"It’s been a while, Your Imperial Highness."

Damien posed with one hand over his eye, murmuring ominously.

"But please, do not come near me."

"...?"

"Right now, a nightmare is slumbering in this right hand. A very vicious and dark nightmare that might consume the world..."

Then, suddenly, he grabbed his right arm, which held the magical gun, and groaned.

"Argh! Calm down, Orlop! I understand your urge to rampage, but we are in front of His Imperial Highness now...!"

"..."

Seriously, he’s become such a clichéd junior-high character.

I pointed at Damien with the tip of my finger and asked Evangeline.

"When did he start acting like that?"

"He’s been like that since the last defensive battle."

Evangeline shook her head back and forth.

"It seems the magical gun is the cause. I tried to take it away somehow, but he wouldn’t let go of it even if it killed him."

The Black Queen seemed to be causing the problem. A dark aura emanating from the magical core of the gun enveloped Damien.

A recollection of something the magical blacksmith Kellibey once said brushed through my mind.

- The more you kill with the Nightmare Slayer, the more the nightmare slumbering in the weapon awakens.

I quickly opened the party menu in the system window to examine Damien’s equipment status.

[Black Queen Engulfed in Nightmare(SSR) Lv.55]

- Type: Magical Gun

- Attack Power: 225-250

- Durability: 7/7

- Ammo Capacity: 7/7

- Shoots cursed bullets that may instantly kill the enemy. The probability increases with weapon proficiency.

;Kill Count Achieved, Nightmare Legion Commander - ’Black Spider Queen Orlop’ Trait Unlocked!

- Orlop’s Rage: As the magazine empties, the bullets grow stronger. The seventh and last bullet does double the damage of the first, always inflicting a critical hit.

- Orlop’s Hunger: The user is eroded by nightmares, revealing their inner darkness. If the user wins the struggle against the nightmare, the darkness disappears. If they lose, they are completely consumed by the darkness.

Indeed, the kill count had been filled, unlocking the Nightmare Legion Commander trait. An odd prefix was also added to the equipment’s name.

After reading the description, I looked at Damien with apprehension.

’So that’s... Damien’s inner darkness?’

Damien’s inner darkness is ’chuunibyou’?!

’It’s kind of cute for darkness, isn’t it?’

Anyway, the additional damage option was terrific, but the other aspect was a problem.

A struggle against nightmares? Who knows what could happen if Damien loses this struggle with the nightmare!

’I can’t lose Damien over a single piece of equipment.’

I thought that unequipping the Black Queen might alleviate the situation, and I approached Damien to take it away.

Snap!

At that moment, Damien reached out with his left hand and opened it to me.

"Please trust me, Your Imperial Highness."

Holding the magical gun with his right hand lowered, Damien growled in a strained voice.

"I need the power of this magical gun."

"..."

"Please trust me. I will surely subdue this darkness and make it my strength."

From amidst his tousled brown curly hair.

Damien’s round brown eyes - the Far-Sight that had saved this monster frontline from game over time and time again - were sparkling brightly as usual.

Although he had suddenly started showing severe symptoms of an acute delusion disorder, consumed by nightmares, he was undeniably my trigger, my Damien.

So, I chose to believe. I believed that Damien alone could win the battle for control against the nightmare.

"I’ll trust in you, Damien."

"Just leave it to me. Heh heh..."

I wish he’d fix that laugh...

’I should watch for now and snatch the magic gun away if his condition gets worse.’

Anyway, that’s how it went. Damien, who was cackling while holding the magic gun, joined us, along with Junior, who was diligently eating health food without a break.

"They’re both definitely not in good shape," I said, clicking my tongue.

Evangeline whispered to me, her face pale, "Compared to the last person, these two are like gentlemen."

"Ah... that state is gentleman-like?"

"Lucas, he’s really... um... I can’t describe it with words. Should I just say he’s completely gone?"

Evangeline, sighing and holding her forehead, pointed to one side of the camp.

"Ah, there he is! See for yourself!"

I looked in that direction.

Thwack! Thud!

"Gah?!"

"Aaaah!"From the shadows of the night, a large figure swung his fists like a beast, and two rushing bandits crumbled, their weapons shattered.

