10.The Anime Trope System: Stone vs. Viper, #10 a LitRPG (ATS) Read online

  Clyde blinked.

  “You’ve got…an odd way of saying you want to have sex.”

  Ming blushed.

  “It’s not that! I’m the regional champion. Your deck started off as a rumor and legend, lost in the lore. Duelists would sell their soul just to see it. And you, the owner is standing in front of me. I…never bring up the deck because I don’t want you to think I’m only here because of it. You’ve really transcended beyond just a friend.”

  Clyde gazed into the dual-colored eyes and pulled her into a kiss.

  Ming’s breath seemed to be taken away for a moment, then she wanted more. Her heart beat fast, face burned, eyes glistening with excitement.

  Clyde knew this would become wild sex if he didn’t stop it. Limited time meant controlling himself. He needed to spend more time with every girl, otherwise they’d end up being horny even during serious times. He pulled back.

  “I’ll accept your duel, but not now,” Clyde said. “Today, I have something heartwarming to reveal. Or get skinned alive for, depending on the perspective.”

  He kissed Ming once more before heading to the showers.

  Within the hour, the entirety of Team Stone arrived, ready to go. Tear Jumped them to Liru’s.

  **

  Julius’s house…

  Julius tried to give Momo as much space as possible during her days of mourning her sisters, but the woman refused to be left alone. He allowed her to hold him, cry her eyes off, responded to her requests for intense sex to drown out her pain.

  He wasn’t sure if he truly cared, but after spending so much time with the woman, something was there. Hell, they did nearly everything together—whether he wanted to or not. She still wasn’t his type, lacking in the breast department, but whether Julius wanted her or not, he’d still let her cry into his chest.

  Things were rocky when the kid disappeared until all of the news was relayed from Aunder himself. Dire reporting things to the Viper. The True Poison, a faction within the Viper Maidens, turning out to be for themselves. Those women killed both Olivia and Su Yang.

  The Viper released Momo from her bond, but not him. Fuck. Julius had nothing to do with the stone-viper games, why didn’t the fucker just let the man be?

  Momo crawled out of bed and marched purposely outside the room. Seconds later, he heard the showers from a nearby bathroom.

  He headed outside and started his workout routine. A woman’s mourning wasn’t going to keep him in shape. The old Julius would’ve dropped her off somewhere or even just left. He should be adventuring, discovering new things, fulfilling his own goals. Yet…he couldn’t leave her.

  He pushed himself through another hundred pushups to clear his mind. He switched to a variety of other exercises to sweat as hard as possible, until catching a glimpse of the observing white-haired woman.

  A small smile was on her face, which Julius…felt relieved to see? He who gave no fucks about others. He decided not to worry about it for now.

  Julius ended his exercises and almost walked past her. At Momo’s side, he stopped. The words that came out of his mouth surprised him.

  “If you want to avenge them, I’ve got your back.”

  Momo nodded once.

  That was the start of the campaign against the true Viper Maidens.

  **

  Strongly Guarded Throne Room…

  Lilith, the Supreme Demon Lord and the Empress of the Monster Kingdoms, was beginning to lose her patience. None of her minions returned to her with news regarding the movement of the Fallen God, the Thousand Year Dragon, or even the meaning behind the vision of Sither’s World being reversed in time suddenly, its anti-god miasma vanishing. What of the stone-viper games? What of Tear?

  She really wanted to go find the Warrior and…do a lot of things that could lead to her getting pregnant. She could…She could... Lilith shook herself.

  Now wasn’t the time for the perverted thoughts.

  “Guard,” she said.

  A man dressed in black armor strolled in professionally. Seeing their perfect military bearing sometimes made Lilith break into a smile. Unlike the inquisitors, she shaped the main army herself. They followed orders to the letter. And they wouldn’t be so easily stomped. Not even by that warrior.

  In fact, ever since seeing the Warrior fight, she kicked up training to the max. All fighting styles, tactics, spells and skills, as well as battle formations, were upgraded. She provided her army with charms that enabled them to stand up to gods. Well, the minor ones anyway. Her research teams were still searching for a source of power that could generate a demand to face even the Aesir. The World Star fragments could be the key.

