The Anime Trope System: Stone vs. Viper, #12 a LitRPG (ATS)

by Alvin Atwater

  The Oyabun nodded. “Well, I’ll be damned. That could only mean that my wife finally told Misaka about everything… she told my darling daughter how to use her gifts. I’m so proud of her.” He sighed. “And she’s gone, so I can’t hug her.”

  “Just call her,” the assassin said.

  “Oh yeah, technology exists again,” the Oyabun said, then cleared his throat. “Six years as a spirit can make a man forget the pleasures of being on the side of the living. Anyway, my wife should know everything about my plan, although I had to execute it earlier. She most likely told Misaka about it during the training… otherwise my darling daughter would probably still be mourning.”

  The assassin sighed.

  “Go inform my wife that I’m back,” the Oyabun said. “I’m going to take a fucking shower before seeing what she cooked.”

  “Yes sir,” the woman said then vanished.

  “I’m lucky to have such a loyal ninja,” the Oyabun said as he pulled out his smart phone. He gazed at the wallpaper of little three-year-old Misaka, eyes starry. “You make your father proud.”

  Nation’s Seat of Alon…

  Natalia allowed herself to relax as Princess Dire faded out of sight. The others seemed to breathe easier. Her risky gamble worked, not that the silver-haired girl had any murderous intent. Oh, there was something deep within those eyes, an unstable woman stuck in the same situation as Natalia, but her problems were of a truly messed up sort. To have her own family use her as a scapegoat for her home Nation’s anger.

  Natalia had stealthily performed a quick memory-dive to gather everything she didn’t already know about Dire. The silver-haired girl’s parents ruthlessly abandoned their brightest child for the “good” of the royal family. Her siblings and cousins were snakes; conniving, cold people just like their parents. Dire, on the other hand, was kind and a bit timid, leaving everyone to believe her to be weak. Some of the older ones bullied the girl, others left her alone.

  Even when she turned twenty-three, her only friend was a cat that often talked with her. And behind the true form of that cat turned out to be the Witch. And the Witch was a dark goddess by the name of Fatalus. The name alone gave Natalia shivers.

  More evil than the murderers living at the bottom of the depths of Hell, Fatalus’s reputation of being one of the most powerful dark goddesses around existed for a reason. How did they attract such a being to the Lion continent? Many legends spoke of a god who once protected it, blessing all of its inhabitants. What happened to him? Possibly Fatalus. Or maybe she moved in after he disappeared. Well, there was simply no point in thinking of her now. Husbando onii counted on Natalia. She wasn’t sure why he assumed the attack on the palace was going to suddenly get called off. Her job would be to detect any hidden third party darting away on the rooftop of a building near the palace.

  Sure enough... she actually did. An obvious wizard dressed in black, hiding his face with some kind of… dragon mask?

  Somewhere in the Nation’s Seat of Alon…

  “Call off the attack,” someone said. He was a muscular man with a cigar hanging out of the side of his mouth. Transparent gold aura surrounded him like molten lava as he shook his head, visibly frustrated. Well, the busted lamps, tossed chairs, and a hole the size of a coffee pot in the window indicated that much. “We cannot afford to lose any more people. I’ve sent Black Mask to quickly kill off those captured so that they don’t spill any of our secrets under torture, but at this rate, we won’t save this Nation. It’s due to those ignorant youths.” He sighed.

  A woman with a dangerous gleam in her eye smiled. “Shall I send Black Mask to deal with them?” she asked. “Or maybe I should take care of this myself. If only we would’ve noticed them at the restaurant before it was too late.”

  “We didn’t know they stopped yesterday’s message from getting out,” the man said. “It wasn’t their fault. They saw what appeared to be wizard-thugs moving to kill androids. That princess’s message to some non-existent hero and the queen’s announcement has blinded them to the truth. Send Pink Allure to explain things.”

  “Pink Allure is more likely to try to have sex with them-”

  “She won’t,” the man interrupted. “She knows there’s a time to work and a time to mess around. After all, she’s been right under their noses the entire time.” He chuckled. “She works as a staff member at the hotel they’re staying at, under the guise of a clumsy worker. She’s watched them, but sensed no threat. Once they know the truth, there is no doubt we can get them on our side. Our Nation depends on this.”

