KIRIKO

I was starting to think that I got cursed or something like that. I was just constantly surrounded by knights, with one of them being my partner even!

Golden knights on a horse, crimson knights on a horse and a blue and charred silver knight with the power to summon an even bigger crimson knight! I started asking myself if we were back in medieval Europe instead of modern day Japan! What's next, a knight on a toilet?!

Take a shot each time I said "knight" up until now, if you're up for getting absolutely drunk. It would be funny, just trust me bro.

Our new opponent (called Eligor if I understood correctly) clashed weapons with my companion, instantly trying to get us on the back foot. My first instinct was to summon my Persona to get the damn thing off his back, but I decided against it, instead opting to throw some kunai at the joints between Eligor's plates and the faceless helmet.

This because, while Tamamo's wind attacks were powerful, I was still working on being precise with those damn projectiles and I didn't want to risk hitting Knight.

Not Eligor, I mean Brian.

I'm just confusing myself at this point. There were just too many knights around!

My blades served their objective, distracting our opponent enough to allow my friend to get out of the struggle and retaliate, scoring a hit at the horse, which neighed in pain. Yeah, I started feeling bad right away, even if I knew that the animal wasn't actually "real".

The thing must have heard my thoughts, because it started staring at me with its demon red eyes. Then it proceeded to try and stomp me, and suddenly I stopped feeling bad. Don't feel pity for the murdering Shadows in the middle of a fight to the death, lesson learned.

I teleported away behind Knight (you know which one), who positioned his greatsword in front of his face.

"Slaughter, Mordred!"

Barely a second later, the Persona's massive weapon fell down on Eligor, who grunted in pain, but somehow managed to shake off the attack.

"High physical resistance. Should have seen that coming…"

I look at him crookedly.

"Really? And what gave it away, the massive suit of armor or this thing's shining personality?"

He tried to answer me, but we were divided once again by Eligor slamming its spear on the ground between us. It was just one enemy, but resilient, with a massive health pool and smart enough to keep us separated, so that we couldn't strategize.

Not that we were gonna do it anyway, but it's the thought that counts. I think. Leader would definitely have smacked me upside the head had he heard me…

Once again, my friend and the Shadow were back struggling against each other, and I had the brilliant idea to try and use my wakizashi to try and score some decent damage…

Right after Leader said that this thing was resistant to physical attacks. I kind of wasn't really thinking though. My brain just pointed out that Knight was in danger and my body moved without my permission. It was a mistake. A big one as well.

Eligor saw me approaching and used its spear's superior length and reach to smack me away, using the butt of his damn stick. I smacked my face against the bronze doors that we just opened.

It's just as painful as it sounds. Maybe even more.

"T-Tamamo!"

My own Persona arrived, using Dia to heal me back up to something resembling "fine". I quickly threw some Ofuda in Knight's direction, while I prepared my next attack.

"Hunt them down!"

Luckily, the massive bastard covered my ally almost completely, so I didn't have to worry too much about aiming.

A small barrage of Garu kept Eligor busy for a moment, to give Leader a second to breathe.

"Leave them starstruck, Lancelot!"

Or… a chance to attack. That was definitely the plan. Yup, it sure was. The smell of ozone once more filled the area, just like the first time the leonine knight was summoned. The other knight (not Brian obviously) seemed to heavily accuse that particular hit, slumping on its horse with a groan, sparks running up and down its body.

"Miko! Use Garu again!"

Ah right, middle of a fight, almost forgot.

"You heard him Tamamo! Blow that thing away!"

Tamamo giggled behind one of her fans, sending out her attack almost gleefully.

Eligor was outright knocked out of its horse by the strength of our combined attack, the sparks on its shiny body seemingly intensifying when my wind made contact. Interesting interaction… was that what Leader was hoping for?

Speaking of… another neigh brought my attention to the lone horse, which was mercilessly put down by Knight's blade.

Eligor didn't seem to appreciate it. At all. The shouts of anger were quite damning evidence.

"You will pay for your insolence with YOUR BLOOD! ESPECIALLY YOU, TRAITOR!"

Traitor? Was it referring to…

I saw my friend wince at our opponent's words. Yup… it was talking to him alright. Traitor…?

Traitor of what?

