Disclaimer: This chapter might be confusing if you don't remember the timeline from chapter four, seeing as the order of the generations are different.

—

Chapter Ten - Battle Royale

—

[Timeline 3 / May 24, 2021 - One of Hololive Japan's event halls]

—

My hands shake in anxiety and anticipation as I think about today's plans. This is it. Today is the day of the council's battle royale, the day that we capture Laplus Darkness.

Somehow we had reached the scheduled date before Kaela finished forging that key-sized object she started making a week ago. So we'll be carrying out the plan without knowing what Kaela is making. But, if we manage to successfully capture Laplus, we don't have to worry about whether Kaela is forging a key or not.

(Almost) All of Hololive is gathered here at one of Hololive's event venues. This one being one of the ones used for sports. This particular venue being chosen because of its large size and open spaces.

A tall building stands in the middle of the venue, it being the host of all the tabletop sports such as ping pong and pool. And surrounding the building is an open, circle-shaped space surrounded by a running track.

The event just started, and right now the different generations are sprinkled across the area, discussing strategies. And analysing the area.

Even though I know that this event is just a ploy to capture Laplus, the rest dont. So to keep up appearances, I'll be taking this event seriously and play to win. And the prizes are actually quite enticing.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" I call out to my group as we form a huddle. "Here's the game plan, we're gonna split up into two groups. This is so we can get as much points as possible by spreading out." I explain, hand movements included.

"But wouldn't splitting up be more risky?" Ina asks. "Sure, but I want to get as many points as possible, and I'm sure that the other generations will be doing the same, so it's not as risky as you think it is." I explain, but that's not the real reason why I decided to split up.

I want to split the team into two groups. My group will focus on monitoring Laplus and racking up as much points as possible, while the other group will focus on keeping Ina safe. That being said, "These are the groups."

"Me and Gura are going to the east side, Cali, Kiara, and Ina are going to the west." I explain. as I finish, I look at Cali, and she gives me a nod.

Because of her connection to Fauna, Cali knows all about the plan to capture Laplus. So she'll avoid Laplus as much as possible, making sure Ina isn't in earshot of anyone who could chant the spell to awaken Cthullu. Plus, Cali and Kiara are the strongest members of our generation, so they'll be able to protect Ina in case they get into any fights.

"You really think we'll be fine by ourselves Ame?" Gura asks semi-sarcastically. "Psh, we'll be fine. I mean, you are an apex predator, aren't you?." I respond, my tone bordering between serious and sarcastic. "Oho, you're right, I am. Guess I'll be carrying us then." Gura says proudly.

Just then, a holographic screen appears in front of us. A quick look around shows that these screens have appeared all over the area.

The screens light up to show Kronii and the rest of the council seated at an announcer's table. They're all wearing suits for some reason and are sitting in their usual order.

"Good afternoon everyone. Before we begin our little battle royale, I would like to explain the rules once more and make some announcements." Hologram Kronii says. "All of you are wearing wristbands created by the power of the council's very own Nanashi Mumei. The objective of the game is to touch the screen of your opponent's wristband. Doing so will give your generation a point and remove that person from the competition." Kronii explains as we all check the wristbands on our arms, careful not to touch the screens so as not to accidentally eliminate ourselves.

"Whichever is the last generation standing, or the generation with most points after twenty five minutes, will be declared the victors, and win a prize of a thousand dollars each and a week's vacation." Kronii decided to make the rewards pretty high so that as much members would want to participate as possible. Heck, even I wanna win that thousand dollars.

"This competition only has two rules, no going out of bounds, and no lethal or severely crippling attacks. All other forms of combat are prohibited as your injuries will be healed by Fauna after the competition." Kronii explains and Fauna waves to us in the background

I've never seen Fauna's healing ability firsthand, but judging from the rest of Hololive, her ability must be something. When I broke my arm, all Kanata did was touch it for a couple of seconds, and my arm instantly recovered back to normal.

"We've also banned the use of [shed] forms and your custom weapons designed by Kaela Kovalskia and given you basic replacement weapons." Kronii says. "Lastly, Kaela will not be joining us today because she's sick. And seeing as her only teammate is out of the competition, Vestia Zeta won't be competing as well."

'She's sick'. That's the excuse we gave for not having Kaela participate in the battle royale. But the true reason is to make sure that she doesn't have a chance to meet or work together with Laplus during the competition.

"And with that, we're all set for this competition. So after I count to three, the event will begin." Kronii declares as I take a deep breath in anticipation.

"Three..."

This is it. Today we capture Laplus and stop Cthullu's awakening.

"Two..."

If we succeed, the world is saved and Ina gets to live safely. We'll get back to our normal lives as idols and live happily. Though I wonder if Hololive will get rid of me if I've already served my purpose in preventing Cthullu's awakening, since they no longer have a need for me.

"One..."

But we can't afford to fail, because if we do, the world or quite possibly the universe will be destroyed, and everything we know and love will be lost to the power of infinity.

