Endzone: Simulated Apocalypse

Through this once-endless onslaught of the mutant animals, everyone in the group gained one level, and thus were healed back to full HP and Soulforce. As such, there was no need to find methods to heal or anything of the sort. Their minds and bodies still needed some rest, though, so the group decided to take a short break for about 15 minutes, and just relieve some stress.

Cyanide, naturally, took this time to allocate his newly-obtained CP as well as browse through the [Skills] shop. In the end, he spent the CP on INT to further amplify his Soul Art and Weapon Arts' power levels, and of course, the SP he spent was also tailored to that. He had 7 in total, so it was going to be a nice shopping spree.

First, he obtained a skill called [Flash Shooter]. It cost 3 SP—very expensive—but the trade-off was also great. It allowed him to transform his gun into one that shot lightning instead of real bullets for a set duration, dealing more damage and also inflicting the Shock status ailment on enemies with enough stacks. But that wasn't even all—within this duration, reloading was unnecessary, he had infinite ammo, and every time his lightning hit an enemy (counting the chaining effect between enemies), he would gain movement speed, jump height, and agility overall.

With the remaining 4 SP, Cyanide decided to obtain some Soul Arts instead. [Death's Culling], a rare passive Soul Art that allowed him to reap the remaining lifeforce of enemies from their corpses when they died, restoring HP to Cyanide, and [Thunderflight], a Lightning Affinity Soul Art that allowed him to fly for about a minute or so at its base level. During this duration, he could rain down sharp feathers charged with lightning from his wings, but every time he shot one, the remaining duration of the effect would be reduced.

Both were extremely useful skills that could be used both offensively and defensively, complimenting Cyanide's balanced combat style.

Soon, however, someone sat down next to him, and disturbed his quietness.

"… Do you need something?" He asked, shooting the newcomer a glance.

"Yeah. I just wanted to say… thanks," the girl said, biting her bottom lip nervously. Cyanide didn't fail to notice this, and gave a sigh.

"… You should know better than to thank me, Kiri. Are you expecting a 'you're welcome'? If so, I'm afraid you'll find yourself disappointed. I've never been told 'thanks' before in my life, and so neither have I ever said the words 'you're welcome'—until now, that is."

"I'm not expecting anything," Kirika said softly, hugging her knees. "It's just… my family's code states that as a samurai, I must always show courtesy to others, and repay favors tenfold. And since you saved my life, but I don't have anything really to offer for now… all I can say is 'thank you'. It's a bit lame, I know, but-"

"It is lame," Cyanide agreed, nodding.

"Hey! Can't you learn to be comforting to girls, for once?" Kirika pouted, folding her arms.

"Oh? Is that 'comforting girls' I hear?" A third voice interrupted as Dianna approached with a smile and sat down on Cyanide's other side. "My father was an expert at that. It's hard to believe his pupil isn't… or does he just not want to be comforting, I wonder?"

Cyanide looked Dianna in the face, but she only smiled innocently at him, completely unfazed by his look. If there were two people in this world who were undaunted by Cyanide's death-spelling gaze, it would be Ragnar, and Dianna.

"… If this is all you two came for, leave," Cyanide said at last. "I'm busy."

"Now, now, don't be like that," Dianna said with a giggle, tapping him on the shoulder. "I have a question for you, that might help explain what the encounter just now was all about."

Cyanide frowned. "… What is it?"

"That thing inside the cave… what did it look like?"

Dianna's expression was wholeheartedly serious, and by the gaze in her eyes, it was clear she wasn't joking around—not this time.

"… It was a core," Cyanide said. "A massive purple orb of virus energy, protected by a stone shell. Two rock tentacles were on either side of it like arms, and they, along with the cave's stalactites and stalagmites, were its weapons. Does that help?"

"… Hm." Dianna fell into thought. "As expected… this confirms my theory."

Cyanide narrow his eyes. "You've… been through a similar situation before?"

Dianna nodded. "It was back when I was still a player, nearing the end stages of the game. At the time, there were many Corruption Zones all around on the map, and each had one of these 'cores' at its center."

"In other words… the Corruption Zones can be cleansed by destroying the core," Cyanide murmured."

"Yes. But… just like with anything else in this world, Corruption Zones also come in levels. The longer one remains active for, the more dangerous it will become, and the further it will spread. They are living, sentient. As for the one we just encountered… it would seem to be fairly new—perhaps a day or two at best."

"And how, exactly, are Corruption Zones born?" Ragnar asked, joining the conversation from across the path, leaning against a tree with his greatsword by his side. "Do they just randomly appear out of nowhere, or what?"

"That… I'm not sure," Dianna murmured. "Before, I believed they were simply random, but this one… it seems too perfectly timed to just be a coincidence."

"Somebody is trying to get in your way," Lust said, hovering around. "They are trying to prevent you from reaching the other Sentinels. Think—who could it be?"

"The GM is the most plausible answer, but…" Luna frowned, resting her chin on her hand. "For some reason, I find it difficult to believe this is his doing. If he wanted to directly interfere like so, there are a million better, more effective methods to kill us."

"In other words, there's someone else onto us, huh?" Cyanide sighed, standing up. "So be it.. We're going."