bookbashuk Page 191
Page 191
Hearing Kotoko Iwanaga's reminder, Asagiri, Megumi Kato, and Asuna Yuuki quickened their pace, wanting to kill as many enemies as possible within the one-minute time limit. However, at this moment, the two priests who were in a state of divine possession finally reacted. One of them led his followers to attack Black Watch, while the other raised his heavy flaming greatsword and met Asagiri and the others with a ferocious expression.
"Evil Blackwatch heretics, today I will use the power of the gods to personally condemn you..."
Just as the priest was halfway through his speech, something completely unexpected happened. The flames that had enveloped him, forming a heavy armor around him, suddenly began to tremble, and even the greatsword of flame began to dissipate. The power that had been filling his body rapidly vanished, as if...
"Lord Kami? Lord Kami!?"
The priest's pupils dilated suddenly as he tried to grasp his flaming greatsword, which was gradually dissipating, but he could only catch fleeting sparks.
"My Lord God...why have you abandoned me..."
While the priest was bewildered and shocked, Asuna Yuuki gave him no chance to be sentimental and pierced his head with her sword. Asagiri looked at the priest who was slowly falling to the ground, shook her head and said softly.
"Don't you understand yet? Are you too stupid to see it, or are you unwilling to believe it? Your so-called god is a weak being who fears death."
Asagiri, Yuuki Asuna, and the others had already discovered this during the previous battle.
Just before Kato Megumi's arrow was about to kill the priest, the "power" possessing the priest's body disappeared.
Is it because the time has come?
No, according to Kotoko Iwanaga's analysis, the priest's ability is to use himself as a sacrifice to summon a part of the "god" to descend upon him. If the time limit is reached, the priest's body should turn to ashes and dissipate, or directly collapse. However, after the "god" left, the priest still had a breath left.
This can only mean that the "gods" were afraid.
Possessing immense power, yet fearing death, even if not death in the true sense, but merely experiencing death through one's followers, that god is still afraid.
In the moments before his death, He abandoned His followers.
Meanwhile, the priest on the other side was leading his followers in a massacre of the Blackwatch forces.
Firearms and bullets were useless against them, and even though they wore special fire-resistant mobile unit combat uniforms, most members of Blackwatch were still just ordinary people and were completely unable to stop these cultists with superhuman powers.
Asagiri summoned a tall human-shaped Shura, but instead of having it attack, she had it use its massive body to protect Iwanaga Kotoko, whose defenses were the most vulnerable. Asagiri herself, along with Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi, charged back into the enemy ranks.
"Bang bang bang!"
Three bullets struck Asuna Yuuki's left shoulder, but at this moment, in her full-speed sprint, she possessed astonishing defensive capabilities. Coupled with the protection of her Flash Light Armor, it felt like a normal person being hit by a rubber bullet. Although it was very painful, it was still within her tolerance range.
Her attacks were something these Blackwatch members couldn't withstand.
Yuuki Asuna doesn't need to use any sword skills at all; even the most basic stab can easily take the lives of Blackwatch members.
Although Kato Megumi's stats were slightly lower, she was, after all, an assassin-type class. Coupled with the boost from her exclusive talent and the attention drawn by her highly noticeable teammates Asagiri and Iwanaga Kotoko, the Blackwatch members were completely unaware of her presence. They only became aware of her when the first arrow struck them. However, by the time they realized it, Kato Megumi's second arrow had already arrived. With the added power from the Bloodstained Nightingale Bow's exclusive effect, the second arrow pierced through their tactical helmets and took their lives.
Compared to Asuna Yuuki's agility and Megumi Kato's elusiveness, Asagiri's fighting style is much simpler and more direct.
He completely ignored all the bullets. With the terrifying power of the Asura, every time he threw a punch, he could knock a Blackwatch member away. Even if the tactical mobility suits on the outside looked intact, the Blackwatch members hiding inside were killed by the force of the impact, their internal organs shattered.
The Asagiri squad only encountered some obstacles when facing flame cultists, but since this was the last battle in this dungeon, Asuna Yuuki and Megumi Kato didn't need to worry about their injuries. They went all out, ignoring the scorching flames, and directly traded their injuries for their lives to kill the cultists blocking their way.
In the hotel lobby, which was in complete disarray, the three forces were locked in a fierce battle, preventing the Blackwatch members outside from providing remote support.
"Leader, ten seconds!"
Just as Kotoko Iwanaga spoke up to warn her, she suddenly heard a sharp shriek. When she turned around, she saw two dark figures rushing towards the direction she was standing.
"Castling."
Seeing one of the hunters break through the human demon's defenses, its blood-stained, filthy claws about to touch Kotoko Iwanaga, Asagiri immediately activated Castling. In the instant of the exchange, she used her rope dart to pierce the hunter's head, slamming it heavily to the ground.
