Chapter Seven! Let's GOOOOOOO! The poll from the last chapter went down a few days back, and the winner of that poll is…! OVERLORD! If anyone voted for the other suggestions, do not fret, they *may or may not* show up. Be it references, or actually going there, though I doubt it.
Also, I don't usually recommend buying DLC for games because normally that's up to their own tastes and whether or not they want to buy additional content for a game. But when I say that Shadow of the Erdtree is one of the best things that I've played hands down, no pause, no nothing, I mean it. If you own Elden Ring, and you've played it, and you've already beaten Mohg and Radhan, buy it. It's probably the best $40 ~ $50 purchase there is that isn't its own game—and even then, that's debatable.
I will warn those who wish to get it, though. It is extremely hard. Like, the first major boss you fight it ten times harder than Malenia, who used to have the crown for hardest Soulsborne boss (that crown now belongs to Bayle The Dread) and don't even get me started on the other bosses. I'm on the final boss right now, and I'm already 100 attempts in with Mimic Tear. It's no joke. I lowkey think I need to get more upgrades before I even so much as look the final boss's way.
Anyway, stay tuned till the end for my response to reviews/comments!
[-Chapter 7: Anticipation-]
"I am thankful for the gift bestowed upon me. Without them, I wouldn't be who I am now. But I must ask… why must I make an army? For what purpose would you seek to use me? Who, or better yet, what are you?" – A formerly terminally ill man, given strength by a being beyond comprehension, praying to The Formless Mother, circa 1001, Heien Era.
[Opening Song: Dance In The Game – ZAQ]
A foul, green-skinned creature with a pair of blood-red eyes charged forward, scimitar in hand and raised over its ugly head, screaming out a war cry that sounded more like that of a dying cat. Tufts of black hair stuck out from its bulbous scalp with the rest of its body bare to the world, dangly bits and all. Bumps and boils covered its body as its mouth wrenched open, revealing sharp, pinpoint teeth as it rushed down its target.
Surely, it would kill them. After all, it was the mightiest Hobgoblin of its pack. The final barrier before their sacred treasure! It would take vengeance for its friends being brutally turned to paste! If it died, then their sacred treasure would be stolen!
For it's comrades. For their sacred treasure. It would not fall here!
And yet, thanks to its foolhardiness, it had completely dropped its guard, and as a result, was decapitated with a single stroke of a straight sword. The laziness of the motion meant that the target it was after—the one responsible for turning every other hobgoblin inside the dungeon it had been in into nothing but severed limbs and pin cushions—didn't even register it as a threat.
The figure that was responsible for the death of the hobgoblin was completely shrouded by a black cloak, that covered down to their feet. The cloak had tears at the end, and a hood that obscured their appearance, save for a pair of haunting emerald green eyes.
A blackened gemstone hung around their neck that increased the potency of Blasphemy-based attacks by 15%. A rare talisman the figure picked up in a previous dungeon a while back. As for the cloak they were now wearing, which had actually been a part of a chest plate they had picked up from the same dungeon where they received the Void Necklace, it too was a rare piece of armour.
Their sword was a common straight sword that had been upgraded six times. The figure had yet to find a more worthy weapon to wield, namely because all they had found were daggers and shortswords of the same rarity as their current weapon.
As for the rest of the outfit they were wearing; which had been obscured by the cloak, the figure was dressed in the aforementioned black iron chestplate that came equipped with black iron greaves and shoulder pauldrons, both of which were obscured by the black cloak. A pair of brown leather pants held by a golden belt with dark green laced-up leather boots completed the outfit, the boots being reinforced with steel.
The decapitated hobgoblin fell to the stony ground of the dungeon with an audible thump, blood spilling out and onto the stone below, staining it crimson. The hobgoblin had been put down, just like all the others, and staining the figure's blade red with its crimson life fluid.
Instead of flicking the sword clean, the figure licked the blood off. Their thirst meter had been running low, and while it had only brought it up just a tiny amount, it kept them further from total starvation.
[You know, Jolyne, you could have just drained the blood from Hobgoblin, correct?]
"I am not putting my lips anywhere near that ugly thing, thank you very much," Jolyne replied, tone full of snark as she dismissed Mono. The gear she was wearing had been fairly decent, all things considered. Far better than the lone cape she received from that dead king.
Seeing as it had been useless, she sold the cape for some extra money. It earned her an extra 5,000 Yen, which for a common item, was pretty cool. She also sold the spare weapons she had picked up, all of which had been common. She already had one common weapon. She wasn't going to lug around another weaker one.
Once she found a suitable upgrade she'd get rid of the one she was currently using. Of course, only after extracting the Weapon Art from it. She wasn't going to lose that. It was unique, and she doubted she'd get another one like it.
While exploring the last few dungeons, she was able to find two rings. Those rings were a Blood Gem ring that gave her a little bit more resistance against Blood Loss build-up. It was a common ring, so it was only like, 3% or some useless number. But any percent was good percent she guessed.
The other ring she got, though was a Holy Gem ring. Another common one, but it was slightly better, giving her a 7% resistance to holy magic damage. Something she was really weak to. Any amount of resistance against that was better than no resistance.
Jolyne stood before the door to the boss's room. The dungeon she was currently in was a Normal difficulty Dungeon. Easy had become far too, well, easy, and the exp they gave wasn't even enough to get halfway to a level up once she got to where she was right now. Even now Normal dungeons were starting to get unbeneficial.
"Still not ready for the Challenging Dungeons, though…" Jolyne thought as she placed her hand against the boss's door. Earlier in the dungeons he had flipped the lever required to unlock the door. It was guarded by some massive Hobgoblin. She cut it down to size without so much as breaking a sweat.
With a lazy shove and a bit of effort, the door parted open, allowing Jolyne to slip inside. Before her, like every dungeon she had been to, was a staircase lit up by blue flame torches. With each step she took, an echo reverberated throughout the catacombs. She had gotten used to the smell by now, that being of decay and rot. She had done enough of these types of dungeons to become familiar with them.
That still didn't make it any less gross when she stepped atop a brittle skull. A shiver crawled up her spine, but nonetheless, she continued forward. When she fully descended the stairs, Mono spoke.
[Do not forget to make use of the spell you recently unlocked.]
"Duh, I'm not stupid, Mono."
[Uh huh.]
"What does that even mean!?" As Jolyne replied, Mono went silent, further annoying her. As of late, he had become a lot more quippy. It was almost as if he was learning from her. Which, given his status as an a.i. was highly plausible. It also unnerved her, because that meant he was learning from her.
Last she checked, she wasn't exactly a great role model. She was brash, rude, blunt, uncaring of other people's opinions, and a little bit on the moody side. But to each their own, she supposed.
This was the last dungeon she was going to do for the week. She had grown significantly, and she was all the more glad for it. She felt stronger, faster, better in all the best ways. The only downside was that now, for some reason, her thirst meter was going down faster. Rather than 5 notches per six hours, it was going down to 10 notches per six hours.
If she had to guess, it was because of her getting stronger. So to keep up, she needed to drink more blood. It was… annoying to say the very least. She found herself cornering more people in alleyways and consuming their blood. News articles were popping up with people having bite marks on their necks with no DNA being on them.
