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

  “We cannot win with brute strength,” Clyde said. “So, I’m going to astral project myself nearby and lure the bastard as far as I can. In the meantime, undo the petrification as discreet as possible then Jump everyone…to twenty-first street, to the maid café. Afterwards, we’ll search for Tear. Alright?”

  “Astral project is a lost form…a psychic ability,” Fuyoko said. “You can do that?”

  “Yeah,” Clyde said.

  “Not a bad plan,” Fuyoko said. “We’ll check the entire house to make sure no one’s left behind.” She faced Kanako. “I’m assuming you can help out with that.” The genie nodded. “Lead the way, uhmm.”

  “It’s Clyde,” the young man said.

  “A strange name, but I like it. I’m Fuyoko.” The young woman smiled.

  “Oooh, a smile,” Naoko said. The sorceress sighed, letting it drop, blushing.

  Clyde found a safe place to hide then accessed his skill menu for this one.

  [*Astral Projection level 1 : project an image of yourself to an area you know. Raise the level to be able to move around in this state as well as increasing the range. Your body will be vulnerable. At the right level, you will learn to be simultaneously aware of both your astral projection and your true self. Warning: it is recommended to have a composure of 200 or more before projecting yourself.]

  [Composure: 300]

  Simply activating the skill for the first time, gained it some experience. A transparent green circle on the ground indicated his range. The entire block. Good enough for now, although having the city would’ve been amazing.

  -)Accessing psychic energy …

  -)You have galvanized Astral projection.(-

  Clyde felt his spirit leap out of his body. Wasting no time, he instantly glided over to the inquisitor—TOO fast. Moving around felt like rollerblading, only with the ability to go anywhere. He kept his menu in his mind’s eye, minimized so that he didn’t accidentally fuck up and blast himself all the way to the end of the block.

  “Hey, fuck face.”

  The inquisitor flinched toward him, eyes widened.

  “What the fuck…You’re that! There’s no way you could’ve survived that. It’s death or stone. Well it doesn’t matter. You’re going to tell me where Tear is hiding.”

  “Did I not just call you, fuck face,” Clyde said. “Your meat’s small by the way.” He laughed hard in the inquisitor’s face. Finally it got the demon man enraged enough to chase him. And the inquisitor noticed, nothing, too embarrassed to care.

  “Small dong, ping-pong,” Clyde sung. “Little shroom, no womb.” And no matter how much he tried, the inquisitor could not catch the young man. “Seriously, jerking off in the middle of the street.”

  “I was frustrated—fuck I’ll kill you,” the inquisitor said. “Then you’ll have no one to tell.”

  Fifteen long minutes, but he led the man all the way to the end of the block, singing insults and laughing at the man’s pride. Not once did Clyde tire. This was kind of fun.

  Just then, he felt a sensation on his real body. Shaking? That instantly pulled him back to himself at what felt like a billion miles per hour. Frightening shit. The young man felt a little nauseated, but his vision cleared to see a worried Alice begging for him to wake up.

  “I’m awake, I’m awake,” he said softly. Her hug was so tight, she’d probably crush him a little if not for his enhanced stats. Then he realized the half-demoness was crying.

  He wrapped his arms around his life-mate, so happy to see her alive and well. With all of the shit happening, he felt as if he hadn’t seen her in weeks.

  “We’ve got to go before the inquisitor gets back,” Clyde said to her. He wiped the tears from Alice’s eyes and kissed her.

  Maid Café…

  At a table with a single lamp light and smartphones…

  With an exception of Tear and Ming, Team Stone was present. They politely thanked Fuyoko then hugs were spread around. The young man could only imagine that petrification felt like sleep paralysis but worse. An endless limbo of being frozen in place.

  When everyone had at last settled down—not that it was loud to begin with—they looked to Clyde for guidance. Even Natalia, though she looked very weary. Seth asked the question on everyone’s mind.

  “Where’s Tear?”

