I put aside the jumbled ss of emotions bubbling up from Yamajuns death and hardened my heart. I thought only about what I needed to do now. Calmly, coldly.
So, what now?
Theyd been sitting listlessly ever since we finished the burial. I was the first to speak.
What do you an what?
What can we
Very dull reactions from Ueda and Nakai. They were not thinking about anything. That was, of course, normal. A good friend had just died in front of them.
If we were back in Japan, we couldve slowly gotten over the shock and co to terms with that reality. But we werent, and we didnt have the luxury to waste ti on stuff like that.
We, still have to get out of this dungeon. Yamajun died, its sad, its sudden, and its hard to accept I know But we cant keep mourning forever
You aint wrong dude, but nows, kinda, yeah?
Yeah, you cant control your emotions just like that after all.
Which kind of made this good timing. They were not fully thinking straight right now, and will be easier to manipulate.
Im not saying we go now. We can rest a while. But I think its better to talk about what we should do
Shut it. Its all fucking useless
Yamada griped irritably. It was understandable. Sooned just died and I started yapping on and on.
Arent you guys worried? About Ayase-san I an
!?
Even Yamada couldnt talk back after that one. Since his heart shouldve been a complete ss right about now.
R-Reina-chan huh
Hmm, I an
That fake Soumas the dude that killed Yamajun
Y-youre right, hes the culprit! Well make him pay!
Their responses were honestly disappointing. These guys, they still couldnt bla Reina for what happened.
Even if they were not exactly on her side, they just couldnt go against her delicate and ultra cutesy half-Japanese charm. Ridiculous, they werent seeing reality.
Thats right. Ayase-san is, shes still under that smoke bastards hypnotic control
Shit, just like I thought!
Of course not, dumbass.
But please go ahead and believe that. They should listen better if they think we had a good cause. Humans can commit any and every evil by just believing themselves to be right. Believing in yourself, such a great motto.
So, we need to save her right?
Y-yeah
Oo! You bet we will
Momokawa, dude, arent you just saying that cause we need her in the dungeon?
Ahaha, yeah, cant deny thats part of it
Looks like Shimokawas sharper than the other two. Though if you looked at our interactions up until now, theyd obviously notice that I didnt exactly treat her like a princess.
Shimokawa had realized that I only thought of her as a pain and a burden, only, reluctantly, keeping her with us because of her strength as a Spirit Master. I think he also realized that Im the type of person that valued rit over feelings.
Hed be half right. I was in fact trying to work with Reina for the strength she provided, but I didnt necessarily think we should expel her from the party even if she didnt help. Though the fact was that her beasts did play a major role in capturing the goma fortress.
But I too had limits to the amount of bullshit I could wave off.
Yes we need Ayase-sans power to progress in the dungeon, but aside from that, you guys dont want to abandon her here right?
Damn straight! Ill save Reina-chan! And Ill take revenge for Yamajun!
Yamada got jumpy instantly, as if the depression and heartbreak from just now was all an illusion.
I gave him a convenient interpretation of the situation, and he took it hook, line and sinker.
His anguish from Yamajuns death was replaced by the desire for revenge. Maybe, its because that was easier on the heart, to hate instead of hurt. If theres an enemy, soone to despise, you can target them as the root of your grief.
Plus, if he also got the bonus of rescuing his proverbial princess, that is, Reina, then of course Yamadas energy would shoot through the roof.
But to do that, its gonna be our toughest battle yet
What do you an? We just gotta beat that fake Souma right?
We just got surprised back there, if its just him against the 5 of us, we can do it
That dudes an aeromancer. Easy stuff compared to the real Souma with his stupid sword
True, I didnt think guardian beast SOUMA YUUTO was that strong either. If we went all out, we could probably beat him. But mostly because he wasnt the real Souma Yuuto, the Hero. There wouldnt be any last-minute save the day for him.
