The Anime Trope System: Stone Vs. The Viper, A LitRPG Novel. Chapter 374

A block away from the city's square and palace entrance….

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Noon…

Wind and aura raged around Tessa as she roamed about, viewing the absolute carnage. This city was in turmoil the moment she came here. Oddball her G.o.ddess is—this chaos had to be the true reason why Venus sent Tessa. Sadly, such a tragedy occurred while she explored a different side of the city, Clyde forgotten.

Tessa knew Clyde and his party, what he called Team Stone could handle themselves just fine. This wasn't a place for pleasantries, but an awful political battleground between wizards that wanted to take over the country and the royal family. The princess became the first true major casualty. Not everyone would be able to see the dragon mark on her forehead during the inevitable repeat broadcasts. The people and even the monster girls that became citizens were going to riot.

Tessa flinched at the sight of the scattered body parts—more android than human. Most of them ran for their lives, but the androids…those poor women, willingly took the executions. That black-robed wizard was going to pay for this. Tessa swore it.

"Lady Venus, please s.h.i.+ne your light over the queen, the princess's soul, and help Clyde."

Kandas HQ…

Maverick's office…

Maverick slammed his fists into the table, breaking it into pieces, as he let out a guttural roar of fury.

"WHAT HAS THAT IDIOT DONE? NO! MY PLANS. THIS WILL CAUSE CHAOS, NOT WIN THE PEOPLE OVER."

Maverick stared at the repeating ma.s.sacre that played on the TV mounted on his wall. The helicopter shot that played over and over again as the news.

"It seems like someone is having a great time."

Maverick spun and grimaced in distaste.

"What the f.u.c.k do you want, Palona? And what's taking you so long to just swoop in and kill the f.u.c.ker. Let me guess, the crusader researchers need more money."

A middle-aged woman with long crimson hair, glowing orange eyes, and a devilish perfect smile stepped out of the shadows. She was dressed in a long plain gray robe with the crusader gold cross symbol embedded onto both b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

"Unlike you, I'm not jumping the gun with my plans," Palona said. "We crusaders can be a patient bunch you know, sticking around." She shook her head. "I had drones watch the city, hoping I could catch the Stone slaughtering your minions." She chuckled. "That footage could've helped me paint him as someone who kills the misled."

"What the f.u.c.k do you mean, misled?" Maverick snapped. "My minions are soldiers and they do what it takes to fight for this country. They are not misled, knowing d.a.m.n well what they've signed up for." He shook his head, glaring at the smiling woman in disgust. "To hear that talk coming from a crusader of all people. You've better focus on keeping your bargain."

Palona laughed. "You forged this plan for years and what? Had it all crumble apart in a matter of seconds. You're a fool for not listening to me. And now you've got that innocent girl killed. I warned you about that spell."

"Shut the f.u.c.k up," Maverick said. He pulled a cigar from his pocket, lit it and puffed. The familiar action calmed him down a little. "You've been paid in advance years ago after offering the support of the crusaders to take this nation, in exchange for certain powers. You've gotten close to the girl, played the part of a loving nanny and foreteller. I don't know how you managed to lure the Stone here, but I can tell you're not full of s.h.i.+t. At least not yet. Why are you obsessed with the games, anyway?"

Palona chuckled.

"You are also not human, a being who lived in the ancient days, so I know you can understand the quest for power more than anyone. After all, look what you've accomplished."

Maverick held back his desire to crush the b.i.t.c.h in front of him.

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"That still doesn't answer my question," Maverick said.

"I didn't lure him," Palona said. "I simply inserted myself as a figure of his destiny."

Maverick's eyes widened.

"You…only an ent.i.ty could pull that off." He chuckled. "So it is not a mere coincidence that we've met and made a deal that benefited us both."

"Of course not," Palona said, "however my powers aren't perfect. When you brute force against destiny and fate, things change. The Stone refusing to kill the killers when I tried everything to get him to do so. The princess dying when she shouldn't be. Your disciple's powers just happen to go out of control. Everyone has conscious choices—like your idiot student—Ugh! He should've followed your orders to keep his mask on at all times. He should've heeded my warning about those powers, that at any point they'd drain his life. And now look. They slowly led to this disgusting disaster." Palona softly facepalmed. "Seventeen years of patience. And whom I hoped to recruit into the crusaders dies at nineteen." Tears streamed down the woman's cheek. "All of my work! You better fix this, Maverick. Your dumba.s.s disciple isn't going to return." She shook her head. "And the nerve of him to make things worse. Why in the Great One's name did he blame my sweet dead recruit? Why did he do any of these things?"

"I DON'T f.u.c.kING KNOW" Maverick snapped. "At this point, I may have to just do everything myself. Guard."

"Yes sir," the man in a suit said.

