A crossover anime/manga story, set in everyday Tokyo, but within a loop of a game.

Page 185

"If it's still an enemy of the same level as before, my limit is to deal with two at the same time. But in the first battle, there were three of them. No matter when the next battle starts, the number of enemies will not decrease, and may even increase. Assuming that their power is related to that 'god,' could their power increase as they get closer to the upper floors of the hotel where the 'god' is located? This possibility cannot be ruled out. So even if the battlefield is divided, other player teams will have to delay their progress."

"This problem... is a bit difficult..."

The man in the white suit looked troubled and hesitated.

"According to your description, those fanatics possess extremely powerful strength. Players with insufficient mental strength cannot even see their true appearance. If we arrange ordinary player teams to defend against them, it will be completely ineffective. They will be breached instantly and die in vain. Moreover, the coordination between players is also a problem."

The question raised by the man in the white suit was crucial. This is not a virtual game, after all. There is no mechanism like in online games where you can attack a target with a single click and avoid accidentally harming teammates. If a player makes a mistake, it can also harm other players.

In small-scale battles, such as the previous two-team BOSS battle, it was fine because the battle arena was relatively spacious. Even if they couldn't coordinate perfectly, they could at least avoid interfering with each other. But it was a different story in a narrow stairwell.

Too few players make it impossible to mount an effective defense, while too many players will lead to chaos and confusion.

"Let's analyze the system's prompts."

While everyone was at a loss, Asagiri slowly spoke.

"First, we can confirm that although those fanatics have strong mental resistance, once their minds are affected, their power will completely go out of control and burn them to ashes. Therefore, mental attacks are their weakness. Second, according to the system's hints, 'environment' is a key factor in changing the course of the battle. Compared to the enemy, we have a crucial advantage: we can set up an ambush in advance on the battlefield, which is this hotel. Judging from the enemy's abilities, they are likely to be afraid of 'water,' and the water supply in this hotel has not been interrupted. If we can use 'water' to change the battlefield environment, we can gain the upper hand."

At this point, Asagiri paused slightly, then looked at the man in the white suit.

"Now that you know the specific abilities of the surviving players, you will be in charge of grouping them into groups: a defense group specializing in defensive abilities, a support group specializing in mental influence, an attack group with some offensive capabilities that can break through fire defenses, and a support group such as priests. Everyone should break the pattern of entering the dungeon and no longer act in small teams. Instead, each person should perform their own duties and realize what they can and only need to do. This way, even if the level of understanding between them is not that high, it will still ensure cooperation during the battle."

"Eh?"

Upon hearing Asagiri's arrangement, the man in the white suit paused for a moment, then asked curiously.

"Didn't you say you weren't good at commanding?"

"I was just being modest, did you really take it seriously?"

Hearing Asagiri's self-righteous tone, the man in the white suit and the woman in the fox demon mask were speechless.

"What effect the water will have on those believers, we'll have to wait until the next battle to test that. There are still two issues to resolve."

Asagiri then spoke.

"In the next battle, how do we separate those believers, that is, divide the battlefield, and where should we confront them?"

Upon hearing this, Asuna Yuuki glanced at the empty hotel lobby, then looked at Asagiri and said softly.

"Hmm... for us, this is the most suitable battlefield, isn't it?"

For the Asagiri squad, the spacious hotel lobby is the most suitable place for battle. This applies not only to Asagiri and Yuuki Asuna, but also to the entire squad, as Asagiri possesses the skill "Casting," which makes them highly mobile.

Kotoko Iwanaga nodded first, then added.

"I suggest that whether it's the main battlefield we're in charge of or the secondary battlefield where other players are teaming up to stall for time, it's best to choose some relatively open areas. After all, the narrower the area, the more difficult it is for players to cooperate and fight together. You might end up with more players dying from friendly fire than being killed by the enemy."

"Okay, let's set the battlefield as a three-story buffet restaurant."

Upon hearing Asagiri's words, the man in the white suit hesitated.

"That method of dividing the battlefield..."

"give it to me."

Asagiri smiled nonchalantly, then said meaningfully.

"Just you wait and see what real mockery looks like."

……

Several hours later, in the lobby on the first floor of the hotel.

Three fanatical believers wearing flame-patterned cloaks slowly walked in, followed by a tall man who appeared out of the ordinary, dressed in crimson Roman robes—the kind of clothing often worn by Western priests—with a silver revolver hanging from his waist, and who was nearly 1.9 meters tall.

“Father, this is the place.”