She mostly only went after healthy older men who looked like they could handle it. She never once targeted anyone her age or younger, and her reasoning for picking men was that they were less skittish about being followed. Only once or twice did she target a woman, it was out of necessity. Her thirst meter had been far too low, and she didn't want to know what happened when it dropped to zero.
She stood in front of the entrance to the boss room, white mist ebbing and flowing around the entrance and inside of it as she pushed her hand through, then with a semi-lunge she passed through the fog in its entirety.
When she battled those Hobgoblins, she had a feeling that the boss would be something similar. That had been true about every fight so far. If the enemies were of a similar type, so too was the boss. So, she had expected to see some kind of Hobgoblin chief. But, rather, that wasn't what she was greeted with.
She was greeted with an egg. A large, semi-transparent, blue egg, with a nest of bones, skulls, and rotting flesh surrounding it. The room that surrounded it was also more akin to that of a throne room than what she had been accustomed to.
Large, towering pillars reached the ceiling, a large white and black carpet that led up to what appeared to be a split-in-half throne made of faded gold and silver, with a backdrop of what appeared to be a large mass of various organs and roots.
And the aforementioned egg and nest sat perfectly in the center. "Uh, Mono? What is that?"
[That, Jolyne, is something that should not be here.]
Before Jolyne could further probe for answers, the egg cracked, and as it did, a large, slender, semi-feathered arm jutted out from the egg. White, sickly-looking ooze draped off the arm as it hit the ground with a disgusting "plop". The arm waved around, before grabbing the rest of the shell and tearing it off of itself.
Jolyne had to take a step back at the rancid, near-unbearable smell, as a sickening cry of pain, sorrow, and indignation filled the room, the source of which being some kind of humanoid-looking bird drenched in some form of white, clear fluid similar to what baby chicks would have on them. Its face looked eerily owl-like, and its eyes were pitch black.
The beast fell forward, breathing rapidly as it squabbled and cawed, as if looking for something or more rather someone. Its body was completely bare, and as it walked out from its shell, its slender, oblong body and thin, sickly-looking arms and legs bent inward. It finally made eye contact with Jolyne, who drew her sword out of reflex.
The beast screamed, and as soon as it did, an HP bar appeared in her vision, naming the creature an "Abandoned Infant Goetia." Jolyne narrowed her eyes, as the infant rushed toward her, and in response, Jolyne glided back mid-jump—another functionality of her new cloak. It gave her the ability to hover for a split second in the air and make her landings both quiet and elegant.
The infant Goetia head-butted the wall, stunning it as Jolyne raised her left hand into the air. The infant Goetia turned to look at her, and screamed again, charging in her direction once more. Rather than jump out of the way, a black mass of energy formed around her arm, slinking and squirming like worms as it travelled from her elbow and toward her hand, coating it entirely.
Then, not a moment later, five long tendrils stretched from her arm to the infant Goetia, ranging around about five feet from her person, wrapped around the beast and raised it in the air, making it squeal and cry for what she assumed was help. Not that it mattered much. Without mercy, she threw her arm down not once, but twice, the tendrils mimicking her movement as a third of the infant's HP was shaved away.
The tendrils whisped back into her arm, as she charged forward with her sword and hand, the infant Goetia dazed as she plunged her blade right between its vapid, seemingly soulless eyes, making the beast once again squeal. She ripped the blade out, a cascade of black ichor following suit as the infant Goetia cried out in agony.
Somehow, it still had HP as it stumbled back, clicking its malformed beak together, staring her dead in the eyes. Jolyne went to further press the assault, only for the beast to radiate some kind of blue frost-like aura off of its body. Before Jolyne could jump back, an explosion of frost and unbearable cold blasted throughout the arena.
Jolyne staggered back, the blast having done 150 damage to her. Had that been a week ago, she would've worried, but now it wasn't that much of an issue.
As the frost settled, the infant Goetia was now standing firmly on two legs, its body no longer covered in the slime, and while it still looked partially deformed, it didn't look nearly as grotesque as it had moments ago.
It hissed at her, before reaching into its mouth, and throwing up what looked to be a staff made entirely out of bone with a black crystal ball atop it. The shaft of the staff seemed to be made out of human arm bones and the cradle that the black crystal ball sat in looked to be some kind of pelvis bone.
Jolyne narrowed her eyes, as the infant Goetia, no longer beast-like, swiped its large, nearly 4-foot-long staff in her direction, the cradle of the staff being blocked by Jolyne's sword and parried back, leaving an opening for Jolyne to run in and thrust her blade in its chest, which she did. She expected it to die, but when it hadn't, her attention was drawn to the full HP bar that it now had, and the surprisingly little damage she had done to the creature.
"Drat!"
With an almost degrading level of annoyance, the infant Goetia slapped Jolyne across the face, sending her a couple of feet back as it clacked its beak. "Worm…" It spat, as Jolyne blinked, shock taking up her expression as she regained her balance.
"You can talk now?"
"Most of my kind can moments after our birth, depending on the situation. We grow in conjunction with pain and misery. Tis why our parents typically abandon us. You inflicted a lot on me in the seconds of my birth. Thus, I needed to grow to a level of power in which I would be able to kill you," it hissed, its staff's crystal orb glowing a haunting cerulean blue. "Now, you shall pay for thinking you could harm me."
There was no rage in its voice, only regal coldness, and as it levelled its staff toward her, Jolyne preemptively jumped into the air, avoiding a bolt of ice shot in her direction. She looked at her Mana meter and frowned. She had exhausted a third of it casting her new spell. It was recovering, albeit slowly, so she needed to time her casting of the aforementioned spell, Void Snatch.
She unlocked the spell at level 15, which had been where Mono had suggested she had originally stopped. She didn't, and continued anyway, allowing her to get to a higher level. She was due to get another spell soon, though if she wanted to use that new one, she'd have to swap out Void Snatch for it.
Though that would be for later. Right now, she was more focused on not getting killed.
After landing on the ground, Jolyne ducked and weaved between multiple ice blasts, and with each miss, the Goetia seemed to get progressively more and more annoyed. He was getting faster with his casts, but with every increase of speed, the sloppier he became, his accuracy decreasing with each attack.
Just because he matured quickly, did not mean he suddenly became skilled.
The Goetia—because calling him an infant was incorrect given his stature and appearance, closed the distance between himself and Jolyne, and went to swing his staff for a melee attack, only for Jolyne to parry his swing. Rather than go to stab him as he had been expecting, she cast Void Snatch, the void tendrils shooting forward and wrapping around his waist.
Before he could act, he was thrown against the wall and between the pillars roughly five times, knocking his health bar down to half, black ichor seeping from his greyish-black feathery skin before being spiked into the ground like a volleyball.
But Jolyne wasn't done yet. She thrust her sword into the ground just as The Goetia was about to get up, and as she did, a wave of blood spilled out from the ground in front of Jolyne and slammed into the Goetia.
He screamed in pain, as several new cuts burst open, black blood spewing from his mouth and his body as he toppled over. His health bar was dangerously low, and with him being staggered, she used that opportunity to rush forward and stab him in the throat using her sword. He gagged, reaching out to her face in a last attempt to more than likely rip it off with his talon-like hands, only for his head to swiftly cut off of its shoulders.
