THAT DAY I BECAME A STAR

"Ahh…Damn, that hurt like hell."

"That's why I told you to stop jumping on enemies like that."

Ten minutes after our fight with the badass Longinus, the priest has finished healing the muscular woman. She really has a sturdy body. Though her armor is useless now.

"Can we go now?" I don't think we should just stay here like that. The effect of the dome is becoming more and more visible as I see people sweating already.

"yes, we can." The priest stands up but she looks really tired. She might not be able to heal somebody else. "But I won't be able to perform healing anymore so you guys better watch out for your asses.."

"It's okay. The captain will heal us if need be."

"What?" Everybody looks at me thanks to Hendrick saying something completely unnecessary. I should stitch that mouth of yours. I just walk to the stairs like I didn't hear anything but the priest reaches me quickly.

"Wait. You can use healing scripts and still use other types of Angas?"

"So?" Let's act like it is no big deal.

"So?!! You are a complete cheat!! Even the Saintess can't do this shit!!"

"And there was that weapon made of Angas you used." Lanuvel's double is now on me as well.

"And the explosions also!! Those tiny balls were exploding like crazy!!"

Like a wave, each person starts commenting on what I did. Were they holding it in until now?

"Stop wasting time. We must go." Thanks, Willhem. You are a real friend. "He doesn't have the obligation to reveal everything to you, does he?" Though, Willhem looks like he is getting tired as well. We should really advance.

"Y-yeah, that's true."

"We should divide into two groups and each takes a set of stairs. I will take the one to the left with K'nor, Willhem, and Hendrick. It should be enough."

"No fair, our priest can't heal us anymore. We should all stick together." The guy with the two axes tries to express his opinion but that's just wasting our time.

"Then you guys better watch out. Also, keep an eye out since that guy might come back any moment." Though I can feel him a bit far from here now. But he isn't moving anymore. I wonder why? Maybe he is resting. I did find a Longinus sleeping once.

We separate and go down like discussed. My group takes the left set of stairs and we follow them as they go down like a circle.

"We should hurry up before your guys' Angas gets completely depleted."

"You speak as if yours is infinite."

"Yeah, he is right. How come you aren't even sweating or feeling uncomfortable. Even your pet has his tongue out."

Sorry guys but I have been snacking on crystals all this time so I don't have that problem.

"Anyway, let's hurry."

***

"Kriekk-"

At the end of the stairs on our side, we find some Longinus sloins but no dalls or prators. Just sloins. We make rather quick work of them though Hendrick and Willhem get wounded.

"Those guys really know their job." Hendrick's elbow was severely cut. He couldn't move his right arm at all until I healed it.

"It still hurt?"

"Nope. It is as good as new. In fact, it's like my elbow just went ten years into the past. Are you really healing?" He tests it by waving his arm around. Since there is no problem, I heal Willhem as well.

"Are you sure you will be okay?"

"I am. Don't wor-" Willhem grabs my arm and pulls me close to him.

"Don't try to shoulder all the responsibilities alone. We all know the consequences when we engage in something."

"Huh…Okay." Why the sudden seriousness? Anyway, I heal his thigh then we continue.

Our side is like a maze. There are hallways everywhere that connects to each other and I don't see any traces of the guys who went in before us. Were they all killed by the sloins from earlier?

We advance and as I sense other Longinus ahead, I ready my raizen. It gives the signal to the others who prepare as well.

"Kriek-"

A sloin tries to surprise us but screaming at the last time isn't helping. He gets killed by Willhem's bolt and his crystal falls to the floor. Hendrick grabs it and keeps it with him while we move forward. I have enough of them for now so it should be okay.

Still, I wonder when and who built this maze. Everything is cemented here. It must have taken them a lot of time.

"Finally." We find a door after walking for a while. There are no Longinus behind so I open it only to find the rest of the corpses. There are bones with their clothes on inside. A lot of them.