Just then, two more Flame Cultists launched an attack on Asagiri's original position, and two huge fire serpents lunged at Kotoko Iwanaga, who had switched places.
"A phantom image".
Kotoko Iwanaga didn't have time to take any defensive measures, but she didn't need to. She directly activated the exclusive effect of the "Phantom Garment" and entered a phantom state that lasted for a minute.
Seeing the two fire serpents pass directly through Kotoko Iwanaga's body, as if they were on completely different dimensions, the Black Watch members and believers around them were all somewhat shocked.
"It's almost time."
Asagiri uttered these words softly, and then dark red patterns emerged around his body. His eyes changed from black to bright gold, and the phantom of the Asura appeared behind him.
A jet-black light emerged and rose into the sky. The believers, priests, Blackwatch members, and even the special infected who were irrational and shouldn't have felt fear, were all gripped by a trembling terror that made them stiffen.
"Supreme Magic Bullet".
The rain formed from the black light fell rapidly. As Asagiri and the others disappeared, everything present—the believers, the priest, the Blackwatch members, and the special infected—also vanished into nothingness.
A few seconds later, the two Blackwatch commanders who had just arrived at the scene, along with the Blackwatch members who had formed a perimeter outside the hotel, were all stunned into disbelief as they stared at the empty space.
"What...what's going on?"
"Is anyone still alive? What happened?!"
"What was that black rain just now?
The Blackwatch members entered the hotel lobby on the first floor. Looking at the lobby, which seemed as if nothing had happened, everyone felt a deep-seated fear in the silence.
Even in this bizarre and terrifying world, they had never seen anything so eerie and chilling.
There was no sound, and it only lasted for a moment.
The hundreds of Blackwatch members who were present, the priest in his divine state, the few remaining fanatics, and dozens of special infected...
Everything turned to nothingness.
……
[Congratulations to "player" Utsunomiya Asagiri, you have cleared this dungeon!]
[Your special bonus actions in this instance are: leading the player group through the first phase of the instance, successfully defeating the hidden boss "Thousand Faces", guiding the player group to survive until the end of the second phase, defeating "Flame Cult Followers", defeating "Flame Cult Priests", defeating "Blackwatch Members", guiding the "Flame Cult" and "Blackwatch" into battle, and learning some important information about the strange world.]
[This dungeon clear rating is: S+]
All injuries you sustained during the dungeon have been healed.
51
Chapter 51 The Daily Life of the Student Council.
"Phew...I'm so exhausted..."
After leaving the instance and returning to the real world, Kotoko Iwanaga immediately collapsed onto the soft sofa, hugged a cushion to her chest, and, not caring about maintaining her elegance in front of Asagiri, yawned sleepily.
"Let's talk about the rewards when I'm awake... I'm going to sleep now..."
The team spent 72 consecutive hours in the dungeon. Although there were breaks in between, they were still in the dungeon. Even when they were sleeping, the four of them would subconsciously stay alert, so there was no quality sleep at all.
Even Yuuki Asuna, who has a slight obsession with cleanliness, was so sleepy that she could barely keep her eyes open. She first glanced at Kato Megumi, who was already asleep on the opposite sofa, and then looked at Asagiri beside her. Her mind was a little unclear, and she mumbled in a cute and innocent tone.
"I haven't showered yet, so I'm not going to sleep in the room... Aren't you going to sleep either?"
"I'll wait a little longer."
"OK then……"
Asuna Yuuki lay down on the sofa, resting her head on Asagiri's legs, rubbing against them like a kitten, and said in a sleepy, coquettish voice.
"I'm going to sleep now."
After Asuna Yuuki, Megumi Kato, and Kotoko Iwanaga fell asleep, Asagiri turned her phone screen brightness down to the lowest setting and then opened her email. She found three unread emails, the first of which was from Miwa Ashikaga.
"I've already arranged for you to take leave from school."
The second email was from Chika Fujiwara, and it even included her signature cute emoticons.
"Hello, hello~ Utsunomiya-kun~ It's been a few days, I've missed you so much~ Kaguya and I will take care of you in the student council, so you don't need to worry at all~"
Upon seeing the email's contents, Asagiri immediately edited a reply.
"What student council?"
Unexpectedly, less than three seconds after Asagiri sent the email, Fujiwara Chika replied instantly, adding a cute cat hissing angry emoji.
"Seriously, you're the vice president, how could you just forget about our bond like that?! That's too much!"
Just by looking at the message, Asagiri could roughly imagine Fujiwara Chika's sullen face. Without thinking, he edited another message and sent it over.
"who are you?"
