Ethox's Journal, Entry #9:
Now that we have our Headquarters, things are a whole lot easier. We have a place to live, plan out next moves, and even take on jobs and requests. Things have been pretty good for us.
Still, as much as I enjoy this adventurer life, I know I can't enjoy it forever. With the Demon Lord now on Ehto's side, it's only a matter of time until he sends someone after me. And if Theo finds out where I am… well, it might be the same.
Honestly, despite how much I've talked about having Kazuma join my group, I'm a little hesitant to get him involved. He's certainly not as powerful as Seiya, not by a long shot. I really don't want to see him hurt. Then again… if he is one of the ten, neither side might give him a choice.
Would it be safer for Kazuma to join my team? Or should I find a way to get him the Mythos Hearts? Yeah, we're supposed to be fighting, but at least there he'd have a whole guild of strong people protecting him. I just don't know what to do...
Ethox sighed as he closed his journal and looked around the room. Kazuma was lying on the couch, facing the fireplace, Megumin and Darkness were engaging in a game of chess, which Mirror Match and Ristarte were spectating, Seiya was exercising in front of the fireplace, and Ultra was on his phone, typing out a text.
"(So this is our team, huh?)" Ethox wondered. "(...Will we actually stand a chance if Theo or Ehto attack us?)"
Ethox felt a little troubled. After so many days spending time in Axel, he began to see the problems at hand of who was on his team.
Seiya was by far the strongest member of the team with his powerful skills, but his cautiousness always seems to make him prepare for every battle. Megumin could only use one spell a day, and it was very dangerous yet powerful, and Darkness, while a great tank, was unable to land a hit with her sword. Ristarte wasn't a fighter at all, Aqua, while powerful in her own right, didn't have the personality of a helpful party member. Mirror Match, Ultra, and Ethox were strong in their own right, but against people like Theo? They wouldn't last long.
FInally, Kazuma had a few good skills and was a good on the fly planner when he put his mind to it. But… he was leagues below the new recruits of Mythos Hearts. If they fought…
The Nobody shook the thought out of his head, unable to dwell on it for long. "(No. He wouldn't kill them, not all of them… right? Ehto… he definitely would. Am I… asking these people to follow me to death?)"
"...Hello? Earth to Ethox!" Ristarte's voice suddenly snapped Ethox out of it.
"Are you okay, man? You've been staring out into space for a while." Ultraman said.
"Oh, uh… I'm fine. It's nothing." Ethox said quickly. "Nothing at all…"
Meanwhile, outside…
"So this is where they're living…" a mysterious voice said.
"This is the place we were shown in the pictures, yes." another voice said. "Alright, my family, you all know the plan?"
"Indeed. We go in and take out the Cautious Hero first. Then we kill the gods, wipe out everyone else except for the Nobody. We deliver him to the contractor, and get paid." a third voice rattled off.
"You sure we're up for this?" a fourth voice asked. "I get the feeling that these people are well above our usual paygrade."
"Not to worry, my dear. We've planned out the composition to the note." the second voice spoke up. "Besides, we have our star with us, don't we Cerulean?"
A fifth person,the only one shown up to this point, stood stoically against a tree. His head was adorned with a pair of black headphones while his body was covered in casual clothing. On his arms, two gauntlets that looked like turntables were placed firmly below his hand. The boy simply nodded.
"Good boy." the third voice said. "My family… let the concert of death… begin!"
The Next Day….
"Where's Kazuma today?" Ethox asked.
"He's in town. Probably hanging around today." Ultraman said.
"Oh." Ethox nodded, a brief silence hanging over him before he added, "Is he alone?"
"Nah, I think Seiya went with him. Said he wanted to look at some new skills to learn." Ultra said. "You seem a bit on edge today, what's up?"
"It's… it's nothing." Ethox assured.
"It doesn't sound like nothing." Ultra pointed out. "C'mon, I'm here for you, man. What's on your mind?"
"...Ultra, are you scared?" Ethox asked.
"Of what?"
"Of… you know, dying." Ethox clarified. "Are you afraid of dying because you joined up with me?"
"..." Ultra was silent for a moment before he sighed. "Ethox, who isn't afraid of death every once in a while? What I'm scared of is you dying."
"Well that's what I'M scared of!" Ethox said. "That you, Match, the others… I'm scared that the other sides will kill you guys because you're with me. I… I don't want you guys to die for me."
"Hey, we can take care of ourselves." Ultra comforted. "If we can't, the others will pick up the slack for us. If any of us die, it's not because you made a mistake; it's because we chose to be there, we chose to be with you."
"I know, and Darkness and Megumin don't wanna back down." Ethox said. "But… what about Kazuma and Aqua? They didn't ask to be in this world, sleeping in stables and being chased by Giant Toads. What right do I have to ask them to… to… to die for me?! If they died because I forced them to join the group… I'd be no better than Ehto!"
