Inner Lot City…
"Kanako, not now," Clyde said, struggling and failing to get the genie off his waist. The approaching people wouldn't take him seriously.
"That looks fun!"
Clyde's eye twitched in annoyance as the silver-haired girl from the unknown party and the genie twirled around his waist, midair, like a helicopter. How did they even do this? An anime logic question for later. He materialized an energy paper fan and delivered divine punishment.
"Ow! So mean." They held their heads.
Clyde thought he saw one of the approaching men some time ago, but couldn't put a finger on it. He in return pointed at Melody.
"You're that girl that mind-controlled me with orders to beat the shit out of that guy," he said, finger at Clyde. He then stuck a shaky finger toward Alice. "And you're the girl that fucking called on the heavens to stop it all." He eyed the group darkly, his expression reminding the young man of an anime he once watched called…Jojo. Maybe something else…. "Why are you three together?"
A trickle of sweat dripped from the back of the trio's heads. That's when it hit Clyde. The man, who looked to be…maybe thirty or forty or so—anime made it hard to tell—was the level sixty-four ex-military guy. Rodger. The younger man spoke as if representing the entire group. The completely human man held out a hand.
"Long story," Clyde said.
"I'm Hiroshi, section leader of Unit Eighty-six. Yaponiya military," he said. "We'd—"
"You get to join us! I'm Ayu. Nice to meet you," the girl said, anime-diving into Clyde. Hiroshi snarling comically, whacked her. She sat there, teary-eyed, holding her head. She muttered, "I was just trying to help."
Clyde stifled a laugh.
"Anyway," Hiroshi said, continuing as if nothing happened. "We'd like to talk with your group, if you don't mind. We're fighting the same battles and shit, just keeps getting weirder and weirder."
"We're a little busy right now," Clyde said. "The spawned monsters aren't going to kill themselves."
"Fair enough," Hiroshi said, "but answer this. Are you this so-called Team Stone?"
"It's pretty obvious that they are," Ayu said, bouncing up from her spot. She dodged three consecutive fists, laughing, then stopped in front of the demonesses. A look of wonder dawned on her face. She saluted. "If you're fighting for the good side, then you're okay in my books."
"Ayu, don't start pestering anyone," Hiroshi said, then spat to the side. "How did I get stuck with ship girls?"
Clyde's anime trope senses tingled, but he let this one go. Questions for later. Seriously, ship girls. What the fuck? Satovia had everything. He knew this shouldn't surprise him—but come on. They'd better not mention anything about shooting airplanes from a bow, Clyde thought.
Also, to be approached by the military. Yeah, they could fuck themselves. The young man and his party solved the demon lord issue on their own, without government aid.
For a military officer, Hiroshi seemed to get a little surprised at every monster encounter. It downright irritated the young man, but at the same time, it reminded him of his old self. The college boy who foolishly challenged a Meta pumko. One could hardly blame the puny—the human for being startled at horrors that couldn't possibly exist. He also seemed to respect Clyde and his team more.
The ex-marine guy, Rodger fought with brute strength and fucking lasers. Lasers! A cyborg—and a well-hidden one.
The girls: Ayu and Maho turned out to be gifted—powerful ones, utilizing tier one magic with ease. However, no matter how hard they tried, the ship girls just could not outshine Clyde's party. Numbers aside, the women found themselves hating the idea of being outdone by military girls. Ship girls. Clyde pretended he did not notice the absurd amount of panty-flashes from the skirts of Ayu and Maho. Seth's nose eventually ran out of blood. The group settled into a rhythm, which led to fewer and fewer monster encounters. And each time, the young man hoped for a chest. Sure, they were rare and the thrill of possibly getting an epic or higher forced the man to try harder, but come on! The werewolf girl's chest didn't count. What could he do with breast-enhancing potions… He wiped his nose, trying hard not to look at the genie.
During a break, Clyde noticed something off about Toru's behavior. Instead of being composed, he constantly looked at his phone, checking for a message that he seemed to expect hours ago. Fumi always texted him—even called. Adorable, kind, and caring, the slime girl served as proof that not all monster girls were corrupted by the Supreme demon lord.
Clyde patted his shoulder.
"Do you think she's working late?"
Toru seemed to relax at the optimistic point of view.
"Maybe…It's just. I can't get rid of this bad feeling." He folded his arms. "This isn't the first time she worked late, but Fumi always let me know. Earlier, she said she'd stop by, but…"
Nina gave him a comforting look.