  The woman nodded. “The dictatorship of the queen has to end now.”

  “When she goes, we’ll immediately use the treasure to fund the other states,” the man said. “All of the junk technology can be used to build up the other towns, form new cities. The magic cores inside the androids are worth millions.”

  Really Long Fucking Name, Alon… [Nation’s Seat]

  “I just fucking knew it,” Clyde said after bashing the head of a stray wizard against a trashcan. “We’re being watched.”

  Tear nodded.

  “I know of one suspicious girl at the hotel,” the succubus said. “I suspect she’ll come to us in disguise or maybe be bold enough to come as herself.”

  “That may be the moment she attempts to assassinate us, I guess,” Clyde said. “In that case, I want a preemptive strike. Before she can make a move, we do the capturing.”

  “Uhmm… how do you know this?” Misaka asked timidly.

  “We don’t,” Clyde said, “but there’s no way they don’t know by now that we’ve stopped all of their attacks. Think about it, Misaka. News reporters everywhere. A team with a lot of egos and probably ideologies looking to see how everyone’s reacting to their stand against the ruling monarchs.”

  “What if we’re on the wrong side?” Alice said, surprising the entire crew.

  “We shouldn’t be in this shit at all,” Clyde said. “I just want to do the damned blessing and get us the hell out.”

  “Should we forget about this Palona and just approach the palace?”

  “I thought of that, but if Palona doesn’t come to me, I won’t be able to prove that I’m the person she’s looking for,” Clyde said. “We’ll be shot at by the dumbass guards.”

  Harumi frowned. “I’m up for calling it a day. I want to check on Liru and the dragons again. They’ve got my poor sister addicted to the Hero-sama anime.”

  “I love that one,” Misaka blurted out, gaining their stares. Blushing furiously, she tried to make herself small, but Tear didn’t let her.

  “You’re so cute,” the succubus said, pulling her into a boob-filled hug. Clyde felt a little longing. Tear took that time to smirk at him. Her eyes were inviting. Which only meant that he needed to spend more time with her. Otherwise, she was most likely going to jump him right in the middle of the hotel hallway.

  Alice noticed the exchange and shook her head. Tear gave her a devilishly perfect smile.

  “Oh shit, somebody’s coming,” Yusuke said, pointing ahead. A tall and skinny dark man dressed in red robes approached, surrounded in gray and white aura. He actually emitted a bit of pressure.

  Clyde was completely unphased and uncaring. Mainly because he forgot to use his Blood Ki on the goddamn dark magic book. He went through all of that hell - fuck it. He’d unlock his new skill in the middle of the city.

  “Yusuke, Misaka, this is a good chance for you to handle a mini-boss,” Clyde said. “Harumi, Alice, Tear, back up Misaka when needed.”

  “Not me?” Yusuke said then playfully held up a hand. “I’m fucking with you; I know she’s new.” Yusuke’s white aura intensified.

  “A ninja and a girl. A normal girl,” the red-robed man said. “The ninja, I would respect if you were actually capable of doing a decent amount of damage. But you suck. As for the girl. Why? Just why? I will hit a girl if that’s the point you’re trying to make. Unless she were a loli, then I’d become her-”

&
nbsp; “Dude, shut the fuck up,” Clyde interrupted. “Yusuke, Misaka, attack. He’s lucky I’m letting the androids send him up for execution. Otherwise, I’d ask for Tear to Futa-banish him.”

  Tear laughed. “It’s been a while since we’ve sent someone there. I’m thinking their leader deserves it?”

  Before Clyde could answer, his phone buzzed, indicating a text message. What he got instead was a picture of the Supreme Demon Lord taking a shit. A second message revealed her playing with herself, her expression being… the Ahegao face…

  Asu: her thoughts are filled with you in that War god state you told me about.

  Clyde was at a loss of words. Goddammit Asu.

  Clyde: Asu, focus on the main mission. We need useful data.

