Like I said in my previous blog post, I have been wanting to keep my blog more active for a while, and this time I'll be talking about yatagarasu's yurige, Seisai no Resonance.
Before we get into it, I have to admit, I skipped a few routes in this one in order to get the true ending. (Nagi's true end.) It's not that the other girls in the game are bad, but more that Nagi was such an interesting character, her normal ending was not enough to satisfy me, so I HAD to skip to the true ending. (For a very annoying reason, you HAVE to complete at least another route, (possibly all of them?) after Nagi's before you can get Nagi's true ending, as Nagi's true end serves as the whole game's true route.) I ended up grabbing a 100% save file, so I could jump into her true route. Because of that, this post will primarily be talking about the common route, Nagi's route and the true ending.
To quickly sum up the setting and start of the story. Kanae, our main character, travels to Otofuse Island to look for her mother, who vanished seven years ago. Otofuse is a small island closed off from the main land, where a strange ritual takes place every year. The reason for this ritual is, long ago, a big fireball fell down on the island, and a pair of shrine maidens were the ones who calmed down and sealed away the flames. Ever since that that, a yearly ritual is held, where two shrine maidens are picked to preform a similar sealing ritual like back then. The shrine maidens on the island now wield strange "gems" that grants them special powers. (More on this later.)
Kanae takes a ferry to the island, but before she reaches Otofuse, a strange girl from a "shady" organization running the island, the shourai-kai, attacks her and she falls into the sea. Washed up ashore, Kanae is rescued by the beautiful and mysterious Mirai, who tells Kanae she has to become a shrine maiden in order to see her mother again. After a bit of a struggle, Kanae enrolls at Sakihana all-girls school, and aims to become a shrine maiden in order to see her mother.
Gameplay
This game has a rather interesting battle system, which is used for boss battles, training matches and so on in the game. (So, often when Kanae gets in a fight, you end up battling.) I personally found the gameplay very fun, but totally out of place. Because of how rarely you actually end up fighting, and how little the result of the battle matters, it almost just served as an obstacle between the story segments, which I did not enjoy. Like I said at first, the gameplay itself was actually pretty fun and well made, but it just... felt totally uncesessary. (At the end, I honestly just found myself annoyed at the fact that these battles were interrupting the story.)
The combat is quite similar to fighting games like the Naruto PS3 games etc. You can move in a 360 angle, use different powers to fight your opponent, drain your "spirit(?)" as you preform special attacks and so on.
Overall, although the gameplay started off as fun and was well made, I really didn't feel like it had a place in the game at all.
Story
As Kanae tries to become a powerful shrine maiden, so that she can be selected for the yearly ritual and see her mother, you learn more and more about what is actually going on in Otofuse.
Why is the shourai-kai trying to kill Kanae? Why must Kanae become a shrine maiden in order to see her mother, and what happened to her mother seven years ago? What are the strange beings living in the forest outside the school grounds?
I found the story very good, which was really cool for a yuri title, which often focuses primarily on the romance, not the story segments.
Towards the end, I was glued to the screen, wondering what would happen next, and the way the game was paced was quite nice in my opinion. Some people have complained about the writing of the story, but I found it absolutely fine. It was entertaining from start to finish. Now, moving on from the common route, I will only be able to talk about the Nagi route and the true ending, but honestly, you should play this game just for that. (Short version, it was great.)
Nagi and Kanae
This is without a doubt one of my favorite yuri romances, ever. Kanae is goofy and funny, sociable and a little bit overly friendly with most people she meets. Nagi on the other hand, is a retracted, cold and cunning girl. (She is very intelligent when it comes to most things, but she isn't very good at social situations, unlike Kanae, and she is a bit of a tsundere under her closed off shell. Strange, but great mix.) At first, she uses Kanae for her own benefit, which is searching for an answer to a question she has had for a while. (Basically, what is actually going on? Nagi doesn't believe that the ritual and the shourai-kai is what it seems to be, and wants to dig deeper in order to find the truth.) Kanae wants to find her mother, and the two start working together. From there on out, one of the greatest yuri romances I have read unfolds. (And plot too, but pffft, who cares about that. )
The two of them are literal opposites, Kanae with her warmth and her flames, and Nagi with her cold attitude and her ice. (Going back to the powers I mentioned earlier, the true image of their soul is reflected in the shrine maiden's powers, which is summoned from a special stone they all have. (Kanae recieved hers as a gift from her mother years ago.)
So, for the closed off Nagi, we have ice.
And for the warm and loving Kanae, it's fire.
As Kanae learns more about Nagi, she decides that she wants to be the one to "melt Nagi's ice," which is honestly one of my favorite quotes ever, and the two of them just fit so perfectly together in the game, as they are literal opposites. The pacing in Nagi's route is absolutely perfect, and the romance is slowly but surely introduced, so not rushed at all. There is also a fairly small amount of H-scenes, 2 for Nagi if I remember correctly, both of which happen at just the right time, which made the relationship between the two seem all the more real to me. (It's not like Koiken Otome, where you are showered in H-scenes fairly early on.)
The fact that Nagi is the true heroine in the game is so, so right. She is a really great character, and her paired up with Kanae makes for a fantastic couple. One thing that did dissapoint me a little with the game was Nagi's normal ending, which in all honesty, is a "bad" ending, not a "normal"/"good" one. (It's very bittersweet.) The fact that you HAVE to play through the rest in order to unlock the true ending makes the time between the real Nagi ending and the "bad" one too great, and if you are going to play the game, I honestly recommend getting a 100% save file, so you can do the true ending in all it's glory right after Nagi's normal end.
The rest of the cast and a conclusion
The rest of the cast in Seisai no Resonance is great, with a few rather standard template characters like Yuu and Mako, but even they are quite interesting, and although I didn't play their routes, I very much enjoyed what I saw of them in the common route and Nagi's route+ the true end. My favorite character besides Nagi and Kanae has to be Yayako, Nagi's only friend before Kanae. She is such a hilarious character, and I will definitely be playing her route at some point. (And yes, that is a cat on her head.)
Overall, Seisai no Resonance is a really great yurige with an interesting plot, well written romance and an interesting cast. The gameplay, although well made, serves more as a distraction from the story, and could in all honesty have been removed. But, despite that, I really enjoyed the game, and would strongly recommend it to all yuri fans.
(The game's opening, for those interested)
Aojiru verse introduction #2: In'Youchuu
In the last post I listed the current games in the Aojiru verse, (I'm probably the only person on earth calling it this, but it must become a thing!), and I introduced the game that started it all; Hanamaru! Today I will dig deeper into what exactly you should expect from Aojiru games, and introduce In'Youchuu, the most iconic Aojiru-game to date.
Introduction:
Let us begin with a general introduction to Aojiru's games. These games are all fairly dark, both in general writing and story, as well as the H content. That being said there is also usually a decent amount of sol moments in each game, with a proper good ending that can be reached by avoiding a minefield of bad endings scattered throughout the games. For games like In'Youchuu with several sequels, this good ending will be the default canon that will continue to the next installment. Exceptions of this rule would be the standalone horror games, such as Fuka no Jugoku, which is a story of pure madness, with no real "good" outcome. There is just very little room for sol content in a game like that. But, the majority of Aojiru's games will feature at least some of it.
What's interesting about Aojiru games is that the sol moments are actually very enjoyable, and it really feels like they belong, despite of the dark themes these games have. They really nailed it with having just the right amount of "feelgood" content before shit goes bad, so you have time to get to know the characters before shit hits the fan. You get invested in both the story and the characters. Well I do, anyways. I never get tired of seeing Yamato and Mikoto, two characters from In'Youchuu, shouting insults at each other like an old married couple. The games also have some pretty adorable chibi art:
Many might brand the Aojiru games as mere nukige with no substance or plot, but this is inaccurate. Sure, the games have a lot of H-content and I can see a case being made for them being branded as nukige. But, they are absolutely not mindless nukige without any story. In fact, I find most of the stories told in Aojiru games legitimately interesting, and get very invested in the worlds and the characters introduced in them. Of course, I have to admit I am a fan of the dark H content that there is an abundance of in these games, but I also love the stories, and think games where the two elements can be combined are very cool. If you think the same, these are basically made for you.
In'Youchuu
Normally Aojiru games will feature some kind of supernatural entity, such as Nightmare from In'Youchuu-we will talk more about him in a second-or Kudan from Kowaku no Toki. (That dude scared the shit out of me when I first played Kowaku.) These two are very different beings, but both get classified as some kind of "youma", which is a monster born from negative emotions. Some are mindless creatures driven by primal urges, while others are incredibly intelligent beings with god-like powers.
In In'youchuu we follow a group of monster hunters-The Monster Subjugation Division: The Black Cats- who can use different kinds of spiritual and magical powers to destroy these creatures. (Let's make it simple and call them "The Black Cats.")
The four members of The Black Cats are Yamato, our protagonist, a half-demon who mainly relies on brute force when fighting. He's a big pervert, and is definitely not the brains of the operation. Then there is Mikoto, the oldest of the Shiratori twins, Mikoto and Takeru Shiratori. She might be the "oldest" of the two, but she is also the most immature of the girls. She always gets in arguments with Yamato, and gets scolded by her little sister, Takeru, for not thinking before she acts on a frequent basis. She hates doing paperwork and will do anything to get out of it. While she is not as well-versed in magic as her sister, she wields a powerful weapon, The Spirit Blade Raikou, and likes to fight in close combat like Yamato. Takeru, the youngest twin, is a cool and collected fighter who always analyzes the situation before charging in, unlike the other two. If not for her, Yamato and Mikoto would surely have gotten themselves killed already. Finally there is Yoru, the leader of the Black Cats and the reason for the group's name. He is a nekotama, a cat spirit. I said Yamato is not the brains of the operation due to his pervertendess and well, Yoru is... the same. He might be the leader, but Takeru is the one making the calls when it counts. Meanwhile, Yoru is off doing... this. (Told you there was some goofy content in these games )
From left to right we have Yoru, Mikoto and Takeru
And here is Yamato
In'Youchuu starts off with Takeru being sent to a school up in the mountains where there have been reports of monsters popping up at night. However, she never reports back to The Black Cats, and goes silent. Concerned about what could have happened, Yoru sends Mikoto and Yamato to the school to investigate Takeru's disappearance, and the nightmare begins.
Yamato and Mikoto start investigating the school, though find no signs of Takeru on the first night. She simply seems to have vanished. Meanwhile, there are clear signs of monsters hiding somewhere in the school, and the duo heads there at night when monsters are most active. At this point, you are given choices rather frequently, usually with each fight. One wrong choice and you will be sent off to a bad ending, where horrible things will usually happen to the characters. Trying to avoid these bad endings is in my opinion part of the excitment in playing these games. Make a wrong turn and you get "punished", as the characters fails, (though you could see this as a reward depending on how you look at it,) and if you make the right choice the story continues. Though, this does of course not mean you are guaranteed to be victorious. There are times where things just goes south, which is to be expected in games these dark.
A standard group of youma that you will encounter a lot. These are the mindless sort, that feeds off human organs and are driven solely by primal urges: hunger and the need to breed.
At the school we are introduced to some familiar faces, like Momono Momo and Sumire from Hanamaru! And also get introduced to a new face, Sui, a childhood friend of Yamato who gets pulled into the chaos that is unfolding at the shcool.
Eventually you start to figure out what is going on, and meet the first big bad of the Aojiru games: Nightmare. He is a humanoid youma with horse features, that feasts on the wombs of women and aims to create an army of monsters by making the women he eat into breeding machines. Needless to say, he is not a nice guy. Some of the bad endings with this guy... phew. Erhem, anyways.
In'Youchuu offers some pretty cool fight scenes, with everything from chuuni chants to epic battle CGs. Of course, I don't want to hype this part of the games up too much. Like, you shouldn't go into these games expecting Dies Irae level fight scenes. But, they are definitely enjoyable, and there is often at least one big climax at the end with some pretty cool stuff. There's tons of fight scenes, but the one big one towards the end often uses a lot more budget in the CG department, heh.
Nightmare. He looks both hilarious and terrifying if you ask me, heh.
Yamato in his transformed state, during a battle. Being a half-demon, he is capable of transforming himself into a demon for a short time, though it takes a huge toll on his mind and body.
Yoru, after going into combat mode. Yes, he is a badass.
I obviously have not linked too many NSFW images in this blog post. There is a lot of that in In'Youchuu, naturally. A lot. But, you can find them yourselves, I'm sure. What I wanted to do with this post was introduce more of the serious side of In'Youchuu, and in turn, Aojiru games as a whole. These games aren't just tentacle nukige with some dark scenes. Sure, there's lots of that, but there's much more to them. There's actual stories here, with well developed worlds and characters. I fell in love with these games because of the mix of seriousness and dark H. I am also just a huge fan of Aojiru's art in general.
I really hope an Aojiru game gets picked up for localization one day. Heck, maybe I'll be able to translate one myself down the line. That would be pretty exciting.
Anyways, if you do speak Japanese, I recommend giving one of these games a try. Who knows, maybe you'll enjoy the ride more than you expected. A lot of people see "nukige" and brush the games off as bad right off the bat, which is why I'm not overly fond of that branding. Yes, with the amount of H in these, it probably does fit to call them nukige, but there's also so much more to them.
That is it for my post on In'Youchuu 1. Next blog post will either be about the sequel, Shoku, or Kowaku no Toki, one of my favorites. I still haven't decided which one to go with yet. Either way, see you again then.
The Aojiru verse: Entry #1: An introduction
This is the first in a series of blog posts I will be making about the "Aojiru verse", referring to a series of Tinkerbell games drawn by Aojiru, which includes popular games such as Kowaku no Toki, In'Youchuu etc. Tinkerbell has quickly become one of my favorite VN devs ever, specifically because of the games drawn by Aojiru. I have bought all of the games in the Aojiru verse, and have slowly but surely made my way through them. While I am not done with every single game yet, I have played enough to start making these blog posts.
I will be doing a few specific game spotlights of my favorites later on, though this entry will mainly introduce the Aojiru verse in general. The next entry will talk more specifics about what to expect from Aojiru games in general, as well as a game spotlight of the first major title in the series, In'Youchuu 1.
The "Aojiru verse" started in 2004 with Hanamaru! While Aojiru drew two other games for Tinkerbell before this, Okite no Shima and Hidamari no Kage de, these do not share any characters or story with the games that followed, so Hanamaru! becomes the game that basically started the "Aojiru verse". Hanamaru! Is interesting in that it is a completely vanilla game, without any real dark content at all, though it's still set in the Aojiru verse, which mainly consists of very dark stories. Very dark stories.
Aojiru has drawn a few more games similar to Okite no Shima/ Hidamari no Kage de that are not counted in the Aojiru verse due to being done by different writing staff, and generally not fitting the tone of the Aojiru verse games at all. (The creative team behind most of his games have been the same, which has probably been one of the main reasons why they were turned into this one big universe.)
Though, while most of the games in the Aojiru verse share characters and stories, there are some that do not, but that are still counted in the Aojiru verse. I have a list of all of them below.
Games colored in green are important to understanding the overall plot in future games, and are considered "must reads." Yellow means they share characters/ plotlines with other games to some extent, and are recommended, but not needed. Red means they have little or no connection to the rest of the universe. They are still a part of the universe, though can be skipped completely if you want. This also means you can START with these games if you want, as they are standalone.
The current Aojiru verse:
2004-2009
The beginning of the Aojiru verse, consisting of games all tied together in some way
Hanamaru! (2004) - Introduces characters and story elements relevant in later stories such as In'Youchuu, Kowaku no Toki etc -
Chou no Yume (2005) - Happens before the other stories in the current Aojiru verse, but is confirmed to be a part of the story in Hanamru! 2, and simply happens way earlier, in the 1600s -
In'youchuu ~Ryoujoku Gakuen Taimaroku~ (2005) - Shares characters, story and a setting with Hanamaru! + introduces many new, important characters to the Aojiru verse. It is considered one of the, if not the best Aojiru game. It is definitely the most iconic -
In'youchuu Shoku ~Ryoushokutou Taimaroku~ (2006) - A direct sequel to Gakuen, introduces Ouka and Kikuka -
Kowaku no Toki (2007) - Somewhat standalone, though does use both Ouka and Kikuka, showing what they do after Shoku. Also shares a general setting with In'Youchuu, and introduces youma with different appearances and abilities from the ones found In'Youchuu games -
Hanamaru! 2 (2008) - Shares characters from ALL of the previous games, and introduces the idea of a multiverse. No, I am not kidding, this is marvel cinematic level shit. The game is mainly pure comedy, though it has dark scenarios for each heroine available in a side menu, so fans of the standard Aojiru games won't be disappointed -
In'youchuu Etsu ~Kairaku Henka Taimaroku~ (2009) - Introduces new characters relevant in future In'Youchuu games, teaches you more about the origin of youma -
2010-2014
The following period took a step back from the previous style of crossovers, introducing new stories and characters to the Aojiru verse, without needing knowledge of previous works
Mouryou no Nie (2010), Kuraibito (2012), Kagome no Mayu (2013): - All confirmed to be in the same universe as In'Youchuu, introducing other sides of the world. No shared characters -
Fuka no Jugoku ~Ugomeku Moushuu no Rensa... Owari no Nai Kyouen~ (2014)... - A standalone game seemingly unrelated to the rest of the universe, though based on the content and staff working on it, it's in one of the universes introduced in Hanamru 2 not related to In'Youchuu. It's an extremely dark thriller / horror game not for the faint of heart -
2014-2019
Releasing only games without any shared characters seemingly did not pay off too well, as the following period goes back to creating several new games int he In'Youchuu series, whilst also creating some new stories
(Since I have not had the time to play each one of these titles yet, some of them will lack detailed information)
In'youchuu Gaiden (2014) - Side stories setting up for the new In'Youchuu game, Kyou. Can be skipped since it's a side story, though I recommend reading it -
In'youchuu Kyou ~Ryoujoku Byoutou Taimaroku~ (2014) - Introduces a whole new set of characters. While they have been mentioned in passing during previous games, they have not showed up yet-
In'youchuu Kyou ~Kuon no Hime Miko~ (2015) - Side story to Kyou -
Sarai no Me (2015) - Standalone horror game -
In'youchuu Rei ~Ryoujoku Shiro Taima Emaki~ (2016) - Sequel to Kyou -
In'youchuu Goku ~Ryoujoku Jigoku Taimaroku~ (2016) - Squel to Goku -
Shin'yaku In'youchuu (2017) - A remake of the original In'Youchuu, mixing in the new characters from Kyou/ Rei/ Goku. It has a new artstyle, and some parts of the story has been re-done. It is considered canon in the In'Youchuu game, and basically works as both a reboot and a sequel to Goku. In short, it's basically just a modernized re-telling of the first In'youchuu story with the new characters mixed in -
Shin'yaku In'youchuu - Shiro Neko Honpo Hen & Tsukishiro ... (2017) - Side story, can be skipped, shows what other chars not in Goku were doing during those events -
Grand Guignol no Yoru (2018) - Standalone horror game -
Mugen no Sakura ~Hitsuya-hime Injoku Youshokutan~ (2019) - Standalone fantasy game where elves from another world flee into ours for sanctuary, as they are hunted by a mad sorcerer. No standard youma are present, and there are no shared characters or lore to the previous games, so it's considered completely standalone -
Hanamaru:
With the general introduction to the Aojiru verse out of the way, let us quickly talk about Hanamaru. There really is not all that much to say, so I'll make it quick. (The next game spotlights will be much more detailed, of course.)
It is honestly a fairly average moege. It's cute, it's fun, but that's about it. As someone who likes the Aojiru verse for its dark content, I wasn't really that interested in this game. But, it does set up the world that In'Youchuu is built on, so it's definitely still important. It's clear in the small details of the writing that the creative team were going to take this to a dark place. They just did not do it in Hanamaru itself.
There are magical beings in our world, some good and some evil. Hanamru only really shows us the good ones, but introduces the idea of evil ones existing. You don't really get many answers to where these beings come from or why they are the way they are. These answers come later in the In'Youchuu games. But, this helps create a mysterious atmosphere to the game, which will be picked up again when the main characters of In'Youchuu travel to the school where Hanamaru is set to solve a case of a large amount of youma, (monsters, I'll get into details about them in the next entry,) have invaded the school. You are also introduced to Momono Momo, who is actually a monster hunter herself. Though, she does work actively anymore, and rarely shows her skills on screen. She is also the character with the most cameos in all of Aojiru's games, and has become the games' mascot.
Anyways, the tl;dr of Hanamaru is: cute moe with a bit of a dark undertone that is picked up again in the games that follows it.
Here is the game's opening. Personally I find the song incredibly catchy.
That is it for this entry. In the next entry I will explain more in detail what to expect of the Aojiru verse games in general, as well as introduce the first big entry in the universe, In'Youchuu.
The mastermind behind the Fuwanovel death game watched the two screens on the desk before him/her with a wicked smile.
"Seven dead already, heh. This is going well."
The video from the past two weeks of the battle royale had been playing on the screens in a loop for hours, with the faces of the four picked for the current week displayed on a different monitor above.
"Hehe. Now, let's see, what kind of arena should I put these four in?"
"Mind if I handle that?"
"Huh?!"
Taken completely aback by the presence of someone else in the control room, <??> nearly fell out of his/her chair.
"How the hell did you get in here?!"
"Hmph. You think your weak magic can control me? Please. I was bored, so I figured I'd join in on this weird game you have going on. So, with that said, I'll be taking over for a bit, heh."
With that, Clephas devoured <??>, trapping them in one of his stomachs.
"Now, let's have some fun. Hmm, these four, huh? Alright. Let's begin."
Using his powers to summon the four members from their cells, Clephas devoured them all in an instant.
The First Stomach - alden_0023 & Thatcomicguy
The first thing Thatcomicguy noticed was the smell of blood. Opening his eyes, he could tell that he was no longer in his cell.
"Come on... Was I picked again?"
Getting off the floor, he shook his head in frustration. He had fought for his life against another Fuwanovel user in the death game just two weeks before. He was hoping he would be able to avoid being picked again for at least a few more weeks. But, he had no such luck.
"Where the hell am I...?"
Looking around in confusion, he could tell he was in a classroom. The windows in the room were shattered, and the walls were riddled with holes and cracks. The floor was also badly damaged, covered in claw marks of all things.
What on earth had happened there before he woke up?
"Hnng..."
Noticing some rustling coming from the other side of the classroom, Thatcomicguy gripped his spear and got ready for a possible fight.
"Ugh, my head..."
Alden_0023 rubbed his forehead, slowly getting to his feet. The moment he spotted Thatcomicguy standing in the other side of the classroom, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Then, in the next moment.
"Hah!"
Drawing his bow with incredible speed, he sent an arrow flying through the room. Barely managing to block the arrow with his shield, Thatcomicguy started running through the room towards the door, trying to escape.
Another arrow flew towards him, barely missing his neck before digging into a nearby desk. Having reached the door, Thatcomicguy kicked it as hard as he could, making the door fly open. His hands were full because of his weapon and shield, and he had no time to spare, as Alden prepared another arrow.
But, the moment the door flew open, both men suddenly froze in place. It was a natural reaction. Anyone would be shocked by the sight that waited on the other side of that door.
A group of six small figures sat hunched over a corpse, happily chewing at its flesh. They had already eaten a great deal of the corpse, and their small bodies were covered in fresh blood.
"Wh-What... the fuck?"
The group of small girls suddenly stopped eating, and turned towards the two men in the classroom. While they might have looked like normal young girls at first glance, they had two features that no human child had. First, their teeth. The mouths of the girls were covered in shark like teeth, each tooth about ten centimeter in length. As a result, it was impossible for the girls to even close their mouths. Their eyes were glowing in a bright red color, and their pupils were completely gone. The entire eye was simply covered entirely in the red light.
"Cannibal... lolis... Seriously?"
Thatcomicguy uttered in a voice dyed in confusion and dread.
"..."
Realizing the situation was quite dire, Alden lowered his bow, and ran towards one of the broken windows along the classroom wall, then leapt through it.
"HEY! ARE YOU LEAVING ME WITH THESE THINGS?!"
Ignoring Thatcomicguy, Alden performed a forward flip in the air, then prepared his body for the fall. It seemed like the school they had woken up in was quite big, and they were on the sixth floor. But, contrary to his expectations, Alden's body did not fall at all. Instead, he was pulled up, flying towards the roof of the school.
"What in the..."
Soaring up past classroom after classroom, Alden reached the roof of the building, but his body showed no signs of stopping. He was literally falling upwards.
"Tch."
Clicking his tongue, Alden grabbed a hold of the railing covering the school roof, managing to stop his "fall" in the last second. Pulling his body towards the roof, he gripped the railing as he slowly moved towards the fire escape leading back into the school. The moment his foot moved inside the school building, he force pulling him upwards let go.
It seemed like moving outside the school was out of the question. The bizarre arena was nothing like the arenas used the previous weeks.
"What on earth is going on..."
Meanwhile
"AHHH, get away, get away, get away, AHHH!"
Thatcomicguy screamed, as he ran as fast as he could through the dark hallways of the school. Just a few meters behind him were five of the six small girls, giggling as they chased him.
He had managed to kill one of them with his spear in his escape from the classroom. This did not seem to anger the rest at all, as they chased happily after Thatcomicguy. It seemed like the girls had the ability to retract their teeth, and were now humming and laughing. Still, their eyes glowed. It was clear that their eyes were filled with bloodlust. If he stopped for just a moment, they'd probably rip him to shreds.
"Tehehe, I love playing tag."
"We're gonna get you, we're gonna get you ~~"
"GO PLAY WITH SOMEONE ELSE, AHH!"
Still screaming, Thatcomicguy kept running at full speed down the hallway, until...
"Shit..."
He reached a dead end. The stairs leading down to the floor below were blocked by a massive pile of rubble. The roof above had collapsed, also covering the stairs going up in the process. In other words, he was trapped.
The small girls were now just half a meter away.
"Tag. You're it!"
The girls opened their mouths, and their fangs once again sprouted out.
Preparing for what would most likely be his final battle, Thatcomicguy took a deep breath.
"I'm naked in front of a group of lolis, pointing a spear at them. That's a headline for yah."
Crack.
A sound coming from above made Thatcomicguy look up towards the roof, and soon after, a big chunk of the ceiling came crashing down, landing on top of two of the girls, squishing them.
"WHOA!"
Sitting on top of the rubble was Alden, his body covered in small cuts. Or, were they bite marks?
"Ah..."
Realizing what that meant, Thatcomicguy looked towards the hole in the roof, and sure enough, peeking down from above were even more of the rabid lolis, looking at Alden like he was a delicious looking plate of food.
"... Sorry dude, looks like this isn't your day."
With that, Thatcomicguy stood completely still, as the hoard of cannibalistic lolis swarmed Alden, biting through his flesh and bones like it was nothing. The sight was horrifying, making Thatcomicguy look away in disgust.
Taking advantage of the situation, he quietly snuck past the hoard of killer lolis, covering his eyes the entire time. He then started making his way down the hallway, leaving the little monsters to their dinner.
The Second Stomach - xGreyHound & Jazid-Kun
A jungle of mysterious plants in all sorts of colors stretched as far as the eye could see. A nearby river was filled not with water, but lava, and the sky was dyed red, not blue.
In the middle of this impossible jungle stood Jazid-Kun, looking around him with a smile.
"What a fitting stage for bloodbath. Heh."
