The Anime Trope System: Stone vs. Viper, #7 a LitRPG (ATS)

by Alvin Atwater

  Hiroshi shot him a blank stare.

  “And by that, you mean talk shit about others, the staff and leaders.”

  Rodger chuckled.

  “Who doesn’t these days?”

  Episode 38 (Part 14)

  Clyde’s party…

  Alice felt something again. A morbid vibe or aura that made her cold inside. She was hardly ever frightened—only the time when Chika nearly perished. Well…if she had to be honest with herself, through the bond, the shared feelings with her life mate, the event she saw made her want to weep. So many people living their lives, killed for nothing, by a shadow that was virtually unbeatable. Why did these so-called Watchers allow such a thing to walk Satovia? She worried for her Clyde and his limits.

  What did she sense at this moment? The answer to that question hit her. Taint. The others didn’t seem to know, except maybe Harumi. She even let a shimmer of her fox entity form slip, nervousness glistening in her blue eyes.

  She glanced at Melody and could tell she felt the taint too. A nasty element. She tried not to think of Clyde’s tainted deity state.

  Suddenly Harumi dropped to a knee, panting.

  “Harumi,” Alice was the first at her side, followed by Kitome and the others. “You can’t hold it in—not with the taint in the air.”

  “There’s taint?” Seth said. “Oh god.”

  “It could be Matsuko,” Melody said.

  “No,” Tear said. “Angels turn into fallen angels from being tainted, but they do not produce it.”

  Harumi nodded at Alice, going through with the transformation. The half-demoness understood the pink-haired girl’s dislike of her own personality with that state—supernatural girls can’t help it—but it was to be ready for the unseen threat rather than wait to the last minute to get serious. Her Clyde hated that.

  Alice marveled at Harumi’s majestic beauty. Well, cuteness. Fox ears and tail, golden eyes and matching aura. And she was so powerful. Arrogance seemed like a small price to pay to access her full strength.

  “Should we turn back?” Ming said.

  “No,” Harumi said, her tail wagging. “The night’s too young.”

  “Are you sure?” Clyde said, concern beneath that team-leader persona he liked to put on.

  A disembodied voice decided the answer for them. It sounded like a boy, pretending to be a ghost.

  “Hehehehe, yyyoooouu cannnooottt leeeaaavveeeee,” it said. “I smell angel blood. I SMELL ANGEL BLOOD!”

  Abruptly, tentacles made of slime and oil burst from the ground, lunging at her. Alice dodged, face blue.

  “That’s gross,” she said.

  “Highness, here I come,” Natalia said.

  [Natalia has been inflicted with mute.]

  “My magic…it’s not working,” she frantically said. A tentacle wrapped itself around the girl, raising her into the air.

  [Your party has entered a Death Sentence.]

  The taint in the air was at its thickest—so thick that Alice coughed a few times. Many of the party members were fighting off the tendrils of an unseen monster. This ordeal reminded her of a certain abyss legendary beast. Many of the women were caught, even Tear. The men of course were not safe either and even Clyde’s attacks were missing. They all took heavy damage from the monster’s strikes.

  [Yuki activated Time and Eternity Wave]

  That intense blast of lightning and gold magic swept over the field, dissolving a few tentacles, but not much. They were just too dodgy.

  Alice continued to look for the source while evading six of them. She would not be caught!

  Suddenly, one appeared right in front of her. She snapped out of the daze, midair, on her flight backward. She skidded on the ground, rolled a few feet, landing beside three more tentacles. Before they could grab her, she cast.

  [Alice activated Raid Ender.]

  [Enemy activated Skill fusion: Raid Canceller + Nie ‘oh reflect!]

  Alice’s eyes widened, but she didn’t lose her cool. She stopped her cast in time. The tentacle seemed surprised by that. She drew Hellbreaker and sliced it in half. Another one lurched from the ground.

  “Tssh.” She made a run from it, scanning the area, expanding her senses. Nothing.

  “Annnggellll blooodddd. Annngggeeelll blllood. Angel blood. Angel blood. Angel BLOOD!”

