Garami's PoV:

And the third round has begun! 

After splitting up on mount Gigantes, everyone has gone their own way to participate in one of the 12 events that make up the 3rd round of the Yamatai Grand Festival.

I'm currently standing outside a 1,000-year old-ish temple, alongside Zaria who also chose the same event. And before us is...

"GYAAAA!!" 

"There's no way we can wiiin!!"

"This is just impossible!!"

"Oh, gooooods!!!!"

...and before us is a horrible sight. 

This time, the event is an easy one that consists of breaking into the old temple and destroy some stuff that belongs to this "evil being" or whatever's before he returns. Sounds easy? Well...

Long story short, while the temple was easy to find, getting in's not. The reason? Traps. A mountain of traps that can compete with the ones in my Dungeon.

*Boom!*

And there went another one to the stars. I have to take notes on some of these traps. They could be useful for Damavand.

"Aren't these guys too pathetic?" I murmured to nobody special. But it seems that some people caught my silent words. That's some nasty looks they're sending my way.

"Gara-..., Guild Master, I think you wanna cut out the insults...especially dressed like that." - Zaria

Wha-!? First, stop the GM-nonsense, it's hurting my heart! It feels so unfriendly... and second, what's wrong with this outfit!? This is a masterpiece made by Anasia the Nightmare Arachne, you know! Aaaand, I may have had a hand in it too, so it's a collaboration between the two of us, so no shit-talking about it!

The new threads are called the "Zei Efialtis" set, a spiritual successor of the Dark Weaver equipment set I had before they got ruined in the Dark Dragon-fight in the desert and it shares some similarities with the old one.

First, the dark-purple jacket has been retained, albeit with some changes to the design. It's still got the wide sleeves that make it easy to move my hands, but it has also got metal protectors on the shoulders and elbow. The fabric is cursed using my own blood as a catalyst, so its Darkness-related effects are surprisingly strong. Obviously, I also cursed the metal parts.

Maybe I should start donating more of my blood...this time, with a decent syringe.

Underneath the jacket, I've got a set of clothes similar in appearance to a black/purple motorcycle outfit. Despite their leathery appearance, they're made of special threads by Anasia. You just have to praise that talented girl~. Just why did she add slits to the legs though? It's cool, so I won't punish her for that.

Then there's the black gloves, the boots, the amulet I got from that sand monster after the battle against that Dungeon Core-seller, the Rings of the Skeleton Spiders (Black and White), and the Nightmare Drop earring. Of course, I got Carnwennan on me too, as well as a new dagger as another sidearm to replace that random dragon dagger that never did as I wanted it to. 

Looking at this objectively, isn't this someone dressed like an agent of evil talking trash to brave adventurers who tried to stop the plans of a different evil? ...I can live with that.

"If it's so frustrating, then this lady Garami's gonna give you a hand. Zaria, follow my lead." - Garami

I got the mass-produced no-wits to gather around while Zaria was ordered to stay behind me, ready to move when I did it.

"You guys are constantly setting off the traps here, but bad news, these aren't the kinda things someone's placed on the spot, ready to be triggered. The whole area in front of the entrance is enchanted so it will randomly set up a trap-charge over that specific area if there are no chargers yet, meaning that there are no safe routes, and you won't be emptying the spot of traps if you continue with that lame wave-tactic, get it?" - Garami

They looked at me grudgingly, but some of the smarter guys, those dressed as either a wizard or an onmyoji, stared at the spot in front of the entrance, trying to determine if I'm right.

Kukukuku. Lame guys like you wouldn't stand a chance in the ocean to find that out. Come back a hundred years later when you've gotten at least 1% of my observation abilities! Not that I think guys like you can ever match up to my [Empyrean Eyes]!

"Therefore, since we can't dispel this 'trap area' without ironically getting inside and shutting it off, there's only one way to bust ourselves in." - Garami

All the contenders looked at me with a mix of suspicion and anticipation... and was launched into the air by the thin threads that I had secretly attached to their backs while keeping their attention on me.

The human bullets were thrown straight towards the entrance to the temple and activated the trap turning the spot into a trapless area for a few moments before a new charge can be "reloaded".

I dragged Zaria with me as I kicked the Genocide Drive into overdrive to slip past the area as the trash got blasted away as if making a path for us. And I continued running into the temple after kicking out the few lucky bastards that managed to survive the blast-path. Damn, I gotta improve my calculations.

---

"Guild Master, about that from before," started Zaria as we walked through the temple.

