Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu

Just as Seiji wanted to answer, Lloyd and Lana’s figures vanished yet again.

What exactly were these projections…? No, since he was able to influence their world, this was no simple “projection.”

What exactly was going on?

‘It seems like none of Shika, Hisashi, or Kazuko noticed them. I’m the only one who can see them.

‘And, not only can I see them, I can even influence their world.

‘Is this some time of otherworld disruption? Overlapping?’

That “ghost” vanished once again.

Lana wanted to talk to him, but it seemed that communication would be impossible.

“What do you think that was?” Lloyd asked her.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think he’s a ghost. He doesn’t have the aura of death around him. Nor does the power he used to help us seem like a type of negative energy,” Lana replied.

Lloyd recalled what just happened. He had already resolved himself to die to this high-level magic beast. Yet suddenly, a mystical golden figure appeared in midair and crashed into the giant wolf, seriously injuring it.

He wasn’t able to see clearly what that golden figure was. He only saw that it approximately seemed like a strange snakelike creature.

“You want to have him help us escape from here?”

“That would be best. Even if that isn’t possible, I still want to know who and what type of existence he is!” Something flashed in Lana’s eyes.

“As expected of a student at the Sage Academy.”

“Of course! Thirst for knowledge is something absolutely necessary for a student sage!”

“In plainer terms, isn’t it just curiosity? It’s bad for an adventurer to have too much curiosity because the unknown equals danger. Seeking the truth too much will typically end in one’s death… that was the way I was raised.”

“Such a depressing way of thinking that you were taught. As an adventurer, shouldn’t you bravely seek adventure and search for unknown treasures?”

“Treasures are a different topic entirely. But even when it’s about treasures, one must weigh the risks against reward. If the treasure is too dangerous, it’ll be nothing but the Death God’s trap no matter how alluring the treasure seems.” Lloyd paused for a moment. “Only a living adventurer is an adventurer. Otherwise, that’s only a dead person.”

“That’s quite logical, but…” Lana wanted to say something but didn’t do so in the end. She simply smiled. “Let’s continue onwards, Lloyd.” Lana started walking again.

Lloyd followed after her. He secretly took a look at his wrist and saw some dark-green runes upon it.

This forbidden district was forbidden not only because of the high number of magical beasts. The other important reason was this… the “Green Poison”!

Lloyd didn’t dare to think about how much time he had left.

Him being able to resolve himself to face death so quickly against the giant wolf was also because he wanted to play the role of hero at the end.

He felt that chances were miniscule that he would make it out alive. But at the very least, he wanted Lana to make it out farther than he did. This was his final pride as a man.

Lloyd covered the dark-green runes on his wrist with an armlet and silently followed after Lana.

During the entire process of conquering the second area in the Forest Palace, Seiji didn’t see Lloyd and Lana’s figures again.

Nor did he see them while conquering the third area.

As Hisashi continuously absorbed mist, his power of thunder kept increasing. He became more adept at using his powers and learned new abilities.

*Boom!!*

A black ball of light exploded on a large bear monster’s body. Countless sparks of lightning danced all across its tremendous body, locking down its movements like chain lightning fetters.

Seiji lifted his long White Lotus spiritual sword while Shika raised her gigantic blade of ice. Both slashed down forcefully at the exact same time! They inflicted serious damage to the bear monster with their classical X-shaped teamwork slash attack.

“Awrrrr!!”

The large black bear roared in pain as it transformed into mist.

Hisashi went up to absorb the mist with a happy expression.

“It seems that you’re enjoying this,” Seiji commented.

“Yeah. The more I absorb, the better I feel. I can concretely feel myself becoming stronger at a swift rate.” Hisashi adjusted his eyeglasses. “This type of feeling is so immersive that it’s addicting.”

“…Will you be alright?”

“I’m still fine right now. If I feel like something’s wrong, I’ll let you know right away. Or, if either of you see that something’s wrong with me, stop me immediately,” Hisashi told him seriously.

Seiji nodded in understanding.

Seiji, Shika, and Hisashi took a small break to rest up, then headed towards the fourth area.

Right when they entered the fourth area, Seiji’s vision instantly darkened and his consciousness became hazy as he felt himself falling…

*Clang!!*

Lloyd used his shield to block the sweeping spear and immediately counterattacked with his longsword.

The spear-wielding man stepped back and dodged this, then thrust his spear directly at Lloyd!

Lloyd blocked the spear once again, timing his shield’s movements perfectly in a way that also allowed him to counterattack with his sword!

*Shing!*

The man barely dodged this sword blow as it passed by his body and lightly injured him. However, he didn’t bleed.

The two fought fiercely as they constantly changed positions, causing a large amount of dust to swirl around them as the backdrop to their clanging weapons.

Lloyd was no longer conserving his Skill Points. He had activated a Skill which gave him a reddish aura. This aura greatly buffed his physical strength.

However, the spear-wielding man was even stronger! A similar but denser red aura was around him. However, his aura also had ominous specks of black mixed into it.

“Tim…” Lloyd felt quite pained in his heart.

It should have been a good thing for him to meet his lost companion Tim that had gotten separated from them.

However, Tim had already been completely corrupted by the Green Poison. He had lost all sense of self!

Abnormal dark-green runes were visible on his face, which had a distorted expression. He was drooling and his eyes were bloodshot… These were symptoms that the Green Poison had already invaded his brain.

It was impossible to save someone who had been poisoned to such an extent already.

In normal battle, Lloyd wasn’t as strong as Tim to begin with. But after holding on against the insane Tim for a while, Lloyd came up with a method to win against this version of Tim.

However, Lloyd couldn’t help but think about his past fun times together with Tim.

Lloyd’s sense of logic and reason knew that thinking of such things was useless as Tim was basically finished! Although Tim was technically still living, he was no different from being dead.

Still, Lloyd found it emotionally difficult to kill Tim.

Lloyd was still a relatively novice adventurer. He had never experienced something so cruel before.

Tim was his friend who had fun times together with him. They fought together as allies and discussed the future with each other… How was he supposed to personally kill his friend!?

Just as Lloyd was struggling with himself, he suddenly noticed the collapsed girl on the ground out of the corner of his eye and instantly snapped to his senses.

Earlier, Lana was ambushed by Tim and sent flying by his spear. She crashed into a wall and fell unconscious. She needed saving!

‘What am I hesitating about!? I’m putting my still living companion in danger all for the sake of a former companion who can no longer be saved… I’m so foolish!!’

Lloyd finally resolved himself.

“Tim… Why don’t you go on to the next world first? I’ll be following you soon after. I’ll give you a proper apology then.”

Lloyd mentally resolved himself and then feinted an opening in his guard, luring Tim into stabbing at his chest.

If Tim had still been sane, he never would have been fooled by such an obvious feint.

However, he no longer had the ability to think! The insane spearman instantly stabbed at the fake opening the moment Lloyd appeared to let down his guard!!

The fight was over with this.

Lloyd didn’t use his shield to block the spear this time. Instead, he suddenly sidestepped and accurately dodged the spear. He then used a Skill which allowed him to break past the limits of the human body and move at incredibly high speed for a few seconds…

*Schtick!!*

Lloyd’s longsword pierced through Tim’s neck. Some sticky black blood with tinge of green started running out of the injury.

“Wahh!!!” Lloyd shouted in a low voice as he swung his sword again and cut off the head of his former companion.

Tim’s head hit the ground at the same time as Lloyd’s tears.

After Lloyd watched the now headless body fall to the ground, he turned around and rushed over to Lana.

However, a few seconds after he stopped paying attention to Tim’s body, the now headless body’s arm started moving.