First of all, I want to thank everybody for their patience and understanding. As I mentioned in the previous chapter, my real-life schedule and responsibilities have started to pick up again, so… the time I have each day to write fanfiction has been significantly reduced. And with less time for me to write, that meant the update schedule of Shining Sunlight had to suffer. Believe me, if I could update whenever I wanted to update I would, but at the end of the day… this is just a hobby, and responsibilities have to take priority. It's just the sad reality of life.
Second of all, I want to quickly thank all the readers who left a review since the last time I updated this story. I highly appreciate your continued support so far and hope that you will continue to support me from here on out, too.
Disclaimer: I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party nor do I, in any way, shape, or form, intend to pretend that I do.
The light slowly faded away, and what remained made Rinko feel like she couldn't breathe for a second or two.
What Rinko saw was Black Lotus standing in front of her, but it wasn't just Lotus anymore. Or, rather, it wasn't just one Lotus that was staring back at her. From each point where the light had been shining on a Lotus was now standing.
Rinko was staring down four different Black Lotuses, each of which were seemingly ready to go for the kill.
"Playtime is over," one of the Black Lotuses said as the four identical-looking avatars moved to stand next to one another. Without wasting another second, that same Lotus added in an eerily calm voice, "Now that we've shown our trick to you, it's time for the real fight to begin. Endymion, Kite-san, ready or not here we come!"
It took every last bit of Rinko's willpower and self-control to stop herself from panicking when she saw the sight in front of her. She would confidently say that she had been keeping up with Lotus' attacks before during their one-on-one fight. She knew that she still had an uphill battle trying to defeat Lotus, but she wasn't getting defeated by her partner's friend, either.
But what hope did she have now that there were four Lotuses on the battlefield?
'Wait… calm down… deep breaths…' Rinko tried to reassure herself as she inhaled and exhaled deeply. Now that the initial shock had faded, Rinko could think clearly again. And it was at this moment that she remembered a vital piece of information, 'Moon-san is a yellow-colored avatar. So three of the four Lotus-sans out there are just an illusion from one of Moon-san's skills.'
Despite knowing what caused the sight in front of her, Rinko was faced with a difficult task still. Even if she knew that this was an illusion, what could she do?
"I think you might have gone overboard with that skill of yours, Moon-san," Lotus' voice shook Rinko out of her train of thoughts and back to the battlefield. Right, even if she was surprised by the turn of events, she was still in a fight. A fight that would determine which of the two pairs could reach the quarterfinals of the tournament, "Endymion and Kite-san seem too stunned by your skill to do anything about it."
"I… apologize for zoning out for a moment there, Moon-san, Lotus-san," Rinko said immediately, finding that she could keep her voice steady, much to her surprise. After she took another deep breath, Rinko cracked her fingers and adjusted her posture, "If you would, let's continue the fight. I won't back down, Lotus-san!"
"I like your spirit," Lotus said, praising Rinko before two of the four Lotuses moved to face Rinko. Rinko, meanwhile, took another deep breath; she knew that she couldn't afford to be showing any sign of weakness now that she had said such big words. Before Rinko could mentally prepare herself more than she already had, she could hear Lotus' voice again, "Ready or not, here we go, Kite-san~."
The two Lotuses disappeared, and Rinko tensed up. Which way were they going to approach her from? The front? The sides? Above? No matter where Lotus would attack from, Rinko knew that she had to be ready.
"Not good enough!" Lotus' voice rang in Rinko's ears, and Kite's player let out a gasp of surprise. There was an area that she had neglected, and Lotus noticed this oversight from her. Rinko quickly turned around to try and rectify her mistake and did so just in time to watch Lotus lunge straight at Kite's heart, "That's one down."
What Lotus had clearly not expected was seeing the amount of damage that was dealt to Silver Kite. Or, rather, how the damage was so minuscule that it was hardly noticeable. Rinko shrugged the attack off and tried to land a slashing attack of her own, but Lotus dodged to the side.
The other Lotus then appeared to Kite's left and landed a jab in Kite's shoulder. Again, the attack made contact and it hurt Kite, but the damage inflicted was negligible. Both Lotuses jumped back and regrouped a few steps away from Rinko, putting a momentary stop to their fight. A part of Rinko wanted to press the attack, try to hurt Lotus, or at least stop Lotus from gathering their thoughts in the middle of the battle.
