[A/N: Boys and girls I am back! Now with more experience in SMT.]
Sora
This was bad.
Not only were the bosses way stronger than I had anticipated, but they also came in pairs. Under normal circumstances, this would be alright, but as previously stated, the party and I were nowhere near strong enough to face them as we are right now.
Perhaps Zizzy could pull us to victory, but that would put the rest of us in critical condition… Decisions, decisions.
'Trials commencing/ Combat protocols: initiated/Awaiting tactical support/Attacking recommendations: physical, mind, defense ' The calculating voice of Simurgh echoed in my mind, alerting me to my main job. Letting my instincts guide me, I supplied a steady stream of energy straight into everyone, though giving proportionally more to the giant woman, as she would be my main damage dealer.
"Yuko, I need as much electricity as you possibly can on the stingray. Chiaki, focus on attacking the star, your strikes should pass through his defense. And the most important of all, Luxinia and Pixie. Under any circumstance, your main priority is to heal the party. If either one of you falls, this plan might fall into shambles. And everyone else, protect them if they are put into harm's way." I barked out, as each of them nodded with varying levels of surprise.
"Hey punks! I've never seen you around, and I don't like his face! You want to get by without giving these women as a tribute to me, the almighty Forneus? I already let one human disrespect me, and there's no way I'm letting you do that when I've got Decabro with me! Impossible! I'll butcher you with these fins, take the women as payment for your ignorance." The first stated, hovering above us like a God to the masses.
"HeHhe. Bro, you should've told me we were getting some bitches today, I could have invited more people to the party, even that rat bastard Ose." The star from above chipped in with a perverse eye-smile.
"Damn, you're right bro. We co…." Their conversation was muffled by everyone present as their threat gave
Changing a ball of electricity in front of her, Yuko fully concentrated on it, an ethereal blue mist encasing her body. The loud crackling of thunder rage on inside the hospital lobby signaled to the two Goetia demons of the same conclusion I had come up with.
This was not going to be an easy battle, that's for sure.
With what looked to be a wild smirk on the overgrown animal's face, both Forneus and Decarabia's bodies flashed with red light before extinguishing. This development would prove to either strengthen me or break the false narrative that this world was just a simple video game. Either way, one group was going to fall, and it wasn't going to be mine.
Speeding around the room, Forneus charged up a ramming attack, speeding up faster and faster with each lap. Meanwhile, the star with an eye prepared something far more sinister-looking. Several white balls appeared surrounding us from all directions. Diverting all enhancements over to defense, I was just barely able to mitigate the harm done.
Spikes poked outward, detonating upon contact with our skin. A slight tingling sensation accompanied it as it left. Some of us looked a bit worse for wear, but not seriously injured.
Moving my attention, the ball of plasma seems to have stopped in my air, the lack of any extensions from Yuko said as much. The accumulative mass didn't seem to at all dissipate in size or brightness like it was self-sustaining somehow. It then went into random bouts of violent spasms, as if it had little care of the surroundings.
Changing the buffs back to what they were previously, the sparks on the ball grew twice their size, shocking those of us who witnessed it.
*BANG*
Raging with a mighty roar, Forneus hit me with a wild charge -that bitch-, knocking me into the far side of everyone else. Right, still need to focus more on the fight, diverting my attention will only cause trouble.
The next moment, a green light different from the red one, radiated from the bosses' bodies, as their speed increased twofold. Sukukaja, shit, they have more than one buff skill. Using the single debuff I was limited to at the moment, I opted to remove their applied speed and some. Whether that decision was better than attack is something that will stay at the back of my mind. But it's better to have a big dumb stupid target than a speedster capable of blitzing everyone. And even with Simurgh, there's nothing much she can do when they nullified her attacks.
"There! I removed their speed! Hit them with all you've got because it's time for an all-out attack!" The two demons weren't able to utter another word before the ball of plasma made contact with both of them.
Pitching in, the rest of the party followed suit, blasting, punching, and doing an overall wonderful job of denting the animal-like beasts.
To my surprise, a sparkle of small lights burst from within me, my wounds mending at a rate that would make any doctor dumbfounded. No matter how many times it occurred, the use of dia still amazed me with a child-like wonder, but now is not the time.
Using the large opportunity, I tackled into the large starfish before it could cast Tetrakarn, effectively damaging its eyesight with no way of fixing it.
"Take this you freaky eyeball!" I shouted as my body lunged forth, the attack knocking it back and damaging it just enough for its passive stance to change slightly.
As if awaiting the inevitable, my body suddenly froze up, waiting for Forneus to strike me down with a focus boosted berserk, but nothing happened. Instead, everyone had started piling in on the stingray man since it looked as if I could confront a demon with over twenty levels above me.
