<h4>Chapter 139: Sonata of the Fallen</h4>


    <i>This is not a doll... This one is a hostage.</i>


    The Bride stood rigidly, almost like a puppet, as Nichs exited the chamber. "Guys! I have something to say about the—<i>Woah!</i> How is it that we''re surrounded already?!"


    Nichs watched in shock as dozens of living mannequins charged at them, using the limbs of their fallenrades as blunt weapons.


    Being in a ce full of green life, Liam, the Druid, quickly conjured up their defenses. He forced the grass to harden into razor-sharp des, flowers to release pollen that clogged the joints of the mannequins, and vines to ensnare them, rendering them useless.


    Finn, the White Mage, cast basic Fire Spells, which were super effective against the wooden enemies, though he could only take them down one at a time.


    Meanwhile, Oliver, the Cleric, was doing his best to heal Hugo''s deep wound, while Maude, the Combat Medic, protected them, firing at everything in sight with her impressive array of firearms. "About time you showed up!" she yelled at Nichs. "Quick! Give me one of your bombs!"


    He obeyed, handing her the bomb, closely watching as the Medic swapped weapons again, despite thepetition''s rules disabling equipment. He loaded the bomb into a grenadeuncher and took aim. "EAT THIS, you bastards!"


    The explosion was massive, knocking down trees, setting a hundred mannequins on fire, and lighting up the dark forest in a wide radius.


    "Holy shit," Finn eximed. "And you''re saying you made those bombs in a couple of minutes? How?"


    <i>As a matter of fact, it only took me like five seconds.</i>


    "I''ll teach you the recipeter," Nichs replied, his focus shifting to the new horde of mannequins approaching. "What''s important right now is that—"


    A shriek pierced the night from the gap in the giant tree behind them, and all the mannequins in the forest responded to the call, vibrating in sync with a siren-like cry despite having no mouths.


    The bride-dressed mannequin emerged, dragging her longsword and uttering a guttural moan.


    "Finn!" the Medic cried. "Focus on her! Burn her to death! We''re too close to use a bomb!"


    "NO! Don''t attack her!" Nichs interjected, grabbing the Medic''s shoulder.


    "Why the hell not?! If we kill her, the others might stop moving or at least scatter like mindless—"


    "That''s not the real boss!" Nichs shouted loudly enough for the others to hear. "She''s our target—the lost NPC!"


    The Medic took a moment to examine the Bride, noticing the exposed chin and mouth beneath what appeared to be a wooden mask.


    "Where''s the boss then?"


    "My bet is, up there." Nichs pointed toward the tree''s crown.


    The brief exchange ended as the Bride lunged forward, cracking the ground.


    "You''re good at quick thinking, aren''t you?!" Nichs yelled to the Medic. "Give us orders, now!"


    Caught off guard by Nichs'' request, the Medic quickly epted the responsibility. She assessed the situation after noticing that the Monk was back on his feet.


    "I can still fight!" he shouted, positioning himself between her and the Bride.


    "The other units are doing their job just fine," the Medic muttered to herself, nodding as she made a decision. "Hugo, take care of that bitch and don''t fall this time! Finn, stop with the fireworks—you suck at it! Just support and buff the others, especially Liam, who''s our only line of defense! Is that okay with you, Druid?"


    "Do I have a choice?" Liam replied, chuckling as he maintained the defenses.


    The Medic resumed, "Oliver, keep healing! You''re in charge of who to attend first." She then turned to Nichs. "Give me another bomb. I''ve got a boss to kill."


    "Are you sure about going alone?"


    "I am. Oh, and by the way, we still haven''t seen what you can fully do yet, so feel free to do whatever you want. You''re our wildcard."


    Everyone heard that, and for a brief moment, they wondered if Maude had forgotten Nichs'' earlierments about their teamwork. But before they could question her, she unleashed des from her boots and wrists, jumped upward, and swiftly started scaling the tree.


    Finn cried out in frustration, "We got our instructions, but I don''t know what I''m supposed to do! How can I help?"


    "Share your mana with me," Liam suggested without breaking his concentration. "Do it, and I''ll be able to conjure up something awesome."


    "Not a bad idea! I''ll give it a try." Finn rushed to Liam''s side, cing a hand on his shoulder. "I just have to focus, right? The system does the rest?"


    "It''s moreplicated than that, but yeah, give it a go."


    Meanwhile, a few feet away, another battle raged on as the Bride swung her longsword at the Monk, who dodged without retaliating, baiting her away from the others.


    "I''ll cover you!" Nichs promised, punching a mannequin out of the way.


    The Monk focused on the Bride, gritting his teeth. "It''s too bad I can''t hurt you, although we''ve got unfinished business. So how about this? Woodpecker Style, <i>Shattering Strike!"</i>


    Nichs nced back just in time to witness the Monk unleash a rapid flurry of seven strikes, each targeting different parts of the Bride''s body.


    Cracks echoed through the air as wood splintered from her chest, right arm, and hips, revealing more of the NPC beneath.


    <i>If he did it right, the NPC should be unharmed.</i>


    Nichs received confirmation when the Bride charged again, unbothered by the attacks, her longsword raised above her head. Hugo then dashed forward and delivered a precise elbow strike to the exposed sr plexus. The Bride was forced to kneel, struggling to catch her breath.


