Chapter 787

Calypso continued to back away until she stood right next to Bernard, who still had his blade against Garnet’s neck.

“We may go.” Calypso gave a curtsey as she put the sword at her side, not handing it to him yet. “Kill the girl. She has no use.”

“I wanted to finish him off though.” Bernard glanced at me. “She keeps mentioning him. It’s irritating.”

“He’s a nobody.” Calypso shrugged. “Kill him, if you must.”

Bernard looked at the Bandits. All of his knights had seemingly been defeated, and although Calypso acted confident, it would be one on fifty if he fought him.

“If I take the girl, it’ll give you more reason to follow me.”

“Deek!” Garnet finally let out a cry after being manhandled for the last few minutes without any strength of her own to fight back.

“Then take her!” Calypso snorted. “We should get out of here soon.”

“Why?” Bernard asked, also seemingly unperturbed by the Bandits surrounding him.

“She’s worried I might show up.”

Bernard had to shove Garnet away to be able to jump away just as a large staff flew where his head would have been. Calypso let out a shout and jumped away as well. It was at that point that I got a view of Xin, who had suddenly appeared. Her appearance shocked the Bandits, who had the two all but surrounded while not seeing how she had gotten past them. She had also caused Calypso and Bernard to scramble like they had their heads cut off.

“We must leave immediately!” Calypso cried out.

Bernard nodded and grabbed her shoulder. Xin attacked again, but just as he had once done with Carmine, he disappeared, using Return to go to another part of the dungeon. Either he didn’t have the restriction of having to be out of combat, or by dodging her blows and not engaging, he had managed to technically not be in combat with her, allowing the Return to work. Xin stopped as soon as he disappeared, putting her staff to the side calmly like she wasn’t standing in a burning village surrounded by bandits.

“This village had never been destroyed before like this,” Xin muttered under her breath as she looked around. “Too much has changed. Too hard to predict.”

“Hero Xin… it’s you… maybe… we have… a chance?” The Bandit Hero’s cracks had spread to the majority of his body, and he looked on death’s door.

“Roxford the Bandit Hero? What are you doing here? I came to check the Magic Blacksmith’s progress, but I came to see the village burning.”

“We had it…” He gasped. “We had the blade… they… took it.”

She looked Roxford up and down. Seeing his state, she quickly understood what he had meant.

“How? I have seen the Blacksmith fail a thousand times. I had given up on it, although given how much has changed…”

“It was… the Deep Dwarf… she made it.” Bernard’s eyes turned to Garnet, and for the first time, Xin had noticed her.

I started to get a sinking feeling. I ran over to grab Garnet, but Xin suddenly moved, appearing directly in front of the girl.

“A Deep Dwarf Blacksmith?” she looked Garnet up and down.

“M-my name is Garnet!” She said, then she shot me a worried look.

“I have some of that material remaining that I had gathered in previous cycles. You will make me a dagger using what is left.”

“We can do that,” I spoke up, causing Xin to glance over at me.

“You? Oh… you’re still alive.” She didn’t sound unhappy or relieved, just disinterested.

“Why do people keeping saying that? Never mind, if you have some material, then there is still a chance. We make a dagger and then lay an assault. Bernard is going to attack the Dungeon Boss. He’ll be distracted.”

“He always attacks, and he’s always distracted. It happens in 6 weeks, on the day of his wedding.” Xin said.

“He always… well, this time he has the blade!”

Xin shook her head. “Either way, even if I can’t escape this cycle. If I can get that knife, it’ll be easier.”

“Then, we’re allies?” She looked back at me.

“Whoever said you were needed?”

She grabbed Garnet, and before I could say a word, a circle of wind whipped around them. It was violent enough that I had to cover my face. When I finally could look again, both of them were gone. I could feel the slave connection to Garnet. Rather than an instantaneous transport, she was being carried away at a rapid pace. It was far faster than I could walk, and in only a minute, she was already too distant to tell.

Like that, I had lost the sword and Garnet. I was all alone again.