"Everything will be okay. And hey, maybe she's waiting beneath your covers—"
Toru's blank stare silenced her.
"Points for trying," Natalia said, pulling away her pouting friend.
**
Melody shared the same gut feeling with Toru. Something just wasn't right. Fumi sometimes over-contacted the brown-haired boy to the point that the redhead felt jealous. She too was in love…but just didn't know how to pursue it. Clyde stripped away her confident illusion like chipped paint.
The full moon seemed darker, the stars dimmer, the autumn wind, colder.
They needed to be active, not reactive. Clyde knew that, but Melody felt in her heart that…he didn't have the bloodthirst for it. She needed to find a way to help in the overall game. Ugh, calling the stone-viper games a game…No. It's a replay of a fairy tale: hero go slay the villain. She wasn't sure if the Watchers actually had a hand in selecting the Stone, but for the Viper, their eyes dropped to someone who'd become a problem for the entire universe. Maybe even the multiverse.
Melody almost slipped in a daydream, tuning out a cake conversation between Alice, Kitome, and the ship girls, but a familiar presence caught her attention. In fact, they heard her barking orders at the Blood hand.
She looked up in time to see a flash of white light in the distant sky. Matsuko left, probably to drink, while the others did the work. Typical Matsuko. Drunk and angry, friendless because of it. No one liked babysitting drunks. And not even the most perverted men had enough courage to tempt fate with a fallen angel. She was strong and mean. The party would need their guards up.
"Clyde," she said. "I can feel them ahead."
"You mean—"
"The Blood Hand," Melody finished. "They could be organized."
"Did you rush out here without a plan?" Hiroshi said to Clyde, eyes hard.
"We have a plan," Clyde said. "Ashard, you know Natalia's orders. Get to the skies now. I want a good estimation. And nuke as many as possible."
"The Blood Hand aren't push—"
"You can do it!" Ayu interrupted Melody, rudely poking Ashard. She seemed way too cheerful. "And what's this about flying?"
Ashard ignored her as he launched into the sky, surrounded by dark-blue magic, vanishing seconds later.
Melody just knew that wasn't enough. She needed to breakthrough her shell. She…
"Are you well, Melody?" Ruri said. "You smell…conflicting."
"Don't…don't sniff me," Melody said, blushing. "It's weird."
Ruri fixed the redhead with a blank stare, one which made her think of Yuki.
"It's time to drop the indecision, strawberry head," Ruri said then placed hands on small hips. "We hellhounds can't stand it. Nice perfume by the way."
Melody almost fell backward. She chuckled.
"You have a strange way of motivating people," Melody said.
"Not really," Ruri said, poking the redhead's cheek. "No need to be uptight, especially if these Blood Hand guys are no pushovers. Top form or you'll get pummeled."
Melody nodded.
"You're right."
Feeling motivated, Melody took a deep breath and exhaled, focusing on the reserves within. Ashard returned.
"There are fifty of them. One man, I think a general, detected my preemptive strike. They're very strong. And I'm not liking our odds."
"Alright then fuck this," Clyde said. "Let's turn back, Team Stone. Dismissed."
That's when the illusion faded. The real Ashard fell from the sky, bloodied, and groaning. The new man that stood before them, grinned. Thirty, maybe forty Blood Hand emerged from gateways—orange fire-like shimmers of energy swirled in midair—and surrounded the team.
"Princess Melody, daughter of our God Platus, you have orders to return home," he said. "No need to make this difficult for us, we're only doing our jobs, your highness. And you may want to comply before Matsuko comes back. So many things she wants to do to you." He held up a hand to forestall Melody's protest. "Do it for your friends. And trust me, we've dealt with all kinds of gifted, so don't try anything."
Airi was already restrained and facedown. For some reason, Clyde laughed.
"Welcome to my trap," Clyde said, causing everyone's eyes to widened. "As if I didn't prepare for the bullshit cliché, enemy surrounding the party members out of thin air. Melody's important to me, to us, so yeah, fuck off."
Melody felt a tear or two slip. In her realm, everyone took care of themselves. There was no real love, just cold calculation and completing task after task. The days blended, people mostly plotted against each other, with enough hate to make living in general miserable. She loved the party for being her first real family.
And she'd be damned if she let anything happen to them. She decided she'd make the soul-oaths with Clyde.
She reached for her reserves and yanked with all of her worth. And at last, the steel brick shattered. The earth shook.
She'd end this without her prince revealing his trump card.
