-Your Master, the Beast of Ascension 3-
Hassan of the Cursed Arm and Medusa Alter, these were the names that came to Micolash's mind as soon as the enemy servants announced their presence. The woman with long purple hair worried him more, being the least known of the two, and consequently, the most dangerous.
The Chaldea team, although trying not to show it, was in a worse situation. Two powerful enemies had appeared, and the siblings masters were unsure how they should fight.
Director Olga had given them the abbreviated version of a master's duties, but should they shout every order? Or just serve as mana batteries while their servants fought? Was there a middle ground? But one thing was clear, they were not prepared; death awaited them if they did not win.
The Fujimarus exchanged glances, a nod with serious faces, though this did little to hide the fear they felt. Swallowing hard, they focused on Emiya, Okita, and Mash, the first two confident and stern, weapons and fighting stances ready. The latter, though with her back to her Sempais, showed her hesitation with a trembling posture behind her shield.
"Master, orders."
The red-clad archer was the first to speak, with the blonde warrior beside him murmuring in agreement.
"F-finish them off!"
Gudako responded to her servant's words, mentally kicking herself for her stutter and lack of confidence. Her brother did the same, and with that done, the combat began.
For a second, nothing happened, then…
BOOM!
Ritsuka, Gudako, and Olga screamed and gritted their teeth, protecting their ears as a loud bang assaulted them. The assault on their senses didn't end there, as a powerful gale accompanied by waves of dust struck, threatening to knock them to the ground while obscuring their vision.
Forcing their eyes open, the Chaldea team tried to understand what had happened, only to witness a trail of destruction beginning where their servants were, and expanding into the center of the ruins where everyone was fighting.
It was impossible to follow what was happening with normal eyes; colorful streaks tore through the air, sparks fell like rain, the cracking of chains and metal clashing made their ears ache as the earth split open, courtesy of missed blows.
However, there was something they all clearly perceived: the man with the skull mask was no longer in his place. They looked around, searching for the dangerous enemy; with their servants occupied, an attack could come from anywhere.
Ruins, the ongoing fight, and Micolash and his servant a little further away was all they could see. The man in question didn't seem concerned about the situation and did something peculiar: he raised his monstrous arm above his head and waited.
Quick as lightning, he turned in what seemed like a random direction, conjuring a massive dark sphere and hurling it against a pile of rubble, only for the missing servant to leap away from the resulting explosion, clicking his tongue as his location was revealed.
The master then held his servant in his arms, causing her to cry out in surprise, then both vanished. There were no lights or characteristic sounds of magic being conjured; in the blink of an eye, they reappeared before the shadowy servant still in the air.
The eyes behind the skull mask met the serpentine ones behind the iron mask, one filled with disbelief and the other with coldness.
His vision blurred, and pain was all the servant felt. With a determined face, one that many would consider cute, Abigail swung her teddy bear, an action that would seem harmless except for the inhuman force and speed behind the blow.
The air visibly scattered, and the Cursed Arm fell like a meteor, a dark stain that opened a crater in the ground, raising stone and dust.
Blood gushed from his mouth in rivers as he remained on his hands and knees, trying to get up, but the agony coursing through his body and the world spinning around him prevented it.
In his distorted vision, several pairs of legs appeared, although there were only two. He didn't have time to process what had happened; a teddy bear struck him in the chin in a movement similar to a golfer swinging his club.
The servant's feet left the ground, and he found himself in the air again, traveling like an arrow, piercing the wall of a building and those that followed in his trajectory.
Just like before, Micolash and his servant disappeared, and upon finding themselves inside the building, they frowned upon noticing the absence of the Cursed Arm from its place of impact, now a hole filled with debris.
"Be rrready, he ssstill here."
The master commanded, and the servant nodded, the former with his rapier at the ready and the latter clutching her teddy bear to her chest. They stood back to back, silently covering their blind spots, intently scanning the surroundings, searching for the enemy.
First, a shadow shifted to the right. A trick of the eyes? Then, a piece of the ceiling fell to the left. Is the building collapsing? Laughter and footsteps echoed in the distance. Or was it just their minds playing tricks on them?
