Shadows of Hell END

The whole table was lined with bowls full of soup and noodles.

“Ladies…and Tatsuo….prepare to take you first steps to ascending into heaven”

“Did you really have to call me out like that?”

“Well, I couldn’t call you a gentleman now could I?”

“Why…you…little”

“Boys!…. Food on the table?” No matter how much they are at each other’s throats, they sure are scared of Haru….I mean, I’m one to talk.

“You win this time,” Tatsuo conceded, which only put a snarky grin on Hayato’s face.

And finally, everyone was on the same page on the table

“Itadakimasu” said everyone at the table except me

And each of their reactions differed greatly. Haru was holding her cheek after a mouthful, clearly she loved it. Tatsuo was wolfing down little at a time, trying not to burn himself. And Hayato was savoring it little by little.

“Shit…You weren’t kidding Ishikawa, this is easily the best ramen I’ve ever had”

“I agree… I can eat this any day all day” Haru expressed her thoughts

“And Yulia…san?”

And I just found that my bowl had been cleaned completely…..Crap, force of habit

While I was observing the others, I involuntarily finished everything in my bowl, as it was something that was engraved into me during survival training. It has even rendered my taste buds mostly numb unless it’s something that is extremely strong….Haru’s witches brew being the prime example.

“I guess even you liked it enough to clean the whole thing out” Hayato commented

“Uh, yeah…it was good” I went along with it

“Hmmm?” and he started looking at me with suspicion.

“What?”

“You said it was good, no-one says that on the first time….you didn’t even taste it…did you”

I started stammering as I was caught in the act and had no way out. I just had to accept my defeat

I slumped my head down “You got me.”

I looked at the master to make sure he doesn’t take it the wrong way

“Ah….don’t get me wrong, it might’ve been great… But I haven’t felt taste in many years due to survival training”

“No harm done, Mano-kun. It felt kind of nice to have someone who felt differently about my food after a long time”

“Survival training?....Oh yeah, that reminded me….That Roland guy called you the prodigy mercenary…What’s that all about?”

And now the whole table is in my face, radiating curiosity. I knew there was no getting out of this by bluffing.

I sighed “ My family is one from a…unique background. Let’s just say it meant I had to train in many kinds of things from a young age. Combat, Firearms..that sort of thing”

And now all three of them are looking at me like children who just received a toy for Christmas.

“Oi….get off my case about it will you?!” I exclaimed

“Sorry about that Yu-chan…it’s just that we only learned even this about you right now and it was much cooler than I expected”

“Cooler huh?” I turned back towards the table and rested my head in my hand.

“Speaking of which, Yulia-san…You are Japanese, right?”

“Yeah? What about it?”

“Where are you from?”

“Wait wait, me first” Haru jumps in with her hand up high

“Saitama here” Haru starts off

“Me and this idiot here is from Tokyo” Tatsuo adds in

“I can answer for myself you know”

“Well it’s pretty much the same answer isn’t it”

“…Fair point”

“Well, where are you from Yu-chan?”

“…..Yokohama” I said softly while averting my gaze

“Still, not used to getting close to people are you. It’s all good, we shall break through that thick hide, with the power of-”

And before he finished, Hayato striked again, poking his chopsticks right into Tatsuo’s mouth “Here, have a nice chunk of wasabi. You’ll feel better”

Caught off-guard, Tatsuo flinches in pain, ducking under the table with his left arm up on the counter

“You are welcome” Hayato said while looking at me

“I…shi…kawa. Y..You little...shit” Tatsuo desperately trying to put words together

“You know he won’t let you go for that right?” I asked

“Eh…so what else is new?”

Few moments later, it was time for us to push forward. Haru bowed her head to the master, thanking him for the food, while Tatsuo had recovered, and he and Hayato were being…themselves. And we finally found ourselves mostly out of the door. Haru and Tatsuo were the first to step outside the door with Hayato being late to the party

“One last thing, you planning on moving up, Master?”