  “Imperial Majesty, how can I be of service?” the guard said as he stood at attention.

  “I want you to summon Haruko and Chiho,” Lilith said. “Send another guard to give orders to the cooks. Tell them to prepare a picnic. It’s time three friends had a chat. The Queen of Hearts will be visiting soon and I want to have something to talk about.”

  The guard saluted.

  “As you wish, Imperial Majesty.”

  When the guard left, Lilith pulled the laptop from beneath her throne. It should take her friends at couple hours–from receiving her summon to getting to the Supreme Palace. She’d entertain herself for a while with some human adult shows.

  **

  Somewhere…

  Supreme Punisher Atlas, leader of the Punishment Squad, sat before four figures, taking in their bickering complaints. Another hit, given to him late. The culprit more than likely escaped by now. He sighed. What a wretched system.

  First the crime must be submitted through the gods, judged, and then if it’s grave enough, they vote on whether to request the Punishment Squad or not. His troops were thinned out enough, hunting down notorious criminals—especially the Zero Silence space pirates. Another only equally big threat was that rogue War goddess, responsible for illegally creating a world that thrived on bloodshed and hiding it for millions of years.

  When the four timelords finished presenting their case, Atlas nodded.

  “I have a sneaking suspicion on who it is,” Atlas said, “but we’ll look into it. I am unsure how he reversed time on that world or where he attained such an ability, but we will discuss what to do with him.”

  “Playing with time has consequences,” a timelord said. “I don’t know how he broke through our locks and made it work, but an individual like that needs to be put down immediately.” He left, followed by the others.

  Atlas sighed. This was his life. Endless lawbreaking, endless work. He stretched his crimson wings out. He needed to figure out the motive behind Thor’s intrusion on Satovia.

  The man pulled out a cigar, giving it a lit with just a thought. This was going to be another long night.

  **

  Liru’s house…

  Everyone watched Clyde and Harumi with looks of anticipation. With all of their attention, the young man felt a slip of confidence. How would they react? Well fuck it. They were going to have to accept it or get over it. That line of thought returned his mind to the persona as the Leader of Team Stone.

  Eyes slightly glowing, he made the announcement.

  “Everyone, we brought you together to announce something important. Harumi is pregnant. By me.” He shrugged nonchalantly. Harumi squeezed his hand.

  Silence. Mouths were agape. And then the girls were squealing, surrounding Harumi. Airi, her best friend and Liru, her old her sister were rightfully the most happy. Alice’s expression shifted back to neutral when she pulled away from the crowd. Clyde considered taking her place, but the vibe felt… well, he didn’t know how to describe it. Maybe the feeling before a war.

  Thankfully, Seth, Toru, Yusuke and even Ashard was here. He joined the men at the table and sat.

  “Dude, you’re a dad,” Seth nodded. “Let’s be honest. Is anyone surprised?”

  “Not even a little,” Toru said. “It was only a matter of time.”

  “At
least it wasn’t Kitome,” Yusuke said. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind being an uncle, but my mom would lose her shit.”

  “Your mom would make a great, protective grandmother,” Seth said, laughing. Yusuke gave him the delinquent glare then adjusted his glasses. Undine walked over and massaged the ninja’s shoulders.

  “Did you hear, dude,” Seth said to Clyde. “Hijo tried to go after Yusuke’s woman.”

  Clyde shook his head. In a joking manner, which carried questionable undertones, the young man said,

  “If Undine was weak enough to fall for a lame rich boy like that, I would’ve kicked his ass then banished her from this plane.”

  He chuckled. Undine stared at him with a raised eyebrow. But even she flinched a little at his glowing eyes. Despite Stone Mode being locked to recharge, he could still unnerve people like Melody’s mother. “I’m only kidding. It didn’t happen.”

  “As if I’ll commit adultery,” Undine said. “You both gave me a new life. I don’t want to shatter it.” She whispered something in the ninja’s ear that seemed to get him flustered. He tried to shrug it off by adjusting his glasses, but the other men weren’t convinced. Not even Ashard. “Oh and Congratulations, Lord Stone.” Undine winked. “Maybe Yusuke and I should compete.”