  Asu: it’s important. But I’ll keep sending everything. I won’t let you down, oh great dong master of eternity.

  Clyde: Asu!

  No reply. He sighed, not making an attempt to delete the photos.

  “I’ll just keep them for research purposes,” he said softly.

  Episode 60 (Part 3)

  As Yusuke and Misaka battled the red wizard, Clyde selected the Book of Dark Magic from the menu. He had a few others and plenty of extra time.

  [Would you like to use Blood Ki to unlock this magic book? Warning, using this Ki poses a risk to your judgment of good and evil or cautiousness. However, you are just inserting a small amount.]

  Clyde selected yes. He hadn’t come all this way just to make a last-minute second-guess. The book shook and burst into knife-shaped particles. They rained on him like needles, plunging into his aura and he just knew.

  [Congratulations, you have learned Unknown tier skill: Summon Evil Goddess level 1. Type: evil, dark, deity. Class: *dark epic. Unlock the chains of an ancient dark goddess, binding her to your soul, and forming the contract of familiar and master. To activate this skill, you must first channel stray Blood Ki, as you lack any dark affinity whatsoever.]

  [Warning. The use of the skill and what could result from it may be detrimental. Maybe there was a reason why the magic book had a Blood Ki lock, baka?]

  Clyde’s blank stare said it all. No. He had to look at it from another angle. This creature would be a familiar with no summon limit… oh, who the fuck was he kidding? All he needed now was someone to say, “What could possibly go wrong?”

  He turned to glare at Alice, playing a video clip, Tear hovering over her. “What?” she asked. “Tear was showing me something.”

  Clyde gave her a skeptical look. She smiled innocently. “They’ll be fine. Now you go back to pulling out random things from your magical dimensional space without explaining anything to we who are not worthy,” Tear said.

  The young man sighed, then pulled out the book of Blue Ki.

  “I’m just using these magic books,” Clyde said, casually waving something that had Tear’s eyes wide. “Well, this one’s actually a Ki book.”

  “Do you have any idea how much magic books are worth? And Ki books are nearly impossible to find. Where did you get that? And you said books. How many do you have?”

  “Tear…” Harumi said.

  “What?” Tear said, calming down.

  “Why did you say that in front of Airi?” Harumi asked.

  Clyde’s glare shifted to a Toru-approved blank.

  “She’s behind me, isn’t she?”

  “Her group was patrolling in this area,” Harumi said as she calmly walked over to her starry-eyed friend. Airi’s aura covered the entire block.

  Clyde warped the Ki book back to his inventory. This is why he did everything in private. The red wizard’s protest saved him from having to deal with the super druid.

  [Your party has entered combat!]

  “A magic book! With that, we could produce the funds to save this Nation,” the red wizard said. “You there, let me talk-”

  Misaka took advantage of that opportunity, grabbing his arm, twisting and slamming down the wizard in a spectacular maneuver. Damn! Don’t underestimate quiet girls with glasses.

  “Good work Misaka. Here come the androids,” Clyde said.

  “This is too easy,” Yusuke said. “I don’t like this.”

  Airi, Kitome in magical girl form, and Ruri were the team members in charge of patrolling the area - Clyde ticked that note in his head. They canceled their trip to the palace halfway along the way since the lolis were already in that area.

  “Let me go,” the red wizard said through clenched teeth. Misaka seemed to intensify the pain, causing him to grunt. Clyde sensed just a faint source of power emitting from her hands… that wasn’t magic. Phoenix fire? Quite the interesting topic for a later conversation.

  Instead of three androids coming to retrieve the wizard, only one appeared and judging by the tension in the air, he wasn’t the only one to sense that something was off.

  “Thank you for your assistance,” the ‘android’ said. “I will be taking this one off your hands.”

  “Hold it right there,” Kitome said. “You’re no fucking android. And they’d rather shut down than thank us.”

  The not-android grinned, aimed a hand at Kitome, and unleashed a fast-moving beam of red magic. A translucent-blue bubble briefly surrounded the magical girl as she strode toward the stunned woman. Kitome laid her out with a single punch. Non-magical brute force. Of course. She was one of the few members of the party who was completely oblivious and unperturbed by Chika’s anger aura a couple of months back.