Striking a cool pose, Jazid spoke in a dramatic tone of voice. Wearing a black school uniform and with an eye patch covering his left eye, Jazid did not exactly look like he belonged in the strange jungle. If not for the two large swords in crossed sheathes on his back, he would have just looked like any other high-school student.
"Chaos shall rain! Today, we dine with death himself!"
"... The hell are you on kid?"
xGreyHound sent Jazid a confused look, gripping his AK-47 firmly. He was on guard, prepared for the worst. The arena he had been placed in seemed even crazier than any of the previous ones.
GreyHound did not have it in him to kill a kid like Jazid, so he had approached Jazid with the suggestion of an alliance. Jazid accepted, though now he was going on some kind of chuunibyou rant, which made GreyHound instantly regret his decision.
"Please kid, be quiet..."
"Let the curtain fall on this blood drenched play! Let the games begin!"
Jazid shouted, stretching his arms up towards the red sky.
"... I swear, I will smack you over the head if you don't quiet down."
"Hah! A mere mortal like yourself? You wouldn't be able to lay a finger on me."
Rustle.
"?!"
A nearby plant started stirring. GreyHound quickly pointed his gun in the direction of the sound. Another plant started to move, then another. Before long, every single plant in their vicinity had started to move. At first, GreyHound thought the movement was caused by something moving through the plants, but... that wasn't it. The plants themselves were moving.
Clearly a little weirded out by the moving plants, Jazid moved a few steps closer to GreyHound.
"I, uh... I shall protect you, mortal!"
"Yeah, whatever, just draw your weapons at least."
"Kukuku. You mean these?"
Jazid gestured towards his swords.
"I cannot simply draw them out of their sheathe without the proper chant. They are sealed by a powerful—"
"Get down!"
GreyHound pushed Jazid to the side, as a giant vine shot out from one of the strange flowers. The vine was covered in strange spikes, reminiscent of teeth. It slammed into the ground mercilessly, making its sharp spikes dig into the dirt.
"Y-You cannot scare me, for I am... I am..."
"Shut up and run!"
GreyHound turned around and darted into a clearing, as several more giant plant monsters approached the two.
"Y-Yes sir!"
Following suit, Jazid ran as fast as he could after his teammate. Just a second after, five more giant veins slammed into the place he had been standing.
"Wh-What are those thin—"
"Duck!"
Interrupting Jazid once again, GreyHound shouted a command and pointed his gun toward Jazid's face. Doing as he was told Jazid quickly ducked down, and the massive mouth of a bizarre plant closed right above him, catching some of his hair in its massive jaws.
"Dieee!"
GreyHound fired several rounds into the head of the strange plant, making green goo fly everywhere. The plant let out a deafening screech and backed up a few steps, hissing at the two. It's mouth was layered with more teeth than a shark, each one at least five centimeters long. In addition to its killer bite, it also had several long vines covered in spikes sprouting from its body. It was the height of a human man, and moved incredibly fast.
"Over there! Run to the lava!"
"L-Lava? Are you crazy? I-I mean, lava would have no power over my immortal body, of course, but you are just a normal human, so it would surely be in trouble."
"Just shut up and run."
Turning back towards the way they had come, the two started running towards the strange lava stream, about fifty meters away. The stream was no more than one meter in width, but if GreyHound's theory was right, it would do.
"We're jumping over that. Get ready."
Not waiting for his ally to reply, GreyHound leapt across the lava stream. The intense heat from just being in the vicinity of the lava made even just breathing hurt, but it was better than being devoured by flesh eating plants the size of humans.
Jazid made it across the lava soon after GreyHound.
"Kuku. Looks like our plant friends were not so smart after all."
At least twenty of the killer plants tried to follow them, but they all let out loud shrieks as they approached the lava, and took several swift steps back. They were clearly not fond of the heat.
"We have no time to waste here. There could be more. Come on."
"Look out!"
As GreyHound turned his back on the plants and started to walk in the other direction, several of the strange creatures sent their vines flying towards the two humans. It seemed like there was no real limit to how far the vines could stretch, and they approached GreyHound's back with great speed.
"Hah!"
But, just moments before they were about to tear GreyHound to shreds, the vines themselves got cut into tiny pieces.
"Hmph. To think you'd make me take off my eye patch. I'm surprised you'd push me this far."
GreyHound turned around to see what had happened. Sure enough, Jazid's eye patch was gone, revealing an eye with a different color from the other. He had also drawn his swords, which were covered in green goo from cutting apart the vines.
Jazid had somehow managed to remove his eye patch, draw his swords, then cut several vines within a matter of seconds. GreyHound could not help but be amazed at the spectacle, and thanked his teammate for saving his life.
Rustle. Rustle.
Something started moving in the leaves behind the killer plants, and Jazid stood rooted in place, watching whatever it was intently.
"Come on kid, more of those things are coming from the looks of things. We gotta go."
GreyHound did not wait for a reply, and started to walk away from the lava and the plants. But, Jazid did not move.
"Kid, I will leave you, I swear! What are you even... looking... at..."
GreyHound's voice began to falter, as he too laid eyes on the creature on the other side of the lava. It took the form of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. She wasn't wearing a thing, and on top of her head were two pretty cat ears. Wagging back and forth behind her legs was a fuzzy tail. It was, without a doubt, a catgirl. An incredibly beautiful one, too.
Being fans of visual novels and the likes, both men knew very well what she was. While she appeared harmless, the fact that the plants were not killing her was a clear warning sign in GreyHound's mind.
"We gotta get the hell out of here, now!"
Jazid did not respond, but instead started to move slowly towards the catgirl, dropping his swords on the ground.
"Wait, what the hell are you doing!"
Jazid showed no interest in GreyHound, and kept on slowly approaching the catgirl, who looked back at them with an enchanting smile.
"Dude, this is not the time for your weird ass fantasies! We have to get out of here. Guh?!"
GreyHound tried to reach out for Jazid's hand, but he had gotten so close to the lava, the heat made GreyHound jump back in reflex.
There was nothing GreyHound could do but watch, as Jazid slowly walked into the scorching heat of the lava, seemingly under some kind of spell cast by the mysterious catgirl. He did not even blink at the pain from having his foot melted by the incredible heat. All he did was watch the catgirl on the other side of the lava stream, with a smile on his face.
After a few seconds, Jazid's body had been completely consumed by the lava.
"Y-You bitch, what did you do to him?!"
Pointing his gun at the catgirl in anger, GreyHound's body shook in terror. The creature simply returned a brilliant smile, and started to walk back into the depths of the strange jungle. The flesh eating plants followed suit, leaving GreyHound alone with nothing but the smell of burning flesh, and a sense of dread.
Members in this chapter:
“Tch. Where did that little worm go?”
VirginSmasher came to a halt as he scanned the area. The blazing sun made the asphalt below his feet feel like liquid magma, and the light from the sun reflected in the countless windows around him, making it even harder to spot his target. VirginSmasher had been one of the Fuwanovel members picked for the second week of the death game, and he had already been caught in a fight with another user. But, after a few minutes of battle, his opponent had fled, and VirginSmasher lost sight of him.
“I was this close, too…”
Kicking the ground in frustration, VirginSmasher made the asphalt below his feet explode into a million pieces, sending rubble and dust flying around the area. His powers were quite simple. His strength and agility had been increased tenfold, essentially making him a human wrecking ball. Problem was, the person he had been chasing had some kind of teleportation ability, making it impossible for VirginSmasher to land a hit.
“Ugh… What’s with this arena though?”
VirginSmasher looked up at the sky. He was standing in the centre of a massive city, in the middle of summer. It had to be at least thirty degrees in the sun, so all the moving around made him feel like he was melting.
“Last week they got a nice and cool forest, yet we’re stuck in this hellhole. What a jok— Huh?!”
Sensing something approaching from above, VirginSmasher sidestepped and turned to face whatever it was. Two arrows graced his throat, and slammed into the ground behind him, producing two large holes in the concrete.
A thin trail of blood ran down VirginSmasher’s neck. Had he moved just a fraction of a second later, he’d be dead.
“Heh. Looks like I got some new pray.”
VirginSmasher said with a smile, as he looked up at his new opponent.
“...”
Sitting on the top of a nearby telephone pole was Alden_0023, pointing a strung bow at VirginSmasher. Alden wore a grey cloak, with a quiver on his back and a range of different throwing knives stuck to his belt.
“I won’t miss a second time.”
Alden stated in an indifferent tone, and before VirginSmasher could even move an inch, Alden sent another arrow towards his target. The arrow soared through the air with incredible velocity. VirginSmasher barely managed to react in time, slamming the arrow out of the air with his palm. The arrowtip dug into his hand, ripping through the flesh like it was butter.
“Hmph!”
Not bothered by the pain one bit, VirginSmasher slammed his right hand into the ground, and a large crack in the concrete moved towards the telephone pole, which started to collapse moments later.
Alden leapt in the air, and after a graceful backlip, he reached for another two arrows, and fired them both at his target, before landing on another telephone pole about ten meters away from the previous one.
This time VirginSmasher managed to dodge the arrows completely, and jumped towards his opponent. It was an impossible leap for a normal human. The ground below his foot cracked, and VirginSmasher’s body shot forward. In the air, he thrust his healthy hand towards Alden’s chest, then, before hitting his opponent, he twisted his arm sideways and opened his palm, producing a shockwave which pushed Alden off the telephone pole.
“Kuh…”
Alden groaned in pain, but still managed to fire another arrow at VirginSmasher before he landed on the ground. While the arrow did not hit VirginSmasher, it distracted him for long enough to keep him off Alden’s tail for another second.
That second was all Alden needed. With incredible speed, he sprinted towards a nearby building, and jumped up on the wall. As if his feet were layered with glue, Alden ran straight up the wall, firing several arrows at VirginSmasher in the process.
“Tch, the hell is with this guy?!”
Dodging the arrows by a hair's breadth every time, VirginSmasher danced around on the ground below as the barrage of arrows rained down from above.
“Guess I’m switching to long range attacks as well. Hmph!”
Grabbing a nearby piece of rubble, VirginSmasher threw it up at Alden as hard as he could. The concrete block split up into several smaller pieces as it moved towards its target, smashing into the building with a loud bang. Broken glass and rubble fell towards the street below, as a large chunk of the building was torn apart from the impact.
“Did I get him?”
VirginSmasher squinted, trying to find Alden in the middle of the chaos. He soon spotted the shadow of a person rushing out from the rubble, and right after, several small objects flew towards him at great speeds.
“Tch, more arrows?!”
VirginSmasher prepared for another volley of arrows, but what was thrown at him was in fact just some rubble from the building.
“Shit!”
Realizing the attack was just a distraction, VirginSmasher spun around.
“Got you.”
Alden released the bowstring, and sent an arrow flying towards VirginSmasher’s exposed back. Although he did notice Alden’s trick in time for him to turn around, he did not manage to dodge the arrow, which dug into VirginSmasher’s chest.
“Guaah!”
VirginSmasher reached for the arrow, and snapped it in half. Then, he grabbed the arrowhead which was sticking out of his back, and ripped the arrow out of his torso.
Meanwhile, Alden landed on the ground about twenty meters away. Although his physical abilities were heightened, he had still fallen about ten meters, so he needed a second to collect himself after the landing.
“You little bastard!”
VirginSmasher rushed towards Alden, filled with rage. The pain from the wound in his chest only fueled his anger. Putting all of his remaining strength into one last attack, VirginSmasher charged his enemy.
“You don’t… give up, do you?”
Scrambling to his feet, Alden reached for another arrow. While he had not been injured from the fall, it had knocked the air out of him, making it difficult for him to avoid VirginSmasher’s sudden charge.
“Haah!”
VirginSmasher lunged at Alden with everything he had. Alden barely managed to throw himself to the side, dropping his bow in the process. VirginSmasher’s hand collided with the wooden bow, smashing it into a million pieces.
“Heh, what are you going to do now?”
VirginSmasher spat out, as he watched the pieces of Alden’s weapon fall to the ground before him.
“This.”
A sharp pain spread through VirginSmasher’s body, as Alden seemingly threw something in his direction.
“Huh…?”
Looking down at his own body, he saw three throwing knives buried into his chest.
“Well, fuck…”
The world around VirginSmasher grew cloudy, but he did not collapse right away.
“I’ll at least… take you with me…”
Raising his trembling arm into the air, VirginSmasher tried to charge at Alden one last time, but before he could move, another set of throwing knives dug into his torso.
“...”
As the life left VirginSmasher’s body, he managed to flip off Alden before his dead body collided with the ground below.
Meanwhile, on the top of the tallest building in the city:
Two figures stood face to face on the roof of a skyscraper, located in the centre of town. They were too high up to see or hear the commotion happening below.
“Heh, so you finally caught up to me, huh? I was hoping I could avoid fighting...”
Mr Poltroon paused and eyed his opponent, adjusting one of his white gloves.
“I’d especially like to avoid fighting you of all people.”
With a wry smile, Mr Poltroon took a step back, moving towards the ledge of the skyscraper.
“... Sorry.”
Snapping his fingers, Kaguya created a force field around the roof, trapping the two of them inside.
“*Sigh*... That’s what I thought. Well, I guess only one of us gets out of this thing.”
Mr Poltroon tilted his head to the side, and smiled wryly once again.
“I don’t suppose I could talk you out of this?”
Kaguya didn’t respond, and instead brought his hands together. His entire figure was drowned in a bright white light, and the outline of a moon appeared above his head.
"<蓬莱の薬>"
<Hourai elixir>
A small flask appeared in Kaguya’s hands, and he quickly brought it to his mouth, emptying the bottle in a second.
Hourai elixir, also known as the elixir of life. Those who drinks from it are, in short, immortal for a set period of time. Even if Poltroon destroyed Kaguya’s body while he was under the effect of the potion, he would just regenerate. In other words, Poltroon had to stall until the potion wore off if he wanted to win.
Summoning his trusty cane into his hands, Poltroon struck a cool pose and prepared for battle.
“I suppose it would be rude to attack first, so I’ll wait for you, kind sir.”
“You’re fighting with that?”
Kaguya looked at Poltroon’s cane.
“What, is it not to your liking? I find it quite dashing, personally.”
Kaguya shook his head, and jumped towards Poltroon, and unleashed a flurry of punches at an impossible speed. Poltroon blocked each punch with the back of his cane, deflecting the attacks with ease.
“Not bad. I expected nothing less from one of my underlings.”
A smile spread across Kaguya’s face. It would not be such a short battle after all.
Kaguya attacked again, but this time he conjured two blades of pure moonlight in his hands, slashing at Poltroon’s body.
Still, Poltroon deflected the attacks with his cane. The blades did not leave a single scratch in the wood. Needless to say, it was no ordinary stick. With each attack Poltroon stopped, Kaguya unleashed another.
Realizing he would eventually get hit if he didn’t do something, Poltroon leapt backwards, distancing himself from Kaguya. As Kaguya was about to give chase, Poltroon thrust the tip of his cane into the ground, creating four large circles before him.
Kaguya was not sure what they were, but did not really care, because of his immortality. Even if it did end up hurting him, he’d just heal right back anyways. Ignoring the suspicious circles, Kaguya rushed towards Poltroon.
The moment Kaguya’s foot grazed one of the circles, a powerful force puashed Kaguya’s body to the ground, pinning him down.
A gravity trap.
“Kuh… You think this will hold me?”
Kaguya’s body started shaking, as he used everything he had to force himself onto his feet. With sluggish movements, he moved off the circle, and was released from the magic infused in the trap.
“Guess it won’t be that simple.”
Poltroon raised his cane, and prepared for another one of Kaguya’s onslaughts.
The two moderators were caught in an intense fight for over twenty minutes. Kaguya was on the offensive the entire time, while Poltroon deflected most of the attacks coming his way. He did get a few hits in himself, too. But, each attack that hit Kaguya was useless as long as the elixir was in effect. The roof they were standing on had been all but destroyed, and the barrier kaguya had raised was long gone.
“Haah, haah, haah…”
“Haah… Haah…”
The two were catching their breath, taking a short break from the intense fight.
“It doesn’t look like I’ll be able to finish you like this.”
Kaguya raised his arm above his head, and the sky above grew cloudy. Thick clouds moved in front of the sun, leaving the city covered in darkness.
“I have to praise you for pushing me this far. But, this is where it ends.”
“<満月>”
<Full Moon>
Kaguya started hovering above the ground, and slowly floated up into the sky. Above him, the clouds began to disperse, but the sun was nowhere in sight. In its place was the moon, dyed in an ominous shade of red.
Large spheres of moon energy formed around Kaguya’s body, and with a snap of his fingers, Kaguya sent the spheres raining down onto Poltroon.
“Hmph!”
Poltroon knocked the first two out of the air, sending them crashing into the adjacent buildings. But, he could not stop them all. Eventually, one of the spheres hit Poltroon’s body, knocking him through the roof, hurling him down into the floor below.
“Ouch…”
Lifting his body up from the rubble, Poltroon tried to come up with a plan. If he didn’t do something, Kaguya would turn him into dust within a few minutes.
Poltroon made his way towards a nearby window, where he had a clear view of Kaguya, who was sending more spheres into the building. Explosions erupted all around Poltroon. It was only a matter of time before one of them hit him. Looking up at Kaguya, then down towards the street below, Poltroon made up his mind. He had no choice but to flee.
“Well, here goes nothing.”
Poltroon brushed some rubble off his shoulder, then jumped forward, crashing through the window before him. Tumbling towards the asphalt below, Poltroon knocked down another sphere, which Kaguya shot after him.
“Running, are we?”
Kaguya gave chase, flying after Poltroon, sending several spheres towards him. Poltroon kept knocking them out of the air, as he approached the ground below.
“I won’t let you get away.”
Kaguya kept on firing sphere after sphere towards Poltroon. Meanwhile, the street below was growing closer and closer.
The situation was dire. Even if Poltroon slowed his fall and landed safely, he would simply not be able to run away from Kaguya.
In a desperate attempt to slow him down, Poltroon conjured several magic circles along the wall of the skyscraper beside them. Kaguya saw Poltroon’s trick coming, and easily avoided the traps by simply stopping his fall before he reached them, hovering about thirty meters above the ground.
But what Kaguya did not expect was that the spheres he fired towards Poltroon were also affected by the traps. They were pulled in by the magical circle, and large explosions erupted all over the bottom part of the building, making the already damaged skyscraper collapse completely.
Hundreds of tons of rubble, steel and glass tumbled towards the two moderators.
Poltroon, who had somehow managed to brace his fall with a spell, just barely managed to move away from the rubble before it crashed into the ground. But, since Kaguya was thirty meters above, he did not have as much time, and the rubble pulled him down with it, pinning him below the massive pile of debris.
Kaguya's immortality potion was still in effect, but even someone as strong as him would not be able to lift the hundreds of tons that rested on top of his body. Once the elixir’s effect ran out, he would be crushed to death by the rubble.
“... Phew.”
Mr Poltroon let out a sigh, and started to walk along the street, his entire body aching from the exhausting battle. As Kaguya’s power began to vanish, the clouds he had conjured dispersed completely, and the sun once again began to shine down on the city.
A few minutes later, across town:
Weiterfechten was walking through a back alley, lifting up his top hat as he wiped som sweat from his brow with the cuff of his victorian tuxedo. His attire did not exactly help against the scorching heat.
He had seen a battle unfold a few blocks away some minutes ago, and chose to get away from them as quickly as he could, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire. While a battle between two members could mean a possible easy kill for him if he snuck up on them, it was apparent from a mile away that the two fighting were not normal members. Weiterfechten had fled as soon as the giant balls of energy began raining from the sky.
“Hm?”
Noticing something stir in the darkness a few meters in front of him, Weiterfechten came to a stop, and reached for his fencing sword, which was resting in a hilt over his left hip.
“Who’s there?”
A small girl walked out from the shadows of the dark alley, gazing at Weiterfechten with an emotionless expression.
Had he not watched last week’s game, Weiterfechten might have thought of the little girl as a defenseless bystander. But, he knew better. He had seen the little girl stab her “ally” in the back in cold blood, laughing.
“Funny I should run into you here, little girl. The person you killed last week happened to be a good friend of mine. I shall take this opportunity to avenge him.”
Kiriririri opened her small hand, and a beautiful sword with a silver blade and a golden hilt appeared out of thin air.
She then brought the blade behind her head, and took a swing at Weiterfechten, who quickly drew his own sword and blocked the attack. Despite being a little girl, she was strong. The impact of her attack made Weiterfechten take a step back, and a dull pain ran down his arm. She was no ordinary girl, that much was obvious.
“初ノ型〈紫電〉”
<First strike: Purple Lightning>
Kiriririri whispered and closed her eyes. Then, her blade glowed in a purple light, and she cut at the place Weiterfechten had been standing.
Being a skilled fencer, Weiterfechten jumped out of the way on instinct, which was smart of him, as a deep cut ran through the ground where he had been standing just moments before. The light that erupted from the girl’s sword looked like lava melting its way through steel, as steam rose from the cut in the ground.
While the girl seemed to lack technical skills with her sword, she made up for it in brute strength.
If Weiterfechten was going to win, he had to wait for the right opportunity, preferably right after the girl used one of her attacks.
Testing her out a bit, Weiterfechten thrust his blade at the girl. Like he thought, she moved awkwardly, and barely managed to deflect his attack. But, as he tried to move in for another thrust, the girl’s blade began to glow once again, and she unleashed another purple ray of light from her sword. The light grazed Weiterfechten’s jacket, setting it on fire. He ripped off the jacket in a fluster, and threw it onto the ground.
“Careful with that thing. You’ll poke someone’s eye out.”
Weiterfechten pointed at Kiriririri’s sword.
“You know, I really liked that jacket. Now I’m even more angrier.”
Weiterfechten sent several precise attacks Kiriririri’s way, trying to prevent her from unleashing more of her pesky attacks. He focused on stabbing at her right side, forcing her to keep her dominant arm back, which in turn, meant she couldn’t raise her sword.
“二ノ型〈流星〉”
<Second strike - Meteor>
Pushed back by Weiterfechten’s onslaught, Kiriririri whispered the name of a different attack. Thinking he’d be fine as long as she couldn’t use her sword, Weiterfechten kept pushing forward. Then…
“Whoa!”
Barely managing to notice before it was to late, Weiterfechten jumped awkwardly to the side, as a purple circle started forming around his legs. Right as he jumped out of the circle, a rock dyed in the same color as the circle crashed into the ground, digging about a meter into the dirt before it came to a stop. Thick smoke rose from the small crater, making Weiterfechten cover his mouth with his arm.
“What the hell… Hm?”
Looking at the girl again, Weiterfechten noticed that she was breathing heavier than before. While that could just have been because she was dodging his attacks, another idea popped into his mind. Could it be that the special attacks she was using tired her out? If that was the case, all he had to do was keep avoiding her strikes, and he should be able to land a killing blow.
“Phew… Hmph!”
After catching calming his own breathing, Weiterfechten stepped forward, once again resuming his attacks. Kiriririri did not even try to deflect his attacks with her sword, and dodged them the best she could instead. Although her movements were awkward, they were really fast, so landing a hit became quite challenging, even for someone as skilled as Weiterfechten. Her small build made the task even harder, as his target was much smaller than he was used to.
Kiriririri suddenly took a step back, and her blade began to glow again.
“Here it comes.”
Weiterfechten thought to himself, and prepared for another one of Kiriririri’s attacks.
Kiriririri brought her blade above her head, and sent the biggest ray of light yet flying towards Weiterfechten. It moved faster than the previous attacks, too, making it even harder to dodge. Moving out of its way by a hair’s breadth, Weiterfechten felt the heat of the purple light searing his skin as it rushed past him.
“Guh…”
Staggering for a second due to the incredible heat, Weiterfechten took a moment to regain his balance, then moved in for a counterattack while Kiriririri herself was recovering from the powerful attack.
“Hmph!”
Weiterfechten thrust his fencing sword towards the little girl’s chest. The blade moved towards Kiriririri at high speed, and for the first time in the entire fight, Kiriririri’s expression was filled with emotion, as her eyes shot open in fear.
The sudden resistance of human flesh made Weiterfechten’s arm come to a halt.
But, he had not hit the target he expected. Kiriririri had moved her left arm in front of the blade in the last second, and the tip of Weiterfechten’s sword had been stopped a few inches from Kiriririri’s body. Fresh blood ran down her arm, and her expression twisted in pain. Nevertheless, she raised her right arm high above her head, gripping the hilt of her sword firmly.
終ノ型〈天絶閃衝(ラスト・ パフェ)〉
<Final strike - The last Parfait >
After she stated the attack’s ludicrous name, her blade lit up in a brilliant purple light, and Kiriririri cut at Weiterfechten’s body.
Weiterfechten jumped back, letting go of his own sword, to at least avoid the attack, but it was no use. The glowing blade grew longer, like it was chasing him, and even though he jumped a good meter and a half back, the blade reached his body with ease, carving into his flesh, making fresh blood sprout from his chest.
“Graaagh!”
Letting out a primal scream, Weiterfechten collapsed.
"Hehe."
Kiriririri looked down at Weiterfechten's corpse, and chuckled.
Wildcards This Week?
Yes (A user has recieved a second life. Read details about wildcards here.)
Dead This Week:
Still Alive:
Hope you enjoyed! See you again next week! (Let me know if you find any issues/ inconsistencies!)
<??> Watched the screen in front of <him/her?> intently. Everything was ready. The time had finally come. All that planning, all that preparation. It had all been for this moment.
“All the pieces are in place. Well then, let’s start the game, shall we?”
<??> Pressed the button before <him/her?> with a wicked smile.
“Hear me, members of Fuwanovel. You are here for a single purpose; to entertain me! Those who have their name announced over these broadcasts shall enter the arena, and fight to the death! Anyone and anything you see out in the arenas will be an enemy, so be careful… And ruthless. As far as the rules go… There are none, heh.
Good luck.”
Day 1:
Members in this chapter:
“The game has begun. Good luck.”
“‘Alright, time to hunt.” Ranzo jumped down from the platform he was standing on, numbered ‘11’. He had woken up inside an unfamiliar room just moments before, where he had found his suit and weapons. After a short, confusing briefing from the person in charge, Ranzo’s <cell?> had opened, and he could walk out. What greeted him was a massive forest, full of large trees towering high above him. The large trees blocked out almost all the sunlight, making it hard for Ranzo to see where he was going. But, it was either straight ahead, or back to the cell, so Ranzo chose to keep walking.
The “briefing” had been simple. “You are stuck here. You are to fight anything and anyone you come across. If you are the last alive after the game is over, you win. If you die, you lose.”
“Gee, really? If I die, I lose? That’s a shocker.” Ranzo spun his scythe around his body with precision while he walked, clearly used to handling the weapon. A sabre hung from his waist in a makeshift sheathe, crafted from his belt.
After having advanced through the forest for a good ten minutes, Ranzo reached a suspicious looking cave, marked with a number— “7”.
“Hm, another contender?” Ranzo whispered, and gripped the handle of his scythe firmly while he scanned his surroundings. If his hunch was right, the numbers represented contenders in the “game”. He was 11, and “7” was a different Fuwanovel user, also entered in the game.
Crack.
Ranzo spun around instinctively at the sound of a branch breaking behind him, and in the same motion, he threw his scythe forwards. The sound of metal colliding with metal made Ranzo flinch for a brief second, and he lost sight of the person who had knocked his scythe out of the air.
