A crossover anime/manga story, set in everyday Tokyo, but within a loop of a game.

Page 188

"Innocent."

Because it was a giant sword, the god could not retaliate with the weapon in his hand, and the power he gained by possessing the priest's body was not enough to forcefully break free from Asagiri's restraints. However, he immediately came up with a solution, and surging flames appeared on his body, beginning to burn Asagiri's body.

"Do it."

Asagiri's body was engulfed in flames, but his voice remained calm as he reiterated his command. Asuna Yuuki, Megumi Kato, and Kotoko Iwanaga, though reluctant, knew they could not hesitate at this moment and immediately launched their attack.

To the god's complete surprise, the pale demon hand summoned by Kotoko Iwanaga showed no restraint whatsoever, directly gripping both herself and Asagiri behind her tightly. Under the terrifying power of the demon hand, the bones of the two bodies emitted a slight squeaking and cracking sound.

Asuna Yuuki gritted her teeth and, after breaking through the flame barrier, unleashed her strongest sword technique, "Flash Thrust," the rapier flashing light piercing through both Asagiri and the priest's bodies.

"Are you...are you all insane?!"

Hearing the shocked and somewhat panicked tone in the "god's" voice, Asagiri increased the pressure on her hand, and even though her body was being burned by the flames, her voice still carried a smile.

"Come and try it, the body you're inhabiting and me..."

Which one will come to an end first?

Upon hearing these words, a flicker of emotion finally appeared in the god's eyes, which had remained devoid of feeling.

Is this guy... insane?

I only possessed a part of it, and this guy actually wants to die together with me?!

What kind of madman is this?!

The main attack did not come from Asuna Yuuki and Kotoko Iwanaga, but from Megumi Kato.

The first jet-black arrow didn't penetrate the defense; the second left a shallow mark; the third's arrowhead sank in slightly; the fourth, the fifth...

As the thirteenth jet-black arrow loomed larger in his vision, fear filled the god's eyes.

"ended."

As Asagiri finished speaking, the jet-black arrow shot by Kato Megumi pierced the god's heart and Asagiri's chest.

"Boom."

As the surrounding flames gradually dissipated, the priest's eyes gradually regained their clarity. He lay on the ground, barely breathing, his face and body rapidly withering away. In the last moment of his life, he abandoned the god he had summoned as a sacrifice.

This tragic truth filled him, a devout believer, with a despair deeper than death itself, but thankfully…

"Heh, let's die together."

The priest looked at Asagiri, whose chest had been pierced and who lay beside him, burned by flames and who could no longer survive, and his eyes shone with fanaticism.

"This time, you won't survive..."

Just as the priest was speaking, he saw something he could hardly believe.

The blood holes in Asagiri's chest and abdomen healed rapidly, the burn marks on her body disappeared, and even her tattered black trench coat was restored to its original state. In less than half a second, Asagiri stood up and even raised her hand to pat the dust off her clothes, acting as if nothing had happened.

"How can it be……"

Hearing the priest's murmured words, Asagiri glanced at the priest, whose face was contorted with shock, and shook her head with a light laugh.

"You're too naive. I was lying to you before."

Even if the head is aimed at...

Asagiri knelt down on one knee in front of the priest, looked directly into his eyes, and slowly began to speak.

"I won't die either. From beginning to end, you had no chance of killing me."

46

Chapter 46: The Advantage Lies With Me.

Seeing the priest's eyes dim completely, his once tall and robust body rapidly withering away, wrapped in a large crimson Roman robe, Asagiri, to be on the safe side, had Shura crush the priest's head before turning to look at his three teammates.

How are you all doing right now?

Kotoko Iwanaga nodded, then turned her gaze to Asuna Yuuki, who was standing there, having sheathed her rapier and was clutching her right arm. Her dark purple eyes revealed a worry she had never shown before.

“I don’t have any problems, but Violet and Phantom…”

"I'm fine..."

Asuna Yuuki initially tried to be defiant, but when she noticed Asagiri's gaze, she deflated like a punctured balloon and sighed softly.

"Okay... I broke my right arm and was exhausted. I'm in a bad state."

"I'm fine."

Kato Megumi picked up the Indian battle axe from the ground and put it back in her inventory. She then slung the Bloodstained Nightingale Bow behind her back and looked at Asagiri in a gentle tone.

"My physical and mental strength were somewhat depleted, but it didn't have a significant impact, and I didn't suffer any serious injuries."