"Go!"

So I'm counting on you. You better not fail, Hoshimachi Suisei!

—

~Perspective shift~

—

[ Hoshimachi Suisei - The Enforcer ]

As the countdown ends, I split off from the rest. Miko and the others will watch Laplus, and I'll kill time for twenty minutes.

I run towards the building in the centre. I'm at my best in enclosed places where ranged attacks are weakened.

I enter the building and take a quick glance around the first floor. All I see are ping pong tables, and not a single soul in sight. "Anybody here?" I ask, my voice echoing across the empty room.

If no one's here, then I might as well check the second floor. I walk up the stairs, only to find a pleasant suprise on the second floor.

[ Shirakami Fubuki - Fleet-footed fox ]

"Fubuki! How'd you get up here?" I ask the white haired girl in front of me.

"Easily." She says, pointing to the shattered window behind her.

"Oi, A-Chan won't forgive you for that blatant property damage." I say, looking towards the fox shaped hole in the glass. "Come on, you know A-Chan can't do anything about me." Fubuki says smugly, blood trickling down her face.

"Still going on about that?" I ask, a little frustrated. "Hey, I won 'the hunt' fair and square after I beat A-Chan." Fubuki smiles smugly. "And you know what you got from that? Expulsion from the company." I respond coldly. "Hey, expulsion's worth it if it proves that I'm stronger than you." The fox gloats.

"How about you prove it again?" I ask, raising the little yellow axe they gave me. "Sure, but it looks like you already have a challenger." Fubuki says as she points behind me.

I turn around to see Kazama Iroha standing behind me, drawing her sword. "Iroha chan~ wanna play with me~?" I ask, waving my weapon towards her. "You're mine, Suisei senpai." Iroha says as she charges towards me, slashing her sword as she enters her range.

*Clang!*

Sparks fly as I block her sword with the head of my axe. "How romantic~."

—

~Perspective shift~

—

[ Amelia Watson - Prodigy Detective ]

Me and Gura circle around the building, looking for easy pickings. And as we turn the corner, we find just that.

"Hey Ame, look!" Gura shouts, pointing at the pink haired girl in front of us. "Free points!" I shout, me and Gura grinning from ear to ear.

"Eh? Eh!?" Aqua squeals as she backs up. "Hey... Aqua, where are you going?" I say as I slowly nudge towards her. "Uuuhhh, please don't hurt me..." She says meekly, hiding behind her little broomstick. "We're not gonna hurt you Aqua, we're just gonna borrow your wristband real quick." Gura says as she creeps around her.

Aqua swings her broom at Gura. "You're gonna eliminate me!" Gura smiles as she parries all of her attacks. "Yeah we are, so hand over that wristband before it gets painful."

Aqua and Gura struggle for a little bit, swinging their weapons at each other. Aqua's hits being rendered useless by Gura's Atlantian strength. Not to mention the fact that her weapon is an actual broomstick.

"You're gonna hit me! You're gonna poke me with that sharp trident!" Aqua shouts, being on the defence this time around. "Hell yeah I am! Now gimme your wrist!" Gura says as she jabs her trident at Aqua. "No!" Aqua shouts meekly as she struggles.

I don't know what I'm supposed to do here. On one hand, I wanna help Gura out. But on the other, all my enthusiasm for free points has left, and now I'd just feel bad if joined in on bullying Aqua.

"Ayame! Help me!" Aqua shouts. "Eh? Eh!? Did you just say Ayame!?" Gura exclaims in surprise.

Ayame appears from around the corner, looking distressed. "Aqua!? What's wrong?" After seeing us, Ayame immediately perks up and waves her hands. "Oh! it's Ame and Gura! Hey guys!"

Shoot. There's no way me and Gura can beat Ayame.

Seeing Gura and Aqua's battle stances, Ayame makes a face of understanding. "Ah! You called me over because you wanted to fight!" Ayame smiles as she grabs her swords. "Well then, let's get to it!"

Gura turns towards me with a face that says 'are you kidding me?' "Some free points this is." I respond with forced enthusiasm. "Don't act like you've already lost! You can still fight back, Gura!" Gura shouts back, waving her hands in annoyance, "What about you!?"

Suddenly, our wristbands make an announcement. "JP generation eight's Kazama Iroha has been eliminated by JP generation one's Hoshimachi Suisei."

I look towards Gura and smile. "At least we won't be the first ones to go."

—

~Perspective shift~

—

[ Hoshimachi Suisei - The Enforcer ]

I dust off my hands and take a seat. I look towards the spot Iroha was just a second ago, only to see nothing but the beige floor tiles. It looks like you get teleported away when your wristband is touched.

"Sigh." I wonder where Fubuki went? Maybe she got scared and ran away? "Hehe." I chuckle to myself. Suddenly, a tiny sound gets me to turn my attention towards the staircase leading up to the third floor.

"Boing... Boing... Boing..." Says the little fluff ball rolling down the stairs.

