Chapter 126
[After several rounds of summon battles, the Captain and Blood Embrace fought to a standstill! Faced with this situation, Blood Embrace was the first to lose patience and fused with her launch platform! —Blood Knight!
Transform! Naturally, the Captain wasn't about to fall behind, as fusion is the noblest form of summoning! Rozaliya and Liliya fusion summon—
Appear now! Vodka Goddess—Asura! A red-and-blue intertwined Honkai beast appeared on the scene.]
[Mei]"Is this... artificial corruption? No, how can two MANTISes merge into a single entity!?"
[Vill-V]"Dr. Mei, World Bubbles are full of wonders. Let's just chalk it up to World Bubble logic."
[Rozaliya]"Liliya, look! The otherworld versions of us can fuse too!"
[Liliya]"Liliya sees it."
[Rozaliya]"Wanna try it too?"
[Bronya Zaychik]"Don't mess around."
[March 7th]"Yeah, yeah! What if you fuse and can't separate again?"
[With Blood Embrace's fusion limited to 15% output, Asura effortlessly sent her flying with a single heavy strike—victory secured. The twin sisters exhausted their massive energy reserves and soon fell into deep sleep.
After clearing the first stage, the Captain's group ventured deeper into the Cursed Forest. Raiden Mei (North Star) was locked in combat with a certain fox spirit. The Captain easily recognized the swordsman's style as the North Star One Blade School.
After North Star Mei defeated the fox spirit, she pointed out the Captain's group hiding in the bushes and demanded they come out. Emerging from the foliage, Mei eyed them warily—particularly mistaking the twins for monsters. To protect his companions, the Captain challenged North Star Mei to a duel... using the North Star One Blade style. Their battle ended in a draw. Then both collapsed unconscious.]
[Kiana]"Mei again!"
[March 7th]"Just how strong is the Captain really? This time he went 50-50 against North Star Mei using her own style while under interference."
[Qingque]"Why does the Captain seem so weak a thousand years ago?"
[Silver Wolf]"Possibly because less of his consciousness was projected back then."
[Elysia]"And here's another Sakura~ Why is everyone focused on Mei when no one's paying attention to Sakura? She's a beautiful girl too♪"
[Stelle]"So this is supposed to be a fox spirit? Those ears don't look like fox ears at all!"
[Sakura]"...They are fox ears."
[In his dazed state, the Captain faintly heard voices: "Strange... I only struck with the flat of my blade. He shouldn't be unconscious this long..."
North Star Mei sounded puzzled. "Maybe when the Captain fell, he hit his head and got isekai'd again?"
"While the Captain's easy-transmigration constitution might make that plausible, he's clearly still in our current world," the meticulous Liliya refuted her sister's theory. "As for how to wake the Captain..." Liliya, why'd you suddenly pull my tail?!"*
"...Captain, my apologies."
Liliya poured an unknown liquid into the Captain's mouth—cool, salty, with a bitter aftertaste—like... seawater. Only after Rozaliya's exclamation did they realize it was tears. Yet the Captain remained unresponsive, leaving Liliya perplexed. "This is when the prince should kiss the princess awake," the Captain mused happily. "Miss North Star, please lend me your blade—" The Captain jolted upright instantly! What kind of rescue method was that?! "Sleeping Beauty. 'The prince stabbed the princess' chest with his sword, awakening her from slumber'—that's how Miss Seele tells the bedtime story to the children."]
[March 7th]"What kind of bedtime story is that?!"
[Seele]"Hah? This big sis tells stories however she wants!"
[Stelle]"Ugh, what a downbad Captain! Damn... I'm so jealous!"
[Qingque]"Stelle... you're kinda downbad too."
[Kiana]"That's my Mei! Even when both are knocked out, Mei wakes up faster!"
[Silver Wolf]"Just how thick are those Mei-tinted glasses?!" [Upon waking, the Captain found North Star Mei traveling with them—she'd been carrying his unconscious self the whole way.
As their combat specialist, she'd cleared their path of enemies, bringing them to their destination. *"The Sword in the Stone?!
Did someone press the skip-cutscene button for me?!"*
The Captain questioned his existence.]
[Kiana]"Damn you, Captain!! I wanna get carried by Mei too!"
[Silver Wolf]"Typical cutscene-skipping player behavior—'Who am I? Where am I? Whatever, time to slaughter!'"
[Stelle]"No! Skipping cutscenes is like skipping life itself!!"
Stelle wore an expression of grief... though her poorly concealed grin betrayed her.
[With their goal in sight, Liliya, Rozaliya, and North Star Mei all weakened from hunger just as they were about to draw the sword. When the Captain stepped up to try, his stomach growled too.
Seeing everyone starving, an angel took out her phone and ordered takeout—full bellies make for strong arms! Soon, a voice cried out: "MOVE I CAN'T STOP AAAAAAAAA—!"
Watching the figure plummet from the sky, the Captain's life flashed before his eyes: "On Otto Radio—my favorite late-night show—the host once said,'Someday, a girl will crash into your world in the most unforgettable way.'Only today do I understand those words."
Perhaps he'd never again meet another girl in a delivery uniform riding a golden cross-shaped vehicle at several hundred kilometers per hour...before smashing headfirst into the legendary Sword in the Stone. "Your delivery! Right on time!"
The cat-eared delivery girl cheerfully announced to the Captain.]
[Otto]"Kallen!?"
Otto's initial shock gave way to instant clarity—what did this delivery Kallen have to do with him? She wasn't his saint. Firmly against substitutes, Otto dismissed the thought.
[Theresa]"That flying thing was Judah?! Judah can go that fast?!"
[Vill-V]"I told you never to doubt my engineering!"
[March 7th]"Everyone getting hungry at the exact climax... that's possible?"
[Fu Hua]"As we all know, only fiction needs logic—reality has no such obligation!"
[Silver Wolf]"Abstract as it is... given how long they've traveled, their timing for getting hungry is weirdly plausible?"