“Tch.” Ranzo gripped his sabre and chased the mystery person, like a wolf rushing towards a sheep. He had no plan. The only thing going through his head was: kill it. Whoever or whatever it was; kill it.
Meanwhile
SeniorBlitz ran as fast as he could through the forest, like he had the grim reaper himself on his heels. That was in fact what Senior had thought for a second when he saw the scythe fly towards him just moments before. Senior was not well versed in any kind of combat. He had, in fact, never been in a fight in his entire life. What he did have, however, was a special ability. The ability to know what to do, where to go. He couldn’t explain it well, but there was something guiding him at all times. If he was about to trip and fall, something in his mind would tell him to stop. If he ever got lost, something would guide him back home, even if he had no idea where he was. It was thanks to that power, that guide, that Senior was still alive. He had seen the scythe coming seconds before it was thrown, and had used the sword that was given to him at the start of the game to block its path. He had sadly dropped the sword in his escape, and was therefore now unarmed.
“Stop running my friend, I wish you no harm!”
His attacker was shouting at Senior from behind. Thanks to his ability, Senior knew that he would be able to shake off his tail if he just kept following the path laid out in his mind. He did not look back, he did not falter.
“Tch, you little… How long do you plan on running for?”
“I’ll catch you eventually you little slime! Just you wait, I’m coming for you!”
The voice of his attacker grew distant, as Senior just kept on running through the forest. Before long, he had completely shaken off the madman running after him.
“Haah, haah, haah…” Senior finally had the opportunity to stop for a breath. With his hands on his knees, he spent a few minutes calming down. He knew that the man behind him would not be able to find him for at least another ten minutes, thanks to his ability.
“Alright, time to find a better place to hide.”
Senior got back up, and started walking through the dense forest, looking for shelter. He figured it would be smart to find someplace safe to gather his thoughts. It would be best to do so before nightfall, so he started walking faster, following the path lit up in his mind.
“Just about another hundred meters this way, and— Huh?!”
“GRAARGH!”
Senior was so focused on following the path to “safety”, he paid no mind to his surroundings, and did not notice the strange creature approaching from his left. Whatever it was, its massive jaw closed around Senior’s chest, and he was lifted up into the air and shook brutally back and forth, the sharp teeth of the beast ripping his flesh apart with each movement.
“GYAAAAH!”
Senior let out a primal scream, and tried to punch the creature with his free arm, but it was no use.
The beast’s iron jaw remained closed, and the life soon drained from Senior’s body, as most of his organs and blood poured down onto the grass below him. His entire torso had been ripped to bits, and what was left of him was soon devoured by the beast, leaving only pools of blood and a few chunks of flesh behind.
About an hour later, Ranzo arrived at the scene of Senior’s death. Taking one look at the pool of blood and gore, Ranzo clicked his tongue, and turned back.
“Guess someone got to him before me. Oh well, time to look for the next guy, I guess.”
Whistling a song to himself, Ranzo spun his scythe around, matching the song’s rhythm as he walked back into the depths of the forest, looking for new prey to hunt.
Elsewhere:
Arcadeotic sat at the end of a cliff, looking at the waterfall below him with a emotionless expression, balancing a katana on his feet. A single sudden motion would surely send the sword tumbling down the fifty meter long drop.
Arcadeotic was wearing a blue yukata, stained red with the blood of a pack of wild boars he had killed an hour ago. After cooking some of their meat on a fire, he had eaten some for himself, then tossed the rest down into the abyss. He had no intentions of sharing the meat with anyone else, nor did he want the smell of the meat to attract possible predators. He had extinguished the fire as soon as he was done cooking the meat, but it might still have notified someone of his location. Nevertheless, Arcadeotic sat completely still on the cliff, staring out into nothingness.
Sure enough, after another few minutes, the sound of footsteps could be heard behind him.
Still, Arcadeotic remaind motionless, not facing his attacker.
Sneaking up behind him was Thatcomicguy, clutching his spear with his right hand. In his free arm was a wooden shield, covered in thick leather. Other than his weapons, Thatcomicguy was completely naked, though his body was covered in blue war paint.
Thatcomicguy snuck up to Arcadeotic until he was a mere two meters away, then stabbed at Arcadeotic’s back with his spear. Right before the spear hit Arcadeotic’s back, he jumped straight up into the air, grabbed his katana, and in the same motion as he drew it from its sheath, he cut at Thatcomicguy’s chest.
Thatcomicguy barely had time to block the slice with his shield, and was forced back a few steps from the impact.
Meanwhile, Arcadeotic landed gracefully on the edge of the cliff, and quickly moved in for another attack, cutting at Thatcomicguy’s left foot.
Arcadeotic closed the distance between them in a second, and mercilessly sliced a deep cut in Thatcomicguy’s calf.
“Ugh…”
Thatcomicguy groaned in pain, and pushed his shield forward defensively, hitting Arcadeotic in the chest.
Arcadeotic fell backwards, but quickly regained his balance.
For the first time in the fight, Arcadeotic glanced at his opponent, and chuckled.
“You look ridiculous.”
Thatcomicguy paid him no mind, and tried to focus on his plan of attack. He should have the upper hand, even with the cut on his leg, as he had the longest reach thanks to his spear, and a shield to block the katana’s slashes. The leather on his shield had taken a hit already, and was already starting to come apart. It probably wouldn’t last too long.
Seemingly having come up with a plan, Thatcomicguy stepped forward. Although the pain in his leg was nothing to joke about, he did not let it stop him.
“Yeah, well, we’ll see who gets the last laugh.”
Keeping just enough distance between himself and his opponent, so that the katana would not be able to reach him, Thatcomicguy thrust his spear towards Arcadeotic. Arcadeotic easily deflected the thrust, but as he was about to counterattack, Thatcomicguy swiftly changed his grip, turning his spear downwards towards Arcadeotic leg, and dug the tip of his spear into Arcadeotic’s knee. Arcadeotic winced in response, but didn’t let the pain stop him from fighting. Not wasting any time, Arcadeotic slashed two times, but both attacks were blocked by Thatcomicguy’s pesky shield.
“Tch.”
It became impossible for Arcadeotic to stand on his wounded leg, which meant he would be at an even bigger disadvantage than before. His strongest point was his speed, but without his full mobility, he would be unable to close the distance between himself and his opponent fast enough to stop the spear from keeping him at bay.
“... An eye for an eye, huh?”
Arcadeotic said to himself, as he tried to come up with a way out of the dire situation. He had cut his opponent’s leg, but in return, his own knee had been damaged. Both of them were less mobile, but it seemed like his own injury was a bit more serious.
“Well, what can you do.”
Arcadeotic walked forward with awkward steps, his wounded leg mostly just being dragged along the ground.
“I’ll end this with one strike.”
The bold statement from Arcadeotic made Thatcomicguy snicker.
“Oh, is that so? Well by all means, come at me.”
Thatcomicguy spat back, readied his spear, and covered his chest with his shield. There was no way Arcadeotic would be able to attack his opponent’s torso. And yet…
“Hmph!”
With a grunt, Arcadeotic jumped forward, and with all his might, he slammed the flat side of his sword into the wooden shield. The impact made Thatcomicguy stagger, and he let out a painful groan as he put all his weight on his wounded leg.
Still in the air, Arcadeotic slashed downwards. His sword moved along the rough leather covering the wooden shield, until it reached Thatcomicguy’s exposed shoulder. The sharp blade slashed open the naked shoulder, making Thatcomicguy drop his shield. Unfortunately for Arcadeotic, he was unable to brace himself properly after the attack, and he crashed into the ground, dropping his katana. The air was knocked out of him as his chest collided with the rough ground. But, he wasn’t done there. Although the world around him was spinning, he used his healthy leg to kick violently at Thatcomicguy’s wounded foot.
“Guaaah!”
Thatcomicguy screamed, as he too fell to the ground, paralyzed by pain.
Crawling towards his katana, Arcadeotic was ready to deliver the finishing blow. He gripped the hilt of his weapon, and turned towards his fallen enemy. Although every part of his body hurt, Arcadeotic somehow managed to stand, and moved towards his prey with clumsy movements.
“Hya!”
As he reached his target, he brought his katana above his shoulder, and slashed mercilessly at Thatcomicguy's neck.
Clink.
The sound of something breaking made Arcadeotic look at his sword in confusion. The katana’s blade had snapped in half, most likely a result from his fall. And since the blade had broken mid swing, he had not actually hit his opponent.
“Well, shi—”
Before Arcadeotic could finish his sentence, the tip of a spear dug into his throat, making a spray of fresh blood shoot out from the wound, dying Thatcomicguy’s skin in red.
As Arcadeotic’s dead body hit the floor, Thatcomicguy dropped his spear, as the strength began to leave his body.
“You… Tough bastard…”
With those words, he passed out.
Meanwhile, at the outskirts of the forest:
“How’s this place?”
“Hmm, looks good. We’ll camp here for now. Someone start a fire.”
“Ugh, do you think there are any more of those things out there? I’m not sure I’m comfortable sleeping here, out in the open…”
“Don’t worry, we’ll take shifts keeping guard. #28, #6, you two take the first shift.”
“Huh? Who died and made you the boss?”
Four figures, covered in mud and blood, were talking under the cover of a giant tree, just half a kilometer from the edge of the forest. The four of them were members of Fuwanovel, and contenders in the death game that had started previously that day. But, neither of them wanted to kill their fellow members, and as a result, they had formed a team.
Shortly after they teamed up, however, they were attacked by giant monsters that seemed to live in the depths of the forest. Hungry and tired, the four of them had finally reached a seemingly peaceful area, and were setting up camp with what little resources they had.
The four members were Sayaka (#28), Norleas (#9), Shikomizue (#13) and Kiriririri (#6).
Shikomizue was the natural leader type, and had taken the lead of the group as a result, something that did not sit well with Sayaka.
“Why do I have to listen to your orders, huh? I’m tired too! I want to sleep just as much as the next guy!”
“Look, I don’t mean to be rude here, but in terms of actual combat abilities, me and #9 are the strongest. We need our rest, so that we can protect this group when the time comes. You and #6 are… Well you know.”
Shikomizue gestured towards Kiriririri, a small girl with silver hair, who was poking the ground with a wooden stick, paying no mind to the conversation that was happening around her. So far, she had not participated in the fighting at all.
“Okay, I’ll give you her, but we’re not that crazy! Master and I helped you in the fight against those… Those things, didn’t we?!”
Sayaka pointed in the direction they had come from, where the group had fought against numerous strange beasts.
Shikomizue scratched his head awkwardly in response. He did not want the group to start fighting among each other, as that would just make things worse. He wanted to figure out what was going on, and how to get out of it. In order to do that, he needed to get as many people as possible to form a team. If no one killed each other, the “game” or whatever it was, had to come to a stop. That was the conclusion he had reached.
“Fine, I’ll take the first shift, along with… Her.”
Shikomizue looked towards Kiriririri, who had just finished drawing a strange symbol in the grass.
“Alright then, let’s get that fire going and—”
“Get down, something is coming.”
Norleas reached behind his back and fished out the two daggers he was storing in his jacket, then crouched down, signaling for the others to do the same.
The group gathered together, and those who had them drew their weapons.
“What did you see?”
Shikomizue did not have to wait for a response, as a large bear, covered in metal plating, walked past them. It was looking around, like it was searching for the group. It looked… Off. It looked intelligent, just like the other beasts they had fought that day.
“Something is definitely not right with these things. They started attacking us right after we formed a team. Almost like… Someone doesn’t want us to team up.”
Shikomizue thought to himself, as he recalled the days events. Actually, every time they had been away for combat for a certain period of time, something would come and attack them.
Almost like something, or someone, were controlling them. If that was the case, then...
“Master, behind you!”
Sayaka shouted to himself, and jumped forward. In the next second, a large paw covered in metal slammed down on the very spot Sayaka had been standing.
Reaching into his maid uniform, Sayaka fished out a strange statue, in the shape of an anime figure.
“They know we’re here master, so we might as well make some noise.”
Turning the head of the statue around 180 degrees, Sayaka threw it behind the tree, where the second bear had attacked from.
“Everyone, if you don’t want to go boom, I suggest you run!”
Moments later, the figure exploded, turning the ground beneath it to ash, blowing the bear to bits in the process.
The other bear was alerted to their presence, and jumped at Norleas, who slashed at its snout with his daggers before it had time to react. The beast roared in pain, and slammed its massive paw towards Norleas, who elegantly jumped out of the paws path, and went in for another attack.
While the plate armor proved to be an obstacle, Norleas still managed to bring the massive beast down in a matter of seconds, as a flurry of dagger cuts tore into its hide like it was butter, always finding the unprotected parts of the bears body.
Meanwhile, Shikomizue was fending of two wolves with his wakizashi katanas, holding back one wolf with each blade, as he pressed them against the wolves sharp fangs.
“Where is #6? Someone cover her.”
“Yes, yes, Master and I got her, don’t worry.”
Throwing explosive statues at everything that moved inside the forest, Sayaka jumped around Kiriririri, who was sitting on the ground, watching the fighting happen around her with an indifferent expression.
“Ohh, we’re gonna make master so proud, yes we are, tralala.”
Sayaka sang as he looked up at the sky, throwing statues now seemingly at random. A few landed close to Norleas, but he simply moved out of their path with incredible speed each time, still slashing and stabbing any beast that came in his way with his daggers.
The group fended off countless beasts, until finally, only one remained. It was a massive tiger, also covered in metal plating like the bears from before. The beast’s eyes were glowing in a strange blue light, and it moved faster than any other creature they had fought so far.
Sayaka had tried throwing several statues at it, but it always got out of the blast zone before it was damaged.
Norleas was unable to get close to the beast as well, as it was simply too fast.
Shikomizue knew they were out of options.
“Tch… Is this really how it ends?”
He clicked his tongue, and started to walk towards the beast while he shook his head.
“Am I really doing this?”
After glancing over his shoulder, taking another look at his three teammates, Shikomizue nodded, and closed his eyes.
“Listen up. I know what’s going on. These things are being controlled by someone. As long as we’re in a group, we’ll be sitting ducks. They are either being controlled by whoever started this fucked up game... Someone who wants us to keep fighting, or it’s another contender, in which case we should split up to try and find the bastard.
So... Guys, split up. Run. For now, just get as far away from each other as possible.”
“GRAAWRH!”
Like it understood what Shikomizue was saying, the tiger roared, and charged at the group. It was not happy.
“Yes come on, you stupid cat.”
Shikomizue charged as well, running straight ahead, towards the beast’s fangs.
Then…
“GUAAH!”
Shikomizue screamed in pain, as the tiger bit him, its large fangs digging into his left side.
“I’ll keep this thing at bay… You guys… Run away… Now!”
Lifting up his free arm, Shikomizue gripped his katana firmly, and slashed at the tiger’s front legs, which were not covered by armor. That should slow it down. The thing was, it would have been impossible to target its legs without making it stop first. And, the only way to do that was to make it stop moving, for instance, by letting it bite one of them. Shikomizue had realized this a while ago, as he watched his comrades fail to hit the beast, and he had given his own life so that the other three could live.
“You guys better figure out what the fuck is going on here, and stop this ‘game’, alright?”
Shikomizue looked over his shoulder, watching as his allies ran into different directions. No beasts chased them.
Pleased that he his plan had worked, Shikomizue fished out a cigarette from pocket, and moved it to his mouth, his hand shaking. He didn’t have anything to light it with, but he still put it in his mouth, and took a deep breath, closing his eyes.
That was his last breath.
Norleas walked through the forest in silence. His daggers were still dripping with blood from the countless monsters he had killed. Still, he had not even broken a sweat. Killing was his job, after all. It was a breath of fresh air for him to kill beasts instead of people.
It was strange. The person whose job was to take people’s lives had chosen to join an alliance to avoid killing others.
It was different this time, after all. The people in question were his friends. His fellow Fuwanovel users. There was no way he could kill them.
Sensing something moving behind him, Norleas gripped his dagger, and prepared for battle. But…
“Oh, it’s just you.”
He lowered his weapons. Behind him stood the strange girl from before, Kiriririri.
“What, didn’t you hear what the boss said? We’re supposed to split up. What, are you scared in the dark by yourself?”
Kiriririri didn't’ say anything. She simply lifted her arm, pointing into the darkness behind Norleas.
“What? What is… It…”
Norleas turned around to look at what she was pointing at, and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. Looking down at his own stomach, he saw a silvery blade sticking out from his chest, covered in fresh blood.
“Wh-What…”
“Hehe.”
The laughter of a little girl was the last thing he heard, as his lifeless body fell to the floor.
Kiriririri pulled the sword out of Norleas’ corpse, and it soon turned into light particles, vanishing into thin air.
Kiriririri then simply kept walking through the forest with an emotionless expression.
Beat Valkyrie Ixseal Review
Choukou Shinki Ixseal, (Beat Valkyrie Ixseal), is the newest game in AliceSoft's "Beat" series. (Same universe as Beat Blades Haruka and Beat Angel Escalayer.)
Though, while the game is set in the same universe as the other two games, it can be played without having played either of its predecessors. (The only connection to previous games is a few small references, that are not important to the story at all. In fact, I'd recommend playing this game first if you plan on playing a game in the series. I will explain why later in the review.)
Similar to its predecessors, Ixseal is a gameplay/ VN hybrid, where you advance through a number of stages, defeating monsters along the way until you reach the area boss. Upon defeating the boss, the story progresses, and you move onto a new area. In between gameplay aspects, you see normal VN styled scenes, which makes up the bulk of the game. The game is voiced throughout all the story segments, as well as the H-scenes. The only portions of the game that are not voiced are "filler" scenes, that appear between gameplay segments, outside of the main story. These are normally only added for comic relief, and are not actually important at all, so the lack of voice acting in these scenes means quite little.
The story
In Ixseal you play as Oudou Tsuguhiko, a perverted man who swears he is the true "demon king," the most powerful evil being in the world. His dream is to make all female students in the world wear bloomers as their official uniform, through the use of his demonic powers. His best friend, Kirika, always brushes Tsuguhiko's talk about demons and such aside as jokes, but it turns out that he is actually telling the truth.
With the help of his servant demon Bezel, Tsuguhiko's true power as the demon king is awakened by a dark ritual, and the power of the seven deadly sins, (the source of the demon king's power,) pours into him. The ritual is interrupted shortly after, however, as an angel with the name Xillia shows up, with the intention of killing the newborn demon king.
Bezel and Tsuguhiko escapes, but things only go downhill from there for Tsuguhiko. He is betrayed by Bezel, who steals six of the seven deadly sins from his body, and uses them to awaken six powerful demons, leaving Tsuguhiko with nothing but the power of lust in his body. Bezel tries to take Tsuguhiko's life, but fails because of the angel, who finally catches up to them, driving Bezel away. Sadly, Tsuguhiko's friend Kirika is killed in the struggle.
Kirika is revived by Xillia, but this takes up nearly all her power, leaving her defenseless against the demons summoned by Bezel. But, through the power of lust, which still resides within Tsuguhiko, he powers up Xillia with demonic energy, and she changes forms from an angel, into the ideal warrior in Tsuguhiko's mind— a valkyrie.
With the power of lust, the demon king powers up Xillia through sex, and with the combination of her own power and demonic energy, she grows stronger, ready to take on Bezel's army.
Bezel, along with six of the seven deadly sins, (in the form of powerful demons,) plan on absorbing energy from all humans, so that they can take over the world. The demons create a barrier over earth, stopping other angels from coming down from heaven to help, leaving Xillia alone.
Now it's up to Xillia and Tsuguhiko to stop the demons' onslaught before it's too late.
While the gameplay part of Ixseal might make it sound silly, (have sex with the heroines to make them stronger, by injecting them with your demonic energy) the story is miles better in Ixseal compared to Haruka. I'm not sure I'd call this game a nukige, actually, as the story does truly work by itself, not relying on the abundance of H at all. (Unlike Haruka, where the H content is the most appealing factor by far.) The characters are well designed and interesting, and the story is good. Lastly, the protagonist is very well done as well. He is actually powerful; he is the demon king, after all. The story is about taking back the deadly sins stolen by Bezel, powering up Tsuguhiko with each boss defeated. While he does not do the fighting himself, he does not feel like a pointless plot device. You actually feel like you are the demon king, trying to reclaim your powers, and not a can of gasoline that exists only to power up the heroines. (Like in Beat Blades Haruka.)
Sadly, Ixseal wastes a lot of its potential by sticking to the same formula that Haruka did.
Instead of making it possible for the player to choose how to guide the protagonist from the start, (choosing to be good or evil,) the game has it set in stone that Tsuguhiko is a good guy at heart, and he acts like the biggest vanilla-pleb in history towards his comrades, despite the fact that he is the demon king, and his objective is ultimately to reclaim his powers. Not exactly what you'd expect from the demon king.
The story is good, but it would have been even better if there was more choices in terms of how the protagonist acts, in my opinion. The more you learn about the origin of his powers, and the history of the demons, the more you feel like making choices to impact his decisions, but you are left following the linear story until the branching point that only appears towards the end of the story.
Another issue I found with the structure of the game is that it is very similar to Haruka at its core. While the story is different, and the characters' motivations etc also differ from that of Haruka's, it still shares enough similarities that the story can become predictable if you have played Haruka. Because of this, I would personally recommend reading Ixseal first, if you have not yet read Haruka, as the plot twists will be more surprising. And, seeing as the story is without a doubt better in Ixseal, this way you will get more enjoyment out of the game, compared to if you read Haruka first. That being said, the game is still good, and some predictability won't ruin that.
The gameplay:
Similar to Beat Blades Haruka, the gameplay comes in two stages. The first stage is all about buffing your heroines by sleeping with them, raising their stats in the process. Then, you advance through an area, defeating monsters, collecting power-ups, and fighting bosses.
Each time you lose against an area boss, you see a rape scene with that boss, (with a maximum of two scenes per boss,) and the heroine's "lust" meter is filled up with one stage. (If the lust meter gets maxed out, you will get a bad ending.) These scenes can be disabled in the menu, if you do not like to see scenes of that nature. Seeing as what types of H you make your heroines do during the first phase of gameplay is up to you, you can freely choose to be evil and only see dark H, or be nice and only see vanilla. (Or do a mix of both!)
You also have two other meters to keep an eye on. The love meter, and the demon energy meter. (Actually has a different name, but this sounds cooler!) While this might sound complicated, it is actually very simple. The love meter is raised by doing things like going on dates with the heroines, while the demon energy meter is raised by doing evil things to the heroines.
Depending on the stats you are left with towards the end, you can choose an ending with your favored heroine.
Just like Haruka, the boss fights can prove difficult if you do not boost the stats of the heroines properly, so do be careful there. Overall though, the difficulty has been decreased quite a lot. While I found myself failing quite a few times during my first playthrough of Haruka, I did not get a game over screen once during my first playthrough of Ixseal.
H-scene and ending variety
Beat Blades Haruka is known for being filled with all sorts of H-scenes, ranging from normal vanilla, to hardcore rape, beastiality and more. Ixseal also has a varied roster of H-scenes, though not as many as Haruka. (I believe Ixseal has a bit over 100, while Haruka had over 150.) But, seeing as Ixseal is more story driven than Haruka was, they might have opted for more focus on the story instead of adding extra H-scenes. But, while the game has less H-scenes, the quality has not dropped. Even the vanilla scenes are quite good, (I phrase it this way, as I did not exactly play the game for the vanilla personally.) The voice work in this game is amazing, which adds a lot to the H-scenes. There is a large variety of different H in Ixseal as well, with most scenes being very hot. So, while this might not be as nukige-ish as Haruka, it sure does have its fair share of good H, too.
Now, the endings. I had high hopes for the Ixseal endings, especially the bad ends. The Haruka bad endings were very good, though way too short. Seeing as we are literally the demon king himself in this game, I was hoping that the bad endings would be longer, and even better than Haruka's.
The game has six primary endings, one bad and one good for each heroine, a harem end, and a "normal" ending. You can also get other types of bad ends through the game, but these six are the main heroine endings. (For comparison, Haruka had three endings per heroine, a good, a bad and a brutal end.)
In Ixseal, they did indeed make slightly longer endings, though they still felt too short to me. The bad ends did somewhat live up to my expectations. I don't want to get into details to avoid spoilers, but they felt satisfying to a certain extent. (To me at least, as I want dark bad ends.) And dark they were. Kirika's ending was something out of an utsuge, and Xillia's bad end was definitely a cool way to tie the "evil" side of the protagonist into the main story. That being said, they were still too short, which in turn still made me feel a bit disappointed. With how long the game is, and how much build up there is to the climax of the story, I would have wanted endings at least twice as long as the current ones, perhaps even longer.
Still, they were pretty good, all things considered. As for the good endings, they too were well done, and even though I did not have any plans on caring much about the vanilla side of the game, I do have to admit, I felt some feels towards the end of the good routes. Sadly, these too were a bit too short as well.
If they do make another game in the series, I hope that they finally make the endings a bit longer for that one.
Music, art, the heroines and more.
Like I mentioned above, the voice acting in the game is stellar. It had to be hard delivering some of the messed up lines in this game with a straight face, lol. The six demons representing the deadly sins were all handled well, and all come off as creepy and "demonic" in their own ways. I especially took a liking to Pride and Wrath, as the two really fit perfectly for the roles they are meant to fill. The VAs do a great job of bringing the "essence" of their sin into their character in their voiced lines.
The heroines were... good and bad. While Kirika had lots of unique aspects that made her fun and different from her "counterpart" in Beat Blades Haruka, Narika, Xillia was way too similar to Haruka in my opinion. The two are basically the same, boring character, just in different settings. That being said, Xillia has a very good backstory, which makes up for some of her blandness.
Overall, I wanted the heroines to be more unique compared to the heroines in Haruka, and found myself a bit irritated at the similarities at times. Nevertheless, the story for each heroine was done well, so it was not a complete bust. Also, Kirika's ass is just amazing. (/ω＼)
As far as the art goes, it's just great. The resolution was stepped up to HD, (Haruka's resolution was 800x600, which was a disappointment in my eyes.) The art is consistent and well drawn, and some of the CGs are truly badass. Like I mentioned before, the character designs were great, so I have no complaints about the art at all, tbh.
I'm not really a music guy, so I can't give a detailed review of the music, so I'll just say this: I liked it a lot. There are over 30 music tracks in the game, all well fit for the scenes in which they are used. I especially liked the opening. Definitely a game I'd consider buying the OST for.
Conclusion:
Ixseal is much better than Haruka in my book. Pretty much everything I felt was lacking in Haruka was improved in Ixseal, (although it did not quite win me over when it came to the game's endings.) The story, characters, art, music and gameplay have all been improved, making a great overall experience.
I rated the game an 8.4, which would have been even higher had the endings been longer, and more thought out. Still, this is a very solid game for both vanilla fans, and people like me, who likes games with darker H.
If you're a fan of demons, angels and such, you'll definitely like this game. I am personally a sucker for anything that involves the seven deadly sins, so I was hooked from the start.
Some people on this forum already know me as a pretty big Cyclet fanboy. They make some pretty good dark games, which is right up my alley. Tokage no Shippo Kiri is by far my favorite Cyclet game to date, and in this blog entry I'll be talking a bit about why.
I found out about this through some people on Discord, and after looking through some CGs from the game, I was rather confused when I was told this is a pure love story. That made very little sense to me, which just sparked my interest even more. After having read the game, I have to say I agree; this is definitely primarily a love story, though a rather tragic one at that. I will be mainly talking about the first few hours of the game in this blog post, then reflect on why I like the game and what it does right, so it's pretty much spoiler free. What you see here is just the introduction to the story that you see after a little bit of reading, so the major plot twists and such is not spoiled here, should you ever feel like reading the game.