Jolyne stared, watching as its body crumpled into ashen white dust, she crossed her arms and cracked her neck from side to side. "That was a lot more annoying than I thought it would be," Jolyne noted.
[Yes, but it was an anomaly. This Dungeon was supposed to have a Hobgoblin Chief as its boss. I scanned it earlier.]
"Huh? Whaddya mean you scanned it earlier!? You can do that?"
[Of course I can, Jolyne. It is how I determine whether you should do them or not. As I was saying. While you were able to kill the Infant Goetia with ease, that still does not mean that it was unprecedented. It means that while you were in the dungeon, someone tampered with it. Very few entities can do that—not even Loki is that strong. Which makes me wonder what could've possibly done that.]
That… didn't sound good. Not even remotely. If something was tampering with the Dungeons and changing the bosses, that meant whatever it was had been leagues stronger than The Gods. Maybe it was the Almighty himself? It was certainly a possibility. After all, from what she knew about being a System User—which was very little might she add—that he was the overseer of all of them.
Ergo, it made sense for him to be able to oversee everyone's progress and give them a slight push. Just to see what they were made of. However, why The Almighty would put a child Goetia as her opponent confused her more than helped her.
From what she knew, a Goetia was an Elder Demon. The kind of Demon that had been there since the invention of Hell itself. Given that she was supposed to work for, or was going to eventually work for Lucifier, if she had to guess, killing that child Goetia was going to have some lasting consequences. Be it now or later.
[Dungeon Cleared: Rewards Earned: 100,000 Exp, 3,000 Yen, 2 Tokens, Paimons Favour Talisman (Epic)]
[Level Up! Lvl 24 25]
Health Points: 1,250 1,300 [C+]
Mana: 1,200 1,250 [C+]
Stamina: 1,300 1,350 [C+]
Endurance: 625 650 [C-]
Attack: 73 76 [F+]
Defence: 73 76 [F+]
Magic Attack: 120125 [E-]
Magic Defence: 120 125 [E-]
Physical Strength: 20 [F-]
Arcane Wisdom: 30 [F-]
Faith: 5 [F-]
Blasphemy: 38 [F]
Critical Chance: 2% 2.5%
Critical Damage: 52% 52.5%
"Just gonna throw those two tokens into Blasphemy," Jolyne muttered, increasing the stat from 38 to 40. She had if only momentarily, considered putting them into Physical Strength, but she saw 20 as a good number for the time being. If she wanted to increase it, all she needed to do was farm dungeons for a little while—maybe another week—and be done with it.
Looking at the list of rewards, she read over it one more time and frowned when noticing the talisman. "Paimons Favour, huh?" she muttered, pulling the talisman out. It was a small clump of feathers, pitch black with a hint of blue coating the tail-end of the feathers. A small bird skull sat atop the feathers, and the eyes glowed with a dim shade of blue, reminiscent of the colour the sky took when it was on the precipice of early night to late evening.
[Paimons Favour (Epic)]
[Description: Skull and feathers of a dead Goetia Child, bound together using the best quality hellforged steel string. Given to a champion of the Goetia Lord, Paimon, when successfully slaying a child of the Goetia. Once thought to be an omen of ill will, a later clarification by Paimon himself noted that these small favours were given to those who managed to do what was often thought impossible a status only few would ever receive in their lifetime.
"O ye of little faith, beset thyself upon my name, and bare claim to thy reward. Fortune and fame await ye, o Champion mine."
Increases immunity to the following by 25%: Despair, Madness, Instant Death]
"Don't mind if I do~!" Jolyne hummed, equipping the Talisman. Having four available Talisman slots was pretty cool if she said so herself. Though this was the second one she'd gained in her Dungeon run which had spanned about a week in length. Not that she particularly minded, though it was a little on the annoying side.
Her first Talisman, the Void Pendant, she gained rather early on, but chances of receiving a Talisman seemed to be low from a Dungeon run. However, if there was one thing she was glad that she was getting more of, it was Stat Tokens. She had been mostly splitting the ones she had gotten between her Blasphemy stat and her Physical Strength stat.
She knew that if she wanted to use more magic, she'd need to increase Arcane Wisdom—especially since most magic demanded at least 20 of it for a common spell like Void Snatch, but for the time being, she believed that what she had right now was good enough.
Of course, that didn't mean that she wouldn't dump the next few tokens she had into Blasphemy again. Having 40 of it meant that she, at the very least, could use Uncommon spells.
However, if there was one thing that was seriously annoying her, it was the low amount of the stuff that she was getting. She figured it had to do with the difficulty of the Dungeons she was doing, but even then, only getting 2 after a boss that wasn't even meant to be here? One that if she hadn't had the abilities that she had she would've no doubt struggled on.
If she was weaker than she was and stumbled across this boss, and that was her reward? She would've had a few choice words for the person who gave out said rewards. That was almost like getting spat in the face after being curb-stomped by someone.
Well, maybe not that violent, but the point stood.
"Oh well, at least the Talisman is pretty good," Jolyne thought, as a blue portal appeared in front of her to take her back to where she found the Dungeon. Stepping through, her armour faded away, replaced by her school uniform as she found herself on the campus of Hope Peaks Academy's reserve course.
She got her extra early knowing that there was a Dungeon just within the courtyard. Interestingly it wasn't there yesterday or the day before that. It had manifested today, in front of her very eyes, as if to taunt her. She fell for the taunt, which led to now, with her exiting the said dungeon.
It was rather convenient that her armour vanished from sight, though she was glad that its effects carried over. Otherwise, what would've been the point of keeping the armour constantly equipped? Stretching her back and arms, Jolyne let out a satisfied groan as students of various grades walked through the gates, chatting up a storm as Jolyne merged with the crowd, making her way into the building alongside them.
She had been away for a week, and on the record, it was for a particularly nasty flu that had caught her off guard, so much so she was basically bedridden. She remembered that on the first day of her not being at school, Hajime had called her and asked if she was okay. The amount of genuine concern in his voice had been rather heartwarming.
Of course, she had played it off as her being extremely sick, and with some help from Mono was able to make it sound real, but other than that she was fine. He kept her up to date with what was going on in the class, and what work she needed to have done, and even had the physical work mailed to her on behalf of the school.
The fact that he had gone above and beyond to assist her in her studies was, once again, something she liked about Hajime. He was loyal if nothing else. Well, that wasn't true. He wasn't just loyal. He was kind and, while he had his pessimistic moments, he was also optimistic—a healthy balance of both if she were to be honest.
He went out of his way to make sure that she was alright, and she would try and do the same to less of an effect. He was a good friend, all things considered, although a part of her wished they'd be more than friends. She blamed her major, sometimes crippling, crush on him. There were some times that she couldn't get him off of her mind, and at first, she didn't mind it, but now she was starting to get annoyed by it.
Last night she could hardly sleep without getting red in the face. She had gotten off the phone with him after talking about how he wanted to spend time with her on the weekend. Take her to the café that they used to frequent. The prospect of it, for some reason, made her nonexistent heart skip a beat.
Every time she would close her eyes, and every time she started to drift into sleep, she'd keep having erotic dreams of him and her doing "the devil's tango" as it were. It was as vivid as a dream could be, almost as if it were real.