But its not just SOUMA. Right now, Ayase-san is still under his control, so shell likely see us as enemies too aning that were up against her Engard and Ramdane too
Maybe also the water type Seyram that had the shape of a lady. There was a chance that Seyram couldnt be used or was weak if there was no water around, but we cant bet on a chance.
If Reina got serious, she could sic all three, fire, water and thunder type guardians on us. Wed be facing them plus the wind type SOUMA YUUTO.
It was us 5 vs 4 of them. But practically speaking, the numbers advantage was aningless. In terms of power, we were at a massive disadvantage.
W-wait, we arent sure if Reina-chanll think like that! No way shell be controlled by that level of
She is, and she will. Im absolutely certain that Ayase-san will see us as enemies, and try to kill us
I said firmly to cut down any budding misunderstandings Yamada might make in that sugar-coated head of his.
Im sorry to have to tell you this, but Ayase-san just isnt fit for the stress of living in the dungeon. I an, thats just how she is you know?
What she is, is a spoiled bitch, thats what. But I left that part out.
Shes like that, so when that cloud creature hypnotized her, she got to live a dream-like life with her beloved Souma-kun. Of course shell turn like that
If it was just that, I could leave her be. But that wasnt all that happened. And I cant leave her be any more.
Right now, if we try and wake her from her dream-world, shell fight to protect it. Heck, if she hears that shell have to go back to the harsh survival life, shell think were demons
Presumably, the reason why her guardian beasts didnt do anything about the cloud creature was because its illusions were showing Reina what she wanted to see. And as a result, that such a mob it doesnt even get a na cloud creature also evolved into guardian beast SOUMA YUUTO, beca loyal to Reina, and entered the guardians team as a colleague.
SOUMA was acting as a healer for Reinas heart that had been crumbling from the harshnesses of reality.
But if we all try our best and call out to her, Im sure Reina-chan will open her eyes!
Yamada-kun, thats what we all want to believe, but it just wont work
Why the hell not!?
Why? Because Yamajun died, thats why
This, this was the crux of it.
Reina, that girl didnt actually think anything of us. She knew that her guardians used violence to carry out her own desires (selfish whims) but wouldnt do a thing to stop them.
Reina, you, you were the only one who could have saved Yamajun back there. With just a word, you could have stopped SOUMAs attack. Hell, you couldve just had a stray thought about not wanting it, and that mightve just worked.
It wouldve been so easy, and yet, that bitch, she refused to see the reality in front of her eyes. And that naivety of hers had cost a life. Yamajuns life.
Our voices just wont reach her
That well
Do you get it now, Yamada-kun? One of us had already died to this. There was no more maybe.
Which ant that we couldnt harbor any more stupid hopes or think up convenient realities.
Well call out to her and shell co back to her senses?
Give a break with these stupid plans. Shit, even if I had a ti-leap ability and could do that over and over, I fucking guarantee it wont work even after a million tries.
Thats why we need to prepare and plan as if were fighting all 4 of her guardian beasts
No way, all 4 of those powerhouses
Yeah, not possible
But dude, then we gotta leave her behind yeah?
No fuck you, and fuck no were not! We already lost Yamajun, and Im not gonna stand losing Reina-chan too!
Yamadas lines may sound the most badass, but reasonably speaking, Shimokawa was right. Leaving behind Reina was the safest choice for us if anything.
And if Yamajun hadnt died, I wouldve been the first one to suggest it. And you better believe I wouldve convinced everyone that it was the best option too. That she was too strong for us, and that we were in over our heads if we thought we could beat her.
But I couldnt do that now. Thats just how much I hated her. I couldnt ever forgive that bitch. Whatever may happen, Ill kill her.
If Yamajun was here, hed surely tell not to go. Hed convince about how aningless sothing like revenge was. He wouldnt want to go down that path. I knew that.
Thats why, this was all for . I wasnt going to justify my revenge by saying its for Yamajuns sake. , I couldnt forgive her, and with that rage, Id kill her.
