Chapter 10! We've got one more chapter after this until we end the first arc of the Danganronpa world! Gotta admit I didn't expect to get this far this quickly. Considering I started writing this in… February, and with how we're already past 100k words, I can only imagine how many words this'll end up having by the time we get to the last chapter of Book One (Chapter 26 + Epilogue)
I know that sounds short, but that's because I do plan to bind these for myself to have in person. I also have to put these all on a single document, and properly format them and—you know what, that's irrelevant.
Oh! Btw, I *might* be getting a job soon, so my free time won't exactly be as abundant as it usually is. I say *might* because it's only a follow-up after a phone interview. But if I do get this job, then my upload schedule will probably hyper-fixate on *this* story and nothing else. Not a bad thing for you guys, but for my other fics, it probably is.
Oh, and another thing. I want to make sure you guys understand that Kokichi and Himiko were never meant to last past this arc. That doesn't mean their demises won't have lasting impacts on the world.
Anyway, you all know the drill. Stay tuned for the end till my response to reviews/comments!
[-Chapter 10: Loss Begets Madness-]
"I miss her. I miss her touch, and I miss her voice. I can scarcely remember her face, but those larger-than-life, sky-blue eyes… [Redacted]… why did you have to leave me? Please, come back to me… Please…." – Journal Entry belonging to a King of a Desert Kingdom, the self-proclaimed King of Lies.
Not since she had first encountered The Undead King Bogart had she felt true, honest to The Almighty fear when she stepped into the arena with a foe. But when staring down Kokichi Oma, the only thing she felt was the overbearing sense of dread.
And before she was given a chance to let it truly sink in, Kokichi was already in front of her, reaching out to grab her as his cape blew in the wind. She didn't want to know what would've happened to her if she hadn't moved, but given that when she dodged out of the way, the flames around his hand grew ever-so-slightly meant that it was probably nothing good.
Of course, she also didn't expect him to turn around and flick his wrist, causing a cascade of yellow flames to spray in her general direction like a torrent of water. Jolyne was able to dodge it, though only barely. But Kokichi wasn't done. He leapt up into the air, and slammed down mere inches away from her, causing an eruption of yellow flames to burst up around the area where he slammed down.
It flung Jolyne high into the air, the yellow flames of Madness barely touching her as her HP slowly started to drain. She was only in the flames for a split second, and her HP went from 1,400 to 1,100. 300 HP in a split second.
300.
"Fuck!" Jolyne cursed in her head, as she landed on the floor, before quickly rolling out of the way to avoid a kick. Once she got to her feet, she narrowed her eyes and conjured Void Snatch to try and grab him, only for Kokichi to parry her magic with his own. Just as she conjured Void Snatch, he blasted forth a stream of yellow flames that began to destroy her spell.
She quickly undid the spell, and closed the distance, finally getting an attack off; a simple downward slash across his chest. It dropped his 100% HP down to 97%, meaning that, at the very least, she was doing decent damage to him.
She tried to follow it up with another attack, but Kokichi had other plans, grabbing her wrist with his left hand and twisting it, moving Jolyne's arm and bending it in such a way that she would be placed in an awkward position. Jolyne grunted in pain as Kokichi snickered, "Nice try~!" As he spoke, he slammed his right fist into her stomach, knocking off 200 more HP from her, before throwing her back.
Thankfully, Jolyne was able to stop her rapid backward flying with a well-timed Void Snatch, pressing it against the metal cube of a fan on the school's roof. She was down to 900 HP already. She had gotten a break yet to stop and heal using her Thirst Meter, but she'd need at least one opening. She couldn't take many hits from him, that much was for sure.
She was already missing 35% of her HP, and the battle had only just barely begun. Nevertheless, Jolyne lunged forward, determined to kill the bastard before her as she aimed to thrust her blade into his neck. Kokichi smirked, not seeming to care even in the slightest, opening his arms in a welcoming manner.
[JOLYNE! DON'T!]
But it was too late, as she had already plunged her blade into his throat, which took his HP down from 97% to 92%, dealing a good chunk of damage to him. But that didn't stop him from then wrapping his arms around her torso, and with a manic, bloody grin, proceeded to charge up some kind of eyebeam attack.
His eyes began to glow a sickly yellow—even more than before—and then, without warning, he began to blast the beams of yellow flame into her eyes. It was as if agony itself had begun to pour into her very being as she screamed in abstract pain. It was as if all the world's agony was squeezed into one, concentrated attack, and was being shoved directly into her eyes.
It only lasted a second—just a second. But in that second, not only did Jolyne's HP essentially melt away down to a measly 300 HP, but a yellow meter began to build up and stop just before filling completely in the left-hand corner of her vision.
She was unceremoniously dropped to the floor, stunned and in horrible, horrible pain. It was like being run over multiple times by a semi-truck, but much much worse. She wanted to curl up into a ball and sob, that was all she wanted to do… that was all she felt like she could do.
"Do you feel that~? That's what everyone feels~ That's the truth, and the truth hurts doesn't it?" Kokichi mocked, kicking Jolyne away from his feet as she was sent flying into a wall, shaving off another 200 HP.
She was down to her last 100, and she was still reeling from the last attack.
As Kokichi approached, a large smile on his face, and streams of yellow liquid pouring down his cheeks, he began to chuckle. It was only then that Jolyne began to slowly get back up to her feet, her thirst meter emptying almost completely to fully heal her.
Whatever that was… she didn't want to experience it again.
[Jolyne… are you alright?]
Jolyne didn't answer. She simply stared at Kokichi and stared at his HP percentage. 92%. She still had a long way to go, but it would be worth it. Besides, she had already killed most of Dice. That, and that Frenzy Flame stuff… if that was what she had just been hit with, then she couldn't allow that to continue spreading.
If this was what it could do, then she had no choice but to take Kokichi down.
"Is this stuff contagious, Mono?"
[Yes, it is.]
"What are the chances that Dice was infected with it?"
[100%. That is why I told you to eradicate Dice. To quell the spread]
"What are the chances it spread to me…"
[If that status meter had filled up entirely, you would've had to have been put down…]
So, in other words, she was a split second away from going Mad herself. She couldn't get grabbed again. Period.
But she wasn't going to be able to take on Kokichi by herself, as was evident by the fact that the moment she was able to get up, he rushed her down. He cocked his fist back and prepared to punch her in the face, which she narrowly avoided as he shattered the wall behind her. The wall led to the open staircase that would take anyone down further into the school.
Before Jolyne got any ideas, the white fog from the dungeons appeared to cover it, meaning that she was trapped there until she beat Kokichi. Meaning she couldn't leave, and that she was stuck there with him.
Usually, it was the other way around with these bosses, but that wasn't the case this time. She was severely lacking in ability here. But she was going to win, no matter what.
No matter what had to be done to win.
Jolyne thrust her sword into Kokichi's stomach, making him grunt. Before he could grab her, though, she tore her blade out from his stomach, and kicked him back, creating a small distance between herself and him. His HP fell from 92% to 88%. Then, with that distance created, she slammed her blade into the ground and activated Blood Wave.
As the tidal wave of crimson-red liquid hurriedly travelled from where Kokichi stood, there was nothing that he could do to avoid it. He simply put up his arms in an attempt to block it—not that it would've worked.
At least, it shouldn't have.
Rather than Blood Wave utterly decimating his health bar, it hardly even scratched it. The main damage from Blood Wave only brought his HP down to 87%, and the usual bleed follow-up didn't even happen! "What?!" Jolyne thought, eyes widening. She hurriedly pushed the thought aside, and did the follow-up attack, while at the same time, the Madness build-up in the corner of her vision disappeared.
She slashed diagonally across Kokichi's chest in the same way she had down to Himiko, the red line of Blood Flame following suit, cleaving his HP from 87% to 84%, and the follow-up explosion dropped it down to 80%.