BRIAN

I should have known. It was plenty obvious in hindsight, but I unfortunately didn't connect the dots right away. European knights guarding an ancient Japanese inspired pocket of the Metaverse? How come I didn't notice?! It was supposed to happen eventually… but here? In this particular Palace? What are the damn chances…?

I could feel Miko's curious gaze burning into me. It was not a story that I was willing to tell yet… I just hoped that she wouldn't insist too much. But I prepared myself for the inevitable onslaught of questions that would come once back in the real world.

Eligor's spear passing right through my face (courtesy of Kiri's Suzu) acted as a wake up call. I was doing it more and more often, getting distracted during important battles. And each and every time, Miko was at the center of my thoughts. Yeah, she was kind of bad for my health, which is ironic since she established herself as the group's main healer from the get go. Go figure.

Back to the matter at hand, my opponent's weapon and my own went right back to clashing. It was hard focused on me the entire time, barely even registering Miko's presence, and now that its paralysis had worn off, it was even more aggressive than before. Killing the horse might have had a part in that. I take no responsibility.

Kiri slithered in from behind the suit of armor, slashing away at its calves in an effort to unbalance it, most likely. Way too ambitious, yeah. Eligor stomped down to make her back off, while at the same time smacking me in the face with the back of its hand. I almost got a loose tooth from that, quite rude if I had to say.

But not all bad things come to harm. I spinned using the momentum from the slap that I suffered, bringing my greatsword down with a distinct lack of mercy and/or fucks given. It was not ready for that. My attack struck true, causing Eligor to slide backwards quite a lot, its shiny red armor now sporting a lovely gash on the chest. In other words…

A weak spot that Miko didn't leave unabused. Two kunai immediately planted themselves on the tear, followed by three quick slashes and a teleport, to avoid the follow up. Right, this guy gave us way too much of a headache. Time to end it.

I ripped my mask off my face.

"Slaughter, Mordred!"

My Persona's massive sword came down upon Eligor, who used its spear to block. But now it was inexorably stuck.

I slapped Miko's hand.

"Your turn now! Don't hold back!"

She grinned and nodded, taking her own mask off.

"Hunt them down, Tamamo!"

The Kitsune appeared with a flourish, rushing down the opposing knight and painfully scraping her fans against the opening that I made moments before.

"Let's finish it!"

"Following your lead!"

Miko and I attacked together this time, both of us aiming at the same old weak spot. Mordred disappeared midway through the attack, giving Eligor its weapon back…

But it was much too late.

With a double shout, Kiri and I pierced the knight's chest at the same time. Not even it could survive a similar attack. Its spear fell to the ground with a terrible clunking noise, disappearing into black smoke.

"Do not… think that… it's over… we… will… always… find… you…"

Eligor died right then and there, after making us sweat for the privilege of passing through. I exhaled from my nose, finally relaxing a little bit. Not excessively, but we weren't in immediate danger anymore.

"Are you okay Miko? You faceplanted against that door pretty hard…"

She waved away my concern.

"I'm okay Leader. I suffered much worse during my training, I promise".

I nodded, believing her without fuss. She had no reason to lie, after all.

"Are you good to continue or do you want to stop for today? This was quite the hard fought battle".

"Let's see what's on the other side of the door first. Eligor mentioned something about a Zen Garden, I believe?"

"Yeah, he did. Let's take a look and survey the area before doing anything rash. We still have some time…"

She gave me a thumbs up and we crossed the gate, which closed behind us, officially entering the second part of the Palace. And easily one of the most frustrating experiences that I ever had to suffer through.

"From now on, we have to start sneaking around. Our disguises won't hold so deep in the Palace, since no grunt is supposed to be here…"

Miko patted herself on the chest.

"I'm a kunoichi, remember? Being stealthy is my specialty! Worry only about myself, I've got this!"

I raised one eyebrow.

"Oh really? What do you call what happened in Tora no Sumika then?"

She stuttered.

"T-That was infiltration and blending in! They're completely different things!"

"And this isn't a form of infiltration that we're doing? Besides, I had the whole 'blending in' thing covered, until you decided to explode like a volcano".

"Oh, shut up will you?! I'll show you how good I can be at not being noticed! Just you watch, unless you lose sight of me of course!"

