She slowly steps into view, clad in armour.
I clear my throat.
"It is I."
She turns her head.
"Yeah, no."
"What...?"
"You're not their leader."
"I am though..." I say with a sigh.
"How could that be?"
"Well, I think their leader died or something, and I asked them politely to be in office..."
The elf chimes in— "More like 'threatened'."
"Shush, dude. You're not helping my case. Go find Usato."
She clears her throat.
"Anyway, that's how it happened."
"Interesting. Now where are we supposed to go?"
I shrug.
I think we should try and find Usato— whoosh
The ground disappears beneath me, the elf, and Rin.
"Fuck."
***
I awake, in a dark area. Rin isn't awake yet.
I gather my bearings and put her on my back, carrying her.
'She's lighter than I thought.'
'Reguardless, I need a light source...'
'My ability is [creation], right? Maybe I can...'
I create a lamp. 'Okay, this is OP.'
I start walking with the help of the lamp, ultimately reaching a fork. Three directions.
"That's stupid."
'Like Subaru says, listen to Froid and go right! Though, I never finished the episode...'
I go right.
Absolutely nothing happens for the next hour or so, and then... Footsteps. Loud ones like a tank or something. They're coming fast.
'I can't even run that fast!'
I think of trying to go back to the [Garden of God's], but it's not like Rin can come. Can she? No... No time left. I've been waiting to use my newfound abilities anyway.
I set Rin down.
"Wake up, idiot–"
I dodge a projectile of some sort.
"Aiming for my head? What a cheap shot."
'Holy shit... That was fast!'
I turn to face the darkness where the projectile came from.
"Show yourself." I say with a seemingly confident grin.
I'm fucking terrified.
The creature emerges—a bloodred being clad in all red armor.
'Reminds me of—'
Before I can even finish my thought, the creature suddenly appears beside me, landing a solid punch on my side.
'Shit! How is he so fast...!?'
I crash into the wall, reaching for my side where he hit, I feel my hand become warm and wet. There is a pretty obvious crater in my side.
"Punk ass..."
The creature doesn't turn to face me, he only stares at me with those white glowing eyes beneath his helmet that send shivers down my spine, almost like a warning.
'If he's not coming for me, then...'
"RIN! WAKE UP! RUN NOW!"
The monster steps closer to her.
I try to get up—
"AUGHHHH!"
Yeah, who would've thought having half of your abdomen obliterated would hurt?
'I need a way... I can't let him take her!'
'I just need to... That's right. Creation can be used on anything non-existent already, so...
I create a strong metal armor where the hole was, replacing the organs with steel ones as well.
I quickly create a blade, appearing behind the creature and stabbing at its back.
*CRACK!*
'Great... My fucking blade broke.'
The creature stops reaching for Rin and turns it's attention to me once again.
My mind runs rampid with fear, then suddenly...
'Idea.'
I create a huge hammer, smacking the Bloodred to the end of the corridor. Using that small amount of time, I enter the dream realm.
'Even with just one second...'
[Entering 'Garden of The Gods']
[Creation has been upgraded]
'NOW!'
I leave and arrive just in time to parry the attack from the Bloodred, ultimately saving Rin.
"WHY ARE YOU AFTER HER?!"
[A new story is being formed]
I create a stat buff to boost my AP (attribute points) to as high as possible, without drawing any attention from the "Gods".
I land a clean kick that slices the Bloodred in half.
"Fucking simp."
The body slowly perishes, his eyes seem to look at me with... Longing?
I fall back next to Rin, breathing heavily.
"Pretty badass, dude." She says, sitting up.
"How long were you awake...? Didn't think to help at all?"
"I only saw the last part."
"Whatever, I'm just happy you're alive." I say with a sigh.
"Quite the spectacle, eh? The infamous 'Ice King' showing affection to a girl he swears to hate?" She says in a mocking tone.
"Ugh, shut up..."