"That's 20% of his HP gone, but I've almost died already, and I'm near dry on my blood reserves. I don't think trying to drain him is a good idea, given that if I get too close, he's going to do that eyebeam of Madness again…" Jolyne thought, jumping away from Kokichi just as he attempted to grab her.
Kokichi then followed it up by flicking his wrist, and a wave of yellow flame lazily flew toward her like a homing missile. It was going clockwise, and the only way to avoid it was to run away, which she did. As he chased after her, it burned the ground and surrounding area. The only plus was that the fire didn't seem to spread to any of the surfaces. It merely burned whatever it touched.
The flames died out, and just as they did, Kokich slung several balls of yellow flame. Each ball of flame barely missed Jolyne, and any time they came a bit too close for comfort, that yellow meter would slowly begin to fill up.
"So just being near the actual spells he casts even causes it to build up Madness. Wonderful!" With each passing second, it became more and more obvious that Kokichi was even more of a threat than she had realized.
The worst part was that her special skill wasn't even doing enough damage for her to reliably use it against him. That, and every time she used it,
it would drain her mana and stamina each time she used it. Each cast of Blood Wave chewed up at least 5% of her mana bar, which wasn't much. But her stamina bar was the issue. Blood Wave bled that thing dry, dropping it down 25% every time she used it. It was why she never chained it together with another attack.
The only upside to her Blood Wave was that the follow-up attack didn't cost any mana or stamina when she used it. Otherwise, she'd never use it. Not to mention that with all the dodging she was doing, her stamina was already starting to get low.
She had barely any opportunities to attack Kokichi, and given that he was smirking, watching her struggle, that was probably the point. While she had dropped his HP down to 80%, they had already been on this rooftop a minute and a half.
"You can't beat me, you know? Just give up!" Kokichi spat, before lunging forward at Jolyne, reaching for something at his hip. Instinctively, Jolyne brought up her sword to block whatever he was grabbing, and just as she did, she stopped what appeared to be a baton wreathed in yellow flame from hitting her.
Physically speaking both Kokichi and her were matched, pushing against one another, both with grit teeth and both with anger-filled eyes, though Jolyne did her best not to stare into Kokichi's. She had a bad feeling about doing so, so she avoided it like the plague.
"That's exactly what that redheaded twat tried to say, and look how that ended up?" Jolyne taunted, pushing back against the flaming baton as Kokichi snarled, meeting her strength with his own. The two entered a struggle. Somehow, Kokichi was able to keep up with her sword using his flaming baton.
A flaming. Baton.
Against a sword.
"How is he doing that?!" Jolyne thought, narrowing her eyes, and pushing back against his baton as her footing began to slip back ever so slightly. Slowly but surely, he was overpowering her. "C'mon, I have to find an opening. Just one! That's all I need!" But, no matter where she looked, no matter how closely she analyzed, she couldn't find a chink in his defence.
What made this even worse was that she knew no one would be able to come to her aid. Unlike her chance encounter with Anthony, no one could come to save her from this. She walked into this, now she had to walk out without dying.
And bit by bit, her thirst meter was running dry. It was sitting at a not-so-comfortable 5/100, and it was falling once every 10 seconds. Sweat was slowly starting to collect on her forehead, as her stamina meter was also running low.
No matter how hard she tried to push back against him, she was only getting more haggard and tired, whereas he was gleefully shoving her further and further, chipping away at her defences. There was nothing she could do.
It was entirely, utterly hopeless.
"You know… all of this coulda been avoided…" Kokichi began, taking another step closer, pushing Jolyne back even further. She was nearing the edge of the roof, and there was no golden barrier for her to protect herself with. She didn't know what would happen if she fell from this height, but given that her HP was pretty high, she'd more than likely survive the fall. That didn't mean she wanted to, though. "If you had just rolled over and let it all happen, yeah?"
Her thirst bar was nearly empty. Hovering just above zero. She had a choice to make, either lunge at his neck right now, and risk getting grabbed. Or let it drop to zero. Whatever that did, it probably wasn't good, but neither was being grabbed.
For all she knew, it would kill her.
For all she knew, it could turn her into a rampaging monster.
Her eyes slowly grew wider and wider, and slowly but surely, she felt the sweat on her forehead dampen.
Kokichi took another step forward, and she another step backward. Her heel was right on the edge. Once more step, and she was going to fall.
"Just give up, and I might let you live," Kokichi growled, the glow in his eyes expanding slowly, as a sickly yellow liquid began to leak from the corners of his decaying eyes. At that moment, she made her decision, closed her eyes, and let the bar drop to zero.
When it finally ticked over, Jolyne felt her blood run cold. Everything around her seemed to move at a much slower pace. Time also seemed to slow down for her, but not in a literal sense. More in a metaphorical sense. Her veins started becoming visible, and it caused Kokichi to leap back, his cape flowing behind him as she landed a few feet away from her.
Her fingers twitched, and she could feel her lips curling back into a snarl, baring her teeth like a wild animal. Her sword disappeared back into her inventory, as her hands opened wide, fingers flaring out wide between one another. A red and black smoke-like aura began to waft off of her, as every colour was seemingly replaced with the colour red.
Her nails slowly began to transform into claws, and her teeth began to enlarge into fangs. Drool and saliva began to leak down the sides of her mouth, as her eyes became bloodshot. Finally, a pop-up appeared before her eyes, though she hardly paid any attention to it.
[Temporary Transformation: Blood Starved]
[You're starved of blood. Fix it. Now.]
[Duration: ∞/until you fill your thirst meter]
.
[Strength Buff X: ∞/until you fill your thirst meter]
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[Speed Buff X: /until you fill your thirst meter]
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[Debuff: Allies? What allies? All I see is prey!]
[You cannot see the difference between friend and foe. Everyone is an enemy, and everyone is your food.]
[Duration: ∞/Until you fill your thirst meter]
Kokichi took a step back, readying himself for whatever Jolyne was about to do, only for her to disappear from his sight entirely. Bracing himself, he turned around, prepared to defend himself, only for Jolyne to come out of nowhere and tackle him to the ground, a guttural snarl like that of a beast escaping her drool-filled mouth as she went to claw out his jugular.
Kokichi threw her off of him, but she recovered as gracefully as a cat, before charging him once more. Conjuring more of that maddening flame of his, tossing it toward her in an arc, which she swiftly dodged. To Kokichi, it was as if watching a blur move. She moved so fast, and with so much strength, she shattered the concrete floor she had been standing on.
Kokichi kept his wits about him—even if they were hardly there. He turned to his left, brought up his baton, and batted away the force that was there, Jolyne re-appearing in his sights for just a second, before bouncing away, returning to being nothing but blurs.
He could tell wherever she landed, as the ground cracked where she had been. But as she kept bouncing from tile to tile, it was as if she was getting faster and faster.
She felt a presence at his right, and so he swung there, and he was rewarded with batting Jolyne away once again. Slamming his hand to the ground, he erected a wall of yellow maddening flame, just to protect himself. Only, it was for a brief moment, as when the blur of colour that he assumed was Jolyne moved by it, the fires were put out in an instant.
Then, he felt a presence lurking behind him. Unfortunately for him, before he could even turn around, he felt something grab him, and just as he was moments away from reacting to said grab, he felt a pair of sharp jaws clamp down on his shoulder. A pained shout escaped his mouth, as he fell to one knee.
Like a beast, Jolyne tore a large chunk of flesh off of his shoulder, blood spraying everywhere she clamped her jaws down on his open wound. Blood filled her mouth and effortlessly slid down her throat—like chugging a milkshake. He tried desperately to claw her off of him, but it was no use.
His HP went from 80% down to 65% in an instant, and when she shoved him down to the ground, she readied to slash him across the back of his neck with her claws, only for him to throw her off of him.