“Where there are more ingredients to be had at a lower price?...You bet I will. I can move in instantly the moment the layer unlocks as well, perks of having a registered job”

“That’s great to know…Well, we are off, I’ll drop in later if I ever come down here” Hayato waved his hand and turned his back

“Hayato-kun” and he stops in his tracks once more and turns around

“I know this is a bit of a stretch…but there might be a chance that Akio-kun is still out there”

“I don’t think that’s possible, Master…. After what happened to him, he definitely got mauled in Typhon”

“So you haven’t heard”

“Haven’t heard about what?”

“Few weeks ago…he was seen in Helios”

In a rare moment, Hayato is struck silent. He closes in on the counter and leans in with his hands on it

“You are not serious”

“It’s just something I saw but….a few weeks ago, a massive group of hunters passed here. I heard them saying his name. There is a chance”

“Bullshit” he backs off and starts pacing restlessly “ There is no way he could’ve made it out alive…Are you seriously expecting me to believe that he avoided most of the player base being after his head, and making it to Helios from Typhon!” Hayato’s manner started to pick up aggression. He ended by slamming his hands on the counter next to the Master.

“Hayato-san!” I exclaimed to him from the door to give him an indication that he was going too far. Which he instantly realized

“Sorry, it’s just….I’m here expecting the worst. But I just can’t see Akio surviving that ordeal” He turned around and walked towards be, and then looked over his shoulder for one last time

“I appreciate you trying to help in any possible way, Master….But I can be sure you might have misheard” and he walks out, leaving me at the door. I bow my head to the Master and close the door behind me.

I could hear him muttering in front of me “He can’t be alive…it’s impossible. Yeah…he should’ve mistook it, I’m sure that’s the case”

But I took the chance to question him about it

“Why are you convinced your friend is dead? And what the hell was that all about back there”

Hayato stopped in his tracks “He was one of the best yes….but that was when this was a game. He wouldn’t stand a chance in that situation”

“Hayato-san, stop… take a deep breath, and tell me”

He paused for a moment to process his thoughts.

“Tell me something Yulia-san… you said you were trained to fight from childhood. If you had the entirety of Helios hunting for you….Would you have any chance of surviving?”

I took a moment myself to process that, but he read the truth from my pause.

“Exactly” and he starts walking again

“You still didn’t answer my question” I said, attempting to match his walking pace

“But you answered mine…That’s all there is to it”

We reach the end of the alley just to the sight of Tatsuo and Haru talking, and they stop their conversation and direct their attention towards us.

“Took you long enough”

“Hayato-san and the Master got carried away talking about old times…but we are here now”

I could sense Hayato’s glimpse of thankfulness at me, that I didn’t tell them the specifics. I had the feeling that he didn’t want anyone else up his tail about it.

“Well, we are still making good time. Half an hour till night rules come into effect, and we only a few minutes away from the gate”

“Sooo….boss time?” I inquired

“Yep, it is boss time”

An hour later, we found ourselves in front of the gate.

“So…last minute pep talk. Everyone got their heads in the game?” Tatsuo asked, taking charge of the group

“Look who’s talking…few hours ago, you weren’t even taking this seriously” Hayato replied to that

Tatsuo moved towards me and Haru in a flash “Alright…change of plans….it seems Ishikawa will solo the dungeon for us….Let’s just wait outside”

“Oi,oi,oi,oi, oi….I’m kidding…I’m kidding” Hayato pleaded

Now that the ice between everyone had broken, we all entered the doorway, one by one. The white sphere signifying the arrival of evening gave way to the echoey cathedral like interior. This time we had spawned at a different place. What lied ahead of us were two extremely tall doors, which presumably leads to our target. A few more seconds later, everyone was here and a pop-up notified us that our raid inventories were active.