“The injuries can be healed, but…”

Asuna Yuuki looked at the unharmed Asagiri, paused halfway through her sentence, but the meaning was already very clear.

Thirty hours.

Asagiri knew what Yuuki Asuna wanted to say. She glanced at the fox-masked woman standing there and didn't try to hide anything because the other woman was also present. Instead, she answered directly.

"After this use, 'Sacrifice' will have a 30-hour cooldown period. Unless the Persona is destroyed and the Honkai is allowed to break, 'Sacrifice' cannot be used again before the end of this instance."

Hoddle Franklin's signature ability, "Sacrifice," requires a minimum cooldown of twelve hours after each use, and the cooldown time increases depending on the severity of Asagiri's injuries.

When Asagiri used this ability, it seemed that he hadn't lost any hands or feet and his body wasn't damaged in any way, but in reality, he was on the verge of death. The severity of his condition was much greater than that of someone who had just lost an arm. If it had been ten seconds later... no, if it had been five seconds later, he might have died in front of that priest.

With only 26 hours left until the dungeon's time limit expires, the "Sacrifice" ability, which requires a 30-hour cooldown, cannot be used in this dungeon unless the "Hoddle Franklin" persona is allowed to collapse.

"Let's go back to the third floor first."

When Asagiri, Asuna Yuuki, Megumi Kato, Kotoko Iwanaga, and the woman in the fox demon mask arrived at the hotel's third-floor buffet restaurant, the atmosphere inside was oppressive and silent. The surviving players were either sitting on the ground or kneeling down, and almost all of them wore expressions of grief and despair. The atmosphere was so oppressive that it was almost suffocating.

"You won...that's good..."

The man in the white suit sitting on the ground saw Asagiri and the others return, and forced a smile. He tried to stand up to greet them, but Asagiri walked over, squatted down on one knee, and gently put her hand on his shoulder.

"Let's put it this way, have you ever counted how many players are still alive?"

Upon hearing Asagiri's question, the man in the white suit's smile turned somewhat bitter, and he lowered his voice.

"Including our two teams... there are still thirty-three players alive, but..."

The man in the white suit looked at the priest-type professional players with healing abilities who were healing the injured players, and said in a heavy tone.

"Some players' injuries are too severe, and they probably can't be saved..."

"Oh, that's how it is."

Upon hearing the words of the man in the white suit, Kotoko Iwanaga, who was standing next to Asagiri, nodded slightly, then walked to the front of the group of players and said in a calm tone.

"Listen to me, everyone. Just give up on those players whose injuries are too severe. Priest players also have limited mental energy. Use it to heal those players who still have a chance to survive. Don't waste your mental energy anymore."

After Kotoko Iwanaga said those words, the support players with healing abilities all looked reluctant, but none of them objected to her decision. The players all knew that although Kotoko Iwanaga's words sounded somewhat heartless, they were a wise judgment based on reason.

Players whose bodies were burned by flames, resulting in mutilation, or even loss of limbs and limbs, and who had lost consciousness and were in a coma, could only be kept alive at best by priest-type players who expended a great deal of mental energy to save them; they would be unable to continue fighting.

If this dungeon cannot be cleared and the believers break through the defenses, all players may die. Such an action would be meaningless. Players who have suffered severe injuries can only hope that their vitality is strong enough to hold on until the dungeon time limit ends. As long as the dungeon is cleared, all injuries sustained in this dungeon will be healed.

At this moment, the players no longer held back. Those who had items to restore stamina or mental energy voluntarily contributed their items to help other players recover, while the priest-type players spared no effort in healing the injured.

This dungeon was far too difficult, making players realize that without giving their all and genuine cooperation, ultimately everyone...

They will all die in this hotel.

……

An hour later, Asagiri and the man in the white suit tallied the number of players still able to fight.

Putting aside strength, there are only 27 players left who are still capable of fighting. In the past half hour, three seriously injured players have died, and three more seriously injured players are unconscious.

At the start of this instance, there were over 140 players. When they gathered at the cafeteria, there were 136 players. Even if we exclude the more than 20 players who were parasitized, the number of players entering this instance was at least 110.

Now, including the eight members of Asagiri and the white-suited man's teams, and the three members of Mr. Ichikawa's team, only twenty-seven players are still able to fight. More than half of them are in extremely poor condition and can only barely fight.