  She burst into laughter when Yusuke’s drink sprayed out of his nose.

  Alice was behind Clyde now, arms over his shoulder. The young man gulped.

  “So Ashard, what brings you once again to our group?” Clyde said.

  “The evil little witch summoned me,” he said.

  Clyde happened to turn toward the women to see Yuki smiling at him, but not with just any smile, but the Gin smile.

  “You really hadn’t thought of the consequences of your actions,” Toru said to Ashard, but Clyde knew who that was directed at. Ashard caught on quickly, nodding.

  “This should be the last summon,” Ashard said, “then I’m getting as far away from this nation as possible.”

  Seth snickered.

  “At least our leader isn’t running away from his problems. Like us.”

  “You know, that Maya chick is cute,” Toru said, “why don—”

  “Oh piss off,” Seth said. “I told you it was the sake.”

  “Sure, okay,” Toru said sarcastically then laughed.

  Alice sat in Clyde’s lap, refusing to be ignored. He put her arms around her and nibbled one of her ears.

  “You can’t do that to her, you jerk,” Alice said to Seth.

  “I’m with Alice on that,” Yusuke said. “A woman like that is way out of your league, anyway.”

  Seth rolled his eyes.

  “I don’t care what you guys say. I’ve got my whole life ahead of me.”

  “Is there anything wrong with making earlier decisions?” Alice said.

  “No, but I won’t make mine early,” Seth said. “Nor will I let the sake do either.”

  Clyde wondered when Liru figured out that he was running a harem. She didn’t seem like the type that would have sex with her sister’s boyfriend behind her back, not that Harumi and he presented themselves as a primary couple. Maybe it was because he often showed up with multiple Team Stone members? Or was it because Alice often showed him attention—that despite Harumi being pregnant, his affection spread evenly?

  Clyde sighed. Of course, despite what could be going on in the women’s heads, if he impregnated multiple members of Team Stone, they’d be greatly weakened. And battle wasn’t an option while pregnant. That went without saying.

  “So, did you find a decent house?” Clyde asked Liru when she walked over.

  “Sure did,” Liru said. “Anzu will be here tomorrow to appraise it.”

  “Ah, the cat-singing loli,” Clyde deadpanned. Harumi and Alice laughed. Neko sighed.

  “Nyaa, I feel like I should claw at you,” Neko said.

  Episode 51 (Part 8)

  After the meeting at Liru’s, Clyde hurried off, telling the women he had to wrap up some last-minute things before leaving the city. He’d talk with Maki later about the list. There was a lot to learn about Ki and if she wanted to be his teacher, then the first step to that would be finding a new way to cultivate it. One point of Ki per day didn’t make him feel any stronger. Then again, the same argument could be raised for normal stats such as intelligence. Despite the increases, he didn’t feel smarter.

  The women were skeptical on his sudden leave. Most of them wanted to go with him, but the challenge required a private dinner with Noona. In order to make sure he wasn’t followed—in case this turned out to be one of the anime girl-following “episodes”—Clyde combined his new cloaking skill with a Jump. He didn’t like the idea of leaving Alice behind in such an unreadable mood.

  He also couldn’t forget a moment he had with the half-demoness. That recalled time flashed into his mind.

  “I look forward to it one day,” she said, her voice nearly a whisper. “Our cute little baby.”

  Clyde didn’t think the half-demoness was hurt by not being first. She wasn’t childish—but he knew surprise when he saw it. She didn’t think the young man would even consider implanting his seed. Honestly, neither did he—but shit happened. And Clyde was the kind of man that owned up to the things he did.

  Oh shit, his son or daughter was half-kitsune. Would he or she have a fox tail and ears? Did the Supreme affect the child within his fiancée? Once again, a tactical nuke sounded like an amazing idea. Too bad he had no idea where the Supreme resided. That went double for the governments. Only the unfortunate adventurers somehow stumbled upon the evil lair and was never heard from again. Ah well. For now, the young man would set these thoughts on the side.

