To put it plainly — saving Morka had never been possible.
Because by this point, she was already dead.
The culprit behind this incident was the Erosion Species Midir, the final boss of Chapter 1.
Its special ability: traversing shadows.
Midir would sometimes slip quietly into the city and swallow humans whole.
Morka's disappearance had happened the same way.
The only thing it couldn't digest, apparently, was a Valkyrie's Combat Suit.
So Midir had sucked out the contents and spat the suit back out.
That was why the signal had vanished — and then suddenly reappeared.
*In other words, the moment that signal showed up, Morka no longer existed in this world. She'd become Midir's flesh and blood.*
But honestly, that didn't matter.
My goal was never to save Morka.
She was nothing more than a pretext — a prop for the plan ahead.
Let me think about it simply.
The final moment of my life: dying in front of the Commander.
But if the reason for that death is just… work… versus dying for someone else's sake…
Wouldn't the latter shake him so much more deeply?
Like seasoning meat with salt and pepper.
Using Morka as an excuse was a necessary step for me.
"I don't think we can go any further by vehicle."
"Right. From here on… it gets real."
The time was 1 a.m.
The small off-road truck that had been barreling through the wilderness ground to a halt.
From here, the path was impassable by vehicle.
Inconvenient as it was, we'd have to climb the mountain on foot.
We climbed out of the truck and each drew our weapons.
I had a folding Nail Gun with a futuristic design.
Yubina had a parasol printed with pink floral patterns.
Dahlia had a bullpup rifle; Promina, a ceremonial dagger.
Anje carried a Gunblade — a hybrid of gun and sword.
…Something in the middle of that list seemed off, but it wasn't really a problem.
A Valkyrie's weapon was less about raw performance and more about individuality.
You needed to leverage your unique ability to draw out your full potential.
*My Nail Gun works on the same principle — my unique ability turns it into something like a coilgun. Someone else picking it up wouldn't get the same results.*
Anyway, we were ready to fight right now if we had to.
Once our preparations were done, we gathered near the Commander.
He was in the middle of activating the illumination drones that would light our way.
"Commander, if you would."
"Yes. Understood."
Did he read the meaning without needing an explanation?
He raised the back of his hand — the one bearing the artificial Stigma — to eye level.
"Link."
Valkyries alone could fight the Erosion Species.
So why was a human Commander needed on the ground?
One of the reasons was precisely this: Link.
The effect was simple.
It connected the consciousness of the Commander and the Valkyries through the Stigma.
Only at the most surface level, of course — barely a brush of awareness.
But even that carried considerable weight.
"This is the Link with the Commander! My body feels so light!"
"It's… strangely calming…."
"I can feel how much he trusts us. Oh my, how embarrassing."
"Feels good."
The Rabbit Hole Squad shared their impressions one by one after the Link took hold.
I'd never experienced it with anyone other than the Commander.
But it seemed the sensation varied depending on who you were linked with.
Which meant the fact that they were all this giddy about it…
…meant they liked the feel of linking with the Commander that much.
Protagonist energy, I suppose.
Still, something nagged at me.
In the game, Link gave a stat bonus.
But just like during the contract earlier, I hadn't felt any meaningful change.
*Am I misremembering something?*
I mulled it over briefly, then decided not to dwell on it.
No matter how long I thought about it, I couldn't reach a conclusion.
And when I thought about it, it wasn't really that important.
"Then let's move out immediately. We can't afford to waste time."
"Understood, Leila! Rabbit Hole Squad, get ready!"
Every second we spent dawdling here was a second wasted.
With our preparations complete, we set off with the illumination drones leading the way.
"I'll leave the Commander to Promina."
"Yes. Commander, please let me carry you."
"…Understood."
Of course — we had the Commander with us, and he was only human.
Someone needed to transport him.
I assigned that role to Promina.
The Commander hesitated briefly at the idea of being carried.
But he seemed to understand the urgency of the situation. He settled into her arms without further protest.
"Yubina and Anje on point. Dahlia and Promina behind them… I'll take the rear."
