Kitsura

Plot summary for those who have forgotten since I haven’t updated in a while, Kotori is now currently locked in the queen’s trial, after meeting Lala who promised her the infinite mana crystal in exchange for removing the “invaders” from the Eris Lab, she is now busying fighting off the other queen’s candidates

Kotori who was now facing off with the rampaging man in front of her was struck with a dilemma although she could get rid of him with [Gourmet] it was a lot more difficult than she thought.

Since the activation simply stole mana, as long as Hectaire had the ability to chug down Moon Elf blood elixirs he would have a large enough supply to counter her ability to suck.

It also tasted terrible. The first time Kotori took a taste of it she had to hold back her own bile which started to climb up her throat. It tasted like copper and sweat. She had to stifle gags as she ate the disgusting mana.

And even though Kotori was filled with Mana, she didn’t have the ability to cast a Mana buff with the excess mana.

Hectaire was smarter than that. Although he was little more than a rampaging beast, at the moment, he could still correctly deduce that Kotori was the one who was slowly taking his mana.

Regardless, it was now a battle of attrition.

Hectaire was not strong nor smart enough to break past the coordination of Kotori’s Companions who were attempting to restrict his movements while also making sure that he did not break through their blockage.

Still, it was much easier said than done. Hectaire was strong enough individually to overpower any single one of them.

This meant that at a minimum it took two people/spirits to stop and push him back. By necessity, there was a power imbalance.

It seemed like for a short while it was going well, that was until Hectaire suddenly dashed off. It seemed that the beast of man had realized his movements were being constricted and now was attempting to break through the blockade.

[I’ve been lax!] Kotori thought as she realized that Hectaire had completely given up the idea of overpowering them and was now focused on escaping.

Since he was little more than an animal with a little bit of intelligence with [Berserk] active he was not actively trying to escape a situation that was impossible for him to win.

Kotori and her group had not expected this, she briefly recalled the teaching of Sun Tzu, to always leave an exit for an enemy or else they will fight like devils to the death as there is nothing less to do.

Umi who was in the path of Hectaire had the worst defensive capabilities among them all and unluckily Hectaire was now charging towards her at a speed that meant that Shu, who was closest to her was too slow to assist her. Since Hectaire was barreling towards her like a bowling ball with nothing to stop him Kotori could only make sure that Umi stayed intact.

“Umi move out of the way!” She managed to cry out.

Umi who heard Kotori’s orders diligently moved out of the way,

This was still not ideal.

Since they hadn’t planned an escape route for Hectaire, looking back if Kotori was more aware she would’ve forced him to escape through an empty passageway. She didn’t have much time, to ponder these thoughts as Kotori saw the two figures that were directly in the path of Hectaire.

Zacariah and Deliah who had not moved since the fight had started were now frozen in shock as they realized the man was now charging toward them.

[Move out of the way!] Kotori internally screamed.

Since Zacariah and Deliah were not fighters they didn’t have the ability to maintain their composure when in the line of attack.

While Kotori didn’t care about the fate of Zacariah she cared a lot more about Deliah who was completely innocent.

It was Zacariah who moved first, shoving the frozen Deliah in front of him and dashing out of the way.

Kotori could here him muttering under his breath,

“Die for me you worthless bitch”

Kotori was powerless as she watched Hectaire blithely charge forward wildly swinging his sword, upon finding a new target Deliah who was now in the crossfire was slashed across her chest.

The girl collapse crumpled instantly her pale skin now flushed and her dress now stained in crimson.

“Layla, Amelie!” Kotori yelled out.

“Yes!”

Layla, Amelie rushed forward, they were the two fastest frontline fighters and quickly caught up to Hectaire, now that he was fleeing his back was exposed, they landed two blows on his back staggering him.

Seeing Deliah on the ground bleeding out on the ground, a rage welled up in Kotori. The same kind of feeling she had from watching the Baron’s men cut down her parents raised up in her.

She heard a voice raise in her head

“[Gourmet] is being modified by trait [Desire of Montecristo]”

“[Gourmet] has been removed”

“Authority Level has been added”

“Authority Level has been set to [Neglible]”              

“Host System connection weakening, please check your connection.”

Kotori found herself frowning at the sudden string of commands that rung in her head. She felt herself furrowing her brow at the things that were said.

“Authority Level?”

“System connection?”

She didn’t understand the meaning of these terms. Regardless she felt a new power welling up inside her.

She noticed Hectaire suddenly stop, although she had wished in her heart for him to stop she didn’t think he would actually stop.

It was a bizarre sight, the man in front of her simply.. froze.

Kitsura

"Honey! I came back with the milk and cigarette."

Err.. Mostly writer's block and getting caught up in reading web novels again. High recommend Release that Witch, Memorize, Man-eating Dungeon, FFF class hero... basically, if I'm not writing, I'm reading usually. Will probably be releasing more regularly as I sorta figured out this arc and we start moving into the second half of the story.