Fourth Event, day 4.

Garami's PoV:

"They spawn at several areas, huh..." - Garami

I leaked out my thoughts as I read through the info the combatant-group had gathered while using them as chairs and tables...something is wrong here...

Just joking~~. I get it, alright? I've not evolved into a complete queen here...even if [Sadistic Dominance] may have gone up in levels...

Long story short: in the real organization, named Babel, I've only interacted with the big bosses and Armveil's group. None of the combatants have ever seen me in combat, so they must think I bought my position by being a no-named Dungeon Master.

Correction, they thought that. 

"Yes, Lady Garami~. Those things are more annoying than the Curse Creature itself," said the combatant with two black eyes and some broken teeth. He's among the guys who have challenged the agent that lies in the walled area before me and returned with the info about it. And do note, the agent's not responsible for his wounds.

"Hmm, okay, this should be easy." - Garami

"Really? Don't tell me you are getting cocky?" asked GM who was floating beside me.

"I'm not. With this guy's traits and the "divine phantom" or whatever that supports it, this could be the easiest agent to defeat." - Garami

I'm serious here. With these two guys grouped up, and with my newest skills in hand, this may turn out to be easy enough to do in my sleep. I'm gonna stay diligent all the way, though.

No time like the present. I got the anti-Demonic Sea accessory that lets me use spells and lowers the risk of losing levels from the collection of the temple, and Filyn's gonna be naggy if I don't bring in some results. She's already finished two agents on her own.

After gathering all the info in my head, including the crude maps the combatants had made over the area and registering their contents in the [Auto-Mapping] skill, I opened the large gates and entered the agent's territory.

It's like a huge factory with pipes everywhere. 

And as expected, the Quest notification popped up, along with the Curse Creature. It has the appearance of a crystal cow that's larger than the houses...

"Don't make it a cow just because it's from a crowd!" I retorted to no one special.

"Why so?" asked GM...hey!

"Why're you still here?" I asked her while moving toward the cow who's yet to register my presence.

"Don't know. Maybe they don't have enough power to eject tamed monsters and the like?" - GM

...true. GM disappearing last time was unnatural from the view of a normal Solo Quest. Or else Tamers and similar guys could never challenge one of these types of Quests. 

I cut our conversation short as we got close to the cow. I have work to do. I created some threads from my fingertips and used [Masterly Thread Control] to wrap them around the cow's legs. I did wanna recreate the scene from a certain sci-fi movie, but this guy would simply break my threads, so I just wrapped each leg without connecting them.

Then, five minutes after the Quest started, a noisy concert stage appeared in the distance. The notes of the combatants mentioned those, and I don't doubt them. They're using searchlights and are not saving on the volume. According to the statements of the combatants, the sound is so extreme that you would take damage if you get too close.

And the sound of the music "activated" the cow. In a similar fashion to when a real cow gets stung by an insect. It started to rampage around the place, so I fled. That thing's weight alone is enough to crush a house. 

An additional effect of the concert stage is that the cow will lock on to you, so stealth and similar skills won't work. I fled from the cow by using a thread to pull me up to the roof-tops so the buildings wouldn't get in my way. Plus, it makes me feel like that famous spider-guy from New York~.

Also...

"Harbinger!" - Garami

It gives me lots of space to attack the cow!

Through my new skill, [Harbinger (Ruin)], I created several black-colored blades and fired them at the cow. The blades struck its body, but it doesn't seem to take any damage. On the good side, they weren't deflected by its crystal skin either, so they work just as I hoped. 

"GM, can you predict where the second stage will appear?" - Garami

"Hmm...got it! Over there!" - GM

With GM's assistance, I lured the cow to follow me while showering it with Harbinger blades. Sometimes I used [Chaotic Concurrence] to increase the amount, and soon enough, the cow looked more like a hedgehog or a cactus.

"Phantom Rirrantiu appearing in 10 seconds!" - GM

Getting the notification from GM, and with us being close enough, I used a thread to turn around and land on the open path that led to the stage.

"WELCOME, EVERYONE! ARE YOU READY TO ROCK!?" shouted the shadow-like figure, probably of that Rirra-guy.

"No, but I'm ready to cut!" I shouted while running toward the cow, even putting on Genocide Drive to increase my speed.

As I got close enough, I used Carnwennan in my hand to cut the front legs of the cow. Normally, this would be impossible for me, but thanks to the thread bandages and the Harbinger, the legs outright exploded as I cut them.

Why? Because both the threads and the Harbinger swords were enhanced with the effect of the skill: [Spider's Bleeding String]. I stacked so many Bleeding ailments that the cow's a balloon ready to burst~. 

And boy did he burst. The cow was sent flying forward as it lost its legs and slide toward the stage. Right as the first gig was being played. 

One thing about this cow is that it consists of multiple curses. Essentially, you have to deplete multiple HP bars at the same time, or else the other curses will recover the wounded ones. That's what prevented the combatants from beating it. Status ailments, however, seem to be applied to every part.

So, the cow fully-stacked with Bleeding-ailment (as only the legs' worth were detonated) was sent head-first into the stage and...burst from the intensity of the sound.

Victory~.

But man, even with the accessory, the EXP is only enough for one level-up? Man...

Strange. It felt like Carnwennan was somewhat heavier than normal there for a sec. Must be my imagination.

