"It really is wonderful, isn't it, Little Nine-Tails?"
Sitting on the rooftop, Artoria held the fluffy Little Nine-Tails, watching Doctor Doom being ganged up on from a bystander's perspective. She suddenly felt the villain was a bit pitiful. No matter how powerful a villain is, when they face a group of protagonists raiding a boss, it's the same logic as Ultraman fighting a Little Monster. If one Ultraman can't win, a whole bunch of them will beat you to Death. These days, one-on-one duels are outdated; ganging up is the way to go.
Even Naruto used Shadow Clones and his eternal Rasengan to defeat all his enemies; it all came down to ganging-up tactics. Speaking of which, I have to mention the Akatsuki Organization. You guys could have played the ganging-up game too, but you just had to go one by one to deliver your heads, feeding Naruto until he was fat with power. Later on, he even got the gear set gifted by the Sage of Six Paths—who could possibly beat that?
"If I could convert all the Servants from FGO, wouldn't I be able to play the human-wave tactic?"
Imagine having three Great Heroes use Stella consecutively; just thinking about that scene felt amazing. Regardless of how wild Artoria's imagination ran, the fight below was still heated. However, it looked like Victor was currently at a stalemate with the reinforced team of four, neither side able to gain the upper hand.
"Saturday, how is the experiment recording going?"
Stroking Little Nine-Tails' cute little head, Artoria spoke into her earpiece. She needed to know if the records of Ben's transformation into the rock man had been fully captured. If this went well, she might be able to form a super-powered unit to help her handle things she didn't want to do personally.
"The experimental data has been recorded. The probability of reproducing the technology is estimated at seventy percent."
Saturday's synthesized female voice came through the earpiece. According to her calculations, the possibility of complete reproduction was seventy percent. The other thirty percent failure rate could be ignored because the most critical part of this technology was the energy source. As long as the energy was in place and the quality of the test subjects was resolved, the rest wouldn't be a big issue.
"Alright! The play is coming to an end."
Holding the little fox, Artoria stood up from the side of the building wall and turned to start walking back. After all, things here had already ended; even if Doctor Doom could be considered a mini-boss, Artoria currently had no motivation. She had now accepted the fact that she had bad luck; after all, even with a change of identity, it seemed the 'African' aura hidden within her soul could still make her a person from Africa.
"What a magnificent exit!"
Even after jumping quite far away, Artoria could still hear Victor's unwilling roar of rage. But then her expression turned solemn; she sensed a powerful magical force suddenly appear right where Victor had been. Artoria quickly returned to the original spot. The ground had melted due to high temperatures, and a bronze humanoid statue stood quietly in the center of the molten area. The statue's face was pained and hideous. The four guys were slumped on the ground, exhausted; Susan was so tired that her nose was even bleeding.
"Awakening magic at such a critical moment to save your own life—you truly deserve the title of genius, Victor Von Doom. I almost forgot you also have the bloodline of a Witch."
While everyone else was cheering, Artoria was stunned. She could feel the magic of that 'bronze statue' slowly expanding bit by bit. In other words, Victor wasn't dead. People were cheering a bit too early. As expected, a boss like this couldn't possibly die so soon; only then would it be interesting!
"Awoo woo woo~ woo!"
Little Nine-Tails seemed to sense something; it barked in Victor's direction in a milky voice, as if the aura on Victor's body had triggered its beastly instincts, sensing an unusual threat. It seemed Victor had gained a blessing in disguise this time, obtaining an extraordinary power. Artoria gently stroked the Little guy's head. Under Artoria's comforting, Nine-Tails soon quieted down, though its eyes remained fixed on Victor's direction.
"Now the mini-boss is going to become a big boss! I wonder if I can get some better loot after defeating him."
Even if she was interested in the prospect of defeating a future big boss, Artoria, who hadn't gotten any good drops lately, no longer had any expectations for her 'black hand.' She might as well quietly be a chieftain on the African savannah! She should stop thinking about'smuggling' her way into becoming a 'European'; that dream was a bit unrealistic no matter how she thought about it.
"It's impossible to pull a five-star gold card in this life. This crappy game doesn't have SSRs at all. Is it that girls aren't fragrant enough, or that breasts aren't soft enough, that I actually thought I would turn 'white'?"
Holding Nine-Tails up with both hands, she intimately rubbed against its soft belly. Only this soft little tummy could heal her wounded soul. Maintaining a mindset healed by Nine-Tails, Artoria dawdled her way back home. Just as the Fantastic Four's first battle ended, they might face the danger of losing a member. Because Susan belonged to Artoria, the Fantastic Four could never be complete in this lifetime; the title 'Fantastic Three' might just fall upon their heads.
"Susan, join our team! We need you."
After the big battle, Reed rested for a moment. Encouraged by Ben, he summoned his courage and spoke to Susan, inviting her to join their team. Even Johnny didn't say anything; in fact, he still hoped his sister would join them so he could go around saying they were a team no weaker than the Avengers.
"While what you say is very sincere, I'm sorry, Reed, I don't plan on joining you. I already have my own group and don't wish to join any other team."
Looking at Reed's gaze full of sincerity and love, Susan sighed and rejected Reed's invitation. She had already followed the goddess of her heart, Miss Artoria, and it was impossible for her to go play at heroism with a bunch of rough men. You guys go play on your own! I don't want to wear tight clothes every day and feel like I'm being watched. This time she had already endured the shame because she had to save her brother.
"I'm sorry, Reed. You're a good person, but we're not right for each other."
About to turn and leave, Susan suddenly thought of something. She turned back and spoke to Reed, who thought she had changed her mind. After speaking, she left without looking back, leaving not a speck of dust behind.
"Crack! Crack!"
"Did something break? Did you hear that, Ben?"
"Of course I heard it. That's the sound of a young man's heart cracking."
As if hearing the sound of glass shattering, Johnny asked Ben. But Ben looked on meaningfully at Reed, who stood there motionless with his right hand still raised as if to hold someone back, and spoke to Johnny with a sigh.
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