Online In Another World

"This place is no good…Where are the others?" He mumbled.

The burly bumpkin froze as the sound of something dropping behind him in the silent, eerie room was heard.

Everett slowly turned his neck, afraid to discover what made the noise behind him as he gulped.

No ghosts…no ghosts, he hoped.

What he found behind him wasn't a ghost, or at least, not a hovering, astral being, but perhaps something worse: it resembled a slime in the shape of a human with a gelatinous, blood-like body with its internal organs visible through its translucent form.

"Eeep-!" Everett let out.

The gelatinous humanoid groaned, taking a slimy step forward as it reached out towards the shielder, "Graaaagh…"

"Stay back, you! Back! Back!" Everett said.

Walking backward without any stability of mind, he waved his shielder around frantically while repeating himself, though his words didn't seem to reach the grotesque figure as it continued slowly approaching.

The room was narrow; shelves full of rancid jars lined the walls, leaving no option for the frightened, large man than to continue backing away with his shield held firmly in front of him.

"Stay back!..."

It was roughly half his size, the blood-like, slime humanoid, though the obvious threat came in the constitution of its body: the crimson guck dripped from its as it walked, falling down onto the stone and melting through it.

It'll be bad news if that touches my skin…! He thought.

Glancing back, he checked how far he was from the next door, which was a few meters away, though as he approached it, the country bumpkin found a problem of its own: it was locked by a wooden beam.

It's locked?! Crap! Do I got time for that?! He questioned.

There wasn't any chance to think about it, looking forward again to see the groaning, melting gelatin gaining closer, prompting him to swallow his fear all at once.

…Knights aren't scared of anything! Get it together! He told himself.

As he held his shield firmly in front of himself, he rushed forward with a roar, "Raaaagh!"

Using the special rune embedded in the front of his shield just as he slammed it against the gooey figure, it released a concussive force that blew the enigmatic creation back.

SQUELCH.

It was a stomach-churning sound as the bloody slime was knocked across the room, spilling its acidic flesh on the walls and floor as the stone hissed from its melting essence.

"Alright!" He said in triumph.

Though it was bludgeoned into dozens of pieces, the humanoid slime was still clearly alive, or as close to 'living' was for an abomination such as itself as it continued groaning, left as just a torso splattered across the room, beginning to rebuild itself.

That didn't put it down 'fer good, but it should give me enough time! He thought.

Rushing over to the door at the end of the chamber, Everett set his shield for as he gripped the thick, wooden beam that was used to keep the heavy-steel door shut.

"Hoooo-raaaah!" Everett summoned his strength.

It was a hefty stock of dense wood, though through the adrenaline pumping through his veins, it was nothing for the Milligardian bumpking.

This is nothin' 'fer me! I did hard labor ever since I could walk on two legs! He thought.

Tossing the beam aside, he picked his large shield up with one arm before opening the door with a slam of his shoulder, barging in without a second thought.

"…Phew…Close 'un," Everett breathed out.

After catching his breath, he finally realized the room he had walked into, looking up.

It was a chamber worse than the last in every capacity; there were skeletons hanging from chains hooked to the ceiling with the corpses of beasts strewn across the floor.

"Gimme a break-!" He complained.

In response to his yell, something arrived in response as footsteps rapidly approached from the left corridor attached to the room.

Again!? He thought.

He readied himself, holding his shield up firmly in preparation of whatever horror was rushing in his direction.

"Everett!?"

The surprisingly familiar voice struck Everett by surprise as he looked past his wide barrier, seeing a girl with silver hair running into the room.

"—Melisandre!? You're alright!?" Everett smiled at finding another person.

"We can talk later! Right now—it's coming!" Melisande huffed.

As the girl reunited with the bumpkin shielder, she caught her breath, standing beside him as they faced the path Melisande had arrived from.

"What's comin'?! A hint would be nice right 'bout now!" Everett asked.

"It's err…hard to describe! Just be ready for something ugly!" Melisande answered, "and really, really freaky!"

After what was already encountered by the man, there wasn't much Everett felt could surprise him, but that notion was quickly thrown to the wayside as the shielder watched the shadow-filled hallway.

What slithered in was a monstrous anaconda, covered in dark-black scales, possessing a length that seemed to stretch on for a dozen meters.

"A snake?!" Everett let out.

"Yeah…!"