Jolyne landed on her feet once again, as her thirst meter was brought back up to 100/100. In an instant, everything went back to normal, her vision returned, as did her wits. Her claws reverted to regular nails, her fangs returned to regular teeth, and her eyes were no longer bloodshot, nor could she see only one colour.
It was brief—very brief, but at that moment, she felt immensely powerful. She felt stronger than she ever had, but now, that strength was gone.
"Was that what it felt like to be a vampire?" Jolyne thought, her mind still slightly clouded by the lack of blood in her system. She… wanted to feel that again. Except, she wanted to have her wits about her and her mental faculties in check.
She couldn't control herself. It was like she had been completely taken over by her base urges. It was then that she had actually noticed that she had been able to do some serious damage to Kokichi. Just by draining some of his blood, she was able to get him down to 65% out of 100%.
She stared at Kokichi, who held his open wound as it spurted blood, his HP slowly chipping away due to the bleeding status effect. 65, 64, 63, 62, 61, and 60. One HP per second, and it was only getting shorter.
"So much for you being so tough. All it took was me losing my collective shit, and now look at you? Writhing in pain and agony," Jolyne snarked, brandishing her blade once more in her right hand. "59, 58, 57, 56, 55, 54, 53, 52, 51… 50," she counted in her head, and with each passing second, Kokichi lost HP.
But when he got to 50%, it stopped, as did she. Despite being just a few steps away from him, something stopped her dead in her tracks, and she couldn't move. The bleeding status effect was ripped away from Kokichi, as he began to chuckle.
It was a hideous thing, his laugh, anyway. Slowly, he began to stand up. As he did, she noticed something. The flames on his hands… began to travel up his body, and as they did, his hands seemingly were being burned till nothing but charred, cracked skin remained. Within those cracks, an orange glow emitted from it, and as he turned to face her, she was greeted with a terrible sight.
His eyes, bulbous and now completely orange, leaked that disgusting yellowish-orange liquid from before. Even the large wound in his shoulder began to leak the same liquid. His laugh became like that of a howl as she slowly but surely stood up.
At the same time, his eyes fell out of their sockets, dropping to the floor, as he reached down, and ate them whole, leaving only yellowish-orange pinpricks of light where his eyes once were. She didn't want to stare at them, because the more she did, the more she felt as if something was trying to claw its way into her brain.
"Mono… what's happening to him?" Jolyne thought, taking a step back. Yet, Mono did not respond. It was as if he was stunned into silence as well at what was happening, and considering it only got worse from there, she wouldn't have blamed him.
His arms began to elongate, bones cracking and charred skin stretching, as his body was progressively burned by the flames. His legs snapped, shifted, and started to resemble a wolf's hind legs. But it didn't stop there. As the flames travelled up to his face, she watched as his skin became charred, and yet, he smiled ever still.
It was like he was enjoying the transformation, and it disturbed her to her very core.
"YoU'vE gOt A lOt Of NeRvE…" Kokichi, or at least, she thought it was Kokichi, snarled out as his entire body finally burned up, leaving him looking like a charred corpse. The only bits of clothing left on his body were his cape, which had seemingly melted into parts of his body, and his hat, which still had his hair underneath. "BuT dOn'T yOu WoRrY nOw! SoOn… Oh, So VeRy SoOn… ShEwIlL bUrN iT aLl aWaY. tHeN fInAlLy… I WoN't hAvE tO sUfFeR a WoRlD wItHoUt My BeLoVeD…"
His voice was inhuman and devoid of sanity. Devoid of reason.
It was terrifying…
The baton in "Kokichi's" hands lit ablaze with the yellow flame, melting away, and as it did, he clapped his hands together before pulling them away. As he did, a sword made entirely from flame formed out of his hands, and it wasn't just a small sword—oh no because that would be too easy. It was large, easily twice the size of his body, and it looked like something ripped straight out of Berserk. He slugged it over his shoulder with his right hand and assumed a beast-like stance, blood and drool dripping from his now mutilated mouth.
And then, there was the name change.
[-Kokichi Oma, Beast of The Flame (Lv: 50)-]
[HP – 50%]
"Because, of course, there's a phase two, and he's gotten stronger from it, too! Awesome! Just fucking awesome!" Jolyne got into a fighting stance, readying her blade, and at that moment, she was forced to dodge as he lunged toward her like an animal, and slammed the massive sword into the ground.
She had expected one thing to happen, but instead, something else did instead.
What she had expected to happen was for the sword to hit the floor, crack the roof a little, and maybe send her flying back a little bit. Nothing too big, but nothing too minimal either. After all, "Kokichi" had gained an extra 20 levels after whatever kind of freak transformation he had just undergone.
Then, there was what actually happened.
The moment the large sword made entirely of maddening flame made contact with the roof of the school, it didn't just stop at the roof. It proceeded to cut through it like butter. Concrete, steel, and metal melted away as a shockwave exploded throughout the area, knocking Jolyne away and off the roof, sending her flying down into the courtyard of the Reserve Course Building.
The shockwave was also responsible for the windows across the entire Reserve Course Building shattering into little fibres. As Jolyne flew through the air, she could hear the screams of everyone in the building, before she finally landed in a small crater on the lawn.
Her HP dropped significantly, going down from 1,400 to 650, only to go back up to 1,400 thanks to her thirst meter, at the cost of it dropping to half. She barely had any time to get up from the crater as "Kokichi" was already on her tail, leaping down from the roof with agility she had never seen from anything thus far.
Just as she exited the crater, she barely missed a wave of yellow flame that he generated just by swinging his sword in her general direction. Then, he followed it up again with another similar attack which Jolyne also just barely dodged by dashing to the left, and then again when he pounced at her like a wolf.
His sword plunged into the ground, and in a similar attack to her Blood Wave, a ring of that yellow flame stuff he was using expanded outward like a shockwave, burning the grass as it went. The only thing Jolyne thought to do was jump, which she did, just barely leaping over the flame.
Jolyne tried to parry the next upcoming slash attack, but all that happened was for her sword to be split in half, destroying the tip of the blade, and leaving only jagged pieces of metal and a hilt. Jolyne stared, horrified, as "Kokichi" attempted to grab her, which she was only just barely able to dodge out of the way.
"He… destroyed my sword!" It was at that moment that she realized just how fucked she was. There was nothing she could do. Absolute, positively, nothing. She was essentially dead to rights. Well, she could try punching it, but if she were to guess, just touching that thing would cause Madness to build up.
And that just wouldn't do.
[Jolyne, I'm going to get you assistance. You cannot take this one on your own, he is far too strong for you. I misjudged the situation entirely.]
"You think?!"
At this point, she didn't give a fuck about the rewards. She was more concerned about living. What the hell was this thing, and how did such a small, weak-looking child transform into whatever the fuck this thing was?
[Sending help request…]
As Mono did that, the beast charged toward Jolyne, forcing her to leap backward as a large arc of flame washed off the fiery madness sword. Jolyne tried to conjure Void Snatch to do something, but it lurched back into her body as if repulsed by "Kokichi".
Jolyne had no other magic that she could use, and she sure as shit wasn't going to get close to him to see how much damage he was going to do—not that she had a sword to fight him with now. The best she could do was run, and that was exactly what she did.
As the beast that was formerly Kokichi kept slashing and charging toward her like a feral animal continued trying to kill her, Jolyne simply ran, ducked, and did everything in her power to keep him away from her. From the corner of her eye, she caught various students from the Reserve Course staring out the shattered windows, horrified at what they were witnessing.
How the hell was she supposed to explain all of this? She could even see a couple of people recording the fight, which probably wasn't a good thing. There was no way this wasn't going to get the government's attention, and when it did, all hell would break loose.
Finally, after what felt like literal hours of dodging, the help request was answered. It came in the form of a golden light spawning in a pool next to the front gates, and when they came out of the light, a golden hue surrounding them, Jolyne didn't know what to think.
