Ch.169Frill (5)

“Wake up!! You idiot!!”

I used a slightly harsh approach to restore Sasith’s mental state.

“Guhack!!”

Sasith immediately rolled on the ground. I felt a bit guilty, but… it couldn’t be helped.

“What are you going to do if you panic?! You’re the leader!!”

I berated Sasith.

“Leader…!”

Sasith responded to those words.

“Before being a leader! You’re also a man!! The woman you love is in danger!!! What do you want to do? Tell me straight!”

I shouted.

“I…..”

Sasith fell silent at my words.

“I’ll save Pril. Obviously!”

Finally, Sasith seemed to become a bit more proactive. Yes. That’s how it should be.

“Then give us orders. Leader. We’ll follow you.”

That’s what I said.

“But… you’ll all be in danger.”

Sasith said, looking at our group.

“We’re comrades. Both Pril and you. No one here is going to back out.”

That’s what I told him.

“That’s right. I’m with Shota anyway. Shota will definitely protect me.”

Umi nodded with firm conviction.

“Putting Pril aside… I don’t like those guys doing whatever they want.”

Taiga clicked his tongue as he spoke.

“Strong enemies!!! I can get stronger!!”

Tina seemed excited about the prospect of a good fight.

“Then!!! Let’s all go save Pril!! And take down anyone who gets in our way!”

Sasith shouted loudly.

“Ooooh!!!! That’s right!!”

We all cheered.

At that moment, Sasith stared at me.

“But… where did those guys go?”

Sasith asked.

“Ah. Good question.”

I didn’t know either.

There was no scenario in the game where players directly went to the shadow world. Naturally, I wouldn’t know something that wasn’t in the game’s settings.

“………..”

Suddenly, my enthusiasm died down. Sasith also seemed to know it was embarrassing, as his face turned red.

That’s when it happened.

“My, you seem to be in a predicament.”

A familiar face appeared.

It was Blue Beard and Green Beard. And… Violet was there too.

“To think you’d pick a fight with Pink Beard’s faction…”

Green Beard clicked his tongue as he spoke.

“Hmph. Our agent is worth his price. Those guys need to disappear for the future of the multiverse anyway. They’re perfect to use as hunting dogs.”

Blue Beard said.

“Hmph. Not hunting dogs, but mad dogs.”

Violet looked at me with strangely hostile eyes.

Being called a mad dog… makes me want to act even more like one?

But I decided to hold back for now.

“Charging into the shadow world. How spirited. But it seems you’re troubled because you don’t know how to get there.”

Blue Beard said.

“I’ll help you.”

Blue Beard offered.

“Ooooh!!”

I immediately cheered.

“Like Pink Beard… our clan has the ability to open rifts in the multiverse. Using that, getting to their base is no trouble at all.”

Blue Beard explained.

In other words, he’s offering to open a portal for us.

“But that’s the enemy’s stronghold. It will be a difficult battle. You might die. You mortals die so easily after all.”

Blue Beard said, staring directly at me.

“I’m prepared.”

Sasith replied.

“Hmph. Is that so? Then I’ll open it. Green Beard.”

Blue Beard turned to Green Beard.

He’s not doing it himself? He’s really making Green Beard do all the work. That’s too much.

“Sigh… I’ll open it then.”

Green Beard, half-resigned, grabbed at the air.

“Urgggggh!!!”

Green Beard strained with all his might, blood vessels bulging on his face.

Crrrrrrrack-!!

And truly, something like a rift appeared in the empty space.

“Hurry… go in!! It’s a gate leading to Pink Beard’s clone factory!!”

Green Beard said, his whole body trembling. That must be quite difficult.

“Okay!! Let’s go!! Everyone!”

I immediately drew my sword and rushed into the gate. We all entered the gate.

Rumble-!!

As soon as Tina, who was last in line, passed through the gate, the rift closed without mercy.

———

We opened our eyes in a new place.

“Whoa… this is definitely not Earth.”

It was filled with unfamiliar flora and fauna. There were even two suns in the sky.

“It seems… barren.”

Umi remarked.

“Indeed.”

There was none of Earth’s bustling atmosphere. Half-ruined buildings were scattered here and there, and the rest was all wasteland. There was hardly any human presence.

“It doesn’t seem more advanced than Earth.”

Tina said.

“But if they can travel to other universes, aren’t they really developed?”

Umi asked.

“That’s it. Their technological development path is different.”

I made a rough guess.

They’ve only developed technology for plundering other planets or dimensions, while other technologies haven’t advanced at all. That’s why they resort to plundering.

Anyway, there was a massive building in the center of the wasteland. It was the only structure that smelled of human habitation, like a skyscraper.

On top of the building was a giant sculpture of six spheres connected together.

On the massive bridge leading to the building’s entrance, the guys who kidnapped Pril were walking. Pril was just following them, bound.

“Pril…!!”

Sasith’s expression immediately hardened.

“Let’s follow them.”

I nodded.

“Yeah!”

We immediately headed toward the building.

Just before the massive doors of the building closed, I drew my sword.

“Hup!!!”

