The Anime Trope System: Stone vs. Viper, #14 a LitRPG (ATS) Read online

  “Not bad, Yuki, but you’ve got a long way before you’d catch me.”

  “Celebrating too early,” Yuki said as she accepted Tear’s counter-kick. Well, blocked it. These two weren’t gaining on each other. “That arrogance is why the next attack’s going to hurt.”

  Tear gave her a puzzled look, then she did the anime gasp, but it was too late. A geyser of gold energy erupted from beneath the succubus, blasting her into the air. Yuki teleported, meeting the woman from 40 feet and did the anime down kick, which sent Tear back to the ground. The crater seemed to be about ten feet wide and deep.

  [Yuki used Unknown Tier skill: Unexpected Oops. This is an undodgeable attack.]

  [Critical! Technical!]

  Clyde’s eyes widened. “Holy shit.”

  The following prompt pulled his attention.

  [Tear’s Wrath has reached 100%.]

  As if on cue, a geyser of crimson aura erupted from the crater. Tear hovered up, frowning, but not visibly furious, despite the wrath bar on full. She looked almost unharmed from that incredible attack. Her wings were spread out, brimming with power.

  “You’re right,” Tear said. “Arrogance can get you killed. Thanks for reminding me.” Her aura increased. “But it will still be years before you can catch me.”

  [Tear’s wrath has increased to 101%.]

  The aura changed from crimson to white. Then she was gone and in front of Yuki, unleashing her own golden magic.

  [Tear activated GODDESS TIER SKILL: Her Will. This is an unstoppable and unblockable attack.]

  Clyde winced as it covered both women. A half second later, Yuki was launched into her own crater.

  [Hyper critical!]

  “I’m an idiot,” the young man said. “This match-up wasn’t fair.”

  Kitome whacked Clyde with a paper fan. “Don’t be a blind idiot. Keep watching.” The magical girl sat in his lap.

  He chuckled, but immediately figured out that she was right. Yuki teleported out of that crater and while there were some sexy tears in her clothing, the woman seemed mostly unharmed. Tear looked taken aback. The young man couldn’t blame her. That was a freaking goddess tier skill and Yuki took it with barely a scratch on her.

  “The great lord of the dark is highly entertained,” Dark said. “Betting on Yuki.”

  “Pssh, Tear’s too strong for her,” Natalia said. “Go be dumb somewhere else, baka chuuni.”

  “Why you stupid—”

  Selkie whacked Dark on top of the head with her fist before he could finish his sentence.

  “Don’t start arguing with the kid.” She turned to Clyde and Kitome. “Yuki has gotten considerably stronger,” the green-haired Entity said. “She, in fact, may be Tear’s equal.”

  Kitome flicked Clyde on the nose, smiling. “And you were getting ready to start begging for her forgiveness. Look closely.”

  “Yeah, I see,” Clyde said. “Demonesses, enjoying this.”

  Tear and Yuki smiled as they prepared to engage into the second round of their training match.

  “They will definitely be appreciative of the hot spring after this. And Harumi,” the young man said.

  “No kidding,” Kitome agreed.

  Episode 69 (Part 5)

  Night…

  Unknown city… (Same side of the world as Terravon…)

  Office…

  “Lord Disciple, I have some wonderful news! The greatest, most amazing, the—”

  “Get to the point already, jeez! You’re interrupting my Hero-Sama time,” said the green-haired dragon woman at the desk.

  “Still watching that lame anime,” the man at the door said.

  “What was that?” the Disciple said, raising her head.

  “Our god has been located!”

  The Disciple jumped out of her seat, tackling and pinning the henchman to the ground.

  “I would think I’d be the last one you’d consider targeting with such disrespectful jokes,” the Disciple said, voice deadly.

  “It’s not a joke! Miss. Opal Soulless herself wants to see you.”

  “The head dragoness…” the Disciple said, voice full of surprise. “Interesting.” She stood. “Notify the others—we will have a meeting first, then go find and greet our god. Or goddess, I suppose.”

  As the Disciple, leader of the Thousand Year Worshippers, left, the man tilted his head in confusion. She did say she knew and met the Thousand Year Dragon, right? Shouldn’t she know if it’s a god or goddess?

