章 13: Abomination

After explaining our situation, Star Dragon Sword agrees to come with us to slay Neclord in the North Window. Right now, we are walking toward the North Window by foot. It was not too far away from the Cave of Wind. Riou and his companion arrive at the Cave of Wind from the North Window after two hours of walking.

"Ne~ Isaac."

"Hmmm? What is it, Nanami?"

"Where are you coming from?"

"Hmm? I was born in a small village in the Toran Republic. Sadly my village has been destroyed by Neclord when he first became the lord of the Lorimar region. My family knows that he is bad news, so we moved away from Lorimar and went to Obel Kingdoms in the south of Toran Republic."

"Oh?!? So you come from the famous Island Nations Federation?!?"

"Yeah, I grew up there."

"How is it?"

"The island is beautiful and exotic. The economy is good for people that search for jobs. The Island Nations Federation is located in the center of the world; that is why many people are coming here searching for jobs. However, with all that positive side, there will be a negative side. Because the Island Nation Federation is a trading nation, many ships are coming in and out of the nation."

As we walk toward the North Window, I tell them about one of my 'Origin Story' that I created before I decided to come into this universe.

"Seeing that many trader ships sailing in and out of the port in the Island Nations Federation, there are many criminals who see this as an opportunity and decide to become a pirate. The federation became the target of many pirates. Lucky for the merchant, Island Nation Federation has the most powerful Naval Army in the world, and with their constant patrol around the area, the pirate did not rule the nation."

"That is really good."

"Yeah, but many merchants still need to hire either a knight or a mercenary to guard their goods from the pirate."

"Is pirates the only problem in the Island Nation Federation?"

"Oh, no. There is also a monster as well that attacks any ship they can find in a surprise attack. So that is why they hire some knights or mercenaries. They need it not only for the pirate but also for the monster."

"That sucks."

"Well, that is how the world works. There will always be trouble."

We continue to have a pleasant conversation with each other. Either it is Nanami asking about my 'adventure' around the world or a conversation about how to defeat Neclord.

Without knowing it, we arrive in front of the North Window city, Viktor hometown. I must say that the game is really different from what reality shows us. When Viktor says that North Window is a ghost town, he really means it, and even I can see ghosts flying around on top of the castle not too far away from us.

"Here we are. North Window. I don't know if we can trust Neclord, but he says that he will wait for us on the castle's top floor. We should hurry up."

After Viktor says that, he leads us toward the castle, where a dozen zombies immediately greet us. When Viktor sees the zombie, I can see Viktor's painted face before he grips his sword a little tighter. Look like they are the people of North Window that Neclord resurrected as a zombie.

Seeing the incoming enemy, I twirl my spear and follow the other to fight the zombie. When I appear in front of the zombie, I immediately stab one of them with my spear before throwing the zombie to the ground and stomp its head.

However, this attack did not immediately kill the zombie, even though a piece of its brain oozed out of its head. This is another thing I hate from the Suikoden universe. It was following the rule in the game; the monster has an HP. Some monsters cannot be defeated even though I cut off their head, which sucks.

And what makes things worse, I cannot see the HP of the said monster so that it can fake its death. I learn it the hard way when the monster bites my legs when I think the monster is dead. That is why I will make sure the monster is dead by stabbing them three more times or five times to make sure.

But with the law of this universe, the enemy also cannot cut my head off in a single swing if their attack is lower than my 'HP.'

Anyway, we kill all the zombies that come at us. Viktor, Riou, and Freed Y become our vanguard, Nanami, Khan, and I follow behind the vanguard while Eillie becomes our long-range fighter with her throwing knife.

Khan also helps us with his rune called the Resurrected Rune, a light-based rune that is effective against undead and can heal us.

I also can see a rune in Riou's hand other than the Bright Shield Rune. It has Fire's shape, which means he either has a Fire Rune or a Rage Rune, the more powerful rune than ordinary Fire Rune.

Not only Riou that have rune in their hand. I can also see Nanami having a Wind Rune on her hand as well. That is good because the Wind rune can be both offensive and support rune.

Our group consists of physical fighters, but we can fill the gap of lack of magical attack with the rune's help.