Grrr...

A beast-like growl faintly cut through the midnight darkness.

Blue eyes flickered like flames between disheveled blonde hair, and slowly, the figure stepped out from the shadows.

’A wolf?’

No, that wasn’t it. It was...

"...Lucas?"

Crouched down like a wild animal, huffing breaths visible between bared fangs,

Wobbling unsteadily, Lucas emerged into the moonlight.

[Beast Transformation].

My knight, who had strayed from the path of humanity in his thirst for strength, was there.

***

"We made it to the site where our senior was kidnapped, but it was night in the mountains, making tracking difficult," Evangeline sighed heavily, watching Lucas growl and bare his teeth.

I figured as much. Tracking is a specialty of classes like thieves or hunters, not our party members.

Damien’s sharp eyes might have made it possible, but with his current condition...

"Lucas himself decided to enter that wolf state, saying that waiting until daylight to track would be too late. He initiated the [Beast Transformation]."

He used [Beast Transformation] to become more like a beast and track me.

And as a result, the transformation progressed too far... turning him into something fierce, like a wolf?

"Lucas."

I stepped forward to calm him down.

"It’s me, Ash."

"..."

"You recognize me, right? It’s okay, right?"

Beast Transformation progresses in three major stages.

st stage: The power of the beast begins to inhabit the human body. This is a relatively sane stage where human beings use the power of the beast as a tool.

nd stage: The beast starts to swallow up rational thought. Language ability is lost, and the person begins to act half like a beast.

Yet, there’s still some semblance of human self-awareness, even though the boundaries have become blurred.

rd stage: Transforming completely into a beastly state. Losing all human reason, normal thinking, and becoming a monster that merely thirsts for violence.

’Phase 1 seems to have passed, and if it reaches Phase 3, there’s no turning back.’

But if it’s just at Phase 2, it can still be reversed.

I swallowed my dry spit and approached Lucas. Please, Lucas! Recognize me!

"Your lord has returned, Lucas! With all limbs intact!"

"...Growl..."

But Lucas still emitted a wolf-like groan and approached me threateningly.

Evangeline tensed and raised her shield, while Juju and Damien also gripped their respective weapons.magic

In an instant, the distance between Lucas and me closed.

Lucas stared at me with his blue eyes, advancing menacingly, but I didn’t back away and stood still.

He stopped right in front of me.

"..."

"..."

A silence ensued.

Lucas and I simply looked at each other. The other party members tensed their bodies, ready to intervene at any moment.

Then,

Thump.

Lucas knelt on one knee before me.

His once fiercely burning blue eyes suddenly softened. Lucas grinned like a big dog, slowly bowing his head.

Even as his rationality was transforming into that of a beast, he still recognized me.

"Thank goodness..."

I let out a sigh of relief.

"He may be a beast, but he’s our house’s dog, still."

Unconsciously, I tousled Lucas’s blond hair as one would handle a large dog. Lucas stayed obedient. Good boy.

Evangeline, who had been watching from the side, muttered in disbelief.

"He’s literally turned into a faithful hound..."

Keep quiet. That’s not something to say to a sick person.

Anyway, it seems he still recognizes me, but...

If left like this, he might really become a dog, and I’ll have to scratch his belly and play catch with him, so better turn him back into a human now.

I pointed to Lucas’s waist.

"Try to grab the Karma Eater."

With a big nod, Lucas obediently drew his long sword and handed it to me. No, don’t give it to me... I put it back into Lucas’s hand.

"Activate the sword’s energy!"

Then, from the tip of the sword Lucas was holding, a surge of sword energy erupted.

’Karma Eater’ is a weapon that generates sword energy by consuming temperament values. It can also use the ’Beastification’ value as fuel.

After about 10 minutes of burning the sword energy, Lucas suddenly gasped and regained his senses."Gasp! My lord?! You’re safe!"

"You’re the one who’s not safe, you big canine brat!"

"I’m truly relieved, my lord! You don’t know how worried I was..."

"Listen to meeee!"

It’s fortunate that I had the Karma Eater looted! Otherwise, you might have lived your whole life as a dog! I gave Lucas a light smack on the head.

