Chapter 34

The royal infirmary was thick with the smell of medicinal herbs and sterile bandages.
It was a stark, jarring contrast to the ash and blood of the Riyuza Valley. The King’s finest healers had worked frantically through the night to pull the Sword, Spear, and Bow Heroes back from the brink of death.
Maya sat on the edge of a pristine white bed, her torso wrapped tightly in linen bandages. Her ribs were bruised, and a deep, healing ache pulsed through her left arm where she had blocked one of Glass’s casual strikes.
“Oh, Maya-sama, you gave me such a fright,” Myne sighed, sitting in a plush chair next to the bed. She was peeling a grape with a small silver knife, looking completely flawless and entirely detached from the reality of the slaughter. “When the sky turned black, I was so worried for you. But you and that… *Shield Demon*… managed to hold the line until the timer ran out. You truly are my most devoted knight.”
Maya forced a weak, adoring smile, though her teeth were grinding together so hard her jaw ached. *We didn’t ‘hold the line’, Myne. We survived by the skin of our teeth while you hid on a cliff.* “I only did what I had to, Princess,” Maya murmured, keeping her eyes downcast. “But my body is so heavy. Would you mind fetching me a glass of water from the courtyard spring? The water here tastes so stale.”
“Of course, Maya-sama,” Myne smiled patronizingly, standing up and smoothing her dress. “Rest your eyes. I shall return shortly.”
The moment the heavy oak door clicked shut, the subservient, exhausted expression melted off Maya’s face. She sat up sharply, ignoring the stabbing pain in her ribs.
She swung her legs over the bed and walked out into the main infirmary ward.
It was quiet. The royal guards had been dismissed to give the “Heroes” privacy. In the center of the room, lying in three adjacent beds, were Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki. They were heavily bandaged, staring blankly up at the stone ceiling.
Leaning against the wall near the window, his arms crossed over his cracked Wyvern-scale armor, was Naofumi. The King’s healers had flat-out refused to treat him or Raphtalia, but Erhard’s high-tier potions had done enough to keep them on their feet. Raphtalia was resting back at the inn. Naofumi had come to the infirmary for one reason: answers.
Maya walked to the center of the room, the soft *thud* of her boots drawing their attention.
Motoyasu groaned, turning his head. His usual arrogant smirk was completely gone, replaced by a look of profound, lingering terror. “Maya… you’re awake.”
“Barely,” Maya replied coldly, crossing her arms. She didn’t bother putting on her “naive maiden” act. She needed them to listen to the tactician who had kept them alive. “Let’s skip the pleasantries. What the hell was that?”
Ren slowly sat up, wincing as his bandages pulled tight. The Sword Hero looked utterly defeated. “My game knowledge… it’s completely useless. There was no enemy like Glass in *Brave Star Online*. Nothing even close.”
“She must have used a cheat item,” Motoyasu insisted, his voice trembling slightly. “A hacked stat modifier! You saw her! She deflected my *Meteor Thrust* with a paper fan! That’s mathematically impossible!”
“It wasn’t a cheat, you idiot,” Naofumi spoke up from the corner, his voice dripping with cynical disdain. He glared at Motoyasu. “You’re still treating this like a simulation. She wasn’t hacking. She was just better than us. Faster. Stronger. And she didn’t care about your flashy ultimate attacks.”
Itsuki clutched his blanket, looking small and terrified. “She broke our armor in one hit… If the timer hadn’t run out, we would be dead right now.”
“Yes. You would be,” Maya stated bluntly, her dark eyes sweeping over the three boys. “You three fought like you had respawn points. You completely ignored aggro, you ignored defensive lines, and you practically tripped over each other trying to get the killing blow on the Ghost Ship. If you pull that garbage again, Glass won’t even need to show up. A stray Minotaur will cleave you in half.”
Motoyasu opened his mouth to argue, but the memory of Glass’s fan shattering his spear thrust instantly silenced him. He looked down at his lap in shame.
Ren let out a long, heavy breath. He looked at Maya, his analytical mind finally accepting reality. “You took command during the boss fight. You broke the ship’s barrier, and you and the Shield grounded it. You knew what you were doing. And you actually managed to land a hit on Glass.”
“A hit that did zero damage,” Maya corrected grimly. “Naofumi and I used a synchronized, defense-bypassing combo attack that melted Level 48 Minotaurs in seconds, and it only singed her clothes. But Ren… think about her weapon.”
Ren frowned, trying to recall the frantic moments before he blacked out. “Her fans. They… they glowed.”
“Exactly,” Maya nodded, stepping closer to the beds. “When she unleashed that shockwave… the ribs of her steel fans glowed with the exact same magical resonance as our Cardinal Weapons.”
The room went dead silent. Naofumi’s green eyes narrowed as he pushed off the wall. “Are you saying she’s a Hero?”
“I’m saying she’s not a monster,” Maya explained, her voice dropping to a serious, intense whisper. “Monsters drop cores and pixels. Glass used named weapon skills. *Reverse Snow Moon Flower.* She operates on our system. Which means the Waves aren’t just a natural disaster spawning mindless beasts. They are an invasion. And Glass is one of their commanders.”
Itsuki swallowed hard. “An invasion… from where?”
“Another world,” Naofumi muttered, looking out the window at the capital below. “If we were summoned from our worlds to save this one… what if she was sent from her world to destroy it?”
The sheer scale of the true threat finally settled over the room. It wasn’t a game. It wasn’t a simple quest to level up and beat a final boss. It was a multi-dimensional war of attrition against enemies who fundamentally outclassed them.
“So, what do we do?” Ren asked, looking directly at Maya. He was asking for orders.
“You stop believing your own hype,” Maya said ruthlessly. “You stop letting the King and the Church pamper you. You go out into the real world, you fight monsters that actually scare you, and you learn how to fight as a team. Because if we don’t coordinate our skill trees before the next Wave…”
Maya turned toward the door, hearing Myne’s light footsteps approaching in the hallway. Her face instantly shifted back to a soft, exhausted, and innocent expression.
“…we are all going to die,” Maya finished softly, the chilling words completely at odds with her sweet smile.
The door opened, and Myne glided in, holding a crystal goblet of water. “I have returned, Maya-sama! Oh… Sir Heroes. I see you are awake. How… fortunate.” Myne’s tone made it clear she didn’t care if they lived or died.
“Thank you, Princess,” Maya cooed, taking the glass. She looked back at the three boys, offering a polite, vacant nod. “I am so glad you are recovering, Sir Heroes. Please, get plenty of rest.”
As Maya and Myne walked out of the infirmary, leaving the shattered boys and the cynical Shield Hero in silence, the true weight of the board was undeniable. The boys were finally awake.
But waking up was only the first step. Surviving was the second.

**How does Maya prepare for the inevitable return of Glass?**