“Report. Black tower spotted in A-2. We’re pretty much used to this by now.”
“Umm... It’s too far to tell, but there’s something that looks tower-ish somewhere around B-5 or B-6. That’s probably it.”
“One sprouted up at D-3 too.”
Reports continued rolling in from the chat.
We’d started around E-5. A somewhat mountainous area labeled as...the Meshus Mountain Range, was it? Anyway, it was a tricky map with a bit of elevation and steep cliffs that you needed to take detours to get around.
Still, our mounts did solve the mobility problem to some extent.
“All right, people! Let’s do this!”
“Yeah!”
“Eee!”
“Eee!”
“Eee!”
“What is it with you people?! Each and every time... Stop acting like low-level mooks! Are you trying to lose?!”
The battle chat was as free-spirited as ever.
“We should head out too. So, what’s the plan?” I asked.
“First, we need to gauge the strength of the monsters. Shouko, Tsumugi, and I will take the lead! Our goal is the closest tower at D-3,” Kanade proclaimed while raising her fist.
I guess splitting up will have to wait, then.
By the way—and this probably went without saying—I’d taken a good number of Pekkles with me. Since we weren’t on a ship, their headgear came in all shapes and sizes.
“Understood. Let’s test the waters.”
“Let’s goooo!”
With my big sister at the vanguard, Shouko and Tsumugi charged at a nearby pack of monsters.
“Getting ready...”
It was at that point that Sheryl crouched down and began fiddling with something. It seemed she had her own plans.
“Kizuna, Yamikage, you need to prepare yourselves too.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Let’s do this! I daresay, it’s time to show our party’s coordination!”
I took out my ice knife and began charging Blood Flower, while Yamikage started channeling a spell of her own.
“Come on! Come on! Hate Call!”
With a flick of Kanade’s fingers at the monster pack, a swirling vortex of wind erupted around them. Then suddenly, the monsters all turned toward her and rushed in.
It had to be some sort of aggro skill.
“Just like we practiced! Shield Defense!”
Kanade raised her shield and called out. The transparent shield that formed and faded above her was the visual cue that her skill had taken effect, and just in time too. She was quickly greeted by the weapons of a Dimension Naga and Dimension Garuda.
Clang! The sound rang out as she blocked both their blows.
But one attack seemed to flow into another, and the monsters backed off just in time for a Dimension Djinn to bombard her with fire magic.
Is she okay? I wondered. But moments later, she came out totally fine.
“That hardly even registered... It would’ve hurt quite a bit with my old equipment.”
Kanade was outfitted with a defense-specialized Brave Pekkle Costume. Though it looked completely out of place, its performance was top-notch. What’s more, she had a Lizardman Doll on her back.
“It’s not worth using a heal.”
She’d become considerably tougher, her confidence and complacency rising to match. And meanwhile, more and more monsters were flocking to her.
“Whoa! These things hit hard! If I’m taking this much damage with overenhanced crab gear... Tanks, don’t aggro too many at once! Make sure you’re parrying properly!”
“So they’re going with an all-out offensive setup this time...”
“Wait, that Brave Pekkle’s holding a ton of monsters and tanking like it’s nothing! I don’t even see any healing effects! Is that okay?”
“It’s the Island Lord Party, right? I heard from that Merchant of Death. The hat the island lord wears boosts the abilities of every Pekkle on the battlefield, and it also applies to Pekkle Costumes.”
So Alto’s info made its way here too, huh?
Of course they’d be curious why the Pekkles had performed so well in the Dimension Wave near Cal Mira and during the Demon Lord’s Invasion. They probably saw a rise in their own Pekkles’ abilities when I was on the same field too.
“Then we just have to equip some Pekkle gear too, right?”
“Sounds nice. I’m starting to want some for real.”
“A royal guard unit protecting our Idol Kizzy, I daresay. ’Twas a life lived praying to become a Brave Pekkle, pen.”
“So who’s that envious—I mean, shameless fool taking up that honorable position?!”
“Sister.”
“His big sister, from what I hear.”
“Oh, the overenhance-obsessed hobo?”
“The crab buffet regular chick? What a shame. She’s even got that plushie strapped to her back like she’s got a thing for crocodiles.”
“Shut up! What do you mean ‘a shame’?! This thing on my back is part of a set bonus!”
Sis just snapped?!
“They say sister, but maybe it’s actually his brother?”
“Kizzy’s...big brother, you say?!”
“Double femboy, oh my god!”
“Allow me to explain! A ‘femboy’ here refers to when someone whose character design looks like a girl turns out to actually be a boy. Back in good old Japan, they use the term ‘otokonoko’ and—”
“Here we go again.”
“TL;DR. Keep it to three sentences or less.”
“Theory: Kizzy’s big sister, actually big brother. Brave Pekkle is femboy. Therefore— Hip hip hooray!”
“Hip hip hooray!”
“Eee! Eee! Eee!”
“That’s kinda moe, I daresay. But what’s the truth of the matter?”
“Real big sister, apparently.”
“Tsk!”
“Who the hell ya think ya are, calling me a man?! Don’t call me a femboy! And whoever just clicked their tongue—let’s take this outside! I dare you!”
My sister’s protests took over the battle chat as she withstood the onslaught. The monsters kept whaling away on her, and she seemed cool as a cucumber... Her insane defense had to be what was letting her argue like that.
And, since her Spike Shield had a counterattack effect, every monster pounding on her was taking damage in return.
But, as was to be expected of a large-scale event. The chat was scrolling at a ridiculous speed. Right now, the main topic was on the “sister=brother conspiracy.”
Hip hip hooray.
“Kanade... She’s incredible. It would be difficult for me to fend off so many monsters while fighting at the same time...”
Shouko’s play style was more about drawing smaller groups and parrying everything they threw out. That was how she endured it—and that was probably why Kanade’s hyper-defense build must’ve looked like a completely different world to her.
“Ah, got so busy ranting... No, scratch that. I’ve barely taken a scratch. Shouko, Tsumugi, wear one down for me!”
“Understood!”
“Here I come!”
Shouko and Tsumugi darted behind one of the Dimension Naga pummeling Kanade, their weapons ready to strike.
“Wild Dance First Formation: Rapid Strike!”
“Wind Sickle!”
Shouko unleashed a basic fan skill and Tsumugi a basic scythe skill.
“Hsssssh!”
With a meaty slice sound and a critical hit effect slicing into the Dimension Naga, the monster seemed to take a good bit of damage.
I had to wonder just how strong it really was—I mean, it didn’t seem like much compared to Kanade, but... Yeah, wait, why is she pulling even more monsters?
I was still charging up my skill, but maybe I didn’t need to get it all the way to full.
“Kizuna! Yamikage too!”
“Got it. Let’s go, Yamikage.”
“I know, I daresay.”
At Kanade’s signal, I slipped behind the same unguarded Dimension Naga, matching my pace with Yamikage’s.
There was a faint ping...and that was it. My Blood Flower went off with Yamikage’s spell, activating a Cooperation.
“Bloody Bomb Splash!”