"Boing... Boing... Boing..." Another fluff ball rolls down the stairs.

And then another, and another, and another. Until the whole room is filled with these fluffy things.

[ Tsunomaki Watame - Dream Counter ]

"Tch." This is Watame's ability. It's entirely useless in terms of damaging the enemy, but it's really annoying to deal with.

Since she filled the room with these fluff things, she's probably using them as a smokescreen for an ambush.

"Come on out little lamb~." I sing as I look around the room, hoping to lure her out. "I don't think so~." She sings back.

Her voice is coming from above. Makes sense since that's where the fluff balls came from too. So where's the rest of them?

"Well... since you're gonna hide up there, I'll just bring you down here!" I shout, aiming my axe towards the ceiling.

Suddenly, a black arm jumps out of the mass of fluff and brushes past my neck. "I can't have you doing that."

[ Tokoyami Towa - Angel-Hearted Devil ]

"So you're just gonna hide too, Towa?" I ask, taunting her. "Nah, I think I'll take you head on." Towa says, walking out of the fluffy smokescreen. The black arm then retracts into a magic circle behind the devil in front of me.

"Great. Thanks for making things easy~." I smile. "Easy? Well, I'm not so sure about that." Towa replies cheekily.

Just then, a soothing melody comes down from the floor above. Watame's playing her harp.

"Sweet dreams." Towa says as she puts in a pair of ear plugs.

Watame's harp puts you to sleep after listening to it for ten seconds if your will is weak, and twenty seconds if your will is strong. So considering that, I have about thirty seconds before I fall asleep.

Smirk. Thirty seconds is all I need.

I rush towards Towa, swinging at her with the blunt part of my axe so I don't accidentally chop her arm off. She reacts by using the black arm to block, but my axe easily breaks through it.

I swing again, this one now an overhead strike. As my axe strikes down, a magic circle appears In front of Towa, shielding her from my attack.

I counter by kicking Towa from under the magic circle, sending her flying into the wall.

*Crash!*

Concrete and wool balls fly across the room, scattered by the force of Towa's body flying across the room and crashing into the wall.

I keep track of the time in my head, fifteen seconds left. I'll finish the job.

I dash forward, rushing past the wool blocking my vision. Reaching where I think Towa landed, I cock my arm back, setting up a swing powerful enough to break through the magic circle.

As I get ready to swing, I feel a strong grip stopping my wrist from moving. "Kuh!" This grip... there's only one gorilla who can grip this hard.

[ Amane Kanata - The Creator's lowest ranked angel ]

"You too, Kanata?" I ask, unimpressed with Force's little ambush.

...

"Oh, she's must be wearing earplugs too." I remark to myself.

Kanata reaches to grab my neck, but I dive my head down to avoid her grasp. After bringing my head back up, I give Kanata a headbutt on the forehead, hoping to get her to let go of my wrist.

*Bam*

My headbutt makes her flinch back, but she still grips hard on my wrist. "Tch." I need to get control of my arm back before Watame puts me to sleep.

The black arm suddenly strikes at me from behind the veil of wool, this time being joined by another identical arm.

I swing my arm to block the attack, Kanata still attached. "Kanata!" Towa shouts, redirecting the arms away from the angel. The arms fly past me and hit the walls behind us, sending dust throughout the room.

"Why won't you let go of me!" I shout, waving my Kanata arm wildly. As I fling Kanata around, my eyes suddenly drop and exhaustion fills my body.

"Yawn." I'm starting to get tired. Watame's song is gonna put me to sleep soon, I need a quick getaway.

A magic circle appears in front of me as Towa gets ready for another attack. Okay, it's about time I get out of here.

I squat on the floor, putting all my strength into my legs. "Alright Kanata, get ready for lift off."

"Daemonium Hastam!" Towa shouts as she launches her demonic magic. A black spear shouts out of the magic circle and barrels towards me.

"Let's go!" I shout as I jump with all my force, holding up my Kanata arm.

I jump over Towa's attack and crash into the ceiling.

*Boom!*

Me and Kanata fly into the third floor, Watame's eyes opening wide as she sees us. "Whaaaa-"

*Boom!*

We continue our ascent as we burst into the fourth floor, Kanata protecting my head from the hard concrete above. "You're still not letting go, huh?" I ask the persistent girl. "Huh!?" She utters. Oh yeah, she's wearing ea-

*Boom!*

We reach the fifth floor, Kanata still holding on for dear life. I give her a quick shake, but she's still holding on as strong as ever. It's kind of admirable in a way.

*Boom!*

We crash through the top ceiling and our ascent stops just after we're slightly above the roof. I grab onto the ledge of the hole we made and hoist myself up.

I look down at my right hand to realise that Kanata has detached herself from it. "Guess that was the straw that broke the angel's back."

I turn around to see that Kanata had also brought herself up onto the roof, the two of us now standing alone on top of the building.