"Fine, fine..."
[You have received 70,000 coins for slaying a Bloodred (Rank B)]
[You have received the title 'Honor stripper.']
I don't note on it. I stand up instead.
''A' bloodred?'
"Let's keep going."
'Come to think of it...'
[Starting the creation of a new skill]
'This is seriously broken.'
"Let's go!" I start skipping.
"What's got you so dapper?" Rin asks.
"Wait..." I stop skipping, walking slower as we enter a room full of statue bloodreds.
'Called it.'
"Well, hope you can fight. I mean, you were camped in this castle the entire time I was ok knocked out."
She replies with a smirk.
"You of all people should know I wouldn't go by without a least a bit of training."
"You're talking like I've known you for years. But you do always work hard..."
I draw my sword from thin air.
"Want the usual, or have your tastes changed as well?"
"Sure."
[Your skill 'copy' (Level one) has fully manifested. It a completely exclusive skill.]
'Great.'
[A new skill is being created.]
I toss rin a spear.
"Let's go." She says.
"Why so serious?"
I look down the room to a throne.
"Looks like that's my spot!"
I happily skip over and sit on the throne.
"I-I don't think you should be sitting ther–"
The soldiers wake up.
"Rin?"
"What, you big of?"
"Can you handle all of the little guys?"
"For sure."
She focuses on them.
I rush towards the S-rank bloodred.
'By now I've realized that Rin's ability is gravity related. She's using it unconsciously though. I noticed how her steps slightly shift to be most comfortable for her, and how weightless she felt on my back. I'll use it to it's full potential... hopefully.'
The Bloodred now fully has its sights set on me.
I look over at Rin, who is holding her own surprisingly. 'Copy.'
['Melancholy' (level one) skill successfully copied]
[Due to your low affinity level, your usage time is cut down to 3 seconds.]
'More than enough for me. I wasn't gonna use it all by itself anyway.'
I instantly activate it, creating an area around the Bloodred where its body is forced down by gravity.
I instantly seize the moment and rush towards the Bloodred.
'Three...'
I run harder.
'Two...'
I leap in the air.
'One...'
*CRASH.*
As soon as I reach him, the gravity affect ends and the pressure he was resisting is flipped onto me, causing me to falter mid air.
The Bloodred grabs me by my throat, tossing me to the wall.
'Creation...'
I try to summon blades inside of the Bloodred, but he's almost not affected at all. Only a bit of blood trickles down his arm.
He touches the blood, bending it into a blade.
'Copy.'
['Blood manipulation' (level one) acquired.]
[Your skill 'Fusion' (level one) has been fully manifested as an exclusive skill.]
'NOW!'
[Successful merge of the two skills: 'Melancholy' and 'Blood manipulation'.]
[Exclusive skill 'Bloodweight Dominion' successfully created.]
[Title 'Honor Stripper' has been equipped.]
[This title increases attack power by 30% when fighting any "Honor-driven" opponent.
I stand up, walking towards the Bloodred, weighing it down using the blood in its body, forcing it all to the thing's feet.
In one swift motion, I behead the Bloodred.
[You have acquired 900,000 coins.]
[You have achieved a ground breaking feat! You are the first player to slay an S-Rank beast! Your name is now in the hall of fame and you now receive 0.5x the amount of rewards from any kill.]
'I have a bad feeling about this... Whatever.'
"Rin, you all good?"
I look over to see her stabbing her spear into a low-rank Bloodred.
"No need to worry."
"I wasn't worried at all. It's just common sense to say that."
I look around, noticing a small passage way upward has opened.
"Shall we, your majesty?" I say in a teasing tone, trying to ignore the pit in my stomach. Something is beyond that passage way that Me, nor Rin should be encountering at this level, but it's not like we can turn back now.
We start heading up as I create a lantern for light.
'This pressure... We might die. I won't back down though.'
The door shuts behind us. Our fates are sealed.