The title of the game plays a very central role in the story, and it does so almost immediately. Tokage no Shippo Kiri = (rough TL) Cutting the lizard's tail.
The main character, Shuu, is an honor student. Among the smartest people in school, and certainly among the most diligent, Shuu seems like a rather normal guy who wouldn't hurt a fly. He doesn't come in late, he does all his homework and places among the top students on tests. However, this story is meant to show you that although people might seem totally normal on the outside, they could be just a single step from breaking on the inside.
As Shuu ends up being late one day, he starts running to school in order to make it in time. On his way though, he ends up stepping on something. Upon looking down, he spots a lizard with its tail ripped off. However, the lizard doesn't cower in pain, scream or anything that a human would in a situation where their limbs are ripped off them. Instead, it completely calmly runs away, fleeing from danger, completely unfazed by the fact that a portion of its body is missing. As he sees this, Shuu breaks. Something inside him is stirred, and he wonders, "is it possible for humans to regenerate their limbs like a lizard?" Suddenly, very interested in how exactly lizards can do this, he starts researching anatomy, biology and such extensively. Every single day he goes to the library to read up on immortality, regeneration of limbs, and anything he can come across slightly related to learn how it works. Shuu concludes that the only way to figure this out though, is through practical experiments. Now, at this point this probably sounds like it will turn into a guro fest, but it's not quite how things goes. This is like I said before, primarily a love story, (although the game has a decent amount of guro, it's not quite the same as other guro games in that regard). Anyways, enter Kanau.
Kanau is a girl who is totally in love with Shuu. She is so madly in love with him, it's a bit confusing really, as she hasn't actually talked much with him before at all. At first, you don't really get any explanation for this. She just loves him, and wants to be with him. She eventually approaches Shuu, and he politely agrees to letting her help him with his research. The two start reading books together in the library, although Kanau of course has no idea what kind of research this really is. Two other students eventually joins in on this as well, and the four of them come to library every day to research. Each one of them have their own motive for doing this, and the way the story keeps their reasoning hidden until the later segments is very well executed, even for the main character Shuu.
Leaving the other two on the side, let's talk about Kanau and Shuu's romance. (The other two have rather minimal roles in the main route, but bigger parts in their own routes that are connected to the main route later on.) Shuu and Kanau start to get along well, and soon enough they both develop romantic feelings for one another. (Well, Kanau already had these, like I mentioned, but it becomes mutual at least.)
The thing is though, as the reader you really don't know whether Shuu's feelings are genuine, or if he is just using Kanau for his potential experiments. As I was reading the game I was at the edge of my seat the entire time. Exactly what is it that Shuu wants, what is fueling him, and what is going to happen next? And likewise, Kanau's motives were totally mysterious to me as well. Sure, she loves him, but why? To be frank, you really don't get what is going on for a long time. Though, all of the answers will come in due time.
Shuu talks Kanau into helping him with an experiment, though she is not the test subject; he wants to test this on himself. Shuu wants to know, "can humans grow back their limbs? Just how far can the human body be pushed when it comes to healing itself?"
And so, he decides to have Kanau cut off his finger, and then observes the result. (Don't worry, not a bloody CG. I won't link any of those )
Needless to say, Kanau is not a big fan of this idea, but due to her extreme attatchement to Shuu, there is no way she is saying no. Big parts of the game is told from Kanau's point of view, and deals with her conflicted emotions. She hates the idea of Shuu being in pain, but hates the idea of Shuu rejecting her because she won't help him with his research even more.
After this, things keep escalating and the characters are forced to face their own mortality, quite literally. The truth is that no matter how you try to spin it, human beings are very fragile creatures, both mentally and physically, and you can't defy the laws of nature. This is the main point the game tries to get across, at least that's how it seemed to me. Shuu and Kanau's romantic story is a rather messy one, and this game really brings out loads of different emotions in the reader. I think a big misconception with dark themed stories is that they must always go a bit over the top, so that we can separate them from reality. However, Tokage no Shippo Kiri doesn't do that at all. It's as realistic as you can get with a story like this, and that makes the impact it has on the reader even stronger.
The game is very psychologically straining, as you are put into the shoes of these characters in rather gruesome situations. I felt like certain choices in the game were very hard to make, as I was honestly afraid of the result they would lead to. So far, this is the only guro game that has made me feel a connection to the characters in that way. I mean, most of the time, story and writing pulls you in, but the surreal and rather "silly" settings if you will, completely separates you from seeing the story as being anything close to reality. (Like Maggot Baits and Nikuniku. Both games are fantastic, but you don't feel like what you are reading is reality, which makes it easier to stomach the dark and gruesome situations.)
Of course, it's not like Tokage no Shippo Kiri makes you think it's based on a true story or anything, and 1 route in specific is rather... dumb to be completely honest. It feels like that route was just put there to please guro fans, and it serves little importance to the plot, but still retains some value so that you can't quite skip it either. That was honestly one of the reasons why this game didn't get a higher rating from me. Without that route, I'd be more inclined to go closer to the 10/10 than my current 8.4 rating of it. I like guro in nukige settings too, but I don't like having it crammed into a game that quite honestly felt like a very serious story. The guro in the other 2 routes is used in a way that makes sense to the plot, because of the mentality of the characters and such. Although the same point can be made for the route in question, I think it was purposely just stuffed in there to make the game appeal more to the guro crowd to draw them in. I won't mention which route this is, and I'll let you find that on your own if you are going to read the game.
This does bring me to the second part of the game I did not like too much, and that was the sheer amount of H-scenes. I never thought I'd be saying that about a game like this, but it's true. The game does put some H-scenes in situations where they honestly don't really need to be. Sometimes the scenes make perfect sense, as many situations in the game stirs up a mix of different emotions in the characters and that makes the scenes feel fitting. But at other times, they just really don't need to be there at all. This game isn't a full on nukige, though it's quite similar in certain traits, and Cyclet might have been trying to flip it a bit more in that direction than I want to admit. Still, the game's story is very good, and the amount of H-scenes hardly changes that fact.
A few last words about the game. It's told in three routes, though Kanau's route is the true one, and the other two take place assuming you have already read Kanau's route, (so if you are going to read this, read Kanau's route first.) All three of them tie into each other, and only by reading all three will you truly understand everything. If you only read one, you will be lacking key information to piece the entire puzzle together. There is one route which has less of a purpose than the other two, like I said, but you should still read all three if you want all the answers to the questions that might be swirling around in your head when you read this.
Tokage no Shippo Kiri is a very good psychological game, about a romance between people on the verge of breaking, and them facing the harsh truth of their own mortality. It's definitely not a game everyone will enjoy, but for the people who like darker games with a more bitter taste to them, this is a very good choice. If you can't stomach gore and such, it's not really advised to touch this game.
Shirogane no Soleil -Successor of Wyrd- <<Unmei no Keishousha>>
( "The soliel of silvery-white" - Successor of Wyrd << The Fated successor >> )
This is the first game in Skyfish's epic norse mythology series. I had never even heard of this game before Clephas made a blog post about it a little earlier this year, and that might be the case for many. Having finally played the game myself, I have to ask... how is this possible? Why is such a great game not more well known? This VN truly deserves more exposure than it currently has.
Introduction:
Shirogane starts off with our main character, Ryuuhei, and his sister Tamako on their way to a set of ancient ruins in Iceland. Ryuuhei is not an archaeologist like his sister, but was dragged along by her on the pretense of being her "bodyguard." Ironically, that is exactly what he ends up being. Ryuuhei's group gets pulled into an encounter with a strange creature called "Berserk", a monster made up by the broken soul of an ancient warrior, which fell in battle ages ago. Powerless against this incredibly dangerous foe, Ryuuhei prays for help, asking for power-- the power to protect the people he loves. His call is answered by a slumbering Valkyrie, Sol, who makes a contract with Ryuuhei. She will fight for him, in exhange for his life force. Every time she uses her powers, she drains some of Ryuuhei's life force out of his body, shortening his life. They fight off the Berserk together, but this is merely the beginning of their tale. This seemingly random encounter might not have been as random as they thought. One might even call it... fate.
Story
The story in Shirogane is fantastic. It's told in two parts, "Valkyrie in love", and "Successor of Wyrd." Some of the story takes place in the present, while certain other parts takes place in the past. Shirogane contains tons of refrences to norse mythology, though the descriptions of characters and events from norse mythology in the VN are not necessarily identical to the "real thing". Therefore, while familiarity with norse mythology helps with appreciating certain aspects of the game's story, it is not at all needed. What matters in terms of refrences are all explained well enough in game, and seeing as they usually put a unique spin on things, it is not at all needed to know everything there is to know about norse mythology before reading this. (That being said, knowing some of the general concepts about who is who, and what is what will certainly make it an even more enjoyable read.)
Although Shirogane is a very serious story, with tragic themes riddled all over it, just like normal stories from norse mythology, the game contains a good number of humoristic slice of life moments as well. That being said, all of these moments fits very well into the flow of the story. We are seeing things from Ryuuhei's point of view, as he deals with the fact that his own life span is constantly being drained because of his contract with his Valkyrie. As a result, you feel a little more attatched to these everyday moments, since they are seen through the eyes of someone who only has so much time left to enjoy them. In addition, the comedy is pure gold most of the time. The slice of life moments very rarely feels out of place, and never gets in the way of the story. The humor in the game had me literally laughing out loud so many times, I lost count.
Characters:
One of the biggest strengths of this game is without a doubt the characters. Each character feels unique and is well fleshed out. They all add something to the story in their own ways, and it's hard not to grow attatched to them, be it heroes, anti-heroes or straight up villains at times. The interactions between the characters truly pulls out all sorts of emotions from the reader, making the story feel like one hell of a roller coaster ride. (In a good way. Prepare your tickets to the feel train, folks.) While the "good guys" are all very well done, my favorite characters were honestly the villains / anti-heroes that are introduced throughout the game.
On top of making fantastic "villains", the "duos" in the game are brilliant. Essentially every single character is paired up with another in some way, and they all complement each other greatly. These "duos" were without a doubt one of the best parts about the game in my opinion. Be it heartbreaking moments or hilarious ones; nearly all the most impactful moments in the story stems from one of these duos' interactions.
Art, Music and Writing:
As shown in the screenshots above, the art is nicely detailed. Considering this game was released in 2007, the art is very impressive. The amount of special effects, cut-scenes and CGs is no joke either. Sadly, things aren't as good in the music department. The music is by no means bad, but it does feel a little bland at times. Certain tracks do work very well with the tone of the story, and are straight up beautiful to listen to, but others feel repetitive and aren't that impactful. So, my complaint with the music would be the inconsistent quality of the tracks. That being said, this is hardly a big issue, as the writing, art and story makes slightly repetitive music matter very little in the end.
Overall, I have very few complaints about this game. It was a fantastic read from beginning to end, and I strongly recommend reading it. I don't use the term kamige a lot, but this definitely qualifies in my personal opinion.
You can buy all the Soleil games on DMM. (NSFW LINK!!!)
2017 has been a pretty cool year in terms of VN releases. I'm not even close to Clephas' level of reading, so I have only scratched the surface of what was released this year, but I did still read what I think is a pretty decent chunk of VNs, and now that the year is coming to a close, I'd like to go through some those games and talk about which ones I liked the most etc. This blog post will only cover NEW releases in 2017. I might make a separate blog post about VNs that weren't released in 2017, but that I still read this year later on.
I started the year with Ryuu Kishi Bloody Saga, a cool fantasty game by Akabeisoft 3. The prequel to this game was a dark nukige-ish story, which didn't really impress me. But, Ryuu Kishi went into a completely different direction, and ended up being a really entertaining read. I wrote a blog post about Ryuu Kishi around the time I finished it, so I'll link that here if anyone wants to read it.
Summing up though, Ryuu Kishi is a good fantasty VN, with great action scenes, an interesting plot, and good romance. (With a functional harem aspect, which was interesting.) It's by no means a kamige, but it was definitely among the better games released this year in my opinion.
After this I played a few games, but none of them were anything special. Amanatsu Adolescence had some aspects I liked, but fell flat on its face with the heroine routes, which was disappointing.
The next game worth mentioning is Majo to Tsurugi to Sen no Tsuki. This was my first time playing one of Kai's Mahou Shoujo games, and the only reason I picked this one up was because Ban'ya had helped write it. (I love Ban'ya's stuff.)
The game honestly blew me away. I'm not saying it's a kamige or anything, (not by a long shot,) but considering that this is meant to be a nukige, it really went beyond my expectations. The story was legitimately interesting, the characters were great and the writing was satisfying. Reading this game made me interested in checking out the rest of the works in the series, which I'll get around to reading at some point. Hopefully they are similar in structure, as I took quite the liking to the way this game's structure. You basically have a nukige with a story, where making the right choices lets you skip most of the H-scenes, and move through the true route. But, if you make the wrong choice, you are thrown down "bad routes", filled with bad endings and H-scenes. So, depending on what mood you're in, you can choose what type of game you're playing, essentially. (There are of course still a decent number of H-scenes in the true route, but the bulk of them are in the bad routes.)
My review of this game can be found here, on Clephas' blog.
Now, next on the list is Chrono Box, and well, I'm just going to come out and say it right away: This game is amazing. It's without a doubt one of my favorite VNs of all time. Actually, it's tied for 1st place with the ChuSinGura series.
I went into the game without knowing much about the story, and I got sucked into the game right away, finishing the whole thing in about 4-5 days. (Considering it's a rather hard game to read in Japanese, that's pretty crazy fast for me.) The ratings on VNDB aren't the best, which is to be expected tbh. It's a hard game to read, and it's a denpa game where every single small detail matters. I'd imagine a chunk of VNDB votes comes from people who try reading JP games with machine translations, and well, that is not recommended for this game. In fact, there are many parts of the game that cannot be hooked, as they are either in image files in the game itself, or in voiced lines without any text. In addition, it's a game with some pretty dark content here and there, and I know some people just rate games badly because of that. (This is a story driven mystery/denpa game, and similar to SubaHibi, all the dark elements are there for a reason, driving the story forward.) I don't mean to come off as an elitist saying "EOP's opinions doesn't matter!" here, by the way. I do think the difficulty of the game, and the content in it might have caused a bit of a change in the votes from English readers, though. In comparison, the game is rated very highly on EGS, being #23 of the whole year so far, (and it also has a rather high amount of votes, in comparison to some games above it on the list, which just has a handful. Like, seriously, 2 of the games on the list only have 5-6 votes, kek.)
Overall, this is just a fantastic read. I strongly recommend it to anyone who can read it. It truly just blew my mind. If you ARE going to read it, do yourself a favor: Do NOT look up anything about it. No CGs, no story summaries, no nothing. Just go in blind, and enjoy the ride. Seriously, you have no idea what's in store for you.
Moving on from Chrono Box, we have Pure Song Garden, the first "normal" charage I played this year that I feel deserves a spot among the "better" releases I've read in 2017. This is Pulltop's newest "club-themed game", similar to Konosora and Miagete Goran, focusing on a future world where AI and VR has become an important part of our lives. It has fantastic romance, (in the true route at least; I have to admit, I skipped the other routes for the true route. It was all I wanted,) the story is surprisingly good, and the characters aren't just stereotypes, like they tend to be in similar games. Suzu and Iroha, the characters with the main focus in the true route, definitely makes the game worth it by themselves. The MC also isn't bad, though I do wish they added a bit more to his backstory. They introduced an interesting conflict with him, which just kind of resolved itself rather quickly, something that irked me a bit. But, definitely a solid game overall.
You can read more of my opinions on the game here, on Clephas' blog.
Finally we have Biman 4. This was my first Biman title, and I didn't really know what to expect of the game. And honestly, I was blown away by it. The writing was fantastic, and felt nearly poetic at times, even. The drama was well handled, and some of the scenes made me take a break from the game for a bit, as they made me feel so many different emotions. These scenes were so well done.
At the end of the day, the game is still a nukige, and I won't call it a kamige or anything, but man, this game is so much more than first meets the eye. Almost makes me sad that it's a nukige, as there could have been even more potential there had it been a little longer, and a little more story focused.
Either way, this is another truly good VN that I strongly recommend people read. Also, it's completely possible to read it without having read the other Biman games, just like I did.
You can read some more details about my opinion on the game here, on Clephas' blog.
Overall, this has been a great year with many solid releases. My backlog still has a good chunk of the games that came out this year, many of which might have made it on this list, if I had the time to read them. But, oh well. I'm still happy with the amount of VNs I got done this year, and look forward to seeing what 2018 has in store for us.
This is a tale of chips, bugs and DEATH.
Enjoy:
Last week I had the joy of seeing a cockroach in my bathroom. My reaction was obviously to scream, shut the bathroom door and flee into my bedroom, where I remained for 30 minutes, stunned by fear. After playing with the idea of never ever setting foot in my bathroom again, I thought to myself: "No! I have to man up and fight this thing!" Grabbing a plastic bag, I rushed into the bathroom, ready to trap the fucker and throw him in the garbage. But... he was gone. Now, there is absolutely nowhere he could have gone. My bathtub is stuck to the floor, so there is no crack to hide under, and I looked all over the tiny, tiny bathroom and he wasn't hiding on the ceiling, or in some corner. He was legit gone. This of course made chills run through my body, as I thought I had found a cockroach with superpowers. Scared to death, I went back to cowering in fear for another good 10 minutes, before I decided to just stop thinking about the fucker. I started brushing my teeth, getting ready for bed.
Then, as I spat into the sink, and the toothpaste ran down into the drain, I saw something rush past me. Turns out, the cockroach had fled into the pipes, then hooked onto the pipes and sat in there. (They can do this with their hind legs, apparently.)
The fucker was back, and he was almost touching me. Screaming, I ran out of the bathroom and grabbed whatever I could find that could be used to trap the fucker with. And there was... an empty pringles tube.
I ripped the lid of the thing and slammed it onto the cockroach, trapping him inside the tube. Luckily, the roach was just perfectly sized to fit within the dimensions of a pringles tube, so no part of him was sticking out. I had him completely trapped. Rushing back into the bedroom, I grabbed another plastic bag and some duct tape. I then tried to push the roach into the plastic bag, but he almost escaped as I tilted the tube, so I had to improvise. Pushing the plastic bag against the tube, I stopped the roachs' escape, and shoved him further into the pitch black abyss. Once the whole bag was inside the tube, I taped it shut with duct tape, and threw that into another plastic bag.
After a short victory dance, I brought the bag containing the defeated roach outside, and threw it into the garbage.
Derg 1 Roach 0
- Fin -
Hey folks! So, for those of you who don't know, I am currently studying abroad in Japan, and will be here for the next 5 months. It's something I have been looking forward to for a while, though moving to a foreign country, especially one as different as Japan, is quite a tough transition. I'll be writing some stuff about my trip here in my blog now and then, talking about how things are going, what I have been up to and stuff like that. Today I'll be writing a bit about the first few weeks here, and the things that has been tough to deal with for me.
(I have currently lived in Japan for about 2 weeks)
So, I have heard people talk about "culture shock" when coming to a country like Japan. I figured I wouldn't really experience that, because I knew so much about the culture beforehand. Well, I was wrong. That didn't help.
Japan is... different. I mean, I love it here, but man... everything is so different from what I'm used to, it has gotten to me for sure.
People here honestly look like robots to me. In Japan it isn't really normal to speak much in public at all. You are meant to be quiet to respect those around you. They also stand in nearly flawless lines on the subway/ train platforms, at restaurants, stores and so on. They stay at work and school until late at night, and you mostly see students studying, even at lunch time. They are incredibly diligent, almost to a scary degree tbh. Everyone picks up their own trash, and you won't find a single shred of garbage lying around anywhere. There is no noise like loud music or anything of the sort anywhere, (except for actual clubs and stuff like that, of course.) The buses and trains runs like clockwork, leaving and arriving exactly when they are supposed to, and the trains are filled with people sleeping, worn-out from long days at work/ school/ club practice.
It's like this country is literally run by robot overlords or something.
Honestly, it's a bit overwhelming. There are so many things you need to keep in mind. Don't do this, don't do that, make sure you remember this, never forget that, bla bla. From where to stand in an escalator to your body language when speaking to people, what forms to use when speaking to others in different social standings... My head hurts from trying to remember half of it.
Another thing that really hit me hard is the food. I love Japanese food, but eating it 4 times a day 7 days a week has taken a toll on me. I honestly just can't get the food down even if it tastes good, especially in the mornings. So, I have started looking for western styled restaurants and shops, and found a few, luckily. It's strange, but there is a certain... joint taste to all food in Japan. It's hard to explain it, but there is just a certain "something" to all of it. Without mixing a bit of western food here and there, I just don't have an appetite. It has been surprisingly difficult to adjust my body to eating Japanese food all the time. It will probably be a few more weeks, possibly even a month + before I get completely used to the food here. Until then I'll make some pretty frequent stops at western restaurants, to stop myself from starving, lol.
Ugh, and the climate. Holy crap, the humidity... please help, lol. The humidity here is constantly around 85-90%+, and with heat around 30 degrees C, it literally feels like you are walking around in an oven 24/7. You can't move an inch without getting sweaty. Go home and shower, then walk around outside for a mintue and you are already completely soaked. Not just sweaty, actually like, wet all over. You skin feels clammy from just being outside for a second.
And the bugs. They are some weird mutated monsters summoned from hell. Like, holy crap. Some of the wasps/ bees here are bigger than my finger, and the Cicadas and other bugs of that size look like they could literally eat me. There is also one huge ass spider living outside our apartments, and I am personally convinced he will some day grow large enough to take over Japan and rule as the new emperor. Luckily winter should be coming soon-ish, (heh,) so they should all die soon. As someone who is completely terrified of bugs, and who can't take too hot temperatures, I cannot wait for the winter. Please winter-san, just get here already!
Lastly, the university schedule really did a number on me. Today we were at school from 10:00 AM to 19:00 PM. In addition, each period is 90 minutes long, without breaks, and the classrooms are either way too hot or air conditioned too much, making them freezing. We will also have classes on saturdays, apparently. The club recruitment day is on Friday, and a lot of people are super excited about joining clubs, but all I can personally think about is: How on earth are you going to balance all this school work, and several hours of club practice each week? I'd die, lol. So yeah, I'll skip on the clubs, personally. They do have a few really fun looking clubs here though, like the TCG club, the cosplay club, the boardgame club, the English conversation club and so on.
The school festival is in a couple months. That will be awesome. Can't wait for that.
Anyways, this update has just been mostly about the stuff that overwhelmed me during my first 2 weeks here. I am getting used to them little by little, and there is of course tons and tons of good stuff that outweighs the bad. The next blog post I write will be much more positive
I finished this game the other day, and decided to write up a short blog post on it.
Ryuukishi Bloody † Saga is the "sequel" to Akabei Soft3's Ryakudatsusha no Inen, (though the only relevant connection is the main character, and it pretty much works as a standalone game tbh.) The game completely breaks away from the dark nukige-like feel the first game had, and shifts the genre completely into something rather light hearted. (Though it has some rather gore filled fight scenes here and there.) The art even changes completely, making it feel like a totally different game.
I made a post about the prequel a bit back, and the things I felt that game did wrong was handled very well in the sequel, making it blow my expectations away. For those interested in this game who don't like overly dark themed stories and therefore want to stay clear of the prequel, you should be fine playing the sequel only as long as you read a general summary of the first game. (There is a couple of smaller refrences to the first game in the sequel, though nothing major.)
For those interested, I wrote up a summary of the first game here. It doesn't cover absolutely everything, but it gives you the info you need to read the second game.
Bloody Saga starts off with Roy walking through the forest without a care in the world, headed for a city called Veludylun. However, on his way there he notices dark smoke rising from within the city walls, and he is stopped by a group of knights protecting the entrance. The city is in a state of emergency, as a massive dragon is attacking. This is apperantly not the first time this has happened, and as mortal weapons cannot harm the dragon because of its tough scales, the best the knights within the city can do is distract the dragon long enough until it leaves.
Seeing the people of the city in dire need of help, Roy volunteers to help out with taking care of the wounded, as well as rebuilding the parts of the city destroyed by the ruthless dragon's attack. Keeping his dark past locked away deep within his mind, Roy starts a new life in Veludylun. He befriends four female knights, (who were originally selected by the king as "guards" to keep an eye on the outsider,) and together with them he spends his days helping out rebuild the city, uncertain when the dragon will attack next.
The story of the game is nice, although it takes a bit of time for it to pick up. The slice of life moments are more than welcome though, as they don't feel boring at all. (At least not to me.) The heroines are great, and Roy is a fantastic main character. The villains are also well made, and the fight scenes are for sure one of the best aspects of the game.
I haven't read too many serious harem stories so I don't have many games to compare it to, but this one pulls it off very well. All the heroines gets enough screen time, they all have their own reasons for liking the MC and the harem doesn't feel forced. (My only complaint is the high amount of H-scenes... they really didn't need that many. 2-3 for each heroine would be fine, but instead there is like, 6 per heroine which is just a bit too much.)
Bloody Saga is an entertaining fantasy VN with good writing, epic action scenes and a decent amount of slice of life moments with the heroines. There is a good amount of focus on the romance between the MC and the knights, but enough weight is still put on the core story so that it doesn't become your standard charage love story. The setting and time period in which the story takes place is also a nice break from your standard VNs, and the voiced protagonist + the stunning art just makes the experience more enjoyable. Although the game has its darker moments, they fit into the story very well, and aren't sexualized pointlessly like in the first game. Overall this VN is a very enjoyable read, and I strongly recommend checking it out.
So, the past week I have been reading ChuSinGura 46+1, and surprised myself by blowing through 仮名手本忠臣蔵編 (basically, chapter 1,) in under a week. Between the length of the game, as well as the difficult samurai speech patterns and complicated edo-period political schemes, it certainly is the most challenging VN I have read in Japanese as of yet. Anywanys, as the game is so bloody long, and the chapters can somewhat be considered self contained, I just wanted to write something about my impressions and thoughts of chapter 1.
It has been a long time since I was this into the VN I'm reading, be it translated or not translated. I think the last time was when I read Nurse Love Addiction when that came out, as the mystery element in that game really took me by surprise, and I read it all in a couple of days. That's months ago though, so finally finding a game again which really just hooked me from the beginning, and kept me hyped all the way to the end was a great feeling. ChuSinGura's combination of silly humor and dead serious plot was a breath of fresh air. It goes to show that a game doesn't have to take itself too seriously to be really good. It honestly felt very similar to Majikoi on that front. (Also, the colored text, the character movement during combat scenes and what not. The game is quite honestly very similar in style to Majikoi.)
So, the first thing I have to say about this game is that it is just stunning. The art is really pretty, the specific colored text for each character gives them all a unique feel, and the sprites having sooo many different poses and expressions really makes their personalites feel so much more real and alive.
(They even literally have specific sprites just to hold food and drinks they are eating/ drinking in that scene... such details in the sprites alone isn't that common in most VNs I have read, at least.)
The large amount of not just CGs, but event backgrounds took me by surprise as well. Many times I was certain I was looking at a CG, only to find out it was a specific background made for that scene.
Honestly, the story was just fantastic. Some people might argue that the silly and goofy jokes and what not ruins the seriousness of it, but I strongly disagree. Sure, the game has a lot of not-so serious moments, but they do not at all remove any of the emotions behind the actual story. I'll admit, I did cry several times through this story, and probably will in the following chapters, too.