Anyway, we continue our journey to fight Neclord by climbing our way toward the castle's top floor. We walk from floor to floor while fighting our way against any monster coming our way. I don't know how Neclord can gather this much monster inside one castle, but I guess he learned how to summon the monster and bind them to do his bidding.

However, when we explore the castle, I never encounter any puzzle like the one in the game.

When I arrive on the third floor, I can feel the cold aura of death coming from the floor above us. It looks like we will soon meet Neclord.

When we arrive on the fourth floor, I can hear an organ being played by someone as I look at the end of the room and see a man playing the organ for a few seconds before looking at us and saying.

"I've been waiting for you… Viktor and Star Dragon Sword. Oh? Is that a Marley boy, I see? I'm so glad you could come here."

I can see Viktor and Khan begin to get angry at the mocking voice of Neclord.

"Between the Star Dragon Sword and the secret technique of Marley family, your time is running out, Vampire."

"That's right!!! Get ready to die!!!"

Viktor then unsheathes the Star Dragon sword and is ready to charge at Neclord. Before Viktor could charge at Neclord, the vampire raised his hand and said.

"Wait. Don't be in such a rush. Of course, I understand your feelings… But I have my own idea as well. That is why I invite you to this castle. I have someone that I want you to meet."

After saying that, Neclord claps his hand before a magic circle appears in front of us. Seeing the magic circle begin to take our battle stance. However, when we see that it was not a monster, Riou and his companion relax a little but did not lose their guard. While the others were relaxing when they saw it was just a young woman, I knew it was a trap for Viktor.

"So, what do you think? Do you feel nostalgic? I think her name was… Daisy wasn't it?"

Viktor looked at her childhood friend in shock before muttering.

"Bastard…"

Neclord smirks when he sees Viktor's expression and says.

"Well? What do you think? Just hand over the Star Dragon Sword, and I will give you back this little girl. What do you think?"

"V… Viktor…?"

When Viktor hears 'Daisy' talk to him, I can see his expression begin to change into a different kind of emotion. From guilt, anger, and sadness.

"D-Daisy…."

Seeing Viktor walk toward the young woman, Riou shouts at Viktor, trying to wake him up from whatever is affecting him.

"Viktor! Don't give Neclord the sword!"

The same with Khan.

"Viktor!!! Please don't give him the Night Rune! If you give him the sword, we will never be able to defeat Neclord!"

I can see Neclord enjoying the show and chuckle a little.

"V…. Viktor…. Help…. Help… Me"

Viktor stands there unmoving with the Star Dragon Sword in hand. Neclord, never a patient person, shout at Viktor.

"What are you waiting for! Give me the sword, and you can have her!"

Viktor walked toward the young woman and touched her shoulder before saying.

"Star Dragon Sword….."

"Do whatever you like."

"A lot of years have passed since then…. It was so long ago that I barely remember her face…."

Viktor takes a deep breath before suddenly, he shouts.

"Listen here, you bloodsucker!!!"

Viktor backs away from Daisy and raises his sword.

"I know that when a person is dead for a long time, they are gone forever!!!"

He then swung down his sword and cut 'Daisy' in half with the Star Dragon Sword.

"Viktor here is not stupid enough to be fooled by your little drama!"

He then pointed his sword at Neclord and said,

"Let's go, Pal!"

"Don't call me, pal !"

When we see Viktor ready to fight, we also ready our weapon to help Viktor. However, before we could charge at Neclord, he snarled at us and said

"You…. You…. It looks like the negotiation failed. Well, anyway, you guys have something bigger to worry about, and I have something to do than fighting you guys. Farewell, we'll meet again."

A second later, Neclord disappears from the castle leaving only us in the room. I can see Viktor ready to explode, but before he could curse his luck, I can feel a movement from the ceiling.

"ABOVE US!"

Hearing my warning, we leap away from our position. A second later, a monster landed where we stood previously.

"What is that?!?"

After dodging the ambush, Nanami shouts while pointing her finger at the monster in front of us. This monster is an Abomination, the monster created by Neclord.

"I don't know, but here it comes!"