The Anime Trope System: Stone Vs. The Viper, A LitRPG Novel. Chapter 373

Airi didn't like Clyde's order to send out the scouts, but she didn't argue. As much as she wanted to stay behind and a.s.sist everyone, there were plenty of Team Stone to do just that. So she, Yusuke, and Seth caught a cab that would take them a block away from their destination.

Sponsored Content

During the ride, they saw the five vans driving normally toward the hotel in a way that indicated the desire to not bring attention to themselves. d.a.m.n did it unnerve the druid. If it wasn't for the powerful barrier surrounding the vans, the young woman would've cast enough magic to topple them over. Sure, she could blow them up, but Airi didn't want to kill anyone. What if there was an innocent inside? The reason why Clyde ordered non-lethal force meant only one thing. Their bold leader wasn't sure which side was the right side.

However, the android deaths, destruction of property, and the other crimes the terrorists committed made it easier to fight against them.

Upon arrival at the destination, Airi paid the driver. She, Seth, and Yusuke went their separate ways. She had to admit that she was quite proud of Seth, growing a pair. She remembered a time where anything supernatural scared the h.e.l.l out of him. h.e.l.l, she wouldn't be surprised if Clyde's first meeting with the blonde was due to a supernatural occurrence. Years back, she didn't feel his latent magic, otherwise, she would've reached out to the young man for some training.

[Airi activated camouflage.]

This type of stealth commonly utilized by druids would enable her presence to blend in with the surroundings. She'd be invisible to the naked eye of a human, but a non-human's magic senses may detect her. This wasn't meant for a breach, just a quick scouting. On her side of the building, she took note of the guards posted at each entry point, except one. Her senses detected it to be locked and unused.

The tall building looked like any corporation at first glance, but a more cautious person would take note of how it was on the isolated town under the guise of a business no one really cared about. h.e.l.l, even a royal android woman walking this far out would most likely be shot down in these parts.

Just then, a surprised text came from Yusuke.

Yusuke: I just stepped out. Did about ten minutes of observation. There are a f.u.c.king ton of wizards in there. Blue robes seem to be the lowest grade, then going up the hierarchy is red, green, gold. The black robe isn't here. Also, there are very few gray robes in here like maybe six out of the hundreds. n.o.body's bossing them around, so I'm guessing they may be wild cards like that lady yesterday.

Seth: yeah, the tracking device detached itself to this building. Tetra's f.u.c.king awesome.

Airi: so are you guys. Seth, are you seeing what I'm seeing. Guards at every post.

Seth: yep, my side too. They had a sniper, but something seem to have happened to him. I thought that was your doing.

Yusuke: yeah he was annoying, so I took him out, bound him up to be found later. I put the card of a rival business in plain view to push the blame.

Airi: how did you even find that information?

Yusuke: Hinako told me.

Seth: scratch that. How did you get past the guards?

Yusuke: Scaled the wall and snuck through a window. Anyway, I'm long out of the building and heading toward the rallying point.

Airi: Gotcha. See you there.

Seth: yep yep. Easy job, but probably because they've got their eyes on two different things.

Airi: or maybe something happened. I don't know why I've got this bad feeling.

Princess's balcony…

Late morning…

Feeling a little tingly, Andrew nodded and listened to the princess's plans to restore the nation and even fix the wealthy-favored schooling system. She even admitted that things like that wouldn't occur over night, that the complete makeover would take some time—yet the pa.s.sion and charisma in her words moved the Black Mask. She's exactly what this nation needed, but Maverick was only thinking for himself, backed by the province leaders. Those who were monsters calling themselves mayors.

"So, what are your plans?" the princess asked. "Is there anything you'd like me to do? Something to help diminish Maverick's influence."

Andrew shrugged, the tingling sensation out of control, spreading into his eye.

"I will do my best. I'm just glad I didn't do anything stupid that would've helped Maverick out like harming anyone here or abusing my power to order you to kill your own androids."

Sponsored Content

Abruptly, the tingling in his eye peaked to a dull pain as his Ki forcibly activated. It happened so fast! Princess Kaguya did her best to fight against the command, hands on her head, tears streaming from her eyes. She begged the ent.i.ty within not to make her do the act.

"No, no—this isn't what I wanted," Andrew snapped, trying his best to cancel the Ki, but it was too late. Princess Kaguya went still. Then chilling words emerged from her mouth.

