Bolts of lightning once more came flying from La Shiec’s staff, overwhelming Alisa and her comrades.
“In honor of you making it this far, I’ll refrain from giving you a slow and painful death. Instead I’ll kill you in one blow!”
The next lightning bolt was intense, for in less than a second Alisa and her comrades’ hearts had stopped beating…
END
The group arrived at the village after making their way through the ice tunnel. This was Aukbal.
The native people were tall and slender, adorned in heavy clothes for keeping themselves warm ― the Dezolians came out to welcome Alisa and her friends. They turned out to be a friendlier group of people than they had given them credit for.
According to them, it seemed that La Shiec had come to Corona Tower.
“Corona Tower! Where is that?”
“About five kilometers north of Aukbal. There’s loads of terrifying monsters in there.”
“I bet… Huh? Why is this village divided into two sections? People live on the other side too, don’t they?”
“Hrumph! The guys on the west half of town are all liars. You should avoid them at all costs.”
“Hmm,” said Alisa. (Action Chart – Check “I”)
“Oh, no, a dead end,” said Alisa. “—But that’s weird. The wall looks hairy.”
“That’s no wall! That’s a monster!”
What stood in their way was a humongous Mammoth!
Mammoth: 45 + BP (1-C)
Alisa & Party: CP + BP (2-F)
Aiming for the Gaia’s chest, Alisa swung her sword. However, due to its thick skin and body hair, it did very little damage.
The Gaia then squeezed its tree trunk arms around an alarmed Alisa.
“Let me go, you animal! Ah, I guess you really are an animal, huh… Ow, m-my bones are going to break… If I puke my guts out, you’re gonna be the one who has to clean it up… oof…” (-3 HP)
“Alisa!” Tyrone and the others came attacking it from behind. However, the monster remained unfazed.
Alisa, now growing faint, suddenly had an idea.
“UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”
Still pressed against its chest, she inhaled as deeply as she could and screamed into the Gaia’s ear!
The attack managed to surprise the monster, who then proceeded to throw Alisa. Seizing their chance, Tyrone and Lutz attacked the Gaia in its vital areas. With its heart and throat now slashed, the monster finally died.
“That’s what you get,” said Alisa, kicking the monster, taking pleasure in her revenge.
Because the road up ahead was a dead end, Alisa and the group back tracked towards the passageway from whence they came.
“Die!” exclaimed Medusa, shooting sharp beams from the palm of her hand.
The beams grazed over Tyrone’s head, instead hitting the Mad Stalker that he was fighting. Its skull shattered into a thousand fragments, disappearing into a fine dust.
“The one to die will be you!”
Knocking the skeleton warrior out of the way, Tyrone went flying! His large body moved swiftly.
“Damn it,” said Medusa, launching more beams.
Deflecting the beams with his shield, the warrior moved in and swung down his ax!
Riiiiip!
Swoosh… The snake woman, or rather Medusa’s head fell to the right and to the left.
That one attack had cleanly cut the monster’s body in two.
“You did it, Tyrone!”
Alisa and the others, having taken care of the rest of the enemies, came running up to Tyrone. Myau took the lead, jumping up onto his shoulders.
Tyrone had a smile of satisfaction on his face. He has now settled the score in his fated showdown…
Tyrone reached his hand out towards the ax which rested over Medusa’s throne. This indeed was the legendary weapon he had sought ― the Laconian Ax.
(Write down the LACONIAN AX on your Item List; +5 CP, +300 MESETA).
“We’ve gone to all the suspicious places around Palma and Motavia…. The only place we haven’t been yet is the planet Dezolis.”
Lowering his head, the village chief received their money (-200 MESETA).
After that, he presented Alisa and her comrades with a treasure box in exchange for the payment.
“The shield inside is called the ‘Shield of Perseus’.”
“Oh! The shield that Perseus once used! In ancient times, it is said he used it to slay Medusa,” said Tyrone with excitement as he examined it. It was quite heavy, so naturally the only one who could wield it would be Tyrone. (Obtain item PERSEUS’ SHIELD, +3 CP)
Alisa and her comrades exited the village via the underground passageway that the village chief told them about. Thanks to that, they were able to exit safely outside of the gas cloud. They returned to the spaceship Luveno, which was still parked outside the village of Uzo.