  The man sighed and shrugged. Maybe the dragon god hid his or her gender or something. Well, it didn’t matter. The Head Soulless had found the trail.

  The Disciple had successfully led them in a dishonorable ambush against the kitsunes. Immense power and credibility could get one a long way in a dragon clan as large as the Soulless.

  Still, something felt wrong about this situation. Why did the Thousand Year Dragon roam this realm?

  Libado Grasslands…

  Noon…

  Yuki cleared her mind, focusing on her greatest opponent yet. Tear was perhaps the most powerful royal succubus, second only to the Supreme. She had untapped potential that would ascend her even higher than that. The demoness, on the other hand, honed her power with sweat and blood. She wasn’t born gifted; however, being Nezerath’s slave pushed the woman so far that her emotions shattered even more upon discovering a rift of power within. This enabled her to get all the way to Head Maid within a month. If not for the shithead’s cruel bond, the demoness would have surely destroyed him, freed the others, and escaped. Binding magic through the God of Suffering. Fortunately, thanks to Clyde, her heart began to reform until the ability to love returned.

  Now against Tear, one who was potentially stronger than the entire group, including Natalia, Yuki wanted nothing more than to break past her limits again. In fact, she made incredible progress.

  “Come,” Yuki said to Tear, gesturing. Smile wide, the succubus rushed her and they engaged in magic-enhanced hand to hand combat, surrounded in beautiful golden aura. Electricity jolted from their auras every second, providing a spectacular display to the world.

  “I will end this,” Tear said, charging her magic.

  “We shall see,” Yuki said, doing the same.

  [Tear activated GODDESS TIER SKILL: Re: Final Silence. This is an unblockable skill.]

  [Yuki activated Unknown Tier skill: Whispering God Giant’s Hammer. This is an unblockable skill.]

  Every color of magic collided into each other like raging atoms then abruptly covered both women, blasting them backward. They hit the ground and didn’t move.

  Silence…

  “Wow! It looks like a double—”

  Tear suddenly coughed, interrupting Princess Kaguya, and strained in her struggle to stand. Yuki still wasn’t moving.

  “It seems like despite the incredible strength of that magic, Tear still held onto consciousness. But wow, what an amazing fight!”

  Clyde felt very proud of both of them. What the audience didn’t catch was the last-second shield Tear put up. If Yuki’s magic would’ve fully connected, the match would either be a draw or Tear would be seriously injured. How in the hell did the succubus manage to conjure up such a powerful shield AND cast magic at the same time? He met her gorgeous blue eyes, giving the beautiful woman a nod of approval. She smiled.

  “There should be no way the Supreme could beat her,” Clyde said. “Then again, it was Lilith that probably taught Tear…”

  He walked over to Yuki, who was up and healed thanks to a caring Harumi. Before she could speak—because he felt the blue words approaching, Clyde pulled her close.

  “You were fucking amazing,” Clyde said. “Yes, Tear put up a shield at the last second, but I think it was more for staying alive than winning.”

  “Th… thank you,” Yuki said. “But I still have much to learn before I can take her on.”

  “Don’t underestimate yourself,” Harumi said. “I think Tear also has more to learn, too. She’s really
powerful, but not untouchable.”

  “I agree,” Clyde said, then gestured at Kaguya. The ghost girl hovered over to him, cheerful and beautiful as always. “You may announce the next one.”

  She nodded. Natalia took that time to whisper something in the Alonian princess’s ear. “Alice and Ruri, you two are up next.”

  “Woo!” Ruri said, tail wagging.

  Clyde looked at the time on his phone. With how Tear and Yuki fought, he no doubt figured everyone else would be the same. In that case, the young man had no choice but to limit the battles, maybe to just three or four.

  “The lord of—”

  Myriad gave Dark a death stare.

  “You know, I like you bird girl,” Natalia said to the thunderbird. “I shall call you Myr Myr because it’s cute.”

  Clyde grinned. “I’ll call you that too from now on, Myr Myr. I agree with Natalia.”

  “Hey!” the thunderbird said, blushing.