For a second, something gleamed in the distant darkness at the end of a corridor.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Three swings of his weapon, three golden trails in the air, and three throwing knives fell to the ground, but as the master and servant watched where they came from, something orange and red gleamed in the opposite direction.
"ZABANIA!"
An arm, too long to belong to a human, emerged from the darkness, dancing like a serpent, as if it had no bones or muscles, approaching at full speed towards the unsuspecting master who turned around.
This was what the Cursed Arm wanted, a direct path to the master's chest, to his heart. The servant was too strong, despite her innocent appearance, so he would eliminate the weakest link.
His joy was short-lived; his arm stopped, as did his hand, enveloped in power, just inches from the master, who for a second disappeared, having teleported to the same spot upon realizing he wouldn't be hit.
This was due to the numerous tentacles that emerged from the portals opened inside the building, enveloping the long arm and trapping it in place.
"GREATER HURTING!"
A large ring of orange energy appeared around the arm, closing immediately, then…
BANG!
"AAAHHH!"
With a sound like a gunshot, the energy ring severed the servant's long arm. The limb thrashed like a lizard's tail, gushing black blood as the rest recoiled from where it came.
Without wasting a moment, Micolash grabbed Abigail and teleported toward the screams. As quickly as his vision vanished, his rapier pierced the air, as did the skull mask in front of him.
The servant had no time to react; the divine weapon pierced his forehead, exiting the other side in a gush of blood. His destroyed brain matter served as a blessing, for he couldn't comprehend what had happened, and with life leaving his body, he disintegrated into dark particles.
All fell silent, and the victors awaited an attack that never came.
"We won!"
Abigail threw her arms up, smiling as if she hadn't participated in a life-or-death battle, or massacre, to be more precise.
Her master stared at her without saying a single word or showing any emotion, making her think she had done something wrong. Her expression fell and she was about to apologize, but froze when a monstrous hand stroked her head.
"You did a good jjjob!"
A face-splitting smile accompanied the gentle touch, and the little girl crossed her arms, puffing out her chest and raising her nose in pride.
-XXXXXX-
Medusa swung her scythe, the chain following the movement in a wide arc. Forcing Okita to step back to avoid having her head ripped off, however, as soon as she got out of the way, a flurry of arrows advanced, fired by EMIYA and his black bow, each one shining like a shooting star.
It only took one glance for them to turn to stone and lose their power, and the archer who was right behind stomped on the ground, raising a concrete wall to block direct vision as soon as he felt his body harden.
This small distraction allowed Mash to fall from the sky, her shield serving as a battering ram to crush Medusa against the asphalt. The servant was quicker and jumped out of the way, avoiding the living press that the young girl had become.
The Demi-servant wasted no time, rising from the crater with her shield, cutting off Medusa's eye contact with her body, and then she charged blindly, making her opponent laugh at such folly.
Her eyes and scythes might not pierce the shield, but her snakes could. Her hair moved, growing in size, the curls splitting in the middle, forming large mouths with fangs that advanced, encircling the girl's towering shield.
What seemed like a victory proved more difficult than it appeared; swift, almost invisible cuts severed the snakes, and Okita leaped from behind Mash's shield, closing the distance.
There was a moment of hesitation when she didn't know who to focus on, the girl advancing like a train or the swordswoman falling towards her, about to draw her sword.
This proved to be a mistake, for she had forgotten her last opponent. Arrows approached from the left and right, but they weren't there to pierce; each one exploded in a blinding light, hurting her eyes.
Unfortunately, Medusa wouldn't give up. Screaming in fury, her hair expanded again, her scythe danced, and with that, the earth trembled as a flurry of blows spread, forming a dome of destruction around her.
Okita's advance slowed, cuts appearing on her body with each parried attack. However, one stood firm: Mash, planting her feet firmly on the ground and slowly advancing towards the servant.
Each blow colliding with her shield made her body tremble and pain course through her flesh, but her armored feet sank into the ground with each step, preventing her from being pushed back.
Then, with a roar of effort, she swung her great weapon, striking Medusa in the center of her face.
CRACK!
Her nose breaking was the first thing she felt, blood gushing and pain followed, surprise created an opening in the flurry of blows, something glistened, and then, nothing.