    <i>Not bad at all. Would I have turned out as good as him if I''d stayed on the Monk''s path?</i>


    Nichs then heard the sound of creaking wood as two trees rose up, forming arms from their sturdiest branches and legs from their strongest roots, and began to fight the mannequins.


    "I did it!" The Druid shouted from his position. "Hold on, Hugo, Nick! I''ll send you a Dryad to help!"


    <i>We''re doing well. Too well. So well that we might all advance to the next challenge in one piece.</i>


    A smirk crept across Nichs'' lips. <i>And I can''t allow that...</i>


    As the Druid''s sentient tree fought off mannequins near Nichs, he crouched, cing his hands on the wooden floor. <i>With my right hand, Imence material alteration. With my left, I take whatever ''neutrons'' I''m missing. Weird to think of neutrons in a simtion, but it''s how I make sense of this.</i>


    "Are you okay?" the Monk asked, still focused on the Bride. "You don''t look hurt."


    "I''m just tired. Let me take a little break," Nichs replied, focusing on the nk of wood beneath Hugo''s feet. "Be careful. She could recover any second now."


    "I''ll be ready," Hugo replied, keeping his guard up.


    Nichs nced at the fallen mannequin he had knocked out just a minute ago and saw it twitch.


    "Oliver," Nichs called out as he rose. "Cast a debuff on our target! Anything will help!"


    "I-I can cast ''Tranquil Aura,''" Oliver stammered. "It''ll reduce her ferocity and strength, but it''ll take time."


    "Do it!" the Monk nodded. "Anything will help while Maude takes out the... boss?" Suddenly, he heard an unfamiliar footstep, and his instincts kicked in. He looked back, rmed, just in time to see a blue-colored mannequin sneaking up on Nichs. "Watch out!"


    But the warning came toote. The mannequin struck Nichs hard on the head, knocking him to the ground. The blue doll then turned its attention to the Monk.


    "No, no, no!" he cried, trying to move, but his boots were somehow stuck to the floor. A moan then told him that the Bride had recovered. "This is bullshi—!" His words were cut short as her longsword pierced his heart.


    After seeing another User fall, the blue mannequin moved on to its next target.


    "What the hell?!" the White Mage whimpered. "How could our wless formation fall apart so quickly?!"


    "What? What''s happening?!" the Druid cried, finally taking his eyes off the infested forest. He then spotted Hugo''s depleted HP bar in the distance. "Crap. This is bad!"


    "Nick''s still alive," the Cleric muttered, his lips trembling. "But I can''t reach him..."


    "Don''t worry about him! We need to deal with these two first!" The White Mage prepared a fire spell and cast, "Mid Fire Crafting, ze!" The fireball hit the blue doll, creating a thick curtain of smoke. "All right, now for the bitch in white! I know Nick said not to hurt her, but as long as we don''t kill her, we should be able to heal her, right?"


    "R-Right! Take her down. I''ll heal herter!"


    However, when the smoke cleared, the silhouette that emerged was still the blue doll, which now showed 70% of its HP remaining.


    The White Mage stared in horror. "W-What happened? I was handling them just fine before! And why is this one different?!"


    "Liam!"


    That was thest thing Oliver, the Cleric, managed to shout before the area turned into a bloodbath.


    Meanwhile, just 65 feet away, Nichs stood up, blood streaming from his forehead to his chin.


    "Just as I said, too bad only one of us can win," he muttered to himself, watching the Monk''s body starting to vanish. "Whoa, not so fast, fe." Nichs extended his hand, and a ck summoning circle appeared beneath him. "Greater Dark Conjure..." A grin spread across his lips. <i>"Moondeath Sonata..."</i>


    Druid - Liam


    Monk - Hugo


    White Mage - Finn


    Cleric - Oliver


    Medic - Maude


    (?) - Nichs


    *********


    I have some news to share with you!


    So... I''ve made some retcons again... Yes, again. But this time it''s for the best! (I think)


    So, the following is for long-time readers, so listen up!


    <strong>RETCON 1</strong> - I changed the rtionship between Astrid and Marco Souza. Now, they never dated. EVER. I''ve updated a bunch of dialogs and the backstory of the first time they met. So if you go back, you won''t find a single reference of them ever dating. (Unless I missed one, but I don''t think so.)


    Another change, this time referring to the Lamme sisters:


    <strong>RETCON 2</strong> - Now, Marissa apologizes to n for kidnapping him just before he talks to Marco Souza in the Drinking Banshee (Chapter 11). Now that I think about it, she should also apologize for killing Ashley. I''ll add itter.


    <strong>RETCON 3</strong> - And regarding Amelia, she now tries to amend her crimes earlier. After learning that n was outside the Novus, she feels guilty for torturing him. So she tries to report herself, admitting tomitting a terrible crime, and the Administrator of Conduct shows up in front of her, amused by Amelia''s admission of guilt. After a little exchange, the Administrator agrees on giving her a severe punishment: Amelia will feel double the pain while taking damage for the next six months. To be precise, for the rest of Volume 1. That means, during her battle against Serenity in Londorus, and Scarlettter on in Unus Town.


    So... that''s it!


    AH I ALMOST FORGOT, I GOT A NEW COVER!!!