She didn't want to describe it, mostly so she didn't run the risk of getting herself all hot and bothered over nothing. She wasn't one to focus on the minor details, but if what her mind conjured up was true—which she doubted—then she'd have to get a chance to see him at a beach without a shirt on. Like, as soon as possible.
Although, it was weird. It felt real. She felt everything, which was even weirder, because why would her mind make her feel as if she was in the process of being, for lack of a better word, fucked? She wasn't dealing with the "Overfed" debuff, so it wasn't as if her libido was being spiked.
So then, why? Why make her feel like that at the mere thought of Hajime? It had never gotten this bad before, aside from the whole "Overfed" stunt.
What was even weirder was that Mono said that she was incapable of dreaming. So then what exactly what it? If not a dream, then what? Was it a memory? A glimpse of what they had been before?
"First we're friends separated by memory loss, then potentially dating, to have been in a full-blown sexual relationship with one another… Loki, what the fuck have you done?" Jolyne thought as she entered her classroom and took her usual seat. Rather than be greeted by Takimura-Sensei, someone else had taken his place.
He was a tall, young-looking man. He had dark brown hair bordering on black, a pale-faced-complexion, and was dressed in a brown plaid sweater shirt with elbow-length sleeves. His pants were a dark shade of blue, held up by a belt with an official Hopes Peak logo, and his eyes were a shade of orange.
The young man looked over at her as the rest of the class filtered in, a smirk taking up his expression. "Ah! You must be the sick student who missed my arrival! I'm Susamaru Takime, but you can call me Takime-Sensei. Takimura-Sensei went missing and no one knows where he went. Not even his family."
Jolyne had to suppress the urge to smirk. She knew exactly why Takimura-Sensei wasn't around. It had been a complete happenstance when she had found him cutting through an alleyway to get back home when she was out shopping for soaps to use at the local community shower across the street from her apartment building.
Her thirst meter had been extremely low, and she used him to get her meter up to full. When he didn't die from the blood loss, she pulled out her sword and stabbed him through the heart, and when that was said and done, due to it being late out, she cut him into pieces and stuffed his parts in her inventory. She then went to a dungeon and disposed of his body parts there.
It was probably one of the most ingenious things she had ever done, and it had all been by complete luck. The other two on her list, unfortunately, were still around. Takimura only died because she got lucky, which annoyed her to no end that it was strictly because of luck.
Not that it particularly mattered. What mattered was that there was one less Pedophile in the world, and the police were still scratching their heads trying to find him, or his remains, which they would never find.
Frankly, she was rather happy with herself for that maneuver. She only had two targets left, and even better, Mono had given her a Quest about it.
[Side-Quest: Predator Becomes Prey]
[Difficulty: Easy]
[Sometimes, the Predator needs to become the prey. A victim. To experience the pain that they push onto those who cannot protect themselves. You will serve as that. Do unto them that they do to those who cannot stop it.]
[Rewards: +1 Level Up, 10,000 Currency, Title: Predator Hunter]
It was a rather basic quest, but a quest nonetheless. It also gave her a guaranteed level-up, which given the fact that she needed 130,000 Exp to level up once—which was ridiculous if one were to ask her—added even more incentive to hunt the bastards down.
"I see. It's nice to meet you, Takime-Sensei," Jolyne said, bowing her head as Takime-Sensei smiled as the rest of the class filtered into the classroom. As they did Hajime saw her, smiled, and took his seat near the back of the class. A moment later, Natsumi sat in her seat next to Jolyne, sparing her an annoyed glare, before turning her attention to the front of the class.
From just underneath the collar of her uniform, Jolyne could spot what appeared to be bandages trailing down past her collar. She was still recovering from their "fight" though to call it that was a mockery to the idea of a fight. It was a one-sided beatdown, and it was entirely unfair on her part. One punch was all it took, but that was to be expected, all things considered.
From what Mono had told her during her week off, NPCs had no resistance to any "damage type". Slash, pierce, blunt, you name it they do not resist any of it. Not unless they're briefly changed into a boss enemy, and then they gain a decent resistance to all three types of damage.
"Alright, class! Please open your science textbooks to…" The moment Takime-Sensei spoke, Jolyne pulled out a science textbook from her inventory courtesy of Mono, doing so discretely to where it looked like she pulled it out of her desk.
Just like every other day, classes would be boring. But, there was solace in that. It was normal, and right now, Jolyne could go for some normal. Especially after a week of dungeon crawling.
[XXXX]
Hajime was a simple man. At least, he'd like to think so anyway. As a simple man, to say he had been a little worried about Jolyne would be an astute observation. Being sick for a week, especially after just waking up not but a week or so ago from a coma, was not a good thing. When they talked over the phone, she sounded really bad. Like, an extreme case of the flu level of bad.
That type of being sick didn't just go away in a week. Not unless she was taking enough drugs to cure a horse, and even then that wouldn't be enough. Yet here she was, sitting at school as if nothing was wrong.
He had told Chiaki about it, and she also grew concerned despite not knowing Jolyne, which went to show how much of a caring person she was. Though, last week, Class 77 – B, as well as the rest of the main course, were going on a camping trip that would last two weeks. A week had already passed, so they'd be returning to Hopes Peak this Friday.
Apparently, they went to Okinawa for an all-expenses paid pseudo-vacation. He was, reasonably, jealous. It wasn't often that one went to Okinawa, let alone an all-expenses paid trip at that. Meanwhile, he and Reserve Course got to languish here and do nothing but schoolwork.
Chiaki had joked about stashing him away in a large suitcase so he could go—Class 77 had actually become quite fond of him, minus Saionji-san. Though he was fairly certain it was all a ruse, he wasn't going to push it. Even their teacher liked him, so that was good. But even if that hairball idea of a plan worked, the rest of the main course would notice him and it would be over.
Strangely, for some reason or another, all of the security that was meant to guard the school also went. It further showed just how much of an afterthought the Reserve Course was, and it pissed him off.
It was very hard to get Hajime of all people angry, but that would do it.
He was getting sidetracked. The point of all of this was to point out that Chiaki wasn't going to be around, and that he was worried for Jolyne. Luckily, thanks to him, she was able to keep up with class and the assignments, which she deeply appreciated.
From time to time he couldn't help but stare at her. There was an air of longing surrounding him when he did, and to anyone with a functioning brain, it was obvious that he had feelings for him. So why didn't she pick up on it? Or maybe she was choosing not to.
Did he make her feel awkward? Was that what this was?
No, it couldn't be. Not with how she went red in the face when they held hands on the roof. Not without the constant side eyes and faint blushing, she did when she looked at him and she caught her. Not with all of the smiling she did when she was around him.
God, he wished for it to come back. For everything to return to normal. He knew he was being selfish, but out of all the things for the world to take from him, the world stole away one of the only things that stopped him from taking that deal when it was first offered to him. He knew though, that it was possible to get it back. Possible for him to regain that which had been taken from him.
And it was all because of Natsumi Kuzuryu.