  Noona’s skyscraper stood before him, a place of power in the city of Niyoto, Yaponiya. As soon as he entered the front lobby, a yellow-skinned demon greeted him.

  “Welcome Master Stone, we have been expecting you,” he said. “Lady Noona awaits you on the top floor.” He sighed. “I wish I could tell you what persona she’s chosen today, sir, but I hadn’t seen her all day. I…can only hope she didn’t choose the cowgirl. Sorry for my ranting. The elevator’s ready to go. Or if you prefer to just teleport.” He shrugged. “Oh please don’t let her be the cowgirl...”

  Clyde chuckled.

  “Now I’m curious.”

  Clyde didn’t feel like taking the elevator, but Jumping felt wrong. An anime moment of him appearing while she’s changing would probably crash this friendship. He couldn’t risk tarnishing this difficult beast.

  When he stepped out of the elevator, butlers awaited Clyde. They took him to a fancy dining room, where he waited for the lady herself and the servers. Ten minutes later, a servant made an announcement,

  “Joining Master Stone for dinner, is Lady Noona Necro, Head of the Necro Household.”

  She stepped into the dining room, dressed so elegantly that Clyde felt like trash. He did stop by the store to buy some better attire, but nonetheless, the young man felt like a peasant. His modern earth thinking just couldn’t keep up with the wealthy. Hell, he didn’t bother with fine society.

  His thoughts shut off when Noona suddenly tripped. He flash stepped, catching the beautiful blonde on time. Her blushing of embarrassment allowed the young man to relax a little. Despite the fancy getup, Noona was still Noona. And of course she took on the persona of some princess from an anime she watched.

  “My lord,” she said, “please forgive this klutz.”

  Clyde stopped himself from sighing.

  “You really are quite beautiful,” he said as he helped her stand. The woman actually blushed, as if receiving a compliment for the first time.

  “Ah, you’re just saying that,” she said. Ignoring Clyde’s blank stare, she continued speaking. “Come, let us dine. Although…you’ll be so far away on that end of the table. I don’t like it. Sit next to me.”

  And so the psychological warfare began. Noona wore a black elegant dress that revealed quite the cleavage, surely something sugges
ted by a maid worthy of promotion. He tried his best not to look at them. Twice he almost dropped his fork.

  [Challenge completed: private dinner with Noona. Reward: Book of Dark Magic. Item value: mysterious . Bullet-proof vest armor set. Item class: very rare!]

  [Your relationship with Noona has increased to friend, closer level 5.]

  Despite the fancy wear, the conversation with Noona switched from their day to anime. She did admit that the lack of friends made her a bit socially awkward.

  “To be honest, sometimes I stare at my phone and hope for one of you guys to text me,” she said after a few glasses of wine. Noona hiccupped. “I know my servants are here, but I can’t help feeling lonely.” Clyde nodded in understanding. Tears suddenly fell from her eyes.

  “Are you ok—”

  “And now you guys are leaving to travel to other nations,” Noona said, still managing to sound normal—a façade covering a cloud of sadness. “I’ll be stuck here by my lonesome…” Tears flooded. Clyde sighed, pulling the woman into a hug.

  “If you were to come with us, would you be okay leaving this place to your servants?”

  Noona’s face lit up, eyes starry.

  “Is it okay? Can I really come?”

  He tilted his head in thought. Her eyes went teary.

  “You’d have to join Team Stone,” Clyde said. “Since I know how strong you are and you were a big help with fighting Sophia, we’ll skip the training.” He didn’t voice the fact that she used to be a fucking demon lord.

  “Where do I sign up?” She was very close to Clyde, her breasts squeezed against him. “I feel something…hard. Weird—”

  “No need to worry about sign ups,” Clyde quickly said, “you’re now a part of the team. I’ll let the others know later.”

  “Yay,” she said, hugging the young man. His boner erupted into overdrive mode. “Let’s go to my room, celebrate with an episode or two of this new anime I started. I always wanted to show it to a guest. But…it’s getting late. I can understand if you decline.” Her sagging expression and adorableness made that decision for Clyde.