  It laughed, a very demonic laughter. As if demons scared her. Alice once managed an army of them. She’s been to the demon realm plenty of times. She’s still part-demon. But…She…

  Natalia’s howl of pain set her eyes in that direction. A tentacle ran her through.

  “Natalia!”

  Her dear true friend, who served as her personal bodyguard—but Alice saw her as a sister. Someone who stood with her, even through the darkest of times. She…

  Alice’s eyes glowed as white wings brighter than the purest of snow burst from her back. Time seemed to freeze as golden heavenly-light surrounded the young woman. And she roared, her power surging to new heights.

  [Alice triggered Partial-goddess mode.]

  She didn’t know what she was doing, her hands seemed to move on their own. She raised them in the air.

  [Alice’s heavenly pressure has drastically weakened enemy magic.]

  [Alice’s heavenly pressure has cleansed all taint.]

  [Alice’s heavenly pressure has fully healed all allies, removed all status alignments, and doubled their stats for ten minutes.]

  [All damage toward Alice is reduced by 80%]

  Alice unleashed the magic and…something else. She wasn’t sure what it was—but the bright energy covered the entire city. A heavenly chorus seemed to ring from this unknown ability.

  [Infinite LOOP CRITICAL! Enemy HP has dropped from 20,000% to 0%]

  >>>Alice had used Lost skill: Goddess bloodline, taint abolisher!<<<

  [Battle completed! DRAMATIC FINISH!]

  [The signal to note this a higher power was blocked by Alena.]

  [Mother’s protection has activated. Alice’s transformation has enabled all requirements for immunity to taint + it cannot come within 50 feet of Alice.]

  Alice saw…what looked like a faint glimpse of her mother, smiling at her from the sky, before she turned around to disappear.

  She didn’t have time to dwell on that—she was already scooping up Natalia in her tight embrace.

  “Highness—ow, too tight,” Natalia said.

  “Don’t scare me like that again, Nattie,” she said. “If something happened to you…”

  Tear and Melody nodded. The others were still looking at Alice with wonder.

  “Move over Clyde,” Seth said. “A new super freak is in town and her name is Alice.”

  “Whoa! So cool!” awed an enthusiastic feminine voice. They turned to see four people walking toward them, two girls leading, one man who looked to be in his mid to late twenties, and the other man in his forties.

  “I seriously need a drink,” said the man in his twenties, dressed in a black shirt and blue jeans. The young women—one who seemed cheerful and…dangerous, the other calm and reserved—wore what seemed like their favorite designer skirts.

  Three were gifted, but the man in his twenties…was just human. The man in his forties seemed familiar somehow.

  **

  Toru’s mansion…

  Hideo knocked on the door. His brother, Genzo answered with smiles and “no time no sees.” The researcher dressed in an expensive suit and tie for the occasion and a reminder to his brother that he still cared about the family. On the outside.

  The brothers caught up, laughing about old times. Funny thing, Hideo did not remember Genzo being so…light-hearted. He dressed to impress the cold business-running son-of-a-bitch, not the alien before him. He didn’t smell any alcohol, not that Genzo did much outside of wine tasting. His wife wasn’t home as usual, handling her half of the business. Strange…Toru wasn’t around either. A knock on the door grabbed their attention.

  “Sit, Genzo, let me get it for you,�
�� Hideo said. “You work too damn hard.”

  They both chuckled.

  “So do you, mister famous scientist,” Genzo said. “The article you wrote about the phenomenon barrier theory kept me up in the night, thinking.”

  “You read my articles?” Hideo said, stars in his eyes.

  “Damn right,” he said. “You’re the only one who writes what others are afraid to admit exist.”

  Taken aback, Hideo nodded.

  “My goal is to get them all to open their minds and see what’s really out there. What we as the human race ignored for so long.”

  Hideo could not believe this ole bloat actually read his work. He decided this visit was worth it after all. Too bad Toru wasn’t around to top it off—this would drastically help in convincing the father to take in the young man. Hideo could use an apprentice. Hell, he’d introduce the young idiot to the crusader champion. Or one of the researcher girls. Eventually Hideo would teach the brat to discard the emotion, but for now, young people were young people. They would always sexually attract to each other like magnets. The power of biology. Hideo couldn’t do anything about that.