And on another important note, Reina also thought of as her enemy. Id almost forgotten from the shock of Yamajuns death, but I did attempt to leave her there, in that fight. I didnt want to fight her.
But she, she just couldnt forgive the fact that I tried to run away. Reina wanted dead. We were mutual enemies at this point.
I couldnt let soone as dangerous as her live free. Even if not for revenge, Reina was now an enemy that I needed to kill.
We cant beat guardians in a straight fight
Dude, you can say that again
Everyone nodded to that. Even Yamada wasnt thinking we could sohow manage beating them with guts and willpower.
Its pretty risky, but I have a plan
Oo, right on
Cmon Momokawa, dont leave us hanging
His plans were great in the goma fortress too, dudes great at those
Anything, Ill do anything if itll save Reina-chan!
Nice, everyones on board. Guess it helped that theres the precedent with the fortress. That feeling of everyone trusting you. Its great.
Its nothing complicated. Since, I think, Ayase-san is still holed up in that fairy square
Her, along with SOUMA, still being in the other fairy square was the most important condition for this plan to work.
If, for whatever whim, Reina was long gone from there, we didnt have any ans of tracking her. If that happened, even I would have to give up on exacting my revenge for the mont.
But I know she wont. Reina, see, her personality was like a hardcore recluse (hikikomori). Now that she had her, although fake, Souma-kun, she wasnt going to let go of her happy and fulfilling environnt for no reason.
So Im sure that even now, Reina was still over there, idling away and flirting with the fake Souma-kun.
First, we randomly provoke them so the guardian beast SOUMA chases us
If that one ca at us alone, it was the best case scenario. All we had to do was gang up and beat him.
We try to separate SOUMA as far from her as we can. And we kill him
But dude, you dont really think hes gonna co out alone right?
Yeah, my guess is Engard and Ramdane will co along too
It sounded like a last boss multi boss round from the get go, but I really did think itd turn out like that. Reina wasnt the type that went easy on her enemies, if she felt like we were being a pain, shell co at us with everything. Actually, if Reina so much as thinks that she doesnt like us, her guardian beasts will co attacking on their own.
Reina thought of as a liar and a bully. It was a truly childish sense of pure hatred. So if she saw , she was sure to get riled up and seriously try to get rid of .
Man, quite a bit hated arent I. Yeah, I hate you very much too.
And if all those guardians do co out, we run
We wot?
What do you an run?
We just want them to co out and chase us. Its to buy so ti
The hell do you an buy so ti! If we cant beat em, we cant get to Reina-chan, can we?
Thats it, Yamada-kun
Hey, hes on point for once.
Basically, if we can get to Reina, we win We only need to release her from the hypnotism
With all her bodyguards out chasing us, shell be alone. And once alone, Reina, the Spirit Master, was all but powerless. As she was still the weak, delicate girl she started out as.
We have to separate Reina from her guardian beasts. The decoy team will hold them back to buy ti, and the rescue team will go release Ayase-san. This is the basic outline of the plan
But you know, those guardian dudes aint gonna be stupid enough to ignore that rescue team
They werent mindless beasts after all. They were smart enough to consider it.
If one of us hid while the rest played decoy, it might work but wasnt guaranteed to. If they notice that one of us was missing, they might leave one of them, say Ramdane, behind.
Right, so for the decoy team, itll have to be all of us
Dude, then whos gonna get Reina-chan?
You?
How?
Youre a Shaman rember? You cant run that fast and cant stay well hidden either
Geez guys, you dont gotta rub it in. Theyre right though.
Dont worry, I happen to have a curse thatll trick the guardians
This one, I got when Ruinhilde-sama tore my whole body in two. The new curse magic Id obtained with the cruelest hand-over ceremony yet.
This curse was the reason I could imagine a way to actually kill Reina.
Its my new curse 2Shade. I can clone myself
===
TL: Scallop
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