The Anime Trope System: Stone vs. Viper, #9 a LitRPG (ATS) Read online

  [Yahiko has invoked inquisitor’s authority.]

  [You are being confronted with overwhelming power…]

  [Life and Death. DEFEAT THE INQUISITION.]

  [This may not be a fight you can win… ]

  As Clyde and Yahiko circled each other, the young man processed the most unreasonable quest ever. The Watchers…were sentencing him to die. After all of the effort he put in…

  Yahiko’s katana flashed right into the godling’s face. Except…Clyde caught it with one hand, deadly calm. It cracked. Blood dripped.

  “Time and time again, I keep putting the lives of my friends in danger,” Clyde said. “All of this because of the stone-viper games. Deemed safe and now sentenced to die.” He chuckled. He didn’t intend for a friendship speech, but they…were his family. They kept him from being alone on this planet.

  [Clyde’s HP has dropped to 300%]

  Yahiko pulled back his blade.

  “Take the hand that’s dealt to you kid and own it.”

  Clyde gasped.

  [Yahiko activated Void tier skill: Void god’s crackling bolt.]

  Clyde walked through it, seemingly unaffected. But…

  [Clyde’s HP has dropped to 150%]

  Undeterred, Yahiko swung his blade. Clyde blocked. Then watched as the wind sword shattered. The searing heat of the inquisitor’s stab into his chest made him clench his teeth. He spat blood.

  [Clyde’s HP has dropped to 12%]

  Yet, the godling still grinned, dodging Yahiko’s lightning-fast swings. Come on monologue.

  “You’re clearly not at my level,” the inquisitor said. “Why do you fight? Supreme Princess Tear will be in great care, married to the empress. The Monster Kingdoms will be theirs. Why waste your time with a fight that you cannot win? Do you not have a goal of your own? Is it worth bothering with this?”

  Clyde gazed into the arch demon’s eyes and through his soul, which surprisingly existed. He saw that the commander…held back. The godling had abused Stone Mode many times to take on levels much higher than his, but this was…far above the limit.

  Even if Stone mode removed Clyde from the leveling system, giving him equal footing with many foes, Yahiko’s words implied a threat. One that would cost many lives.

  Void tier skills ate through his health like a weakness.

  Tear’s face flashed through his mind, out of all the times. Her words, her tears, and her heart. But...

  “I think we’re done here,” Yahiko said, sheathing his sword. “Tear has been secured. The Supreme still wants to add a husband into her mix. It will be you or the Viper.”

  The inquisition vanished via Jump.

  [The battle was canceled.]

  Tear was gone…

  Clyde laughed. As if. To think the inquisitors fell for such a rudimentary trick. Trained and proficient his ass. He was just a decoy. Give Asu the call by magic and feels, change her to Tear with Melody’s magic, and make sure the fairy queen didn’t die from his reckless plan.

  As if he wouldn’t use the goddess he had on his side.

  The war transformation winked out.

  “All it took was a convincing show,” he said. Melody’s illusion spell would last at least a day. Every word from the lich’s mouth would be something Tear would say.

  A pity though, but the weirdo wouldn’t die. After all, she agreed to this back in the cave.

  “I will give you a trial and if you pass, I will allow you to become a Stone Maiden,” Clyde whispered to her. “We’ll call it, Plan B. First, you’re incredibly powerful, so no dying. You will be taking a trip to the Supreme’s castle. Do whatever she says for a day, then leave my message.”

  “Kanako,” Clyde said, “I’m ready for my third wish. Shoot, I’ll have just the extra one you gave me after this.”

  Kanako peeked from around a flipped car. Her legs shifted to her spiritual tail as she anime-dove into Clyde, hugging his waist, tears streaming. “Can I wish for more wishes?”

  “The contract prevents it,” the genie said sadly.

  Clyde nodded.

  “Make it so that the Supreme nor her inquisitors can never find this city again.”

  “I can only do that for the inquisition,” Kanako said, “but I will not grant it due to the flaw.”