(A few CGs and scenes I loved. Spoilers inside the spoiler tags, duh. Mainly just CGs, but a bit of my opinions about what happened and what not inside.)
Another thing I absolutely loved about this game is the antagonists. Well, not the actual morons plotting the evil plan behind the scenes, but the antagonists who the samurai actually fight... Specifically, Shimizu Ichigaku, who has to be one of the most badass characters I have seen, ever. (I'm also really looking forward to seeing Yamayoshi Shinpachirou in the game, as she uses a nodachi, and that is basically my favorite type of weapon, ever.)
Anyways, now, for some badass stuff from Shimizu Ichigaku: (Once again, some spoilers in the spoiler tags:)
Finally, I have to say, Suguha is a great main character. He is definitely one of my favorite protagonists in any VN. Although he is powerful, he isn't the super stronk dude who just wrecks everything in his path, like some protagonists are. He is very devoted to his master, but still has a certain amount of doubt and fear, especially surrounding his own life, and won't hesitate to speak up if he feels something needs to be said. It really comes off clearly that, despite him being put into this surreal setting of the 47 ronin avenging their lord, he isn't truly a warrior from that time period. He isn't fearless and he is definitely flawed. But his sense of justice and devotion to his master is still very admirable. He is also really funny, and the mix of a modern guy from the 21st century in the Edo-period really makes the whole game so much more funny. Overall I just loved his character.
On that note, the romance between him and Kuranosuke was really great. I thought the romance was going to be a bit pushed to the side in this game, but it was handled perfectly.
I could write about this chapter alone for hours and hours, but I'll probably come back and write more about the game once I finish the rest of the chapters, so I'll leave it here for now.
This has quite honestly already jumped up to the spot of one of my favorite VNs of all time. If the next chapters are as good as the first one, this might just take the #1 spot for me tbh.
Anyways, that's it for now. Time to get back to reading!
I have been wanting to write something about this VN since the second I finished it, but never actually got aroud to it. Now with the TL announced, I figured I might as well write something. Might be a good thing to note that I absolutely adore this game, and it is probably my favorite VN of all time, so I'm a bit biased, just saying.
So, first, an introduction. Kimi e okuru, sora no hana is a nakige made by Cabbit. The game is about ghosts, people who can see them, and their attempt at a life together in a special school that trains its students to handle their powers. The main character, Shuuya, has been able to see ghosts since he was a child, and he has always wondered why. When the mysterious ghost Matsuri approaches him with the offer of a school that can teach him about his powers, he just couldn't say no. As he gets to the school he meets many others with similar powers, and they all seem equally eager to learn what their powers are. But, there is a slight twist. People with these powers are not the only students in the academy. About a third of the student body is also made up by ghosts. Now, this is a big deal, because, well, they are ghosts. Dead people with psychic abilities isn't exactly your ideal classmate. Naturally this causes some disturbance in the classes, but the presence of the ghosts is an absolute condition for the school to operate, and everyone has to handle it if they are going to attend the academy. (Even the headmaster is a ghost, and boy is she an... interesting woman, lol.)
The game is a nakige like I said, but it also has some other elements as well. The entire game isn't constantly story driven, and so people who hate "generic school settings" might be slightly annoyed at certain points in the game, even though these "plotless" moments aren't a dominating factor. Because of the way the game is structured, even normal days at school might suddenly turn into something dramatic, because of the relationship between the humans and the ghosts, as well as the ever present danger of a ghost going berserk. Still, there is definitely a decent amount of slice of life moments in this game, though I found them very enjoyable because of the rather unique take on the setting. Despite the fact that we have a "generic school setting", half of the students in the class being ghosts makes for a different experience. First of, it opens up for new types of humor, (people can't see ghosts, so if you walk alone with one, people think you are jut talking to yourself, for instane,) more drama (there is a lot of tension between everyone because of the ghosts), not to mention that the romance itself in this VN is very unique, as the ghosts can't actually touch anything solid. (I mean, they are ghosts.) So this opens up for a very fresh and interesting take on these overused elements. In addition, the game itself is 10-30 hours long, and with 5 heroine routes with at least 2 endings each as well as a common route, this means the routes aren't too long, so the "boring slice of life" moments in between the story is rather minimal in comparison to other, longer games. Still, despite all of that, you will have to suck it up and get through some slice of life if you want to play this game.
The game has 3 human heroines and 2 ghost heroines, as well as a few other short, special routes that you can unlock upon completing certain endings. The human routes are more similar to what you usually find in general nakige/ charage, and An's route is probably a bit more similar to a moege route at times, but all three human routes still use the ghosts as a part of their main story. The ghost routes, however, are very different from the standard stuff, and on top of that, the two ghost routes are very different from each other, making them both feel quite unique. Also, I have to point out that Matsuri is the "main heroine" in this game, and so she has 3 endings instead of the standard 2, and is a lot more in focus during the common route. Some people might not like "main heroines". I personally really liked Matsuri, but personally would have liked a bit more focus on some of the other routes, like Sekka's and Hinagiku's. Still, Matsuri is a really great heroine.
When I first played the game, I started with the Sekka route, and it just blew my mind. Mainly because Sekka was a character I honestly had no real expectation of at all. She just looked like a normal, cute and shy character who had nothing else to her. But once her route started, I couldn't stop reading.
Each ghost has a reason for... well, being dead. Something ended up killing them at some point in their life, though what this is varies. (duh.) In Sekka's case, whatever it was caused her to become extremely shy around other people, and she is so insecure she can barely even speak to others. She spends most of her time on the roof of the school, staring into the sky.
Shuuya is the only person in the school who actually ended up approaching her despite of her insecurity. He kept talking to her, which made Sekka open up a lot more, but at the same time, this created more insecurity. It's hard for Sekka to understand normal, human relationships, and she doesn't really get what friendship means in general. On top of that, a ghost's mental condition is directly linked to how well they can control their powers, which means Sekka is already in a bit of a shaky spot as it is. This route's entire structure was very unique and interesting.
Sekka's route is probably one of the most dramatic, and in my opinion it's one of the best, though it is a bit on the shorter side, sadly. Reading both her endings in succession is strongly recommended, and starting with the bad ending is the most ideal for sure. The reason for this is that the structure of her route is a bit different from what you tend to see in most games, with the order of how things happen turned a little on its head. In addition, Sekka's bad ending is longer than her true ending, and it also contains important information that will make the true ending even more impactful.
The difference between the human and the ghost heroines in the game might look slightly strange to some people. Why use both? Why not just one? On one side, you have nakige elements and drama, and on the other side you have standard charage material? Why?
Well, this game does a very good job of keeping the two connected. It's not two completely alien entities that exist totally independent of one another. For exmaple, An's route is the cutest and most slice of life driven route in the game, but even this route deals heavily with Shuuya's powers and his attendance at the school, as well as his past and the origin of his powers.
...
... But really though, most people should just want to play An's route because of how freaking adorable she is. I mean... come on.
Anyways, moving on. The other two human heroines, Kana and Hinagiku have more dramatic routes compared to An, but they are still quite different from the ghost routes. I found Hinagiku's route the most entertaining of the three, mainly because of her character. (Like, because she was a very interesting heroine, not just because she is so pretty! Well, she is incredibly pretty though. I mean... look.)
(The art really is nice in this game.)
I could rant on for hours and hours about the game, but I think I got the most important stuff out of the way. This is a very solid VN, with great characters, an interesting plot and some seriously tear-jerking moments. If you like nakige, you'll like this one.
For the people who can't read Japanese, you should definitely keep your eye on the TL project. (You can show them some love by joining their discord, checking out their website or even offering to help out with the project. All the info you need, as well as the links to their website and discord etc, is here on this link.)
That's about it, hopefully my bias didn't rub off too strongly in the post. (But hey, even if it did, it's my blog so who cares )
Time for another blog entry, and today I'll be talking about the dungeon crawler, Ikazuchi no Senshi Raidy. This is the first installment in ZyX's dungeon crawler series featuring Raidy, a very popular game series.
For those of you who aren't familiar with dungen crawler games, they are gameplay like titles featuring a dungeon that you as the player need to navigate through. Depending on the game, there might be random enemy encounters, bosses as you climb floors, secret passages, traps, loot and more. The actual gameplay is most of the time simply using the direction buttons to move your character forwards, sideways and backwards as you progress through the dungeon, as well as mouse clicks to fight possible bosses and enemies you encounter. In Raidy 1, you play as "the lightning warrior" Raidy, who heads into a tower controlled by a demon in order to save the nearby village from his evil. The tower has several floors, every one of which contains a mini boss, and your job is to move through each floor, kill the boss and climb to the next floor until you reach the demon himself, so that you can kill him and put a stop to his plans.
As you move through the dungeons, you will encounter random enemies, who will increase in strength for every floor. These random encounters award EXP, which will be cruicial for for your survival in the dungeon. (This game is seriously challenging, and if you are even just a tiny bit underleveled, you WILL die, which will result in a game over. Therefore, you often have to spend quite a bit of time on each floor after defeating the boss, just grinding a few levels so that you won't die instantly on the next floor. A bit more on the difficulty later on.)
The game actually came out in 1994, though the current version available on JAST's homepage has updated craphics compared to the original release. The current art is actually very pretty, which was a big plus for me as I played it, since I was expecting something much, much worse.
A random encounter in the dungeon
That being said, the audio in the game is quite bad. The quality isn't top notch, but the worst part is the absolutely cringe voice acting by Raidy... It's actually quite comical. She is extremely emotionless when she speaks, even in crazy situations, (like her being raped by a crazy werewolf... yes, this happens, lol.) I don't know for sure, but it seems to me like the voice acting is the original from the 1994 release, as that would explain the rather lacking quality compared to the new art. Still, this is just a tiny little detail, and it didn't bother me much at all.
Like I mentioned before, your goal is to defeat all the floor bosses in order to climb up to the top of the tower and kill the demon, but this is not a simple feat. Each floor introduces new traps and labyrinths which are seriously difficult to figure out without a guide. I personally played the whole game without a guide, something that took a long time considering the actual length of the game. I spent a long time grinding for exp, walking in circles through the mazes and getting stuck at certain traps, (like the freaking evil 180 turn pad, which turns your character 180 degrees without you noticing, making you walk in circles forever unless you figure out the trap, or turn around by chance.) Traps can feature many different things, like chests rigged with poison gas, invisible walls, turn pads and so on.
As you advance through the dungeon, you will be completely blind, and you have to memorize where you came from until you manage to find the floor map, which usually lies hidden quite far into the dungeon. The map will let you see an overview of the current floor, and it's a huuuuge help when navigating, though finding the damn things can be a pain. You do have a compass, which is very helpful, as you can use it to somewhat get a grasp on where you are at all times.
You will eventually discover certain rooms and points of interest, wchich will give you screens like these. You will have to click each option several times in order for figure out all the information you need, (so if you are talking to a prisoner in a jail cell, you might need to select one option up to 5-6 times in order to get the correct info out of them.) This is very important to remember, because every mini boss will be invincible until you have learned their weakness. This means, if you rush into the boss room, you have absolutely no chance of winning, and you will get a bad end, and a bad end rape scene. (If you want to 100% the game, you do have to get these, so saving before entering the boss room, just to unlock the scene is recommended, so you don't have to go back to get these again later on.) Also, on that note, there is 1 secret ending in this game, which you can only get if you 1) collect all the information on a boss, save, then try to fight them but lose, get the rape scene and then reload the save, then defeat them. (An instant defeat becuase you didn't know their weakness won't count.) I'm mentioning this because actually going through the whole game again just to do this will take hours, and it's quite a grind just for 1 new scene, just keep that in mind if you plan on playing this game. - Get info, save, fight and lose, then win, repeat for every boss.
Now that we mentioned that, it's important to point out, rape is a core part of this game. (The mini bosses are capturing villagers and rape them, when you lose to a boss you get a rape scene, and when you defeat a boss you... rape them... yup...) So yeah, do not expect any vanilla H in this game, because you won't find any of it. Oh, and... 95% of the game is yuri. (Yay!)
Earlier I talked a bit about the difficulty in this game. Traps, mazes, strong bosses and all that makes for a really crazy combo. Honestly, the difficulty in this game might be a bit too high for certain people. I personally love a challenge like this, and had a blast playing through the game, trying to figure out how to beat the next floor, and the 2-10 hour game felt like a much longer one, because of the amount of time I spent in game. The thing is, the actual scenes and VN elements are rather short, and you will be spending most of your time in the gameplay, defeating enemies and searching for loot and clues. Therefore, it is important that you find these elements in the game entertaining, or else this will be a real chore to get through.
The combat system in the game is very simple. You can preform a normal attack, block, flee or cast a magic attack which consumes your mana. Your normal attacks deal less damage than the magical attacks, but are more consistent. Both you and your enemies can land critical hits, which will do loads more damage than normal, so it's important to keep your health up with healing potions.
The block feature is mainly there so that you can lose on purpose if you want, (all you do in that situation is walk into a boss room, spam the block button until you die, so that you don't risk killing the boss.) The magical attack does more damage the more mana you have, and becomes rather unreliable as fights drags on, but can be cruicial when it comes to weakening bosses, as the first 2-3 hits can be quite strong. One thing I have to mention here is... save... A LOT! Save all the time. If you die to a boss, it's game over, and you have to start all over, or from a save point. If you forgot to save and went on playing for a while, getting back that progress can take ages, and it can really make you ragequit.
I think that about covers everything that needs to be said about Raidy 1. It's a very enjoyable game, especially considering it's age and limited length. The art is really pretty, the gameplay is fun and challenging and the characters are all pretty cool, (though again, Raidy's voice actress is literal cringe.) You can buy the game and 2 of the sequels over at JAST, (here.)
Hey, it has been a while since I wrote a blog entry. I did make one not too long ago, when the Maggot Baits TL got announced, but thanks to the forum rollback, that got purged. (Thanks a lot Nosebleed. Yeah, we know it was you!!!)
Anyways, in this blog entry I'll be talking about the guro game that got released by Bug System about 3 weeks ago, Shi ni Iku Kimi, Yakata ni Mebuku Zouo. I picked this up after @Kawasumi told me about it and asked if I wanted to read it with him, (thanks for that by the way, love you <3), and I was completely hooked after just a few minutes in the game. Now, I know guro isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I just really wanted to write something about this game, so here we are.
The game has a very simple but effective plot and story, though it was a lot longer then I was expecting. (The 2-10 hour marking on VNDB is right on the edge; the game is a hell of a lot closer to 10 than 2. Depending on your reading speed, it could definitely feel like a medium game.)
At first glance, I thought this was a mere guro nukige, but that was not the case at all.
A few small details before we start: The game is NOT translated, at least not at the moment. The difficulty of the game is honestly not very high. I'd say beginners can give this a go without running into many issues. You'll find some words you aren't familiar with unless you read a lot of guro, but it's not very hard to understand it if you use a text hooker and parser. Honestly, if you really want to try out the game, you might actually be fine with a machine translation. Test it out and see for yourself. Main point is, the game isn't very difficult to read.
Let's get into the story:
It happened without any warning.
In a world that was peaceful, superior beings suddenly appeared.
They one-sidedly massacred humans, and the world was swallowed by a whirlpool of chaos.
While our heroine Mia was shopping with her family, she also fell victim.
With her father, mother, and older sister dead, she desperately tried to escape, but before she could a different superior man appeared before her.
Falling into desperation and prepared to die, Mia took up a knife and stabbed the man.
The next second, she lost consciousness.
Not knowing what had happened to her, she felt a great pain on her stomach.
"You hurt my body, now I can't allow you to die easily. Your sin... deserves ten thousand deaths..."
Pulled from the VNDB description. Basically, Mia stabs a "superior-man" (that is literally what they are called in the game,) and he swears she will die ten thousand times as punishment for her grave sin.
Some more information on these "superior beings", they look like humans, but are seemingly immortal, can use magic, feed on humans and the lot of them are just a gang of messed up bastards.
Mia wakes up in a mansion, and soon finds out that this mansion has been taken over by the superior-man she stabbed. He explains the "rules of the mansion" to her in a completely calm and collected tone of voice. (Then crushes her arm to bits after the explenation. What a nice guy!)
To sum it up, Mia can do whatever she wants inside the mansion and no one will try to stop her, (she can even try to escape if she wants, but it will be futile, as a barrier has been put up around the house, and the only way to turn off the barrier is to kill the man.) Mia's room is "magic", and it will heal any injury, no matter how serious it is. Basically, even if Mia is dead, as long as a part of her corpse is brought up into her room, it will heal over time and bring her back. The reason this room exists is simple: the man will do horrible things to Mia whenever he feels like it, torturing and killing her, and the only way to stop the loop of her being murdered then resurrected is to kill the man with her own hands. Now the game begins; Mia has to look for a way to kill the Superior-Man in order to stop the loop. Also, one small detail that is important to add in is that whenever Mia dies, her memories get all messed up. (The ressurection magic isn't perfect.) This means that you as a reader will be confused as hell a LOT of the game, because you see things from Mia's point of view, and many times she will wake up having forgotten lots of things while the game kept on going, which means you won't get what the fuck is going on at first. (This is a good thing though, as the confusion adds to the suspense in the game when Mia walks around trying to figure out what is going on and how she can save herself and the others trapped in the mansion. Of course, all the confusion is cleared up in the end, so if you stick with it, you'll get all the answers you want.) Sadly, it did also make the game repeat itself a lot, which wasn't a deal-breaker, but it did get a bit boring after a while. "Mia wakes up, wonders where she is, puts on clothes, walks out into the hallway, goes down to the dining hall." Rinse and repeat.
The art, music, CGs and backgrounds used in the game are all freaking stellar. It's very high quality stuff. The music is great, and adds to the feeling you have of being trapped in a mansion with a psycopath walking around. It's such a simple horror setup, but it's pulled off so well in the game. The art is quite hilarious actually, because it has a strong moe feel to it. (But, this game is not a moege, obviously )
Here is a CG from the game, so you can see the amazing moe art in all its glory:
And to get a taste of the dark elements, and the great music in the game, here is the game's opening. (The censored youtube version.)
Anyways, like I mentioned in passing earlier, there will be other people in the mansion as well. These people are humans the Superior-Man caprutres for food, and some of them he chooses to use for toys, kind of like Mia. During the game, you get several choices that will let you choose Mia's and the other girls' fate in the mansion. Make a wrong turn, and ... well, you'll figure that out on your own if you choose to play the game
Some of the other characters will try to help Mia plot out a plan to kill the Superior-Man, and you will be able to decide how you proceed with the plan and so on. Some of the choices will "reward" you with unique CGs and scenes that you cannot get otherwise, making for some decent replay value. The game also has a large amount of endings, (I believe it has around 7 or 8,) so you can keep getting different outcomes depending on your choices.
All in all, the game is freaking awesome for those who likes dark horror games. Of course, the game focuses heavily on H-content, and several of the scenes contain some fairly "spicy" fetishes, so it's not a game everyone will enjoy, but like I said before, this is not a pure nukige. There is a clear story and the game has a purpose. Everything that happens in the game adds to the story in some way, and as you continue to progress through it, you'll be dying to figure out what happens next.
That's about it, (this might have turned out a bit messy, sorry for that. Just really wanted to write something about this game real quick.) I'll be trying to get out more blog posts in the future, as I have been way too inactive with my blog after I finished The Last GM Standing.
Anyways, thanks for reading! Go play the game!
I just wrapped up the translation of Futaba's good ending last night, (fought through some H-scenes... ) And here we are!
So with this, we are officially halfway there. It's a pretty good feeling. Although the actual line count hasn't changed that much since last week, just seeing the "50%" makes me feel awesome
I wanted to do something a bit special for the halfway mark, so I'm going to talk a bit about the game first, then I'll be answering some random questions some people might have/ just in general talk a bit about the project and how things are progressing on our end. Let's begin with some info about the game:
Many people might not really know that much about this small, fairly new yurige by a fairly unknown company. In Tsui Yuri, you follow the twin sisters Futaba and Ichika, who get along very well. So well in fact, that their mother thinks it is a bit too much, and she asks them to spend some time apart. Seeing as they live in the same house, go to the same school and pretty much always do everything together, this is a bit hard, and their relationship is strained. The story is told from both girls' perspectives, and there is 2 routes, with 4 endings total.
During the common route, you will make several choices that will impact the story and the girls' relationship. The "status" meter in game will show you how strongly each character cares for the other at any given time, and each choice will change this meter to a varying degree. One choice might bump Ichika's feelings a lot, where as some might make her care less and less for Futaba, and so on.
Currently not translated, as the image editing is not done by me. It is in the works, but not done yet.
What really interested me about this game was the choice and route system. There is no real set combination of choices that will lead to a route; you can freely play with the status meter, making different choices to see how it changes their feelings. To get a character's route, that character's feelings has to be stronger than the other one. (Meaning if Futaba has about 60% and Ichika has 40%, you enter Futaba's route.) But, if you manage to completely push it all the way to one side, (so now Ichika doesn't care about Futaba at all,) then you will get a bad ending. Meaning, which ending you get is decided by your choices in the common route, and not during the actual character route itself. This is really cool, because that means you actually get a "bad route" and not just a bad ending. (The line count in the bad routes are actually just a tiny bit shorter than the good ones. If you like bad endings with a bit of meat to them, these are actually pretty good. Also, yandere fans, look out.)
In addition, some of the choices you make in the common route will give you different variations of each scene, some which includes unique CGs, so saving and testing out new stuff is actually pretty much required. (Though, seeing as the game is quite short, it's a neat feature, not something that makes you sigh because you have read something similar before.)
Story wise, it is a very light game with no real "plot" other than two sisters growing more and more fond of each other. It deals with them moving from the line of "sisters" to "lovers" and things like that. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but for yuri fans it's a really solid title. Also, like I mentioned, the bad endings are actually pretty dark, so for the twisted fellas out there, this one might be a bit interesting for you if you can stomach some adorableness first.
Let us take a quick look at the characters:
Ichika
Ichika is the smart, cool and collected sister. She speaks politely, has a very calm air to her, is a perfect honor student and is also the vice-president on the student council. She is a bit too soft on Futaba, always helping her out with anything Futaba needs. Although she is very smart, she isn't the brightest when it comes to relationships in general - she simply isn't that used to interacting with people.
Futaba (God I love her pout.)
Futaba is the energy bomb of the two. She loves Ichika more than anything in the world, and always follows her sister around. She is way too spoiled, and doesn't do much on her own; she wants her sister to help her out with it. She isn't the smartest kid around, but she is very good at sports, and is a member of the tennis club. She is also way too adorable.
Yuri
The sisters' childhood friend and Ichika's classmate. Yuri is a bit of a joker who tends to put ideas in the girls' heads. She speaks her mind, even if what she has to say isn't the most appropriate, which makes for some hilarious situations.
But although she tends to joke around a lot, she has a bit of an adult-like feel to her and is a very mature person when she needs to be.
Saki
The sisters' second childhood friend and Futaba's classmate. She is a bit different from Yuri, and is a lot more polite and in many ways, similar to Ichika. Saki is a very gentle and sweet person, and wants to help the sisters out whenever they are feeling down. One big difference between Ichika and Saki is that Saki gets what people are thinking a lot easier, making her a bit less of an "airhead" when it comes to relationships and people's feelings.
Moving over to some questions and answers.
Question... (kind of): When I started the project, I felt that there was a few people who weren't quite sure whether or not I could do this. I think the quality of the final translation was their main concern. Basically, am I a complete scrub, or do I actually have some skills?
Answer: Well, a few things to keep in mind. 1, this game is very fluffy and very simple. It is also quite short. That does not mean it's something to underestimate of course, but I would never have started the project if I wasn't ready. There is a reason I aimed for a short, fluffy title without any intricate plot lines that would be hard to follow for a new translator.
In addition, the second I felt a bit overwhelmed, I stopped the project for a bit, as I knew that wasn't the way things should be. I am completely comfortable with this project now, and although I know my translation will not be a top tier piece of work, I can assure you at the very least, it won't be wrong. Like, I won't translate peppers to peas. (Isn't that right Kriririri )
Anyways, I know I am new to this, I know I will make some tiny mistakes here and there, I know the quality will be a bit lower than what some of the very skilled individuals out there manages, but overall I am happy with the way things are going. I'm learning a lot, I'm improving, and this is just the beginning of my translation career. (Even if that makes some people more angry than happy )
Question: Will there be a prologue patch/ partial patch released?
Answer: We still have a few issues with the engine, (which is stupid and retarded,) so a potential patch now would have a few annoying bugs and errors which would just be distracting. The scripts also aren't really polished quite yet, as it's only been me and an editor working on it as of right now so... I'm going to say, no. It just wouldn't be a pleasant read in its current state, and seeing as the game is so short, it's pretty much pointless either way.
Question: Do you have an ETA for the patch?
Answer: It's hard to say. I could give you a rough estimate, but I would rather not. The thing is, the amount of time I have to work on this is a bit limited. I absolutely love working on it, and I have a blast the entire time I do, (except for when the damn H-scenes suck the life out of me.)
The thing is, this is my first translation. I have never translated anything before, and the work is very tasking. Sounds silly, I mean, all I do is look at something in Japanese, then write it in English, right? Well, there is a lot more to it, and honestly, it's very mentally draining. Even just a simple one hour session can leave me exhausted. Not because I get bored, but simply because I have to think a lot, and I'm not used to that. Wait...
Because of the fairly limited amount of time I have each week, there is only so much I can get done on a weekly basis without overworking myself. This is a very new thing to me, and I want to make sure I move forward at a comfortable pace. Seeing as I have no deadline or anything, I can take it exactly at the pace I personally feel is right, even though that might be a bit frustrating to others.
Basically, I can say that it will be released in 2016 for sure, but I can't say anything more specific than that.
A bit of progress on how things are going on our end.
The translation and editing is going fine, and is moving around the same speed. The reason the editing is lagging a tiny bit behind me right now, is because the translation I work on every week isn't made available on the GIT for the editor until I upload it on Thursday nights. That means he literally has to edit it all during that night to get it ready for the Friday update, which ... well, if he was doing that I'd be a bit worried.
We have met a few problems in the game which the hacker has to take a look at. This is something I can't do anything about, as I barely know what a computer is, so without Porygon on this project, this whole thing would not have been possible. (Thank you so much.)
Image editing will be done so that the entire menu and UI is in English. There is no ETA on this, and all I can say is that it will be done at some point. An individual approached me without me asking for their help, which made me extremely happy. As of right now, I don't know if they want to be mentioned or not, so I'll wait until I know that for sure before I talk about that any more. Point is, it will be done at some point.
To finish up this post, I'll just put out there that we are working hard and that the patch will be finished. I know a decent amount of new teams tend to suddenly just die out and vanish. That will not be the case with this project. Like I said before, I'm having a blast translating this. Although it might not seem like I'm getting a lot done, it's simply because I'm making sure I don't rush through things. Also keep in mind that real life is a thing, and that sometimes it takes priority over the translation.
Thanks for sticking with me and the team, and I hope you are looking forward to the patch.
So I know @Deep Blue made one of these a little while ago, but I really wanted to get one out myself as well. (I am also including pictures. You are too lazy man! ) Now that the game is released, I feel it really deserves some coverage!
