Glorious Vanity (SI LitRPG)

Freyr was having the best day of her life.

She didn't know exactly what had happened. And she had been worried when she found herself alone by herself in a dark room.

But the system messages she saw completely wiped all that worry and fear away.

[Your class has been changed to <Vain's Wife>]

[Warning: Your excessive status has been reduced to match your husband's.]

[Your soulbound items have temporarily changed forms.]

[<Volsunga: Epitaph of Vainglory> has turned into <Nameless Embroidered Knife>.]

[<Heaven's Veil> has turned into <Divine Rosary>.]

[The combined effect of your soulbound items have granted you the temporary ability <Plot Armor>.]

[You will not be harmed during the ordinary course of this scenario.]

[Good fortune paves your way.]

Freyr placed her hands on her cheeks and laughed. "My husband... My husband! Even the system acknowledges it!" Her laugh turned into a happy giggle as she read the lines over and over again.

But then she paused and took a deep breath. "No. Calm down, Freyr. This is not the place to lose composure."

Right. Vain... Her beloved husband would scold her for being so careless.

Even if the system said that she would be fine, time and time again had shown that it couldn't be completely trusted. And that the words listed couldn't be taken at face value.

"First of all... assess the situation." Freyr mumbled and then took a look around.

It was a strange setting. A dark room with some boxes and crates. Cobwebs covering the ceiling with a rusted door nearby.

And like the messages said, her sword had turned into a short knife strapped at her side. Heaven's Veil had also turned into a golden rosary, similar to the one that Vain originally found.

But more than that...

"Hm." Freyr moved her body around and then said, "Is this how Vain normally feels?"

She felt heavy. Her entire body felt like it was weighed down by tons of steel. While she could move around, it felt painfully slow. Not only that, but she couldn't feel any mana at all, whether it was her own or the ambient mana nearby.

"And like this, he still...?"

Weak. Vain was painfully weak. Someone like this would have been crushed by even the weakest monster in Asgard.

And yet Vain still chose to protect her. Was still choosing to protect her.

Freyr felt her heart race again at the thought and smiled. Placing her hands over her heart, she nodded and said, "I am blessed."

To have found someone like that, to be with someone like that. So brave, so devoted-

Before Freyr could finish that thought, a low groan echoed in the distance.

She blinked and then her smile vanished, replaced with a frown. "To dare interrupt my reflection..." Her eyes narrowed and she drew her knife. After that, she walked over and kicked the door.

The rusted hinges snapped and the door fell forward, landing on the ground with a thud.

The moment it did, a pair of crimson eyes locked onto Freyr. It was a rotting corpse. An undead, just like those inhabiting Hel.

"Hmph." Freyr stalked forward and said, "You should stay in your eternal rest, corpse."

Before the undead could make another sound, there was a silver flash. After that, the corpse split apart, landing onto the ground in a pile of rotten flesh. And then purple mist filled the air as the corpse dissolved.

Freyr shook her head and then kept walking. "Now, to find my beloved husband... I hope he is doing well. Someone as weak as him..." Worry filled Freyr's face and she broke out into a quick jog.

-V-

Aqua shrieked and jabbed her finger in front of Gale. "Kill it! Kill it, kill it, kill it!"

Gale spun around a makeshift spear he made from a light fixture and frowned. Glancing at his surroundings, he said, "Easier said than done, Princess..."

A horde of undead. No, a 'sea' of undead. That was the best way to describe the situation they were in.

Gale didn't know how it happened, but they were suddenly separated from Freyr and Vain. Not only that, but they arrived in a ruined building with undead creatures emerging from the darkness.

And their powers were sealed.

Thankfully, Gale had trained his body as well as his stats. Another point of gratitude was that these undead seemed to be on the level of an ordinary human villager instead of a trained warrior.

Altogether, with a makeshift spear, he was able to fend them off.

The problem was that it seemed to be never ending.

Hundreds of crimson eyes glared at Gale... No, at Aqua who was standing behind him.

Gale tightened his grip and took stock of the situation again.

At the moment, they were backed up into a small room. Aqua was pressed against the back wall, and Gale stood in the center of the room, armed with his makeshift spear.

While there was a horde of undead outside the room, Gale had managed to quickly arrange the furniture to funnel the horde so that he would face three at most.

And since those undead dispersed into mist after they were dealt a lethal blow, it meant that victory should eventually be theirs.