“Okay team…remember everyone’s designations, and take this moment to load up your High Vel rounds. Hayato, you are on armor break so be ready with the AP rounds. Ishikawa suppresses it behind my shield and that’s when you two close the distance. Play two on one – hit and run tactic. Haru-san, you go first….close the distance and get him on the defensive with shotgun blasts, Yulia-san uses that chance to get behind and go for a quick takedown….once he recovers, you two switch. Pressure the boss with your SMG, and Haru-san moves in for a strike….Anyone takes damage by any chance, disengage and regroup behind my shield…Heal, and re-engage. Are we clear?”

“YES!” everyone shouts in unison

“Good…Now load up, and let's go” Tatsuo ends his pep talk

Eventhough I loaded my gun with High Velocity ammo earlier, I check both weapons to avoid any unexpected surprises. Acid tip on my knife, check. Gun loaded with High Vel, double check….the other thing I noticed is how unlike the normal inventory, the raid inventory displays your HP and SP bar on top and has an extra indicator that tracks how much IP the inventory holds. And the IP indicator shows 1000/1000 right now, which I recall, is the meaning of a full buy. My HP and SP bars were also more extended than usual, which I am guessing is the effect of the pre-raid meal.

After everyone gives the nod that they are all ready, Tatsuo pushes open the massive double doors. The blue fog from before seeps into our space and until the floor is barely visible. A little bit more denser, and I might think I am standing on a cloud. We entered the middle of the room and readied our weapons. And then, it awoke.

It was a humanoid warrior, a full suit of armor with lines of blue running through it. It reminded me of one of those samurai armor sets that my family have on display back home. He got off his knees slowly and drew a black katana which was glowing blue. It looked similar to Cyber-Gear but the blade had a more sinister aura to it. And finally, his eyes lit up…..blue pupils on a fully black background, and the samurai like helmet was giving off a visible blue aura through the mask….And he finally got into a ready stance.

“Alright”

“LET’S- ” But the boss didn’t let him finish that sentence, and in that split second, he was already in front of me, charging his strike.

This sent everyone, me included, scrambling. As in a single second, our plan went up in flames.

‘WATCH OUT!” Tatsuo’s sword intercepted that attack, giving me a second to recollect myself.

Hayato peppered him from the back with AP ammo, leaving cracks in his armor behind, but the boss didn’t leave any opening long enough to be exploited. The boss surprised everyone by pulling out a one-handed crossbow and quick-firing it with precision.

A bolt flew towards Hayato but he was a split-second too late to avoid major damage. The bolt pierced through the scope of his rifle, shattering it right next to his eye. The bolt almost ended him but since he was able to even slightly react, that small amount of head movement left him only with a graze on his cheek, rather than an arrow in his brain. However, Hayato was taken out of the fight temporarily, as the glass from his shattered gun scope managed to cut open his right eye. His screams of pain managed to distract Tatsuo which instinctively made him look back.

“ISHIKAWA!”

“I’M FINE, JUST-” but just before Hayato was able to finish his sentence, the boss used the chance to deal a series of blows to Tatsuo. The strikes were very quick…quick enough that it didn’t allow I’s opponent any time to get his guard up or even fully finish getting thrown back by the impact.

Tatsuo’s armor was breached in an instant, leaving him with a series of deep cuts which put him down to his knees. He held a defensive stance with his energy sword, having the shield up above him, but the boss kept beating down on the barrier, not giving Tatsuo even a second to recollect himself.

To relieve some of the pressure, I put a few shots into his back with my repeater, specifically where the cracks in his armor had appeared, but it still was too thick, he wasn’t even fazed by it, but the impacts of the High Vel rounds I was throwing at him seemed to annoy him. But it seemed like he had enough.