(Note that I read the beta version, and so some improvements will have been made to the final release. Also, I wrote this review in a littel bit of a subjective style, really because I want to get through my personal feelings that I experienced when I read the VN. It might make the review seem slightly biased, but I hope this doesn´t make the review seem less serious. I played the game with a completely objective state of mind, and this is just my honest opinion of the game. Anyways, on to the review:)
One thousand lies is a 5-10 hour OELVN made by Keinart Lobre, (@Keinart.) The VN is about a group of friends goofing around as they get closer to graduating from high-school, though there is a lot more to the novel than what initially meets the eye.
(Note, the novel has both a Spanish and English version. I read and proofread the English version.)
In One Thousand Lies we meet Ciaràn Endyein, a slightly delinquent-like teenager who, along with his best friend Ausse Ealdwine, pull of silly yet harmless shenanigans that always end up getting them in trouble. The two are also accompanied by the pretty and intelligent Ziva Shani, who constantly try to psychoanalyze Endyein.
At the beggining of the story, Endyein recieves a strange, mysterious email, telling him to go to a certain place without any more detailed instructions. The sender appears to have stolen a package Endyein was waiting for, so confused and angry, he decides to do what the email says. (With some persuasion from his friends.) This sends him down a fairly heavy psychological, yet heartwarming and slice of life-like journey.
Story and writing
The story in the game starts of really light and funny. It´s a slice of life story that has refreshing and entertaining humor; it doesn´t use overused clichès that you have seen 100 times before. As you get further into the story, you will start to notice that not everything is exactly how it seems. It´s hard to talk about this without spoiling the entire story, so we are going to keep it short. The story is well written, has pretty good pacing and does a good job of hiding the real kicker until the very end.
The writing in the novel is, like I´ve already mentioned, really good. It is every editor´s dream, going through a novel that has essentially no mistakes, and that doesn´t repeat itself over and over, but instead offers new, refreshing words and phrases for each sentence. The language was almost a little bit too complex at times, as I felt it was unnecessary to use such big words for a normal, every-day setting. Still, the novel does use a lot of psychology terms and the likes, so it´s not like a complex language is a bad thing for it.
There isn´t much else to say about the story, as the novel is quite short, and giving any more information could possibly spoil it. All in all, story and writing is very well done, and deserves a good 9/10 rating.
Characters and art
The characters in the novel are all diverse and interesting in their own way. You have Ausse, the slightly dumb but lovable rich kid who might or might not be the MC´s friend because of his financial situation.
Ziva, the beautiful and determined female friend who constantly gets on the MC´s nerves when she tries to diagnose him with different psychological disorders.
Claire, the cute and shy girl who only opens up when in the presence of Endyein.
Luce, the playful and energic joker who always has a funny remark that will put the MC in his place.
And finally Diniz The Sloth. (I think that title should be sufficent in describing him.)
Each character has nice and well drawn sprites with several facial expressions that feels natural.
The CG in the game is very pretty, though certain facial features gets a little less "natural" in the CGs compared to the character sprites, especially Luce´s. Regardless of this though, the CG is very nice and well made.
The backgrounds are kind of like a painted sketch, which is a unique but interesting style that I personally found quite enjoyable.
The only complaint I would have about the characters is that Diniz seems to have very little screen time compared to the others, and therefore he has little time to become a part of the main cast.
Characters, 9/10,
Art 7.5/10
Music and atmosphere
The music in the novel is pretty good overall and seeing as the game is not voiced, this is a good thing. There are several comfortable soundtracks that helps bring out the emotion reflected in the scene, especially during the more enigmatic and mysterious situations the novel has to offer.
The music did not take me by storm, but it still did its job very well in filling the "silence" when playing the unvoiced game.
Not much more to say about it. Music gets a 6.5/10 score from me.
The atmosphere in the game is quite hard to put into words. During the reading experience, it is obvious that there is something there that is more than just a few teenagers messing around. There is some kind of heavy undertone in the writing that clearly tries to tell you something more, but its written in such a way that what exactly that is, doesnt become apperant until the very end. I think that the way this was done is really quite impressive. Each character has a part to him or her that helps hint to this, and each scene does put out tiny clues, though in the end, figuring out what the cause of such an atmosphere is before the credits roll is not easy.
This part of the game gets a clear 10/10 rating from me. It was quite the ride.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, OTL is an entertaining and innovative OELVN that doesnt try to do all those things we have already seen in Japanese VNs, but instead it uses original humor, exceptional writing and an interesting and thrilling psychological aspect to make the entire reading experience a blast.
I had no idea what I was getting into when I started reading this, and simply voulenteered to proofread / test the game because of Deep Blue´s interest in it. Needless to say, I was not dissapointed.
Final rating: 9/10.
Here is a link to the thread for the game here on Fuwanovel:
Gonna go ahead and make this update here as well. When I have something more than just the weekly update to share about the project, I'll make a blog post about it on my own blog, (so I don't spam the dev feed.)
Hello everyone! Today I have great news, and some kind of meh news. First the good news!
Porygon has finalized the patch making tools, so we can now get all sorts of stuff worked out. (Previously we had issues with the text not displaying right, some symbols dissapearing etc. That's all gone now.)
On the translation side of things, I had some days off this week and got some decent work done. The progress has moved quite a lot since the last update. (Progress update and more is below.)
Now for some meh news. I have a really important exam in one week, (like, if I don't study like crazy, I am so failing it,) and so I am kind of studying myself to death here. Because of that, next week I wont have a lot of time to translate. I will still make updates like usual, but expect like, a miniscule amount of progress the next week or two, as I try my hardest not to fail and screw up my life
Also, @Meat_Bun1 is back on the project as an editor, and he will be fixing all the silly mistakes left in by me.
Anyways, progress time!
Here is the progress, and also, for those interested, a few pictures of the translation in game. (Note that these pictures have completely un-edited lines, so ... You know, this is not the quality of the final translation.)
Progress:
Would you rather read the chapters in a PDF document? Click here!
Chapter 1:
Chapter 2:
Chapter 3: (Word count, 4439)
The Last GM Standing Chapter 4 (Word count, 3984)
The Last GM Standing
Chapter 5 (Word count, 4491)
The Last GM Standing
Chapter 6 (Word count 3334)
- Finale, part 1/2 -
The Last GM Standing (Word count, 3832)
Chapter 7
Finale Part 2/2!
"Raaawr! Take this!" Gijimu charged towards Nosebleed, striking at his chest with all his might. At the same time, Jade chanted a spell and several dark chains sprouted from the ground, wrapping themselves around Nosebleed's legs. Greenshadow622 was also attacking, striking at Nosebleed's back from behind with his blade.
"... Pathetic." Nosebleed simply caught Gijimu's punch with his bare hand, used his left leg to kick Greenshadow's sword away, and broke through Jade's chains like they were made out of air. Still, the attackers did not waver. They kept their assault going, trying to land even just a singular hit.
"Raaawr!" Gijimu took a step back, then jumped forward, bringing his right foot towards Nosebleed's head with great force. Nosebleed avoided the kick as if it was approaching in slow motion, and grabbed Gijimu's leg, picking him up and throwing him away.
"Tch. You ... monster!" Shouting at Nosebleed, Jade prepared another attack and started chanting again.
"Devourer of light,
bane of the living,
ruler of death,
envelop the w..."
But before he could finish, Nosebleed moved his left hand downwards, and the string attached to his wrist made one of his shuriken fly towards Jade with great speed.
"Watch out!" Greenshadow jumped in between the shuriken and his teammate, and blocked the attack with his shield, but in the process, his shield was splintered into a million pieces. Both team Kaguya members were thrown several meters backwards from the impact.
"Ugh ... You guys are all freaking useless." A voice coming from behind him made Nosebleed turn around. Kaguya was sitting on a nearby rock, looking at his underlings getting beaten.
"Guess I'll have to put in an effort."
"..." Looking at the warriors on the ground, then back at Kaguya, Nosebleed shook his head.
"You aren't worthy of commanding them. I'll end the battle here today, and avenge my fallen." Nosebleed's face was distorted into a hateful scowl.
"Haha. Now that would be a fun sight. Come on then. Give it your best shot." Kaguya spread his arms in a taunting manner and got up from the rock.
Nosebleed moved his hands around, making his shuriken fly towards Kaguya's position. Kaguya caught one in the air, and swatted the other one away with his free arm. The shuriken caught in his hand wasn't able to pierce his skin, and the one he deflected collided with the ground, making a loud bang as the magical weapon crushed the earth beneath it.
"Hmph. Weak!" Kaguya started running towards Nosebleed, preparing for a counterattack.
"You're too cocky." With those words, Nosebleed snapped his fingers, and the shuriken in Kaguya's hand glowed. Before Kaguya had any time to realize what was happening, a small magic circle appeared above the shurkien, and a second later it blew up. A massive explosion enveloped Kaguya, making the ground beneath his feet cave in, and a massive cloud of smoke and dust settled over the battlefield. Nosebleed had made a shield in front of himself before the explosion occurred, protecting himself from the explosion.
"Gaaah... Now that one stung a bit..." Slowly walking out of the smoke could, Kaguya was once again approaching Nosebleed. His clothes were full of black spots and holes, and his arm that caught the blast was charred, but other than that, he seemed fine.
"Tch. I'm not done yet!" Nosebleed tensed his legs, and then jumped right up into the air. His body flew upwards, and once he had moved up about 15 meters or so, he brought his hands together, chanting a spell. As he chanted, Nosebleed's body was suspended in the air, like he was flying. A pink magic circle with black markings appeared before him, and slowly grew in size.
"This will take you down a peg!" He shouted, and the magic circle erupted into a blinding light, sending hundreds of shuriken tied to strings down towards Kaguya. Every single one of them were tied to Nosebleed's wrist, making it possible for him to control them like he had done with the previous two. The shuriken he created rained down towards Kaguya, and were mere seconds from hitting him.
"Shimmer, spear of Helios!
Flicker, and pierce all that stands before you,
burn down all resistance and turn flesh to ashes!"
Suddenly raising his voice, Kaguya chanted a spell as quickly as he could, and right after, the ground beneath his feet broke apart, making a big pillar of fire shoot up towards Nosebleed. It was the same spell that his underling, Eclipsed, had taken his own life with. A powerful fire spell, summoning the strength of one of the most powerful fire aspects. The pillar of fire broke through all the shuriken, turning them into dust, and kept on moving towards Nosebleed, who put up a last minute shield in a panic. Because he was also caught in the fire, Kaguya felt some of his strength drain from his body as the scorching fire assaulted his flesh. The fire hit Nosebleed's shield, crushing it to pieces, and Nosebleed was caught in the relentless flames.
....
"This really is the final battle, huh?" FinalChaos was seated in front of his master, Down, who had been wounded by the other GMs a little earlier. Now FinalChaos, the last remaining team Down member, was protecting his fallen master, while he watched the epic duel between the other two GMs. FinalChaos was clutching his swords so hard that blood was starting to run down his hands. There was nothing he could do versus such monsters. If it really came down to it, there was no way he could stop Kaguya or Nosebleed from killing Down in his current state.
"DAMNIT!" FinalChaos shouted, and punched the ground with great force.
"... Let them come. I might not be able to win, but I'll make damn sure it will be hard for them!"
....
Nebjula was slowly walking calmly towards the heat of the battle. His eyes were without light, his mentality weakened. Upon witnessing so many people die, his last ally dying before his eyes was the last drop. He no longer cared. It was too late... He wouldn't survive like this, so why even care? He was ready for his final battle. The last fight.
His right hand was missing a finger, and streams of fresh blood rand down his right mace, making it look even more menacing. The pain of his missing finger meant nothing. He walked forwards with no particular destination in mind, only having one though present in his mind... He would fight... He would fight...
Team Nosebleed's last member, Nebjula vs Team Down's last member, FinalChaos
Someone were approaching. FinalChaos pulled himself together and looked forward. The figure of a person could be seen walking towards him. The person was holding two weapons, and from the look of his armor, he was a member of team Nosebleed. But it was hard to see exactly, as his cloak was completely covered in blood.
"I'm coming to get you... I'm coming to get youuuu!~" The person suddenly started talking, and the words he uttered sent a chill down FinalChaos' spine. Who was it? Preparing his blades for battle, Finalchaos looked at Down one last time and then turned around to face his opponent.
"Split their skulls... Hehe..." The team Nosebleed member was quite close now, still rambling. His tone of voice was chilling. As he was just about two meters away from FinalChaos, he stopped completely. He held two maces, and his right hand looked wounded, as fresh blood was still pouring out from an open wound. The man suddenly looked up, and his empty eyes stared into FinalChaos'.
"... Die..." Nebjula suddenly moved his right arm, and threw one of his maces at FinalChaos. The sudden move made FinalChas flinch, and he struggled with avoiding the oncoming mace. The spike at the end of the weapon grazed FinalChaos' shoulder as it flew past him. Following close behind the mace, Nebjula ran towards his opponent, lifting his left mace. FinalChaos struck at Nebjula with one of his swords, but Nebjula easily dodged it and ran straight into FinalChaos. Nebjula's head collided with FinalChaos' solar plexus, knocking the air out of him.
"Guh..." FinalChaos staggered backwards, but managed to keep his footing. Nebjula quickly followed up with another attack, swinging his mace at FinalChaos. Every attack was mighty powerful, making FinalChaos flinch as the wind made by the mace hit his eyes.
"I'm coming to get you!!!" Nebjula kept on rambling, and suddenly ran straight past FinalChaos.
Wait ... Coming to get you..? Is he talking about?!
"DOWN, NO!" As FinalChaos realized what Nebjula's goal was, he shouted at the top of his lungs and threw his sword at Nebjula. The sword soared through the air at a great speed, and after a second, it collided with its target. The sword pierced through Nebjula's back, cutting through his lungs and parts of his spine. But ... It was already too late. Nebjula had just enough time to move his mace for one attack, which had been directed right at Down. Down was still unconscious, which meant his barrier was the only thing still protecting him, and it had been seriously weakened in the attack from Kaguya earlier... Nebjula's mace had crushed the remaining barrier, and had hit Down's defensless body, crushing his ribcage completely.
"... AHHHHHH!" Not knowing how to react, FinalChaos just kept screaming, and threw his other blade at the already dead Nebjula. FinalChaos shook his head as tears ran down his cheeks. His final job ... His final purpose... It had been to defend Down, and he had failed. His knees gave in beneath him, and his body fell to the ground. He slammed his fist against the bare ground over and over, most likely breaking the bone, but he didn't care.
"I ... Failed..."
Because the leader had died, all of Down's remaining soldiers would be disposed of. The one last remaining warrior, FinalChaos, shouted and screamed as he cursed himself for letting Down die... Soon after, his body turned to dust...
12Kami was looking at the battle from above, his body floating as if it was tied up by strings.
"One ... Dead... Two to go..." His yellow eyes shimmered brightly, and the scythe he was holding in his right hand was glowing in a green light. Down had been defeated, which mean that Down and all his dead warriors were sealed away in the reaper's scythe, and they would never come back.
12Kami remembered the rules that were branded into his mind.
1) The GMs are not allowed to fight until the final day. Stop them at all costs.
2) Once the GMs finally clash, only one can come out alive. If they refuse to fight, kill them yourself.
3) Once the winner has been crowned... The winner and all his forces will be released from the game, and all the deceased teammates will be resurrected. The members of the losing teams will forever be trapped in the reaper's scythe.
4) ... If you wish, you may challenge the winner. If you can defeat him, you will get your own freedom, and will be released from the hell we have trapped you in.
"... Two to go..." 12Kami whispered to himself as he looked at the battle below.
Nosebleed's body was aching, screaming in pain. Kaguya's attack had broken his shield, and the only thing that saved him from a sure death was his final remaining barrier. It had taken a lot of energy, but Nosebleed had been able to fight off the relentless heat, and survived the attack, but in return, his body was enveloped in pain. He had felt it... His final warrior, the last remaining teammate he had on the battlefield, had just died. It was over. Nosebleed was alone. Shaking his head in anger, tears ran down Nosebleed's cheeks.
"I wont ... let you die in vain! AHHHHHHHH!" Screaming as loud as he could, Nosebleed forced himself to his feet and charged towards Kaguya's location. Kaguya was still recovering, as the attack had hit his own body as well.
"Puppets! Stop him!" Kaguya shouted and pointed towards his underlings who were standing next to him.
"Buy me some time! Hold him back!"
The three team Kaguya members were slightly scared of fighting the GM on their own, but still listened to their master, running towards the advancing Nosebleed. Gijimu preformed a swift kick at Nosebleed's legs, trying to make him Trip. Nosebleed avoided the kick with ease, and retaliated with a punch to Gijimu's chest. Gijimu managed to block the attack, but both his arms screamed in pain as Nosebleed's fist hit, and the bone in his left arm broke. Jade cast several spells from a few meters away, while Greenshadow started cutting at Nosebleed with his blade. His shield had been broken earlier, so his sword was his only remaining weapon. Nosebleed avoided the attacks, and started chanting a spell as he kept on approaching Kaguya.
"O great shadow,
sever the bonds of the flesh,
divide, split, divide!"
As he chanted, Nosebleed's body suddenly split into four, and each part approached an enemy, the main body still continuing towards Kaguya. Gijimu's broken arm was dangling at his side, useless, and he had to fight off his enemy with his remaining limbs. Jade was doing his best, trying to keep his opponent at a distance. Greenshadow was being pushed back as well, and Kaguya was still recovering from his wounds. As no one were able to reach Nosebleed's main body, he continued his chant.
"Divide, split, divide!
fire, earth, water, air,
sever the bonds of the flesh,
release me from the chains of man,
and grant me the strength of thou,
oh great shadow."
When the chant finished, each one of Nosebleed's bodies erupted in a bright light. A round seal holding a picture of an element on it, appeared on his chest. Fire, earth, water and air, one for each body. The main body that was running towards Kaguya was water, the opposite of Kaguya's favored magic.
"It is time to end things, Kaguya!" While he shouted at his opponent, Nosebleed raised his right arm, and it morphed into a blade made out of water. He was now mere meters from Kaguya, and prepared the blade, striking at Kaguya's chest. Kaguya had regained most of his strength, and was able to avoid the attack, but Nosebleed quickly recovered and continued his assault, sending a flurry of attacks towards his opponent. Kaguya managed to sidestep, and clenched his fists, making fire envelop his hands. It was the same attack he had used to take out Down. He struck at Nosebleed with great power, but the water surrounding Nosebleed's body weakened the oncoming attack, making the impact much too weak. The inefficiency of his attack made Kaguya flinch for a second, but he quickly came back to his senses.
"Ok, then how about this?!" Kaguya took a big step backwards and held his hands out, moving them towards Nosebleed. As he did that, the ground beneath Nosebleed's feet started moving, and several spikes of earth quickly approached Nosebleed's chest.
"I don't think so." A voice came from Kaguya's left, and the spikes that were approaching the main body of Nosebleed stopped completely. A different Nosebleed was standing a little further away, holding the body of Greenshadow622 in his hand. The symbol for earth was branded on his chest. Using any form of elemental magic against Nosebleed would be completely useless. Gijimu and Jade were still fighting their opponents, but Nosebleed was clearly about to beat them as well. It seemed Kaguya was on his own.
"Hmph. Fine. Guess we will have to settle this the old fashioned way." Kaguya kept his cool, and raised his fists. After just a few seconds, the other two Nosebleed versions had defeated their opponents, and Kaguya was now staring at four enemies.
"You know, when I see you up close like this, I have to say... You guys are all butt ugly."
"Any other last words Kaguya?" One of the Nosebleed's spoke up, slowly approaching.
"How about bite me?" With those words, Kaguya stepped forward and struck at one of his opponents with all his might. His left fist struck the water version of Nosebleed right in the chest, and a loud cracking sound of bones breaking resounded throughout the battlefield. The body he had struck broke in two, making blood and bone fragments fly everywhere.
"I'm not going down that easy!" After easily having defeated one opponent, Kaguya moved over to the next one. He struck at the earth version, his fist moving towards Nosebleed's chest yet again. This version managed to dodge the attack by a hair, but Kaguya followed up with another strike. It wasn't as powerful as the first two, but it hit Nosebleed's left arm, making the bone bend in the wrong direction. As Nosebleed staggered backwards, clutching his wounded arm, Kaguya struck at him again, making Nosebleed fall to the ground. Trouble was, even though Kaguya was doing well against one of the Nosebleed's, the two others were preparing a spell behind him. As Kaguya was about to land a finishing blow on the earth version of Nosebleed, the wind and fire version behind him sent powerful spells directed towards Kaguya's back. A spear of fire approached Kaguya's back, and the wind spell quickly wrapped itself around the fire attack, amplifying its intensity. The brutal attack dug into Kaguya's back, slowly melting his flesh and pushing Kaguya's body forward. He flew a few meters away, and landed on his wounded back. Kaguya tried to get up again, but the earth Nosebleed moved his still functional arm over to Kaguya and gripped his leg, preventing his movements. Meanwhile, the remaining two Nosebleed versions prepared one final attack. As another enhanced spear of fire approached Kaguya, it dawned on him ... He had lost. When he started fighting, he didn't think any of his opponents were actually worthy of being called equals... He still didn't.
"... You got lucky." As he said those final words, the fire enveloped his body, and turned his remaining flesh to ash.
"..." As Nosebleed witnessed his final enemy burn to a crisp, he said nothing... It was over, but he had lost way too many. This was not a time to celebrate. This was a time to mourn.
Team Kaguya, Greenshadow622, Gijimu and Jade-DEAD END
Team Kaguya leader, Kaguya-DEAD END
....
....
...
..
"It looks like it's over. Congratulations." A dark, raspy voice spoke up from behind Nosebleed. Nosebleed said nothing in response, and simply sat down on the ground, covering his face. He was exhausted, and his emotions were running wild.
"Congratulations." Repeating his previous line, the person who was talking walked past Nosebleed, and sat down in front of him. It was the cloaked reaper that Nosebleed had seen several times before, overlooking the battle. The reaper who had gotten in between Nosebleed and Down's previous fight. In his hand was a scythe, which now glowed in a dark red color. Several red and green dots were spread across the scythe's blade... Actually, there was also one section towards the tip of the blade, which had several pink dots on it. Seven to be exact... The number of Nosebleed's warriors. Could it be..?
"Congratulations. You are the last one standing. You did well. Here is your reward." As the reaper spoke, he lifted his scythe up towards the sky, and the pink dots on the blade started glowing. The sky above the reaper turned dark, and clouds started forming out of nowhere. The clouds slowly started spinning around faster and faster, and after a little while, a full blown tornado had formed in the sky. The tornado slowly but surely moved down towards the two, however the wind was not affecting Nosebleed or the Reaper for some reason. It was as if the tornado was merely an illusion. As the eye of the storm reached the two figures, the wind settled at the tip of the reaper's blade, and the pink dots which were glowing brightly were sucked up into the tornado. Then, a completely blinding light shot out from the clouds, branching into seven smaller balls of light that all collided with the ground somewhere close to Nosebleed.
As the wind settled and the light went away, seven people had appeared next to Nosebleed. They were all the fallen warriors from team Nosebleed that had been killed during the battle, Mitchhamilton, Kiriririri, Satsuki, Valmore, Deep Blue, Nebjula and Kingdomcome. Each one of them were completely unscratched, and they were staring at the reaper in front of them in awe, not knowing what was going on.
"W-Where are we...?" Mitchhamilton spoke up, walking towards Nosebleed with a confused expression. The reaper was the one who answered.
"You have won the battle, and you are free. Congratulations." Before anyone could say anything else, the reaper snapped his fingers, and the figures of the eight warriors disappeared into nothingness. They had been called back to the world of Fuwanovel, as the only eight survivors of the long death game.
It was over.
....
As the dust settled, and the winners had been teleported away, a figure of a man walked up to 12Kami. He was wearing a black suit, but the entirety of his body was enveloped in a dark shadow, making it impossible to see who it was.
"So you chose to let them go. Why did you not fight them? Do you not value your own life?" The man's voice was distorted, much like the reaper's.
"... I do not want to witness more bloodshed." The reaper answered, looking down at his feet.
"Haha... Well, suit yourself. You do realize that this means you will be trapped in this dimension forever? You and ... them." As the man said the last word in the sentence, he pointed towards the reaper's scythe. The reaper, 12Kami knew... They were still there. They were still conscious, trapped inside the void. He could hear them. They were screaming... The 25 fallen warriors from team Down and Kaguya, as well as their two leaders... They were trapped in the reaper's scythe, and because they lost, they would never get out. They had suffered the same fate that 12Kami had.
"Well then. Enjoy eternity listening to their screams." With that final line, the figure of the man vanished, and 12Kami was left alone. He looked at the scythe in his hands, as he heard the screams of the poor people trapped within it.
Would you rather read the chapters in a PDF document? Click here!
Chapter 1:
Chapter 2:
Chapter 3: (Word count, 4439)
The Last GM Standing Chapter 4 (Word count, 3984)
The Last GM Standing
Chapter 5 (Word count, 4491)
The Last GM Standing
Chapter 6 (Word count 3334)
- Finale, part 1/2 -
The atmosphere on the battlefield was suffocating. With the sun once again covered by dark clouds, a strong wind blew across the area, seemingly building up to a storm. The three GMs were standing on an open field, facing each other, with their remaining warriors at their side. Kaguya, Nosebleed and Down. Only one of them would come out of the battle alive...
....
Nosebleed was knitting his brows as the powerful wind struck him. In his mind, countless questions raged around. Why do we have to do this? Why wont the others put down their weapons? Why do we have to fight?..
At his side, Kingdomcome and Nebjula stood, with their weapons drawn. Nosebleed had lost many during the battle, and was down to his last two brave soldiers. He wished for nothing more than to let those two brave survivors make it out alive. But in order to do that, he had to fight ... He had to fight for them, and for the ones who had already given their life in this gruesome battle.
"It's time. I can't guarantee your safety during this fight ... Not that I have been able to do that previously either..." Looking down at the ground with a shameful expression plastered on his face, Nosebleed spoke to his comrades.
"Don't worry, we will be at your side until the bitter end." Kingdomcome said as he put his hand on Nosebleed's shoulder.
Nebjula said nothing, but walked up at Nosebleed's other side and prepared his maces for battle. His hands were shaking ever so slightly and his lips were trembling. Before them stood Kaguya, with his four remaining fighters, and to their right was Down, who also had four warriors remaining.
No one spoke. The overwhelming silence was soon followed by a loud roar of thunder coming from the east. Just as the sound of the thunder was heard, Kaguya made the first move... The battle had begun.
- The beginning of the end -
Kaguya lifted his arms above his head and summoned a massive fireball, hurling it at Down.
Down reacted quickly and pushed his comrades out of the way, then jumped up in the air, making the fireball collide with nothing but the bare ground. As he floated through the air, Down gripped his sword and made a big swing, targeting Kaguya. The blade approached its target with great speed. Kaguya lifted up his right arm and the blade collided with his flesh. But, despite the strength of the attack, his skin was not cut. A big shockwave blew across the battlefield, as a reaction produced by the powerful impact of Down's sword. Down quickly drew back his blade and went in for another attack. Kaguya used his arms to block the attacks, and retaliated with punches that Down fairly easily dodged. The two traded blows for a while, neither landing any good hits.
"Devourer of light,
bane of the living,
ruler of death,
envelop the world in darkness!"
Chanting a spell from behind Kaguya, Jade stepped forward and sent a large cloud of dark smoke towards Down. The smoke crept forward like a living being, seeking out enemies, and completely avoiding teammates. Down reacted quickly and jumped back a few meters, then he raised his sword towards the sky, and a bright green light erupted from the tip. The light wrapped itself around himself and his warriors, shielding them from the smoke.