"Send a force to clean up the city," Maverick ordered. "If they spot Black Mask, tell them to drag him back. Also, kill the Stone."

Palona laughed, her voice like a chime.

"Don't attack the Stone, you're wasting your time. If the gray robes couldn't touch him, imagine what would happen if he decided to actually try." She sighed. "I believe he's going to start killing now, but it's too late for me to create a negative narrative since a certain someone's idiot disciple ruined everything."

Maverick swung at the wall, causing it to collapse.

"Palona, stop pus.h.i.+ng me to attack first. We both know what you're trying to do, but we've made the oath. And now you're going to burn down with me or clean it up. Lawlessness on my side and within the palace. The trap for the Stone has failed. Deal with it."

Palona gritted her teeth.

"Tsk. A simple miscalculation."

Suddenly, another guard rushed into the room.

"Sir, we've found our sniper unconscious with a Ridout Enterprises card on him. I think they've sent a message."

Maverick sneered.

"We don't have time for the pettiness of our business rivals. Focus on the main task for now. We'll deal with them sometime later. Maybe ban them from this Nation when I a.s.sume control. Now go!" Maverick turned back to the crusader woman. "For now, you return to the palace, offer support and get a statement out. If you find that idiot, do what you must."

"Don't order me around," Palona said. She walked over to the shadows of the room. "What happened to Nezerath, may happen to you if you're not careful. Just because your old rival was on a different side of the world is meaningless."

"Do you have a point, b.i.t.c.h," Maverick said. "If not, get the h.e.l.l out of here. I'm in no mood to hear your G.o.dd.a.m.n taunts today." Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Palona smiled cruelly as she melted into the shadows, her last words being, "you just need to trust in me."

"The world will have to end first before I trust in that woman," Maverick said. "f.u.c.king crusader sc.u.m. You can trust no one in this world."

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Inside Palace…

On the cold, lonely floor, Queen Tarine cried before the lifeless body of her daughter, wondering what went wrong. Why did things have to turn out this way? Why?

"Don't…leave me…Please come back. Your dear mother can't go on without her happiness. It's selfish, I know, but you completed me. I wanted to be there for your bright days and your dark days, your marriage, and to sit back and be proud as you one day inherited the throne. Your sister wanted the same thing."

The queen felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She looked up with tearing eyes into the sympathetic face of Palona. The head maid and mentor of her daughter, a kind woman who valued duty, even before her own wellbeing. Queen Tarine needed the closeness of that loyal woman.

The sound of protesting, yelling, and wailing outside intensified, but the fire within the queen just wouldn't spark. She continued to weep for her daughter as a human guard carried her away.

Palona grinned behind the back of the queen, thriving in the atmosphere. As the Ent.i.ty of Sorrow, her power only increased. She wasn't a crusader researcher, but one of the four Pillars. Sure, she could continue the charade of a very capable human and become a leader of the Order, but the being leading that, the Arch-Pope, would ruin her status with his very presence. The ent.i.ty couldn't have that.

Hotel…

As the news displayed the current riot, Clyde and Team Stone sat in the reserved room, half-watching the TV, half-watching a depressed Dera, and each other. They tried the approach of leaving the fates of the human criminals to the nation's authorities. The team managed to get some many behind bars and interrogated by the Alonian people. Clyde did not want to get his party involved into a country's political affairs, yet the timing of everything just felt off.

How did things get to this point, completely undetected by Support Team and even Tear? Who pulled the string? Black Mask or someone else? Maybe he should've went at this with guns blazing. He…would have to switch to his last resort. Become a terrifying G.o.d, blow up Black Mask's building, regardless of the possible innocent workers inside, and then rip off his head to post it on a spear…

Clyde flinched. Maybe he shouldn't watch Natalia play video games.

Just then, a head slightly rose from the table, causing Clyde to flinch at most, but his stats wouldn't give him the human benefit of fear. That head became an entire girl as she seemed to rise from the ground to sit on the table, smiling at the young man.

Kind purple eyes, light tan, silver-white hair, and a build similar to Chika, the princess…holy f.u.c.king s.h.i.+t. A strange white aura surrounded her, and she gave off a…kind of creepy aura. Once again, if Clyde was human, he'd be a little unnerved. She wore a plain white dress, but no shoes.

"Hi," she said. Her voice definitely had a ghostly depth to it. Despite the dark times, an anime trope came to Clyde's mind: the ghost girl.

"Uhmm…h.e.l.lo," Clyde said.

"My name is Kaguya Alon, you probably saw one of my broadcasts and maybe the recent unfortunate accident," she said. "Anyway, I'm haunting you." She bowed. "Please take care of me."

The entire team anime-fell to the side.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Clyde said, doing his best to process this as the girl lazily floated in the air. Kanako hovered over to her.