The boss literally disappeared and reappeared a few inches in front of me, which put me in trouble once again. I managed to leap back to create a little bit more space, but it also saved me from a quick slash by him that could’ve ended me. However, eventhough I avoided the strike, my gun didn’t. The slash went clean through it and shattered my gun into two. I was dumbstruck in the moment as I didn’t know that could happen. But by the time I snapped back to my senses, he stabbed his katana clean through my abdomen. I didn’t know what to do to get out of this…..was this how it’s going to end for me.

But I was given a second wind and a minute to recover, as the boss happened to eat a shotgun blast to the back. He let go of his weapon which allowed me to attempt to pull the blade out of me, but it disintegrated the moment I touched it, making my life a bit easier.

The boss didn’t have his katana, but opted to deal with Haru with his bare hands. While I used up an HP vial and tried to stabilize myself on my feet, I took a second to assess the situation we were in.

We were getting overpowered and outpaced, we needed a moment to gather our thoughts or at least for the others to…..I have to do something. I turned over my left hand to check how everyone is fairing. Tatsuo and Hayato were both below half health and they were slowly healing up, I was the only one healed for full HP as I witnessed a part of Haru’s health bar shatter on my party interface. I looked to see what had happened but she had gotten grabbed and was slammed into the ground, like an angry child would do with a cloth doll. And to finish her off, the boss threw her at me and we both ended up getting thrown across the room. I managed to catch her and made sure that she didn’t have a hard landing, as the initial slam as already rendered her unconscious

“Haru….wake up!” I heard her moans and breaths confirming she was still living, and I took a second to douse her open wounds with one of my HP vials. But now, the monster radiating blue has his eyes on me. I got back up on my feet to face the threat in front of me

This was supposed to be a new page for me, but it seems that page had been set alight the moment it had started to be written. Haru’s out cold….Hayato is barely in it, and where am I right now.

Fundamental rule of warfare…. ‘Control the battlefield…. don’t let it control you”. And it’s only then you will be able to stand out as a fighter, but right now, we don't have control over anything.

I froze, not knowing what to do. The sound of my deep breaths drowning out everything, including Tatsuo’s screams while running towards me

How did we manage to mess this up this badly?

It’s like the boss knew. He wasn’t putting his speed on display. Tatsuo was across the room and there was no way he could make it fast enough with all his armor. The boss was walking towards me with his blade now materialized in his hand. Both of us knew it at this moment……. I was alone.

But I was not going to await death…..Teamwork? Planning? Friendship?.... What bullshit. In the heat of battle, the only thing that matters is what you do. I thought I had to change since I already lost everyone I cared about acting that way. If me trying to change is also going to lead to that same outcome, then I was wrong.

Ok, reset. Take a deep breath, focus on yourself, eyes on your opponent and most importantly, hide your fear….Guess my old man’s words do come in for the aid at times like this.

But it’s as if he knew my mindset changed. His gaze widened and he immediately stopped his approach and went on the defensive. I got into stance with my karambit in front of me. He made the first move which happened exactly as I predicted it. I used the inner part of my blade to temporarily block it and slid right past him and dug my knife into the back of his knee, making him drop to one knee. The acidic tip acted fast and punctured the thin layer of armor at his joint and I managed to do some damage. He tried to retaliate, trying to elbow me and throw me into a daze, but I managed to evade it, grabbed his head and slid my blade right under his chin. But it wasn’t effective as the acid tips break after one use and the armor on his vitals is much thicker than the rest of his body.

He breaks off and puts a bit of distance between us, but it is only now that we’ve done some sort of damage to him, as a health bar appears on the side of his head which had depleted by a small amount, which also displayed his name as the “Kage no Bushi”. I also did a quick check on myself while I could…Quickly replaced my blade tip with another acidic one and the only damage he had done was to stamina. If I was to go for a quick SP recharge right now, he would take the opportunity to strike, but if I am to do something, I must do it fast since at this rate, I will be running out of stamina. Tatsuo had caught up to us and was trying to join the fight, but I didn’t want him interfering anymore. I tossed all the smokes his way to cut off his sight, giving me more time to fight the boss on my own terms.