  “Fuyoko, do you mind going to the manager’s room to restore our friend, please?”

  The young woman blushed.

  “How many polite people do I get in my life,” she said softly. “When you ask like that, refusing is nearly impossible.”

  Clyde’s hidden plan, after Melody’s illusion magic, was to do something they’d never expect. Which why they’d pass by this store without so much as looking at it. Why would someone of noble blood be disguised as a waitress, covered in illusion magic, and taking a temporary job? He thought of Clare’s shop first, but decided placing her with as few magic users as possible should lessen the chances of Tear being discovered. At the time, he also wanted to see her in a maid outfit.

  Tear launched from the room and anime-dove into Clyde. Her cool, composed, attitude returned minutes later—the young man comforted the succubus to the best of his abilities. Although immune to petrification, that didn’t mean he experience Hell himself. He didn’t want to think about bodies and stone and roaming inquisitors.

  Clyde told Team Stone the overall plan. Yuki to fix the buildings, Fuyoko to undo the petrification, and Kanako to reverse time for the people of the city. No one seemed happy about the last wish.

  “I’m not happy either,” Clyde said softly. “We all love her. I just wish there was another way.”

  “What are we going to do about the inquisitors?” Harumi said.

  “Jumping out of the city to escape is impossible,” Clyde said. “So—”

  “I thought Jumping period wasn’t possible,” Melody said.

  “There is no one that could realistically maintain a full-power anti-Jumping hold all day,” Tear said. “It would weaken at some point.”

  “Fighting them for now is out of the question,” Clyde said. “We can’t win with brute strength. Also, they’ve captured Ming and possibly Asu. I’m unsure if the bastards would call this whole mission a failure and leave. For now, we’ll pitch in ideas on making the main plan happen. Any questions?”

  “You’ve used your main head all day, pervy-nii,” Natalia said. “I shall reward you when we get out of this.”

  “When…” Toru said. “I like it.”

  “Me too,” Airi said. She seemed to look at Fuyoko twice. In fact, they exchanged recognizing glances at one point.

  Clyde had to toss that investigation to the side for more important matters. And for the next half hour, the team pitched in ideas, tossed some aside, noted a few others.

  In the end, no one knew exactly how to deal with impossibly high levels of power. The inquisition would not always be fooled by illusions. The young man couldn’t give up.

  He closed his eyes to think… Intellect, not brute strength. At least, not right now. How can he…

  Wait a second.

  They were in a super dire situation, but he needed to think like a gamer. What would be the objective here? Also…he’d require some mandatory level grinding after this, for Team Stone. He needed to farm things… or do something. Sure, Satovia didn’t work one hundred percent like a game, but for the parts that did, the young man needed to use to his advantage. Was this not his focus before? When did he lose sight of this?

  He entered his crafting menu and selected a few leftover materials. Pouring over possible combinations, many which lead to nothing or crapware, he searched and searched until at last finding something that could work. An okay distraction is better than nothing.

  “Pervy-nii, who’s she?”

  Clyde snapped out of his daydream to realize Naoko was asleep on his lap. Natalia fixed him with a glare. He stared blankly at the loli-witch then grinned.

  “Natalia, meet Naoko-sensei. And to you, s
he’s Naoko-senpai.”

  “No way, those roles are wrong—I’m the teacher,” the loli whined as she hopped onto the young man’s shoulders.

  “Why did I start this?” Clyde said, invoking a short round of laughter from some of the others. “Let’s—”

  Clyde’s mystic senses detected movement about three blocks away. Or so he calculated and motioned for the lights to be killed. While there was zero signal, the young man still had everyone put their phones on silent in advance, as well as cancel all alarms. He doublechecked every phone.

  Voices outside confirmed everything they needed to know. And they were loud.

  “I am getting really tired of this,” one inquisitor snapped.

  “It’s either search or return to the Supreme with an empty hand and explain to her why we don’t have Tear,” another inquisitor said.

  “It’s Yahiko’s fault! And now the word’s spreading that the guy he fought is still alive,” inquisitor one said.