  “We don’t want to hear your story,” Clyde said to the red wizard. “The person you’ve got watching us in the hotel is going to tell us, anyway.”

  “You’re fighting… on the wrong… side,” the woman said. Blood drizzled from her nose. Her eyes were already swelling. One hell of a punch to the face, Clyde thought. Ha!

  “That’s what they all say,” Clyde said. “It starts with an ideology and belief. Did you not stop to ever think that the androids you guys constantly destroy are actually alive? The core within generates-”

  “That’s nonsense!” the red wizard interrupted. “They’re machines. And a waste of taxpayer money. Badly needed money - most of the surrounding provinces are lacking in any kind of development.”

  Clyde sighed.

  “Here come the real androids, ready to arrest you for destruction of property, causing a disturbance, use of violence and all of that other good stuff. But…” Clyde held up a finger, eyeing the man in a way that seemed sympathetic… the wizard gazed at him intensely, waiting for his next words, breath probably held. “Do you have any good shopping recommendations?”

  With hope drained from his eyes, the wizard laid his head back down. The young man silently chuckled. He had always wanted to try the anti-climactic question.

  “We could go shop for meat,” Ruri said, skittering to Clyde, snuggling into him. Her tail wagged cheerfully.

  Alice barged in between them. “Watch it,” she warned. “I’ll hang you upside-down on a tree by the tail.”

  “You can try,” Ruri said, grinning evilly. The young man somehow felt an electrical tension between the two.

  The real androids thankfully arrived. Like usual, they wordlessly cuffed the intruders with anti-magic handcuffs and hauled them away toward hovering police cars.

  “I hope we’re close to cleaning these fuckers up,” Clyde said.

  “I need a drink,” Airi said. “And answers to my questions.”

  “Let’s go back to the hotel for now,” Clyde said. “We’ll call it a day. I agree with Yusuke. This is too easy.”

  “And when it’s too easy, something else is happening in the background,” Kitome said. “Go figure.” She folded her arms.

  Clyde’s phone rang.

  “I swear, if this is Asu…” he paused, surprised that Natalia dialed him up. The only people she called were Alice and Tear. He lightly tapped the green accept button display on his phone. Kitome made an offhanded comment about the strange model that he used.

  “Natalia, what’s
up? This is definitely a surprise.”

  “Onii-chan, I have something to tell you,” Natalia said, her voice uneasy.

  “Go ahead,” Clyde replied.

  Natalia explained her encounter, which froze the young man’s blood. And then she revealed her intentions.

  “She won’t attack us anymore,” the loli continued. “I’ve planted… a seed of hope and doubt to backfire on her master. I’ve also cast a series of hidden spells that will lead her to being an asset… well, if I’m being honest, a tool for Team Stone. Okay, a tool for me. I’m sorry I did this without your consent.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just meet us back at the hotel,” Clyde said. “I’m going to need some time to process that.”

  “You really shouldn’t underestimate us,” the terrorist woman said over her shoulder, then laughed. One of the androids smacked her. “Ow, that hurt, you bucket of bolts. We’re only scouts and barely trained grunts. You haven’t met the real deal yet. You’ll pay for messing with us - ow!”

  “Shut up,” the android police snapped as she removed her hand. “Impersonating an officer of the law will add more niceties to your punishment, criminal scum.”

  Clyde gave the officer a thumbs up. He stood, allowing Natalia’s words to soak in once more. Just who was Dire? Who did she work for? Her appearance felt so random, then she left with a carefree smile on her face, although one would have to be cruel or dumb to not see the instability deep within that blue-eyed gaze. But she had eliminated an elder dragon with just one attack.

  Even though she hadn’t attacked today, Clyde wasn’t sure if leaving someone so dangerous to roam about was a good idea. Natalia no doubt knew after facing her at full strength. The young man shuddered. Whatever spells the evil loli-witch did without getting noticed must be goddess-tier shit. Maybe more powerful. She didn’t try to hide what she did. Wait a fucking minute.