Medusa stood still in complete silence for a few seconds, surprise still etched on her face, then a trickle of blood ran down her neck, her head falling off soon after.
Okita rose from her crouched position behind the servant, sheathing her sword and turning to her companions, exchanging a nod as their enemy crumbled.
The Chaldea team smiled, a mixture of joy and disbelief; they had survived and won their first battle, unscathed above all.
"Enemy servant eliminated, master." Emiya dispelled his bow, returning to the group, though he did not share the joy, knowing full well that this was only the beginning. Countless eras of conflict had given him enough experience.
"I admit, this little exercise did wonders for this ailing body. Now, if I may ask, where is our companion?" Okita stretched her arms above her head, looking around for the person in question.
The team did the same, and as if by fate, Micolash and Abigail appeared beside them in the blink of an eye, causing the humans in the group to recoil in surprise. However, despite their victory, the newcomers showed anything but joy.
"WE NEEED TO GO, NOW!"
Before they even had a chance to ask, an overwhelming roar reverberated through the burning city, and a miniature earthquake shook the ground. Something large was approaching, and the crumbling buildings in the distance indicated a straight line being drawn towards them.
"HEY, THIS WAY!"
A new voice rang out in the area, and the servants moved to protect their masters, assuming fighting stances before the blue-haired man wielding a staff at the edge of the rubble-filled pit they found themselves in.
"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FORRR THISSS!"
"I AGREE WITH THE WEIRDO, YOU'D BETTER FOLLOW ME IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FIGHT THE BIG GUY!"
There was no time to think; either they followed the stranger or faced whatever was troubling him so much, and considering they had just come from a fight, it would be better to follow the one who wasn't trying to kill them.
With little choice, they did as the man asked, following him away from there, and despite running at full speed, they could still hear the roars and destruction in the distance.
-Fixing Fairy Tales 3-
To summarize the story Jeanne told me, there was a fog spreading across the world, transforming living beings into monsters called Demon Beasts, which explained everyone's reaction to my presence.
This fog was being generated in the Lost Empire, the giant castle I had spotted earlier, and to enter, I would have to kill the four demonic princesses and open the castle gate, killing their leader and stopping the advance of this disaster.
It seemed like your typical fairy tale with heroes and villains, so I didn't exactly understand what Nyarlathotep wanted me to fix. Anyway, now I had a goal, so I said goodbye to the knight and the maids and turned around, heading towards the fort.
"Wait, where are you going?!"
The knight in question grabbed the sleeve of my coat, stopping my walk.
"To the Lossst Empirrre to end thisss quickly."
"But the gates are locked, you won't be able to get in!"
I felt like laughing, but instead I analyzed his face; it was a mixture of seriousness and concern. Not for me, but I felt he wanted to tell me something.
"Do you want to tell me sssomething?"
She grimaced, frowning and looking away. The next words came out as if she were chewing something bad.
"I… I would like you to accompany me on this journey. I left my village to stop this calamity, but I am not strong enough, so I wish to join forces. You are strong, together we can end this and save the world."
My mouth closed in a thin line, and I let out a soft murmur as I thought about what to do. I wanted to end this quickly and return to Madeleine; my hearts ached at the thought of how she would react to my disappearance. On the other hand, I was the outsider here, so having more context before acting would be good.
"Verrry well, let's do thingsss your way. Where do we go now?"
She smiled, and with our union accomplished, the Holy Forest became our next objective. There we would find the Prayer Master and get more information about what to do.
"Beforrre we leave, take this as compensssation for your sssword."
I handed her the flaming orange sword I'd gotten from the dragon, making her eyes widen and her mouth open and close without saying a word. A pat on her shoulder snapped her out of her stupor, and after that, we walked towards the front door, the maids stepping out of the way in a hurried pace, whispering and staring intensely at us.
By "us," I meant me; after all, I was the friendly "Demonic Beast." However, there was one that stood out from the others, one I had rescued upstairs. She was pale with pink hair, and seemed to try to punch a hole in my head with the intensity of her gaze, and every time I looked back, she gave me a strange feeling.
I glanced one last time over my shoulder, shuddering when she smiled at me, then left the mansion with Jeanne. The maids were now barricading the mansion to resist a beast attack.