"Stop the 'Guild Master' thing. Just call me Garami, or take a page from Lily's book and call me boss." - Garami

"Okay, boss!" - Zaria

"And what's that 'from before'-thingy you were talking about?" - Garami

"When you threw those no-brainers and used them to create a safe path! I'd never thought of that! Can I use that myself some time?" - Zaria

"Rejected." - Garami

This girl's got no sense of timing, so she's prolly gonna fail at the last part and get beaten up by her victim. If she, hypothetically, actually manages to do the deed, she's definitely gonna get clobbered by her victims afterward. 

Me? As if those losers could even touch me...

"Hey, what's that about?" I asked Zaria as I pointed to something on the roof.

"That emblem-thingy? Never seen one. Maybe it's representing the evil dude that lives here?" - Zaria

"...no...not at all," I replied, faintly remembering having seen it before. Recently too. Just where...

"God damn...no, damn the gods." - Garami

"Huh? What, is something wrong?" - Zaria

"No, no they're not... Changing the subject, you noticed anything else weird?" - Garami

"As in traps? Or that there have been people here before us, and recently to boot." - Zaria

"Yes, that second one. Wasn't the entrance blocked by those traps?" - Garami

"It must have been the guys responsible for the festival who's come here to prepare the stage. Not all the events can fall onto their laps after all." - Zaria

So you say. It's just some weak footprints in the dust, but I can see that a big group of people's been here lately. The only other ones in our group that could have noticed this would be Iron or Mira, but prolly not right away. As expected for someone running a Scout-focused class build. If she just had some more suspicion about it all...

"Okay, this seems like the spot," said Zaria as she stopped in front of a suspiciously big door...

"You're not going in?" - Garami

"...my nose's telling me we better be prepared for whatever's inside here." - Zaria

"What kinda excuse is that?" - Garami

"No, I'm serious! I know that I'm far from the most careful bat out there, but my nose has never failed me! And I can smell trouble behind that door." - Zaria

"Yeah, whatever," I answered as I kicked the door down. Inside the room, we found tons of broken crystal objects and a mountain of bloody corpses...

"Hey, you gotta get that nose fixed. This ain't trouble, it's a slaughterhouse." - Garami

"No, that qualifies as trouble!" shouts Zaria back at me. 

"...girl? Is that you?" asked a voice from behind a corner.

"Depends on who's asking" I replied, ignoring the bat-girl who turned into a statue from the sudden voice.

"It is I, remember? Royferd Springwood," replied the voice as they walked from behind their cover. 

"...who?" I asked the old man covered in wounds, dressed in a uniform that could make you think he's working for a cleaning firm and armed with a battle staff. 

"Wait, you remember, right? I am the General who tested you back in Velantas, remember!?" - Springwood

"Sorry, but I got a policy of not remembering boring events." - Garami

"Can we skip the conversation! I mean, what's happened here!? And where are all the Evil Being-related items!!?" - Zaria

"Items...are you talking about the glowing crystals? They did have an evil feeling to them. But I think they all were destroyed in the brawl that occurred here." - Springwood

"ALL OF THEM!? Then what about the event? How are we supposed to proceed with the event!?" - Zaria

"Prolly impossible. We're out of the game." - Garami

The bat-girl dropped to the floor as I delivered the stone-cold truth. C'mon, there are more important things to worry about here. Sharpen up a little. We just lost the chance to get a relatively free Extra Skill. It's not the end of the world.

"Yeah...wait, I mean, no! Garami, something terrible has happened!" - Springwood

"I can see that," I replied, taking another look at the sorry mess of the room. Tch, I could see the corpses of the four guys I played with during that test. I walked over to them as the old Wind General continued with his explanation.

"Filyn...Filyn was killed." - Springwood

"You don't say." - Garami

The old General froze as I casually dismissed his statement, so I took the opportunity to convert the corpses through [Necromantic Ritual]. I only did so for the guys I could recognize as part of the organization. It's kinda my way of honoring them, these poor fools.

"D-did you not hear me? Filyn, our grand commander, is dead!" - Springwood

"Why're you freaking out so much? In our line of business, a death or two should be an expected outcome." - Garami

"Y-yes...that is not wrong, but..." - Springwood

"Boss...that's too cold..." - Zaria

Shut up. You don't even know Filyn.

"And there's something else that makes you freak out?" I asked the old General after returning to the entrance where Zaria was still sitting by.