They wore a white dress with gilded wing-like shoulder pads, a pair of white gauntlets with crosses painted on her lower arms, with similar-looking knee guards as well. On their hip was the sheath of a katana, and they sported light purple with blue streak dyed within reaching just past her shoulders, with lavender eyes completing their flawless face.
When she fully stepped into the arena, her eyes widened, her jaw slightly agape upon seeing the massive, hulking monstrosity that bore the name Kokichi Oma. Which only seemed to make things worse, given that the person whom she summoned's name was Chinatsu Oma.
"Oh fuck. This is going to backfire on me, isn't it?" Jolyne thought, watching as Chinatsu walked forward, just a step, and looked up at the creature with what could only be assumed to be betrayal and defeat.
"Oh… Little brother… what have you done?" Chinatsu muttered, disbelief in her tone as the beast turned to look at her. If it could express any emotion, it didn't choose to. It simply screamed like the beast it had become and charged at Chinatsu, sword prepared to cleave her in half.
For a moment, Jolyne was worried. She had just called in for help, and they were seconds away from being killed. Jolyne attempted to do something, attempted to conjure Void Snatch, anything to perhaps delay what appeared to be a kill shot.
And then, Chinatsu drew her Katana.
She blocked his massive flame sword with her blade, and quickly overpowered him, her expression a mask of emotionlessness as "Kokichi" was thrown back a little back, dragging its feet through the asphalt.
"Kokichi" slammed down its left hand, causing an eruption of yellow flames, which Chinatsu easily jumped over—Jolyne following in her example and jumping over it. The golden aura around Chinatsu expanded, as she muttered some kind of chant under her breath that Jolyne was just barely able to hear.
"Oh, Lord Above, grant me the strength to slay this beast. For you, I shall salvage Creation in your name… Divine Boost!" After she uttered the chant, the golden aura around her burst like a flame, and it looked eerily similar to the aura that had been around Himiko. Either it was the same spell or a stronger variant of it.
Regardless, it was eerily similar to it.
Then, Chinatsu sheathed her blade and entered a stance that was low to the ground as "Kokichi" began to charge at her. He got dangerously close to her, and once again, Jolyne felt a brief amount of panic. But, it was quickly dashed when she remembered what had happened before. How Chinatsu had parried the large sword, and seemed no worse for wear because of it.
Just as "Kokichi" was about to slam its sword down on her for the second time, in the blink of an eye, Chinatsu blipped behind the massive beast. The sword of a blade cutting through flesh sounded out as Jolyne stared in confusion. A second passed, and when it did, "Kokichi's" sword evaporated away, and a large geyser of blood spewed everywhere.
It coated the charred grass, splashed against the gates and brick wall, and some of it even stained the split-in-half school entrance. Blood spewed out of the beast's mouth, as it fell to its knees, its HP going from 50% to 7% in a single attack. Chinatsu glanced at her, a silent signal to finish the job as the beast let out a groan of pain.
Jolyne saw her opening and decided to take it. She closed the distance between herself and the beast, leapt into the air, and plunged her broken sword into the back of its neck. 7% went down to 4%, and when she ripped it out, the 4% dropped down to 0%.
Jumping off of its back, Jolyne looked over to Chinatsu, who simply stared at the beast as it fell to the ground. She looked… despondent. Upset. Which she should've been, especially if this guy was her brother or, God forbid, her son. As it fell, and as its sword disappeared, it muttered something. Something that Jolyne had only just barely heard.
"Is ThIs WhAt iT fEeLs LiKe? To DeSpAiR? oH… LoRd, pLeAsE…. mElT iT aLl AwAy… MelT iT… aLl… AwAy…."
Finally, it fell to the ground, before crumbling away into blackened and white ash. The words GREAT ENEMY SLAIN appeared across her vision, 1,061,713 exp was dumped on her, and as the text fully faded away, it was replaced with an item box, with an… interesting item, to say the very least, followed by a bunch of other screens that signified her victory.
[-Remembrance of the Frenzied Beast-]
[Description: Remembrance of Kokichi Oma, Beast of The Flame, hewn into The Core of Creation.
The power of its namesake can be unlocked by the Finger Reader at The Roundtable Hold. Alternatively, it can be used to gain 5 extra levels.
Formerly the boss of a street gang that became way too powerful, way too quickly, Kokichi Oma succumbed to The Flame of Frenzy after experiencing great despair, that which was the loss of his lover. In a moment of weakness, Kokichi's mind, body, and soul were possessed by the Flame of Frenzy, and transformed into a ravenous, monstrous beast, without even a hint of his former self remaining. All that remained was the monster.]
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[Story Quest Complete!]
[Objective: Eliminate DICE – Completed]
[Rewards given]
.
Level up X6! (27 – 33)
Stats:
Health Points: 1,400 - 1,900 [C+]
Mana: 1,350 - 1,850 [C+]
Stamina: 1,450 - 1,950 [C+]
Endurance: 675 - 950 [C-]
Attack: 79 - 109 [E-]
Defence: 79 -109 [E-]
Magic Attack: 140 -185 [E]
Magic Defence: 140 -185 [E]
Physical Strength: 20 [F-]
Arcane Wisdom: 30 [F-]
Faith: 5 [F-]
Blasphemy: 40 [F]
Critical Chance: 2.5% -3%
Critical Damage: 52.5% -53%
Exp Till Next Level: 702,456
Money: 12,372
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[For beating a Remembrance Boss, you've been rewarded. +130 to every Requirement Stat]
[Physical Strength: 20 – 150]
[Arcane Wisdom: 30 – 160]
[Faith: 5 – 5 (cannot upgrade due to Class)]
[Blasphemy: 40 – 170]
Jolyne felt the significant boost in power the moment it happened, but the high from that power went away the moment she looked over to her left when she turned to see Chinatsu, who was now standing next to where Kokichi died. The only thing left was his semi-melted hat, and even that was slowly fading away.
Jolyne felt awful but felt as if she couldn't have done anything. All she could do was watch, as Chinatsu stared at the hat. She didn't even know the woman—only her name. She didn't even know what to say. All she could do was watch, and as she watched, she noticed small water droplets falling from her face.
Even though her back was turned to her, she knew all too well that Chinatsu was crying. Small, choked sobs. Jolyne could hear it, and with each passing second, guilt began to build in her heart.
If what that item had said was true, the remembrance, then her killing Himiko was what caused him to succumb to whatever The Flame of Frenzy was. Which, in turn, was what caused him to transform into that beast.
In other words, if she had just spared Himiko's life, then this could've gone very, very differently. There was a chance—not a big one, but a chance—that Kokichi wouldn't have become what he did.
Slowly, Jolyne approached Chinatsu, and as she did, the sobs became more apparent. She reached out to touch Chinatsu's shoulder, but stopped mid-way to making contact with her, her fingers coiling back.
"I-"
"Not. A. Word." Chinatsu bit out, anger coating her voice as she looked over her shoulder at Jolyne. There was nothing but hatred in her eyes, and it took Jolyne aback. "I do not know who you are, nor do I know why you were fighting my brother, or what caused him to become… that. But mark my words, wench… I will have your head. Sleep with one eye open, if you can even sleep after this."
And with that, Chinatsu disappeared into a golden mist, indicating that the cooperation ended. Jolyne had no idea how to take that, but what she did know, was the school was a total mess. At the same time, police and military vehicles showed up, as Jolyne looked over her shoulder.
It didn't take long for the police to swarm the campus, and for everyone to be sent home. But as Jolyne was making her way home, she couldn't help but linger on the words that Chinatsu had said to her.
A part of Jolyne was annoyed that she was blaming her for it, but she wouldn't be wrong for doing so. Kokichi wouldn't have turned into that beast if she had given Himiko mercy. Though, at the same time, it was Dice's fault for attacking Hopes Peak.
