Chapter 1156 – Queen of the West
“Ya know, this is too easy,” Rave said, while she picked through the rubble. “Like, we’re doing the right thing and saving those people faster is obviously better, but I thought we’d have some proper pushback. Like, Shounen anime style, new arc villain pushback.”
“We’re a formation of over a dozen of the world’s strongest people,” John drily reminded her of the facts. “It’d be absurd if we didn’t have a very easy time initially. Statistically, any world with a population under several million shouldn’t be able to mount a defence at all.” With one hand he lifted a smashed tabletop out of the rocks. The drawer still attached to it contained writing utensils, but nothing of value. “What did Saitama say? ‘If you want to have fun, you probably shouldn’t get any stronger’.”
“Oy, no quoting the one punch man at me!”
“Why?”
“’Cause you’re going to make me depressed by reminding me that I’ll eventually run out of dangerous stuff to smash my fist into.”
“Well, you can always fight Nathalia,” the Gamer suggested.
“We both know that woman wouldn’t hurt me, she loves my ass too much.”
“And who would blame her? It’s an international treasure.”
“Don’t ya distract from me having an existential crisis.”
“Maybe we should see a therapist about that.” John hummed. ”You know, about you having a thrill seeking issue.”
“It’s only an issue if I run out.”
“Spoken like a true alcoholic.” John shook his head and laughed. Even while the smile was on his lips, his eyes scanned the horizon for any changes in the distance.
“Why do you even bother?” Metra asked, effortlessly lifting a former wall over her head. The sound of it smashing apart on top of their dedicated ‘trash heap’ overpowered any other sound for a couple of moments. Afterwards, she added, “You got Momo, Salamander, and yourself up there, what can your fucking eyes see at ground level what they can’t?”
“You are correct, but my paranoid brain won’t accept that,” he responded.
It had been about three hours now since they took out the Ironborn in the fortress. Since then, they had saved who they could from the room below and given who was practically or de-facto braindead, even after all healing Undine could muster was applied, a quick death. John was getting somewhat numb to the euthanizing, which he despised.
“Maybe I should call Lorelei to join us,” he thought out loud. “Her future sight could make it more definitive who we can save and who is completely gone.”
“Sounds kinda risky,” Rave said.
“It is... Also, I can’t invite people without leaving, so getting that underway would be a pain.” John groaned and rubbed his forehead. “I can’t even say that I just want her here for the help, I just want her to be around. I want to spend more time with her.” Then he let out a prolonged sigh. “Then again, that would be exceedingly ris-“
“...Why couldn’t you have done this when I was getting over a hundred people in here?” John asked the sky. A window with the words, ‘Because you didn’t wish for it strong enough,’ opened up before him. “Fair enough,” the Gamer waved off. He now had the means to call Lorelei in, but even if he did come to the conclusion that he did want to do it, now was not the time.
They had a Quest to concentrate on.
Nailing her straight in the face, Beatrice made the elven Ironborn stumble one step backwards. More would have followed, had the passive maid not immediately followed up with a Needle Assault. The numerous shockwaves that accompanied the multi-strike attack blew tiny holes into Reetha’s slender body.
They closed swiftly, but not as swiftly as Beatrice was on the follow-up. The enchantments of Perfect and her resource generation were in full swing. Twist Position immediately took her out of the path of the hurled counterattack. A wave of green, glowing mist exploded out of the various holes all over Reetha’s body, only to have her clench her own head again.
Beatrice kicked Reetha down to the ground. “What the fuck are you?!” the Queen of the West asked, rolling onto her back.
“Response: the antidote for idiocy,” Beatrice answered and raised her spear again.
Sometimes, in game mechanics, there were interactions or designs that made it virtually impossible for one side to win. Classical examples of these were represented in most PvP games. Characters that specialized in melting tanks through Max HP damage or diving the enemy backline to assassinate the healer were widespread. In PvE games, particularly the round-based variety, one could encounter even more decisive designs, like full immunity from fire damage.
After Aclysia had been taken over for a brief period during the conquest of Little Maryland, John had looked into anti-mind control effects for his Artificial Spirits. Number one had been to raise their Mental Stats, number two had been an Attribute called Mental Backlash. The Attribute made it so that anytime someone failed at attempting to Possess or otherwise control an Artificial Spirit, they took damage dependent on the Intellect and Wisdom of the Artificial Spirit. Those two helped to ease his mind when it came to Aclysia’s protection against such effects. Beatrice had an additional layer of defence. A Perk called Enigma Code, granting her complete immunity to mind control effects.
The victor had been decided from the start, because any attempt by Reetha to use her Innate Ability would only harm herself. Coupling this with Beatrice being one of the best duellists in the group, the recipe for utter humiliation was complete.
‘Man, I’m so glad I’m not the only intelligent person falling for the old arrogance trap,’ the Gamer thought, while watching Reetha getting knocked around.
Any defence the Queen mounted was immediately outmanoeuvred and any attack she launched futile. She learned quickly enough that her empath abilities did nothing. That she stuck to physical attacks for a while spoke to her rage. ‘Shame that she doesn’t get any benefit out of it,’ Metra commented with glee.
“Alright, stop,” John ordered Beatrice, who had just driven her spear through Reetha’s throat. The hateful gaze of the Queen moved to him. Her Relationship Score had hit rock bottom now. John couldn’t muster any care for that. He only considered whether he should kill her after all. It overcame him that he really should stick to the reward. “Obviously this is our victory. Tell your Emperor that I want to meet him here. Stay any longer and we’ll annihilate all of you.”
With that, the entirety of the group turned away and entered the fortress again. “That was laughably easy,” Rave complained.
“That’s what happens when I can prepare,” John said. “Do you want to rehash the conversation we had earlier?”
“Nah... so what’s next?”
“Next is meeting that Emperor,” the Gamer responded. “Maybe we can end things right then and there. It would certainly accelerate this entire affair.”
“Ya mean we’re going to kick him to the curb?”
“I was thinking grave rather than curb,” John responded. “We’ll see about it. Either way, time to get that free Class Level.”
John wanted to have New Metracanas for the completionist factor, but compared to the other two it couldn’t be a priority. The choice was effectively between giving Metra additional Stats or Perks. Both were obviously powerful. The Perks came with the drawback of cost, a rather hefty one. Metra counting as an Artificial Spirit for cost calculation increased the current cost from 20% of his mana regeneration to 40% - each new AS doubled the maintenance. He could afford that, but it would once again cripple his mana regeneration.
‘What else is new,’ John thought and sighed. Thing was that he wanted to take the Perk-enabling option sooner rather than later. The Stats were applied retroactively, so he could get that one at a later date without drawback. The same was not true for the Perk selection. Perks were also generally more important for the power level of someone than raw Stats. Improving Metra’s skillset could have exceedingly important effects.
So, as much as it hurt his mana regeneration, John picked the first option.
And then they waited.