"Dergonu, Greenshadow." Speaking to two of his underlings, Kaguya pointed forwards, and the two launched an attack at the exposed Down. Because he was busy holding back the shadow from his forces, he was wide open. It was not a physical barrier, but instead one to hold back magic, which meant humans could pass through it. The two ran towards their target and raised their weapons.
"Get back scum!" Before they reached Down, a shadow quickly jumped out from behind him, blocking both their attacks. Two green swords glowing in a green light, similar to that Down was producing, was blocking their weapons.
"Yaaa!" Their opponent, FinalChaos, pulled back his swords and spun around, making the blades strike at both targets in a circular motion. They both had to raise their weapons in a defensive manner to block the attack, at which point another attacker stepped out behind Down and struck at the two team Kaguya members. He held a long green dagger, and stabbed at Greenshadow's chest. Greenshadow quickly moved his shield in between himself and the dagger, whilst still holding back FinalChaos' sword attacks.
Fred the Barber, the second attacker from team Down, quickly moved sideways and tried to stab at Greenshadow's flank, but Dergonu jumped in between them. The four warriors started attacking each other left and right, looking for openings. Meanwhile, Down was still holding back Jade's magic, which was starting to approach its limit.
Suddenly a rain of crossbow bolts approached Down and the other fighters present. Down extended his left hand, making a physical barrier to stop the sudden attack, leaving him even more exposed than before. Kingdomcome from team Nosebleed was positioned about 50 meters away, firing freely at the group. To his left stood Nebjula, protecting his teammate from potential threats.
"Damnit ... At this rate we will be sitting ducks... Babiker, Kawasumi, take out the sniper, I'll hold back Kaguya. If you run into Nosebleed himself... then run." Doing as their leader told them, Kawasumi and Babiker started running towards the team Nosebleed members. Fred the Barber and FinalChaos were still in a fight with Dergonu and Greenshadow. Jade and Gijimu were standing next to Kaguya, working like bodyguards.
....
Team Down: Fred the Barber, FinalChaos
VS
Team Kaguya: Greenshadow622, Dergonu
....
Down finally got a break from all the oncoming attacks. Kawasumi and Babiker had approached Kingdomcome, and Jade's magic had finally stopped. But, just as he had some time to catch his breath, two pink shuriken soared through air, approaching Down's position. He quickly tried to swat them down with his sword, but as the blade was about to hit the oncoming shuriken, they moved as if they had a will of their own, making them avoid Down's weapon. They hit him in the chest, making his personal barrier take a strong hit. Upon closer inspection, Down saw that the shuriken were tied to a string, which was being controlled by someone further away.
"... Nosebleed."
Clutching his sword with all his might, Down swung it in a big arc, moving it towards the location the shuriken were being controlled from. A massive wave of green energy approached its target, breaking everything in its path. A pink magic circle appeared in the target location seconds after, blocking the attack.
Meanwhile, FinalChaos and Dergonu were in a fight a little further away from the GMs. As Down had engaged in battle with an enemy, FinalChaos had taken command of the battle against Kaguya's troops, and had sent Fred the Barber to fend of Greenshadow622 while he himself fought Dergonu. Fred's dagger would be of little use against a massive mace. Of course, it wasn't very ideal against a sword and a shield, but if he could at least hold out until FinalChaos finished his own fight, then that was enough. FinalChaos was calmly analyzing Dergonu's attack patterns as they fought, trying to find an opening. From the look of it, he would not tire easily, not to mention that if he stalled the fight too long, Fred could be in danger, so he would need to finish the fight some other way. Dergonu wasn't particularly fast, but every time FinalChaos moved in to strike at him with his dual blades, it made for a dangerous opening. All it took was one hit from the giant mace to knock him out. He had to play it carefully. Because of that, FinalChaos did not take the initiative, and instead waited for when Dergonu attacked. Then, he moved quickly away from the mace and sliced at Dergonu's exposed side. His swords collided with Dergonu's barrier, bouncing off him. Because the attack was a very swift cut, it wasn't particularly powerful, but it was enough to slightly weaken Dergonu. If he kept that up, he would be able to win.
"You little ... STAND STILL!" Shouting in an agitated voice, Dergonu suddenly lifted his mace above his head and smashed it down in the ground in front of him. As it didn't look like the attack would hit him, FinalChaos made no attempt to avoid the attack, which was a mistake. The mace produced a shockwave, which knocked FinalChaos off his feet. Dergonu followed up with striking at FinalChaos on the ground. It would be impossible for him to dodge it from that position, and so he used his swords to absorb the impact from the attack. He had to use all his strength in order to hold back the giant mace. It slowly but surely started pushing back FinalChaos' swords, inching in towards his chest. There had to be a way out. Still remaining calm, FinalChaos looked for a way out of his dire situation. He could kick Dergonu's legs, making him trip, but that could mean his mace would hit him in the process. Such a blow could be fatal, so that wouldn't work... As he approached his limit, no longer able to hold back the mace, he came to a conclusion. Suddenly letting go of both his swords, he made the surprised Dergonu tip forward. FinalChaos then gripped the approaching mace, stopping it right before it hit his chest. Following up his surprise maneuver, he kicked at Dergonu's leg, as the mace hitting him was no longer a risk. Dergonu fell over, losing the grip on his mace.
"Crap... You annoying pest!" Gradually getting more and more annoyed, Dergonu launched a flurry of randomly directed punches at FinalChaos, who had not been able to retrieve his own blades yet.
"You can have this back." As he said that, FinalChaos threw the mace at Dergonu. Acting on pure reflex, he gripped the mace midair. FinalChaos then snatched up his blades from the ground, and thrust them into Dergonu's wide open chest, crushing the remaining resistance in his barrier.
"Ghhhh..." Letting out a pained noise, Dergonu lost the grip on his mace, and fell to the ground.
"Now... Time to check on Fred." Turning his back on his dead opponent, FinalChaos looked around for his comrade.
....
Fred the Barber was trying his best to fight off Greenshadow's attacks. He was unable to parry the attacks directly, as all he had was a dagger, however he was able to stab at Greenshadow's side whenever he moved in for an attack. He had landed a few hits, to his own surprise, but he had also sustained a wound to his left arm, making the already difficult fight even harder. Greenshadow's shield was also a problem. Because of it, Fred could only attack Greenshadow's right side, because the shield would make attacks to his left completely impossible. Fred was breathing heavily, and his heart was beating faster and faster. The pain in his arm did not really bother him, but he was starting to get really nervous. He had no real plan of attack, and the only thing he could do was fend off his opponent, keeping him at bay with some sneaky counterattacks here and there. At this rate, he would not be able to win... Would he die? Would he lose? Was this the end?
Greenshadow looked at Fred with a hint of guilt as he moved in for another attack.
I see... So even he knows it, huh?
The blade moved towards Fred. He sidestepped, but just as he moved away, he realized his mistake. He had moved to the left, which meant ...
Greenshadow's shield bashed Fred right in the face, completely impairing his vision, making the world spin around in his head. Then, right after, a cold sensation hit him in the stomach. The feeling of cold steel piercing his skin.
This is the end, huh? ... Maybe it's for the better.
"FRED!" Someone shouting his name made him snap back to reality. FinalChaos jumped between them, striking at Greenshadow. His swords hit Greenshadow's shield, but he managed to force Greenshadow back, making him take the blade out of Fred's stomach. Fred collapsed, and FinalChaos dropped his swords, catching Fred before he hit the ground. Greenshadow looked at the scene, with a pained expression on his face.
"I'm sorry." With those words, he turned his back on them and walked away.
A hint of a smile appeared on Fred's face.
"S-Seems I did a lousy job of stalling him, huh? ..."
FinalChaos shook his head quietly, and held his comrade in his arms, closing his eyes. Fred had been one of the people on his team he cared quite a lot for. Some of the others were too brutal, too ruthless and bloodthirsty. But maybe ... Maybe those qualities were what one needed on a battlefield like this.
"Rest now ..." Upon hearing those words, Fred nodded ever so slightly, and soon after, the light vanished from his eyes, the smile still present on his face.
Team Kaguya, Dergonu- DEAD END
Team Down, Fred the Barber- DEAD END
....
Down felt the life force of another one of his warriors vanish, and anger welled up inside him.
Why? Why are we doing this? Why?!
"GAAAH!" Unable to contain his anger, he shouted at the top of his lungs, and struck at Nosebleed with incredible strength. The power of his attack was enhanced by his rage, making Nosebleed's barrier wither.
"Guh..." Surprised by the sudden attack, Nosebleed took a careful step backwards, putting more energy into his barrier.
"No more! NO More!" As Down shouted, he prepared to strike at Nosebleed once again, but was suddenly stopped as a Kaguya moved up next to him and struck at his chest with a fist wrapped in fire. The attack created a massive explosion, sending Down flying. He lost the grip on his sword, and as he hit the ground, it made a giant crater.
Turning around to face Nosebleed, Kaguya struck at his new target. Nosebleed was not caught off guard however, and easily avoided the hits. He then retaliated with a hit off his own. The two struck at each other repeatedly, making waves of fire and energy fly everywhere. Down as still lying in the crater, unconscious.
About 50 meters away from the GMs, another battle was taking place.
"Nebjula, duck!" Kingdomcome fired a flurry of bolts at Kawasumi, as Nebjula jumped to the side just in time. But, as the bolts were about to hit their target, Babiker moved in and hit every single one out of the air.
"Too slow kid." He said with confidence.
As Kawasumi saw an opening, she struck at Nebjula with her sickle. Nebjula blocked it with his maces, but Kawasumi was much faster, and followed up her attack with a kick to Nebjula's head, making him fall face first into the ground.
"Damnit..." Cursing to himself, Kingdomcome fired more bolts at the team Down members, trying to buy some time for Nebjula to get back up. But, every bolt was hit out of the air by Babiker before they hit.
"Who the hell is this guy?!"
"Keep them coming buddy, I can do this all day!" He answered in a smug tone.
Kawasumi grabbed a hold of Nebjula and lifted him up in the air by his neck.
"Good boy. I'll have some fun with you before I kill you." As she said that, Kawasumi placed her sickle on Nebjula's hand, and cut off one of his fingers.
"AAAAAAAHH!" Screaming in pain, Nebjula kicked at Kawasumi viciously.
"Come on now, be still! You are making this so much harder!" Kawasumi tried to get a good grip on her opponent, but wasn't able to keep a firm hold on him because of his resistance, and eventually dropped him.
"Look what you did! Your dirty shoes made my armor all filthy..."
Kawasumi kneeled down, once again trying to get a good grip on Nebjula's neck.
"Y-You bitch..." Nebjula suddenly thrust his head upwards, making the top of his head collide with Kawasumi's nose. As she gripped her bleeding nose and staggered backwards, Nebjula got to his feet and picked up one of his maces.
"Payback time." Nebjula then lunged forward and was about to strike at the defenseless Kawasumi. But, right before he managed to attack her, Babiker launched a kick which pushed Nebjula back. Nebjula hit the ground with a loud crash. But, during the second Babiker looked away from Kingdomcome, another volley of crossbow bolts flew towards him with great accuracy.
"... Shit." He had no time to deflect them, and the projectiles hit his body all over, piercing his arms, legs and chest. Warm blood flowed from his open wounds, and his entire body screamed in pain. After just a few seconds, he fell to the ground with a thump.
"Nebjula, let's hurry! Looks like Nosebleed is in a pinch!" Kingdomcome quickly ran up to the fallen Nebjula and helped him up. Nosebleed was in a fight with Kaguya, and it looked like Kaguya was landing quite a few hits. They had to hurry over to their commanders aid.
"Like I'll let you escape after screwing up my nose you little shit!" Kawasumi got to her feet and moved forward quickly, aiming for Nebjula's neck.
"Look out!" Kingdomcome instinctively pushed Nebjula out of the way, and Kawasumi's sickle hit Kingdomcome's neck. The thin blade made a deep cut in Kingdomcome's neck, cutting through his throat, nearly separating his head from his body.
"Whops... Looks like I hit the wrong one. Well, whatever. You're next."
Nebjula did not react to Kawasumi's words. He was completely paralyzed, covered in his teammate's warm blood. He stared at Kingdomcomes body, not knowing how to react.
"... Eh?" Kawasumi suddenly let out a high pitched voice. She had completely stopped moving, and blinked repeatedly, as if she wasn't entirely sure what was happening. She touched her stomach, and her hand was stained in blood. But it wasn't Kingdomcome's blood... It was hers. There was a large hole in her stomach.
"Grgh.." Not able to form actual words because of the blood flowing out of her mouth, Kawasumi collapsed. Behind her stood Gijimu from team Kaguya, his hand covered in red blood.
"I will let you go this time, but once we meet again in battle, I won't go easy on you." Gijimu simply left Nebjula with those words, before he had a chance to reply. Nebjula's legs were shaking violently, and he finally fell to the ground, covering his face in his hands.
Team Down, Babiker and Kawasumi- DEAD END
Team Nosebleed, Kingdomcome (REAL)- DEAD END
The battlefield was covered in smoke, massive craters and dead combatants. This was the final part of the battle. Team Down and Nosebleed now only had a single warrior left each. Kaguya still had three remaining warriors.
The battle between Nosebleed and Kaguya had not yet reached a conclusion. Down was unconscious, his body being protected by FinalChaos. Nebjula was still recovering from shock, and Gijimu, Greenshadow622 and Jade had joined in the fight versus Nosebleed. But, despite being in a difficult situation, Nosebleed was keeping his cool, and was not about to give up anytime soon. The fight still wasn't over.
A cloaked figure was looking over the battle from afar, waiting for the winner to be crowned.
Would you rather read the chapters in a PDF document? Click here!
Chapter 1:
Chapter 2:
Chapter 3: (Word count, 4439)
The Last GM Standing Chapter 4 (Word count, 3984)
The Last GM Standing
Chapter 5 (Word count, 4491)
Eclipsed woke up, feeling a strong sense of weariness wash over him. It was dark and cold, making him long for a warm bed to rest in. But there was no such thing anywhere in sight. He was lying in a cave, completely alone. Outside he could faintly hear the sound of a fierce battle... What was going on? Forcing his body to stand up, he sluggishly moved towards the cave's exit, trying his best not to fall over from sheer exhaustion. His vision was slightly blurry and his hands were aching so badly, it made him want to scream at the top of his lungs. Of course, he did not have the strength for that. The spectacle that waited for him outside was so shocking, it made him completely forget about his own problems...
....
Satsuki and three other members from Team Nosebleed were making their way towards Kaguya's temporary base. They had gotten word that Kaguya's forces had just returned from a battle from their comrade, Valmore. Valmore himself had lost his clone in the same battle, and was now using his real body to join into the ambush. Kaguya's forces were badly hurt in the battle, and since Valmore needed no time to heal because he had taken no damage to his real body, they were able to deploy the ambush nearly right away. It only took them a few hours to locate Kaguya's new base, and they were now really close.
However, what greeted them once they arrived at the base's location, was not what they were expecting at all.
....
Maxel saw the enemies approaching from a mile away using his improved magical vision. It looked like four members from Team Nosebleed were approaching. On top of that, a few members from team Kaguya were stationed outside the small cave; the location of their temporary base.
"..." Maxel held up four fingers and pointed towards the horizon, then he held up three fingers and pointed towards the nearby cave.
"You know, the way you never speak really freaks me out Maxel." Answering his mute teammate, Babiker from team Down raised his weapons and nodded.
"Alright. You move in first, stay a little away from the cave. Start by attacking them with magic and I'll jump into the close combat battles once everyone has been thoroughly confused." A smile filled with bloodlust appeared on Babiker's face as he tightly gripped his two weapons. They were metal rings, about 40 cm in diameter forming a half circle, with a grip at the back. The sharp metal rings were formed into the shape of the sun and the moon. The moon one was shining in a faint blue light, and the sun in an orange glow.
"Sound good?" Babiker asked as he looked over at Maxel again.
"..."
"I ... I don't know what I was expecting..." Shaking his head, he turned away from Maxel and faced towards the cave before them.
As the two members from team Down charged towards Kaguya's base, another great battle was about to start.
Team Down, Maxel vs Deep Blue, Valmore, Satsuki and Kingdomcome, Team Nosebleed
A blinding light shot down from the sky, striking the group of approaching team Nosebleed members. The light was so bright, all four instantly shut their eyes and came to a complete stop.
"..." Moving his hands around, making different symbols in the air, Maxel quietly chanted a spell. The pillar of light had formed a large cylinder shape around the battlefield, and everyone trapped inside were completely blinded.
Making several arrows out of pure light, Maxel lifted them above his head and sent them towards his targets.
Suddenly sensing something approaching from the left, Deep Blue brought his hands up and made a shield of ice around himself and his teammates. He was unable to see, so he crafted the shield like an igloo, forming cover all around them. Just at that moment, something hit the shield hard, and Deep Blue felt his energy drain as the barrier fought back the attacks.
"What the hell is going on?!" Someone shouted. It was a female voice, belonging to Satsuki.
Knowing the situation was quite dire, Deep Blue quickly took the command in the battle. Because he was the only one in the group well versed in magic, he would be the only one who could sense oncoming magical attacks.
"Kingdomcome, shoot as many bolts as you can in this direction, NOW!" Grabbing a hold of Kingdomcome's shoulders, Deep Blue turned him so that he faced towards the location of the mystery attacker.
"Shoot, NOW!" Doing what he was told, Kingdomcome fired a great deal of bolts from his crossbow out into nothingness.
"Satsuki, Valmore, run in opposite directions! Just... Satsuki, you move to your right and Valmore, you move your left."
Doing as they were told, they started moving sideways in a clumsy fashion. Deep Blue was trying to make it as hard as possible for the attacker to both protect himself and attack them all at the same time.
"HEY! I am seriously just going to keep running? Give me something to kill!!!"
Ignoring the shouting Valmore, Deep Blue started preparing for a counterattack. Kingdomcome was firing completely blindly, so it would be fairly easy to avoid for the attacker. But, it should at least have distracted him a bit.
"First we have to do something about this light... I should be able to stop the spell if I manage to wound the caster." Thinking to himself, Deep Blue started preparing a spell of his own.
It would take a while to prepare it, and so during that that time, Kingdomcome would be a sitting duck. And, sure enough, just seconds later Deep Blue felt an oncoming attack moving towards Kingdomcome.
A lance of light collided with his chest, painfully cracking through his barrier. The barrier absorbed enough of the blow to not make the wound fatal, but Kingdomcome was knocked to the ground, and was no longer capable of shooting at the attacker.
"Just a few more seconds..."
Another attack was just about to hit them when Deep Blue's spell was finally ready.
"Everyone, GET DOWN!" As he shouted that, he launched the spell. A massive magic circle appeared before him and the air around them instantly fell below freezing. A ray of blue light was launched from the magic circle, and anything in its path was frozen instantly. As the spell reached the attacker, the light blinding them suddenly faded. Once again having regained his vision, Deep Blue quickly tried to get a grasp of what was going on. A large area in front of him had been completely encased in ice. A few meters to his left was Kingdomcome. He was still breathing and it looked like he was still capable of fighting, but he was clutching his left side, clearly in pain. Satsuki was nowhere to be seen, and Valmore was fighting someone from team Kaguya. It seemed the people from Kaguya's team had wasted no time as the light perished, and had attacked them.
Question was, where had the one who made the light pillar gone?
....
"..." Maxel hurled a spear of light at his opponent, giving away his hiding place in the process. The spear was blocked by a wall of ice, but he just followed up the attack with two more. His opponents were scattered, leaving only one target. No one would be able to protect themselves from the relentless attacks made by the most powerful magician on team Down for too long. The third spear made a massive crack in the wall of ice, and Maxel started running towards his target to finish him off. Forming an axe of light in his hand, he closed the distance in seconds, and struck at the wall of ice. It broke apart, making small shards of ice fly everywhere. Maxel charged at Deep Blue, striking at his chest. Deep Blue dodged and retaliated with a spike of ice aimed at Maxel's leg. It was obvious that Deep Blue was tired from blocking all the previous attacks, and so his own magic was slow and fairly weak. Maxel knocked the ice out of the air and swung his axe at Deep Blue once more. It collided with his left arm, which was cut clean off.
"BLUE!" Valmore shouted and was running towards the battle, trying to make it in time. He had abandoned his battle with the team Kaguya member in order to come to his comrade's aid. But, it was too late. Maxel lifted his axe and struck at Deep Blue's head...
Valmore ran as fast as he could, and used the momentum from his charge to strike at Maxel with all his might. The pickaxe Valmore wielded flew through the air and collided with a magic circle created by Maxel. The shield wavered, but didn't break. Blood from Deep Blue's head being cut off was everywhere, and Valmore screamed in anger.
"You piece of ... Die!"
"..." Maxel said nothing, but made a symbol with his hands. Shortly after, a small golden magic circle appeared in his hands, and a bolt of light shot out, hitting Valmore in the chest. It wasn't powerful enough to knock him to the ground, but it was enough to make him lose his balance. Maxel followed up with an axe swing. The weapon of pure light moved towards Valmore, who was defenseless because of the previous attack. His throat was wide open, and if the axe hit, he would be dead in seconds. But, right before the axe hit, a blue crossbow bolt collided with the weapon, making it shatter into pieces. Kingdomcome had made it back on his feet, and was aiming at Maxel.
"..." As Maxel fired several bolts of light at Kingdomcome, Valmore had managed to get his footing again, and jumped up in the air. Maxel was distracted attacking Kingdomcome, and as Valmore swung his pickaxe downwards, it hit Maxel's head with a loud crack. Maxel suddenly stopped moving, as dark red streams of blood trickled down from the top of his head. His body twitched a few times, before it collapsed on the ground.
The exhausted members from team Nosebleed took a few seconds to catch their breath as they surveyed the battlefield. They had finally taken out one of the attackers, but many still remained. Needless to say, their ambush had been an absolute failure...
Nimbus and Dergonu, Team Kaguya vs Valmore and Kingdomcome, Team Nosebleed
"Now Nimbus!" Shouting while he charged towards his enemies, Dergonu lifted his giant mace above his head.
Chanting a few magic words, Nimbus held his hand out towards the mace, and a bolt of deep blue lightning shot forward, enveloping the weapon. The electricity started swirling around the top of the mace, making holding the weapon completely safe for Dergonu.
"They are attacking again. Kingdomcome, cover me."
Valmore ran to the left, away from Dergonu, as Kingdomcome started shooting crossbow bolts at his target. Dergonu used his mace to knock the oncoming bolts down before they hit. The mace left a crackling trail of blue lightning when it moved through the air. Dergonu quickly started chasing Valmore, but was interrupted by another wave of projectiles. Valmore made a big right turn and rushed towards Dergonu's back. As Kingdomcome was shooting at his front, it was impossible for Dergonu to block both the projectiles and the attacker from the back. Or so one might think.
"Don't get cocky!" Shouting in an angered tone, Dergonu spun around quickly. The mace he was holding created a small circle of electricity, which started rotating quickly. Turning his head and looking behind him, Valmore noticed that Nimbus was muttering something to himself, most likely strengthening the power of the magic. The rotating circle of electricity knocked down any oncoming projectiles, and simply being near it made Valmore's skin itch. Dergonu suddenly came to a stop and with a big swing, he struck at Valmore. Valmore still hadn't taken much damage in the previous battle, and was able to dodge the massive mace with the skin of his teeth. Sadly, the magic that was protecting Dergonu still had not dissipated, and made a counterattack impossible.
"Valmore, get back!" Hearing the voice of his comrade Kingdomcome, Valmore did as he asked and jumped away from Dergonu.
"Scatter!"As Kingdomcome shouted that, the bolts fired from his crossbow suddenly started detonating mid air, firing smaller spikes all around them. The circle spinning around Dergonu was unable to stop all the small fragments, and several of them dug into his body, damaging his barrier. It didn't seem like the impact was very powerful, so the spikes didn't break his skin, but at the very least his barrier was damaged.
"You little prick!" Shouting, Dergonu slammed his mace into the ground, and a great blue wave of lightning traced over the ground, moving towards Kingdomcome.
"Like I'll let you do that!" Valmore, who had been standing a few meters away, jumped in between the attack and Kingdomcome. The electricity hit his body and it felt like his entire body got lit on fire. Fighting through the pain, Valmore shook his head and clenched his pickaxe hard in his right hand.
"T-This is nothing you bastard..." Trying to shake of the damage done to him, Valmore took a unsteady step forward.
"Tch." Clicking his tongue, Kingdomcome aimed his crossbow up in the air and fired several shots up into nothing. As the bolts had moved a decent way up into the sky, he snapped his fingers, and a loud explosion made Dergonu and Nimbus look up. From the sky, hundreds of smaller spikes were raining down towards the two. In return, the attack had drained nearly all the remaining strength in Kingdomcome's body. He wasn't very good with magic. The crossbow itself was the thing that let him fire so many bolts without loading in ammo. It was a weapon charged with Nosebleed's energy. But in order to use more flashy attacks, the user had to charge his or her own energy into the weapon, something that completely drained Kingdomcome. In his already wounded state, two such attacks was the limit.
Meanwhile, the spikes were raining down over the two team Kaguya members. Nimbus managed to make a shield above himself before the spikes hit, but Dergonu was not as lucky. A chunk of the oncoming spikes dug into his skin, making his entire body scream in pain.
"Guh ...." Letting out a pained sound through clenched teeth, Dergonu fell to his knees, using his mace to keep his body somewhat steady.
"Raaawr!" Charging at Dergonu, Valmore lifted his Pickaxe up high. As Valmore attacked Dergonu with all his might, Dergonu had no choice but to use his arm as a guard against the attack. The twin-tipped pickaxe bore deep into his arm, and left two gaping holes in the flesh. Blood poured out from the open wound as Dergonu grasped it and screamed in pain. Sadly, after having taken a lot of damage from the attack he blocked for Kingdomcome, Valmore was not able to dodge the lightning bolt approaching from his side. Two thick lightning bolts hit his chest from the side and tore his torso open. He was lifted off the ground and his body split in two, each piece landing a few meters away.
Kingdomcome, who had almost lost consciousness because of exhaustion, was lying still a little further away. Dergonu had gotten to his feet and moved over to the immobile foe. Lifting his mace awkwardly with one hand, he finished off the team Nosebleed member. After, he once again fell to his knees. Blood loss and pain was pushing him to the brink of losing consciousness.
Team Nosebleed, Valmore (REAL) and Kingdomcome (CLONE)-DEAD END
"Looks like Maxel is out huh? Never thought they would actually manage to take down that mute bastard. Well, whatever. Time to make myself useful."
Approaching the battlefield quickly, Babiker stealthily moved towards the centre of the action. His feet did not make a sound despite his swift pace, and he readied his weapons for battle. Coming to a stop next to a fallen team Kaguya member, he checked to see if he was dead. It seemed like he was still breathing.
"Seems like you have had a bad day kid." As Dergonu heard the sudden voice, he instinctively reached for his mace.
"Left hand - Moon, first strike!" As he shouted that, the blue blade wielded in his left hand shimmered, and he smashed his weapon down into the mace at an incredible speed. The mace was completely destroyed on impact.
"Right hand - Sun, first strike!" This time attacking with his right hand, Babiker was about to finish of Dergonu, when a blue light coming from his side made him jump backwards. Something hit the ground where he had been standing, and exploded in a mass of blue sparks and black smoke.