Whatever the case was, she needed to be ready.
She needed to be ready for when Chinatsu would, inevitably, attack her.
But, that was for later. Right now, all she wanted to do was unpack and unwind after everything she had just gone through.
When she teleported into her apartment, she sat down on the couch. When she did, fatigue washed over her immediately as she stared at the ground. She had no idea what to think about the current situation, and frankly, it was one of the last things she wanted.
The moment she sat down was the moment when every thought, every question, every single nitpick she had came bursting into her mind, and none of them were pretty. The last six hours had been nothing but strife, and now, when she finally had some time to wind down, the only thing she could feel herself doing was beating herself up internally.
She could've gone about that entire thing in a completely different way. Instead, she chose blood, gore, and murder. Once the police looked over the cameras, she would more than likely be sent to jail, her life upended and ruined, if only for a little while. No prison would hold her, that much she knew.
Either that, or she'd become a government agent.
She had no idea whether that would've been better, or worse. But frankly, Jolyne didn't care. What she did care about was the fact that, out of all the people she had killed, Himiko should've lived. She was too caught up in her own bloodlust that she had been enveloped in.
Both Himiko and Kokichi had appeared to be her age, if not a little younger. They were kids. They were way in over their heads, and now, they were dead.
She had murdered children. Children who, from what she could infer from what she had figured out, had sided with whatever the Flame of Frenzy was.
But, if that was the case, why weren't Himiko's eyes the same as Kokichi's? The same could be said about the other DICE members. Though, with those guys, they were openly killing other children, and most of them appeared to be adults, with some teenagers sprinkled in there. They were murdering people without hesitation, so those guys, she didn't feel bad for.
But Himiko….
"Mono, be honest with me, did Himiko have to die?"
[She was sided with the Flame of Frenzy, she—]
"Bullshit," Jolyne felt her blood begin to boil. "She was fine. She wasn't insane like Natsumi was becoming and what Kokichi was. She was fine. You still had me kill her. Why?"
[She was your enemy. Your enemies are only a means for you to get stronger. Therefore, it doesn't matter. It shouldn't matter. Besides, she hung out with Kokichi, someone who was corrupted by the Flame of Frenzy. She could've been infected. She could've ended up like him.]
"And Kokichi only turned into that thing because I killed Himiko!" Jolyne spat, forgoing the mental communication with Mono and speaking out loud. "And don't give me that bullshit that it was inevitable. The Remembrance even says that if Himiko hadn't died, he would've been fine!"
[Jolyne, I—]
"You know what, Mono, no. I'm done with this bullshit. I'm tired of you lying to me, and I'm tired of you not telling me the full story of things. What even was DICE? I had no idea they existed until they attacked Hopes Peak. My first introduction to them was this, instead of trying to figure out what their deal is, I'm forced to kill them all because I'm not allowed to go against what a Story Quest tells me to do, and when I ask you questions, you refuse to elaborate on anything!"
[My purpose is to guide you and make you stronger. That is what my job is. I do not take morality into question. I simply do what my programming tells me to do. None of my other users have ever questioned the morality of what I assigned them to do. It seems that, in every way, you're annoyingly different from them.]
"Annoyingly different from them…?" Jolyne had to stop herself from blowing her top off at that. "What, so because I have morals, and because I'm complaining that you suck at your job—because by the way, you do. You genuinely suck at your job because you can't seem to explain anything to me, but that's beside the point—that I'm annoying?"
[Jolyne, please. Stop.]
"NO! FUCK THAT! WHY DID I HAVE TO KILL THAT LITTLE GIRL!" Jolyne all but shouted, throwing her arms up in the air as her face slowly turned red with rage. "SHE DIDN'T DESERVE IT, SO WHY?!"
This time, Mono didn't answer. He simply kept to himself. She noticed that, when she had shouted, she couldn't hear anything else, meaning Mono must've done something to have prevented anyone from hearing what she had just said.
If anything, that was probably the only good thing he had done for her in the last several hours. "Running off like a bitch, huh… Fucking pathetic…. Can't even take complaints…. Useless AI piece of shit…."
A part of her was telling her that she was being too mean to Mono, but considering his back-to-back failures, and his seeming inability to fully explain things—especially now that she had a powerful System User hunting her because of his ineptitude, she had every right to be pissed off. Especially given the circumstances.
That, and, need she remind herself, his inability to fully explain the situation, and his staunch refusal to give her any other option but to kill whoever she fought led her into an even worse, and far stronger fight that she had no real reason to be in in the first place!
[Jolyne. I will not take this disrespect toward me. I have been nothing but helpful to you. For you to call me useless is a great shame on you. How dare you insult me. I should punish you for that.]
"Uh huh, sure bud. When you actually get good at your job and learn to explain shit to me, including all the downsides to my decisions, I'll stop insulting you. You know, maybe, just maybe, If I had known about all of that bullshit,I wouldn't have had to deal with a boss 34 levels higher than me!" Jolyne spat, glaring at nothing. If anyone else saw her right now, she probably looked like a schizophrenic.
[In hindsight, that was a mistake on my part. But, that does not mean you get to insult me. Because of me, you are leagues stronger than you were. Because of me, you're alive again. Without me, you would be nothing. Do not forget that.]
"Then stop sucking at your job, Mono. Maybe then I won't see the need to! Because of you, I have another System User after my ass! Maybe then, I would be in a better position right now! I might be weaker, but at least then I wouldn't be in mortal peril! Save me the semantics with your "without me you would be nothing" shit, because that's already fucking apparent. But it wouldn't kill you to explain shit to me!"
Once again, Mono went silent. Frankly, Jolyne didn't care anymore. Right now, she needed to move on. She had told herself that she would stop letting her past actions haunt her, even if they were extremely recent.
Opening her inventory, she pulled out the Gacha Tokens she had gained from the battles she had endured, that being a rare spell token and two epic tokens. She stared at them, specifically the rare one.
The one she got from killing Himiko.
"Well, at the very least, her death will give me a new spell… Not that it really makes this any better…." Despite her willingness to kill, that didn't mean she liked it. Himiko's death, in retrospect, was one of those things.
In the moment, it made sense.
After the fact, though… not so much.
Staring at the Gacha tokens, all Jolyne could do was raise an eyebrow. She had no idea what they were, other than that they gave her stuff. She was told to flip them like a regular coin, and she'd get something from them. So, that was exactly what she did with the first one, that being the rare spell token. She placed it on the tip of her thumbnail and flicked it upward. It began to flip rapidly in the air, and as it did, the coin burst into blue light particles, which immediately shot toward her body.
As soon as it did, a pop-up appeared, a victorious sounding music filled her ears, indicating that she got something good. Upon reading what she got, she knew right away she was replacing Void Snatch with it.
[New Spell Unlocked (Gacha Spell)]
[Rare]
[Blackened Domain]
[The caster brings their hands together, and lays down their pinky and ring fingers, leaving the middle and index fingers up and pointed toward the sky, and the thumbs tucked into their palms, before muttering "Domain Expansion". This casts a unique ability only found in Universe 108. Once the target is ensnared with the caster, the Domain is made entirely out of void. The Domain is empty, a simple bit of liquid void that the caster can turn the liquid void into large spikes that deal purely Blasphemy Damage. Once cast, it will slowly drain the caster's Mana (150 mana every 10 seconds), and after use, it has a cooldown of 3 hours between casts, and even worse they lose all of their mana. The higher the caster's Spell Level is, the less time the caster has to wait to recast Blackened Domain and the less Mana it costs to keep the Domain going.]
"Yup, that's replacing Void Snatch…" Jolyne muttered, immediately replacing it with Blackened Domain. Sure, she could only cast it once every three hours, but considering that she was getting a massive upgrade to her weapon, she wouldn't need such a weak spell. That, and it wasn't like she was going to be stuck with a single spell slot forever. She knew that, at some point, she was going to get another spell slot.