Inner Lot City…
"Kanako, not now," Clyde said, struggling and failing to get the genie off his waist. The approaching people wouldn't take him seriously.
"That looks fun!"
Clyde's eye twitched in annoyance as the silver-haired girl from the unknown party and the genie twirled around his waist, midair, like a helicopter. How did they even do this? An anime logic question for later. He materialized an energy paper fan and delivered divine punishment.
"Ow! So mean." They held their heads.
Clyde thought he saw one of the approaching men some time ago, but couldn't put a finger on it. He in return pointed at Melody.
"You're that girl that mind-controlled me with orders to beat the shit out of that guy," he said, finger at Clyde. He then stuck a shaky finger toward Alice. "And you're the girl that fucking called on the heavens to stop it all." He eyed the group darkly, his expression reminding the young man of an anime he once watched called…Jojo. Maybe something else…. "Why are you three together?"
A trickle of sweat dripped from the back of the trio's heads. That's when it hit Clyde. The man, who looked to be…maybe thirty or forty or so—anime made it hard to tell—was the level sixty-four ex-military guy. Rodger. The younger man spoke as if representing the entire group. The completely human man held out a hand.
"Long story," Clyde said.
"I'm Hiroshi, section leader of Unit Eighty-six. Yaponiya military," he said. "We'd—"
"You get to join us! I'm Ayu. Nice to meet you," the girl said, anime-diving into Clyde. Hiroshi snarling comically, whacked her. She sat there, teary-eyed, holding her head. She muttered, "I was just trying to help."
Clyde stifled a laugh.
"Anyway," Hiroshi said, continuing as if nothing happened. "We'd like to talk with your group, if you don't mind. We're fighting the same battles and shit, just keeps getting weirder and weirder."
"We're a little busy right now," Clyde said. "The spawned monsters aren't going to kill themselves."
"Fair enough," Hiroshi said, "but answer this. Are you this so-called Team Stone?"
"It's pretty obvious that they are," Ayu said, bouncing up from her spot. She dodged three consecutive fists, laughing, then stopped in front of the demonesses. A look of wonder dawned on her face. She saluted. "If you're fighting for the good side, then you're okay in my books."
"Ayu, don't start pestering anyone," Hiroshi said, then spat to the side. "How did I get stuck with ship girls?"
Clyde's anime trope senses tingled, but he let this one go. Questions for later. Seriously, ship girls. What the fuck? Satovia had everything. He knew this shouldn't surprise him—but come on. They'd better not mention anything about shooting airplanes from a bow, Clyde thought.
Also, to be approached by the military. Yeah, they could fuck themselves. The young man and his party solved the demon lord issue on their own, without government aid.
For a military officer, Hiroshi seemed to get a little surprised at every monster encounter. It downright irritated the young man, but at the same time, it reminded him of his old self. The college boy who foolishly challenged a Meta pumko. One could hardly blame the puny—the human for being startled at horrors that couldn't possibly exist. He also seemed to respect Clyde and his team more.
The ex-marine guy, Rodger fought with brute strength and fucking lasers. Lasers! A cyborg—and a well-hidden one.
The girls: Ayu and Maho turned out to be gifted—powerful ones, utilizing tier one magic with ease. However, no matter how hard they tried, the ship girls just could not outshine Clyde's party. Numbers aside, the women found themselves hating the idea of being outdone by military girls. Ship girls. Clyde pretended he did not notice the absurd amount of panty-flashes from the skirts of Ayu and Maho. Seth's nose eventually ran out of blood. The group settled into a rhythm, which led to fewer and fewer monster encounters. And each time, the young man hoped for a chest. Sure, they were rare and the thrill of possibly getting an epic or higher forced the man to try harder, but come on! The werewolf girl's chest didn't count. What could he do with breast-enhancing potions… He wiped his nose, trying hard not to look at the genie.
During a break, Clyde noticed something off about Toru's behavior. Instead of being composed, he constantly looked at his phone, checking for a message that he seemed to expect hours ago. Fumi always texted him—even called. Adorable, kind, and caring, the slime girl served as proof that not all monster girls were corrupted by the Supreme demon lord.
Clyde patted his shoulder.
"Do you think she's working late?"
Toru seemed to relax at the optimistic point of view.
"Maybe…It's just. I can't get rid of this bad feeling." He folded his arms. "This isn't the first time she worked late, but Fumi always let me know. Earlier, she said she'd stop by, but…"
Nina gave him a comforting look.