According to the knight beside me, the town wasn't in much better shape; the women were transforming into monsters and devouring the men, in more ways than one, so we would have to fight our way to the sewers that connected the Rotten Burg to the forest.
My appearance was another problem, not so much from afar, but since there were normal people here, they would panic if they saw me up close, so we needed to be quick.
I scanned the front garden, noticing small objects shining on the ground. My gamer instinct told me to collect them all, and so I did, finding orange spheres, ores, and a kind of colored disc.
To my right, there was a treasure chest protected by a woman whose mutilated body floated, maintaining a humanoid appearance.
"What are you doing?!"
"I NEEED TO COLLECT THAT!"
My body trembled; it was impossible to resist the urge to add more things to my inventory. However, I was clever and created some rats, which avoided the woman, entering the chest and bringing me a knight's sword.
I couldn't help but smile at the sight of the gleaming, high-quality weapon. I sheathed Shark Teeth and held the sword in one hand, seeing my joyful reflection in the metal.
"Tell me, will you stray from the path just to satisfy your greed?!"
"Yesss, and I won't pretend otherrrwise."
The satisfaction in my voice was palpable, and Jeane clenched her teeth in fury, making me laugh. Anyway, we continued on our way, avoiding being in the open as much as possible, but as I walked through the city, I noticed something I had only seen in the dungeons.
There were cracks in the walls, with eyes staring at me from within; swarms of insects crawled across the floor, crackling as I crushed them beneath my feet; apart from that, the city was completely silent, covered in bloodstains.
I asked Jeanne if she could see it, but she asked what the hell I was talking about, confirming that she couldn't. Kitab squeezing my arm caught my attention, so I opened the book, seeing what he had to say.
"Hey, look at this, you have a new status."
And he was right, there it was.
SEN: -999999
Hm… I wonder if this is important.
-XXXXXX-
We reached the stairs leading to the sewers, but not without incident. The first was a werewolf woman from the waist down, bare-chested and holding her own severed head.
There was no way to call that a fight, I kicked her head away like a football and Jeanne sliced her body with her new sword, looking overly pleased with how powerful it was.
The second problem came in the form of an angry mob with torches and pitchforks chasing us after a woman and her son saw me as we turned a corner. Trying to explain only made the situation worse, so we were forced to run, not before I petted the head of the dog I found.
We jumped into the sewer, landing with a heavy thud and falling silent, blending into the darkness as we heard the furious footsteps passing above us until they disappeared into the distance.
"YOU HAD TO STOP TO PET THAT DOG?!"
"BUT HE WAS SSSO CUTE!"
"YOU'RE CRAZY!"
"YOU ONLY RRREALIZED THAT NOW?!"
My sarcasm couldn't have been more obvious. Jeanne clicked her tongue, clenched her teeth, and let out a cry of frustration as she stomped her way through the sewers, with me following close behind.
"I swear by Mary Sue, you'll drive me crazy if you don't take this seriously!"
"Marrry Sssue?"
"Of course someone like you wouldn't know!"
According to the knight, Mary Sue is the Goddess of the greatest religion in this world, which made me wonder if I could achieve affinity with her, as well as with the other gods. Our progress went better than in the town; the rats and slime weren't as strong, Pyromancy Trick and the flaming sword were more than enough to clear the way.
I collected everything I could find, partly to annoy my partner, but our mood changed as soon as we entered a room full of rats and skeletons too small to be adults, and on the other side, a quadrupedal being made of darkness, or a court jester playing a flute, according to Jeanne.
"Who are you and what happened here?!"
She demanded, demonstrating her strong sense of justice, which, though admirable, would eventually kill her.
"Imafjns93je3498rh3mov,rtbk04gk5490r2j03dm2e0c,r0gm40gj0"
I frowned when the creature in front of us answered, for I didn't understand a single word. The young woman beside me seemed to fare better, judging by the fury on her face and the tightening of her grip on the sword's hilt.
"PSHH! What did he sssay?"
"The clergy of the city of Elixir killed his wife for alleged heresy; as revenge, he hypnotized the children of the city with his music and fed them to the rats!"