"I told you not to use Beastification recklessly, you brat!"

"My, my apologies. Upon hearing the news that you were kidnapped, my lord, I lost my reason..."

Lucas hung his head with realization, yet still bared his teeth in a grin.

"I’m truly relieved that you’re safe, my lord."

"..."

I heaved a heavy sigh.

How could I scold him further? This foolish knight, who had even burned his humanity for my sake.

"Don’t do that again. Seriously."

"I will be careful, my lord."

Anyway, Lucas had regained his sanity, but he was still not entirely free from his beastly state.

Still crouching with a twisted posture, his bright blue eyes looked fierce, like a wolf’s, when they weren’t focused on me.

I clicked my tongue, looking at the disheveled appearance of the main party that had finally reunited.

"To think everyone would lose their minds just because I was gone for a little over a month."

I patted Evangeline’s shoulder, who seemed to be the only one in a normal state.

"Evangeline, you managed to hold it together."

"Hehe. Who am I? The heir to the Margrave, the last line of defense protecting Crossroad! I’m Evangeline Cross. Of course, I held on tightly and endured."

"You’re the only one, seriously. Hey! You all should learn from Evangeline! You’re all her older brothers and sisters."

But the looks on the faces of the other party members were strange at my words. They all seemed somewhat aggrieved.

Junior, who had just emptied a bottle of tomato juice, spoke up.

"Actually, Miss Evangeline was the one who lost her mind the most..."

"Ahem! Ahaha! Well, let’s leave that story behind! Let’s finish cleaning up this place!"

Evangeline hurriedly mumbled and looked around.

"This is enemy territory! The enemy territory! We never know when more enemies might pop out!"

And then, as if on cue:

Tadadadat!

Bandits ran across the roofs of the nearby buildings and leaped down towards us.

At their forefront was a giant with flaming red hair flaring like fire - the Bandit King Kuilan.

"Heh-!"

With an unbelievably nimble motion for his large stature, Kuilan soared through the air, executing a smooth flying kick.

"Reckless!"

Lucas, charging forward, struck with Karma Eater.

Chang!

The sound of metal rang out as the sword and foot met. Kuilan was wearing metal gauntlets and boots on both arms and legs.

The Bandit King swung his metal fists and feet, adorned with rings and spikes, all around in a dazzling display.

Chang! Chang! Cha-cha-chang!

In an instant, Lucas and Kuilan exchanged over ten blows before they each backed off.

"To think a pursuit team would catch up overnight. Should I praise the Imperial Prince? Or, should I say that I was sloppy?"

Kuilan straightened his stance with a sneering smile, as his subordinates readied their weapons.

I crossed my arms and grinned.

"These guys are my direct elite party. You could say they’re my handpicked dream team. Of course, they’d rush to me if I were in danger, right?"

"Dream team..."

A magician struggling with spinach, a sniper holding his right arm yelling ’Stay still!’, a knight on all fours like a beast...

...Kuilan looked over them in turn and tilted his head.

"For a dream team... they seem a bit... broken...?"

"Watch your mouth, you brat!"

Broken? That’s harsh! My guys might be in bad shape, but!

Kuilan pointed to the four bandits behind him.

"These are my handpicked guys too. Even when pursued by the Imperial Army’s medium knight division last year, these guys fought equally."

So, it was 5 against 5. A party PVP situation.

"I’m sorry, but I can’t let you go here, Your Highness. I need your bounty. You’ll have to be kidnapped again, quietly."

Kuilan’s gauntlets clashed together with a resounding ’Bang!’ at his chest.

Lucas growled at him, asking, "Shall I kill him, my lord?"

"What? No, what are you talking about?"

I grinned and looked over Kuilan and his party.

"We should kidnap them."

That bandit king was an SR-grade character, wasn’t he? His followers were likely all at least R-grade, right?

’I absolutely must take them to Crossroad!’

I’d said it before. If they were capable of killing the monsters, whether they were ghosts, demons, or zombies, I was more than willing to take them. A bandit was trivial in comparison.

Hey, you’re mine too! You’ll have to be captured quietly!

--TL Notes--

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