He didn't want to acknowledge it, and he harboured no hatred for Natsumi—he was above that, he told himself, because if he wasn't then he'd already have taken out whatever anger he had toward her onto her—but all the same, it was her fault that Jolyne had tried to take her life. All because she was a "gaijin" and "didn't belong" or whatever nonsense.
But it wasn't just that. Hajime didn't know the extent of the bullying Jolyne had been put through, but it was bad enough to the point where she'd have bruises. With no family to lean back on due to them completely cutting her off, aside from sending her money to live, she only had him and Sato, though less of Sato and more of just him.
That was why their bond was as strong as it had been. They were friends, yes, but it was more of a support system. A support system that evolved into a relationship, and then because of a particularly cruel series of events on Natsumi's end, it culminated in Jolyne attempting to take her life.
The Kuzuryu Clan then, a day later, apologized in an official capacity and vowed that Natsumi would never pick on him or Jolyne again, assuming Jolyne woke up from her coma and didn't succumb to her injuries. That had shocked Hajime, namely because of what that entailed.
It was common knowledge that when a Yakuza apologized, it meant everything. It was a sign of both respect and also a message. A message that could not be ignored. Hajime took it to heart and expected them to keep to their word. After all, out of all the things that the Yakuza had in their arsenal, their word was their strongest.
As the saying goes: If all else fails, always count on a Yakuza to keep their word.
But Natsumi, it seemed, didn't care about that rule and continued to pester and pick on him. Even after almost losing his girlfriend because of her antics. Even after the Kuzuryu Clan vowed to make sure that Natsumi kept her act together. Nothing had changed. It took everything within himself to not lash out when she continued to poke at him. Continued to make fun of him. Continued to point out his insecurities and all of the things about himself he hated.
It only ended when Jolyne woke up. Even then, she still kept pestering him. She even tried to continue her bullying streak to Jolyne, and that had gotten Hajime even more worried. However, a part of him felt as if his worry was misplaced. He didn't know why he felt that way, especially given her history of being extremely prone to taking bad to being insulted.
The Jolyne he knew was timid and soft, and while she had her moments of confidence, she was practically his shadow. So, when Natsumi was moments away from tripping her, something that he had caught onto, he was going to say something to her, only for Jolyne to stomp on Natsumi's foot, and nearly break her big toe.
That had been his first sign that something about her had changed. His second was just how forward she had become, not to mention her being suddenly really sassy and blunt, as shown when she was more comfortable with being more open about herself and her obvious annoyance toward the currently missing Takimura-Sensei. It was bizarre and completely unexpected. It was almost as if she had become an entirely new person.
Hajime had to thank Tsumiki-san for helping him figure out what could've happened. He never really contacted any of the Ultimates that he knew out of fear of being a nuisance, but it was a medical thing, and he didn't want to bother a hospital or a local doctor. So, he figured that The Ultimate Nurse would know what could've possibly happened for Jolyne's personality to take a sudden shift.
After a few back-and-forth emails—because Tsumiki-san didn't have a personal phone to call with, not that she liked phones in the first place—she explained to him what could've been the issue. Tsumiki-san reasoned that, due to both the traumatic event and head and or brain injury suffered when she attempted suicide, her personality had shifted for one of two reasons.
Reason one: for her brain to cope with the constant verbal abuse she suffered, and to put on a braver front to show that she wasn't a weakling anymore—Tsumiki-sans words, not his—and that the process was made easier due to her brain being essentially in limbo.
Reason two: Her amnesia played a part in her personality altering significantly, because without her memories, she wouldn't have a reason to be timid, scared, or afraid of people for the same reason why someone who was never bullied or made a punching bag would need to be afraid.
Both reasons made sense, and personally, Hajime chose to believe the latter rather than the former. He was thankful for the connections he had, even if they were limited, and even if he didn't particularly use them—he knew his place in the world. Even if a part of him wanted to lash out about it.
Back to the topic at hand—Jolyne, and her personality shift. Due to her personality shift, he didn't know if she had the same morals as she used to, and after asking her to attempt some kind of peace between them and Natsumi; which admittedly was a little selfish of him, he was glad to have seen that she accepted it.
The one thing he wasn't glad about was the fact that a fight broke out between the two. A fight that ended with Jolyne the victor, and without a single scratch on her body. A fight that saw the two most left front doors of the school shattered, a chunk of one of the pillars cracked, and a locker dented inward.
He didn't make his opinion known at the time, but after having a week to mull it over, Hajime could officially say to himself and himself alone that Jolyne was terrifying. In a good way, mind you. It wasn't as if she was using whatever superhuman strength she gained to terrorize random people—because that was the best way he could explain that is that Jolyne was now somehow a superhuman.
Then again, there was The Ogre. Someone so freakishly strong that she could lift entire dump trucks full of dirt and not have a single drop of sweat fall from her forehead. So maybe he was exaggerating just a little bit, but who could blame him? Jolyne never was able to do something like that. She was never that type of person.
But that changed.
She changed.
Jolyne Brooks changed completely. The only thing that was the same was her morals. Yet, despite that, he was still smitten with her. It was never her personality or her looks that attracted him to her. It was never the fact that she walked with an unintentional hip sway that had him staring. It was never the fact that her smile radiated joy.
It was never any of that.
It was the simple fact that, at the end of the day, Jolyne made him feel complete. He didn't know why, but he felt more alive being in her presence—felt more like a human around her. It was why he had nearly reconsidered that deal when Jolyne hadn't woken up after almost a week of being in her coma.
It was… pathetic, really. How it only took three days of Jolyne not being conscious to almost make him fold and sacrifice himself for some twisted experiment. Even if it was something for "the greater good" he still saw no reason as to why it had to be him. Though, maybe it had to do with the fact that he was a loner. He didn't know for sure, but if he had to guess, that was probably why.
Hajime never had any friends growing up, only getting to know and meet Sato in their last year of middle school. He never tried to get attached to people, mostly thanks to his father. His father was a very paranoid man, so much so that he didn't even trust his family—including his mother and himself.
Some of that paranoia rubbed off on Hajime, and he tried to keep to himself. So when he started at Hope's Peak Reserve's course last year and was paired with Jolyne and Sato for the first few weeks of school, he dreaded it. He dreaded every second of it.
While Sato essentially wanted nothing to do with either of them and went off to talk to her other friend, who just so happened to be an Ultimate named Mahiru Koizumi, Jolyne tried being his friend. Tried to get him to open up.
It was only after she mentioned that she had talked to some guy on DOTA 2 and that they were trying to meet up, and named dropped his username on a random Monday afternoon, did he realized the colossal blunder he had made. Ever since then, due to them being essentially social outcasts, they bonded very quickly. Along the way, Sato became a part of that, and the rest of was history.
Which led to now. It was after class, and everyone was packing up for lunch. Hajime had sorted everything into his binder and was glancing over at Jolyne from time to time to see what she was doing. She was just stuffing papers—orderly, mind you—into her desk. As she was doing that, Natsumi leaned in to whisper something to her, which made her lock up.
A part of him was concerned about what she had told her. Natsumi knew about his crush on Jolyne. Knew that he didn't want to tell her until she was a little more comfortable with her current situation. Worst of all, Jolyne's eyes seemed to narrow for some reason.