"A formation we know well!"
"You were all one squad to begin with. There's no need to adjust for me — I'll adjust for you."
To be honest, there was a gap in our levels.
I was B-rank; the rest were all C-rank.
If I fought seriously, I was confident I could take all four of them at once.
So it wasn't a matter of them keeping up with me.
Me adapting to them was the right call.
"We're counting on you for the rear, Leila."
"Of course. Please take good care of the Commander."
With our formation set, we began climbing the mountain.
The illumination drones spread out ahead of us, so visibility wasn't much of an issue.
At this pace, we'd reach our destination in about an hour.
But then, something slithered out from between the trees — a misshapen monster.
A Dreadnought. One of the more common Erosion Species.
"Dreadnought ahead!"
"Charge! Out of the way!"
Thud!
Yubina, running at the front, swung her parasol in a wide arc.
The Dreadnought staggered as the blow caught it under the jaw.
But her class was Tanker — low on offensive power.
She'd only managed to throw it off balance with the impact.
It was hard to call that meaningful damage.
"Nuisance."
But the moment the Dreadnought's full attention locked onto Yubina —
Anje, following just behind, closed the distance in a smooth glide.
In one hand: her Gunblade, trigger and all.
She drove the tip of it into the Dreadnought's knee.
A Gunblade detonates at the edge of its blade.
With a tremendous boom, the Dreadnought's knee exploded.
"KREEEEEE—!"
"Watch the blast radius!"
The Dreadnought collapsed to the ground, one leg gone.
Yubina and Anje simultaneously broke apart in opposite directions.
Through the gap they opened, Dahlia's bullets tore through the creature's body.
A seamless chain of action, as if their thoughts were one.
This was the power of the Link — the bond that tied Commander to Valkyrie.
"RAAAGH—!"
"Eek!"
"Yubina!"
But a Dreadnought was no easy opponent.
It was an Erosion Species defined by tenacious vitality and brute strength.
Even with its innards exposed, it swung hard at Yubina.
Even for a Tanker, a direct hit like that carried real damage.
That was when Promina drew her dagger across her own palm.
"Butterfly of the Right Wing!"
From the wound in her hand, butterflies of every color burst into being.
They fluttered over to Yubina, who was wincing in pain, and clung to her.
Promina was a Supporter with a unique ability centered on aiding others.
Yubina's minor wounds visibly closed within moments.
*They're fighting better than I expected.*
They were clearly stretched thin against a Dreadnought.
But I supposed there was a reason they'd all eventually become A-rank material.
They were performing well beyond my expectations.
Their teamwork stood out in particular — each one covering the others' weaknesses.
Still, their firepower was decisively lacking.
They were all C-rank, after all.
Against an Erosion Species built on toughness, they were struggling.
*Even so, they're not bad as a shield. Good thing I brought them.*
Thunk. Thunk.
Nails fired from my Nail Gun punched through the Dreadnought's head and chest.
The creature that had been stubbornly holding on crumpled to the ground and went still.
"It… it went down in one hit…."
"So this is the power of a B-rank Valkyrie."
"Amazing!"
The Rabbit Hole Squad looked genuinely impressed by my firepower.
I'd half-expected them to grumble about why I hadn't stepped in sooner.
But it seemed that thought hadn't crossed their minds.
The destination wasn't the end of this.
Better to conserve energy where I could.
With that reasoning stated, we continued up the mountain with care.
We fought the Erosion Species we encountered, stopped briefly to catch our breath.
Then pressed forward again, only to run into more Erosion Species and fight through the chaos….
Time passed.
Worn down by the relentless string of battles, Yubina dropped heavily to the ground.
"Ugh…. Something's wrong! This mountain shouldn't have this many Erosion Species!"
"It's almost as if someone deliberately herded them here…."
They were sensing the wrongness of the situation.
The encounter rate with Erosion Species was abnormally high.
Even without certainty, they were feeling a creeping sense of danger.
But there was no turning back.
If something was truly happening here, they at least needed to know the cause.