I stared at the massive threat in front of me, carefully watching as a mirror-like effect shimmered for the briefest of moments. Well crap, not much I can do right now. Just as this thought entered my mind, orange light emanate from its eyeball while it intently started deep into my sight.
There was no time to set up any shields, I had to rely on a dice roll to save my life.
MISS
A bright yellow window alerted me of the surprise while the spell protecting him faded, leaving him vulnerable to an attack. But with no reliable method of dealing significant damage to him, I went with the simplest route, fisticuffs. Ducking under a series of arms coming one after another, I delivered blow after blow, abusing their relatively low speed to my advantage.
To my surprise, two major enemies have been awfully silent up until now, the only other time they ever raised their voice was at our entrance. You'd think that after the fourth or fifth punch they would start mocking or belittling us for being so weak, but no, rather the opposite. Dodging another round of tentacles, I circle behind the starfish, only to find out what they were planning.
A large-scale fusion spell that would boost their overall attributes massively, something that could alter the course of battle in a time where I was the only one capable of dispelling it. Make it count Sora, everyone will get bodied if you don't.
Noticing my perceptiveness, Decarabia's eye widened in surprise before a colorless orb slowly materialized in front of it. "Another round of megido? Hey, make sure to hit me with this one." I taunted, as the creature slowly turned to face me like it had to use tank controls.
"Hm. Just you wait, human. Me and my friend will enjoy feasting on your concubine." It shot back, as the ball extended outward as if it were to-.
*BOOM!*
An almighty-powered blast shot out from him, tracking me with its movement. Through many twists, turns, and through a few walls, the beam never stopped trailing behind me like a hungry pack of dogs. I knew it wouldn't go well if that thing hit me, so I could only try my best to find a way to steer it clear of my path.
That was when I noticed the sky roof. Using the shroud, I quickly grappled up the walls of the hospital, pushing my body to outrun the death beam. Once reaching it, I punched the brittle glass windows, making an opening to the outside, where this should be easier.
Facing it head-on this time, I changed all the buffs into being more defensive as a spiked shield of black miasma coated my arms. I stared at the attack one last time before tackling the problem head-on, bursting it open like a water balloon. But the magic was going to be more troublesome than that.
It exploded like a liquid, accompanied by a super bright flash of light to counter my dark. The limbs afflicted by it seared with pain as if it ate through my body and knawed directly at my soul. This was not very good, I needed healing, but my current position did not lend me that luxury right now.
And floating from the opening, came a smug-looking Decarabia, spinning with wonder and joy to have caught his target. Bellowing out with laughter, the demon could not hold it in as tears left its eye. "ha~ We can keep playing this silly game for all of eternity and nothing would change. So why don't you just give up now? I promise I will make your death painless." He offered before entering another laughing fit.
Manifesting the death shroud, I abused its ability of entropy, using what felt like a wildfire burning through crops. Forcing that feeling around my leg, a blazing heat raptured my feet as I sent a devastating kick at the starfish's eye.
Taking a look at the damage, I couldn't help but smirk, admiring my handiwork only to lash out in pain as my body felt the ramifications of what I had done. My leg- I couldn't even call it that anymore- was gone. Everything disappearing in a snap. A blood-gushing stump that ended right at the knee.
I tried to take a breath only for it to come out shaky and panicked. My heart sped up as if to taunt me, even more blood spraying out like a loose geyser. I didn't even take the time to stare back at the surprisingly powerful son of a bitch, as my attention was sent straight towards my phone, pulling it out and swiping into the company section.
Scrolling through the mountains of text, I eventually got to find what I was looking for: my spare body defense. Pressing it a prompt popped up as if I wasn't already in dire need of fixing it.
"Yes! Hurry up already why don't you!" I frantically complained, tapping "yes" as my body was overcome by a bright beam of light.
The process didn't take long, but the action itself was amazing. There I was, now standing with both of my legs back, with one less emergency heal. Turning my head back to the demon in front of me, I watched as it slowly got back up, even more, banged up than it was previously.
Each of its points was quivering with every passing second. Its levitation was malfunctioning, fluctuation up and down repeatedly with no pause. Keeping track of the sight made me feel dizzy, like some sort of VR game. Still, the boss was still going strong, peeking at me through its singular eye with hatred. Fixing its posture, I was able to see what kind of damage I caused. A huge part of its frontal area was caved in, most of it leaning towards the left side.
It, understandably, was severely pissed off. In response to this, he charged up a massive version of the megido beam that was chasing me earlier. Shit. This won't turn out well. Even comparing one previous to this, it still did a number on me. And the range for this one would only grow with its power, I had to interrupt him, or else we were doomed.
Just as I thought this, a red-cloaked figure leaped into action, arriving into the fight with style. This… was not Dante. "Look to be in quite the pickle, bud. Wouldn't mind if I steal your kill, right?" The Dante impersonator asked as if Decarabia's presence didn't hinder the conversation.