Heh… get her worked up enough by implying that she can't do something and she'll give it her 200%.

Works like a charm.

What can I say, I've already worked with people like her in the past.

KIRIKO

The audacity of this asshole, thinking that I can't do something as simple as crouching behind a box! Oh but I was going to show him! And I was gonna do it good!

A little voice in the back of my head tried to warn me that I was being played, but I couldn't care less. My pride was on the line!

… and I wanted to show off in front of him. Just a tiny bit.

I idly recognized the place that we walked into. It was that small patch of land in between the temple and the dojo, with the shrine in the middle of the road. In the real world, at least.

In here it was…

"A maze. A stupid ass maze!"

Knight did not sound happy. At all. Not that I could blame him… I wasn't a fan of mazes myself. But it seemed like we were stuck having to go through it.

With a gentle hum, I turned around and climbed up the doors we just opened, in order to see over the damn thing. It wasn't huge by any means… but it was intricate. And obviously, absolutely teeming with Shadows, both samurai and shinobi. The shrine was also still there, smack in the middle of the whole thing, acting as a landmark for how big it became in the Metaverse.

Okay… no need to panic. I just had to study its composition, make a map and we were golden! But then…

It shifted, right in front of my eyes. Right… no cheating then. What a drag…

I went back down to my partner, who was waiting for me.

"What did you see?"

"It's not as big as it looks… but it's also a lot more dispersive than you'd think. I reckon it's gonna be very easy to get lost inside…"

I heard him groan at that.

"The shrine at the center is the only landmark… and the maze also shifts every once in a while. Meaning that every run through is likely going to be different. What do we do…?"

Leader massaged his eyes, exhaling through his nose.

"Let's just go back for today. We can tackle this… monstrosity tomorrow, while we're more fresh".

I tilted my head.

"Already? Are you sure? Do we just… wait for tomorrow?"

He nodded, while I was left feeling slightly disappointed.

"Yeah. We can use the rest of the day to look into what's wrong with your friend. I promised you that we would do it together, after all".

I perked up immediately after hearing that.

"Good idea! You see, this is why I call you 'Leader'!"

He groaned.

"Please stop…"

"Just one issue though… how do we get back?"

Almost as if on cue, a wall to our right slid backwards and then up, revealing…

"The Safe Room!"

I ran inside, followed by Knight.

"Interesting… the main road is locked again, but now this one has opened…"

I recognized that look. He was asking himself the obvious questions.

"Maybe the Palace changes to allow easier access for those that already cleared it…?"

He raised one eyebrow. Yeah, I didn't really believe it either.

"Then… I suppose we'll have to find out the hard way. It's not like we can go through the Temple Bells again every time we need to get inside!"

"... Yeah, you're right. Let's just keep our eyes open from now on. This isn't normal…"

I rolled my own eyes, but didn't comment. It's not like anything that happened recently could be considered "normal"!

Two minutes later, we were back in the real world, the afternoon sun shining down upon us. Man, I hadn't seen this nice orange tint in quite a while… we usually stuck to the Metaverse until late in the evening! It was a nice change of pace…

While we started on our walk back to the arcade, I found myself staring intently at the back of Brian's head. I wanted to ask some questions pretty badly… but I didn't want to risk hitting another sore spot. We just couldn't help ourselves, poking at each other's defenses and taboo topics, asking questions that shouldn't be asked and then butting heads over them. Funny thing is, we weren't really doing it on purpose, especially me…

But ironically, it's probably one of the main motivators behind the tightness of our friendship. Sometimes, I find myself just… wondering what would have happened to us, if I hadn't asked Brian about his family back in Kanezaka…

Or if I hadn't found the courage (read, shamelessness) to start the next conversation.

"So… why did Eligor call you 'traitor'?"

Hello?! Is this thing on?! It is?! Noice.

Welcome back, dudes and gentleladies, to another episode of UTFW, the show where Kiriko is even more shameless than canon!

This chapter was supposed to come out last week, but I kind of… hit a bit of a ditch, one could say. I didn't feel like rushing out the chapter just to get it done on time, so I decided to reschedule the whole thing later, in order to properly clear my head and make something that resembles quality. Not sure if I made it, honestly, bit I feel much more confident now than last week. Here's to hoping!

That's all folks! Ta-ta for now!