“Sorry about them,” Evangeline said, as we walked through the barrier that drew a line between Europe’s Zone and Asia’s Zone.

There had clearly been some thought put into this, since both continents had a town almost exactly on the border, just a few hundred yards away from each other.

Teleporting from the New World Government’s Capital City to the border between Europe and Asia had been easy. There was something uncanny about it, though. I didn’t sense any hordes of monsters.

It almost looked like the New World Government had won. They had somehow cleared out all the low-level monsters surrounding the three towns and cities that I had seen in Asia.

It left a shiver down my back, as I wondered how that was possible. Maybe they had cleared out these three towns specifically, just to impress us, but they wouldn’t have known any of us would agree to help Evangeline, and they didn’t seem to want us to go this way anyway.

Evangeline continued, “The New World Government itself is a great idea. Unfortunately, there is something of a coalition inside the government, led by a woman named Liling, who has some … expansionist policies. They basically want to take over Eastern Europe. They want cities in exchange for taking care of the Zone Lord. Anyway, I’m glad you’re here to help.

“There isn’t much I can do against the Sandman. It focuses on illusions, which is not one of my strengths.”

“What is your strength?” I asked.

“I’m a C-rank Triple-Casting Void Mage,” Evangeline said, somewhat sadly.

Samantha said in my head.

“And how is that going for you?” I asked, as neutrally as I could.

I could sense mana flowing around Evangeline in an agitated manner. “My class is actually really cool—I can cast the same spell multiple times, almost simultaneously. The first spell costs 100% of the normal mana cost, the second spell costs half of that, and third spell costs a third of the original cost. The only downside is that Void Magic is so mana intensive… I’m basically the weakest of all the Hell Mode Challengers, but that will change as we level up, and everyone knows it!”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” I said. “Do you want to buy any Void Spells? I have a Void Blade and Void Shield Spellbook,” I said.

Evangeline perked up slightly at first, and then shrugged when she heard what I had to offer. “Neither of those are particularly rare. I’ve already picked those up. It’s just that compared to the other challengers, this is nothing special. It’s basically like I’m just gaining extra Stat Points every level, but I don’t have any special skills to show for it. Bandile, for example, has a skill that lets him fire a hundred Martial Energy arrows in under a second. And that stacks with another skill, which lets each arrow he fires guide itself to a target. That kid is a nightmare.”

“Why don’t we focus on what we’re about to do,” I said. I felt like Evangeline was starting to lose whatever focus she had first brought to the meeting today. “What happened in the first battle against the Sandman?”

“There were three of us in the assault,” Evangeline said. “There were rumors of a powerful creature on this mountain, and so we gathered together to fight it. We just didn’t know what we were getting into. We climbed the mountain, fighting the weak monsters as we rose up.

“Everything was going well, and we were part-way up the mountain, when I felt like something was off. I asked my companions something, and they didn’t answer. They just continued walking up the mountain, fighting the monsters. I felt like they were acting strangely, and I reached out a hand, and my hand passed directly through them.

“I knew something was wrong, and I panicked, running straight down the rest of the mountain. I managed to make it off the mountain, but the other two Hell-Mode Challengers never came back. It wasn’t until I paid the Merchant’s Faction for information that they told me that the Zone Lord was a Sandman, with a focus on illusion magic.”

“Do you have anything to help you against the illusion magic, this time?” I asked.

“I have several items that will enhance my Perception. That should do it.”

After our last teleport, we finally found ourselves in a town in what used to be the Swiss Alps. The scenery was beautiful, with the exception of the many fallen trees due to earthquakes and monsters alike. There was a crystal-clear lake near the town, which Evangeline said had a good selection of F-rank herbs.

The people in the town greeted Evangeline and me with a smile. I kept an eye out for any covert or angry glances, but it seemed they genuinely liked Evangeline.

The town was under attack by Dire Rats, but the people at the walls seemed capable and well-equipped to deal with them.

“It’s the mountain to the north,” Evangeline said. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come?”

“It would be easier for me to do this alone,” I said. Void Magic was great for dealing immense damage against creatures. It would have been useful against the Lamia Impression.

But a Sandman had low physical resistance anyway, and I didn’t want the illusions to somehow turn Evangeline against me.

“I feel like I should remind you that if you renege on our agreement—if you keep the Capital City token for yourself—you’ll have the New World Government breathing down your back.”

“Our deal still stands. You get the Capital City Token, I get the loot.”

“I’ll escort you to the mountain, at least,” Evangeline said.

Under the watchful eyes of the guards around us, we left the town, side by side. Evangeline and I made quick, casual work of the Dire Rats that were attacking the town. We passed a lake that was impossibly pristine—considering the fallen trees and upturned earth, I would have thought some of it would have discolored the lake.

Evangeline waved cheerily towards a group of foragers who had been diving in the lake, and they waved brightly back.

Everything felt so surreal, and beautiful.

We walked on together, my pace limited to hers, until Evangeline stopped on top of a small grassy hill.

“I think I’m just slowing you down,” Evangeline said, somewhat sadly. She grabbed my hand for a split second, before letting it go and smiling demurely at me. “I’ll let you go the rest of the way. Once you kill the Sandman, come find me at the crystalline lake. I try to keep the resource points clear when I can, so people don’t have to worry about being attacked when they dive. Good luck.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you soon,” I said, with a bit of false bravado. I headed out towards the snowy mountain ahead of me. I cast one last look behind me, to see Evangeline watching me with a smile from the top of the grassy hill, her battle robes and long hair flowing in the wind.

Visually, it was almost like the fairy tales—a fair maiden, waiting outside the castle surrounded by monsters, for her knight to defeat a dragon and return victorious.

Samantha said.

Come on. You’re just being paranoid. It’s not like everybody loses their morals the moment the world goes to hell. Sometimes people are just nice. And why would she want to kill me anyway?

As I responded to Samantha, I casually killed the Dire Rats that were gathering towards me, heading towards the mountain at pace that was faster than before, but that wouldn’t require any drain on my Mana Pool.

Samantha’s question caught me flat-footed. It took me a second to respond. “…yes?”

By this kind of game, you mean what, every romantic relationship? Is this what you will be like every time someone tries to get close to me?

Let’s say I buy what you’re suggesting. What am I supposed to do about it?

So, what, you’re just going to leave Evangeline’s inevitable betrayal in the back of my mind as I fight the Sandman?

Fair enough.

The number of monsters had thinned out significantly since we left the town. I waited until was in a low enough valley that I could no longer see the town, or the hill where Evangeline had stood, and then I covered myself in my Invisibility Cloak, and found a secluded part of the base of the mountain to hide myself in.

Whether or not Samantha was right about Evangeline, I wasn’t going to risk my life going into a situation without full information.

The first thing I did was I set up a Proximity Ward, and several Mana Shields around my body. Then, I activated Spiritual Traveler.