Natsumi, giggling, walked away. But, before she left, she glanced over at him, a devious gleam in her eyes with a smirk that could be described as evil. With that, she left, leaving Jolyne standing stock still with her eyes narrowed.
"What did she say?" Hajime thought, as he nervously approached her, or at least began to. He didn't even make it a step toward her before she shot a glare his way. It made him recoil, and before he could say anything, she turned her back and walked away.
His heart sank to the bottom of his core, his shoulders slumping as he looked at the floor, eyes solemn and downcast.
"Oh no…"
Involuntarily, Hajime clenched his right hand into a fist. "Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!"
Just like that, his worst fears came true.
He had put her off, and it was all thanks to Natsumi Kuzuryu. Once again, ruining his life. For a brief second, hate-filled his heart—but only for a second. Once again, Natsumi Kuzuryu went out of her way to make his life worse.
Why?
Why?!
That was all he ever wanted to know. Why did she have it out for him? What did he do to her in the past that would've made her hate him?!
One thing was for sure, though. From the way Jolyne had looked at him, it was clear that she had said something to her that made her want to glare at him, and for all he knew, it could've damaged their friendship.
He needed to know.
He was going to find out.
And so, against his better judgment, he followed after her.
[XXXX]
Tokyo was a bustling, constantly moving city. It was Japan's equivalent to the city that never sleeps, what with all the flashing and bright lights from the billboards, the nightclubs, the 24/7 convenience stores, the restaurants, the bars—you name it, Tokyo had them. Mixed in were arcades that never closed, casinos that took advantage of the nightlife, and the folks who paid for everything to keep on going.
And in a city that never sleeps, crime was also a commonplace thing; even moreso than normal. The police, most of whom were paid off by the local Yakuza gangs, namely the Kuzuryu Clan, did mostly nothing about it. There were a few plucky cops who did the right thing, but it was hardly ever worth it most of the time.
Despite that, the people of Tokyo never once lived in fear. They had no reason to because even though crime was on the rise, it was being mainly squashed down by The Kuzuryu Clan. Ironically enough, ever since they paid off the police, they had been cleaning up the other Yakuza. But because it was a violent affair, it was seen as the crime rate spiking.
The people of Tokyo knew otherwise—if anything, the Yakuza did more to quell crime rates than the police ever did. Though they always made sure to steer clear of the Yakuza, there was a silent understanding that if they left them alone, then they would be left alone.
Though, the Yakuza also had to make sure that they were being treated well. They had to make sure that they were getting what they were owed. It came at a cost to the local populous. The Kuzuryu Clan had a protection fee, starting at 5.000 Yen. Though, as they continued to offer their services, the price would go up.
For Tokyo, that price per building had now reached well over 40,000 Yen a month. More than some people's rent. Granted, it was a collective total for everyone living in the building or for the business own owned the buildings, but it was still quite expensive.
"So, Mrs. Noritomo, you got the money yet?" A tall, lanky man dressed in a black suit and tie asked a small, elderly woman. She looked to be in her 60s, and she dressed the part two with a flower shirt and loose jeans with sandals rather than shoes. Wrinkly skin and deceivingly youthful brown eyes stared up at the tall and lanky man, who had a neutral expression on his face.
The man, aside from his suit, had faded tan skin, black eyes, and the start of a goatee on his chin with slicked-back black hair. His hands were in his pockets, and flanking his right was another man dressed similarly to him, though a bit more on the bulkier side with a lighter shade of brown hair and eyes and a little darker skin.
The thing that signified them as Yakuza was the tiny metal badge on the left lapel of their suits. A badge that struck fear in the hearts of any who saw it. Civilian, other Yakuza, police—it didn't matter. The Kuzuryu Clan did not show kindness to the everyday individual much less the police or other Yakuza.
The two men were intimidating, towering over her as if they were giants, and it affected the old lady. She was quivering slightly—and who wouldn't? The act that they were committing was heavily illegal, and if they were caught by the police it would've been Noritomo who would be arrested and punished rather than the two Yakuza.
"Could you please wait another week? We can only collectively pay out 30,000 right now. B-But next week, we will have the rest of your money," Noritomo said, her voice carrying a fearful hitch to it as the lankier of the two men narrowed his eyes.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. You want us to wait?" The man said, before grabbing Noritomo by the wrist and yanking her forward, getting her face as he sneered which made the old woman flinch. "We give you protection, and this is how you pay us? By making us wait? Who do you think you are?" The man hissed, glaring down at Noritomo, whose eyes began to water.
"I'm s-sorry, but w-we can't pay you yet… P-Please, just a little more time and—"
The man slapped Noritomo across the face, the sound reverberating across the alleyway as the old woman staggered back, whimpering in pain as the man snarled.
"How dare you! I—"
"Is something the matter?" A calm, almost emotionless voice rang out from the back of the alleyway. The sound of heels clacking against the pavement echoed as a figure approached from the shadows.
They had light purple hair with blue streaks dyed within and haunting lavender eyes. Their face was devoid of imperfections and their expression was a neutral mask which hid the anger in their eyes. They were dressed in a red dress with a slit in the thigh, exposing their left thigh to the world as the rest of the dress rounded out at the knees; the dress was complimented by a golden cross necklace and a pair of black high-heels. They had a more youthful appearance but were more than evidently an adult given their facial structure and the broadness of their shoulders.
The light purple and blue hair reached down past their shoulders and to the small of their back, and while didn't have much to show in the ways of a chest, it was clear that the person was a woman. Her eyes were narrowed, but not so much to show aggression moreso than annoyance.
"Piss off, lady. This is between me and the grandma over here," the tall man spat as the larger of the two men began to approach the woman in the dress. An unimpressed gleam took up her eyes as the larger man put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm going to ask you to leave, ma'am. We—"
Before the man could finish his sentence, the woman's left hand twitched, and in the blink of an eye, the sound of something cutting through the air in rapid succession filled the air, making the tall man go stiff. There was an anger in the woman's eyes that could not be described, a frown taking up her visage as she spoke. "Keep your disgusting hands off of me."
And then, several thin lines began to form on the large man, blood seeping from them, before he fell apart like a Jenga tower. It wasn't a messy explosion or anything like that, just a simple tumble with blood staining the ground underneath the now cut-apart man. The old woman didn't scream, she didn't shout, she simply stared in abstract horror as the woman in the dress huffed.
In her left hand was now a sword. It was a thin, abnormally white katana blade with a golden surface. Its hilt and guard were both made of black steel with a white cloth wrapping around the hilt for comfort. Blood dripped from the sharp edge of the blade, as a white aura flowed off the blade, real and tangible for all to see.
On the katana's guard, an intricate pattern was carved into the metal in the shape of interlocking crosses with bright blue gems sitting in the center of them. The final bit of detailing was at the end of the hilt, where an effigy of Jesus Christ had been, marking the sword to have been fashioned by someone who had been a stalwart believer in The Lord.
"W-What the fuck!?" The tall man all but screamed, taking several steps back as the woman in the red dress sneered. There was a brief flash of light, and the dress changed colour, going from red to white. Gilded wing-like shoulder pads sat on her shoulders, and a pair of white gauntlets with crosses painted on with gold paint rested on her lower arms, the same being with lower leg guards.