"I will proceed to eliminating all androids," she said in a chipper voice. She smiled cheerfully, eyes seeming to glow red. A black dragon symbol appeared on her forehead. "All androids shall be slain at once! Your mother orders your deaths." She bolted into the palace. Andrew followed in a stealth mode, a feeling of absolute dread consuming his very soul. He just wanted peace, nothing more. And he finally came to an understanding with the one person who could carry it out. He had plans to leave the city, attend a college in a different province, and help spread the word of the princess's plan. All of that ruined because of a glitch in his own powers. Something that never happened to him before.

And he watched in horror as a guard at the armory, gave her an automatic rifle and a backpack full of magazines stuffed to the brim with special rounds. He seemed to be new and couldn't disobey an order. h.e.l.l, he didn't appear to care.

The princess horrifically opened fire on every android in the palace, spilling their synthetic blood.

"I shall eliminate those who support them too."

When she stepped outside, she mowed down both android and civilian, ruthlessly. Screams of pain, sorrow, and confusion filled the area. And there were so many people around. The rounds were the finest, most brutal, most powerful. One shot could take off an entire limb. Body parts…were flying. Even children were caught, most of them not shot, just trampled by fleeing people. The androids didn't run, they just bowed and accepted their fate.

"If Mother commands it, then I no longer have a will to live," an android said. "Without her love, I am nothing. I will willingly deactivate myself." And from there, a ma.s.s self-deactivation of androids occurred. Andrew didn't even know they had such a capability.

Tears streamed from the princess's eyes as she brutally murdered her own people. She didn't just stay in one place, she dashed down the blocks with unnatural speed and killed everything in sight. After emptying a magazine, she reloaded as if she had the skills all along.

She caught up to an approaching news crew, eyes on the a.s.sisting android. The android that was deactivating itself, no longer feeling the will to live.

"I command all guards to kill all of the androids."

"I have to stop this," Andrew said, changing Ki into his trembling hands. He so desperately wanted to avoid killing her, but that command was permanent. She'd be on a never-ending quest to eliminate the androids and their supporters.

Without the princess, Andrew was stuck with Maverick. He'd have to use this moment in the public's eye to buy time until he figured out what to do. Even if this next accusation was going to make him sick, he had to do it. Otherwise, if Maverick killed him, no one would know the truth.

Andrew suppressed the desire to just let Kaguya shoot him down. This major screw up would not go unnoticed by Maverick and the provinces.

HOW COULD THINGS COME TO THIS?

Hotel…

Clyde and Team Stone worked together to make sure everyone was out of the hotel. Thankfully, not every guest returned after the previous wizard attack. They completely evacuated the entire hotel with time to spare.

"Good thing we didn't offload our belongings," Harumi said.

"After the attack with the monsters, I decided it was best if we leave most of our belongings on the bus, if not all of it except the immediate change of clothes and morning stuff," Clyde said.

"You get to keep most of your stuff in your inventory," Natalia said, pouting. "It's not fair."

"Listen up," Clyde said, "I'd like for the hotel owner to keep his business, so let's surprise these f.u.c.kers with a preemptive attack. Tear don't hold back. We don't need them using the rocket launcher. Support team and any human who can't create a personal barrier against the bullets, on the bus you go. Take it a little out of this area and wait for the okay from us."

After that arrangement, they set off. Clyde could see red dots approaching through the mini-map. The strength of the buffs automatically activating made him a little giddy inside.

The young man found it odd that the android dispatch, the nine-one-one equivalent, didn't answer his call. Were they that busy? What if there was a true emergency? They had plenty of staff to cover everyone, right? f.u.c.k.

Sponsored Content

"Don't hold back Tear, but don't kill them either," Clyde said. "Yuki, you too. Misaka, use your phoenix fire to melt their tires. It's unaffected by barriers, right? Kind of like Ki."

Airi's information greatly improved his takedown plan. He started off freezing as much of the road as possible, but knew that wouldn't exactly be enough. Misaka needed the experience and her phoenix fire had its uses.

The only thing that worried him was the fact that the quest wasn't completed. He and the team checked every nook and cranny, every office, kicked down all doors, including the bathrooms. h.e.l.l, the fire alarm and bomb threat idea helped propel them out. The answer to his question appeared as the prompt flashed.

[Quest update: First, defeat the wizards, then tune to the news broadcast. Defeat them as quickly as possible.]