  “Who cares? He looks like someone we’d have to torture for weeks before getting any answers out of him. That’s not quick enough.” Inquisitor two said.

  “Can you believe he still wants to destroy the Fairy Kingdom? I’m all for making an example out of idiots, but no rest? What the hell?” Inquisitor one said.

  When they passed by, Clyde relaxed a little, but his blood turned to ice. They were going to wipe Titania’s homeland off the map…Just like that. Just because they could. Discarding lives like tissue and he had to live through this shit. On Earth, things like this felt like it occurred exclusively on TV or super far away. But now after living this day’s horror…

  The bottled super-anger within Clyde had cracked.

  His eyes glowed.

  “The weather’s acting up again,” a distant shout said. “Is it him?”

  The container within continued to reveal cracks. Then glowing matter emerged from them, oozing out to form an aura around the young man.

  A voice that was not his own, spoke to his unconsciousness.

  “What can you do ?” It chuckled. “No matter how angry you get, the inquisition will always be around to kill whoever they wanted, without a challenge. Why hadn’t the Punishment Squad wiped them yet? It’s because of you. You’re weak. You’re nothing. Just lay back down. ”

  “Fuck you,” Clyde thought to…himself. The super-anger quadrupled.

  “Are you okay, Clyde?” Fuyoko asked. “What’s this power…”

  Clyde realized what he was missing from his War state. He didn’t want the others to see him like that.

  “I have a plan, but you will have to trust me,” Clyde said, his voice just tinged with his god chant. “Take this.” He passed them his newly crafted item.

  [You have given Alice the Natzo Sound Bomb. Item class: *One of a kind*]

  “About five minutes after I’m gone, press that button and toss it. Cover your ears immediately and keep them covered for another minute or so.” Clyde kissed Alice’s forehead. “I’m counting on you. We’re alive for simply outsmarting our opponents, not because of dumb luck. Well, a little luck was involved. No one predicted fucking doomsday. The final puzzle is to combine brute strength and intellect.”

  “But with a…what is that?” Fuyoko said. “You said cover our ears. Is it some kind of sound device? How will this help us?”

  “You cannot see the description on it,” Clyde said, “but this will create the opening I need to execute this plan. You’ll have to trust me on this.”

  Alice nodded.

  “Be careful, my Clyde.”

  “He’s mine too,” Melody said, pushing past others to nab a kiss of her own. Tear laughed at Fuyoko’s wide eyes.

  “What kind of kinky…never mind,” Fuyoko said. “Get moving. More of that unsettling glow is seeping into your…magic? Aura?”

  Clyde reminded Alice of the timing again then took off out the door. His mental navigation had actually popped up Yahiko’s location.

  [Urgent Quest: You have figured it out…. Also, rescue Ming!]

  Above the city, Mortem floated and watched.

  “Why did the Watchers allow this to happen? What are they testing?” He sighed. “And now my master wants me to fix this after Clyde…Oh shit, she couldn’t be talking about what I’m thinking.” He cackled. “Well, at least I’ll get to see a showdown for once. I’ll have to seal it afterwards. I’m pretty sure he’s hearing voices from his blood thirsty half.”

  Mortem surveyed the destruction again and whistled. “Props to the buildings that survived. Now that’s one hell of a construction team.” He looked at Clyde. “I hope he knows not to focus on the lackies, but the commander.”

  **

  Outskirts at the inquisition camp…

  Ming continued to meditate and pray for Clyde’s safety. She just knew he was alive and that he’d come for her. Her body still ached from the beatings, but her spirit still burned.

  And her passive skill secretly lowered the stats of the main inquisition surrounding the young woman. She couldn’t touch that bastard leader with it as much…

  Ming felt Clyde’s approach. And taking on a demeanor that no one should see. Well, she couldn’t move anyway due to all of the ropes.

  Episode 48 (Part 4)

  Lot City Outskirts…

  Asu stared down at the five vaporized inquisitors. She bowed to the air twice.