  “Right,” Clyde said. “If they figure it out, they could leave the inquisition and come back to snipe our asses. Is there any way to prevent them from returning?”

  “I can try…but I need spirit energy,” Kanako said.

  And so the duo found an alleyway and Clyde gave her that spirit energy.

  “Why didn’t you tell the others about the plan?” Kanako said.

  “Only Melody, Natalia, and Asu needed to know for it to be convincing,” Clyde said. “The others would follow the lead of Natalia. And then the stall fest would begin.” He sighed. “I Jumped right as I felt the second-in-command take off. My presence there would’ve ruined everything. Then we would’ve been fucked. The only miscalculation was Ming recklessly asking Venus for help.”

  Clyde sat on the sidewalk. “It kind of hurt to not be trusted enough to pull everyone through.” Kanako raised a finger to protest, but the young man continued. “I know, it’s not her fault. And I’ll have access to some sweet new powers. The problem was, I couldn’t get rid of this so-called War form in favor of my other stone mode state. I was also too damn excited. Thank god that form covered it up.”

  Kanako prepared the casting.

  “I just received the confirmation that everything is cleared.” She showed Clyde his phone.

  “Thanks for holding that for me,” he said as he read the coded text. Just in case shit hit the fan, and the inquisitor decided to be a coy asshole for some reason.

  Clyde knew this was simply a temporary solution. The inquisition was going to be blood thirsty. When they eventually break the spell, the young man would be ready.

  Team Stone would be ready…

  The red cloaked being had seen a lot of things in his life, but never a man facing the inquisition by himself and survive. On the outside, it seemed as if the commander spared him, but the red cloaked being saw through the façade. The Stone wasn’t actually fighting! He was being a decoy for the main force. Stalling for time, even letting his health drop on purpose.

  His freaky new form still produced the weather-affecting chills, but despite his strength, they still had him in numbers. There…was no real guarantee that he’d survive, but anyone of his caliber could simply run. Teleport away, even Jump. With a complete mission from a long and tiring campaign, the inquisition wouldn’t have deemed the effort of chasing worth it. This…what kind of intellect did the Stone have to come up with a plan that fooled everyone.

  Still, the red cloaked being would not be in this city when the fog cleared from the inquisition’s heads. Furious is an understatement for them. Blood thirsty? Judging by the amount of magic that genie cast, they had at least four months to prepare…Not a lot of time…

  That beautiful genie was a blessing…

  The red cloaked being bowed to the Stone then made his Jump, cackling.

  Episode 48 (Part 1): Son of War- Blood, Regret, and Terror.

  The world became black, a void that whispered to its muddled habitants of eternal silence. Muted colors of gray and black and white beamed like sunrays from every cardinal direction. A ragged humming grew louder and louder until it was the only sound possible to hear, even above the screams of the people. Some buildings imploded, cars flew, the road caved, and debris became missiles. A power line met Clyde’s face.

  All of it happened fast… The real blackness came…

  Clyde awoke with a pain that made him wish for death. Then it got worse. Seeing the surrounding destruction, the fire and its thick smoke….Was he in Hell?

  [HP: 0.5%]

  [MP: 40%]

  [Status alignments: Light bleeding, agony, suspicious shoulder pain, haze]

  [Mystic Calm : 100% resistant to fear, despair, discomfort, a
nd shock. [Mystic Passive.]

  [Alignments prevented: despair, discomfort, shock, and fear.]

  [Current Lot City stats. Crime rate: ??? Emergency: Catastrophic . Citizen happiness: unknown . Current concern: Inquisition of the Supreme Demon lord .]

  [Destruction of Lot City: 57%. Lot City Lives Lost: 35% ]

  Thirty-five percent of eight million… Clyde trembled. This had to be a nightmare. A vision. The Watchers surely wouldn’t stand by and allow something like this to happen. His presence in the city, meant stone-viper games, right? Watcher eyes. Surely they would’ve stepped in to defend the rules. The punishment squad should respond, right? A loss of…over two million lives.