When she did, Blackened Domain would be mostly an afterthought. Besides, she figured that assuming she was going to get a weapon from one of the epic tokens, it would be a good one. After all, one does not get an epic weapon and it wind up being garbage.
So, with that, Jolyne pulled out the next token, and when she flipped it, it transformed into purple light, and as it formed into her hands, she was shocked that it formed into a massive, easily 4-foot-tall great battle axe. It had a massive, sharp blade that was half the axe's size, and its shaft easily required two hands to wield.
Jolyne stood up, holding the axe in both hands. She raised it over her head using both hands and as she did, it began to power up with void energy. Slowly, lowered her weapon, and the void energy disappeared.
She could feel the darkness swelling within the battle axe. It was almost like it was absorbed with hatred. Finally, she was given an item description.
[3F – Epic]
[Original Universe: Overlord]
[Original Owner: Albedo]
[Requirements: 155 Physical Strength, 160 Blasphemy]
[Scaling: Strength: B-, Blasphemy Scaling: B+]
[Weapon Art: Transmutation: 3F, at the will of the user, can transform into a two-handed Halbred. Upon transforming the weapon, unleash a large shockwave of Void Magic, knocking back and staggering anyone within a 10-meter radius around you. Each use of Transmutation will cost 300 Stamina, and has a 30-second cooldown]
"Oh…" Jolyne muttered, looking at the axe. "This… is from another universe?"
[You are a Multiversal System User, Jolyne. Did you never stop to consider that could mean you can get weapons, spells, and other things that are from another universe other than the one you are from?]
"And… this is un-upgraded? It already has B- strength and B+ Blasphemy scaling?"
[Yes.]
"Oh my God. This is overpowered…" Jolyne muttered, looking at the axe, eyes wide.
[Not really. There are far stronger weapons than 3F that you could've gotten. Besides, that is Albedo's weakest weapon. If you had gotten her other weapon, you more than likely would've become unstoppable in this world. Though, it is a Cosmic Weapon, so probably wouldn't have been able to get it.]
Regardless of what Mono said, she was content. However she still had one more thing she could use, and it was the other Epic Gacha Token. So, without hesitation, she flipped the coin and watched as it did the same thing as the other token. Only, this time, when the purple light formed, it transformed into a ring.
The ring flowed onto one of her fingers, and instantly turned invisible, much like the other rings. Though, before it had, she was able to get a look at what it appeared to be. It had a black jewel, much like her Void Pendant. Almost immediately after, she got the pop-up for it.
[Void Gem Ring Tier III - Epic]
[Increase Void-Based Damage from all Sources]
[Boosts all Void Related Magic and Weapon Arts by 33%]
Compared to 3F, it wasn't all that fancy or special, but it was incredibly useful. It also made all of what she did even stronger. While it sucked that she no longer had blood loss build up with her now broken and useless sword, she at least got a killer axe and brand-new spell from it.
That was the only upside she had with this whole stupid situation. Although, she knew it could've been worse. She could've been dead right about now. But, thankfully, she wasn't.
Putting the axe into her inventory, she let out a sigh of annoyance. "Well, now what?"
[You remember that Remembrance you received?]
"Yes? What about it?"
[Well… I think it's about time you visited The Roundtable Hold.]
[XXXX]
TV screens. Rows and rows of TV screens were the only things that lit the room. There were well over 500 TV screens, all covering one, extremely large wall. Each of which belonged to a Camera's all across Japan.
But, the most important ones, were the thirty that a figure obscured in shadow was watching. The rooftop of Hope's Peak Academy's Reserve Course revealed a lot about something that she hadn't been able to piece together.
Frankly, she should've figured this out a long time ago. But, she was blinded into thinking that it was all said and done back all that time ago. But, of course, something as persistent as that would obviously find a new way to show itself.
To think, she had lived for as long as she, and not put two and two together. She was a fool. A damned fool. She had wasted all this time, sitting in the dark, watching everything unfold, thinking that she had essentially won, and was simply basking in her eternal prime.
But no. Because of course, why would it ever be that simple? All it takes is one change—one shift within Fate to uproot the whole of it. How fitting was it, that Loki's chosen was the one that screwed up everything.
200 years.
She had lived in this world for 200 years. Watched Japan grow, crumble apart, and grow once more. She had bore witness to several wars and even participated in some just to sate her curiosity. To flex her power a little bit.
And now, because of that one change. Because of how things were now playing out, everything had crumbled into bits. All because of that damnable God Loki and his endless Chaos. But, she should've seen this coming.
When she first spotted that girl, she had a feeling that she was special. After all, she gave off a different glow than everyone else. She had never seen anything like it. Hestia had even pre-warned her that if she ever felt someone with a different glow than every other System User she'd encounter, she was to either run the other way or try and befriend them.
Seeing as that was what this girl, whom Loki claimed as his own, had, Ms. Pluton had to assume that this person was that individual. Though, back then, when she had first met her, they were weak.
Oh, don't get her wrong, the newbie was still just that—a newbie. But, she could see a great future ahead of her. Not as a romantic interest. She was far too young for that. Maybe when she matured, but certainly not now.
Hestia never bothered to explain to her just how important these special people were, but if she had to guess, they were the key to unlocking further power in her System. For so long, she wished to have gotten any stronger. Yes, while her Requirement Stats could grow, and grow, and grow, her base stats would never exceed what they were. She was stuck at level 150, and it infuriated her.
But that rooftop… That rooftop had contained the very person who could remedy that. That girl with the split black and pink hair, pale complexion, and emerald green eyes. Yes, she was certain that would remedy her predicament.
She rewound the footage once again, watching as the same teenage girl that she had saved from that Blood Hunter was fighting that insufferable brat that Chinatsu Oma, a former member of The Dark Triad, called a brother. Though, said brother seemed to have fallen to The Flame of Frenzy.
Which was a shame. That boy had oodles and oodles of potential. Though, now it didn't matter. Their fate was to die. One did not simply embrace the Flame of Frenzy and come out of it without having the entire Multiversal after them. Especially if they were related to a System User.
The woman shifted, placing a hand on her cheek as she sunk into her chair, red eyes staring up at the screens. The way the teenager fought wasn't flashy or stylish. It was straightforward and to the point. It was also sloppy to some extent. It didn't help that she was fighting an opponent that was stronger than her.
There was a simple beauty in it. How she was daring enough to take on such a challenge. Though, in most other respects, it was foolish. No, more than foolish. Idiotic. Either she was woefully impatient, or it was sprung on her at random, and she had no chance to prepare.
If it was the latter, she'd understand. The former? Not so much.
Either way, it hardly mattered. Because, while she had that brat on the ropes for the first half, it was the second half to put the roles in reverse. The fool had fully embraced The Flame of Frenzy, and as a result, became a monster.
Once again, it was a shame.
Mayhaps, in a different timeline, they'd be allies. But, that wasn't this timeline. This was the one that they lived in, and as such, they were enemies. For his treason against creation, by embracing the Frenzy Flame, he was killed.
That reminded her of someone else who had done the very same, but with much, much more at stake.
Someone had become a Lord of Frenzied Flame.
And that was a travesty.
For some context, considering she had that context having lived through it, The Flame of Frenzy had plagued this world for over 200 years, and it had been at its worst after the Second World War. During the time when Japan had fully embraced its warmonger status and tried to destroy China and add it to its empire. It was during that time when Japan's emperor had become The Lord of Frenzied Flame, to further empower himself and his conquest.
Of course, that couldn't be allowed.
Had it not been for her, the world would've already been burned away. She had no choice but to kill him, even if she had sworn loyalty to him, that had been before he had accepted the embrace of The Three Fingers, and become its lord.