But before Kite could take another step, Rinko knew it was already too late.
"So that is what Moon-san was referring to… I see… it looks like I wasn't the only one who went into this fight with an ace up my sleeve," Lotus' muttered words were barely loud enough to reach Rinko's ears, but Rinko managed to get the gist of what her opponent was saying, "Time to go with plan B."
Lotus was already on the move in an instant, barraging Rinko from all sides with rapid, continuous slashes. But this time Rinko noticed something different; Lotus' strikes weren't like they were before. Rinko was unable to launch a counterattack with Lotus' attacks flooding in, but this time… this time Rinko was completely overwhelmed.
'Kite-san, hold on, please,' Rinko begged as she parried a blow intended for Kite's neck. Rinko succeeded the potentially lethal blow, but Kite's left shoulder would not be too lucky, 'If it wasn't for Kite-san being based on silver… no, Rinko, focus! Read Lotus-san's movements and try to counter it!'
Try as she might, Rinko couldn't do it. She could barely see Lotus' attacks coming, let alone have the opportunity to try and avoid getting hurt by the onslaught.
When Lotus stopped attacking Rinko several seconds later, Kite was left in a battered state. The silver-based avatar had wounds and cuts all over its body, but the benefits of being based on silver were already showing. Despite having been essentially defenseless against Lotus, Kite still held on to a surprising amount of health.
"Do it," Lotus said in a calm voice that was filled with confidence. Rinko jolted, wondering what Lotus was talking about. It would soon become clear to her that Rinko wasn't the person to whom Lotus was directing their words to. Lotus turned away from Rinko to address the intended target of their words, "I know what you are planning, Endymion. We've played together since the beginning; did you really expect I wouldn't notice?"
"Approximately two meters. That is the margin of error of Double Impact, isn't it?" Lotus asked, and Rinko's eyes widened when she finally put the pieces together. But Lotus wasn't done taunting their friend, "As long as Kite-san is within that range to me, you can't hurt me without risking hurting Kite-san. And if Kite-san is focused on avoiding taking damage from me, then they cannot focus on dodging. Therefore, Kite-san makes for a wonderful shield while you can do nothing more than watch from the sidelines."
Rinko gulped, not wanting to vocally admit that she knew Lotus had a point. She was confident in her ability to keep track of her surroundings and Kite would be able to use Dark Sight in a pinch. But Dark Sight had a cooldown period where it couldn't be used, and with how much Lotus was able to overwhelm her…
Rinko's thoughts were cut short when she heard eight blasts from behind her. The next thing she knew she could see the blasts arc around Kite and head towards Lotus. Rinko watched in awe as the blasts made contact with Lotus and exploded in a cloud of dust, obscuring Lotus from Rinko's view.
'But… Lotus-san would not be hurt by something like that,' Rinko thought to herself with a frown. She had only fought Lotus for a few minutes, but she could tell how much better Lotus was. And how big the gap between the two players was. Sure enough, Lotus stepped out of the cloud of dust without a sign of injury anywhere. This forced another thought to enter Rinko's mind, 'What can I do to stand a chance against Lotus-san?'
"Impressive, Endymion. That was pretty impressive," Lotus trailed off in a soft yet surprisingly audible voice. Rinko didn't know if it was the tone that Lotus was using that did it or the way the game adjusted the voices, but something was causing a shiver to run down Rinko's spine. Rinko quickly calmed herself by taking a deep breath before focusing on the Lotus' words and actions again.
"You've certainly improved the level of control you have of Double Impact; I will give you that," Lotus said, and Rinko could have sworn she heard a dismissive grunt that followed Lotus' words soon after. Lotus could be heard chuckling in response to Endymion's reaction, but when Lotus spoke again their voice was calm and filled with confidence, "Thank you for showing me that, Endymion! Now I know exactly what your limits are!"
Lotus jumped back into action, but it wasn't the Lotus closest to Kite that disappeared from Rinko's view. The other three Lotuses disappeared as well, and Rinko quickly reached for her mouse and keyboard to react in an instant.
And react in an instant she had to. Facing against two Lotuses was already pushing Rinko to her limit, but the way that her four opponents seemed to be perfectly in sync with one another was very quickly pushing Rinko back.