  Something within Clyde cracked, but then he reeled it back.

  “Kanako,” he said weakly but when he looked in her direction, horror struck him. She…was a stone statue, lying on the ground, staring off into lifelessness. His only hope to undo this mess….gone. He forced the emotion of rage and sorrow into a cage and tossed it in the back of his mind.

  Clyde checked the stats of his team. They had very low HP, but…petrification. Even Tear. Asu’s HP was down by more than half and declining. Titania and Ashard were not in his party, but the young man instructed them to leave the city...

  Clyde gravely miscalculated the moves of the inquisition. They never left, but simply gathered either above or nearby the city, then blew it up…

  None of his plans would’ve mattered since the bastards planned to just kill everyone from the start.

  He looked at Kanako…The visions of his friends frozen in their places composed of stone set him into motion. He struggled to stand. The inquisition made one mistake, which bought him time. What if…the commander lost his temper and hastily nuked the city. The brothers, knowing that they kidnapped a fake, were more than likely arguing. Harming their “Supreme” princess meant execution. And if she survived, they’d have to look through millions of statues.

  Clyde’s intuition was eerily spot on. As he limped to the corner of a street, he heard their voices.

  “And now he has us searching! Fuck, Axem found nothing in that damn house, not even the statues of her friends.”

  “I agree that it is humiliating,” another inquisitor said. “To be outsmarted by such a low power level. The only good thing that came out of this was the capture of the supposed prophet. At least it would’ve been good had I known she tried to warn us about Yahiko blowing his top.”

  Ming…

  Clyde peeked around the corner to see two of them walking in his direction. He quickly turned around, limping toward an alleyway. Their voices grew louder. He desperately fought the pain of his leg limp.

  [Clyde’s HP has dropped to 0.3%]

  And…he just barely made it into the alley as they turned the corner. He hid at the side of a dumpster as the inquisitors continued, without even considering the narrow way. They thankfully took no notice of Kanako’s statue, presumably tired of seeing Yahiko’s work.

  The young man hated himself… How did he survive?

  [You are unaffected by petrification.]

  He would have rather died than be the sole survivor of this mess. Still, he needed to heal before doing anything else. His shoulder was killing him. Fracture, perhaps? He checked his inventory.

  Inventory:

  $ 571,445,400

  -Map of Lot City, Satovia.

  -Map of Libado Grasslands, Satovia.

  -Map of Ashen City, Satovia.

  -Map of Niyoto, Satovia.

  -Smartphone.

  -Key.

  -Reminder for practice- note.

  - Zelt’s printer. Level 1/25.

  - Deed to the Ashfall estates, treasures, etc.

  - Honey Potion of Healing (item class: rare.)

  -Wind blade. (very rare) +16 to attack. Wind element.

  - Place of Power Core (item class: Relic) (item value: priceless)- establish a place of power.

  - Max MP replenish potion (item class: epic)

  -

  - bundle of materials [2 uses left]. (Item class: rare.)

  - Forger’s hammer. Item class: very rare

  - Exploding blowup doll. Item class: *One of a kind * Unsuspecting enemies will experience a nice surprise. Does dark deity damage.

  - Sharpened Crystal Dagger. Item class: uncommon

  -1 ruby, 1 diamond, 1 emerald, 1 casper-jewel.

  - Root Tree seed. Item class: epic.

  - Mysterious Harp. Item class: *One of a kind * this special harp is loved dearly by a special type of harpy called the Gandharva. Handing this to her will get you a *World Star Fragment* and another reward.

  -Breast enhancement potion x 2. Item class: bizarre.

  -World Map . item class: *legendary*

  - Universal dungeon key. Item value: well-above standard

  -Sex potion. Item class: unknown.

  - Holstaur breast milk.

  Just as he started to mentally kick himself for giving his last Super Health Potion to Titania, Clyde came across two items that made him let out a sigh of relief. The Max MP potion and honey potion of healing.