But that was 69 years ago. Three or so generations of human children had been born, and now, one of them had discovered and not just embraced the Flame of Frenzy, but had become one with it. It hadn't even been 100 years since the last Lord of Frenzied Flame, and now, in this fractured world, yet another had shown up.
That either showed how divided the world had been or just how garbage it truly was. Though she supposed, it was similar to the world she had been originally from. Not the one before this one, but the one before she had reincarnated.
Before she was murdered by the people she had called family.
That was still a bitter memory. While it had been 500 years since she had fully reincarnated, that memory was still fresh in her memory. Though she didn't dwell on it, it was still frustrating that it was there in the first place.
500 years. She had lived for 500 years, and for 450 of those years, she was locked at level 150. It was frustrating just how much of a slog it had been. She knew she had the potential to become insanely powerful, but because of this stupid level cap, she was locked at being a fledging.
Though, she supposed, she was the strongest being in this world, aside from the Gods that loomed around and watched from afar. No one could match her in both physical strength and magical strength.
Perks of being a Necromancer with far too much free time, she supposed. Why stick to just enhancing her magic, when she could also work on her physical stats?
If she remembered correctly, her requirement stats were all B+, meanwhile the rest of her stats, aside from HP, MP, and Stamina which had worked its way up to S+ to SS due to how their scaling worked, were sitting somewhere around C- to C+.
Having 20,500 HP was wonderful! Most things in this world hardly ever did more than 1,000 damage. Even the Ogre, who she had sparred with once.
That had been her first-ever loss if she remembered correctly. A scrawny, frail-looking white-haired girl who looked no older than 21 years old knocked her out in a single punch. Someone who had worked as hard as she didn't need to be embarrassed like that, but, she supposed humbling her ego at the time was the smartest thing to do.
It also showed that she wasn't as "invincible" as everyone said she was.
Either way, Hope's Peak Academy had scouted her for being its pick for that generation's Ultimate Martial Artist. Which was interesting, all things considered. She definitely deserved the position, especially given how strong she had been.
However, physical strength wasn't her strong suit. Magic was. Which had been the main problem she was having due to how limited she was.
While she had a plethora of magic spells that she could equip and unequip at command, that didn't mean it wasn't annoying. She needed more spell slots to use her magic without having to choose. It would make things easier.
"Ugh, I hate this… Being under levelled sucks," Ms. Pluton thought, humming to herself. Keeping herself in the darkness was better for her paranoia. She hated being seen by people she didn't trust, which extended to a rather large net of basically everyone aside from the family she had mothered here.
Often times she thought back to the marriage with that man and smiled. How a normal, mortal human had charmed her so utterly was nearly unimaginable. Yet, she had fallen for him entirely. She knew her heart would break asunder when he died.
She would live millions of lifetimes, and he would only live one. She would also eventually outlive their half-human half-elf daughter, so why even bother having children and marrying someone who some would consider completely lacklustre?
Simple.
She was a fool.
She was a fool blinded by love, and she let him do things to her that her parents would find utterly repulsive, both in her original world and the world she had reincarnated in. For creatures like her, she would merely be one of many, but that didn't mean she wouldn't treasure him or his love.
Elves, at least where she came from, were a little strange in how their biology worked. Depending on the species they bred with affected how long it took for them to be born. Another Elf and you'd be looking at 50 years of being pregnant.
With a human, though, like her husband, then it would be the regular amount of time humans took to give birth. For an elf, that was a simple blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things. For that reason, she only ever had one daughter.
Some would say it was a mistake, but Ms. Pluton would argue that having one child was good enough. Especially due to her paranoia. Besides, her daughter was precious, even if a little on the annoying side—but then again, so were all children.
However, she found it rather dumb that she would use her talent of manipulating others and having the voice of an angel to become a famous idol rather than, oh, maybe become the empress of Japan.
Maybe Ms. Pluton was being a little excessive, but she believed her daughter could do that easily. Especially how often she had members of the opposite sex of varying ages trying to bed her constantly.
Humans were gross in that regard.
While her daughter had matured like a human—at least, until she'd turn 25 anyway—that didn't mean she still wasn't essentially an infant to Ms. Pluton. She forbade her daughter from dating anyone until at least 100 years old.
Fun fact, that was the age of consent for elves in the world she came from. 100 years old. No younger or no older. To humans, that would be comparable to 18 years old.
Her daughter was against it entirely, but that was entirely on her. She might've been born and raised a human, but that didn't make her one. She was a Half-Elf. As a Half-Elf, she had to obey the traditions of elven society.
Or, at least, to a certain point, anyway.
It was why she never took her husband's last name. It was against her birthright as an elf, and for what she was. She was royalty, even if it was from another world.
Though, she technically wouldn't have been here had it not been for that fool of a "Goddess" and her followers. Banishing her and killing her family for "daring" to worship a different God than her. It was stupid, and it made her want to cut the bitches head off.
She had known what a real God was. That self-entitled, overpowered bitch was not a God. She was an insult to the very concept of a God. She was a pretender, merely carrying the title around as if she had truly been a God.
She knew a simple Complete Resurrection Spell. That was it. Most Necromancers who took the path of raising the dead to their fullest learned that around level 100. While her path was Spiritual Resurrection, that didn't change the fact that it wasn't true.
Those were semantics, though. She knew the flaws of that world anyway, and the fate of its women. Honestly, she had no idea why Hestia had reincarnated her there. She would've just become a sex slave at some point and that was something she didn't want.
She couldn't claim to know the inner machinations of what Hestia foresaw in her, but at any rate, it hardly mattered. What mattered was that she wasn't there now, and was here. For that, she was glad that she was sent to this one, even if it was 200 years in the past and entirely by accident.
Her thought process was interrupted when her cell phone began to ring. The only two people who had her phone number were her husband and her daughter. Those were the only two people that she trusted with her number because even if she viewed marrying a human as a mistake, that didn't mean that she didn't love him unconditionally.
Plus, she was an Elf. That made any of her children that she'd have with a human a half-elf. While they would never live as long as she would due to her unique circumstances as a System User, that did give them the chance to live for 1,000 Years at the bare minimum. That also made them guarantee to have some kind of magic.
Pulling her cell phone out, Ms. Pluton looked at the number and smiled. It was her daughter. She was probably calling to celebrate something. That was usually the only reason she called. Picking up the phone, she put it to her ear and spoke.
"Yes, Sayaka, what is it—"
"Mom! Hope's Peak was attacked! Did you see it on the news?!"
Ms. Pluton giggled. Oh, the poor, sweet child. Of course, she knew. She knew everything. She should've known that by now. "Yes, Sayaka. Of course, I saw it. It's not a big deal."
"Not a big deal!? It's Hope's Peak! Plus, there was that flaming monster or whatever that thing was! Hope's Peak is going to be closed for at least a week before re-opening, and apparently, 30 Reserve Course students died!"
"I'm very aware, Sayaka. You know how much I don't care about that. Do you remember what I taught you?" Ms. Pluton said, twirling a strand of her snow-white hair with her index finger.
"Mom! You can't be serious!"
"Sayaka, dear. Your goal is to become, what, a super famous Popstar, yes? How does the death of those riffraff affect you in any meaningful way?" Ms. Pluton questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh my God, I can't with you… Show some human decency at least. One of these days, it's going to bite you in the ass, and you know it will."
Ms. Pluton decided against replying to that comment, and moved on, sitting up in her chair as she leaned forward, the light from the screens illuminating her frown. "Sayaka. I want you to understand what I'm trying to say. You will live for hundreds of years. The lives of these people… unless you have a true connection to them, they are meaningless."
Ms. Pluton paused, thinking about how she was going to word what she wanted to say next. "Your friends, for example. Those are people you should care about. They are the people in your idol group, correct?"
"And Makoto."
"And Makoto, yes. You've told me about him, have you not?" Ms. Pluton asked, leaning back in her chair.
