My turn in Village Five was finally over.
The carriage I rode was originally supposed to be a self-propelled, transforming, and combining masterpiece, but the plan was tossed out after it failed three consecutive safety tests during pre-deployment experiments. Instead, the carriage was pulled by a team of unicorns, and the transformations and combinations were performed manually by a crew of golems.
The Mountain Elves, who had poured their hearts and souls into the engineering, were absolutely crushed by the failure. Even the Intelligence Boxes—those sentient metal trunks—seemed visibly disappointed. Personally, though, I didn't think the manual transformation by the golems was bad at all; it felt like a high-speed pit stop in a car race, and the crowd certainly loved the spectacle. It worked out well enough in the end.
I passed through the teleportation gate connecting Village Five to the outskirts of Shashato City. I was just about to head toward the standby area in my carriage when Dos and the others caught my eye. They were dancing.
I looked closer. About a dozen people—led by Magistrate Ifuls—were dancing right in front of the dragons. A large crowd had already gathered to watch the performance. Was this some kind of dance battle? There were complex gestures involved, making me wonder if it was an official part of the parade program.
I glanced at one of the Civil Official Girls standing near the carriage. She gave me a radiant, perfectly professional smile.
"If it isn't too much trouble, could you please stop Lord Dos and the others? If this continues, it will start to disrupt the parade schedule."
So, they were acting on their own.
"I certainly never received any reports about such a performance," she added.
"I see. My apologies. I'll go take care of it."
I climbed out of the carriage. I couldn't simply drive it over there because it needed a maintenance check at the standby area. Plus, the unicorns looked like they would rather be anywhere else but near that commotion.
I ran toward the group. My usual guards—Galf, Daga, and Reginleiv—were already busy marching in the parade, but I wasn't alone. Four High Elves had been assigned to me as a personal escort. Two of them carried flags to make sure everyone knew exactly who I was. It was a wise move; if I were just wandering around alone, no one would give me a second glance.
Ashura followed close behind. He had left his place in the parade line as soon as he saw me get out of the carriage. He was representing the Hot Spring Area. The Death Knights and the Lion Family had declined to join the outside parade, satisfied with the village version, and I had expected Ashura to do the same. However, he had enjoyed the village parade so much that he was eager for more.
Still, his natural form would have terrified the locals. He was currently dressed in elegant finery designed to hide as much of his skeletal frame as possible. I had considered a full-face helmet, but it clashed horribly with his expensive clothes, so we settled on a wide-brimmed hat and three masks. He looked less frightening that way, provided one ignored his three meters of height and the extra limbs.
Dos and the others noticed me approaching. Their faces instantly screamed "guilty." Hakuren and Rusty looked away immediately. Hiichiro was the only one who seemed genuinely happy to see me. Draim was in the middle of a solo part, performing a surprisingly sharp breakdance. He didn't notice me until he finished his move, at which point he froze completely.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Magistrate Ifuls cut me off.
"Wait, please! We are currently in the sixth turn of the Third Phase, second end. Stopping now would be... unbearable!"
He looked incredibly sincere, but I had no idea what he was talking about. Was this like a bases-loaded, no-outs situation in the bottom of the ninth inning? I wanted to tell them to just finish up, but no one could explain the stakes to me. Even the High Elves looked baffled.
Then Ashura stepped forward and offered to handle the situation. I asked if he was sure and if he knew the rules. He nodded firmly.
"Fine. I'll leave it to you."
Ashura had us move back. He positioned himself so that the dragons, the magistrate's group, and himself formed a perfect equilateral triangle. Then, he started to dance. He raised all six hands above his head, twisting his wrists with fluid precision while his four legs moved in a rhythmic, cheerful hop.
I had seen this before. It felt strangely familiar. Before the realization could hit me, Ifuls shrieked.
"T-T-That... That's the Dance to Greet the Dead! The Deadman Parade!"
The magistrate’s legs gave out, and he slumped to the ground. Even the dragons were visibly shaken. They didn't fall over, but they were definitely trembling.
"To think I would witness this in my lifetime..." someone muttered.
Raimeiren and Gral moved in front of Hiichiro as if shielding him from a blast. Was it really that dangerous? From my perspective, it looked exactly like a Bon Dance—a cheerful, summer festival dance. That explained my sense of déjà vu. Watching him almost made me want to join in, but then things took a turn for the surreal.
"Ashura, can I check something?" I asked. "Keep dancing, it's fine. But where did all these skeletons come from?"
Thousands of skeletons were suddenly sprouting from the ground behind him, mimicking his every move like back-dancers. Do back-dancers usually just manifest out of thin air? There weren't just dozens; there were hundreds, maybe a thousand, and they kept coming. If this continued, the entire outskirts of Shashato would be paved in bone.
Apparently, this area had once been a battlefield. I had heard that skeletons and zombies were usually just magical constructs rather than the actual dead, but Ashura implied some of these might have a personal connection to the site, much like the Death Knights.
"So, how do we end this?" I asked. "Is it almost over?"
Everyone was dancing now—the dragons, the magistrate's group, and even the spectators. It had turned into one giant circle dance. Was this a "No Game" result? If it brought the chaos to an end, I suppose it was fine. But the skeletons... they would return to the earth when the dance was over, right? Good.
"But Ashura... one more thing. Look over there."
A gargantuan shape loomed in the distance. Even from this far away, it was unmistakable. A massive skeleton of a whale had erupted from the ground and was soaring into the sky. Judging by the size of the surrounding trees, it had to be at least six hundred meters long.
I looked back at Ashura. Even through his masks, I could tell he was just as shocked as I was. Dos and the other dragons didn't hesitate. They abandoned the dance and took to the sky.
"That thing is dangerous!" Dos roared.
The dragons opened their mouths and unleashed a devastating barrage of breath attacks.