  “The lord of the dark will continue to call her birdbrain.”

  Natalia delivered the chuuni a well-placed paper fan of justice to the head.

  “Don’t pick on Myr Myr, baka chuuni,” Natalia said then stuck her tongue out at Dark.

  Clyde turned back to the faceoff between Alice and Ruri.

  “Are you ready, desu?” Kaguya said in a cutesy manner. “And fight-o!”

  Clyde shot Natalia a blank stare. “So that’s what you whispered in her ear.”

  Natalia smiled innocently. “Pervy husbando-nii, we’re too early in our marriage to be throwing accusations.”

  Selkie and Myr Myr gave him a suspicious look. Clyde returned it with a blank stare. The power surges from Alice and Ruri caught everyone’s attention.

  “It’s time we settled this, old friend,” Alice said, smiling.

  “Bring it,” Ruri said, allowing her aura to engulf the entire area, plus some of Lot City. Which was fifteen minutes away. Winds stirred as everyone took a breath of anticipation. The young man shuddered at Ruri’s immense improvement since the last time she had fought Alice. Sure, it ended in somewhat of a draw, but the half-demoness stood at the advantage last time.

  Alice moved first, engaging in the fierce round of hand to hand combat. Both women perfectly followed Toru and Ako’s advice, mixing it fluently with their own styles.

  The hellhound, surprisingly, cast the first spell. She often fought with magic-enhanced brute strength.

  [Ruri activated Special Tier skill: Hound’s Unwinding Resolve.]

  Ruri let out a magic-infused howl.

  [Ruri’s stats increased. Alice’s stats decreased. Alice has been inflicted with All Defenses Down. Alice’s Speed is down! Alice’s Accuracy is down!]

  “Holy shit,” Clyde said.

  And the effects were immediate. Ruri easily dodged the half-demoness’s attacks and then delivered an uppercut that sent Alice into the air. Aiming a hand, the hellhound charged magic.

  [Ruri activated Special Tier skill: Howling Flame Cannon.]

  She unleashed a beam of red and orange fiery magic that exploded upon contact with Alice.

  [SUPER CRITICAL! Crucial! Technical! Alice’s HP has dropped to 16%.]

  “Oooh, the lord of the dark is impressed! Go, hot wolf girl, go!”

  Clyde flinched as Myr Myr’s paper fan smacked hard enough to be heard over the roar of the magic and explosions. He took notice of Ai and his hornet guests’ thrilled faces.

  “You’re still a bit rash,” Alice suddenly said, then opened her eyes. “You’ve still got much to learn.”

  [Alice activated All Calm. Alice was cured of all status alignments.]

  [Alice activated Immediate Super Heal. Alice was healed!]

  “Did you forget that I’m the secondary healer?” Alice asked, smiling. “I’m only healing because you caught me off guard with that howl of yours.”

  Ruri shook off her surprise and frustration, then rushed toward her friend. The half-demoness took aim, firing magic. And missed. She clearly underestimated Ruri’s speed.

  “You’re the one who still needs learning,” Ruri said, delivering a spin-kick. However, Alice’s eyes suddenly flashed pink, a golden halo phasing into existence above her head then out. In a trained motion, the half-demoness blocked the kick with her right arm. With her left hand, which glowed with holy magic, she blasted the hellhound twenty meters away.

  Ruri landed hard and didn’t move.

  “KO!” Kaguya said. “Alice wins.”

  Harumi’s healing magic took hold of the downed hellhound.

  For a moment, Clyde felt the incredible and terrible power that Alice held within her. He needed to up her training sessions or maybe get Naoko to… Thoughts for later.

  “I wonder why Ruri didn’t transform,” Matsume said. “Why’d she hold back?”

  “Maybe she’s sick?” Nina said. “I don’t blame her if this icky sun’s starting to get to her.”

  Toru snatched the umbrella from the gothic loli’s hands. Teary-eyed, she adorably tried to retrieve it while Toru held her back with a single hand. Fumi ended the bickering by being the voice reason.

  “The next fight will be Ming and Dark,” Kaguya suddenly announced, “followed by the main event, Clyde-sama and Selkie-chan!”