Melisande was clearly experiencing a lofty serving of fear as the prime example of her fear of snakes slithered into the chamber with its eerie, abnormally long body.

It had stitches throughout the length of its body with beady eyes that looked down at the humans as it slipped its tongue out as if preparing for a meal.

As it slowly brought its head back, it was taken as a telltale sign of a lunge, which the shielder read perfectly as he stood firmly in front of the silver-haired girl, planting his massive shield in front of himself, strapping it to his forearm for stability.

WHAM.

It was as though a giant maller had slammed against the otherside of the shield as the snake snapped forward with its fangs, clashing against the durable object as if steel had just clashed with steel.

It's tough…and strong! He thought.

The impact caused his metal boots to scrape across the stone tile a few centimeters, though he planted down, holding his ground.

"Do something…!" Melisande shouted.

"The hell do ya want me to do about this?!" Everett yelled, holding his shield up, "Listen up! I'm a shielder–I'll make sure ya never get hit–not in a million damn years!"

"--" Melisande looked up.

The entire time, she had been trembling with fear from the oversized serpentine; her skin crawling at the mere sight of it and further from the ominous hisses it released.

Everett stood firmly, gritting his teeth as the snake whipped around, attempting to get to them, but being blocked each time, "--But…! I'm a shielder! I can't attack for ya! That's why I need ya to do! We're a team! I've got yer' back, so you get mine!"

It wasn't as though he knew the girl all that well or was trying to directly speak to her insecurities, though he made a perfect shot as those words reached the silver-haired recruit deeply.

Spoken to on equal footing, not coddled, Melisande couldn't deny the responsibility given to her, stepping up as she raised her gaze, almost instantly closing her eyes at the sight of the monstrous serpent.

Every time I see it, I wanna hide in a corner and just shrink away…! I've always been paralyzed by snakes, even though my brother was fearless–he always rushed to my side and tossed them away, but…Joel isn't here anymore. I can't be that little girl who needs protection! She thought.

"Ghh–!" Everett grunted.

There was no rejecting the reality in front of her, however, as the shielder continued to react swiftly, dashing around and guarding each speedy strike from the stitched-together anaconda.

This time, the black-scaled anaconda changed its approach after being repeatedly rejected by the sturdy shield as it lunged forward, latching onto the steel barrier with its fangs.

"What the–?! Hey, get off!" Everett said.

Attempting to wiggle the snake off by shaking the shield, it was a no-go as its jaw strength was completely monstrous.

"Wind Bore!"

Passing by Everett's ear was a howl of wind, condensed and sharpened before it slammed against the serpent's body, knocking it off of the shield.

No longer hiding behind the wall-like object that Everett wielded, Melisande stood tall, though her fingers trembled, she didn't let her emerald gaze shy away from the beast.

"Nice!" Everett gave a thumbs-up.

Melisande nodded, giving a thumbs-up in return with a smile in surprise of herself. Not a fan of the camaraderie between the two, the serpent hissed out with its skin-crawling, scratchy call before shaking off the blast of wind.

"Here it comes! Get ready!" Everett shouted.

"Right!"

Though he was frequently seen as clumsy by the group, Melisande found herself in awe of the sheer commitment and explosiveness of Everett's "shielding" fighting style: even with his burly body and armor that must've weighed a ton, he moved in quick bursts, blocking each attempt the monstrous beast made to attack.

All the while, Melisande gathered her mana, focusing her intent into a short incantation as wind swirled around her in the grimy, blood-stained room.

Everett glanced back, seeing that the young woman was ready to attack as he gave a nod before repelling the serpent's lunge once more.

"--Have at 'em!" Everett shouted.

Without further ado, Melisande fully conjured the spiral of wind in front of her, sharpening and reinforcing it before letting it out, pointing it towards the anaconda's head, "Wind Bore!"

It was a spell that greatly benefited from concentration and mana poured into it, allowing it to penetrate the space in front of the caster in an instant.

"Hisssss—!"

Just as the massive snake let out its cry, it was silenced as the verdant wind, honed into a penetrating force, swept through its head in an small explosion of black blood.

"...Got it!" Melisande squeezed her fist with a small.

"Ya did it!" Everett jumped up, thrusting his fist into the air.

After reuniting, the two shared a high-five that resonated through the dreadful place, combatting its darkness before heading deeper into it together.