"Now it's just the two of us." I say, pointing my weapon at the angel in front of me. Kanata takes a deep breath as she stares at me resolutely. "So help me god." Kanata mutters, wings sprouting from her back as flames form on the shuriken on top of her head.

—

~Perspective shift~

—

[ Amelia Watson - Prodigy Detective ]

A blinding light hits my eyes as it descends from the sky, splitting the clouds. I look up at the building next to us, the source of this blinding light. An angelic figure floats at the top, battling an axe wielding psychopath.

"Ame! Now's not the time to get distracted!" Gura shouts, her trident clashing with Ayame's dual katanas. "Right!" I say as I line up my shot. Instead of my usual revolver, I was given a tranquilliser gun as a non-lethal replacement.

"You're stronger than I thought!" Ayame remarks, struggling to free her swords from in between the trident's points. "Urgh! Guh!" Gura grunts, putting her all into fighting off Ayame.

I place my finger on the trigger, ready to shoot at any time. But it's hard to aim as Gura and Ayame are constantly moving and switching places.

"Take this!" Ayame shouts as she swings her arms down, pushing Gura's trident to the floor. "Argh!" Gura exclaims as she jumps back.

"C'mon, you can do better than that!" Ayame shouts, trying to egg Gura on. Gura can't win in a head to head battle, but now that she's out of the way, I have an easy shot.

I aim my tranquilliser at Ayame and place my finger in the trigger. But just as I'm about to pull the trigger, a yellow axe suddenly flies in between me and Ayame, before quickly boomeranging back to the roof of the building at the centre of the venue.

"Holy... that axe almost hit us." I say, looking at Gura in shock. "Was that Suisei's!?" Gura asks, looking up at the building in the middle.

"You can't afford to be distracted!" Ayame shouts, swinging her sword at Gura.

*Clash*

Gura blocks Ayame's swords with the handle of her trident. Gura quickly whips around and smacks Ayame with her tail. "Ah!" Ayame flinches as Gura gets ready for a follow up attack.

*Woooshhh*

Suisei's axe zooms past us again, flying dangerously close to Gura's face, stopping the shark in her tracks. Seeing an opportunity, Ayame rushes forward, going for a stabbing attack.

Gura intercepts one of the swords, stabbing it into the ground with her trident. The other one changing course mid air and slashing Gura's side.

"Argh!" She winces in pain as she takes up a defensive stance with her trident.

*clash*

*Clash*

*CLASH*

Slash after slash, Gura parries Ayame's attacks, becoming more and more fatigued as their weapons collide.

Gura turns back and asks me, "Ame, got a plan?" I think for a bit before responding, "You almost parried Ayame before, right? Since you can't beat her head on, try using your speed to outmanoeuvre her." Gura focuses as she looks towards Ayame determinedly. "Okay!"

Gura rushes forward, keeping her trident close. "You're gonna use your speed huh? Well try dodging this!" Ayame shouts before striking, spinning to generate extra momentum.

*Woosh*

Gura manages to avoid her attack but Ayame jumps out of the way of any potential counter attacks. "That's great Gura! Keep it up!" I encourage her, seeing the plan's potential for success. "Yeah! I got this!" Gura yells proudly, ready to try again.

*Boom!*

The wall beside us explodes and a white blur flies it into the air, flipping multiple times before landing on the ground right behind me, dust flying as they slide to a stop.

"You guys look like you're having fun, mind if I join in?" Says Shirakami Fubuki as she wipes the dust from her clothes.

No way, there's no way we can win against Fubuki and Ayame. "Gura! We're getting out of here!" I shout in a panic. "What!?" Gura shouts in confusion before turning around to see the fox standing next to me. "Oh shit." Gura utters in suprise and fear before running in the direction of the centre building.

"Eh!? Where are you guys going!?" Ayame asks, letting down her blades in confusion. "Okay, I'll give you two a head start." Fubuki says, grinning playfully.

Me and Gura run for our lives, sticking close to the building to avoid getting caught in the crossfire of other battles, and to dodge the storm of axe boomerangs. After a few seconds of running, I run a little faster to catch up to Gura who's running in front of me.

"Ayame and Fubuki gave us a pretty big head start. Let's use this time to run as far as we can." I tell Gura under heavy breaths, the exhaustion of fighting and running taking hold of my body. "So, where are we heading?" Gura asks, looking even more fatigued then I do. Makes sense, considering that she was the one who actually fought while I just watched.

"We're gonna rendezvous with Cali, she should be on the other side of this building. Once we meet up with her and Kiara, those two should be no problem." I explain to Gura as she runs beside me. "Just get to the other side of this building huh? Would be easy if Fubuki wasn't the fastest member of Hololive." Gura says sarcastically, doubting that we'll be able to avoid our two white haired assailants.

"Don't worry, it looks like she hasn't started moving yet." I say, looking behind me to see Fubuki standing still while Ayame runs at us, but Ayame isn't very close. "If we run as fast as possible, we could definitely reach Cali before they reach us." I assure Gura, running faster as I talk. Gura matching my pace as I reach top speed.