The tall man didn't say anything, he just stared in a mix of confusion and horror as the woman approached him, her blade pointed to the ground as anger filled her eyes. The man fell to the ground, and when he did, the woman levelled her blade to the man's throat, the tip of the blade touching his adam's apple as sweat collected on his forehead.
"Heed my words, boy. If you want to keep your life, you'll do three things. The first is that you'll cease to harass this old lady. The second thing you'll do is stop bothering this building and its people. The final thing you will do is tell me the whereabouts of Higuchi Kuzuryu. Do you understand?" The woman spat as the tall man narrowed his eyes, all of that fear washing away as he sneered.
"Fuck you! I'm not telling you shit about our boss!" The tall man said, grabbing her sword's blade and attempting to throw the woman back using all of his strength, but the blade didn't so much as budge, and neither did the woman. The woman sneered, and the fear came rushing back to the man. Before he could open his mouth, his head was divorced from his shoulders, blood gushing from his neck as it tumbled to the ground, that fear forever etched into his face.
"Scum. Every single one of you. In the name of God, I will end you all," the woman hissed as her blade evaporated into light, and for her outfit to return to the simple red dress that she had on a moment ago. Noritomo looked up at the woman, who glanced over at her, gesturing with her head for her to leave. Noritomo did just that, muttering a "thank you" under her breath in the process.
As she left, the woman couldn't help but scowl, looking down on the corpses that lay in front of her. It was a shame, really. How these two men, who were otherwise children of God, fell to the darkness of becoming the scum of the Earth.
They became Yakuza. Criminals, who used the term "family" to make themselves sound more wholesome than they were. She would know, as she was a victim to them.
For the last two or so years, this had been her mission. To weed out the evil of this world. The mission was given to her by The Greater Will, with said mission being passed down to her through the God that gave her, that God being Jupiter, the Roman God of Justice. She would start with the Kuzuryu Clan, which was the biggest source of scum.
After all, they killed her parents for not being able to pay for protection money. They left her and her brother to die on the streets, but they managed. They survived. Now, they vowed to kill the Kuzuryu Clan. To rid them of Japan, and make Japan a better place.
She would forever remember having to cradle her younger brother and protect him from having to hear their parent's screams of pain. When they hid them in the laundry room when those bastards broke into the building for not paying them for protection money. She heard it all. Their screams of pain, the gunshots, and the laughing and joking that those two scum bags made.
Even worse was that silver-haired swordswoman who cut her father down. They looked about the same age, but those red, emotionless eyes, betrayed something else entirely. They were the eyes of a demon—a monster who only cared about cutting people down for the sake of their "family".
But if those people were innocent, then reason be damned she would never let that continue. She would hunt them down. All of them.
[Quest – Exterminate The Kuzuryu Clan]
{Progress – 25%}
[Difficulty: Hard]
[Rewards: +5 Levels, 200,000 Yen]
"Good," Chinatsu Oma thought, stepping out of the alleyway and into the night. Honestly, she didn't expect to be running into these goons today. But, with two less of them in the world was better than nothing.
It was her 21st birthday, and her girlfriend was treating her to a fancy dinner at a five-star restaurant. Honestly, she was excited. It was why she was wearing what she was. Though, maybe it was a bad idea given how chilly it had been outside.
Regardless, it was the thought that counted. She was supposed to pick her up in a little bit, but she thought she'd stand outside and wait for her. It was better than being kept up in that stuffy apartment. Though, looking back on it, maybe it would've been better for her to have just stayed inside.
But, if she hadn't, something bad could've happened to Noritomo-san, and that just wouldn't do. Especially if the Kuzuryu Clan was involved.
Chinatsu Oma was an anomaly. She wasn't even fully human, but she was born the same way everyone else was. For she was reincarnated to the fullest extent, and when she was born, she was chosen by Jupiter to be his tool for Justice in this world. To that end, when she was born, she was born with something dubbed a System.
With that system, she became a Paladin to mete out justice to those who deserved to be punished, and while it would've taken her a while to actually start doing things, her system was patient with her.
As she grew up, though, she learned to view the world differently. Assess threat levels, and rather than make friends, she kept to herself. She was special, and because she was special, no one would understand her. As to why that was, the answer was rather simple. It was because of her System.
Essentially, her life played out like a video game. She had quests, and she'd do those quests, and those quests would give her levels, and those levels made her stronger. Once she was able to walk, she would go around doing small things, and when she turned four when her younger brother was born, she became his bodyguard.
It wasn't till she turned seven when she did her first dungeon. She walked away stronger than ever, and ever since their parents died, she did everything she could to maintain as much power as she possibly good—to grow as powerful as possible.
Right now, she is at level 55. She had two spells, one perk, and one trait. Her perk was Divine Sense which let her sniff out whoever was evil and whoever was good so that she could dish out punishment.
Her trait was Heavenly Restriction, which was a little bizarre. Essentially, for the sacrifice of limited magic capabilities, i.e. starting with 0 Arcane Wisdom, 0 Faith, and 0 Magic Attack, she gained 150 Physical Strength and 300 Attack off the bat. It also enhanced her speed and defences, giving her the same Defence as her Attack stat. It also made it so that her magic attack only gained 1 point per level, which made it that her two spells were rather weak.
Not that they were offensive spells. They were spells that buffed her physical attack and defence and increased her stealth. While she was a Paladin, and while they often used Holy Magic to execute their foes, Chinatsu didn't want that. She, admittedly, had a lust for battle. It made her heart pump and it made her feel alive.
Maybe she would've been better off picking a more violent class, but if she was to mete out justice, then being a Paladin was the best way she could do that. In her past life, she had played a lot of Dungeons & Dragons, and she always played Paladin characters. They were both the best and they were also just really fun to play.
So, when she died, and when she was given the option to reincarnate to become someone who meted out justice in a world that sorely needed it like that of the Danganronpa Universe, of course, she'd go this route.
What she hadn't expected, though, was that there were others like her. Others were blessed by Gods with supernatural powers. She even fell in love with one of them, but that relationship fell apart when they both joined The Dark Triad. A group of paid assassins that were meant to protect the weak.
At first, Chinatsu was content to work for The Dark Triad whilst also leading DICE alongside her baby brother. It also allowed her to keep in contact with Jackson, her at the time boyfriend—who despite Kokichi believing that she was having sexual relations with him, she wasn't. She couldn't, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to gain access to the Holy Armoury at level 50. After that, though, seeing as she kept the weapon she chose, it hardly mattered. It was a loophole and one that, once Jupiter found out about it, had to report it to God. But because God found it funny, he let it slide. But only once.
Oh well, sucked to be everyone else, she guessed. At least she got to keep Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. So what if she didn't get Amoracchius or The Inverted Spear of Heaven? Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi was her favourite kind of weapon: a Blood-loss weapon. The kind that whittled down health bars of big, tough, overpowered bosses. While she couldn't use its ability because she lacked the Faith required to use it, it was strong enough to cut down any foe she came across.
But that aside, back to the topic at hand, While Kokichi didn't like the fact that she was working in two groups at once, Chinatsu helped him understand her decision, and he eventually went along with it. Siblings will be siblings, after all.
Then, she met The Dark Triad's leader.