There's no complex reasoning or analysis involved; it's purely a battle-based selection process where players who aren't strong enough will die.

At that moment, all players received another notification from the system.

The message pushed the already despairing atmosphere to the brink of utter hopelessness.

The next "battle" will begin in 23 hours, with an enemy force of 30.

"Thirty...thirty enemies..."

The man in the white suit stared at the notification on his phone screen, numb with shock, a bitter, helpless smile creeping onto his face.

Thirty enemies?

Including the priest who had been held up in the hotel lobby, and the three fanatics whom the players had stalled at the cost of their lives, the enemy only numbered four, yet the battle had become so fierce.

Thirty enemies... even if none of them were high-ranking combatants like the priest, and they were all fanatics, they were still far beyond the current players' ability to contend with. There are only twenty-seven players left who can continue fighting, which is even fewer than the number of enemies.

"I……"

Sensing the atmosphere in the arena, the fighter teammate of the man in the white suit spoke up, his expression turning serious.

"It's okay, I can still use the advance payment..."

"Don't lend it anymore."

Before the male fighting game player could finish speaking, Asagiri interrupted him with a smile.

"Are you trying to take out a small loan here? Do you think you can borrow money and not have to pay it back, or that you can default on your debts? Using advance payments three times in such a short period of time is not just a matter of shortening your lifespan, it's going to kill you."

"How...how did you know about the effects of my unique talent?"

"This is the intelligence network; you should learn from it."

Asagiri replied with a smile, then looked at the players with serious expressions and spoke in a relaxed tone.

“There’s no need to worry so much. I’ve already thought of a solution. There’s an organization called Blackwatch in this world, and there’s a button in the security room on the first floor of the hotel. Pressing it will activate the alarm system for the entire hotel and attract Blackwatch. I’ve confirmed that Blackwatch and those followers are hostile factions. They will inevitably start fighting once they meet. We just need to delay them for an hour and a half, and we’ll be able to clear the instance when the time limit expires. There’s no need for everyone to look so worried. The advantage is on our side.”

"Really...really?"

"real."

Asagiri raised his hand and removed his dark gray mask, revealing his true face. The players present were all stunned. Even the people from the white-suited man's and Mr. Ichikawa's teams did not expect that this powerful player who had been controlling the situation was so young, looking like he was still in high school or college, and was so handsome.

Seeing Asagiri's confident and composed expression, as if she had everything under control, the players present breathed a sigh of relief.

They could sense that the other person was not afraid at all; all they had to do was follow their lead and obey their commands…

I am sure I will survive.

……

A dozen minutes later, in room 7012 of the hotel.

"Is the method you just described truly foolproof?"

Upon hearing Asuna Yuuki's question, Asagiri changed her attitude from before at the buffet restaurant and shook her head.

"How could that be? I was just giving them a reason to feel at ease. Otherwise, the players would have collapsed before the enemy even arrived."

47

Chapter 47 Where is Lelouch?!

"Yes."

Kotoko Iwanaga nodded in deep agreement, sat down on the sofa, and took off her white beret, placing it aside.

"Although we can confirm through Leader's probing that those believers are hostile to Blackwatch, we cannot confirm whether pressing the button in the equipment room will attract Blackwatch forces or some other entity. Although we know some information about this world, it is only the tip of the iceberg and we cannot make an accurate judgment. Even assuming that Blackwatch will come, we cannot be sure how long it will take Blackwatch to get here."

Kato Megumi seemed to be thinking about what he was saying.

"If we press it too early, we'll face the Black Watch; if we press it too late, we'll face the thirty enemies mentioned in the system notification..."

"Yes."

Asagiri also sat on the sofa, tapping her index finger lightly on the table. After thinking for a while, she finally spoke.

"Given the current situation, I can't think of any other possible way to survive. There might be other ways to clear the dungeon, but we don't have time to search for and verify them. If we can confirm the exact time it will take for Blackwatch to arrive after the alarm is activated, and combine that with the system's prompt for the start time of the next battle, we can make the enemies on both sides arrive at approximately the same time, thus surviving the remaining hour and a half and completing this dungeon."

"So, should we look for relevant information inside the hotel?"

"Well, the system can't let players gamble on such a crucial decision without any clues, so there must be relevant clues in the hotel. And I don't think it will be too difficult to obtain them. They should be the kind of clues that don't require fighting and can be found in the safe area below the 24th floor."