Rude Awakening

"Woah there! Better be careful if you are going to run to an entrance blindly... My armor is a bit bulky, so I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt by crashing into this hunk of metal," said a familiar voice at the entrance of the Black Knight's lair.

My face became pale as I thought the worse... So if the Black Knight was still standing and talking to me, that means Bryan was defeated?! No, wait, calm yourself down. If Bryan were truly defeated, I would've gotten a notification as a party leader that a member was down.

But I didn't get that alert, so he must be alive, somehow? I backed away from the Black Knight in fear and worried, something I've never felt throughout living in this realm.

"Hey... Are you okay? Because I need you to be fine enough to fight that Brookes since this guy is sleeping," said the Black Knight, finally revealing what's clinging onto her back.

It was a sleeping Slayer! I felt the entire weight of the world lifting off my shoulders when I saw Bryan's snoring face. And that's when I got annoyed and asked the Black Knight to shift her head so I could wake Bryan up by slapping him.

Even the Black Knight was shocked at my actions as Bryan woke up in fits. I would've laughed if I wasn't so pissed off.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?! Person's trying to take a nap here!" yelled Bryan, who couldn't figure out I was standing before him.

"And you are late to the party! So everyone's here, Ticks away from dying, and you are sleeping the battle away? How's that going to fly past me, huh?! And you've got the guts to ask the poor Black Knight to carry you of her room..."

"What kind of a man are you?!" I scolded, giving no chances to the guy as he came down from the hunk of armor.

"Hey! I fought her as well! I would have ended the battle earlier if it hadn't been for the neighboring explosions! And I wasn't sleeping... So I was knocked out!" argued the Slayer, cracking his neck.

"Excuse me?! You got knocked out in battle?! How the hell did you get knocked out when you were supposed to be a professional assassin?!"

The poor Black Knight looked worried and confused as she tried to soothe the situation.

"Hey... Relax! Perhaps we should discuss what happened in my lair in the main exit room? Bryan's already cut out my comms with Fabian, so he's got no way of knowing what I'm up to, so we're safe..." pleaded the Black Knight.

"And another thing! What are you doing here?! Shouldn't you be fighting us or helping Fabian?" I asked, turning my scoldings to the Black Knight.

"I did promise to join your crew if you gave me an interesting fight. And you should be proud of this little puppy here because dueling that was the best thrill of my life!" exclaimed Mordred, ruffling Bryan's hair.

Ah, I nearly forgot about that mini arrangement...

"I've never seen any Mage who can harness the power of the Stars with such a great finesse... That's why I ended up befriending the kid! Although, Bryan needs to work on his balance even in an earthquake because my fighting style relies on shaking the area," explained Mordred.

"Hey! I don't believe that it's my fault! Anyone would've lost their balance under that kind of situation! You can't be calling me out like that!" argued Bryan, unsticking Mordered's hand from his hair.

Mordred chuckled as she slapped Bryan's back. Ouch, that must've hurt. After a slur of insults, we finally headed back to the leading group. While walking, the two explained the events leading to our sudden meet-up.

After saying his goodbyes and receiving words of encouragement from Lizzie, Bryan sprinted into the den of the most potent Duckling, the Black Knight of the Round Table. Deep down, the Slayer knew it would be one of the most brutal battles he'll ever face.

Despite this, the Slayer continued to charge forward as if he had the confidence to face such a dangerous foe. Bryan couldn't let the entire party down; even his junior did not show any trepidation as he rushed into his target's lair, so why was Bryan hesitating now?

The Slayer shook his head as he saw the design change in the hallway leading up to the Black Knight's room. Bryan slowed down in advance to look at the medieval knight hallway. Red cloths were hanging all over the area with pieces of armor strewn about.

As he neared the door, Bryan found that he had been running on the red carpet on stone pavements, not the rough edges of a cave's floor.