Parallel Vol. 5

Chapter 33: Power of Song

"Damn it! Hurry up, we're so late!"

"Hey! Don't blame me. How was I supposed to know that dungeon had that kind of trap!? Damn thing stole several hours more than we planned. It's almost midnight. I bet the Oni Hill battle has most likely reached its climax."

Two adventurers argued as they spurred their mounts towards Meilfour. The older of the two clucked his tongue as he muttered, "Fortunately Black Beard said they're playing a live coverage from the Emporium at Meilfour, cause we never would've made it back to Aygorzi in time."

The younger one eyes shone as he thought of the magnificent Emporium. Sometimes he could not believe that mere gamers came up with such a beautiful design. His brows then furrowed in anxious worry as he thought of the Emporium's main attraction. "Do you think Ms. Lunette will be alright? She's just a singer. Even if her buffs are powerful, any stray arrow can kill her."

"Pfft. Lunette should be the least of your worries." The older adventurer snorted at his younger companion's shock. "That's right. You just transferred to Merriheim's branch so you don't know yet. In Merriheim, the scariest things aren't the monsters with thick muscles and magic, but those that use music."

"What? Does that make sense?"

"Whether it makes sense or not is something you'll realize when there's a stick pierced through your brain." The older adventurer's eyes brightened with joy when Meilfour's brand new walls appeared on the horizon. "Less chit-chat. Give your mount all you've got. We're going to double-time it."

With those words, the adventurers spurred their mounts even harder. As if sensing the end of the journey, the mounts fully complied and brought out 120% of their normal max speed. With that, the adventurers rode into the town in less than three minutes.

Surprisingly, no one checked them at the gate, but they soon realized why when they saw a gigantic gathering outside the Emporium. Every guard in Meilfour had been reassigned to this location to ensure no fights broke out.

"Ah! Miss Lunette!" The younger brother screamed in shock as he stared at a giant projection on the Emporium's outer wall. The adventurers were just in time to see an overhead view of Oni Hill's main battlegrounds as the undead launched themselves at Lunette and Jade to destroy these two strategic locations. "Ah! She's in trouble! What are the warriors doing? Why is no one going to help her?"

"Help her?" A random adventurer chuckled as he looked at the young adventurer. "Shut up and watch, noob. God Lunette isn't someone these undead can touch."

"G-god Lunette?" The young adventurer barely had time to process his shock before he let out another scream. God Lunette had just left the skyboat's protection and was walking on the air towards the incoming undead missiles.

"Hahaha! The show's about to start." The random adventurers' eyes suddenly turned blood-red as he started clapping and hollering at the top of his lungs. "Oi, admin turn up the volume!" Even more shockingly, most of the adventurers at the Emporium shared the same reaction. These veterans of Lunette's concerts seemed to sense something as their turbulent emotions were like a lit fuse leading to a powder keg.

"Watch closely, Grim Sky." The older adventurer suddenly said as he gazed at Lunette's floating figure. "Look how true Merrites fight."

***

"Are you sure you don't need help, Falsetto-kun?" Atop the skyboat, Lufer asked as he glanced at Lunette in the distance. Despite the loud music and battling sounds, he wasn't afraid she couldn't hear him. To musicians like them, their ears were one of their greatest assets.

Lunette smiled as a grand piano appeared in front of her. If Kashi was here, he would have recognized it as the grand piano he saved from the corrupt mayor's vault. It was all fixed up, shiny, and somehow floating in the air alongside Lunette. "It won't be necessary Lufer-san." Lunette glanced at the battle going on below and added, "The army cannot be deprived of the orchestra's buffs for even one second. That's exactly the undeads' goal. We cannot play into their hands." A confident grin played across her lips as she sat down and played a note. "Besides... I do not think I need help to defeat these monsters. I'm not the same helpless girl I was when we fought Belrug.