"Ah, sure, I guess." I hesitated, unsure of whether this copy was out to kill me or the encounter was simply happenstance.
"Great, you owe me a pizza for this by the way." She added before entering a pose and tanking a full megido blast without flinching. Hold on.
Analyze
A stat sheet appeared within my field of view immediately, giving me numbers and a corresponding feat to give it context. But something was off about this. A tiny portion of text that could be considered downright cheating.
Void: All
Something tick in my head, even if the phenomenon lasted for a mere second, it was enough to make my head ache. With that one word, she could take some of the strongest attacks this world had to offer without so much as a scratch, the only thing that could possibly take the cake would be the pierce skills from the fourth game. Though I only heard of them in passing.
After doing Patrick's cousin dirty with that move, the white-haired woman then plunged her sword straight into the demon's eye, killing him in one fell swoop. All that progress only for it to be downplayed by a fake, this is just sad. "So, who are you supposed to be? I know it may be the apocalypse, but not many people can survive reality caving in on itself. Kinda begs the question, are you a monster wearing human flesh? Or a time-gated sociopath who had to repeat everything up infinitely?" I aired my thoughts out like a dirty mattress for all to see, except it had us both thinking of an answer.
"Oh why so serious? We just recently met and you are already asking such personal questions. At least ask me out for dinner first." The copycat jested, showing off a wide grin as she propped the sword on her shoulder.
An idea came to mind as those specific words entered my ears. "So you're telling me, that I just have to take you out for pizza for you to answer any inquiry that decides to rear its ugly head?" A hint of child-like excitement following what I said.
"Can't reveal trade secrets though. Wait, I almost forgot, could you maybe add some sushi on that list, or maybe some of the local delicacies. It's only right after vacationing in Japan after all." She added. Because of course, she had to be eerily close to Dante, backstory has to match up after all.
"Whatever, let's help out my friends first before all of that. Things might have gone sideways on their end." I declared, sprouting a tentacle from my hand to latch onto the inside to let me down while female Dante simply jumped from the roof.
The battle looked to be going well. Though they lacked the debuffs to cripple Forneus' offense and defense, Simurgh's future sight and telekinetic barriers block most of his attacks before they could get hit. So with the combined power of magic, almighty physical strikes, and a large-scale version of rakunda on my part, they were able to swiftly take it down.
"Zio! Zio! Zio!" Yuko muttered to herself, her mind completely blank from exhaustion.
"Hey, kid, these friends of yours… You sure they ain't got a couple of screws loose?" The walking gender-bend asked.
"Um, miss? Who are you? Better yet, how are you still alive? I know the hospital may be a large area and there could have been a portion that we didn't visit, but, where could you have been possibly kept for you to live through the conception." Chiaki decided to ask the question on everyone's slowly deteriorating mind, who was the mysterious savior.
"Oh right, silly of me to forget. I am Dante, resident demon hunter for the Devil May Cry Agency. I was hired on a mission to find a certain someone, though your little friend here owes me some stuff after saving him so I will be tagging along for a bit if you don't mind." She introduced herself to our crew, with the others having varied reactions based on her introduction.
To my surprise though, Luxinia was the most expressive out of the bunch, holding a face that crept with fear upon hearing the name. Save to say that the spawn of Sparda was on record scratch's list of people to look out for.
"Is there something or wrong with my face or am I just that beautiful?" Dante joked, her tone half-serious.
Quick Sora, before a fight breaks out. "No, none at all. Everyone just seems to be tired from the fighting, that's it. Let me just collect the content of the item box over there, and I'll transport you to our base. There, I can prepare any dish that you so desire."
"Fine, fine. But it better be the best damn food if you're making go through there." I quickly nodded to her words while opening up a portal to the manor.
After she finished walking in, Pixie was the first to speak up. "What was that about? She looks so cool! Love her style."
'Entity: Dante.../ Error has been found…/ Timeline changing…/ New variable added…/Major rift in space-time has been acknowledged.' Zizzy notified us, a deep feeling of loss rippling through my body as my mind tried to comprehend those words.
Someone or something was messing with the world, it could be me, or any number of ROB that decides to take interest in the world. Shit. Looks like my vacation plans did have to be cut short after all.
Putting aside those details though, I hovered my hand over the collection of ever-changing squares hovering over the floor. It split in half then move away from the other half, revealing a floating magatama inside. "Alright, in with everyone else. We can continue later once all of you are less tired. And when you are properly rested, there will be a hot meal waiting for you in the dining room. Simurgh, if you could please send the map to their heads, that would be nice." I ordered, to which they followed like loyal subjects, with pixie being a sort of outlier since I haven't marked her with the should yet.
Looks like I'll have to spend a little bit more on this next task.
Purchase Made: Faerie Feast: Master Chef (-10 Credits)