—Wait.
I rushed to the emperor's side as he lay on the ground. For the first time, he lifted his face. Rachel's exhaustion was obvious; I managed to grab her wrist. Of course, I didn't even try to lower her weapon, but at least I got her to turn her tired sapphire-blue eyes toward me.
—What do you think you're doing? —she said, almost angrily.
—There's another way. If he's already surrendered, we can leave without him dying.
—Are you saying you plan to defeat the bull? —she replied, incredulous.
—Well… I can't do it alone, but we can —I answered with confidence.
I held her gaze as she scanned my determination intensely. I could feel desperation slowly trying to take over my mind, but I endured until, finally, she lowered her sword.
—Tristan, right? —the blue-eyed girl looked me up and down—. What makes you think your plan will work?
I answered solemnly:
—Because I was once a great knight and general, and alongside my king—
—Yes, yes, I heard you the first time. But if that were true, why are you called Mr. Nobody?
"Checkmate, right?"
Unfortunately for the little princess, I already had an answer prepared. I stood calmly, almost sorrowfully. A fabricated melancholy spread across my face as I delivered the saddest story one could possibly hear…
—Because I betrayed my lord's trust…
Rachel's eyes widened, one of her brows arching as if inviting me to continue.
—He ordered me to protect the daughter of a political ally, to hand her over to a barbarian in order to forge an alliance between nations, but…
—But what?
—Who could have known I would face something more powerful and terrifying than the Dragon of Frozen Death…?
—More dangerous? —her gaze shifted from disbelief to absolute fascination. She now looked at me like a fan meeting her dream idol, and I had no intention of shattering that illusion.
—Love, Rachel… love…
Her eyes sparkled instantly. Having idolized Arthurian knights since childhood and knowing every myth by heart, she quickly connected the threads. Something within her wavered, and as realization struck, the boy's name reminded her of a certain knight who fit perfectly with the tale I had spun.
—Very well —she murmured dryly—. I'll grant you one chance. I'll deliver a single strike under your command. If that blow wounds the beast, I'll trust your leadership, Tristan… on probation.
—Probation, huh… —I gave a complicated smile—. That's all I need.
Napoleon, still shaken, forced himself to stand.
—I have no choice but to choose between dying or helping you defeat the bull. So I suppose… count me in.
Thus, the three of us planned our next move: to hunt the beast.
Napoleon had been sent as bait.
Unfortunately for him, he had no choice but to trust the strange ponytailed boy. Though he didn't trust the blonde girl, he felt the young man was someone who kept his word. He had assured him that he only needed to fire a single shot and escape. If they failed… well, he was already dead anyway.
The boy had drawn a line on the ground several meters from Napoleon's starting position. He was not to move beyond it. He spoke of a confined area, and although skeptical, Napoleon remembered seeing the beast collide with an invisible wall before, so it wasn't impossible that the boy had found one.
Before him stood the mastodon—the incarnated demon. The beast that had taken two of his friends. It was still two kilometers away, but for it, that distance was nothing more than a leap. That distance was necessary. With what little NEX he had left and no Star, all he could rely on was his musket. Nothing special—just a standard Nexo weapon, effective against players, but barely a mosquito bite for Taurus.
Still, for a creature as irate as the burning turquoise mountain, a single shot was enough to draw its attention.
The beast snorted, eyes blazing like burning coals, charging straight at Napoleon without hesitation.
Rachel, in a clear voice, expressed doubt about the boy who called himself Tristan.
—Your Star isn't blocked —she said after reading his stats—. It's only limited when used against incarnations.
She realized that if that were true, she could rely on it only once. Thus, she softly declared:
—My Star: "Yearning of Childhood," come to me.
Her sword, once white, turned a dazzling gold, wrapped in a crimson glow that illuminated the plains. Raising it toward the sky drew Taurus's attention, revealing a weakness that made the ponytailed boy smile from afar.
—In the end, this is a game, so it shouldn't surprise us. Even if it's just a myth, "Tauros is drawn to vibrant colors." That's why it abandoned Rachel when she knelt, why it charged the Gate of Alcalá, and why it's now following the flames of her sword.
My heart hammered in my chest.
Everything came down to this single command.
Tauros charged Napoleon, who barely managed to turn, redirecting its path toward Rachel while throwing himself to the ground.
—If this was all I had to do, why did you make me draw its attention? —the little man complained.
Of course, I wouldn't tell him it was in case Rachel failed to activate her Star. If that had happened, he would've been bait until the end. That was the only way the princess agreed to the plan—not relying solely on herself.
Fortunately for Napoleon, it worked.
The creature turned toward Rachel, who stood firm until the last instant. With the invisible wall behind her, the princess was now perfectly positioned for a single move.
I wouldn't waste this chance.
I deployed [Search V] and selected her. Instantly, dozens of vertices traced themselves around Rachel. She could see the diameter of the creature charging at her—at least three times larger than her own body.
—The diameter it's drawing…? —she muttered.
—That's the turquoise heat. You must evade it before it reaches you. Don't be afraid: when it collides, it will shut down, and you'll be able to strike.
—I swear, Mr. Nobody, if I die because of you, I'll hunt you down and kill you myself until you run out of credits.
"Don't worry. If you don't kill it, I'll be out of the game."
The mental tick arrived. The system's call.
Now.
I didn't need to give the order. Rachel was fully aware of her surroundings thanks to the calculations. Even if I couldn't share my analysis speed, her reaction speed was more than enough.
She leapt so high it looked like she was flying—easily clearing ten meters in a single jump, surpassing the edge of the crimson heat radius by barely half a meter. Luckily, Tauros was nothing more than a raging beast. It never imagined we'd outmaneuver it so completely. Unable to perceive the walls, it crashed headfirst into the invisible barrier.
An electric net spread across its body, restoring its original bronze color. The turquoise corrosion vanished instantly—along with the lethal heat radius.
One final calculation.
As the vines restrained it, this was the moment it was vulnerable.
"Just one cut."
The system completed the calculations on its own, guiding Rachel's blade through the vertices. Using the inertia of her fall, she twisted her body and, under my guidance, delivered a precise cut to the creature's neck.
The massive copper head fell behind her, followed moments later by the rest of the metallic body collapsing like a pile of stacked cookware, clattering apart piece by piece.
The system rang out immediately:
[TAURUS HAS FALLEN][+20k CN | WHITE TEAM]
Napoleon wasted no time and pressed the surrender button. His silhouette dissolved into shards of light as he let out a long sigh.
A new message, accompanied by fireworks, lit up the sky:
[GRAND VICTORY: WHITE TEAM +20k CN]
Thus ended the hunt.
And the floor of Taurus.