The sounds of tires screeching and attempting to come to a halt was music to Clyde's ears as the first moment of his improved plan came to fruition. Misaka's phoenix fire felt like f.u.c.king lava as it heated up the air upon summoning. When she launched it, the phoenix fire instantly devoured the tires, causing an abrupt halt, buses falling to the side as physics took over.

[Your party has entered combat!]

Clyde waved a hand to signal Tear and Yuki to obliterate the annoying wizards.

"Don't hold back. Try not to kill them, but if they take a loss or two, it's on them."

Natalia hopped off Clyde's back, black and white aura surrounding her in a giant vortex.

"Pervy cheater nii—you should rely on me too. I have a new skill."

"Wait," Clyde said, but it was too late. Natalia rained h.e.l.l on the wizards.

[Natalia activated MODIFIED G.o.dDESS TIER SKILL: Anthem Anti-vitality Rain of Collapsing. This is an unblockable and undodgeable skill.]

Black and white spears of magic rained like death on all forty wizards. One of them, a hidden gray robe, seemed completely unperturbed, the loli's magic seeming to not damage him. Either that or he simply had no f.u.c.ks to give.

Not all of the wizards collapsed, but Tear and Yuki entered the fray, unleas.h.i.+ng enormous blasts of magic. The enemies quickly retaliated with their own death blasts, but it wasn't enough.

[Tear's wrath has reached 100%]

[Wrathful bonus activated from your heavenly aura. 200% extra boost to all stats while wrath is at 100%....or more.]

They were done for. And Tear's wrath could go past one hundred? The young man hoped that wouldn't be necessary. Anyone who could hurt his Tear to that point would answer to him.

Since the wizards were simply keeling over, Clyde motioned for the rest of the attackers to charge in.

He and the gray robe made eye contact. Of f.u.c.king course the gray was after him. The bearded man even smiled.

"Come, little birdy," he shouted to Clyde, then licked his lips and laughed, eyes crazed. "I will f.u.c.k your skull in, you inferior, wannabe magician."

Wizard, Grey Robe, Sah.

Level: 252

Type: human, spellcaster.

Work under: Kindas

Special: ???

Weakness: ???

Sponsored Content

Resistances: dark and all of its attributes x50.

Secret: blocked.

Level two hundred fifty. Great, Clyde thought. Just f.u.c.king great. His high resistance to dark magic told the young man why Tear, Natalia, and Yuki's attacks did jack s.h.i.+t to him.

Sah charged him, consumed with mania.

[You have been dragged into a *Sub-Boss fight!]

Clyde aimed at the ground just ahead of the man and unleashed a blizzard, but the road didn't freeze. His eyes widened, realizing that the heat of the phoenix fire continued to increase, canceling out his ice magic.

His mystic senses allowed him to dodge the incoming, fiery fists. The man laughed harder as he continued to swing at the young man. Once again, Clyde knew something was off here. This f.u.c.ker wanted to find the right opportunity to grab onto the young man and send him on the road to Valhalla.

Clyde flashed stepped ten feet behind him, not caring how much that bit into his MP. Now how should he go about this? The opponent was a large, muscled man, which meant simply punching and kicking wouldn't give him the upper hand. Wait, he had this.

The young man pulled out his Executioner's staff. A risky plan, but he'd have to slow the man or even knock him to the ground before entrapping him. Undine thankfully stayed behind, refusing to be support team during crucial times like this.

What would a man without actual staff combat training do? Not swing the d.a.m.n thing. This is why Clyde kind of admired Harry Potter.

[Clyde activated Wiseman's Calm.]

[Wiseman's Calm: Enter Wiseman mode. This form lasts for a short time and drains magic points, but all physical and magic attacks increase greatly. You will be able to cast Destructive Mystic Lightning. Chance to fully heal when entering this mode: 3%. Sometimes allies around you will randomly heal.]

His transformation took a little too long—two seconds, but it didn't stop the intense magic from hitting him.

[Sah activated Void tier skill: Dark Tiger Bite.]

He felt himself fly backward fast. The crash into one of the vans didn't make his existing pain any better.

[Critical! Clyde's HP has dropped to 200%] Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Clyde picked himself up, only to be met with a laughing fist. Yes, the fist itself, coating in dark and fire magic laughed. Multiple fists…

[Sah activated Void tier skill: Howling Barrage!]