"O-of course there is! Several of the other Generals have turned on us! That is what got Filyn killed by the Demon King's aide!" - Springwood

"Tch, betrayal. That's on the top of my hate-list," I replied with disdain in my voice.

"O-oh, so you are not part of them?" asked the old General and tried to step forward, but I stopped him by putting up my hand.

"I've got no reason to serve any royalties. My manners stink worse than a Stench Skunk! And what about you? Though I can guess from the mess made here." - Garami

"...yes, it is just as you expected. The Demon King sent his troops to hunt my group down as I was traveling through this continent on a secret assignment. That is why-" - Springwood

The old guy tried to tell me something, but I grabbed Zaria and jumped backward. And managed to dodge mid-air.

That damn geezer, he shot something that looked like a needle of air at me! No surprise there, as opposed to my present to that Benedict Arnold.

*BANG!!*

The explosives that I had sneakily placed all over the room while pretending to be busy converting the corpses of a few of those poor grunts who were tricked into following that bastard only to get killed in the hope of tricking me with his story.

"Wh-wh-what're you doing?! Isn't he an ally?!!" - Zaria

"No fucking way he is. He's part of the traitor group. And I've known about it for several months now." - Garami

Zaria had a look of shock and disbelief when I told her that, but it's true! I got to know this before I even started building Damavand! 

"Still, to think I would get such a damn good opportunity to crush the owner of [Humility]~." - Garami

"Humility...as in the Extra Skill?!! Ugh, if that's the case, I gotta agree with you...even if it's plain dirty in killing someone with bombs..." - Zaria

"The bombs aren't enough to kill that guy." - Garami

"Hah!?" - Zaria

"That's why this was a great opportunity..., no, a great place for him trying to finish me off." - Garami

He should have tried to finish me off at the mountain..., no, at the first event even. Good thing I noticed him wandering around at that time, right before I entered arena D. Plus all that dragged-out conversation gave me enough time to stealthily place the bombs. He must have wanted to fish out info on Blot or Armveil, considering they're part of the "loyal faction" like me. 

"...why is this place so good-!? Garami!" - Zaria

Crap, what's this!? A large force of wind's dragging us into the room again! Is it that damn geezer?

I tried to bind us in place with my threads, but the force of the winds increased and sucked us in, and into the huge wall in the ground that the bombs had created. 

Damn, so this place got a vacuum!? Or is it that this place has always been like this!?

"If that's the reason you sealed this place, then freaking mention it in the books!" - Garami

"B-boss! What is this!?" - Zaria

We tried to escape from the hole, but neither my [Aerial Movements] or Zaria's [Flight] wouldn't work, so we had no other choice but to fall down the deep, DEEP hole. After a while, around 5 minutes or so, with falling, an impossible landscape came into our views as we exited the hole.

"Aw, come on!!" shouted Zaria, definitely from having gotten the same message as me. Why're you only yapping about it now? It was already impossible to continue without any items to destroy. And we got a bigger problem again. Like this alternative world-like space that looks like it's filled with grudges and curses.

The Demonic Seas. It's easiest to describe as an alternative dimension hidden within Terra Sol. It looks like an underground sea with black rocks, black "water", and almost no way out, nor any sources of light. 

The "water" I mentioned is the remains of people who are given the punishment of eternal suffering. They're melted down into that water while retaining their mind from when they were "alive", and have to stay like that forever or until their souls have completely broken down from the madness of staying in that state. Whichever comes first.

And how do I know about all this? Because this is the place containing that damn Key Item for the evolution I want the most! But with the monsters living here, living nightmares that can make even Outer Ones run to their mommy, I gave my word to myself that I would never come here by my own will!

And why would I!? This place's practically filled with Bad End scenarios! From the little info that the Kigal-Note had to give me, the "water" itself's a predator. It forces itself into the body of the poor guys who trips into that pool of damnation, melts them from the inside out. And the process takes several millennia! And the victim's not even allowed to die or even go crazy while they're being "digested"!

Plus the whole area got an "area effect" that inflicts non-resistible Fear-ailment to those who are walking around. And no, Resistance skills or anything else won't help Even an Extra Skill related to Fear-resistance is useless! And if you get too many stacks of Fear, the area effect will instead start inflicting Madness (yes, also non-resistible), and you'll either jump into the death-sea by your "own will", or start hunting down your loved ones to eat them alive...

Then there are the monsters that live here! They are the second-worst thing about this place!! 