Meanwhile, at home, Fujiwara Chika saw the message and the large question mark, her cute face initially showing confusion. Then, she quickly realized what was happening, her face instantly turning bright red. Her slender, white fingers swiped across the screen with astonishing speed, and in less than a second, she typed a message, ready to rebuke Utsunomiya-kun for her heartless attitude. However…
"You blocked me again!?"
Seeing the red message "You have been blocked by this user" displayed on the screen, Fujiwara Chika looked like she was about to cry, and rolled around on the bed holding her phone in both hands.
"PUA... This is definitely PUA... Oh no, this word is supposed to be used only between couples, but... I can't think of a more suitable word."
In today's email battle, Fujiwara Chika suffered a crushing defeat.
……
After achieving a crushing victory in the email duel, Asagiri opened the last unread email, and as expected, it was from Kaguya Shinomiya, with a very simple message.
"Remember to come to school after this is over. I have something I'd like to talk to you about."
"What do you mean by remembering to come to school... I'm an excellent student who never skips class."
Asagiri smiled and shook his head, then turned off his phone. He knew Kaguya Shinomiya's personality well and knew that if she was just worried about him, she wouldn't be speaking in such a serious tone. Moreover, Kaguya Shinomiya said she wanted to talk to "you all," not just his "you." It was obvious that they needed to discuss the third phase of the dungeon.
This can be considered an advantage brought about by the mutual trust between two different player teams.
No matter how strong Asagiri, Yuuki Asuna, and the others are, the information they can obtain in a single instance is limited. If they could exchange information with Kaguya Shinomiya's team, they might be able to learn more about the instance world.
Based on the dungeons we've encountered so far, most of them take place in that eerie world. Blackwatch seems to be the embodiment of that world. The demi-human dungeon, however, was a completely different world, similar to reality, and still functioning normally. The zombie dungeon is still unclear; it could be a part of the eerie world, or it could be an independent world.
If it's the former, that's fine, but if it's the latter...
How did Blackwatch, living in a bizarre world, manage to travel to another world without a game system and conduct experiments on a city?
Asagiri, Asuna Yuuki, Kotoko Iwanaga, and Megumi Kato originally thought that the reason for this death game was to give power to the chosen ones in the real world so that the players could fight against the Black Watchers in another world, but now it seems that this is not the case.
Blackwatch is the enemy, but Blackwatch isn't the only enemy. Even members of Blackwatch can register as players as long as they get a phone.
In this game, what exactly are the players who have gained power going to fight against?
……
That day, Tuesday noon, at the private Shuchiin Academy, in the student council room.
“Utsunomiya-kun.”
Seeing Asagiri, Asuna Yuuki, and Kotoko Iwanaga enter the student council office, Chika Fujiwara immediately went to the corner, picked up a stack of letters, and slammed them on the table. She looked at Asagiri, who had sat down on the sofa without a care in the world, and said angrily.
"Here, these are all for you."
"What is this?"
Asagiri picked up the letter on top. When he saw the delicate handwriting on the envelope and a pink heart sticker, not only him, but also Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko next to him instantly realized the purpose of these letters.
"This...this can't be..."
Asuna Yuuki glanced at the mountain of letters, roughly estimating at least forty or fifty, and an expression of disbelief crossed her delicate face.
"How can there be so many love letters... This is too exaggerated!"
"Sigh, Asuna, you still don't understand Utsunomiya's charm."
Seeing Fujiwara Chika's inscrutable and meaningful expression, Yuuki Asuna was somewhat speechless.
"Please, I'm his girlfriend. Why are you talking like you're the one who's his girlfriend?"
Fujiwara Chika retorted confidently.
"It's precisely because I can openly and unabashedly praise Utsunomiya-kun that it proves I have absolutely no romantic feelings for him~"
Upon hearing this, Asuna Yuuki shook her head helplessly, then chuckled as she recalled the theory that Chika Fujiwara had once told her.
"You, the love detective, have a pretty good logic."
Sitting behind the student council president's desk, with a gold thread sewn onto the wrist of her school uniform—the symbol of the Shuchiin student council president—Kaguya Shinomiya looked up at Asagiri, who was sitting on the sofa. A complex look appeared in her red eyes. She coughed lightly before speaking.
"I'd like to ask, did the dungeon you went through last time take a very long time? You only replied to Qianhua's message early this morning, so you should have just cleared it then, so..."
Before Kaguya Shinomiya could finish speaking, Asagiri nodded.
"Hmm, a super long dungeon that lasts seventy-two hours."
"That's it..."
Kaguya Shinomiya first gave a noncommittal reply, then asked the most crucial question.
"If you had to use one keyword to summarize the situation of the last dungeon, which one would you choose?"
"Um……"