...
Right as I stepped in to the Waterfall of Dreams, I was met with the mesmerizing view as if I just saw it for the first time
"Still never gets old..."
Lura and Mashiro caught up
"I win, again! Well its to be expected anyways"
Lura said, as Mashiro smashes her hands down the ground, surprisingly not breaking it
"If you only didn't use your mist as a means of travel!"
"I'd reckon I still would win though?"
"Demicats have better physique than Lurachnids! You'll definitely lose!"
"Riiiight, Leader on the other hand though, is quite faster than us"
"Its because I head on first"
"No, no, even if we went together at once, you would still win in a race"
"Why did I suddenly get involved in your girls' games?"
"Hehe, that's because-!"
Suddenly, Lura stopped talking
"? Something wrong?"
"...Its nothing, I-I just thought of what you said just now, why did I suddenly bring Leader up into our games? Hahaha..."
"So, Rui sama, what exactly made you go back to this pce so suddenly?"
As if she got recovered from her devastating loss, Mashiro asked what my intentions were
"Like I said earlier, I wanted to spruce up the pce. Since you're going to be more frequent in here from now on, I figured that its also time to clean this pce"
"Clean up? Isn't it already as clean as it is, Leader?"
"From the looks of it, yes, but if you look closely to every detail..."
"...?"
"Look! The grass are taller than they were used to! The ke's clearness obviously dropped! The waterfall's nding clearly has mold growing on it-"
I kept rambling on and on as the two had a conversation of their own
"Oh...I didn't know leader is keen to those things..."
"He is! That's one of the things I also like about him"
"Uwa- You're really that deep on loving him, huh?"
"Hm? Aren't you as well?"
Lura gave a light smile
"Of course I am...its Leader after all..."
"Mhmm!"
And now its gone back to me, who didn't notice that they were paying half attention
"-The top part of the waterfall needs to be checked as well for any blockages or unnecessary trash, the surrounding area needs to be checked as well, and the fishes in the ke should be checked right now, as they are too lively- wait..."
I looked to where an abundance of fish was...
...only to see something alongside with the trollfishes that caught my eye
"! I can't believe it!"
"...?"
The two girls looked at each other
"There's a lot of Metarouts out there!"
"! Rui sama! we should get them while they haven't-"
"No, let me handle it, its over once they turn their body into metal, it'll be inedible to eat"
"You did tell me that a couple of times, but I can help too!"
"..."
"Lura! You'll help as well, right?"
"..."
"...? Lura...?"
"?! Ah, Y-Yeah, I can"
"...?"
"No, let me at least do this, I wanted to test out something with them, so this is the perfect opportunity"
Once Mashiro saw the determination in my eyes, she knew she had to concede. She smiled as she complied
"I see, we'll be watching here then"
"But I'll have to go back first, we can't bring them all without something to pce them unto after all"
"All...? W-We can get them all?!"
I looked at Mashiro with a guaranteed look on my face
"Metarout dish...and many of them...i-its an all you can eat!"
She says as I imagined her drooling in her thoughts
I then headed back to our pce without any more word...
...
"Lura! Rui sama will cook a lot of Metarout meat tonight!"
"..."
"Lura...?"
"E-Eh? Ah...Did you say something just now?"
"You seem to be out of it, is there something wrong?"
"Well..."
"! Is it them?"
"Yeah. A new set of individuals again...but this time, they're tough"
"Tough?"
"Especially that guy in a red suit...he's tough..."
"Guy in a red suit...?"
"Him and his party are handling the illusion with a little bit of struggle"
"But they can't break the illusion, right?"
"Of course they can't...but why do I get the feeling that they're doing it on purpose?"
"...?"
"...?! Oh no!"
"Something wrong?"
"T...They just broke the illusion!"
"What?!"
"This is bad news! Mashiro! That guy is-"
It was then, that the mist barrier surrounding the Waterfall, shattered into pieces
"?!"
"The barrier...shattered...?"
In front of them, was a party of four adventurers, with the guy in a red suit, acting as the leader
"That took a toll on me, but I had to use Dispel on there to remove the illusion"
"Dispel..."
A spell that disrupts the mana flow, method, and applications of any element, rendering them useless, thus eliminating its effect...nowadays, no one has the possession of dispel due to its inexpinable nature of how to use it, especially ordinary adventurers...