"......" - GM

"Something's up?" - Garami

"No...nothing...why swords?" - GM

"Huh? For Harbinger?" - Garami

"Those can take any shape, couldn't it?" - GM

"I imitated Mira. Better to have a clear image." - Garami

GM didn't talk anymore to me after that...or, after she requested a break. Weird AI.

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Fourth Event, day 4.

Noire's PoV:

No. Not this. Not this either...

This is impossible...how can I find anything that will qualify...

I sat down by the table that was filled with items I had found in this library. I had gathered all these thanks to the assistance of people who were not participating in the Festival.

To make myself clear, they are normal visitors to this gigantic library. I do not know about the locations used for the other events, but this one is at least something only "rented" to the Festival or something like that.

Still...this place is too weird. It is a library, but the roof, walls, and floor are made of pure white marble, and the furniture is made of jet-black wood.

The intense contrast of black and white is creating a weird atmosphere, but then there are the bookshelves which are likely 100 meters in height, if not more. Some of the stairs even make you walk on the ceiling as if gravity is under the library's control. 

All this is honestly scaring me, but I cannot leave without any contributions myself! This is one of the few events in this round where you can earn more than 20 thousand Prize Points. It would soil Lady Filyn's honor if I failed to squeeze as many Prize Points as possible here!!

However...how do I know what item here is the most valuable? Looking for something else would be stupid, as I would still not have the ability to see the difference between them...

"WHOA-!? What is this pile of junk!?" - Armored man

How rude! Even if I can't disagree with him!

I turned around and found a pair of men, one in silver armor, and the other wearing a black robe with a pointy hat. A knight and a magician? The knight looks pretty young, but the magician is an honest and true grandpa. That beard is indeed the real thing. Same with the wrinkles. *Shiver*, wrinkles...

"Ah, isn't that Noire? Do you remember me? It's me, Percel, from the Velantas Civil War!" said the knight as he came closer...

"Excuse me, have we met?" - Noire

"What do you mean "have we met"!?!?" - Percel

"Ohoho. Sir Percel, you need to learn the art of standing out more. And you, missy, it seems that you too have a problem." - Old magician

"Not your problem." - Noire

"That is true, but I am an old geezer with an incurable disease to help people if I can~." - Old magician

"Someone's going to take advantage of you one day if you continue doing that." - Noire

"I can swear on the Guardian Angel Ramiel that will never happen." - Old magician

Big words for a senile old man.

"And I can already see your problem. Among all these treasures, you have a problem in seeing their true value. I would say it's because you have been spoiled by something that you worship the most in the world, so everything else looks bleak and boring compared to that thing or person." - Old magician

"!!? How did you-!?" - Noire

"Ohohoho. All you Celestials have that bad habit. You have to learn more from the demons. They may be some of the most selfish humanoids after fairies, but they have the backbone to live on their own." - Old magician

"..." - Percel

Learn some from demons...yes, I remember now...how disappointed Lady Filyn looked at me when I asked to be part of her guard when I officially entered Babel...maybe she wanted me to become more independent?

"Okay...you may be on to something...then, how do I gain a "backbone"?" - Noire

"How about getting out of the halo of who- or whatever your target of affection is? Try to learn from everyone around you instead of being too obsessed about a particular person or object." - Old magician

I see. No, that is obvious. Why have I never thought of that myself? Ugh, now I start fearing for the other Celestials in the world...some of them, at least.

But people to learn from, huh...not Garami. No, sir! I am too envious of how close Lady Filyn is with her! Then, maybe that flashy Lesser God? Now that I think about it, he sure had a huge heart to forgive my attitude during the third event. He was pretty funny too...

"I think I understand what you are talking about..." - Noire

"Ohohoho. Glad to help you, miss Noire, was it?" - Old magician

"Yes. Thank you, mister...?" - Noire

"Just call me Ordion, missy." - Ordion

Ordion...where have I heard that name before?

"On another note, missy, what are you going to do with this mountain of items?" - Ordion

AAAAHHH!! I forgot about that!!

"Can't you just find something that you would want to make an accessory of? All the stuff you sold in Velantas were true masterpieces, so there are no problems with your sense of taste." - Percel

"That's it! You have some good ideas in that head of yours, knight-I-don't-remember." - Noire

"She's right, knight-she-doesn't-remember." - Ordion

"Stop that! And you only need ten items, right?! Let me have some as a consolation prize at least!" said the knight-I-don't-remember as he picked up a chest from the heap-ah!!

"Not that one!" - Noire

"What, not like this tower is going to collapse on...why is this chest moving?" said the knight-soon-to-die as he opened the chest, and-

*OOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOHO!!*

"Wh-what the-!?" - Percel

"Crap! Run, sir Percel!!" - Ordion

That is why I told you not to take that one. Why is an onigiri like that even collected in this library? Forget about it being past its expiry date, it feels outright cursed...

Maybe this is the time to take a lesson from Lady Filyn's action of gathering debt instead of just worshipping her. Yes, for some reason, I feel like the world is looking much clearer now.

---

Result of this event:

• Noire: 50,000 Points (MAX value)
• Percel: 20,000 Points (barely scraped by. In lots of ways.)

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Kigal-Note/Curse Creature: ONI-Giri