Chapter 11: The Golden Princess

Suddenly, the uneven ground shakes violently beneath our heavy leather boots. We encounter huge, towering monsters completely blocking our only narrow path forward. They look exactly like giant, animated rock golems, possessing glowing, sinister red eyes and massive, jagged stone fists. They roar loudly, the deafening sound echoing off the canyon walls, and try to brutally attack us without any warning whatsoever.

Without missing a beat, Amiya immediately drops her heavy, razor-sharp steel sword onto the dusty dirt with a loud thud.

"Oh yes! Giant rock fists! Please crush my delicate bones into absolute dust!" Amiya screams happily, her eyes wide with unhinged excitement.

She recklessly runs forward and eagerly offers herself to be mercilessly hit by the massive monsters. Cursing under my breath, I sprint desperately after her, jump high into the dusty air, and smack her incredibly hard right on the back of the head.

"Stop trying to die in the first five seconds", I yell angrily at the helplessly masochistic knight.

I quickly turn around and point an accusatory, demanding finger directly at our supposed, so-called hero.

"Attack them now", I tell to Ishida, fully expecting him to charge into battle.

Instead of fighting, Ishida stubbornly crosses his arms and literally pouts exactly like a spoiled child.

"I cannot reach their heads with my normal sword", Ishida complains loudly, kicking a small pebble across the ground. "Give me a weapon that can actually kill these huge monsters".

I sigh heavily, closing my eyes and aggressively rubbing my throbbing temples in pure, unadulterated frustration. Gathering my scattered thoughts, I focus my inner energy and skillfully cast my special, highly classified dimensional magic. A bright, blindingly blue magic circle rapidly spins into existence right above my outstretched, open hands, humming with volatile power. I reach into the glowing void and successfully summon an advanced, modern military weapon straight from another dimension. It is a sleek, futuristic mechanical lightning bow that violently crackles with terrifying, raw blue electricity. I desperately shove the heavy, incredibly dangerous weapon into Ishida's waiting hands.

"Just shoot the big rocks", I order him sternly while hastily stepping back to avoid the wild electrical sparks.

Ishida grins evilly, completely embracing his edgy persona, and dramatically pulls back the glowing, vibrating energy string of the mechanical lightning bow. He aggressively attacks the huge monsters with the lightning bow, effortlessly firing rapid, blinding bolts of pure blue electricity into the fray. The bright, supercharged arrows easily pierce straight through the thick, impenetrable stone armor of the advancing golems, creating massive, incredibly loud explosions that shake the very foundations of the valley. Amiya eagerly picks her heavy steel sword back up and happily charges straight into the center of the dusty chaos. She actively tries to melee sword attack the dangerous mobs happily, fighting exactly like a true, completely unhinged masochist. Every single time a sharp, flying rock painfully grazes her pale skin, she laughs loudly like a complete, absolute maniac. Nearby, Meiyi dramatically chants dark, completely fabricated chūnibyō spells, throwing wild magical blasts into the air, while Diana nervously dashes around the giant, stomping feet of the golems with terrifying speed. The others enthusiastically join the bloody fight and violently attack the mobs with absolutely zero coherent strategy, relying entirely on their incredible, overwhelming chaotic energy.

As usual, I purposely do not fight directly and choose to stay safely hidden behind a very large, sturdy boulder. I just desperately try to strategically support and guide Ishida and the reckless team members by loudly shouting out obvious enemy weak points.

"Shoot the glowing red eyes", I command loudly over the deafening, thunderous sound of violently exploding rocks.

After a very long, incredibly messy, and highly uncoordinated battle, they finally succeed and violently kill the giant monsters. The towering rock golems slowly crumble into pathetic piles of harmless, smoking gravel and fine gray dust. We stand completely exhausted in the absolute center of the ruined, heavily cratered valley, panting heavily as the adrenaline fades.

Suddenly, without any prior warning, the entire surrounding area violently earthquakes with terrifying, cataclysmic force. The incredibly tall, imposing canyon walls brutally shatter and crack wide open, raining debris down upon us. Lots of terrifying monsters are rapidly coming toward them, preparing to ruthlessly attack them from every single conceivable direction. Hundreds of foaming rabid wolves, shrieking flying gargoyles, and grotesquely ugly cave trolls completely flood the narrow, trapped valley. It is an absolute, waking nightmare consisting entirely of endless, bloodthirsty enemies.

However, surprisingly enough, Ishida and the rest of the deeply flawed team do not look scared at all. In fact, Ishida and the rest happily attack and brutally kill lots of the invading monsters with massive, terrifying smiles plastered permanently on their faces. They are visibly and completely enjoying the brutal, relentless massacre. Ishida rapidly fires endless, piercing lightning bolts into the sky, effortlessly creating a beautifully terrifying storm of pure electrical death. Amiya wildly swings her giant, blood-stained sword, loudly begging the vicious monsters to bite her delicate flesh while she effortlessly slices them perfectly in half. Meiyi happily blows up entire, crowded groups of trolls with highly explosive dark magic fireworks, and Diana frantically slices through the swooping, flying gargoyles at absolute lightning speed.

After an entire, grueling hour of relentless chaotic violence, the endless horde of monsters are all completely, undoubtedly dead. The once-noisy battlefield is eerily quiet, covered entirely in mountains of defeated enemies and a thick, choking blanket of black smoke.

Suddenly, piercing through the lingering silence, the loud, rhythmic sound of heavy, galloping horses echoes sharply through the devastated canyon. Some elite group of heavily armed cavalry, completely clad in gleaming, shining steel armors, is rapidly coming toward Ishida and the blood-soaked team. They proudly ride majestic, pure white horses and firmly hold tall, incredibly sharp lances pointing directly at the cloudy sky. The imposing cavalry leader confidently rides to the very front of the organized group. She skillfully pulls the leather reins of her horse and comes to a complete, sudden stop right in front of them. She looks down critically at the gruesome sea of dead monsters and then coldly glares at our incredibly messy, panting group.

"Who are you", the cavalry leader asks with a strong, highly commanding voice that demands immediate respect. "Did you kill this monsters?"

Eager to impress, Ishida quickly steps forward, deliberately wiping a small smudge of black dirt from his cheek just to look incredibly cool and mysterious.

"Yes, we did", Ishida agrees smoothly with a proud, overly heroic smirk plastered on his face.

The silent cavalry leader slowly reaches up to her heavy, completely enclosed steel helmet. She carefully unclasps the intricate metal sides and slowly, dramatically opens her helmet. She completely pulls it off, gracefully letting her incredibly long, gorgeous golden hair flow freely and beautifully in the gentle canyon wind. It is a breathtakingly beautiful blonde princess warrior dressed completely in shining, perfectly polished steel armor. Her striking, piercing blue eyes stare intensely directly at us, and her aristocratic face is absolutely, undeniably flawless.

Ishida immediately drops his highly dangerous, crackling lightning bow right onto his own unprotected foot. Unbelievably, he does not even scream in agonizing pain. His wide eyes instantly turn into giant, throbbing pink hearts. Amiya, Meiyi, and Diana gasp loudly in perfect unison, openly staring at the beautiful, imposing royal knight in pure, unadulterated admiration. Even I physically feel my own jaw drop slightly at her overwhelmingly majestic, commanding presence.

Ishida and the entire, usually chaotic team are completely, utterly shocked and instantly fall deeply in love.