This time, I made the first move but he was being cautious, he kept evading my blade strikes, and blocking the ones he can’t avoid with the armor on his arms. Even chances I took going for his legs to weaken his stance were pointless as he was ready for those. He kept taking steps back against my assault, and I kept on the pressure trying my hardest to not deplete the little stamina I have. My consistent offensive pressure forced him to slip up, and I finally inflicted another blow as my blade dug into his right elbow, melting the armor off his arm. And it was the first time I saw that while he did have a body, it was enveloped in blue mist like what is on the ground. I finally have a weak point I can easily target.

‘One step at a time’ I muttered to myself

I started to see in my head what I had to do. He’s going down if he keeps on the defensive like this, but reading my intentions like a book, he instantly went on the offensive….Made my job a whole lot easier. His first sword swipe was a feint and he wanted to catch me on the dodge, but that confirmed my suspicion, this guy was learning. I read his fake-out and made my move the split second his blade changed direction, and I dodged the other way. His attack ended with his exposed arm extended at the end of his sword swing, so I swung around to his back in an instant to dig my blade into his weakness. But in that split second I failed to realize that he was luring me all this time.

It had slipped out of my mind that he could move faster than I could track and in an instance, he was the one behind me. And since I didn’t account for that, my stamina bar depleted to zero trying to react to that. My whole body just locked up due to that, and I was in trouble. He raised his sword attempting to slice me in half and I knew fully well if this hit, I was done for…..I messed up hard.

But for once in my life, fortune favored me, as the man who I sabotaged earlier took the blow for me. Tatsuo jumped in front of the oncoming blow and caught the sword with his bare hands, but the force managed to slice his face and his body. His face had a shallow cut through it and so did his body as Tatsuo’s armor absorbed most of the force and shattered. Haru tased the boss’ exposed knee and Hayato put a burst of AP round into his face, breaking open his mask, and wedged a flashbang into the opening he created. He pulled the pin and kicked him away.

Tatsuo reloaded his sword with a plasma cartridge and put his shield up in front of everyone. The boss was stunned and I had a few moments to gather my thoughts. At least I thought I did

The flash went off and what followed was the boss’ inhuman growl in pain. And Hayato also tossed a smoke his way. Possibly to disorient him even more when he recovers from the flash.

“You idiot”. Tatsuo looked at me while holding his shield up “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?”

“Let's keep the yelling matches for later shall we, we need to come up with a plan of attack. Tatsuo, we need you here” Hayato said, now with the eye he injured early now covered up in bandage

“This thing is no bronze raid boss….I haven’t even seen one like this even all the way up in Nova.”

“Anything else that would actually be beneficial to us, other than the blatantly obvious?”

“Let me go” I muttered

“You’ve done enough. You sit still” Tatsuo commanded me, but I wasn’t taking any of it

“TO HELL WITH THAT! We saw how your plans went. This isn’t something that we can get out of with all of your game experience”

“GUYS!...HE IS RECOVERING!...Look, can both of you get to killing each other AFTER we kill this thing….Tatsuo, we need something, RIGHT NOW!”

“From what I've seen so far, it’s playing stagger and finish. Tries to overpower you and goes for a killing blow. What I still haven’t figured out is his teleport”

“WE NEED MORE THAN THAT RIGHT NOW, TATSUO” Hayato exclaims as the white smoke slowly turns all blue

“Haru-san, you with us?” Tatsuo asked

“I’m fine, just took a hard hit, but I’ll live” she replied, clearly hurting

“Fuck it…We play a double team. Ishikawa, you are with me. Haru-san, you are with….her”

“HEARD!” Hayato and Haru replied

“What the hell is a double team?” I inquired

“Oh, now you are interested in playing with your teammates” but as soon as he said that, a familiar katana started striking at the shield.