My mood soured immediately, I felt my expression fall, becoming impassive as fury burned in my chest. A flute sounded in the air and the rats stirred, but before the fight could begin, I pointed Kitab at the creature, conjuring Greater Hurting.
BANG!
Its head rolled away and the rodents fled, squealing in the distance. The monster disintegrated into blue particles that disappeared into my chest, the same thing that happened to the dragon and the master of the burg, but I felt nothing different.
In its place was a book, The Pied Piper. I put it in my backpack, feeling one step closer to understanding what my superior wanted me to do. After that, I collected what was useful in the sewer chamber, apologizing to the skeletons, and turned to Jeanne, who watched me in fear.
"You can decapitate people whenever you want?"
I nodded, and she swallowed hard, rubbing her neck before following me.
-XXXXXX-
The more time passes, the more I wonder if I'm in a poorly made parody of Dark Souls. The enemies dissolve into what I believe are souls, heading towards whoever killed them.
Deeper into the sewers, we found a bonfire that lit up and healed our wounds when touched, making us realize we left one behind in the burg, as well as the local master's book.
We left the place through another set of stairs, arriving at a kind of abandoned laboratory full of things to add to my collection, including what appeared to be an Estus Flask.
I placed it next to the other flask we found, as well as green candies, magic rings, and a thief's dagger, which I kept in the inside pocket of my coat.
The exit door was locked, but not anymore when I kicked it down, finding another silver key and candies. We found ourselves in a forest, specifically in the backyard of a large two-story house.
It was beautiful and well-kept, a sign that there were people here. We went towards the balcony and looked through the window, seeing a pair of blond twins, a boy and a girl, sitting on a sofa, discussing something.
We decided to leave them alone; we had no reason to talk to them, or scare them, considering I was still here. So we continued walking through the forest, following a trail of breadcrumbs, which revealed to me the children's identity, Hansel and Gretel, but where was the witch?
Anyway, the path was even easier than in the sewer, and we had many items to collect. The mutant fairies and flowers were too weak for us, and the funny thought that I had started a game in the final area and was heading towards the initial one crossed my mind.
We found a talking flower on the path, which gave me an anti-fairy spray and said it would make more flaks for me if I brought it souls. The price was absurd compared to how little I had, but I kept its location marked in a diary for a later visit.
Apart from that, nothing interesting happened. We found a magic ring in a tomb after Jeanne nearly ripped my ear off with a disapproving tug, we felled a tree to create a shortcut over a river, opened another treasure chest, and headed south, spotting a statue in the distance.
We followed a path to the right, crossing a small clearing illuminated by sunlight filtering through the foliage, and in its center was a small flying creature, a fairy with green hair, eyes, and clothes, humming a song.
Our approach caught her attention, and she turned to face us. Her posture froze like a statue, then her eyes blinked rapidly, once, twice, three times, countless times until she rubbed them in disbelief.
Then, to both our surprise, the little creature's face contorted into an inhuman grimace, so impossibly distorted and full of rage that it shouldn't fit on her face.
"WHERE IS HE?!"
We looked at each other, not understanding what she wanted.
"Who arrre you talking about?"
"DON'T PLAY DUMB! WHERE IS HE?! AND YOU, YOU ARMORED BRAT, HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?! THIS SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED, THE STORY STARTED TOO EARLY!"
"Can you please calm down? You're being rude!"
"SILENCE! I WILL ASK ONE MORE TIME, WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS GRIMM?! IF YOU DON'T ANSWER I WILL RIP OFF YOUR ARMS AND LEGS AND…"
Then she launched into a long tangent of the various ways she would torture us, ranging from physical to mental forms, to the point where it stopped being worrying and became edgy. Honestly, I felt a certain curiosity, wanting to know how far she could go, but I soon lost my patience, tired of her ramblings.
I closed the distance with a teleport, and she was still talking. I closed my hand around her, pulling her from her delusions, and opened my mouth, watching her pale as I closed my teeth around her head.
SNAP!
I pulled my hand in the opposite direction, decapitating her like a piece of gum, chewing her skull until it became a paste. Turning to Jeanne, I noticed she was as white as a ghost, mouth agape and eyes wide, pointing a trembling finger at me.
"What? You want sssome?"