"She really is a spirit," Kanako said, poking one of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

"Hey, what's this, another spirit girl," Kaguya said, then wagged a finger. "You can't have another spirit girl."

"I'm a genie," Kanako said, then smiled. "Please to meet you."

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Kaguya smiled back.

"Likewise."

Ako sighed.

"She's too cute to exercise. Strange, but she's not an evil spirit. No bitterness whatsoever, despite the horrible death. Why are you not in Celestial?"

"Beats me," Kaguya said.

"What if she's not really dead," Sazuki said, voice hopeful. "Like, she's having an out-of-body experience or something."

"Optimistic and all, but it wouldn't explain why she came to this very hotel," Tear said. Clyde could tell she didn't want to s.h.i.+t on the girl's hopefulness, but the succubus kept things realistic and possible.

"It doesn't matter anyway," Kaguya said. "I'm allowed to live with any deity I choose for being a good person. At least that's what Venus told me. I think she saved me from something called death's door and triggered this form. She seemed to know I was going to say the Stone before the words came out of my mouth."

"Venus again," Toru said.

"You know, I can't figure out if Venus is really kind or just a secret pervert in disguise," Seth said.

Ming s.n.a.t.c.hed the paper fan from Natalia's hand and whacked Seth with it.

"Don't speak bad about Venus," Ming said.

Seth laughed. "Come on, we heard the stories of G.o.ds doing things for themselves. What will she gain by helping us? Isn't that against the rules or whatever?"

"Do you know the rules?" Ming said.

Seth simply shrugged. "You can't blame me for getting suspicious. Look, I don't want to see Clyde abducted because—"

"She's not like that," Kaguya interrupted. "Mother knows about the stone-viper games. Knowledge of it has been pa.s.sed throughout our family for generations. Venus was always known to be against the Viper, but publicly neutral when it comes to the event." She floated over to Clyde, then turned to Dera.

"You…"

"Mother," Dera said.

"Mother?" Yusuke said.

"She is our creator," Dera said, bowing to Kaguya. The ghostly girl floated over and hugged her.

"She is?" Clyde and Team Stone exclaimed.

"I'm…so sorry you had to see me like that," the ghost girl said.

"I knew it wasn't you the moment Clyde pointed out the strange tattoo," Dera said. "I was able to come to myself and access my sensors."

Clyde stood, still uneasy about this new development.

"What can I do to fix the chaos? Should I go to your mentor and give the blessing? How do I—"

"I'll take the blessing," Kaguya said, anime-diving into Clyde.

"And I'm the one who gets everyone's s.h.i.+t," Toru said, laughing. Fumi, still in human form, smiled at him. It was at that moment, Clyde spotted the ring on the slime girl's finger.

[Quest update. Thanks to Tessa, who is in the city by the way, Venus sent Kaguya your way fully intact with her soul, as you can see. The blessing will go to her now. However, you may have figured out that this nation is in political chaos. It has finally reached its darkest hours. Reveal yourself to the Nation and end the chaos. Kill the strings that pull the Black Mask. This quest is mandatory and cannot be refused. Quest t.i.tle update: A G.o.dless Nation. Discover the truth!]

The truth? Clyde wasn't surprised that he and his team were missing the big picture. And since when did adventure quests get t.i.tles. He hoped the system didn't enjoy the chaos and turmoil.

[Would you like to give Princess Kaguya of Alon your blessing? Yes or No.]

Clyde selected yes. Why did the system even give him a choice? He didn't come all this way for nothing.

[System advice: sometimes it is hilarious to simulate the illusion of player choice.]

Clyde mentally glared at the bubblegum pink-haired loli that grinned at him before she vanished. Holy…f.u.c.k, more detail on her appearance. What unnerved the young man the most was how familiar the system's avatar seemed. Scratch that, how did he know that was the system's avatar? He couldn't put a finger on it, but now wasn't the time to worry about miniscule things. He had to undo the b.u.t.tf.u.c.king Black Mask done to the nation of Alon.

"Hinako, Tetra, you two will be in charge of keeping the media offline while I'm in Stone Mode," Clyde said. "Fuyoko, a.s.sist them as needed."

"We need a hacker on our side," Melody said.

Clyde looked at Chika.

"Look, I may be the top student at the academy, but my programming skills are average at best," Chika said.

Clyde grinned. "I was going to say could you give me a kiss of luck, but if you have programming knowledge, then you could create a website that lets people discuss Team Stone. Maybe contact Naomi about that later."

Chika pouted.

Clyde pulled out his phone to dial Tessa. "Who's up for a raid?"

"Uhmmm, Clyde," Harumi said. "You may want to look at the screen."

Clyde turned to the news broadcast and sneered. What the h.e.l.l…The wizards had the nerve to march their army out in the open. They planned to capitalize on the chaos.

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