"The fuck did they do here?" Willhem enters and starts checking the bodies.

"We should move forward." I don't think there will anything important here.

"Wait, capt'. Come and take a look." Willhem takes a skull and looks at it.

I enter and look at it as well. There is a hole behind the area where the ear should be. A hole big enough to insert something like a crystal or something of the same size inside. What kind of experiments were they conducting here?

"You think that's how they turn people into Longinus men?" That's an excellent question, Hendrick. In fact…

"Yeah, it might be. What do you think, Willhem?"

"…So all those guys were used just to find out. All the skulls around have the same kind of holes."

Willhem looks at the amount of bones present and frowns. Yep, that is definitively a thousand people here. At least. The bones are so piled up that they reach the ceiling. I don't even want to imagine if they were stacked up when the bodies were still fresh. Veronica has been having a lot of fun for an awfully long time, it seems.

"Let's take some just in case. It could help the guys from the church to understand what they did."

"Okay." Willhem stocks two skulls into his bracelet then we get out and continue. Let's find whatever it is that we should find.

***

"Damn, there is nothing."

"Captain, what do we do?"

The guys look really tired now. Even K'nor seems in bad condition. How much time has passed now?

"You guys go back."

"And will you stay here for?"

"I can still go on."

"I told you to not shoulder everything alone."

"I am not. You guys hurry and go back."

"You better come back quickly. I don't want to see the same shit as before with people saying you died without me defeating you."

"Fufu. Don't worry. Neither of those will happen."

"Woof! Woof!"

"You go back as well." K'nor lowers his ears and starts whining. Look how cute you are now.

"Don't worry. I will come back soon."

"Kriekk!!"

"Now, let's go!"

A sloin coming to us sounds the retreat for Willhem and the other two. I take care of it quickly then move forward. Even if I don't find anything, I should destroy the pillar of the dome at least. I am sure it is somewhere around here.

I run through the maze, destroying some walls occasionally but I can't find it. Still, from that noise I hear. It should be here. I am sure of it.

"Kriekk!"

"Aren't you guys tired?"

I kill the sloin that comes to me but then, I feel it. The Longinus who ran away. It has come back. It is above me. He is at the entrance of the cave?

"No, K'nor!! Willhem!!"

I jump and strike the roof with Raizen then step back and launch bullets until the roof collapse. I can't wait for the dust to settle so I jump inside and get hit by some rocks the size of my head. It hit the armor so there is close to no problem. I go up but then I find it. What kind of fucking coincidence is that?

The pillar is right in front of me. But the Longinus is still up.

"Fuck, I am lucky in the weirdest moment."

I bombard the pillar and as it explodes, the ray stops. I use the hole by which the ray was going and gets out of the cave. Then I fly back to the entrance but I don't see anyone.

"That bastard!!" I swear that if you have touched as much as a single trend of fur from K'nor. Your death will be the most painful ever!!

I fly inside but there is still nobody. Though the Longinus is here. Right above my head. He moves rapidly, falling on me but I turn around and block him.

"Now, it is only me and you! You will die here, human!"

So you did kill him. You took away from me.

The Longinus disappears once again and reappears behind me, he cuts my back shallowly then goes off once again.

"Ahahah! Your death will be a slow and painful one. I shall teach you fear!!"

He was my best friend. Do you know that? He was the only one who stayed with me. The only one to understand me.

The guy just goes in his own and wounds my arm, my leg, my thigh, my chest. But I don't feel it. I don't feel shit. Because right now. I will kill you. No, I will massacre you.

"And now, let's fini-"

I use Disperse and reach him as he had stopped for a moment.

"Shadow punch." Just like before, I blend Shadow punch with Lightning fist. The same phenomenon occurs as the Longinus is forced to arch back from the shockwave of energy. A crystal even pops out from him and is blown away right after.

The Longinus lands on whatever serves him as knees before me.

"Now, I will show you. The price to pay for what you have done."