To willingly offer one's life for humanity — that was the duty of a Valkyrie.
And so, somehow, growing more caked in blood and dirt with every step.
We finally reached the summit of Malicion.
"This is the top…."
"Where is Morka's signal?"
"Over there!"
The wind blew hard at the mountain's peak.
A space filled with nothing but rock — not a single tree.
It didn't seem like the kind of place Morka would be.
Still, following the signal led us to a cave.
A cave with an entrance wide enough for a car to drive through with room to spare.
The missing Morka's signal was coming from somewhere inside.
"Commander, this is…."
"Once we go in, we might not be able to come back out…."
"It reeks of danger."
At this point, optimism was hard to maintain.
An unknown location with unknown threats lurking inside.
Common sense said we needed more preparation before going in.
"…."
But my reaction was different from the hesitating Rabbit Hole Squad.
I didn't look at the Commander. I stared only into the darkness of the cave.
*I have to go in there.*
I poured everything I had into crafting an expression that could be read that way.
"Leila."
"…Yes, Commander."
"You… intend to go in?"
"I…."
Clutch.
I gripped the front of my clothes over my chest as though in anguish.
Then I snapped my head around to face the Commander and spoke.
"I want to save Morka."
*If you say no, I'll go in alone.*
I didn't say it aloud, but I let my eyes carry exactly that meaning.
At that, he turned to the Rabbit Hole Squad with a resolved expression.
"Understood. Rabbit Hole Squad — could you wait here? If we don't come out after a certain time, please return to Lumia and report what happened…."
"No no no, what are you even saying!"
"S-sending just the two of you is still…."
"We're one squad, aren't we? Commander."
"Mm-hm."
Of course.
The Rabbit Hole Squad ran deep on loyalty.
I knew they'd follow the moment they heard the Commander and I were going in.
Thank you. But since you're the ones who decided to come —
You can't exactly complain about being used as a meat shield, can you?
"Let's go in."
The Commander's voice, carrying a trace of tension.
We maintained our earlier formation and stepped into the cave.
Inside, there was no trace of human presence whatsoever.
The floor was jagged enough to make lying down impossible, and the dampness was palpable.
What stood out was the ceiling — it was remarkably high.
High enough that swinging a weapon in combat would pose no problem at all.
"This is…."
"There's a lake inside the cave."
Crunch. Crunch.
We kept moving forward without stopping, and a lake came into view.
A lake that shimmered with an emerald glow.
In the center of it ran a single stone path.
And at the end of that path was Morka's signal.
"It's… over there!"
We followed the signal and moved in single file along the path.
But what we found there left us at a loss.
Morka was nowhere to be seen. Only her Combat Suit lay on the ground.
"That outfit… could it be…."
"Morka's Combat Suit…?!"
Remarkably, the suit was completely undamaged — perfectly intact.
It gave the unsettling impression that she had simply taken it off herself.
Where was Morka, and why was only her suit here?
Everyone was thrown off, distracted by the sight.
That was when I heard it — a faint whisper of air from above.
I immediately grabbed Promina, who was closest, and yanked her toward me.
"Watch out!"
"Kyah?!"
Slash!
Something sharp cut through the air.
Whatever had been hiding in the ceiling had swiped its claws downward.
Pulling Promina out of the way had prevented any casualties.
But if things stayed like this, a second attack could come at any moment.
I raised the Nail Gun in my hand and fired at the attacker.
"Ambush!"
"Ugh…?!"
"Something attacked from the ceiling…!"
The black creature that had been pressing its assault twisted away from my suppressing fire and retreated.
Fortunately, the others had raised their weapons and taken combat stances in the meantime.
And at last, we got a clear look at the thing that had ambushed us.
"I've… never seen an Erosion Species like this before…."
"Commander, please step back."
"A black Erosion Species…."
A frame roughly three meters tall, gaunt to the point of emaciation.
Its razor-sharp claws and fangs made it clear this creature was a predator.
*So this is what it looks like in person…. Unpleasant design.*
Its identity: Midir.
The villain cast to play its role on this stage.