  He drank the delicious potion first before downing the tangy MP potion.

  [Your HP: 100% out of 510%.]

  [Your MP: 480%]

  Almost twenty-five percent of his health restored. He’d take what he could get. Beggars definitely could not be choosers, especially in this situation.

  Some of the pain receded, including the agony. The shoulder pain still remained, requiring more than just mediocre healing.

  [Status alignments: suspicious shoulder pain.]

  He could risk going into Stone Mode for Life’s breath, but nothing on the description of the skill indicated it working for him.

  [Life’s breath . While in Stone Mode, your presence will begin to heal those that need it in the area. [Passive.]

  At least he no longer limped. One step at a time , Clyde thought as he quietly maneuvered. He…didn’t know what to do, but anything beat sitting around.

  The city was a wreck. While some buildings still stood, some looked as if a giant marched in and stomped on them. Shattered windows, smoke flowing from some, and fire on others. No police sirens. No people. No dogs barked, no birds, and no help. Was access to the city cut off to the world? Who did it: inquisition or Watchers.

  Clyde pushed away the anger and Jumped. Or at least he tried to, but received a shitty prompt instead.

  [The Inquisition has blocked all instant-transporting magic. You can only Jump while in Stone Mode.]

  Yeah, he’d avoid that. Especially if it switched him to the war form. Clyde did not want that kind of cockiness altering his decisions during a time like this. He…had to do something.

  “All of this just to defend a succubus…” a voice echoed in his head. It wasn’t him, but it used his voice. “You really are a fool .”

  Clyde shook himself. Now wasn’t the time to get delusional. Somewhere in his heart, deep down, he knew the voice was probably right.

  The young man’s routine fell to a pattern of maneuvering the city, and hiding from the inquisition, which mainly moved in pairs. This search felt off. What else could they be looking for?

  Asu? They needed to take their frustration out on something that directly opposed them. A bigger motivation to not get caught.

  Clyde only sensed wrongness for a second before he narrowly dodged a large chunk of crumbling building. Its impact with the sidewalk echoed louder than thunder. He had to get the fuck out of there.

  He dashed from block to block, being careful as possible. The odor of smoke thickened as if he moved through a war zone. His city…a home he came to love, looked nothing like itself. Yuki had the ability to reverse the damage, but petrification was almost the same as being dead. Maybe worse. He did his best not to think of it that way. He struggled to hold back the potent super-rage boiling within his blood.

  Clear and rational thinking…He needed these two elements to figure out a solution to this problem. The
y captured Ming. Asu possibly escaped or sat with the prophet as a prisoner.

  Even if Clyde encountered Yahiko, what could he do? Die?

  Half an hour later, Clyde found an intact pharmacy. Inside, were the stone bodies of petrified customers and employees. Only two aisles stood. Goods were scattered, glass shattered, even some liquids oozed across the floor.

  The young man recalled something Toru said way back during his first week in Satovia.

  Certain things such as medicine, foods, and drinks could restore health on the spot.

  He flipped an upturned table that looked as if it rocketed through the window and pulled up a half-burnt lawn chair. The lunch of cold bentos and sweet tea calmed the nerves, not that the internal super-anger vanished. He faced the reality that…they were all dead. Killed by someone’s tantrum.

  Maybe…he should’ve let them take his Tear. She didn’t want so many losing their lives.

  So…this was how the Supreme Demon lord did things. Not surprising for a demon…

  Clyde found the strongest pain pills available and some bottled water. After taking the pills, he searched for a closet and laid down.

  Sleep was nearly impossible…

  The inquisition murdering the entire city…Screams of the people. Yells from his friends, asking why. Why did Clyde cause the tragedy? Fingers pointed at him. Ghosts laughing and snarling and crying. Petrified children called for their parents or guardians, stuck in their heads. Then he found himself in a field of petrified civilians and motionless bodies staring upward at something in the sky. Suddenly, they all pointed up.