  When he answered the door, his eyes widened. A strikingly beautiful young woman with long black hair smiled.

  “Is Toru home?”

  Hideo’s monster and demonic senses triggered. He chuckled.

  “Oh, I’ll fetch him,” he said, putting on a false kindly air. “What’s your name, young woman?”

  “I’m Fumi,” she said, cheerful.

  Hideo grinned.

  “That Toru.”

  Fumi chuckled, misunderstanding the researcher’s meaning.

  “A disappointment that I can make right.”

  Hideo instantly materialized a dimly glowing blade. The young woman’s eyes widened for two reasons. The blade and it sliding through her throat. The somewhat decent illusion shimmered and vanished as the slime girl fell on her back, eyes portraying a familiar thousand-yard stare.

  Genzo gasped.

  “What the hell is going on?”

  Hideo dematerialized his sword.

  “Your son has been deceived by this Fumi girl.”

  “Fumi? She was the kindest person I’ve ever met. Where is she? Did you turn her away? Toru should be home in—”

  “Fumi is right there,” Hideo pointed at the downed slime girl. “Take a closer look. A slime. Deceiving your family with illusions. The crusaders don’t have time to deal with tiny domestic problems—we fight real threats—but things like this…well, they are still eye-openers, nonetheless.”

  “The what?” Genzo said. “Hideo…what’s going on?”

  He patted his brother on the back. The slime on the ground burst into purple flames, vanishing seconds later. This of course startled his brother.

  “Genzo, you may read my articles, but you still have a lot to learn about this world,” Hideo said. “Even your son knows more about you, keeping his gift secret. But that’s fine. Let’s chat. I will tell you about the threats. And tomorrow afternoon, you can give me your answer. Trust me, it will be the best for your son and this world.”

  Episode 38 (Part 15)

  Inner Lot City…

  “Kanako, not now,” Clyde said, struggling and failing to get the genie off his waist. The approaching people wouldn’t take him seriously.

  “That looks fun!”

  Clyde’s eye twitched in annoyance as the silver-haired girl from the unknown party and the genie twirled around his waist, midair, like a helicopter. How did they even do this? An anime logic question for later. He materialized an energy paper fan and delivered divine punishment.

  “Ow! So mean.” They held their heads.

  Clyde thought he saw one of the approaching men some time ago, but couldn’t put a finger on it. He in return pointed at Melody.

  “You’re that girl that mind-controlled me with orders to beat the shit out of that guy,” he said, finger at Clyde. He then stuck a shaky finger toward Alice. “And you’re the girl that fucking called on the heavens to stop it all.” He eyed the group darkly, his expression reminding the young man of an anime he once watched called…Jojo . Maybe something else…. “Why are you three together?”

  A trickle of sweat dripped from the back of the trio’s heads. That’s when it hit Clyde. The man, who looked to be…maybe thirty or forty or so—anime made it hard to tell—was the level sixty-four ex-military guy. Rodger. The younger man spoke as if representing the entire group. The completely human man held out a hand.

  “Long story,” Clyde said.

  “I’m Hiroshi, section leader of Unit Eighty-six. Yaponiya military,” he said. “We’d—”

  “You get to join us! I’m Ayu. Nice to meet you,” the girl said, anime-diving into Clyde. Hiroshi snarling comically, whacked her. She sat there, teary-eyed, holding her head. She muttered, “I was just trying to help.”

  Clyde stifled a laugh.

  “Anyway,” Hiroshi said, continuing as if nothing happened. “We’d like to talk with your group, if you don’t mind. We’re fighting the same battles and shit, just keeps getting weirder and weirder.”

  “We’re a little busy right now,” Clyde said. “The spawned monsters aren’t going to kill themselves.”

  “Fair enough,” Hiroshi said, “but answer this. Are you this so-called Team Stone?”