"Hey, don't say that." Ultra said. "Kazuma… he may be less than heroic, but he's not the kind of person to back away from a friend in need. I'm sure he'd-"
"But I'm not!" Ethox said. "I'm not sure he would. He's… he's a former NEET from Japan who chose to come to this world because he thought it would be fun! This world has been hard, and it's only an A-Class. What if our journey takes up to a S-Class? Or somewhere worse? What if he can't handle it? What if he gets dragged into an adventure by us and… he gets killed and can't be brought back?"
"...I don't know." Ultra admitted.
"Yeah… I figured." Ethox sighed as he looked out the window. "I don't even know if Kazuma is one of the ten. For all I know, he may just be a normal kid I'm dragging into a war he's not ready for."
"Ethox, calm down." Ristarte said, joining the conversation. "You're forgetting something after spending so much time in this world."
"What?" Ethox asked.
"That we've been through an S-Class world before this." Ristarte reminded the Nobody. "As long as we're together, no matter how difficult the path is, we still go on it."
"I know, I'm not going to give up." Ethox said. "But I don't know if I can ask Kazuma and Aqua to do the same."
"Well, why don't we ask them?" Ultra said. "When Kazuma gets back, we get him and Aqua together and offer them a choice to join us or stay here. Whatever the choice is, we accept it. Simple as that."
"That's… not a bad idea." Ethox said. "Even if he's one of the ten, Mythos Hearts will come looking for him sooner or later. If he joins them, he might be safer. Either way, it'll be his choice."
"Then we'll just wait for them to get home and-" Ultra said before someone outside the mansion caught his eye. "Hey, is that a drummer?"
"What?" Ethox asked, looking outside and spotting a long-haired man on a drum set outside the window.
"I am Crimson Rhyme of the Rhyme Crime Family, and I'm here to blow a nobody and his loser group away! One two three four!" the man clicked his drumsticks together before he banged on the drums, unleashing a soundwave that shattered the windows of the mansion.
"What's going on?!" Aqua asked, barging in over the noise with Megumin, Darkness, and Mirror Match.
"It's an attack!" Ultraman yelled. "Some drummer with soundwave-enhancing drums, from the sound of it!"
"I had a feeling some bounty hunters would be after me!" Ethox said. "Wait a minute...Rhyme… that last name! Ultra, Match, I think that guy's related to Master Rapper!"
"Master Rapper's family?!" Mirror said. "That's right… his original name was Fuschia Rhyme. His whole family were a group of musical assassins; supposedly the best assassins the Idol Universe have."
"They're probably after me to take to Ehto, and kill you guys! I bet some of them are goig after Seiya and Kazuma too!" Ethox said.
"That's right, dumbasses!" Crimson Rhyme called. "Pops and big bro Cerulean are after their asses right now! That means the rest of you chumps are dealing with us!"
"Brother Crimson, language." a female voice said as a woman in a marching band outfit floated into view, balancing on a cymbal. "There are children present."
"Lady, I don't care how much Ehto is offering you guys, it's not worth it." Ultra said, fishing out a Beast Ball. "You should leave."
"Oh contraire, the money is only part of the payment." the woman said. "I am March Rhyme. Perhaps you remember our dear brother, Fuschia? I believe you worked together… at least until you left him burning on a highway."
"He's the one that abandoned us to the Yakuza!" Ultra said.
"Details are meaningless, I'm afraid." March said. "Our brother is gone now, and you left him to die. That, I believe, calls for compensation." she said, snapping her fingers as a collection of trombones, clarinets, and tubas appeared around her. "We won't ask for much, or course… only your lives."
"Get back!" Mirror warned the group before he erected a crystal wall between the assassin and the group. A few moments later, the wall exploded with a force of thousands instruments firing lasers at it, causing the group to be thrown back.
"C'mon Seiya, just a peek!" Kazuma complained as he and the Cautious Hero walked down the street. "Don't you lie to me and tell me you're not interested!"
"It's a shop run by a bunch of Succubi. Of course I'm not gonna let them take a peek in my brain." Seiya replied. "You can go in if you want. But I'm not coming in after you when they start feasting on your life force."
"Seriously, Seiya, stop being so paranoid." Kazuma said. "Wiz is cool, and she's a lich!"
"And I get she runs a shop, I even purchase items from her." Seiya said. "But I don't trust a shop run by actual demons."
"Well, fine. Who needs you anyway?" Kazuma asked. "I'm goin in there so I can have my wildest fantasies made real."
"Ah! You! Young man!" an older man's voice called out as a elder man in a tuxedo and glasses approached the two. "Forgive the interruption, but… you wouldn't happen to be Kazuma Sato and Seiya Ryuuguin, wouldn't you?"
"Drop the act." Seiya said. "Kazuma, go in the shop."
"I was gonna do that anyway." Kazuma said, going into the succubus shop.