The lack of impact that Endymion's Double Impact managed to have on the flow of battle wasn't just a surprising fact for Kite's player. In another house, the girl who controlled the red-colored avatar was facing her own set of struggles.
'That Moca… she really got this much stronger without any of us realizing?' Ran thought to herself with a frown, desperately trying to find an opening she could use to support Kite. A blast to distract Moca long enough for Ran's partner to take a breath of fresh air. An attempt at damaging Lotus and removing a burden from Kite's shoulders. Anything at all, Ran would be satisfied with if she could just help Kite.
Much to Ran's dismay, however, she knew that there was very little that she could do.
"Moca knows me better than I thought she would," Ran muttered the admission to herself begrudgingly. No matter how much Ran didn't want to admit it, she knew that Moca made a good point. Endymion's attacks were far from being accurate and while Ran had tried her best to work on her accuracy, it wasn't enough. Not against an opponent who knew Ran's playstyle better than anyone else.
Moca was consistently making sure that Kite was always within Ran's line of fire, and the blasts from Double Impact were much too wide. If Ran were to even attempt them, she knew that Kite could very well be caught in the explosion as well. And with Double Impact off the table, Ran knew that Chaos Flare and Air Bullet would not be very helpful in this situation, either.
'Calm down… Kite-san is good, they managed to defeat Tomoe without much issue, they should be able to at least keep Moca preoccupied for a while,' Ran thought to herself as she took a couple of deep breaths. Now that her mind has gotten clearer, Ran could focus on a different issue she had overlooked earlier.
'Moca isn't the only opponent we have to defeat in this round to win,' Ran reminded herself as she reluctantly tore her gaze away from Moca and Kite to look around her. She knew that Amber Moon was out there somewhere, most likely watching from the distance as Moca was dealing with Kite.
And then it hit her. Ran finally realized what plan Moca had come up with together with Moon. Ran reached for the key that would initiate Endymion's Double Impact, but right before her finger made contact, she could hear Moca's voice taunting her again.
"Didn't you listen to what I said all this time? You can't attack me without facing the risk of hurting Kite-san," Moca reminded Ran, and Ran remained silent, not responding to or answering her friend's statement. Naturally, Ran knew that Moca had a point and that Moca was right but Ran knew something that Moca didn't. And based on the way Moca's voice went a couple of octaves higher than usual by the time she spoke again, Ran knew that she had caught Moca by surprise, "W-What are you doing?!"
"It's as you said, I can't hurt you if you are too close to Kite-san. You have read me completely, I admit," Ran said, begrudgingly giving Moca the satisfaction of knowing that she was right. Ran didn't want to give Moca more reason to gloat about her successes, but she also didn't want to keep praise away from her friend. Taking a deep breath to try and calm her nerves, Ran directed her attention elsewhere, "But you're not my only opponent, Lotus!"
Ran turned Endymion's focus to a point behind Moca's avatar and fired her famed Double Impact in that direction. Kite and Lotus paused their fight temporarily to watch the eight blasts fly past them and in the direction that Lotus had come from.
It was Moca who realized what Ran's plan was first, but the two childhood friends knew that Moca was too late.
"Moon-san!" Moca cried out in warning, but she knew it wouldn't have mattered. The blast radius of Ran's attacks was too large for Moon to try and avoid taking damage from them. Ran knew that Moca could only hope her partner had moved since the start of the fight.
Ran's attack made contact with the ground and exploded in a large dome of fire, incinerating everything unlucky enough to be caught in its radius. Even Ran was impressed by the sheer power of her attack; she knew that Endymion had gotten stronger, but to see the extent to which she had improved was another story.
"Not bad at all, Endymion-san," a calm, cold voice muttered in Ran's headset and Ran caught herself before she could cry out. Hearing the voice was enough to cause a shiver to run down Ran's spine, something that the vocalist didn't quite appreciate. As Ran tried to look around her for the source of the voice, she could hear it again, "Had you caught me by surprise that would certainly have left a mark. I guess that just goes to show the fearsome offensive capabilities of a red-colored avatar such as yourself."
Before Ran could properly respond or react to what she was hearing, she saw a subtle flash of light on her screen. Curious to see where this light came from, Ran turned Endymion's focus to try and locate the source.
By the time she realized the mistake she had made it was already too late to correct it.