"You know, you're actually quite slow." Gura remarks, a condescending grin on her face. "Hey! I'm just a regular human okay? I don't have Atlantian athleticism like you do." I reply scornfully. While I am pretty fit because of the missions, a human like me could never reach the physical prowess of a nonhuman like Gura.

"Suisei's a regular human." Gura points out casually, trying to hurt my ego. "Suisei's different!" I shout, trying to justify my weakness. "How so?" Gura asks, not out of confusion, but out of a desire to annoy me. "She's just a freak of nature okay!" I insist stubbornly, unable to find any dissimilarities between me and Suisei.

"Okay, you keep telling yourself tha-"

*Boom!*

The wall next to Gura bursts open, sending small chunks of concrete flying. The cause of this explosion being an arm sticking out of the wall that's now grabbing Gura by the neck.

"Oh! Looks like I caught someone." The voice behind the wall says, Gura struggling to free herself from their arm's grasp. "Gura!" I shout, running over to her. "So this is Gawr Gura huh? Why don't you join me inside?" The voice says before pulling her arm in, breaking through the wall and dragging Gura into the building.

*Boom!*

"Hi Gura! I'll be eliminating you, ok?"

[ Shirogane Noel - Muscleheaded Knight ]

Noel says playfully to Gura as she holds her up. As I stares at our attacker, I realise that Noel is covered in scratch marks, blood flowing down her face and arms. But that's not what I should focus on right now.

Noel holds Gura by the neck with her right arm, if she wants to touch the wristband on Gura's right hand, she has to let her go.

"Noel's here too? This is gonna be fun!" Ayame says from behind me, causing me to turn around. Shit! Ayame caught up to us already!?

"Hey Noel, looks like you got to them before we did." Fubuki says as she enters the room through the home in the wall.

"Hey! How about we make it a free for all? Winner is the last one standing." Noel proposes, dropping Gura and letting her run up to me.

"You meathead, that's how the battle royale works anyways." Fubuki says, licking her claws, ready for battle.

"So we're really doing this?" Gura says turning to me with a face full of anxiety. "I guess so." I reply, anxiety running through my mind as well. "So, what's the plan?" Gura asks, looking desperately at me. "Survive. I guess." I respond, unable to think of a way to win.

—

~Perspective shift~

—

[ Hoshimachi Suisei - The Enforcer ]

*Boom!*

The building rumbles as I hear an explosion beneath me. Some meathead must have blown a hole in the wall. But I have bigger things to worry about.

*Woosh*

A diamond shaped shuriken flies at me, cutting through the air as it heads towards me.

*Clink*

I catch the flaming shuriken with my teeth and "Ptooh." spit it out.

"You really are a monster. My halo can cut through steel." Kanata says, looking dumbfounded. "Stop calling it a halo, you literally used it as a shuriken just now." I say, kicking the "halo" down the hole in the ceiling. "Oi, you can't just go kicking my halo around like it's some piece of trash." Kanata says frustrated and I just shrug in response.

It's nice being able to talk to my opponent again. Ever since I punched her earplugs out, Kanata suddenly became a lot more talkative.

"I'll make you pay for that." Kanata says before priming her wings, her stance looking like a bird ready to swoop down on a worm. "Bring it on." I say, taunting her with my hand.

Beating her wings powerfully, Kanta dives at me with full force. Great. When she gets into range, I'll give her a good axe hit.

I feel the wind blow past me as Kanata gets closer. I swing my axe, ready to hit her out of the sky. My attack nearly reaches her before she grabs my arm with her left arm, moving it out of the way.

Using her other arm, Kanata grabs me by the neck and flies off the building, hanging me five stories of the ground.

"Are trying to kill me or something? Cause this isn't enough." I joke, looking down at the five story drop below. "I know that I can't beat you on land, but what about the sky? How will you fare here?" Kanata asks as she flies around the building's perimeter, gradually building speed.

"You know that your wristband's right in trying of me right?" I say, placing my finger just above the hand she's using to choke me. "All I have to do is give it a little tap, and boom! You're out."

"I've seen what's happens when your wristband is touched. If you eliminate me, I'll teleport away and you'll fall five stories down." Kanata says, pointing downwards at the ground below.

"Hmm. So all I have to do is eliminate you on the ground." I say with a smile. "Good luck with that." Kanata replies calmly as she changes direction, flying straight at max speed.

We fly towards the building, the air around us feeling hard because of our speed. I gotta brace for impact, she's gonna slam me into the side of that building.

*Zooooommmm*

*Boom!*

"Guh!" Kanata slams me into the wall, Dragging me across the side of the building. Concrete and glass shout out as my body gets scraped along the walls.

Grin. Just my luck.

"What do you think you're grinning for?" Kanata says, confused and frustrated at my happy expression. "You're in my territory now." I say, my smile getting wider. "?" Kanata makes a face of pure confusion.