"Yes. Mom… he's a wonderful guy. He's sweet, charming, and… Mom, I know you said I had to wait till I was 100, but please. He might be a little awkward, but you've heard his voice and seen pictures of him. I know you're paranoid, but please. If you don't like him, you can rip his soul out or whatever."
Ms. Pluton sighed, pinching her nose. "You're changing the subject, Sayaka."
"Yes, I am, because I don't want another nihilistic spiel from you. Now answer my question. Please! If it means anything, I won't try and "bed" him as you put it, until I'm in my 20s, assuming we're even a thing then."
"Sayaka, enough of that. I still don't think it's a good idea. You're basically an infant still…." Ms. Pluton drawled.
"Mom! I'm half-human. You even said it yourself, I mature like a human and have half the lifespan of an elf! I should be able to date like a human, especially if I mature like one!"
Sometimes, dealing with children was annoying. This was what she meant by Sayaka was annoying. She was like her father—persistent to the point of not shutting up.
But, at the same time…. "Very well. If it gets you to drop it, then fine. But if you're going to date this boy, I want to meet him in person."
"Wait, seriously? What about your Scopophobia?"
"It's not that. It's paranoia, Sayaka. If I had that, I wouldn't even be able to come home for dinner. Speaking of which, has your father gotten home yet, or is he still at work?"
"Oh? Papa? He's home. He actually just got home! He was wondering when you'd come home for dinner. He's planning on making American Stir Fry, and I know that's your favourite. I—"
"You tell that clutz of a man that he's not cooking anything, and that I'll be home in less than an hour. I barely tolerate him cooking, but he's sure as hell not cooking my Stir Fry!" Ms. Pluton all but shouted as Sayaka giggled on the other end.
"I'll tell him that. Love you, Mom."
A small, barely noticeable smile spread across her lips. "I love you too, my little star. I'll be home soon," and with that, she hung up her phone, and put it back in her inventory. She looked over her shoulder and frowned. "How much of that did you hear, Jackson?"
"Enough to ask when I get to meet your kid. She seems nice," Jackson quipped, crossing his large, broad arms. "I didn't know you were married. Shoulda told me, 'cause now I feel bad for having impure thoughts about you."
"You would be far from the first, Jackson. Either way, it doesn't matter. How's the investigation been with that cult I've told you to keep an eye on?" Ms. Pluton asked, standing up from her chair and turning to face Jackson.
"Destroyed one of their "churches" and freed the hostages they were keeping. 10 of them were killed out of the 20 that went missing, but that's neither here nor there. Still haven't found their main base, though. It's frustrating, especially when they constantly keep spouting that nonsense…" Jackson said, irritation in his tone of voice.
Ms. Pluton fully understood why he was as annoyed as he was. She had been chasing down this cult since they formed The Dark Triad 30 years ago. But, even so, they needed to destroy the cult. They were remnants of the people who convinced the former Emperor of Japan during the second world war to become the Lord of Frenzied Flame back then.
Surely, they were the people who made this one, as well, whoever they were.
They needed to die. Before they realized the full extent of their power. She was able to kill the emperor back then due to how weak he had been. He had only just become the Lord of Frenzied Flame. She didn't know how long this one had been around, but she had only recently sensed it.
They were running out of time, and they needed to find them sooner rather than later.
Because if they were able to complete whatever kind of mission they were doing….
It would spell the end of this world in its entirety.
"Jackson, here's what I want you to do. I'll take this matter into my own hands. So, from now on, I want you to keep an eye on this newbie that I found. The one that's all over the news, and I want you to watch over her from the shadows," Ms. Pluton instructed, confusing Jackson.
"Why?"
"Because, Jackson, that monster she defeated with the help of Chinatsu was Chinatsu's younger brother. No doubt Chinatsu is going to be out for revenge for being made to kill her younger brother. That, and I have this gut feeling that they'll be imperative to finally destroying The Flame of Frenzy's connection to this world once and for all. So, we need her alive. That means you might have to beat up your ex a little bit," Ms. Pluton explained as Jackson sighed.
"Fine… Damnit, why can't things just be simple like they were 30 years ago…" Jackson grumbled, before transforming into a sand tornado and disappearing. Ms. Pluton couldn't help but snicker at his comment, though.
Simple.
Things had never been simple.
If that had been the case, then they wouldn't be in this position, now would they?
"Oh well. I'll worry about that later. Right now, I have to stop my husband from burning down the kitchen…" Ms. Pluton thought as she hummed to herself.
Quasi-Immortal Elf or not, everyone needed someone to keep them grounded in reality. To remind themselves that this new chance at life, even if it very much appeared to be, was not a video game.
She had to learn that lesson the hard way 150 years ago.
She did not wish that fate on anyone…. Not even her worst enemy.
It was a miracle he had lost interest in her. She would never forget those horrible, horrible golden eyes. How she nearly met her end at the end of his blade for trying to tell him to stop pillaging that village she had sworn to protect.
Now that she thought about it, he had the same glow as that newbie. Maybe they were the same thing? It was possible, but she wouldn't know for sure.
Not that she ever wanted to see him again.
Snapping her fingers, she teleported out of her little spy network office and returned home. She was going to have her favourite meal, and then, she was going to teach her husband what would happen if he ever threatened to butcher her favourite meal.
Tonight, she was going to be the one that took the lead. Not him. He had been having a bit too much fun lately, and it was time to remind him who truly wore the pants in this relationship.
[-To Be Continued-]
[-Outro Song: Outsider – By: Eve-]
12,865 words, not including what I'm writing right now. The last time we had a chapter go this long was… I'm pretty sure it was chapter 7. That's fucking mental. Anyway, I know a lot of people are going to be upset that Kokichi is dead, but I didn't see a purpose in keeping around past the first arc.
Not to mention that, unlike in the original, I planned him to be a permanent villain and it also shows that Jolyne's actions have consequences. Also, Jolyne's new weapon and spell! That'll be fun to mess around with, that much I will say.
Now, before we get into my response to reviews/comments, check out the discord: /Pva9PNxAzh.
Now, with that being said, onto my response to reviews/comments!
(Qoutev) Sunky Addict: Well, considering I've shown several times that will be the case, you don't gotta worry about that.
(Ao3) void_boi1: Yup! We gotta love arc climaxes! Due to the word count, you can see why I split them up, right?
(Ao3) AidenJacksonSmithDSBB: After reading the fight with that song on, I feel like it can be a toss-up. Depends on what kind of mood you're in, I guess.
(Ao3) Joyline. Joyline. I'll let that slide, but I swear you do this name thing on purpose. Anyway, moving on, as you can see, Sayaka is more than likely going to remain a background character. So, no. Also, I hope this chapter answers your question regarding that. Have a good day!
(Ao3) Kolt: Oh yeah, that's gonna come up again. The whole "Hajime actually having a talent" thing. I can't wait for that to come to its conclusion. Especially because of what I have planned for Mister Hajime Hinata in the coming arc. As for why people seem to think that it takes away from a story, it's because when they find a fic like this, they expect an unrelenting power fantasy. Have a wonderful day, Kolt!
(Ao3) WilburDrake: As I said in the beginning, Kokichi and Himiko were never meant to have a lot of screen time. They were meant to be one-note villains that have some large stakes attached to them, and then they'd be left in the wayside. Nothing more, nothing less. Also, you really want Jolyne and Hajime to fuck, huh… Duly noted. Anyway, see you in the next chapter, and have a good day!
And I think that just about wraps this up, doesn't it? With the first arc of Book One complete, we have one more chapter to bridge the gap, and then, we're into Arc 2 of 2! If you guys thought this was crazy, then it only gets crazier. I've been meaning to start writing all of that, especially with how much of it is truly the bulk of this fic.
Anyway, that's enough outta me. See you all next time. Peace out!