The leader of that group, who was only known to them as Miss Pluton, was a heavily paranoid individual. So much so that she never showed her face whenever they had meetings. She was either bathed in shadow or she wore a mask. The only time that she didn't was in private, and the only reason she eventually uncovered Miss Pluton's identity—facially speaking anyway—was because of what Chinatsu had found out about her other connections.
Her connections with The Kuzuryu Clan.
She remembered fighting Miss Pluton.
She also remembered having her limbs cut off of her body and made to be a pincushion by Miss Pluton. The gap in their power was immense, not to mention their talent. Even with her Heavenly Restriction trait, Miss Pluton was leagues faster, stronger, and more durable than her. It didn't help that she was Max Level or that she had a Mythic Weapon.
Had it not been for Jackson stepping in and breaking up the fight after hearing the commotion, Miss Pluton would've killed her. From that day forward, Chinatsu left the group and broke up with Jackson. She refused to be associated with anyone who believed the Kuzuryu Clan was at all useful to their needs.
Not after what they took from her.
On top of having the Kuzuryu Clan on her list of people she needed to kill, Miss Pluton was now on there as well. Though it would be a long before that happened, it still needed to be done. Of course, there was also Junko Enoshima and Mukuro Ikosaba if she could ever find them, and the soon-to-be Remnants of Despair. That was supposed to happen sometime late this year as well thanks to Class 78 joining Hopes Peak Academy.
That was next month. She needed to track Junko down and kill her before anything horrible could happen. It had been something that she had been doing in the background, but it had come up fruitless. It was as if she knew she was being tracked. There had been several locations that Chinatsu had pinned down her location at, only for her to arrive and for the locations to be empty, burned, and give off a strange energy. As if staring at the room or even the building for that matter was slowly driving her mad.
Something had changed. Something massive. If she didn't know any better, this was starting to smell like the work of one of those Outer Gods Jupiter had been warning her about. Which one, though, she didn't know. But unless Junko had somehow found out about magic—which was a terrifying notion—then something wasn't adding up here.
Either way, that was still something that she was focusing on in the background. She was more concerned about getting rid of The Kuzuryu Clan.
Aside from her grudge against them, and for good reason, a part of why The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History, or shortened to The Tragedy was as devastating as it had been was thanks to Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu and The Kuzuryu Clan going mad with power thanks to Junko. So, aside from her grudge, getting them out of the picture was seen as a necessity.
"Chi-chan!" A voice called out to Chinatsu, who stood outside of the front entrance to the apartment building she lived in, as a woman in a dark blue 1999 Cadillac convertible pulled up, the roof of the car set down revealing the white leather seats. The woman in question had off-white hair, and light grey eyes, and was dressed in a silver sparkly dress with a red bead necklace.
"Susu-chan! Finally, you took forever to get here," Chinatsu complained jokingly as she walked over to the passenger side front seat. Sumire Watanabe, a woman in her mid-20s, was someone who she had ironically met at a café—generic, she knew, but Sumire, or Susu-chan which Chinatsu lovingly called her, was a wonderful woman.
She was kind and smart, and she had a stable job. Her parents didn't support her "lifestyle", but were happy that she was happy. It was an oxymoronic thing, and Chinatsu found it stupid though Sumire mostly ignored it.
They shared similar interests and funnily enough, Sumire also disliked the Kuzuryu Clan. Not as much as Chinatsu, but that was fine. Not everyone needed to share her exact hatred for the group. While Sumire never questioned anything, she was curious as to why she was so strong on more than a few occasions. Chinatsu told her it was thanks to constantly working out, and considering just how wacky this world had been, it made sense to her.
Had it been any other world, then it would be a little outlandish. But considering that The Orge existed, and was as strong as she had been, and considering that she was still stronger than her—or at least, she thought so anyway, for all she knew the Orge was weaker than her but that was neither here nor there.
Getting into the car and putting on her seatbelt, Sumire kissed her suddenly, shocking Chinatsu. She melted into the kiss, putting a hand on Sumire's left cheek, and for a second, Chinatsu felt her heart rate increase. When Sumire pulled away, Chinatsu's face was a deep shade of red. "Happy birthday, Chi-chan~"
"Tease…" Chinatsu muttered as Sumire giggled.
"Date first, bed later, okay?" Sumire said, bopping Chinatsu on the nose as she turned to face the road, putting the car in drive and pulling back onto the street. But as they did, both failed to notice a black Rolls Royce Ghost car parked just a block down the street, with a few men in suits sitting there. A larger man with an eyepatch sat in the rear of the car, a frown on his face.
All of them had the same badge as The Kuzuryu Clan, and all of them were furious with what they had seen. The large man, Daisuke Daimon, huffed. "That woman. Keep tabs on her," the man spat as everyone in the car grunted in response.
Daisuke was an Enforcer. It was his job to make sure other people's jobs went right. But, now, it would seem, he had a lesson to teach. A small smirk took up his visage. Not now, though. He'd wait for just the right time. Besides, it would be wrong to get someone who wasn't involved in the same trouble as the person who was involved.
But when the moment was right, Daisuke would ensure that those two men were just killed… They would get the vengeance that they deserved. Under the eye patch, a haunting red glow peeked out from underneath, as the whirring of gears matched the same movements as Daisuke's right hand's fingers tapping the soft leather.
Oh, how fun the future looked to be.
[-To Be Continued-]
[Ending Song: Outsider – By: Eve]
So! How'd ya'll like that? The best part is that this chapter came out before a month passed! Not that it wasn't cutting close, though. But it's an improvement! Anyway, time to get into my response to reviews/comments!
[Response to reviews/comments]
(FF): AidenJacksonSmithDSBB: It was, indeed a reference to the late Technoblade. Shibuya's also just a regular city in Japan, it has nothing to do with the funny Jujutsu show.
(Qoutev) Sunky Addict: First: Nah, Aiden isn't one of the System Users I mentioned early in the series. He's an invader. Those will happen more often, by the way.
Second: That's what exposition and world-building are for! Better to slowly drip-feed that stuff in than to just *plop* it right in front of someone.
Third: Yes. Very much so.
Fourth: Gotta respect the Ogs. Technoblade Never Dies!
(Ao3): Fluffycuddlebug: Spicy Food—in moderation—is good. Also, no Despair Sisters in this chapter. But… *Checks notes* Next chapter, however. Oh, and thank you for pointing that out!
(Ao3): WilburDrake: Yeah, honestly I have the same gripe. Like, c'mon guys, that's perfect angst material! The fact that no one goes for that is actually kind of boring. Makes these stories seem even more generic than normal.
As for your theory/question about the original Jolyne that inhabited the body that Reincarnated Jolyne is in, you're pretty close to the whole amalgamation thing. This will come into play at some point.
Also, you're wrong about that being Lilith. Lilith won't show up until way later on in the series. I'm not gonna drop someone like that so early in the series.
(Ao3): Kolt: Heh, "previous knowledge haunts you" lmao. Also, Mono keeping stuff from her will be a reoccurring thing. He's not the most useful AI companion around. That wouldn't be nearly as fun :) Also, math be mathing hardcore. 1,786 years is a long time, but that's why time skips are useful.
Have a great day, Kolt!
And that should be all. See ya'll at the next one!