...so that only means-
"A Hero..."
"?! H-He's-"
"That guy in a red suit...is one of the heroes, Mashiro"
"A hero that has a Dispel?!"
"Most likely bestowed upon him, but I can tell that spell took a toll on his mana, he probably can't use it that many times now"
"But he's still a hero! Heroes have tremendous stamina and mana don't they?!"
"Are you hearing yourself? We're Divine Lurachnid and Demicat species! We can exactly handle them!"
"S-Shouldn't we go back and tell Rui sama about this?"
"Are you really saying that we should leave this pce that our Leader cherish very much to these goons?!"
"Uuu..."
Mashiro hesistates for a moment, then finally agrees
"Fine! But I don't think Rui sama will want us to hurt them that badly!"
"Don't worry, we just need them to be incapacitated, that's enough"
"That's not right!"
"Are you two done yapping?! Let's just get this over with! Lucas! Misa! Cain! Why the hell you bozos are taking too damn long?!"
"Shut up! I had to put markings on every path we took!"
"I-I drank a few bottles of mana potion..."
"..."
"Hoi! Cain! What's your excuse?!"
"...I just don't want to be a part of this"
"HUH?! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE AND DO YOUR THING!"
"*Sigh*...what a drag..."
"A vanguard...a support...a healer...and a mage...?"
The other three aren't as strong as the vanguard...but looks can be deceiving...
...There's probably more to it than meets the eye
Lura quietly casted an illusion spell behind their backs
"You better keep your asses moving! I'm about to charge!"
The guy in the red suit says, as he struck down his sword on the guard
"DISPEL!"
"?!"
It was then that a rge scale dispel spell radiated throughout the area, removing Lura's effectiveness in the battle
"That bastard!"
"Did I ruin your tricks? Sad to say but you matched up with me! Of all people!"
"Tsk!"
"This area is quite beautiful though, I guess madam Wind Pilr does have a feminine side to her after all"
"Wind Pilr?"
"It is beautiful, but what strikes my eye the most are those two beautiful girls!"
Lucas said, as he creepily looked at Mashiro and Lura
"Ugh! He's so gross!"
"I like to lick that girl over there, acting hard to get, I know you'll fall for my charms pretty soon"
He says as he gave a flying kiss on Lura, which Lura shivers
"Hey, Cain! You owe me one, remember?!"
"..."
"That said, I really can't do anything at this point, Mashiro you're the only one who-"
"I know"
"-...?"
Seems that Mashiro, was furious on Lura's eyes
"I'll never forgive that guy who's looking at us disgustingly!"
"I-I see..."
Lura let out a sigh of relief, as if she's gd that she wasn't on the other side
"Enough chit-chatting, Lucas, gimme the buffs, Misa, you focus on the healing, Cain...just do your job!"
"You better not mess this up! Especially they're one of a kind species!"
Lucas said, drooling as he chant multiple buffs on the vanguard
"Boost Defense III, Boost Damage III, Boost Agility III, Enhanced Perception, Fatigue Suppress, Endurance Up, Strengthen!"
"Healing of the fairies!"
"..."
"Lets dance, shall we, miss demicat!"
as the two cshed together, it was then that Lura and the others became the spectators on the battlefield
It was the vanguard that initiated the blow first, but it was Mashiro who was able to throw it back at full force
"?! What the?!"
"...This is it?"
As if Mashiro wasn't even trying, she threw the vanguard back to where he originally was
"..."
"Unlike you, I'm not pying around"
"! Why you!"
The vanguard rushes back at Mashiro for her insulting remarks, this time, sshing Mashiro multiple times in every direction...
...but of course, it was too slow that it was moving at a snail's pace in Mashiro's vision
"...This is the hero I've been avoiding earlier?"
"?!"
Without hesitation, Mashiro broke the vanguard's arm, the sounds of his bones cracking can be heard effortlessly
"! AAAAGH!"
"*Gasp*! H-Hold on, I'll heal you now!"
The healer, Misa, tried to heal the broken bone of the vanguard, but from what it seems, she can only heal 50% of it
"I-Its fractured so-"
"Shut up! I know...*Sigh*..."
"...?"
"Looks like I'll just have to do it"
"Do what?"
The guy only smirked at Mashiro, as he struck down his sword to the ground once more
"BATTLEFIELD AURA!"