'I can't move?!' Ran started to panic when she realized what had happened. She tried to move Endymion around, make the red-colored avatar take a step in any direction at all. Ran had even resorted to trying to use some of her skills to break this immobilization, but none of them worked.
"I watched your previous match against Chaos-san and Peace-san, so I already had a feeling that this would have been the case," the voice reached Ran's ears again and Ran stiffened as she realized what was happening. Almost as if to confirm Ran's suspicions, Ran's amber-colored opponent materialized in front of her. And with Amber Moon's arrival came a sinking feeling in Ran's stomach: what was she supposed to do now?
Blissfully unaware of what was going on in Ran's head, Moon took their time to look off into the distance, away from where Endymion was. Ran was confused and slightly insulted knowing that Moon was underestimating her this much, but she also knew that she had been very easy to trap. She should be focusing her efforts on trying to escape the hold that Moon had on her.
Moon wasn't just looking away to tear away at Ran's pride, however. They were trying to see if Moca or Kite would be interrupting them. When it became apparent that that would not be the case, Moon turned back to Ran, "Having said that, Endymion-san, I must say that I am surprised. I had hoped that you would not be as easily captured in an illusion after almost losing to one against Peace-san in the previous round."
Ran fell silent as Moon's words got repeated in her mind. She knew that she had not misheard the more experienced player, but something about Moon was prompting Ran to think again. There was something that Moon was trying to say that Ran had to figure out.
'But… what is Moon-san trying to say…' Ran asked herself silent with a frown. When the answer finally hit her, she couldn't believe it hadn't come to her any sooner.
"Kite-san!" Ran cried out as soon as she could, hoping that her partner could hear her. Much to Ran's dismay, however, it seemed like Moca was doing a great job at keeping Ran's partner preoccupied. With no option left for her, and with Endymion still rendered immobile by Moon's illusion, Ran tried to get Moon to talk, "Was this your plan all along?"
"In a way. Although it was Lotus-san's idea for me to focus my attention on you, Endymion-san," Moon's admission caused Ran's heart to sink. Moca had betrayed her that much? While Ran struggled to accept the reality that Moca had turned her back on her, Moon picked up where they had left off, "For what it is worth, Endymion-san… for someone who just started this game only a few weeks ago, it is impressive you got this fair."
"But this is the end of the line for you and Kite-san," Moon announced, and Ran felt her heart sink to the pits of her stomach when Moon's words reached her ears. Something about the way that Moon said that held a lot of strength and confidence that Ran simply hadn't expected to hear. Was this the difference between her and Moon?
Fully expecting for her opponent to try and finish her off, Ran was pleasantly surprised when the decisive blow… never came. Moon spent a long time just observing Endymion's body from a safe distance while Ran was unable to move. No attack, no skill, not even the sense that Moon desired to take any action.
"What… is happening?" Ran heard herself mutter, wondering why she was still alive and well despite already having been defeated. When Moon's response never came, Ran decided to try and probe for an answer, "Why aren't you landing the attack that will eliminate me?"
"The answer to your question is simple, Endymion-san," Moon trailed off with a small sigh, turning away from Ran to stare in the direction that Moca and Kite were still fighting, "My objective was not to defeat you. All I had to do was to make sure that you would not be getting in the way for the time being."
"Now if you would excuse me, I have to see how Lotus-san is holding up against Kite-san," Moon announced, and Ran knew that it was over. The tone in which Moon said those words made it abundantly clear that there was nothing Ran could say or do to stop Moon from leaving. With a final glance in Ran's direction, Moon made one last comment before disappearing into nothingness.
Amber Moon was gone and far from Ran's reach, Endymion was immobile and could not act, and Ran knew that her partner was currently fighting a two-versus-one fight. No, whatever Moca and Moon had planned made it so that Kite had to fight multiple Black Lotus simultaneously.
'Is this… the end?' Ran asked herself as she lowered her head until her forehead touched her keyboard. Nothing Ran could think of doing would likely make much of an impact, nor was she able to assist her partner. To make matters worse, Moon's final words were still ringing clearly in her ears.
"Sit back and enjoy the show, Endymion-san."
And that is all for today's chapter! This chapter… was a weird one to write, that's for sure. It was fun, but it definitely felt weird to write certain scenes here.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!