"The act?" The older man said. "You wound me, Cautious Hero. I am not so malicious that I wouldn't make sure I had the right people. I pride myself on keeping things between me… and the target."
"Yeah, that's why I said to drop the greeting. You're an assassin." Seiya said. "I'm betting you're here to kill me and claim some kinda reward on Scarface. I had a feeling that dark Ehto guy would send someone after him."
"Quite the clever young man, aren't you?" the man chuckled. "Yes, what you say is true. I am the leader of the Rhyme Crime Family, in fact I am the father of four siblings… five formerly, as one met a hellish demise." he said, drawing his weapon of choice, a baton. "You may call me Mozart Rhyme."
"Didn't ask, don't care." Seiya said, drawing his sword as the people around them scattered. "I don't feel like dying. I'm perfectly prepared for this fight."
"Perhaps against me, young man…" Mozart said, before a sound that seemed like a combination of a saw and a turntable came out from behind the door to the succubus shop. "...but what about two of us?"
"AAAHHH! Seiya!" Kazuma yelled as he ran out of the shop's door, pursued by the man from last night, his gauntlet holding a weapon cross of a circular saw and a disc used by DJs. "This psycho is trying to murder me! I think he's with the geezer out here!"
"Yeah, thanks for telling me what I already know." Seiya said as Kazuma joined his standoff with Mozart.
"Meet my eldest son, Cerulean." Mozart said as the DJ-styled assassin got between Seiya and Mozart. "The twin of my dear, departed son, Fuschia. Now, prepare yourself Seiya, as I will conduct the symphony of your demise as my son sends you back to Japan!"
Cerulean then prepared to swing his sawblade and aimed to strike Seiya.
"So cocky. Who's the one actually leading the band again?" Seiya asked.
That's when Motzart suddenly found himself sliced across the neck. But it wasn't by Seiya….
It was by the hand of Cerulean!
"W-What?" Mozart asked in disbelief. "C-Cerulean…?"
"Rot in hell with Fuschia, you prick." an autotuned voice spoke from Cerulean's headphones as Mozart collapsed to the ground dead.
"Wait, what?" Kazuma asked in disbelief. "Okay… I'm confused."
"Hey." The assassin said to the two. "I heard you're with the Nobody. Don't call me Cerulean: name's DJ, and I want in to this team against fate."
"O-Kay…." Kazuma asked. "Seiya, what should we do?"
"I'm taking him back to the mansion. You go back in the shop and pay for the damages. Here." Seiya said, handing Kazuma a bag of Eris. "This should be enough."
"Uh… right." Kazuma said as he went back into the shop while Seiya turned back to DJ.
Later at the mansion….
DJ was taken back by Seiya to the mansion, and after a quick fight with the group against the assassins (Seiya really turned the tides), the two assassins were defeated.
"You filthy traitorous scum! Killing our own father?!" March asked as she was taken prisoner in a bundle of wire arms, supplied by Xurkitree, while Crimson was taken in to the authorities.
"Your father, not mine." DJ said. "I'm no assassin, witch. Hope you like jail."
"Well, gotta say, that was unexpected." Ultra said as Xurkitree carried March off.
"So, let me get this straight." Ethox said. "You want to join our team because you wanna make amends for how bad Master Rapper was?"
"You and the others in the Kings didn't know it at the time, but that psycho brother of mine was a murderous piece of crap." DJ said. "He didn't care about your cause, he just wanted to kill helpless people cause he got off on it."
"What a sickening man." Darkness said.
"Coming from you? It must be true." Ultra said. "Still, I don't get why you feel like you have to make amends for things he did."
"Because it was that old bastard that made him that way." DJ explained. "I was the only one he didn't brainwash into being a psycho. That's why I killed him; I'm making sure all the damage they did gets reversed. And we're not done with them yet."
"What do you mean?" Mirror Match asked.
"The youngest member of the family, Piper Rhyme, was sent on a backup plan in case we failed." DJ said. "She's using her magic flute to bring something called the Mobile Fortress Destroyer here to Axel to flatten the whole damn town, and us with it."
"The Mobile Fortress Destroyer?!" Darkness and Megumin exclaimed, horrified.
"What's wrong?" Ethox asked. "What's the Mobile Fortress Destroyer?"
"It's an extremely dangerous weapon. As the name implies, it's a walking fortress commanded by the Devil King. But somehow, this Piper has gotten control of it." Darkness said.
"Not too surprising, really." DJ said. "The flute she uses makes anything that hears it obey her. She'll have the thing squash us unless we destroy it."
"We have to warn the guild!" Ethox said. "If this Destroyer thing is heading for us, and nobody knows…"
"Destroyer Alert! Destroyer Alert!" the town's communication system blared across Axel. "This is not a drill! The Mobile Fortress Destroyer is approaching!"
"We're too late." DJ said. "She's here."