The priest, dressed in crimson Roman robes, nodded and scanned the hall. Although he saw no one in sight, he took two steps forward and slowly began to speak.

“Mr. Lelouch, if you can hear me, could you please come out and talk? We mean no harm.”

"is it?"

As the priest finished speaking, a black figure slowly walked out from the elevator entrance of the lobby. Looking at the three believers dozens of meters away and the tall priest who looked very strong in his red Roman robes, he slowly spoke.

"The so-called lack of malice is only because I killed the three people you sent before. It's not that there was no malice, but that you realized the difference in power."

Upon hearing this, the priest did not say much, but simply lowered his head slightly, appearing very humble.

Indeed, we mortals are small and fragile, but the Lord we serve is powerful and holy...

Before the priest could finish speaking, Asagiri waved his hand to interrupt him.

"You're preaching here? I don't believe in any so-called gods."

"Hmm? You don't believe me? Oh, I see, you've been poisoned by Blackwatch's ideology..."

"What are you talking about? I don't understand, I'm too lazy to talk to you, you're not worthy to listen."

Asagiri took out his cursed rope dart, the metal chain wrapped around his right forearm, the dark red rope dart swaying slightly in the air as if stained with blood. Although his voice was tinged with laughter, it also revealed an air of self-righteous arrogance and haughtiness.

"In my opinion, anything that exists, whether it's a god or a demon, can be killed. All beings have health bars."

Upon hearing this, the priest frowned, and his usually kind face turned ferocious.

"As expected, you Blackwatchers lack the reverence you should have for the divine. In that case, I will personally..."

"Never mind, it doesn't matter."

Asagiri interrupted the priest once again, laughing as she uttered a startling statement that caused the priest and the three believers beside him to change their expressions.

"Anyway, we already know the location of your so-called god's body. While you were talking to me, the rest of us from Blackwatch were already on our way to retrieve it."

"What!? How dare you..."

The priest's face became ferocious and twisted, and he immediately gave orders to the three believers.

"Quick, go and stop those guys!"

Are you talking in your sleep?

Seeing the three fanatics engulfed in flames rushing towards the fire escape, Asagiri instantly appeared at the entrance of the fire escape, pressing a black gun-shaped summoner against her temple with her left hand.

"Persona, Human Asura".

"boom!!!"

Three fanatical believers, as fiery as comets, collided with the towering human Asura. The human Asura staggered back half a step, his dark body slamming against the fire escape door with a dull thud. In contrast, the three fanatical believers were sent flying nearly ten meters away by the human Asura, crashing heavily to the ground.

"too naive."

Standing beside the human demon, Asagiri looked at the three fanatical believers who were struggling to their feet, as well as the tall priest whose face had turned extremely ugly, and slowly spoke.

"I, Lelouch Lamperouge, Commander of Blackwatch, will ensure the mission is accomplished."

42

Chapter 42 Barrier Activation.

"You guy..."

The tall priest stared at the mist blocking the fire escape entrance, his eyes melting as the flames gradually ignited. His already broad frame swelled even more, making his crimson Roman robes bulge out.

The next second, he drew the silver revolver from his waist, aimed at Asagiri standing there, and pulled the trigger.

"boom!"

A large-caliber silver metal bullet, engraved with some kind of sacred mark, spun out of the muzzle and struck Asagiri squarely in the left chest, near her heart.

However, the priest and the three believers couldn't help but change their expressions the next second.

"That's it?"

Asagiri reached out her left hand and caught the bullet that fell from her chest. She picked it up with her index finger and thumb, examined it for a moment, and then casually tossed it aside. She gently patted her left chest with her left hand, looked at the priest and three believers in the distance, and said calmly.

"Bullets with added holy damage? Don't try that childish trick. Do you think this is child's play?"

The priest's brows were furrowed, and the flames burning in his eyes flickered with terror.

"Isn't this guy's strength strange... and the bullets themselves can't even hurt him...?"

At this point, the priest made his decision.

“You guys go up and stop those Blackwatch guys, this guy…”

The priest gritted his teeth, raised his right hand and pierced his own chest. Then he drew a wisp of burning flame from his chest, which formed a large, burning two-handed sword. His gaze was fixed on Asagiri and the human demon standing there, and he spoke word by word.

"The time has come to offer our loyalty to the Lord!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the priest let out a roar, his body engulfed in raging flames, and charged toward Shura and Asagiri who were standing there.

Faced with the priest's imposing attack, Asagiri quickly retreated a distance, clearing the way for the fire escape entrance.

"You, go up!"