Where should they go from here?
The moment they opened the door, a cold blast of air came out towards Alisa and her comrades.
Water vapor in the air glittered and sparkled as ice crystals formed. It was a phenomenon known as Diamond Dust. Within the beautiful spectacle stood four ice giants.
“This is as far as you’re going, traitors.”
“Where is La Shiec!?”
“He is not here. Lord La Shiec is on the planet Palma, far above the hills of Baya Malay.”
“I-in a place like that?”
The hills of Baya Malay were located right around where Alisa started from. It was careless of her not to check there.
“But, is it okay for you to tell us something so important?”
“It doesn’t really matter. You all are going to die by the hands of us Ice Men anyway!”
The Dragon Wise let out a howl and floated up into the sky. It turned its neck around and flew towards Alisa! This took everyone by surprise; no one was able to help.
(Big brother, give me strength). At that moment, her small frame danced in the sky.
The Dragon Wise continued flying straight, crashing into a large stone-laden wall.
The stone wall crumbled and fell apart, causing bits of rock to fall on the dragon.
The Dragon Wise extended its neck out as bricks fell and shattered off of it. Alisa then stabbed her sword through its throat! The dragon exhaled one last breath of fire into the sky and then collapsed.
“You did it, Alisa! Even I’ve never beaten a monster this size before,” said Tyrone.
Alisa panted in reply.
Alisa grabbed the jewel from the dragon’s forehead and then sat down with a plop. Finally relieving some stress, she loosened up her tense muscles. (Obtain item AMBER EYE, +2 MP, +200 MESETA)
“I-incredible! The Dragon Wise was really defeated! And by a girl, no less!” exclaimed the villagers who were just cowering moments ago. They began to gather around.
The villagers told Alisa about a village called Sopia which was nearby. Due to a gas that surrounds the village, there are many people who have carelessly gone there, never to come back. (Action Chart – Check “G”)
“That sounds suspicious. Maybe even La Shiec himself is there…”
If it was just one or two Mammoths, it would be a different story; they had enough confidence to win a battle like that. However, with such a dizzying number of Mammoths, their swords and guns were useless.
The difference in power was overwhelming. Unable to run away, the herd of Mammoths descended upon Alisa and party, trampling them!
END
A large silhouette blocked their path.
“Another monster!?” exclaimed Tyrone, readying his ax. Lutz lifted his hand to stop Tyrone.
“You’re certainly with some interesting fellows, eh?” said the silhouette, which turned out to be a rather small elderly man.
“It’s been awhile, Master Tajim,” said Lutz. “—We just encountered some monster remains at the entrance.”
“Nowadays, all the monsters that have been coming here are weaklings. More importantly, Lutz, I’ve heard you’re out to defeat La Shiec. I’d like to see just how much you’ve improved. Show me what you’ve got!”
“Wait a minute! You’re saying that teacher and student must fight each other!?” said Alisa, stepping in between Lutz and Tajim.
“Young lady, get out of the way. It’s not my fault if you end up hurt.”
“Alisa, he’s right,” said Lutz. “—Master, don’t blame me if you end up breaking a hip.”
“So your mouth is the only thing you’ve been training, eh, Lutz?”
“We’ll see about that.”
Lutz swung his staff downward! The tip grazed over Tajim’s head, cracking a hole in the wall behind him!
“Oho, you’ve gotten good,” said Tajim, grinning broadly as he moved out of the way. Blood began to gush out of the hole that Lutz opened!
“What’s going on!?”
The next moment, a blue-armored monster came out as if slipping through the wall. The blood was flowing out of a hole in its chest.
Lutz and Tajim had realized the monster was there from the very beginning.
“This guy is different than the other weaklings that have come before him. La Shiec invited a monster from ‘Chaos’, huh….”
<Mwahaha…> laughed the monster eerily. <The people in this world are pretty skilled, too. It’s not unreasonable for La Shiec to have invited me. —My name is Dark Marauder, Chaos Sorcerer! As for this wound you gave me, I will return the favor a thousand times!>
Dark Marauder: 28 + BP (1-I)
Lutz & Party: CP + BP (2-H)