  Clyde missed Natalia by just a millimeter as she bolted for the fox girl.

  “Harumi! Pervy-nii’s bullying me.” She anime-dove into her breasts, hugging the woman tightly.

  “Alright!” Selkie cheered. “We’re next.”

  “I think we’re out of time,” Clyde said.

  “Nonsense,” Selkie said, smacking his back, grinning. “I won’t hurt you too bad. It’s just training.”

  Clyde laughed. “I’m actually concerned for—”

  “The normie’s going to get murdered,” Dark interrupted, laughing. “Someone fetch the great ruler of this world some popcorn. This is going to be great.”

  Deep down, the young man simply wasn’t interested in fighting—the horniness inside called for him to… wrestle the Entity.

  “I wouldn’t be worrying about me, weeb lord,” Clyde said. “I’m damned sure Ming’s going to destroy you.”

  Ming sighed, not in the mood for the goading. She currently sported a twin tails hairstyle.

  “Pssh, I’ll make sure your lackey cries your name as the great lord of the dark pounds her.”

  Everyone, including Seth, gave the chuuni stares of disgust. Dark seemed completely oblivious.

  Selkie gave him a classic anime downward fist to the head. “Just go take your damn place on the field, pervert,” she said.

  “Sheesh. What are you, my mom?” Dark said. “When I take over this miserable world…” His voice trailed off as he started toward his field position.

  “Sweep the idiot,” Clyde told Ming.

  “Grind him to paste,” Chika said furiously. “I want blood. Or if you want, I’ll do it for you.”

  “That’s okay, Chika,” Ming said, a drop of sweat falling off the back of her head. “I’ll try… though he is one of the five. I may not win.”

  Ming took her place just a few feet from Dark, a little bored, and a bit anxious. Clyde watched with green eyes that seemed to peer right through her. If she failed here, the entire team would think her useless… No one would—

  “Ming, if you win, you get Clyde for one hour of the night,” Tear called.

  The hornets gave her a scandalous look. The seer blushed heavily.

  “Tear!” she said.

  “Are you ready to bow down?” Dark said.

  Seeing and feeling Clyde’s confidence in her, Ming snapped out of her moment of doubt. Dark was just an idiot that barked and couldn’t touch her. Not that he knew, of course. Selkie… wanted him to learn a lesson on being overconfident.

  She took a deep breath, exhaled, and allowed magic to connect with time, space, Alice, and eternity.

  “Fight-o!” Kaguya said.

  Before Dark could cast his powerful spell, Ming vanished and instantly reapp
eared at his backside. What everyone else saw was the chuuni dropping and falling into unconsciousness, blood drizzling from his nose. She saw everything, predicted everything in less than a millisecond.

  [Prophet Ming’s Rank: 3.]

  [Abilities: Seer Combat. She will always see an attack half a second before it happens.

  Basic Enemy Predict. She can now predict the movements of standard enemies during battle. This skill will gain experience as Ming gains experience.]

  [Ming can now link with Alice once per day. All attack and defenses double for both women when linked. This will apply to any transformation.]

  Ming… had probably overdone it.

  [Ming used Time Tier skill: Chrono Triggering. It is impossible to dodge, block, or avoid this attack while affected by the flow of time.]

  [Weakness exploited! Devastating! Dark’s HP dropped to 10%.]

  “Oh, wow! He couldn’t last more than two seconds,” Kaguya said, then heavily blushed when the other women snickered.

  “Holy fucking shit, Ming—what the hell happened?” Matsume said.

  Ming saw the starry eyes of Airi, her Gin smile forming.

  “Ming, you were holding out on us? I’ve never seen magic like that,” Airi said, moving slowly toward the poor girl.

  “Harumi, Airi’s bullying me!” Ming said, anime-diving into the pink-haired girl.

  “No, that’s my Harumi,” Natalia said. Tear single-handedly plucked up the loli before she could move.

  Team Stone gathered around the young woman.

  “What kind of training did you put yourself through to do that?” Alice said.

  “I never saw her do any training,” Kitome said. “But wow. Seeing you kick his butt faster than the speed of light felt so satisfying.”