The priest only breathed a sigh of relief after the three fanatics entered the fire escape. Now, his body was engulfed in flames, and he no longer had his usual calm and serious demeanor. Instead, he looked like a vengeful angel sent by God, wielding a broad two-handed sword formed of flames, his body covered in armor of flames, and even his eye sockets were burning with raging flames.

If it were an ordinary player, they would probably be sweating profusely from feeling the pressure emanating from the priest, but Asagiri was not nervous at all. Instead, she looked at the priest with interest and chuckled.

"Your control over the power of fire is far more skillful than that of those believers. You can even use fire to form a two-handed sword, making you look like an archangel descending to punish. You've got quite the airs."

"Humph……"

The priest twirled the two-handed sword formed from flames, looked directly at Asagiri standing there, and spoke in a deep voice.

"Under the power of the gods..."

Halfway through his speech, the priest suddenly launched a sneak attack. His nearly 1.9-meter-tall body moved with extreme agility. The tip of his greatsword left a trail of flame on the smooth marble tile floor before he raised it high and brought it down vertically towards Asagiri's head.

"Burn it all!"

"boom!"

Asagiri quickly retreated, the tip of her flaming greatsword crashing to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. An ordinary player would instinctively close their eyes or turn their head away in such a situation to avoid getting shards and dust in their eyes. However, Asagiri had received professional training from Ashikaga Miwa, making her like a professional fighter. Even when facing danger, she could suppress her subconscious reactions to avoid being ambushed by enemies when her vision was open.

As expected, the moment the smoke and dust were stirred up, the tip of the fiery sword pierced through the smoke and dust, thrusting fiercely toward Asagiri's chest.

As Asagi dodged, Shura, standing nearby, stretched out his hands and firmly grasped the burning flaming greatsword. Although his hands began to melt rapidly, they only temporarily restrained the priest's movements.

"The Frost Spear!"

As the frost spear materialized, Asagiri threw a rope dart at the priest's head, delivering a fatal blow from both the left and right.

Upon seeing this, the priest immediately released the flaming sword in his hand and tried to dodge, just like Asagiri had when he was attacked before. However, his speed and reaction were not as fast as Asagiri's. Although he dodged the attack on vital parts, a bloody mark was scraped on his temple by the rope dart.

"You actually..."

Just as the priest was about to speak after dodging, Asagiri gave him no chance to catch his breath. She directly canceled the summoning of the Human Asura and then instantly summoned the Human Asura again, unharmed. The two launched a rapid attack from the front and back.

Judging from her own feelings, Asagiri had also discovered something.

After the rope dart caused damage, he recovered his mental energy, which means that the priest at this time was not a living being, but a being similar to a spirit.

Faced with the attacks from the two demons, Shura and Asagiri, which were completely undefendable, the priest's eyes widened in fury at this critical moment, and the flames on his body suddenly began to expand.

"The Spear of Frost".

Asagiri had anticipated that things wouldn't be that simple, so she immediately conjured a chilling ice spear in front of her. Instead of firing it, she used it as a barrier against the high temperature.

"boom!!!"

[Your Persona, Shura, has been destroyed. The trait "Rebirth of the End" has been activated, increasing fire resistance.]

A sea of ​​fire exploded in the hall, instantly engulfing the Asura's body. Chaowu bought some time with the barrier formed by the Frost Spear, and was only hit by the aftershocks of the flames after he had retreated nearly twenty meters away.

Despite the burning pain in his arms and eyes, Asagiri's gaze remained unchanged. He simply watched as the sea of ​​fire dissipated, revealing the priest, whose body had turned into pure orange flames and whose face was covered with mysterious lines, resembling a fire monster. He spoke calmly.

"Compared to those believers, your flames are hotter and you have more abilities at your disposal. So that's why you're a priest. I thought you had some special fetishes that allowed you to become a priest."

"You're still alive...?"

Every time the priest spoke, tiny sparks of orange flame would burst from his mouth.

"To think that Blackwatch has a monster like you... truly an organization not to be underestimated, but..."

The priest conjured another giant sword from orange flames. The heat emanating from the flames around him was so intense that it made the entire lobby of the hotel sweltering.

He pointed the tip of his greatsword at Chaowu, who was standing there, his voice filled with barely suppressed fervor and excitement.

"But precisely because of this, you can become the perfect sacrifice I offer to the gods! Come! Let us fight to the death!!!"

To the priest's surprise, in the face of his imposing declaration of war, Asagiri simply shook his head and scoffed.

"You're insane! Who's going to risk their life for you?"