All the bad guys down here are, without exceptions, something called "Curse Creatures". If you placed a Curse Creature against something with equal stats, skills, and intellect, who would win? The answer; the Curse Creature. All the time. Because all damage they take from non-Curse Creatures is reduced to half, and on the other hand, they inflict double the damage to all non-Curse Creatures!!

And that's not the worst thing about them, no. You can lose your skills if you fight them.

I'm not kidding! Countless hours of training and grinding, lost! Just like that! They all got this "Skill Kill" effect in their traits that eliminate skills! Worst of all, you can't ever obtain the lost skill ever again. No title, class, or even Blessing can help you there...

And to top things off, these guys only give 1% of the EXP and skill proficiency compared to the guys on the surface! In other words, lots of risks and absolutely minimal gain! They're the worst for a skill-grinder like me!!

Damn that vacuum trap! The Note only said that buildings that had that emblem from before were used as seals for the entrances to this realm. You could have mentioned that they would drag you in if you opened them!! What idiot made an event with such a dangerous place!? They must've been stupid! Mad! Simply crazy!!

At least I can use my skills again, so I could stop my fall with [Storm Compression] and create a foothold through [Aerial Movement]. Zaria was flying around me, having transformed her arms into batwings. She kinda reminds me of a harpy when she's looking like that.

"Zaria, whatever you do, don't touch the water down there. And don't even think of fighting any of the local monsters-" - Garami

"B-boss! That guy's still-!" - Zaria

"I know. Just make sure you don't get caught up in this fight. You don't wanna end up as a random causality, no?" - Garami

Zaria nodded with a pale face as she flew away, leaving me to deal with the old geezer flying on the top of a tornado...

Time to flee!

What, I'm supposed to fight him? [Humility]'s active so an aerial battle's just gonna get me killed! 

Using [Sky Jump], [Aerial Movement], and [Storm Compression] in rapid succession, I tried to make some distance between me and the pale-white barrier that's gotta be the Seven Virtue skill. Unfortunately for me, this geezer's damn fast in the air! 

I took out several harpoon-shaped items I had stored in the Storage and threw them at the geezer through a combo of [Storm Compression] and [Shooting]. The wind enveloping the harpoons got erased when they touched the [Humility]-barrier, yet the harpoons didn't lose any speed. I mean, that skill only shuts off other skills, not physical objects. 

But the f*cking geezer dodged with the grace of a swan. You're definitely not at your retirement age, you fake old guy!!

While I was busy complaining about the Wind General's ridiculous mid-air moves, he acted smarter than me and prepared a surprise attack. And no, I didn't see it coming. I got smacked by it.

Yeah, that's right! I got smacked by a bigass tornado attack! Happy!? Even I can't keep on dodging attacks like it was going out of fashion!

The blow sent me flying down towards the surface. Before I came in contact with that mixture of stuff I don't wanna talk about, I used [Storm Compression] to create an updraft that sent me to safety on one of the islands. And then I was hit by another wind attack. How does he do that!?

The betraying geezer landed on the island after seeing me knocked into the rock wall from his attack. I threw several items including bombs and shrapnel, at him but they all got blown away by something that's best described as an "armor of wind". That attribute's just too versatile...

"Give it up. Small tricks are not enough...?" - Springwood

The General stopped as he noticed that his feet touched something. Something that wasn't repelled by the barrier. Something that isn't affected by any offensive skills.

"Aye, small tricks aren't gonna cut it. Even so, I'm not in the mood to bring out anything bigger than this," I said with a grin on my face, trying to ignore the pain from all over my body. 

"Don't push your luck, you damn Champion-" - Springwood

"Instead, I'll leave it to you." - Garami

"What are-*SMACK*-ugh!?" - Springwood

Sorry, but my luck's almost limitless when it really strikes. I got the best crew ever. The coolest Dungeon. And an incredible notebook that may not have all the info I wish for but it's got some of the coolest abilities out there. Like how it can store any living beings inside it and nobody would be the wiser.

"What is...this...ah...aaahh!!" - Springwood

My luck's so good that I can get the Doppelganger that I acquired from the gatcha after finding out that I couldn't get it normally. My partners in crime manage to force the Black Baron, one of the worst guys I've met, to re-create that contraption that once almost got my favorite notebook stolen,

"Wh-wh-why are you-!?" - Springwood

And most of all-

"What, you look like you've seen a ghost, old bastard Roy. Relax. The place you and your buddies are going is gonna have tons of them!" - Filyn Belial

I got the nastiest and coolest boss ever to have lived. And she's still kicking butt.