"Everything will be okay. And hey, maybe she's waiting beneath your covers—"
Toru's blank stare silenced her.
"Points for trying," Natalia said, pulling away her pouting friend.
**
Melody shared the same gut feeling with Toru. Something just wasn't right. Fumi sometimes over-contacted the brown-haired boy to the point that the redhead felt jealous. She too was in love…but just didn't know how to pursue it. Clyde stripped away her confident illusion like chipped paint.
The full moon seemed darker, the stars dimmer, the autumn wind, colder.
They needed to be active, not reactive. Clyde knew that, but Melody felt in her heart that…he didn't have the bloodthirst for it. She needed to find a way to help in the overall game. Ugh, calling the stone-viper games a game…No. It's a replay of a fairy tale: hero go slay the villain. She wasn't sure if the Watchers actually had a hand in selecting the Stone, but for the Viper, their eyes dropped to someone who'd become a problem for the entire universe. Maybe even the multiverse.
Melody almost slipped in a daydream, tuning out a cake conversation between Alice, Kitome, and the ship girls, but a familiar presence caught her attention. In fact, they heard her barking orders at the Blood hand.
She looked up in time to see a flash of white light in the distant sky. Matsuko left, probably to drink, while the others did the work. Typical Matsuko. Drunk and angry, friendless because of it. No one liked babysitting drunks. And not even the most perverted men had enough courage to tempt fate with a fallen angel. She was strong and mean. The party would need their guards up.
"Clyde," she said. "I can feel them ahead."
"You mean—"
"The Blood Hand," Melody finished. "They could be organized."
"Did you rush out here without a plan?" Hiroshi said to Clyde, eyes hard.
"We have a plan," Clyde said. "Ashard, you know Natalia's orders. Get to the skies now. I want a good estimation. And nuke as many as possible."
"The Blood Hand aren't push—"
"You can do it!" Ayu interrupted Melody, rudely poking Ashard. She seemed way too cheerful. "And what's this about flying?"
Ashard ignored her as he launched into the sky, surrounded by dark-blue magic, vanishing seconds later.
Melody just knew that wasn't enough. She needed to breakthrough her shell. She…
"Are you well, Melody?" Ruri said. "You smell…conflicting."
"Don't…don't sniff me," Melody said, blushing. "It's weird."
Ruri fixed the redhead with a blank stare, one which made her think of Yuki.
"It's time to drop the indecision, strawberry head," Ruri said then placed hands on small hips. "We hellhounds can't stand it. Nice perfume by the way."
Melody almost fell backward. She chuckled.
"You have a strange way of motivating people," Melody said.
"Not really," Ruri said, poking the redhead's cheek. "No need to be uptight, especially if these Blood Hand guys are no pushovers. Top form or you'll get pummeled."
Melody nodded.
"You're right."
Feeling motivated, Melody took a deep breath and exhaled, focusing on the reserves within. Ashard returned.
"There are fifty of them. One man, I think a general, detected my preemptive strike. They're very strong. And I'm not liking our odds."
"Alright then fuck this," Clyde said. "Let's turn back, Team Stone. Dismissed."
That's when the illusion faded. The real Ashard fell from the sky, bloodied, and groaning. The new man that stood before them, grinned. Thirty, maybe forty Blood Hand emerged from gateways—orange fire-like shimmers of energy swirled in midair—and surrounded the team.
"Princess Melody, daughter of our God Platus, you have orders to return home," he said. "No need to make this difficult for us, we're only doing our jobs, your highness. And you may want to comply before Matsuko comes back. So many things she wants to do to you." He held up a hand to forestall Melody's protest. "Do it for your friends. And trust me, we've dealt with all kinds of gifted, so don't try anything."
Airi was already restrained and facedown. For some reason, Clyde laughed.
"Welcome to my trap," Clyde said, causing everyone's eyes to widened. "As if I didn't prepare for the bullshit cliché, enemy surrounding the party members out of thin air. Melody's important to me, to us, so yeah, fuck off."
Melody felt a tear or two slip. In her realm, everyone took care of themselves. There was no real love, just cold calculation and completing task after task. The days blended, people mostly plotted against each other, with enough hate to make living in general miserable. She loved the party for being her first real family.
And she'd be damned if she let anything happen to them. She decided she'd make the soul-oaths with Clyde.
She reached for her reserves and yanked with all of her worth. And at last, the steel brick shattered. The earth shook.
She'd end this without her prince revealing his trump card.