And immediately unleashed a sword strike.

Swoosh-!!! Clang-!!

With that, the metal doors that were about to close were sliced through.

Crash!!!

The doors shattered and scattered.

“……….!!”

Only then did they seem to notice us.

“Hey. You shouldn’t close the door when guests are coming.”

I said with a smile.

“To think they’d follow us…”

Slave clicked his tongue and muttered.

“It must be Blue Beard’s group… those guerrillas must have helped them. We should have eliminated them earlier.”

The guy named Giovanni seemed to have quickly grasped what had happened. As expected of someone bearing the name Giovanni, he was smart.

“You guys… why did you follow me..!!”

Pril cried out with a tearful face.

“How could we not follow you!!!!”

Sasith shouted loudly.

“These guys are dangerous!! Even you will die!!! I sacrificed myself for you!! Why can’t you understand that!!”

Pril burst into tears as she shouted.

“Shut up!!!!!”

I yelled at Pril at the top of my lungs.

“S-Spiky Head!! What are you saying!!”

Pril seemed surprised by my outburst.

“Shota. If you interrupt the conversation…”

Sasith tried to stop me.

No. These two are being too indirect. Why drag out the conversation?

“Do you want to live? Or do you want to die here? Choose one!!! Speak your true feelings!! You idiot!!!”

I went straight to the point.

Damn… I couldn’t stand it as someone from the three-line summary generation. Subtle emotional lines? Psychological descriptions? Who cares about that stuff. Just clash with your true feelings. Just do it.

“I-I want to live!!!! Of course I do!!!! I… I want to marry Sasith!!! And live happily ever after on Earth!!!”

Pril immediately spoke her true feelings. Good, she’s obedient.

“………”

Sasith’s expression became serious after hearing her honest feelings.

“Foolish ones!!!! You’ve made enemies of forces you shouldn’t have!!!”

At that moment, Slave shouted loudly, pointing his finger to the sky.

What he pointed at was just one thing: the sculpture on top of the building. It was a large sculpture of six planets strung together.

“That sculpture!!! It commemorates our Lord Pink Beard’s achievements!!! Six multiverses with intelligent life are already under our control!!! This is not a scale that small fry like you can handle!!!!! Do you think you can make enemies of six galaxies and still survive?! Huh?!!!”

Slave shouted with maniacal laughter.

Indeed, if they could devastate six worlds, they must be strong. However… it seemed a fire had already been lit in our leader’s heart.

“Shota.”

Sasith called me.

“Yeah. What is it, leader?”

I smiled as I looked at Sasith.

“Destroy that sculpture.”

Sasith said.

“Okay!! Come out!! Pinocchio!!”

I immediately called for Pinocchio.

“M-Master?”

Pinocchio had an anxious expression.

Thud-!!!

I immediately grabbed Pinocchio’s leg.

“Heave-ho!!!”

After that, I threw Pinocchio with an underhand throw.

“M-Master!!! That’s really danger—Aaaaargh!!!!”

Boom!!

Pinocchio’s body hit the center of the sculpture directly.

Crumble-!!!!!! Crack-!!!!

With that, the sculpture collapsed. That’s it.

“………..!!!”

Slave’s expression froze.

“Y-You’ve lost your minds!!!!! You’ll all die here!!!! Miserably!!! Prepare yourselves!!!!!”

Slave shouted with bloodshot eyes.

However, that threat didn’t work on Sasith. The same went for us.

“That’s what we want!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Sasith shouted loudly.

“…..Sasith.”

Tears welled up in Pril’s eyes.

“I will definitely come to save you.”

Sasith said that, then drew his sword.

“Let’s go!!!!!”

Sasith immediately charged forward. We all followed behind him.

“Hmph. Then come and try your best.”

Slave took out Pril’s magical core, which could be considered her true body, from his pocket.

“Well, you won’t even be able to reach me… and even if you do, a new clone will already be inhabiting this magical core. Pril’s existence will be gone.”

Slave said.

Damn… the problem was that he had the magical core. If that was the case, we had no choice. We had to settle this with speed.

“Sasith!! You go after Pril and that bastard!! We’ll hold off the rest!!”

I shouted. We needed to divide our tasks.

“Where do you think you’re going!!!”

At that moment, Giovanni jumped out to block Sasith’s path.

Whoosh-!!

Just as Giovanni was about to swing his sword, I blocked his path.

Clang-!!

The swords clashed loudly.

“Where are you going? You need to play with me.”

I raised my sword.

“Tch.”

Giovanni clicked his tongue.

“My, what troublemakers.”

A clone in the form of a seductive beauty tried to follow, but Umi blocked her path.

“Hey. I’m your opponent.”

Taiga immediately blocked the path of a man with a lizard on his shoulder.

“Let’s see how we do, those of us left behind.”

Tina blocked the muscular woman.

Okay. We just needed to mark them one-on-one.

“…Thank you all!!!”

Sasith nodded to us, then chased after Slave who had gone far ahead.

Yeah. Do your best, leader. I saw Sasith off with my eyes.

And so, the battle began.