I offered her the fairy's headless body, still gushing blood.
"BLEERGH!"
I couldn't help but cringe in disgust when she vomited on the floor. In the end I shrugged; there was more left for me. However, a question crossed my mind as I thought about what the fairy had said.
Where is Grimm?
-The New Member of the Reunio 3-
The rats revealed that the children were alright, but confused, still waiting in the warehouse, trying to decide their next move.
I nodded in satisfaction as I stormed into a camping supply store, trying to look as normal as possible, yet prepared for combat, since my battle clothes and my black coat disguise would only cause problems in this situation.
I settled for a pair of gray military pants full of pockets, which, due to the animalistic features of the people, had a hole for my stinger, black boots and gloves, sunglasses, a dark blue tactical shirt with a black jacket over it, and a gray cap that I placed between my horns.
They also had modern crossbows here; I found it strange that no one had firearms amidst so much chaos, but the option of ranged combat without involving magic was welcome.
I grabbed the largest one I could find, locked behind a glass case, probably bulletproof, but not ghost rat-proof. It was an expensive monstrosity with a scope and all sorts of mechanisms I couldn't explain, but one thing I was sure of: this thing was powered by cartridges full of darts.
I made sure to fill my pockets and backpack with them, firing a few shots against the wall after some testing to figure out how it worked. In the end, I determined that it could fire in three different modes: single shot, bursts, and full auto like a 21st-century army weapon, but a crossbow for some reason.
With that done, I made my way to the warehouse, preparing to meet the people I saved, my accent and mouth being the only problems I couldn't solve.
Taking a deep breath, I walked through a side entrance of the warehouse, greeting those present.
"Hello!"
The reaction was immediate and expected; the children retreated in the opposite direction, screaming while using whatever they could find as improvised weapons.
"Who the hell are you?!"
A girl with brown hair and a red streak demanded, a mixture of anger and fear, pointing an iron bar at me.
"My name isss Mi… Michel, and I'm the one responsible for helping you. I believe you remember the messsage on the loudspeaker, the ratsss, and the porrrtal."
Agitated whispers followed, basically reviewing what had happened and asking if I was responsible.
The girl with the red streak turned to her companions: a blonde with short hair, one with green hair tied in a long braid, one with long, loose silver hair, and the last with short black hair.
Zima, Gummy, Istina, Rosa, and Leto, respectively, were their names after introducing themselves.
"Nice to meet you all, now let's get strrraight to the point, does anyone here have sssomewhere to go?"
Negative answers, a bad start.
"Okay, and cell phonesss? We can call for help."
Unfortunately, the signal had been cut by the invading forces.
It was written on the children's faces that they understood the seriousness of the situation. Trapped in a collapsing city, with enemy forces destroying everything and killing people, and giant pieces of black crystal raining from the sky, crushing everything below.
Their expressions fell, replaced by a blank stare, and I could hear barely contained sobs in the distance.
I sat on a crate; to the others, I probably looked like I had given up, but in reality, I was controlling the rats, mapping the city. I discovered something surprising: this entire place was a mega-structure built on top of giant tank tracks crossing a frozen desert.
However, I had to abandon those thoughts upon noticing other details. First, the city's defenses had failed, and the masked and coat-clad people were taking the survivors prisoner, leading them to a kind of makeshift camp.
Second, those people led by the rabbit girl were still in the outskirts, far from the city in a sort of mobile camp with other aircraft and armored vehicles, but not impossible to reach.
"Wait herrre, I'll be rrright back."
"What are you…"
I never heard what Zima had to say, as I had teleported away. What I did next was a collaborative effort, conjuring Flock of Crows and summoning the rats.
There was no shortage of blood in the city, so I had no trouble filling some vials and giving them to a group of crows to carry.
The other group carried the rats, so both headed towards the camp. After that, I teleported repeatedly in a straight line, crossing the city until I reached its edge, which was miles above the ground.
A deadly fall that I ignored as I teleported down to the ground, making a straight line again.
I observed the world through the rats' eyes, ordering the crows to drop the vials of blood in the center of the camp and the rodents a few seconds later.
I laughed at the surprise of those present when blood and rats fell from the sky, drawing a ritual circle with the red liquid.