“We only got a few more seconds, can we please not do this right now?” Hayato pleaded

“Whatever, just follow our lead…you do whatever you want right after Haru-san”

Tatsuo loaded up another cartridge onto his shield and slammed it into the ground. The shockwave created, pushed the boss back a few paces, allowing us some breathing room.

The new plan was in play which I barely had any idea about. But Tatsuo taking charge, aimed at him from range and got him on the defensive with a few shots with his handgun. He put his hand up to block the shots but his guard instantly dropped as one of the shots found itself going through the exposed elbow. But the boss managed to quick draw his crossbow and put a bolt through Tatsuo’s shattered armor

“ISHIKAWA!” Hayato screamed, passing the reins of attack towards the precision aim of Hayato. He managed to get a few well placed AP shots on the boss’s chest, and the armor slowly but surely chipped away. The impacts put the boss down to his knees

“LAST MAG OF AP……HARU-SAN, YOU ARE UP”

“ON IT” she replied,

She closed the range on the grounded boss but he tried to retaliate with a wide swing. Haru slid right under it and beside him while also unloading a shotgun blast to his chest, shattering his armor. He was now vulnerable. But Haru went the extra mile and put another shotgun blast in his back where he was weakened initially. She got back up to her feet immediately and planted her taser on the boss’ back. He swung his arm to his back and managed to get a clean hit on Haru, sending her flying back.

“YU-CHAN..NOW!” she screamed from the ground…..and now it’s my turn.

I begin my quick approach and just in time, I spy a prompt on the corner of my eye saying that my gun has completed rematerializing after it broke. I put away my Karambit and got my repeater into my hands and converted it back to its original form. I put the High Vels loaded into good use as close the distance and fired extended bursts of rounds into his exposed weak points, which at this point, is most of his body. He tried fighting back but I was playing out of the range of his blade, and he had no way to retaliate as his crossbow wasn’t loaded. Finally got him down to half health…one more push to go.

He was severely weakened, and everyone was unloading all the ammo they had at him….But the moment his HP bar reached its last quarter and started flashing red, it sent out an inhuman roar that created a shockwave to push everyone back. But now, he was on his last legs…but it also happened to be his most dangerous one.

He started absorbing the fog from the floor and his health bar was slowly starting to fill up. The fog was getting thinner but wasn’t fully dissipating. Tatsuo regained his footing and aimed at his chest. However, he instantly teleported behind him and thrusted his blade into Tatsuo from behind. His armor shattered and the blade pierced right through him. He pulled the blade out and was going for the finishing blow but Haru went in for the save. He did the same to her. Teleported behind her and cut her down, slashing from above. They both were barely alive with their health bars in the red, but I must figure out his teleportation or else it’s going to be a repeat of the beginning of the raid. I held my fire as I wanted Hayato to draw his attention from Haru…and that he did.

“YOU BASTARD” Hayato fired a whole clip from his handgun at the fractured boss. And this was my chance.

Keep your eyes on him, Yulia….find that tell, there always is one. And a moment later, I found it. The fog clears on the spot where he is going to teleport, it’s how he caught me the first time as well.

“HAYATO-SAN, THE FOG…WATCH THE FOG” I warned him.

And he instantly got the hint. He quickly looked down and looked at his back and he saw the clearing. And just as predicted, he teleported exactly to that spot and swiped his katana, trying to instantly behead Hayato. But he saw it coming…..he dropped down to his knee, put his rifle barrel on his left shoulder and pulled the trigger. He managed to unload quite a few AP rounds into the boss’s upper torso and most of it, hit him in the neck, shattering the armor and revealing his most crucial weak spot. This was what I needed to end it.

Hayato and the boss were immobilized as the gun barrel was quite close to their ear, which put Hayato on the ground clutching his ears, and the boss was on his feet disoriented. I closed the distance as fast as I could before he recovered and slid around to his back. I put a repeater round through his exposed knee to bring him down, then clutched his head and my karambit found his neck

“Checkmate, you son of a bitch” And I finished him off, tearing open his neck and along with that, the last remnants of his health bar.