I grab Kanata's neck with my free hand and twist my body. The momentum of this action causes us to slam into the wall, and we crash into the fifth floor.

I flip again to stop my momentum, catching myself with my free arm. Kanata however, gets flung across the room, barely stopping herself from flying back out of the building.

While she still tries to regain her balance, I run over to her and slam my axe into her face.

*Thud*

Kanata's head flies back as she spits blood, staggering back as she raises her arms in defence. I swing with my free arm this time, breaking her gaurd and punching her in the chest.

"Gak!" Kanata chokes as more blood flies out of her mouth. "Ok... cough, you win." Kanata says weakly as she raises her right arm. "Good fight, sorry for beating the crap out of you." I say, reaching my left arm out to Kanata's wrist. "Hey, our fight was actually pretty close." Kanata says, a slight smile forming on her face. "Haha, sure it was." I chuckle before touching Kanata's wristband, causing her to instantly teleport.

"JP generation six's Amana Kanata has been eliminated by JP generation one's Hoshimachi Suisei." The device on my wrist announces, confirming my victory.

"Sigh." I drop my axe and dust off the concrete on my clothes. Hearing a sound coming from the floor below, I turn to the staircase and smile. "So, who's next?"

—

~Perspective shift~

—

[ Amelia Watson - Prodigy Detective ]

"JP generation six's Amana Kanata has been eliminated by JP generation one's Hoshimachi Suisei." My wristband announces. Suisei's really going on a roll, meanwhile, me and Gura are getting absolutely destroyed.

Noel swings her mace towards Fubuki, the force of her swing so strong that the air shoots forward like a bullet.

*Wooosh*

The air bullet flies at Fubuki, along with Noel's mace. Fubuki dodges both easily and retaliates with a slash that Noel blocks.

"Don't forget about me!" Ayame shouts, slashing both swords at Fubuki. She avoids the attack by splitting her legs, making her fall rapidly onto the floor. She catches herself as her legs fully extend, her face near centimetres from the floor. From this position, she rises quickly and launches an uppercut that hits Ayame square on the chin, sending her staggering backwards.

"So that was the Fox Dive huh?" Ayame remarks, wiping the blood from her mouth. "I'm suprised you were even able to stay conscious." Fubuki talks as she avoids Noel's mace attacks.

"Gura, let's run while they're distracted fighting each other." I whisper into my partner's ear. "I heard that! You two aren't going anywhere." Fubuki says, pointing to her twitching ears.

Shoot. Looks like there's no getting out of this one. Our best bet is to stay back and wait for them to exhaust each other.

"I wont just let you sit back!" Fubuki says like she read my mind and replied to my thoughts.

*Thwoom*

I shoot a tranquilliser at her in defence, but she dodges quickly, transitioning her movement into a dash.

I grab Gura's hand and run towards Noel, as we get close to her, she notices us and swings her mace.

*Boom*

Me and Gura duck under the mace and run behind Noel, her mace attack getting in between us and Fubuki.

As Fubuki gets ready to dash again, Noel swings her mace in front of her, smashing a hole into the ground. "You can't just give all your attention to our juniors, Fubuki. We still haven't finished our fight."

"Alright, I'll play with you Noel." Fubuki says before pointing to me and Gura. "You two are next."

Great. Noel and Fubuki will wear each other out. By the time they're done, Gura should be pretty rested. And considering the difference in fatigue, Gura should have a pretty good chance at beating them.

"And you two shouldn't give all your attention to Fubuki." Ayame says, pointing her weapons towards us. "We really can't shake Ayame off us huh?" Gura tells me with an irritated voice. "Don't treat me like some sort of nuisance!" Ayame shouts, waving her arms up and down in anger.

"JP generation six's Tokoyami Towa has been eliminated by JP generation one's Hoshimachi Suisei." Our wristbands all announced in chorus, causing everyone to shift their attention towards the announcement.

"JP generation six's Tsunomaki Watame has been eliminated by JP generation one's Hoshimachi Suisei." Our wristbands announce again, just mere seconds after the last one.

"Wow, Suisei's going on a rampage right now, I wonder how many points generation one has?" Ayame asks before bringing her wrist close to her face. "Hey, how many points does generation one have?" Ayame asks her wristband. "They have eight points right now." Fauna's answers, her voice coming from the wristband.

Generation one has eight points now. And four of them come from Suisei. I haven't gotten any notifications about Kiara's eliminations, and I heard about two eliminations from Cali. - (you totally missed it).

If we don't earn some points right now, we'll either have to eliminate everyone else or lose because of a lack of points.

A sudden feeling of motivation overcomes me. If me and Gura take these three out, we'll be able to lessen the gap between us and generation one.

"Gura, we gotta get these points." I say, speaking closely to my partner. "Yeah, I really want that week vacation." Gura responds, holding her trident forward. She's probably filled with the same motivation I'm feeling right now.

Gura steps forward, slowly closing in on Ayame's position while she uses her trident to maintain distance.