  “Oh, great Stone! My master! My love! I know I have proven myself.” She snuck into the prophet’s tent. Ming’s eyes widened.

  “Shh.” Asu sliced off her ropes without even touching them. “We’ve got to go, go, go ! Master’s here and he’s angry. I met him on the way. He said to free you.”

  Ming nodded, grateful.

  “We’ll leave this to Clyde.”

  “Praise the Stone! All hail the Stone! And when I get him in bed, he’ll ask me to wed! Doo-da-do-dumm.”

  Ming sighed, deciding it was best to ignore the lich’s annoying singing. At least she had some clothes on.

  “By the way, how were you able to get past the inquisitors?” Ming asked.

  “I made an invisibility potion,” Asu said, then smiled. As Ming glared, the lich knuckled her forehead and stuck out her tongue. “I’m just an adorable alchemist.”

  “Don’t try to make this all cutesy,” Ming deadpanned.

  “There’s something Master kept from the others,”Asu said as she hurried Ming from the camp.

  “And that is?” Ming asked.

  “He believes that it’s simply impossible to bring back those who died,” Asu said. “The Watchers themselves allowed it to happen and still don’t care to do anything about it.”

  “Thousands upon thousands died…” Ming said softly. “The Watchers surely couldn’t…”

  “It’s a shame,” Asu said, then pumped a fist. “I would pay to see my master put those Punishment squad jerks in their places too.” Asu let out a cheerful sigh. “It doesn’t matter. Everyone in this city will have a nice dream. Even its dead. In that dream, they will see my master fight the inquisition for their sakes. Well, just the stupid grumpy boss guy. The other guys will probablyyyyy get torn to pieces.”

  Ming blinked.

  “How?”

  “It’s in the air,” Asu said. “It took me a few hours to set it up, channel the spells to the grumpy boss man. Other stuff I can’t tell you. Of course if he loses, I will have to take my own life for shaming him.”

  Ming facepalmed.

  “Let’s just keep moving.”

  **

  A rematch after losing…

  Approaching the Inquisitor Camp…

  Clyde became one with death, the desire to kill, and the ghosts of the city, screaming for vengeance. The one attribute missing from war stone mode was the blood thirst. The dead couldn’t return, but they’d be fucking avenged. Two million, died for no reason at all. The god would not allow this to happen again.

  One eye became purple, the other crimson. Large bat-like wings sprouted from his b
ack. Short claws replaced his nails. His hair grew long. He took on a calm poise that would’ve felt like a spring, holding back a giant trap, to onlookers.

  Blood-like black and crimson aura surrounded him. The sky became red with midnight cracks down the center of it.

  The true Stone of War mode had awakened…

  [*God of Blood and Vengeance. ]

  [Warning! YOU DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THIS SYSTEM! WARNING! WARNING!]

  The inquisitors were baffled, but drew their swords and charged at who they should be running from.

  [You have entered Slaughter combat …]

  [Immense unstoppable pressure.]

  [Enemy HP reduced by 80% due to Clyde’s pressure.]

  [Enemy attack and defense has been reduced by 80%.]

  [All enemies charging are now inflicted with mute.]

  [All enemies charging you have been inflicted with Utter Supreme Terror.]

  [All enemies charging have been inflicted with paralysis due to terror.]

  Clyde drew his blade then sheathed it, five hundred times the speed of light. Ninety heads rolled off their bodies. The purple flames of despawning reflected in the young man’s eyes.

  The last four inquisitors, which included Axem rushed out of their tents, having no idea what happened.

  Their visions split. The bodies cut in half exploded into purple flames before hitting the ground.

  “Unbelievable.” Yahiko stepped out of the darkness, beneath the moon light, surrounded in the aura of inquisitor authority. “My men…” He took a deep breath, eyes glowing. “When I avenge them, I will destroy everything you love. No one will survive this time. Come! Let’s settle this!”