A Surge of yellow aura suddenly leaked out from the vanguard's body, causing everything in their pce to glow in his yellow aura
"He isn't even hiding it anymore to the enemy...that guy"
"...he's a hero after all"
"*Sigh*..."
"ALRIGHT! NOW THE REAL BATTLE STARTS"
Mashiro knew that the vanguard got stronger right after what just happened, but kept a calm, collected expression
"YEEHAW!"
!
...
Of course, Mashiro was able to stop the vanguard's blow, but the ground she was standing on got shattered on impact
Moreover, a hint of struggle can be seen as Mashiro tries to get a hold of the vanguard's arm
"Hehehe! Seems like we're on the same level now!"
"..."
"Mashiro, You didn't forget...right?"
Mashiro looked at Lura, with just a smile on her face
"I see...you can do it!"
Mashiro firmly nods
"I wanted to py more with you missy, but you see, we wanted to get the reward as soon as we can"
"Reward...?"
"The reward for revealing this pce, we're the only ones who were able to get to it, so that's a mission complete on our book"
"Hey! No reward can satisfy me if I can't get my hands on those two girls!"
"Sure, go ahead, have your way with them once after Cain has done it"
"...?- ?!"
It was then, that the most silent on their party, actually made a move. It was a rge binding of thick vines that emerged under the ground, leaving no room for Mashiro and Lura to react
"W-What the?! This as tight as my Leader's!"
Just like Lura, Mashiro tried to break free by smashing it, but to no avail
"Its no use, Cain's specialty is his binding, its top quality, but takes a lot of time to prepare"
"So they were merely buying time..."
"Of course I can fight you girls head on, but I already have enough of fighting as it is, especially with that dragon that little missy over there showed to us"
"Tsk...I can't believe I hadn't thought of this...so much for me being a Lurachnid!"
"Its not your fault, Lura, you can't cast your spells either thanks to the dispel"
"...I'll definitely reflect on this...I just hope that our Leader will forgive me for not telling him sooner about this"
"He will! Rui sama's kind!"
Lura let out a smile after Mashiro's statement
"I don't know what you're mumbling about in there, but I'm afraid that I'll have to kill you both right here, right now"
"Wait! At least let me have fun with them first! I deserved to be rewarded for leading this party all the way into this area!"
"*Sigh*...you dirty little pig...at least make it quick for god's sake..."
Lucas then walked towards the two, eyeing them up and down
"B-Both of you...looks so tasty! AND THOSE MELONS!"
He refers to...you know...
"I badly wanna start off with you, you feisty little girl, but this girl on the other hand caught my attention! I've never seen someone so pure looking as you to be that kind of woman in the battlefield!"
Lucas refers to Mashiro, who was looking down at Lucas with soulless eyes
"Ohoho! Just my type! Trying pying hard to get eh?"
Lucas leans in closer as he whispers to Mashiro's ears
"You'll break down sooner or ter...hehehe"
He says, as he slowly reaches his hands for Mashiro's "Melons"
"Hehehehehehehe!"
With all her might, Mashiro couldn't do anything, but shed a tear...
...as her eyes kept closed, something unexpected happen
"...Eh?"
"...?"
Lucas' arms were cut off. It was then that his blood started pouring out
"EEEEEK?! AAAAAH-"
Without giving him much time to grief, his head was cleanly cut off
"?!"
"L...Lucas...?"
"N-NOOOOOO!"
Misa let out a cry, screaming as she doesn't know what had just happened
But no remorse can be seen from Mashiro or Lura, as they had no reason for them to feel bad...
"The only one who can do something like this...is..."
As if Mashiro had just specuted, something ominous filled in the air...
...It was then that a heavy aura started to overshadow the vanguard's aura
"?! What...is this...heavy aura...?"
Trying not to show any cowardice, he looks to the two girls, who were still bind...
...only to see it effortlessly cut off by an unknown force
"WHAT?!"
Even Cain was surprised to what just happened
"Oh no..."
"! It's Rui sama!"
"Yeah...and he's...pissed..."
I walked closer...and closer...as I finally stood behind Mashiro and Lura
"Don't think that after what you just did, you'll be leaving here alive!"
"!"
The vanguard got taken aback, seemingly intimidated, as he knew that this isn't a matter of a fight or flight response anymore...
...It was more of a fight to the death situation...
...