"So you finally gained your courage." Ayame remarks, stretching her swords out to judge the distance between her and Gura.

"Yeah, I did. And I'm gonna beat the SNOT outta you." Gura says confidently. "Then bring it on!" Ayame shouts as she bends down and slashes her sword, aiming under Gura's trident and towards her feet.

Gura jumps over the attack and thrusts at Ayame from the air. Ayame straightens out her body and stands up, using the sword in her dominant hand to block Gura's trident.

Gura lands on top of Ayame's chest as she falls. When they both hit the ground, Gura rolls off of Ayame, bringing the sword stuck in her trident with her.

"Ah! My sword!" Ayame exclaims in suprise as she quickly gets back up, looking at her empty right hand, then to the sword in Gura's left hand.

Gura tries to run back at Ayame, but realising that carrying two weapons would be too much of a hassle, Gura drops the sword and charges at Ayame with both of her hands on her trident.

Gura attacks and Ayame dodges every one of Gura's thrusts, returning with her own slashes that were then dodged in turn.

*Boom!*

The ground besides us shatters as a result of the fight happening simultaneously with ours, sending rocks and floor tiles flying across the room. Gura and Ayame quickly dodge the flying debris and go back to clashing weapons.

Looks like Gura lost her initiative after being interrupted by Noel's attack, returning both her and Ayame to neutral positions. Ayame and Gura trade slashes and thrusts as dirt and debris flies in the background.

I turn around to see Noel and Fubuki battle. Noel is swinging with all her might, her attacks being so strong that even the air moving from swinging her arm is powerful enough to blow holes in the walls.

But Fubuki effortlessly dodges every attack, returning with little jabs that seem to be doing very little damage. But I know that the damage from those jabs will pile up, and Noel will eventually slow down. That is, if Fubuki doesn't get hit by one of those killer swings first.

I turn back to see Gura a fair distance from Ayame, holding her trident like a long spear. Ayame holds her sword out as a shield as Gura charges at her with full force.

Ayame tries to stop Gura's charge with the sword she held out, but Gura easily deflects it, sending Ayame's left arm swinging towards the floor.

*Thrck*

Ayame's sword pierces through the floor, causing it to get stuck in the concrete. Seeing no other option, Ayame lets go of her sword and jumps back, only for me to grab her shoulder and place my gun on her side.

Gura thrusts her trident at Ayame, placing her neck in between two of her trident's points.

"Where was this strength a while ago?" Ayame asks sarcastically as she raises her arms up. "We just got lucky. If you didn't lose your swords, you probably could have won." I tell her honestly. "Nah, I just wasn't at one hundred percent earlier." Gura says, delivering such a blatant lie with an arrogant face.

"Well, you both won fairly either way. I accept my defeat." Ayame smiles. "I accept your defeat too." Gura says as she presses on Ayame's wristband.

Just like that, Ayame teleports away in an instant, the announcement following soon after. "JP generation three's Nakiri Ayame has been eliminated by EN generation two's Gawr Gura."

But just before we can celebrate our victory, we hear another announcement. "JP generation five's Shirogane Noel has been eliminated by JP generation four's Shirakami Fubuki."

We turn around to see Fubuki smiling at us. She shows no sign of fatigue or damage whatsoever, the only thing different about her appearance being the blood splattered across her claws and face.

Fubuki smiles and points her bloody finger at me and Gura. "It's your turn now."

—

~Perspective shift~

—

[ Hoshimachi Suisei - The Enforcer ]

My wristband makes an announcement, "EN generation two's Gawr Gura has been eliminated by JP generation four's Shirakami Fubuki."

So that's where she went. She's just been going around fighting other members, Noel and Gura being her most recent victims.

I hear that Gura and Amelia are always together, if that's the case, then Amelia won't be around for when we capture Laplus.

I look towards the staircase going down into the third floor. There were explosions coming from downstairs just now, too bad I wasn't able to join in their battle before they stopped. Though, maybe the person that won is still there.

"Ah!" Now that I think about it, the explosions downstairs stopped right before they announced that Fubuki eliminated Noel. "She's probably downstairs right now!"

Before I can punch the floor under me, I hear a message coming from my wristband.

"Suisei, twenty minutes have passed. Laplus is outside, on the east side, we'll be sending Sana over to you now." Kronii's voice directs me.

So it's finally time to capture Laplus. Guess I'll be saving Fubuki for after I beat Laplus.

I stretch a little bit before bringing my wristband close to my face. "Bring it on." I declare confidently.

Sana suddenly appears in front of me, waving hello as she materialises. "You ready?" I respond with a smile and flex of the muscles. "You know I am!" Sana chuckles as she reaches her right arm out at me. "Good luck!"

Soon, my body feels like it's stretching in every direction. The feeling slowly gets stronger and stronger as Sana's ability warps me.

It's definitely a strange feeling, but you get used to it. Especially if you're Sana's chosen.

Eventually, my vision becomes blurry as my eye's atoms get transported to the new location. Then, my consciousness starts to fade as my brain follows my eyes.