Assuming his stamina held up.

If it was before, Gale might have been at ease. He had fought for weeks on end in the Elemental Wars and even fought off hordes of monsters with one hand while carrying Aqua back from the Emerald Dragon's cave after she was abducted.

But he was just an ordinary human here. His body might be trained, but he couldn't feel any mana. His internal energy was suppressed as well.

It was still there, but he couldn't rouse the wind nor reinforce his body.

So...

"Aqua." Gale glanced back.

"G-Gale?" Aqua looked at him, concerned.

"...I will stop them here. It will take a while, but I will stop them. But after that, I need you to be careful when you leave this room."

Aqua's eyes widened. She shook her head, causing her blue hair to scatter. "No. I won't leave without you!"

Gale looked back at the undead and frowned. "...It is impossible, Princess."

Defeating the enemy before his eyes? Even if it was his dying breath, he would accomplish it.

But surviving after that and accompanying Aqua like he promised...

'Maybe I should've stopped playing like a proper knight...'

It was too late for that though.

But Gale resolved himself. Picking up his spear, he stared at the approaching horde of undead and slowly walked forward, preparing to throw everything on the line to protect the defenseless princess behind him.

Low groans and gargled sounds filled the air. A few of the undead in front shambled forward, reaching out to Gale.

He took a deep breath and raised his spear.

"GALE!"

Aqua screamed.

Gale stepped forward.

And then silver flashed amidst the darkness.

Gale froze.

"E-Eh?"

Aqua was confused.

More silver flashed. At the same time, soft 'clinks' echoed. The sound of metal clattering against the hard floor.

Silence. Even the undead seemed frozen in shock.

And then they vanished, dispersing into a dense purple mist.

"Gah! What the hell?! Pft! Pwah! Why can I taste this!? Ugh!"

A familiar voice. One that was completely lacking in tension or fear.

Gale blinked, staring through the purple mist.

Footsteps echoed as a sillouette approached. But there wasn't any hostility. In fact, from the look in that person's eyes...

"Hah! I knew it!" The new arrival grinned and lowered the knife clutched in his right hand. "There's no way I wouldn't have a Big Damned Heroes moment if I'm the protag." He spun the knife around his wrist and then slipped it into his sleeve. After that, he held up his left hand and said, "Yo! You two holding up well?"

"...Vain?" Gale carefully called out.

He looked the same. Lady Freyr's beloved seemed to be the person standing in front of them. But the timing, that ability...

"Ah. Hey, Baqua. I found some candy on the way here. Catch." Vain rummaged around in his pocket and then tossed a plastic bag towards Aqua.

Still reeling, Aqua instinctively grabbed the bag. Then she blinked, her mind finally catching up with the current situation. And then she jabbed her finger at Vain and screamed. "You're late! It's your fault! Do you know...!" She started tearing up and said, "Do you know how close we were to dying!?"

"Yeah. That's probably my bad." Vain nodded and said, "I've got homefield advantage here, so they tried to nerf me... But don't worry. I'll take it from here. Just cheer up and eat your sweets. It's no good for a cutie like you to be crying, you know?"

"I-Idiot!" Aqua brushed off her tears and then looked into the bag. After that, she gasped. "Chocolate?!"

"*Gourmet* chocolate. Godiv- I mean, 'Godeeva' chocolate. Pretty fancy."

A completely relaxed and confident demeanor. Calm dark eyes that seemed to say nothing would happen as long as he was around.

Gale stared at Vain a bit longer and then sighed.

"Hm?" He looked over at Gale and raised an eyebrow. "You tired, Gale?"

"A bit. But it is more..." Gale stared at Vain again and then nodded. "...I can see why Lady Freyr fell so deeply in love with you."

"Huh?"

A man who made light of the impossible and seemed to find a way out even in the midst of despair.

Gale was still wary of the man. Especially since there seemed to be no end to his bag of tricks. But at the least, he seemed to be on their side-

No. He was on Lady Freyr's side. But thankfully, Gale and Aqua were included among Lady Freyr's followers.

Gale made a quiet prayer of gratitude towards Lady Elemens for deciding to follow Lady Freyr instead of the others. After that, he focused on what Vain said as he showed up. "You mentioned that this is 'homefield advantage' for you? Does that mean you know where we are?"

Vain nodded. "I do. It's a bit complicated, but essentially..."