The blue fog finally dissipates and the blue glow covering the boss’ body also dissipates, leaving nothing but an empty suit of armor. What was more unsettling was the fact that once it fell down, it started to bleed red, like an actual person.

And just as the boss fell, so did I. I was exhausted, hurt and most importantly, relieved. I was afraid all this time. That this would’ve been another failure in my collection of them. But this was the win I desperately needed.

And all of a sudden, an announcement plays on our interfaces, as I heard it through everyone else’s in the gigantic hall.

“ Raid attempt: Shadow of Hell….attempt number 30…clear confirmed: Falcons of War” the announcer said from our interface

I closed my eyes for a second to take in the silence, but it was taken away by Hayato’s scream

“900 RP AND 2.4 MILLION RELS!?”

I instantly opened my eyes and that is what awaited on my interface as well

“WHAT THE HELL?” now Tatsuo joined in

“Thirtieth clear….maybe the rewards scale the more people fail?” Haru being the only one thinking clearly through this entire situation

Man….How the hell are we even still alive?

Around ten minutes later, we picked ourselves up and left through the gate that had spawned in the middle of the massive hall we fought in.

“Man, that was a tough day…want to celebrate with some sukiyaki?” Tatsuo suggested

“Oh we are going all out today….RP cap and couple millions of Rels in one day…It’s like we won the lottery down here” and in followed Hayato

“Now don’t go overboard with all that. We still have to prepare for the ascension BR” Haru too.

I am having enough of it

“Yu-chan, you got any plans for-”

“STOP IT” my scream sent the atmosphere into a pin drop silence.

“How….how are you people TAKING IS SO EASY, WHEN WE ALMOST LOST OUR LIVES TODAY?……Is this still a game to you? Do you think your lives are a game? You all think you got this place figured out, but look where that almost got us today. Almost slaughtered by a-” I kept on going until…

“So do you think your life is a game?” Tatsuo interrupted me

“Huh?”

“We all saw what you did today….How you ignored us and had your own way? So...let me repeat myself, do you think your life is a game?”

“Had my own way? WE ARE ONLY ALL ALIVE BECAUSE OF ME!”

“In that case, let me ask you this….Would you have been able to kill the boss alone?”

My argument froze, because the answer was obvious

“You said that we are all alive because of you. You are half right about that….the fight you put up bought us the time we needed to regroup….you figured out the enemy’s trump card and you dealt the finishing blow. But what is unforgiveable is how you outright rejected our help when we offered it to you….You think you are better than us, because you have real-life combat experience? You think that just because we spent our time behind keyboards, we need you to protect us? You can’t even protect yourself.”

Tatsuo turned his back to me “There is a saying in the world of us…’competitive gamers’…..A person might be the kindest and most humblest person you have ever met….But be with them in a losing situation, and they will show who they truly are….You, Mano-san…showed who you truly are in there today…..If I knew that you were that kind of person, I wouldn’t have invited you to join us. And to be honest, even now, I don’t want you…. now that I know”

“Tatsuo!” Hayato pitched in, hinting him that he is going to far

He turned back around to face me “So, here’s the deal…Mano-san…. You can walk away and go on this suicide mission of yours by your lonesome…. but we both know that you won’t get to the end that way. However, if you can find it in yourself to accept that your way might not always be right, and that you should value your life as much you do others….You know where to find us”

Tatsuo turned back around again and left without another word spoken. Haru and Hayato were utterly confused on where this went, and Hayato opted to chase down the storming Tatsuo

“Oi, Tatsuo” I could hear Hayato calling him, but he was getting ignored and both of them were getting further away

“Yu-chan, I-” Haru tried to comfort me, but there was nothing there to make me feel better about because deep down I knew.

“He’s right….about everything”.