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[Actually, I’ve been thinking about what to do, you know… Being thrown into a different world and all that stuff? I felt like we’ve been through a lot, you know? So, I’ve been thinking about where I want to go from here on out.]
Looking at me with a wry expression on her face, Asagi lightly kicked the wreckage under her feet.
[For one thing, I want all of this Asagi-san’s group to survive. The other is to return to our original world with all of this Asagi-san’s group alive. For the time being, I thought it would be nice if I moved with these two goals as my priority.]
I was somewhat bothered by the fact that she limited her words to just the Asagi group but…
[So, Asagi-san, you’re thinking of defeating the Great Demon Emperor with everyone?]
I held some anticipation when I asked so.
However, Asagi didn’t answer right away as she looked at me for a moment with an expression where I couldn’t read any of her emotions.
[Depends.]
[Eh?]
[Let’s just say that this is just for instance.]
Playing with her side hair with her fingers, Ayaka continued.
[Let’s just say that if it’s not just the Goddess-chan who has a way to let us return to our original world… Let’s just say that the Great Demon Emperor also had a way to let us return to our original world. And if, after this, the Great Demon Emperor’s side has a definite advantage over the Goddess’ side, and we’re invited to join his camp—– Well, this is just a hypothetical thing, get it? I’m just talking about “what ifs”, you catch my drift?]
After saying so, Asagi continues.
[In the event that we are able to get back to our original world, rather than taking the Goddess’ side, if there’s a camp that has a higher chance for the group to return back to our original world, I think picking that option would fulfill my goal as well.]
[Eh, that’s… But…]
[I’m sure that there’s nothing better than the Goddess winning the battle and all of us can happily go back to our original world. It’s just that… Us humans are basically beings that want to ride the winning horse, right? Well, what I’m saying is…]
Bending down, Asagi picked up the small piece of debris that had fallen beside her feet.
Throwing that pebble-sized debris upward again and again, Asagi played it on her hands.
[I don’t think Sogou Ayaka, the person Kobato loves so much, would ever approve of taking the side of the Great Demon Emperor. But you know—]
Swoosh
Asagi tossed the debris away.
The debris slammed into the wall of a half-destroyed building with a dry thud and rolled down to the ground.
[To survive in this world, you need to have a good sense of smell to be able to sniff out the winning horse. Nyar nyar.]
I don’t know why.
I felt something even more uncanny about Asagi’s nature compared to before.
[Even so… The Queen-sama’s face just now was really amazing, wasn’t it? I’m certainly the one who suggested to sacrifice her most precious Saint, but it was also me who saved this country by making that plan of desperately attacking them at the same time, right? How should I put it, for humans to make such complicated expressions on their faces… Did you know that humans can make expressions like that, Kobato-chan? It’s amusing, don’t you think?]
[I don’t… really know…]
[That “I don’t know” of yours is something really convenient for you to say. Well, I guess this is where our conversation ends.]
With that, Asagi calmly stood up.
[Now then, I guess it’s about time for me to also do my best. The new skills that I’ve just learned—- especially that
(T/N: 痛覚遮断, this is still chanted as Queen Bee afaik, but I put this in to distinguish it from her other skill.)
Asagi had taken her inherent skills to a new level after this series of battles.
Although she’s a B-Rank, which is considered inferior to S and A-Ranks, Asagi has an inherent skill.
Moreover, in the course of this battle, it has even evolved.
Asagi had said something earlier.
“It’s just what I think, but I felt like there’s something hidden behind the alphabet rankings of us Heroes. There may even be a disparity among the S-Ranks. For instance, you may usually think that their S-Rank would mean “S U P E R”, but there may be a chance that there’s someone “S P E C I A L” who slipped in that ranking. Does my B-Rank have some kind of hidden rank that starts with “B”? Or sometyin like nyan?”
No… There’s may unexpectedly be some chance of that being possible.
I felt an odd sense of persuasion upon those words.
If that’s the case…
(There may even be some hidden ranks among the C and D-Ranks?)
For instance, if I was in that hidden rank among the D-Ranks…
(I may be able to help out Sogou-san.)
I can’t help but fantasize about it.
[Come on, Poppo-chan, let’s go. You weren’t very much helpful in the fight earlier, so it’s times like this where you could recover your good points back.]
(T/N: The second sentence doesn’t specify anyone, so she could be pointing about herself for all I know. I’ll just go assume she’s talking about little, timid Kobato.)
After she said that, I trotted over towards Asagi.
“Fuuuaaaahh~” Asagi loudly yawned.
[Sleepy… By the way, I felt like most of the skills I’ve got from my evolved inherent skill seems to have a lot of debuffs.]
[Debuffs?]
That word doesn’t really ring a bell in my mind.
According to Asagi though, it’s a term mostly used in games these days.
[The
[It power downs?]
[Well, that’s basically the gist of those skills.]
As she walks, Asagi lowers down her upper body.
She then picked up another pebble again that was lying at her feet.
[And you see? There are certainly some games where buffs and debuffs are almost meaningless with or without them, but depending on the game, they can be a very important factor in determining the outcome of a battle… Well, if you put it that way, I guess they have the Abnormal State Skills here. Does the general idea of Abnormal States exist in these types of games? Heck, there are even some games where the Abnormal State Skills were making strong parameters meaningless. Well, it all depends on the game though.]
For someone who doesn’t play games at all, what she’s talking about doesn’t really make any sense.
“It’s just that…”, something suddenly appeared in my mind.
Speaking of Abnormal State Skills…
(Mimori-kun…)
I looked down.
Asagi continued.
[What I mean is, Attack Skills aren’t all there is to fighting. In fact, it was only with Asagi’s buffs and debuffs that I was able to defeat that Confidant who was spreading its Tyrant’s Miasma everywhere. Ah, now that I think about it, I guess that Tyrant’s Miasma could be classified as a debuff.]
Swoosh
Asagi throws the pebble in her hand.
An empty, uneven hole in the wall of a collapsed building.
The thrown pebble was perfectly caught in there.
It somehow reminded me of a tennis ball that would sometimes be wedged in the meshes of the fences.
[Well, that’s– how– it is, I think? Whether it’s buffs or debuffs, if you could use them well—-]
“Umu.”
Asagi nodded her head.
[No other skill would be as strong as this one.]
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traitorAIZEN: Here’s the un-used images