“You know, I THINK I like your FORM. I’ll USE it for myself!” Dekie said before transforming into an identical copy of me.
✦ ✦ ✦
Oh, I get it—we have to fight a copy of our own hero. That does feel like something a training program would pull. The final battle is overcoming yourself, or something like that. The game’s premise kinda obscured the point of all this, but I guess it really does have some training merit in at least one sense.
“All right, then. If you want me to fight myself, I accept your challenge!”
✦ ✦ ✦
Much to my surprise, Dekie’s new form had more of an effect on the rest of my party than it did on me.
“Ugh… I’m not sure I can bring myself to strike down someone who looks just like you, Lady Azusa…”
Our frontline attacker Laika had stopped attacking entirely!
“Come on, Laika, it’s super obvious she’s just a fake! You’re looking at the real me right now!”
“B-but still! A barehanded fight would be one thing, but striking you with a sword is very difficult on a psychological level!”
“I look JUST like AZUSA! Woo-HOO!”
She doesn’t sound anything like me, either! Just compartmentalize a little, please! Agh, this is bad! If our most powerful attacker stops dealing damage, we won’t have any good way of whittling the boss’s HP down! Whose turn is it next? Beelzebub’s? Not like she’ll ever do anything other than heal in this fight…
[Beelzebub cast the instant death spell Divine Punishment! But it had no effect on Dekyari’tosde!]
“Hey! Why are you using a death spell, of all things?! Of course that’s not gonna work on the final boss!”
“Seeing her take on your form made me feel the urge to give it a try, that’s all.”
That’s seriously the worst justification you could’ve gone with! Wait… It’s Wynona’s turn next, isn’t it?
[Wynona used Merciless Blade! Dekyari’tosde took 4308 damage!]
“I suppose this battle will determine which of us is the mightier hero, then. I like the sound of that! We missed our chance since our party was split for the sages’ event, after all!”
“Why are you so much more aggressive now that she looks like me? Stop it!”
This is seriously bad—our plan’s falling apart…
Next up, it was Dekie’s turn to launch an attack using my form.
“TAKE this thunder spell: Godly Hammer!”
Even though this was a dream, I still felt that one! It dealt severe damage, bringing me down from full HP to around 60 percent or so. That was nothing I couldn’t endure, though, especially since Beelzebub used her next turn to heal me up again.
All right, I can take this!
We were struggling, sure, but we were still chipping away at her. It wouldn’t be much longer until we struck the final blow, at the rate things were going. The one problem was that ever since Dekie’s transformation, Laika hadn’t used her most damaging skill, the Oneshot Strike, even once.
“It’s up to you, Laika. Finish her off,” I said in a calm, gentle tone.
Laika, of course, looked very conflicted. She seemed to know anything she could say would sound like an excuse, and so for a moment, she didn’t say anything at all.
I’d better give her one last push.
“You never hesitate to battle with yourself, do you, Laika? You’ve been training and tempering your skills for way longer than I’ve known you, so I can say that for sure. Well, now it’s time for you to battle me and win. You think of me as your teacher, right?”
“Of course!” Laika replied instantly. It seemed she’d finally realized what she had to do.
✦ ✦ ✦
“As your apprentice, it is my duty to endeavor to surpass you. That’s how apprentices have always paid their instructors back, isn’t it? I don’t believe I’m anywhere close to surpassing you in the real world, but here in this dream, I wish to take that step forward!”
✦ ✦ ✦
✦ ✦ ✦
Laika had never been lax when it came to surpassing her own limits, and the next wall she would have to overcome…was defeating me. She looked me in the eye, and though she didn’t say a word, there was a powerful resolve in her gaze as she gave me a single nod.
Then, the next thing I knew, Laika had struck a critical hit against Dekie. She dealt 9,999 damage—the strongest attack allowed by this world’s system.
“Oh NO! I’m going to BE sealed AWAY again!”
Dekie the elder god slowly but surely vanished into nothingness…and so peace was restored to the world.
✦ ✦ ✦
After the final battle was over, we spent some time doing the typical RPG victory lap where we traveled around the world, visiting all the locations we’d been to on our quest—and then, suddenly, my eyes snapped open. It was morning, and I was back in the real world in my perfectly ordinary house. The sun was shining bright and clear through my window.
Wonderful, wonderful job! You’ve earned yourself so many virtue points, you wouldn’t believe it!
✦ ✦ ✦
Godly Godness’s voice rang out in my mind.
I mean, I’d hope so. After all that time, I’d like to get something out of it!
I headed into the dining room, where my family greeted me. They didn’t say good morning, though—instead, they congratulated me on a job well done.
“Oh, right! You all played roles in the dream too, didn’t you?”
✦ ✦ ✦
All of them seemed very tired, on the whole. Falfa and Shalsha in particular looked like they were still half asleep.
I wonder if we slept less soundly thanks to the game?
“Falfa and Shalsha were part of the four generals, so we didn’t turn up until the very end,” said Falfa.
“Still, it was a good learning experience. Shalsha won’t have many opportunities to be one of a demon king’s four generals,” Shalsha added.
I decided to just think of it as the two of them having participated in an arts festival at their school. In that sense, the experience might actually have been a valuable opportunity to learn for them.
Laika, meanwhile, was the last person to arrive in the dining room for once. I’d sort of assumed she’d be the most tired out of everyone, since she’d been on-screen the longest, but it turned out that wasn’t the whole story. She also seemed weirdly reluctant to look me in the eye, and I soon learned why.
“Um, Lady Azusa…? I can’t apologize enough for attacking your double,” Laika finally said.
“Why would you apologize for that? That was a double, not me! Plus, we wouldn’t have been able to beat the game if you hadn’t!” I said as I gave her a reassuring pat on the head. “You’d better work hard if you want to beat me in the real world next, okay? Though if I’m being honest, I don’t think you really need to bother. I’ve never been much for all that striving toward a goal stuff, myself.”
Considering how hard of a worker Laika was, I had a feeling she really would manage to beat me eventually. I knew when that day arrived, I’d be truly happy for her.
“Understood!” said Laika. “I’ll keep striving to reach your level, Lady Azusa!”
“Sounds good. For today, though, I think we’re probably all tired out from a certain weird dream, so let’s just take it easy.”
Just then, the front door swung open and Sandra stepped inside.
“Morning,” said Sandra. “Why do you all look so tired?”
“Ah! Sandra wasn’t in it!”
I thought back on my journey through the game, wondering if she’d had at least a little cameo appearance, but no, she really hadn’t played any role in the dream at all.
“Huh? I wasn’t in what? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Ah! Could it be?” Rosalie exclaimed, then drifted over to Sandra. “So I was asleep last night, but what about you? Did you sleep through the night?”
“I go dormant during the nighttime, but I’m always conscious. It’s not the same thing as how you animals sleep.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“So it was because she didn’t sleep at all!”
✦ ✦ ✦
That’s why Godly Godness couldn’t drag her into the training program! It all makes sense now!
I had a funny feeling Godly Godness’s overblown schemes were only going to get more and more ridiculous as time went on.
✦ ✦ ✦