  “It’s pretty obvious that they are,” Ayu said, bouncing up from her spot. She dodged three consecutive fists, laughing, then stopped in front of the demonesses. A look of wonder dawned on her face. She saluted. “If you’re fighting for the good side, then you’re okay in my books.”

  “Ayu, don’t start pestering anyone,” Hiroshi said, then spat to the side. “How did I get stuck with ship girls?”

  Clyde’s anime trope senses tingled, but he let this one go. Questions for later. Seriously, ship girls. What the fuck? Satovia had everything. He knew this shouldn’t surprise him—but come on. They’d better not mention anything about shooting airplanes from a bow, Clyde thought.

  Also, to be approached by the military. Yeah, they could fuck themselves. The young man and his party solved the demon lord issue on their own, without government aid.

  For a military officer, Hiroshi seemed to get a little surprised at every monster encounter. It downright irritated the young man, but at the same time, it reminded him of his old self. The college boy who foolishly challenged a Meta pumko. One could hardly blame the puny—the human for being startled at horrors that couldn’t possibly exist. He also seemed to respect Clyde and his team more.

  The ex-marine guy, Rodger fought with brute strength and fucking lasers. Lasers! A cyborg—and a well-hidden one.

  The girls: Ayu and Maho turned out to be gifted—powerful ones, utilizing tier one magic with ease. However, no matter how hard they tried, the ship girls just could not outshine Clyde’s party. Numbers aside, the women found themselves hating the idea of being outdone by military girls. Ship girls. Clyde pretended he did not notice the absurd amount of panty-flashes from the skirts of Ayu and Maho. Seth’s nose eventually ran out of blood. The group settled into a rhythm, which led to fewer and fewer monster encounters. And each time, the young man hoped for a chest. Sure, they were rare and the thrill of possibly getting an epic or higher forced the man to try harder, but come on! The werewolf girl’s chest didn’t count. What could he do with breast-enhancing potions… He wiped his nose, trying hard not to look at the genie.

  During a break, Clyde noticed something off about Toru’s behavior. Instead of being composed, he constantly looked at his phone, checking for a message that he seemed to expect hours ago. Fumi always texted him—even called. Adorable, kind, and caring, the slime girl served as proof that not all monster girls were corrupted by the Supreme demon lord.

  Clyde patted his shoulder.

  “Do you think she’s working late?”

  Toru seemed to relax at the optimistic point of view.

  “Maybe…It’s just. I can’t get rid of this bad feeling
.” He folded his arms. “This isn’t the first time she worked late, but Fumi always let me know. Earlier, she said she’d stop by, but…”

  Nina gave him a comforting look.

  “Everything will be okay. And hey, maybe she’s waiting beneath your covers—”

  Toru’s blank stare silenced her.

  “Points for trying,” Natalia said, pulling away her pouting friend.

  **

  Melody shared the same gut feeling with Toru. Something just wasn’t right. Fumi sometimes over-contacted the brown-haired boy to the point that the redhead felt jealous. She too was in love…but just didn’t know how to pursue it. Clyde stripped away her confident illusion like chipped paint.

  The full moon seemed darker, the stars dimmer, the autumn wind, colder.

  They needed to be active, not reactive. Clyde knew that, but Melody felt in her heart that…he didn’t have the bloodthirst for it. She needed to find a way to help in the overall game. Ugh, calling the stone-viper games a game…No. It’s a replay of a fairy tale: hero go slay the villain. She wasn’t sure if the Watchers actually had a hand in selecting the Stone, but for the Viper, their eyes dropped to someone who’d become a problem for the entire universe. Maybe even the multiverse.

  Melody almost slipped in a daydream, tuning out a cake conversation between Alice, Kitome, and the ship girls, but a familiar presence caught her attention. In fact, they heard her barking orders at the Blood hand.

  She looked up in time to see a flash of white light in the distant sky. Matsuko left, probably to drink, while the others did the work. Typical Matsuko. Drunk and angry, friendless because of it. No one liked babysitting drunks. And not even the most perverted men had enough courage to tempt fate with a fallen angel. She was strong and mean. The party would need their guards up.