"Heh. Looks like he wasn't alone, huh? Name is Babiker. I'll be severing your spine today. Nice to meet'cha." As Babiker introduced himself, Nimbus fired another set of lightning bolts at his target.
"Whoa! How rude!"
"Insolent pest!" Speaking in an angry tone, Nimbus held out both his hands and created a big magic circle, sending several small rays of lightning towards his opponent.
"Heh. Right hand - sun, fourth strike." The blade on his right hand glowed brightly, and Babiker simply mowed down all of the rays like they were nothing. He then casually cracked his neck and sighed.
"You know, I've been waiting for my turn to fight for days now. But now that I am out here, I have to say ... This is kind of boring."
"Well then, let me end your boredom quickly." Moving his hands around in the air in a skillful manner, Nimbus drew a sigil in the air in blue writing. The sigil started glowing, and soon after, a crack in the air itself appeared in its centre. Holding his hand up towards the sigil, Nimbus' hand was enveloped in blue lightning that oozed out from the cracks. After a few seconds, Nimbus pulled out a longsword made out of pure lightning from the air, and the sigil disappeared right after.
"I'll use this to turn you into dust."
"... You might not want to fight me in close combat buddy."
Ignoring Babiker's taunting words, Nimbus charged, holding the sword out in front of him. The blade was light as air, and created out of pure energy, making it a very strong weapon. Nimbus struck at his opponent a few times to test out the weapon. It was so light, wielding it was almost a task in itself. But in return, attacking with extreme speed was a simple manner. Launching a flurry of attacks against Babiker, Nimbus advanced forward. The weapon made a crackling sound as it moved through the air. Each time he struck at Babiker, he moved a little faster as he got used to wielding the weapon. Babiker started parrying using only his left hand, but after a while, he started using both weapons to deflect the onslaught of sword strikes. The two clashed against each other for a good minute without either landing a decisive hit.
"Eyyy, not bad! But still. You're kind of slow." Babiker avoided the oncoming strike by moving backwards, and then readied his left hand for a counterattack.
"Left hand - moon, eighth strike!" As his left weapon glowed with incredible intensity, Babiker struck at Nimbus, the blade moving so fast, it was pretty much impossible to see it. Still, Nimbus just barely had time to react, and held up his own weapon to parry. But even though the attack seemingly came from the front, suddenly a strong impact to his side made Nimbus scream in pain. He walked back a few steps and looked at his opponent in surprise.
"An afterimage. My attacks are ranked from one through ten. The one's above seven are usually so fast, most people can't see them. I have to give it to you though, you almost got it."
Nimbus' side was throbbing, and warm blood was slowly oozing from a cut left from the attack.
"Well then, let's see if you can get this one." Bringing his right hand forward and closing his eyes, Babiker prepared for another attack.
"Like I'll let you do that!" Nimbus leapt forward and swung his sword at Babiker with all his might. Babiker simply moved to the side and retaliated.
"Right hand - sun, ninth strike."
An overwhelming force pushed Nimbus forward, as something heavy struck his back, despite the fact that Babiker was right in front of him just a second ago. His entire body was screaming in pain, and he was completely unable to do anything as he was thrown forward. The sound of bones cracking and his own screams were the only things he could hear. Nimbus never got up again...
Meanwhile, Babiker was clutching his own chest, barely able to stand upright.
"H-Heh... Guess I forgot to mention that my own body can barely handle more than one attack above eight..." As his knees gave in, he lost the strength in his body and hit the ground with a thump.
Satsuki had gotten separated from her teammates after the pillar of light went out, and had ended up right outside the cave where Kaguya had set up a temporary base. The entire battlefield was consumed in chaos. Ice, lightning, screams and explosions. Satsuki simply sat in silence looking at the spectacle, uncertain of what she should do.
"For starters, let's try to find Deep Blue and ..." Before she could finish the sentence, she sensed a presence behind her. Spinning around and facing its origin, she saw a male warrior from team Kaguya. He was using the wall of the cave for support, and looked quite weak.
"Huh... Guess I'll deal with you first." Drawing one of her hatchets, she moved towards the opponent and tried to hit him with her axe. Surprisingly though, as the axe was about to hit, a thin layer of fire blocked it, and a sudden increase in heat made Satsuki take a quick step back. As she once again looked at her opponent, she noticed that his eyes were completely red; blazing, like a fire was lit in them.
"Seems you won't go down that easy. Wait ... whoa..." As she glanced at his hands, she noticed that they were badly burnt. In fact, the entirety of his arms were completely charred... How had he been able to deflect her attack in such a condition?
"Did you get lucky..?" Trying to attack him once more, the same thing repeated itself. She got close and was about to hit him, when a sudden increase in temperature made her jump backwards. It was as if he was literally on fire...
"It... Burns..." He muttered, and lifted his hands before his own eyes.
"The ... Contract... Is... Not... Over..." Suddenly, his upper body erupted in flames.
"W-What the hell?!" Taking another step back, Satsuki looked at the scene in shock.
....
Something was clawing at Eclipsed's sanity, forcing him to move against his will. His upper body was enveloped in flames, but for some reason, it didn't hurt. What was going on?..
His right arm started moving even though he wasn't doing anything. A fireball flew towards Satsuki, and she was barely able deflect it with her axe. Two more followed, and she repeated her previous defense. Now, both of Eclipsed's hands were moving, and the fireballs were more frequent, sending four or five at a time. Satsuki was having trouble deflecting all the attacks, as they increased in numbers. Feeling his legs move, Eclipsed started approaching her and struck at her with his charred left arm. She sidestepped, and cut at his extended arm with a hatchet. Despite the fact that the weapon hit, he felt nothing. A small cut was made in his charred arm, but no blood came out.
"Seems your barrier isn't working anymore." As Satsuki said that, she struck at Eclipsed several times. Some of the attacks hit his torso, some hit his arms, and some hit his shoulders. Still, the cuts did not draw blood.
"Just ... Just die you monster!" As Satsuki took a big step forward, she used all her strength to strike at Eclipsed's neck. The hatchet approached with great speed, but before it hit, it caught fire and melted in her hand.
"T-This is just insane..."
"Must ... Honor... The ... Contract..." As Eclipsed said that, he took a step forward and wrapped his arms around Satsuki. As the scorching heat started burning her skin, she screamed at the top of her lungs. But, there was no escape from the death grip. Slowly but surely, her body caught fire, and she started losing consciousness.
As they stood there, the flames flickering like a bonfire, Eclipsed opened his mouth and chanted:
"Shimmer, spear of Helios!
Flicker, and pierce all that stands before you,
burn down all resistance and turn flesh to ashes!"
As the chant was finished, the ground under his feet broke apart, and a spear of pure fire erupted from below. Enveloping both people in the blazing heat, the spear lasted for several seconds, and once it perished, nothing was but a pile of ashes.
Team Nosebleed, Satsuki (REAL)-DEAD END
Team Kaguya, Eclipsed-DEAD END
....
"Seems the fire spirit truly did drive the kid mad, huh?" Kaguya muttered to himself as he gazed at the battlefield below. He was sitting on a throne in the air; the throne was simply floating there, not supported by anything.
He had lost two of his warriors in the battle today, but was not able to do anything. If he attempted to approach the battle, a hooded creature with yellow eyes would stop him.
"So the rules at the start were complete bullshit..? All that about letting us fight in any way we want..? Seems we are being saved for the big finale, huh?"
As the sun set on the battle, and the moon peaked out, a cold breeze swept across the battlefield. Another day had passed. Many had already lost their lives, at the end was drawing near...
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We currently have a TLC on the project, however, due to him being very busy with other projects, we need one more for the team.
The game is not very long, and the language used in it is fairly fluffy, but we are still looking for someone who are well versed in the Japanese language.
As the translator on the project, I have to be honest and say that my personal level of Japanese is not top tier. (That is not to say it's bad of course.)
The game itself is, like I said, not very difficult and fairly short, so I am confident I can produce a good translation for it, however I do find myself making small mistakes from time to time, (fairly small, usually insignificant mistakes, but I want the final product to be as professional as possible.) Also, every now and then I find a line I can't really make sense of. (For refrence, this has happened 2 times during the translation of over 10% of the game, so it is not a common occurrence.) I will then mark the sentence in the script and make sure the TLC will be able to pay close attention to that particular line, in order to make sure there are no uneccessary mistakes in the translation before it goes into editing.
So, if you are interested in helping out, leave a comment or send me a PM on the forum. Alternatively you can reach me at [email protected]
The team has several hardworking individuals on it, and I am very motivated to get this translation done.
Let us know if you are interested in helping out!
Link to the project page:
Would you rather read the chapters in a PDF document? Click here!
Chapter 1:
Chapter 2:
Chapter 3: (Word count, 4439)
The Last GM Standing Chapter 4 (Word count, 3984)
The fires of hell
The air was scorching hot, making breathing in itself a task. Large amounts of pitch black smoke rose from the inextinguishable fires that raged throughout the battlefield. The ground was stained in fresh blood, and the corpses of several brave warriors were spread around in the burning hot sand.
......
Eclipsed was making his way towards the sound of a woman screaming. Just seconds ago he had been searching for his wounded comrades when he could hear the sound of blades clashing and people shouting. Then, a terrible scream resounded throughout the desert, followed by silence. And there, standing over the corpses of two figures dressed in Nosebleed's robes, stood a member from Team Down. The man was holding a blood stained katana. His green garb was also showered in fresh blood. The dead man at his feet was headless, and the woman lying a few feet away was submerged in a great pool of blood.
The man turned his head towards Eclipsed and stared right at him.
"Tch..." Eclipsed clicked his tongue over being discovered. It had been such a great opportunity to perform a surprise attack. But it did not matter. Eclipsed did not waver and kept on approaching his enemy, Tiagofvarela. Seeing as the man was a general, he was not an easy opponent. Eclipsed had to attack with all his strength in order to win. He had to use... That.
"O keeper of flame, creator of light,
thou who maintains life itself,
lend me the power to set ablaze a thousand enemies,
bestow upon me the strength of thee,
O keeper of flame, creator of light."
Coming to a sudden stop mere meters away from his target, Eclipsed chanted such words of power and brought his hands together, as if praying. Upon hearing his opponent chanting, Tiago launched an attack, but Eclipsed's body was enveloped in a vortex of fire just as the blade was about to connect. The katana bounced of the flames as if they were solid, and a deep red flame started burning though the metal. The tip of the blade started melting quickly upon being scorched by the immense heat.
"W-What the ... You little..." Expressing his irritation and surprise at the sudden turn of events, Tiago took a step back and picked up the spear of the fallen Mitchhamilton. The weapon was stained in wet blood, but otherwise in good condition.
A few seconds later, the vortex of flame subsided. In the spot where Eclipsed was standing, a massive sword had appeared out of nowhere. The blade was completely orange, glittering like the coal at the bottom of a fire. The blade was more than two meters long, and looked almost impossible to handle. The hilt was formed like a claw of some monstrous creature, and the entire weapon was shining so brightly it almost hurt Tiago's eyes just looking at it. It was a scary sight indeed. Fighting against such a weapon on his own would be reckless. Eclipsed raised the massive greatsword over his head and brought his arms down. The simple motion created a giant wave of flame that washed over a big area in front of him. Tiago swiftly sidestepped, but a part of his leg was caught in the scorching heat. The energy still left in his barrier withered and faltered, leaving his leg badly burnt.
"Kuuh..." Wielding another person's weapon and facing off against an immensely powerful flame incarnation, Tiago was truly in a tough spot. There was no choice. He had to call for help. Bringing his hands to the warm sand below, he quickly drew two symbols with the tips of his fingers. Because the weapon Eclipsed was wielding required such an immense amount of power, he was not able to attack again right away, and Tiago was able to finish creating the two summoning circles. After uttering a few words in order to activate the spell, the two circles erupted into pure light and tore a hole in the earth itself. Tiago's intent was to summon three of his warriors to the battlefield, but right as he started calling for them, Eclipsed was ready to attack once more. Failing to keep his concentration as another wave of flame approached him, the summoning spell went out of control and pulled several unwanted people into the battle...
...
"Ahh, what the hell just happened? I was just about to kill some idiot from Nosebleed's army... Ohhh, wait a minute. Looks like I still get that chance after all."
Gijimu, Team Kaguya.
"... Hey, Tiago, are you the one who called us here?.. And here I was thinking I'd get a day off from this fighting..."
Turnip Sensei, Team Down.
"Hmm... Well, I have nothing better to do. Might as well join the party."
Valmore, Team Nosebleed.
Because of the chaotic summoning spell, several people from different teams were pulled into the fight.
Looking at the spectacle in front of him with a carefree expression, Valmore lifted up his pickaxe and faced towards the closest enemy. Valmore's weapon of choice was rather peculiar; a miner's pickaxe with two spikes at each end instead of one.
"Well then, time to crack some skulls open." Performing a big swing with his pickaxe, Valmore smashed the weapon into the ground where Turnip Sensei from Team Down had just been standing. Barely avoiding the strike, Turnip Sensei retaliated with a hard punch. The attack didn't reach Valmore, so he did not even bother dodging it. But as Turnip Sensei's fist stopped, a powerful shockwave connected with Valmore and threw his body several meters back. The punch had been mixed with magic, and had created a really strong shockwave.
"Huh. Now that's a cool trick." Suddenly hearing a voice coming from right behind him, Turnip Sensei brought back his elbows with great force, trying to hit the person who spoke. But both blows hit nothing but air.
"Hah. Can't hit me with something so simple I'm afraid." The figure of a person dressed in red appeared before him. It was Gijimu from Team Kaguya. He held no weapons, just like Turnip Sensei, and was standing ready in a battle stance. His left arm was held in front of his body in a guarding position, and his right arm as resting right next to his waist, ready to strike at his opponents.
"Now you've done it!!!" Valmore had gotten back on his feet and was once again rushing towards Turnip Sensei.
"A free for all huh? This should be fun." As Gijimu commented on the situation, Valmore reached their location. With violent movements, he attacked both Gijimu and Turnip Sensei. The pickaxe moved swiftly through the air, and was actually a little hard to dodge for Turnip Sensei. Gijimu on the other hand, nimbly jumped away from the weapon and brought his fist into Valmore's side. The punch bounced off Valmore's barrier, but cracks started forming in the pink shield, indicating that it was running out of energy. It looked like Gijimu was skilled in hand to hand combat. Valmore was trained in fighting with a weapon and lastly Turnip Sensei used magic in the form of shockwaves. A rather obscure mix.
The three clashed once again, and the ground shook as several battles unfolded at the same time in the blazing hot desert.
...
Kingdomcome Team Nosebleed vs Flutterz Team Down vs Duyy Team Kaguya.
Flutterz was running away from the relentless rain of crossbow bolts. His enemy was positioned nearly 50 meters away, and it was impossible to get close to him. Flutterz used a sword, and although he was fairly well versed in magic, it was difficult to find any openings to cast spells due to the constant onslaught of bolts. His opponent, Kingdomcome from Team Nosebleed, must have been using magic to operate the crossbow, as the bolts were fired nonstop with great accuracy. Also caught in the crossfire was Duyy from Team Kaguya. She was doing a good job of dodging the crossbow bolts, but she was also incapable of getting any closer to the attacker.
"Come on .... Is there no way to get an opening?!" Cursing to himself, Flutterz knocked down two oncoming projectiles with his sword. The entire desert was enveloped in a blazing heat, created by both the hot sun and the gigantic sword of fire that Eclipsed from Team Kaguya was using. Eclipsed was quite a distance away, fighting a battle of his own, but the heat still reached all the way over to Flutterz.
Suddenly, a loud rumbling made Flutterz' body jump in surprise. As he turned over to see what was happening, a massive wall of solid rock had erupted from the earth, and was blocking the path between himself and Kingdomcome. It seemed that the person who made the wall was none other than Duyy. How did she find the time to summon such a powerful protective spell with the relentless attacks constantly interrupting her? Well, no matter. This was his chance.
Firmly grabbing his sword, Flutterz started rushing towards the massive rock wall. Kingdomcome had started moving as well, and leapt up in the air, running up the wall. He must have been using magic to make his feet stick to the surface.
"Tch. At this rate, he'll get an even better sniping position." The wall was a good 20 meters tall, and if Kingdomcome got up there, he would have a perfect location to snipe everyone on the ground. Knowing he had to stop him, Flutterz finally had a few seconds to cast a spell.
Stopping in his tracks, Flutterz closed his eyes and aimed his arms at the top of the rock wall, where Kingdomcome was headed. Gathering his energy and focusing it into his fingertips, he cast a quick but powerful spell.
A big magic circle appeared before him, and hundreds of tiny pellets of pure energy were fired at Kingdomcome with immense speed and power. The perfectly circular pellets were shining brightly in a pink light. A massive cloud of smoke erupted from the stone wall as it broke apart from the attack. Large chunks of rock fell from the wall and crashed into the sand. Focusing on maintaining the spell, Flutterz did not move from his spot, shooting down any rubble that fell towards him with the energy pellets. The spell lasted for a good minute. As nearly nothing was left of the great rock wall, Flutterz let go of the spell, and the magic circle vanished. The feeling of a massive amount of energy leaving his body made Flutterz feel tired. Because of the smoke and rubble, it was impossible to see if Kingdomcome had survived the attack. Before Flutterz had time to scout the area though, Duyy suddenly jumped him. Throwing four great boulders from the rubble at Flutterz, she was trying to use the opportunity to take him out right after he cast a spell. Sneaky move.
There was no way he had time to cast another spell, and so he had to use his sword to slice the stones in two. His blade was sharp and imbued with magic, so it was no trouble. Problem was, Duyy was only using the rocks as a distraction, and had been charging a new spell during the time Flutterz used to deflect the boulders. Duyy brought her hands together and chanted a spell, then smashed them both into the sand below. Because she was still quite some distance from Flutterz, he was incapable of hearing her chant and had no idea what kind of spell was coming. Right after, a great deal of big spikes made out of rock sprouted from the ground. The spikes started right in front of her and quickly moved towards Flutterz. There was no way for him to avoid them on the ground. He had to grow wings and fly away to get away from them, something he obviously couldn't do.
"... Crap."
As the wave of rock spikes reached his feet, the sensation of his own bones being crushed to bits made him want to throw up. An unbearable pain welled up from his legs as the rock smashed through his knees.
"GRUAAAAA!" Letting out a feral scream, Flutterz tried to move from the spot but was completely immobilized. The last thing he saw was a blue light; the flickering of a crossbow bolt moving towards his face from a distance.
So he did surivive huh? ... With that thought, Flutterz' consciousness faded.
....
Duyy was looking at the impaled body of Team Down's flutterz. Her surprise attack after Flutterz cast a spell had been successful, and he had been crushed to death by her spikes. Or so she thought.
"Game over sweetheart." As a voice coming from behind made her spin around awkwardly, five crossbow bolts ripped through her barrier and pierced her chest.
"Kuuh..." Warm blood was running down her body as her legs gave in under her.
"Y-You... B-Bastard..." As she let out her final words through clenched teeth, she collapsed.
After confirming that both targets were indeed dead, Kingdomcome sat down in the sand and started treating his wounds. A large amount of the energy pellets had hit his body earlier, and he had broken several ribs, as well as his left arm. He had barely been able to fire his crossbow after. Lucky for him, the two enemies had thought him dead, and he had gotten a chance to shoot them from a distance.
"Guah... This hurts more than I thought it would ... Just going to take a quick rest." Talking to himself in a strained voice, Kingdomcome let his body fall backwards into the soft sand and took some time to collect his strength.
Dergonu and Eclipsed Team Kaguya, vs Totodile and Tiagofvarela Team Down.
Totodile was standing next to Tiago, creating a shield to protect both himself and his general. Totodile was a great magic user, and had been summoned by Tiago in order to protect him against the scorching hellfire that Eclipsed was wielding. The power inside the blade Eclipsed had summoned went completely out of control, and Eclipsed was no longer capable of containing it, sending massive waves of fire in all directions. Dergonu, Eclipsed's teammate, was also having trouble staying away from the flames due to their chaotic nature.
"Totodile, I'm going in for another attack, back me up."
"Gotcha." Bringing his hands together and concentrating on his surroundings, Totodile made waves of water appear from magic circles positioned throughout the battlefield. The weapon Eclipsed was using was a truly powerful fire incarnation, meaning mere water wasn't able to extinguish it, but it could at the very least weaken it temporarily. Sending the water in a giant wave towards Eclipsed, Totodile focused his attacks on the massive blade. As the water collided with the flaming weapon, a deafening hissing sound followed by big puffs of smoke were produced. Tiago rushed towards his enemy, spear in hand. He got up close to Eclipsed and jabbed at his chest. The spear made contact with Eclipsed's skin and pierced it, leaving a small hole. Eclipsed jumped backwards just as the spear hit, and because of that he had avoided a lethal hit. Still, the wound was bleeding quite badly.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Totodile prepared another magical attack. He focused on the two nearest magic circles and created large arrows out of water. But ...
"Raaaaaawr!" Suddenly, a shout coming from his left made him lose control of the magic. Then, a strong impact to his entire left side made his body scream in pain. His barrier was crushed and several bones were broken as Dergonu's massive mace hit him by surprise. Totodile was thrown backwards, but somehow managed to land on his feet.
"Y-You ..." Pointing his still functional hand at Dergonu, Totodile started charging another magical attack. He knew there was no time for something too powerful. Firing a small blade made out of water at his opponent, he tried to push Dergonu back. Sadly, the giant mace knocked the magic out of the air fairly simply, and Dergonu rushed in for another attack. Totodile tried to jump to the side, but his left leg wouldn't budge. The giant mace collided with his head, and the world around him went pitch black...
....
Tiago was doing his best keeping Eclipsed in check. The massive weapon of hellish fire was completely out of this world, and every attack sent massive waves of flames towards his body. He had been able to diminish its effect with Totodile's magic, but for some reason it had suddenly stopped. The situation did not look good... Tiago had managed to wound Eclipsed two times, cutting his right arm and his chest, but neither of the wounds were fatal. It was clear that Eclipsed was almost out of energy from using the weapon for so long, but Tiago couldn't let his guard down for a second. One single direct hit, and he would be turned into ashes right then and there.
"Kuh..." Trying to fend off the immense heat, Tiago clenched his teeth and focused all his remaining strength on simply staying upright. Eclipsed was moving really slowly... All Tiago needed to do was land one more hit ... Just one ... More...
"Damnit..." It was too late. Tiago's barrier had already been broken earlier in the fight, meaning he had essentially no protection against the heat without Totodile there to help. His body was completely burnt, and he was no longer capable of standing.
"T-This is how it ends, huh?" Looking up at the sky, a bitter smile spread across Tiago's face.
"I-I served you well, right Lord Down?.." As he asked that question, the giant flaming sword moved towards his defenseless body and a massive explosion of fire and smoke enveloped the area.
...
Team Down, Tiagofvarela and Totodile- DEAD END
....
"Good job Eclipsed. You outdid yourself." Looking up at the source of the sudden voice, Eclipsed slightly raised his head. His entire body was aching. He was unable to move much, and his eyesight was completely blurred. All he saw white haze.
"K-Kaguya...Sama?..." Squeezing out those words, Eclipsed felt his consciousness slowly fade away.
Kaguya caught Eclipsed as he lost consciousness.
"You there, take him back to base." Speaking to Dergonu in an indifferent tone of voice, Kaguya handed Eclipsed's body over. Then, he turned around and gripped the giant greatsword lying a few feet away. Because the summoner had lost control over it, it would soon explode unless someone sent it back to hell form which it came. Gripping the hilt tightly, Kaguya closed his eyes and funneled some of his energy into the blade. The scorching flames meant nothing to him, and soon after, the blade vanished in thin air. Eclipsed had done something extremely reckless, summoning such a might weapon on his own. Even someone like Kaguya would struggle if he wielded it for too long.
"Well then... Let's go take a nap." Not caring about the fights still going on around him, Kaguya created a portal in front of him and walked through it, appearing back into his base.
Valmore Team Nosebleed vs Turnip Sensei Team Down vs Gijimu Team Kaguya
Turnip Sensei blocked an oncoming fist and retaliated with a shockwave. The magical attack was dodged by the swift melee fighter Gijimu, but the more sluggish Valmore was struck in the chest. With Valmore knocked to the ground for the time being, Gijimu and Turnip Sensei traded blows. Gijimu was much faster, but in return, his attacks did not contain as much strength as Turnip Sensei's. In addition, Turnip Sensei was a magic user, where as Gijimu used only physical attacks. Twisting his body in mid air, Gijimu brought his leg back and hit Turnip Sensei in the face. Gijimu followed up by performing a perfect backflip and landed calmly on his feet. Sadly for him, right after, a pickaxe dug into his foot.
"Hahaha! Got you, you stupid ninja!" It seemed Valmore had pretended to be down in order to get a sneak attack in against the swift Gijimu. The pickaxe had gone through his barrier and dug a deep hole his foot. Gijimu said nothing, and simply kicked Valmore's head with his good leg.
"OW! What the ... How the hell are you still standing you little..." Before Valmore could finish his sentence, a shockwave approached from the left. Since his leg was caught by the pickaxe, Gijimu was also unable to dodge it. The shockwave blew both Valmore and Gijimu over, making them collapse in the warm sand. Turnip Sensei sprinted towards Valmore and grabbed him by his collar, lifting him up in the air.
"L-Let me go you big brute..."
"Shut up!" Turnip Sensei shouted as he smashed his own forehead into Valmore's face. A loud crack could be heard, signaling that Valmore's nose broke.
"OWW!" As Valmore screamed in pain, Turnip Sensei lifted him above his head and threw him away. Valmore, who was flying through the air, suddenly smiled. There was blood streaming down his face due to the broken nose, making his smile seem even more crazy. Turnip Sensei suddenly realized why he was smiling. As Valmore was tossed, he had brought his hand holding his pickaxe upwards. Because of the velocity of the throw, the arm had moved quickly, and the pickaxe dug into Turnip Sensei's throat. As Valmore flew away, the pickaxe ripped out a chunk of Turnip Sensei's trachea, making large amounts of blood spew out. Valmore hit the ground a few meters back, looking at his blood stained pickaxe.
"Well, one down, one to g..." Before he could finish the sentence, a fist approached his face and hit him right in the nose.
"AAAAHHH! FOR THE LOVE OF..." Holding his already broken nose, trying to stop the bleeding, Valmore shouted. Gijimu threw three more punches towards Valmore, who was unable to dodge. They hit him hard, and made his feet give in beneath him. But, because Gijimu had a big hole in his foot, he wasn't able to move too fast himself, and Valmore hit him hard in the side with his pickaxe, just as he fell. Blood shot out from the wound.
"Nod tho tchough tnow arthe you?" Trying to speak with his beat up face, Valmore looked up at Gijimu. The pickaxe had made a deep wound in his chest, and Gijimu was covering it with his hands, trying to stop the bleeding. Preparing his pickaxe for a finishing blow, Valmore got ready to attack again. As he moved his arm in an arc approaching Gijimu, he felt a strong pain in his chest. As he looked down, he saw a hand covered in blood that had pierced through his rib cage, and was inside his chest. The pain was unbearable and he let out a pained scream. Gijimu pulled his hand out of Valmore's chest and staggered backwards.
Unable to speak properly because the attack had destroyed parts of his lungs, Valmore thought to himself...
"I'll be back you bastard... Just you wait..."
With that, his heart stop beating and darkness enveloped his world.
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