When I come to, I'm greeted by the sight of Laplus Darkness and her subordinates, Hakui Koyori and Sakamata Chloe.

"Huh!?" My face contorts in confusion as I look at my enemies again. "Oi! Where's Takane Lui?!" I shout, Koyori making an irritated expression in response. "You don't get to be the one asking questions when you just randomly teleport in front of us!"

"Sigh, you wanna know what's going on?" I ask rhetorically. "You're all gonna be eliminated."

I hold my hand out to call my weapon, the axe appearing from out of sight and flying towards me, landing perfectly into the palm of my hand.

"Oi, Suisei, our Kaela made weapons aren't allowed, remember?" Chloe says meekly, backing up slightly. "You guys are an exception." I say bluntly, walking slowly towards them.

"C'mon, even with the axe Suisei is nothing for me." Laplus says confidently, charging up her atom splitter. "So, are you gonna help me, or not?" Laplus turns and asks her subordinates, who take up a fighting stance in response. "Good." Laplus smiles, flexing her hand to coat it in her atom splitter, the purple energy forming a claw around her fingers.

No time to waste, I'll dispose of them quickly. I run forwards, jumping over Laplus who's positioned at the front of her group.

"So you're avoiding me?" Laplus asks smugly, probably believing I skipped her out of fear. "Small fries first." I reply, landing in between Chloe and Koyori.

As my feet touch the ground, Koyori immediately throws a red vial at me. Guess she's my first target.

I run towards Koyori, hitting the red vial in the air.

*Boom!*

The vial explodes, releasing heat, smoke and glass onto my face. "Cough!" I shake off the explosion, but some of the smoke is caught in my lungs.

Out of the smoke on my left side comes Chloe's three-sectioned mop. I deflect the attack with my axe, splitting off a part of Chloe's weapon, the wooden chunk falling somewhere behind her.

*Thud!*

*Craackk*

I punch Chloe in the face with my free hand with full force, knocking her out instantly. Wasting no time, I immediately turn to face Koyori, only to see two more vials flying towards me.

In my peripherals, I see Laplus heading towards me as well, her hand mid slashing motion.

"Tch." I grab the two vials out of the air, careful not to break them and throw them at Laplus.

*Boom!*

The vials explodes in her face, stunning her and shrouding her in smoke. "Cough! Cough! Cough!" I hear Laplus suffocating in the smoke, it's gonna take her some time to recover.

Using this opportunity, I throw my axe at Koyori. She throws a vial at the floor in defence, summoning a white wall in front of her.

*Boom!*

The axe collides with the wall destroying it completely, the impact of the collision sends Koyori flying backwards onto the ground.

I rush towards her, jumping over the remains of the wall and kneel down to reach her level. I quickly grab her wristband and press it before she can even react.

"JP generation eight's Hakui Koyori has been eliminated by JP generation one's Hoshimachi Suisei."

I pay no attention to the announcement, looking towards Laplus instead. The smoke is starting to clear but she's still coughing some out.

I dash at her, moving in her blindspot. While she's still distracted with the smoke, I hit her face with the hilt of my axe, causing her to fall on the floor.

"Ah! Unfair, I'm still choking!" Laplus complains as she tries to lift herself back up. "Shut up!" I shout, kicking her back down to the floor.

I raise my wristband towards my face and ask the council, "I got her, what's next?" Fauna's voice responds through my wristband, sounding unexpectedly surprised. "You did!? Raora didn't tell us."

What? That's weird.

"Where are you right now? We'll send Sana over there." Fauna says hurriedly. "We haven't moved at all. We're still on the east side, where Sana sent me just a bit ago." I explain while looking down at Laplus, who's trying to hit me with her atom splitter.

*thud*

"Guh!" I give her a good smack on the head and she settles down.

"Yo, Suisei! That was quick." Sana says as she walks towards me and from behind. "Yeah, I didn't wanna waste any time." I respond, not bothering to turn around.

"You're always so serious when it comes to missions." She jokes, walking in front of me. "Anything to ensure their safety." I say, not taking my eyes off of Laplus.

"So, what will you be doing with me now?" Laplus asks, looking up at us. "We're gonna lock you up in a cell for the rest of time." I say bluntly, grinding my foot on her chest. "Well, it's not forever. Just until the time of Cthullu's revival has passed." Sana clarifies, moving my foot off of Laplus's chest as she gently pushes me away.

Laplus slowly stands up and dusts the dirt off her oversized jacket. "May I say just one thing before you take me to prison please?" Laplus asks in an uncharacteristically polite way. "Sure." Sana says sweetly, charmed by Laplus's suprise change in attitude.

Laplus makes a devilish grin and puts her fingers near her face. Me and Sana's eyes widen as we realise what's going to happen. But before we can move even a single inch, the corners of Laplus's mouth raise as her lips begin to move. And before we know it, Laplus utters the words we've been fighting so hard to stop her from saying.

"[shed]"