"Hello!"
I emerged from the center of the gathering crowd, waving before conjuring Blood Portal, disappearing into the red circle that opened and returning to the warehouse.
"Attention childrrren, go through the porrrtal to get out of the city!"
There was hesitation, just like the first time, but Zima served as leader again, being the first to cross.
There were agitated voices from the other side, then her head appeared, calling the others. And like an uncontrolled frenzy, the children crossed the portal.
"Hey, aren't you coming?"
Gummy asked, being the last to cross.
"No, I ssstill have thingsss to take care of."
With a shove, I threw her to the other side of the portal and stomped on the ground, cracking the concrete and breaking the circle, dissipating the spell.
Finally, I donned my black coat disguise and headed towards the camp inside the city, hoping to be able to do something for the prisoners.
-Fear, Hunger, and Cosmic Horrors… In a Generic Isekai-
"Greetings heroes, I believe you must be wondering why you were summoned here. Our world is in danger due to the forces of the demon king and…"
I nodded slowly at each word spoken by the obvious goddess on the other side of the luxurious room with bright magic circles drawn on the floor.
She was beautiful and extremely exaggerated in proportion, breasts larger than her head, a thin waist, wide hips and thick thighs, an almost transparent white outfit that barely covered the important parts, white hair and golden eyes, angel wings and a halo above her head.
It's not that I was complaining about the eye candy, but there was a fine line between good fanservice and exaggerated sexual appeal to keep the audience engaged with a bad story.
And judging by the "script," I was in one without any kind of innovation.
The Japanese high school students around me seemed more impressed, with open mouths and admiring looks. The boys were typical background characters, normal build, normal faces, and normal hair, while the girls looked like supermodels in short skirts and shirts whose buttons were about to explode trying to contain the pair of mountains underneath.
No school in the real world would approve of such attire, not to mention, of course, that they were all probably under eighteen years old.
Then the story continued, with the goddess continuing her tale and saying that everyone's stats would be evaluated.
RPG mechanics? How original! A little more and my sarcasm would become physical.
I was more interested in the fact that my mutations had disappeared and I had regained my natural beauty, although I still wore my dungeon clothes and equipment. I'll only accept this as a good thing if my strength hasn't been reduced.
One of the goddess's assistants, a hooded woman with a pair of mountains that prevented her cloak from covering her entire body, approached with a crystal ball, essentially activating the status system and screen for each hero present.
Eventually, it was my turn. I received strange glances along the way, as I was the only one different from the group, but I ignored them, touching the crystal ball and realizing how low my numbers were compared to the others.
At that moment, I made another assumption: this world functioned with JMMORPG logic, meaning levels and stats composed of several nines in a row, with damage and HP in the millions.
That didn't change the fact that my stats weren't adapted to this world, so I don't know if I'm strong or weak compared to others.
The goddess's gentle smile trembled for a second, and her previously closed eyes opened slightly, revealing a piercing gaze.
I shrugged, which seemed to irritate her, and walked away, ignoring the whispers directed at me. Despite covering their mouths and trying to speak softly, I could clearly hear how they mocked me.
Then it was the generic Kirito's turn to take the test, and if my stats were low, his were almost nonexistent, but instead of accepting it and remaining silent, he decided to demand to know why he was so weak.
Hmm… He'll probably get a broken skill and secretly reveal his strength, crushing those who rejected him, making them regret it while he assembles a harem of girls with colored hair.
I suppose that's the moment when all the people who were normal and friendly until yesterday become comically evil and start hating us for no reason at all.
And so it happened, we were attacked by shouts that we were too weak, that we should give up and die, and things like that. Which would be considered a crime in some places in the real world.
I leaned my arm against the wall and my head in my hand, twirling my free hand as they spoke, signaling for them to finish quickly. Meanwhile, generic Kirito fell to his knees, clutching his head, screaming in despair.
"I'm sorry, but you're too weak to be heroes."
The goddess raised her hand and a portal opened behind each of us, pulling us in with an force impossible to resist.
Daughter of a bitch!
So, I found myself falling through a tunnel of light, but instead of panicking, I wondered what the unnecessarily long title of this Isekai could be.
END OF CHAPTER