impulses to help those in need…
I even get the impression that she's running much faster than usual.'
"Agh, shit... Hadn't I explained to you long ago that we must not leave the path under any circumstances?" I say annoyed, but I see that the two girls are already too far away from me to hear me.
I run off after my girlfriends, resigned to follow the fox girl's wishes, while looking for possible hidden threats on my interface map.
'It's strange...
I don't see any blue dots in the direction Delia is going...
There are only red dots...
It wouldn't be the first time my interface can't mark people's locations, but...
This clearly looks like a trap...
Unfortunately, I don't think Delia is going to care much about that...
I'm not 100% sure this is a trap...
And Delia seems to have a strong compulsion to help everyone who asks for help...
It must have something to do with the fact that she is a Saint.'
Emir, Delia, Alessia: !!!!
'Wait...
Those aren't even people.'
When we get close enough to the source of the voices, we see that they were being produced by strange little anthropomorphic-looking monsters, similar to grotesque, monstrous-looking babies.
[Imp Lvl 66]
There are 6 of them and they fly a short distance off the ground with small membranous wings similar in appearance to bat wings.
Their skin is a dingy, dark brown color, and from their bulging heads protrude two small horns that don't seem very useful for combat.
Their thin, short limbs, however, end in long, dangerous-looking claws.
"Delia, come here right now!" says Alessia in a tense voice.
We've never encountered this kind of monster before.
And we've definitely never faced a monster of this level before.
What's worse, there is not just one but six.
The farthest we've gone in the Altamira Labyrinth is the 21st floor, and these monsters are 40 levels above that.
"Be very careful and don't be overconfident because of their small size. These monsters are vastly stronger than anything we've encountered before," I say, as Delia backs up to where Alessia is, who instantly grabs her tightly by the arm and drags her to where I am.
At the same time, the 6 little devils begin to slowly circle us as they emit pitiful moans and whimpers.
"Sorry, Emir. I just wanted-" Delia starts to say, looking depressed as Blue Wind vibrates intensely in her hands, but Alessia interrupts her before she can finish speaking.
"Now is not the time, Delia!..." says Alessia, who looks on the verge of hysteria.
"... What do we do, Master?"
"Stick together and have each other's backs..." I say, also very tense, constantly moving my head so as not to stop watching for a long time any of the little monsters.
"... Let's wait to see what those things are capable of and then we can come up with a plan to deal with them."
"Ok... You do realize that makes us a pretty easy target if they attack with magic, right?" says Alessia, who, like me, doesn't stop to move her head.
"Yes, but it's the best I can think of. If they use magic to attack, well, we'll just have to dodge as best we can," I say as I start to get impatient with the monsters' inaction.
The 6 Imps surrounded us and are now slowly flying circles around us, but other than that, they aren't making any other moves.
"I'm going to shoot them with my bow..." I say, after several minutes of tense waiting, in which the monsters haven't stopped mockingly circling around us.
"... Be attentive to how they react."
I quickly switch my great sword for my bow and aim at the bulbous head of one of the monsters.
I draw the bowstring taut with an incineration arrow at the ready and ask my girls, "Are you ready?"
"Y-yes," Delia says, her tone of voice unsure as she keeps pointing Blue Wind at the monsters.
'At least now she doesn't freeze in the face of danger.'
"Yes, Master..." says Alessia, looking with deep concentration at the monsters, attentive to their every move.
"... I've got your back."
I fire and the arrow travels a short distance until it hits the head of one of the Imps.
However, instead of piercing its skull, it bounces cleanly, as if the monster's skin were made of steel.
A small spark of fire ignites in the monster's head but is extinguished almost as soon as it ignites because my arrow failed to pierce its target.
'Shit...
Those fuckers are a lot tougher than I thought...
I don't know what to do...
Haa...
At least they're not attacking us.'
Almost as if they had been able to hear my thoughts, the little monsters start laughing horribly as they begin to approach, slowly closing the encirclement they keep around us bit by bit.
' - What have I done? I have doomed the three of us. I should have followed Emir's instructions.'
' - Don't worry, Delia. We'll get out of this. I'm not going to let those monsters touch a hair on your beautiful head.'
Blue Wind extends at full speed at one of the monsters but is blocked by the claws of the little imp.
The monster locks the tip of the spear between one of its claws and suddenly pulls it toward itself.
This would have sent Delia hurtling towards the monster, had it not been for Alessia's quick reaction, which forced Delia to drop the spear.
Seeing that it can't use the spear for anything, the monster throws the weapon to the ground, out of the encirclement, and continues its slow approach toward us.
'Shit...
They're just messing with us...
Think, Emir...
There has to be something you can do...
They're too strong for us right now...
We have to get out of this damn encirclement somehow...
Once we're out, we could try to escape...
I can only think of one way...
It will probably end very badly for me...
But at least my girls will be able to escape.'
"Girls, we have to get out of this encirclement any way we can. I'm going to try to open a path..." I say, storing my bow and the arrow I shot a moment ago.
Then I pull out my great sword and activate the Strength profile.
"... Follow me as close as you can. Once we get out of the encirclement, I'm going to distract the monsters for a while, and while I do that, I want you girls to run as fast as possible back towards the path."
"Master... I don't like the sound of those words," says Alessia, who for the first time since we got into this situation, stops focusing on the monsters to look at me with a frown.
"Emir, we're a team. Can we-" Delia starts to say, but I cut her off as I see we're already running out of time.
"Silence! We don't have time for this. Alessia, what I just told you is an order. I want you, while I distract the monsters, to take Delia with you, even if you have to drag her away," I say, my nerves on edge.
As slow as they are approaching, the monsters are almost upon us.
And I'm pretty sure they can move much faster than they've let on so far.
"Okay, but... You better not do what I think you're about to do, Master. Because I want you to know that I'm not going to be long in coming after you, wherever you're going," Alessia says, looking at me with frustration and anger etched on her face.
' - F*CK! If only I were stronger.'
'It's an empty threat... Before maybe I would have believed you, but now you wouldn't be able to abandon Delia.'
"Emir, I'm sorr-" Delia begins to say, tears in her eyes.
"It's okay, Delia. You have nothing to apologize for..." I say, tightening my grip on the hilt of my sword.
"... Brace yourselves."
'Sword breathing style. Justice weapon'
My great sword instantly begins to glow with an intense bluish-gold aura as I dash full speed forward, guiding my great sword in a horizontal slash.
In fact, it seems to me that never before has Justice Weapon generated this kind of intense glow.
"Huh?"
That question escapes my lips as I see the absurd ease with which, guided by the momentum of my attack, the edge of my sword cleanly slices three of the monsters in half.