[Clyde's HP has dropped to 45%]

[Wiseman's calm has been forcibly deactivated by the poison of void magic.]

Clyde quickly put up a Cosmic s.h.i.+eld, blocking an incoming large beam of dark magic. He gritted his teeth and focused. Taking a stance talk to him by Ako, the young man cleared his head of anything but his opponent. He warped the staff back to his inventory, knowing that it would be useless against Sah's relentless attacks.

Sah laughed. "Little birdy, little birdy, I will break you first."

[Your composure stat of 420 continues to aide you. Your endurance of 380 too. You can take one h.e.l.l of a beating. Odd.]

[Chika's Ki stats aide you. Vitality: 10. Speed: 10. Aura: 11.]

[System advice: Stop messing around.]

[System has forcibly activated your killing intent.]

[Just kidding.]

Clyde shook his head, but he didn't have time to wonder why he had to put up with the System's trolling. He flashed stepped forward.

[Clyde activated Skill fusion: Stagger punch + Shatter strike!]

[*Skill Fusion- legendary special ability- combine skills and see what happens. You could unleash death on your foes! Can be very draining to your MP. Use seldomly.]

Not even Sah antic.i.p.ated such a skill. The bones in the gray robe's arms cracked as he attempted to block the attack. Clyde showed no mercy, repeatedly attacking the injuries, until the man fell to the ground. He delivered a swift kick to the head to knock him unconscious. Undine wasted no time, absorbing the explosive energy from afar. The young man a.s.sumed she knew exactly where to look. And it still looked creepy as h.e.l.l oozing from Sah's open mouth like a black fog.

[Battle completed. Victory! Reward: 312 million EXP + bonus EXP. Elroot wand part 2 of 3.]

[Congratulations, you have reached levels 156-160. Stats increased!]

Harumi's healing washed over Clyde, allowing him to remember important details about the recent quest.

"Everyone, pull up the local news on your phones. I have a bad feeling right now," Clyde said.

Ming nodded in agreement. "Me too."

Toru made sure to text that to Support team so they'd be up to date on current events.

Everyone tuned into the same website to catch a live broadcast. What they watched set a huge pit in the young man's stomach.

A black-robed wizard wearing a dragon mask spoke with his hand aimed at the princess. The gun-firing princess. Black Ki oozed from a dragon-shaped tattoo on her forehead. Dead bodies, android and human, littered the place. Molten fury rose into Clyde's chest.

"Who is the cause of this situation?" the Black Mask said. "Who will bear the hurt and the sin of what has happened today. As you can see here, the royal family will murder all who they suspect to be the fabled terrorists. This is why we fight! We wish to see the improvement of the nation. They seek to keep things to themselves. Now…I regret that I must do this, but I cannot allow more people to die by those hands."

The Black Mask fired a concentrated bolt of magic that struck the princess with intensity. The young woman fell to the ground, unmoving. The gun she held skidded a few feet forward, releasing a few rounds that actually hit the Black Mask.

And dropped him. A malfunctioning safety mechanism which normally prevented a gun from firing when dropped undid him. Or so that's what everyone thought.

Black Mask stood, healing circles surrounding him, almost automatically.

"Not even death wants me," the Black Mask said. "People, rally against the palace. Send a warning."

In a puff of black smoke, the terrorist vanished.

[Adventure Quest failed.]

Clyde was about to yell, when a system update popped into his head.

[Update. Adventure Quest target was changed to Palona in advanced. The princess predicted a possible mishap. Quest named to Bloodstained Kaguya. The objective remains the same. Palona will receive your blessing.]

"It seems like we have to go see Palona now," Clyde said, his heart just not into the words. "For now, let's return to the hotel and plan. I have a feeling s.h.i.+t's about to get insane. Now is not the time for us to go to the city's square. Airi, Seth, and Yusuke should be on the way back."

Team Stone nodded solemnly. Game faces were on. Killing was now an option again. The young man shook his head. Why didn't these situations allow him to handle things peacefully for once?

"Did you see her forehead?" Ming asked Clyde.

"I think we all did," Clyde said. "And we're not stupid enough to believe that the princess would suddenly attack her own people." He balled his fist, time and s.p.a.ce bending around him. The city heavily shook as the G.o.d chant erupted from the young man's mouth. "I think these people had enough of the f.u.c.king wizards."

Sponsored Content