The True Endgame

Book 11: Chapter 19:

Fenrir and Saya, not even needing to say a single word to one another, worked in flawless unison to rid the ship’s deck of its hosts. They were both inspired by the same motivation: to kill every last bastard who even dared to think of doing anything to their girlfriends. After all, even though Saya might not have been in the relationship with them for as long as Fenrir was, she was still in Fenrir’s head that whole time and he was still a part of her. If anything, Saya had both her rage inspired by Fenrir and the rage belonging entirely to herself to fuel her.

And it was that burning rage within her that allowed Saya to send one arrow straight through the chest of a man trying to run up to Fenrir while he was busy with another opponent, leaving nothing but a gaping hole in the center of her target’s torso. One might have considered that overkill, but neither Fenrir nor Saya thought it was even close to what their opponents deserved.

They weren’t allowed to rampage without consequences, of course. Two of the crews from nearby vessels that spotted what was happening turned their ships to approach them, aiming to board the one that Fenrir and Saya were on. Seeing that, the remaining men and women of the ship’s crew jumped into the water to regroup with the crews from the other vessels.

One of them, however, tripped and failed to jump overboard.

The man who tripped, dressed like a barbarian with leather and skull armor, rolled onto his back and looked up just in time to see Fenrir thrust a sword-shaped Rod right into his abdomen, impaling him and pinning him to the deck below.

“Fu-fuck you!” the man shouted, fear in his eyes as he looked up at the rage in Fenrir’s own. “I—I have pain disabled, so I don’t even feel anything, you little bi—”

“You think that matters?” Fenrir asked, his voice far too calm for the murderous fire in his eyes. “You’re a bunch of tryhard edgelords. Don’t tell me you can’t think of ways to fuck with somebody who has pain disabled.”

“Fuck—fuck off! There’s nothing you can—”

One leg, two legs.

“Shit! Fuck you!” the man shouted, sounding like somebody who was in pain despite claiming to have disabled it. The brain worked in mysterious ways. Even when pain was technically disabled, there was nothing stopping the brain, when it felt like it, from making the individual feel phantom pain that didn’t actually exist.

And the man most certainly “felt” each of his legs getting lopped off below the thighs.

Then he felt the same with his arms, leaving him limbless and shouting profanitie at Fenrir as he struggled in vain to get away from him.

“You sure are crying a lot for somebody who was boasting about pain being disabled,” Fenrir said, leaning over the man even more. “But I will say that I respect you for not waking yet. You could have ran away like a coward, but you’re still here.”

“I—I’m not some bitch like you!” the man shouted.

“I’m sure you aren’t. You’re a brave little edgelord. You would never run away and give somebody else the satisfaction. But, you see, even if pain is disabled, that doesn’t stop things from being uncomfortable. You might not feel physical pain, but you can still feel what it would be like to have hands wrapped around your throat, choking you until you pass out.”

“As—as if that would scare me! You think choking me would—”

Fenrir picked the man up by his neck and held him over the side of the ship. “You don’t have to feel pain to drown.”

“Wa-wait! Don’t—”

Fenrir let go.

The man fell straight into the water below, landing face down. While it was possible to swim without limbs, such a feat took great training, and he had no such training in staying afloat without his limbs.

Meanwhile, Saya tugged on Fenrir’s arm to get his attention. “What do you want to do about the other ships? We—”

Fenrir spun around… and looked at Saya with a beaming smile. “I’ve still got it! Did you watch that?!”

Saya sighed and hung her head low. “Yes, Onii-wan. I saw how edgy you acted.”

“Ah… it’s been so long… also, these guys are pathetic. Are they seriously this game’s most hated griefing and trolling group? They’re an insult to virtual assholery.”

“You’re enjoying this too much.”

“It’s just—it feels like I had a mountain of stress or something taken off my shoulders. I think there might have been a growing mountain of desire for griefing and being a dick, and now I have the perfect opportunity to make use of it. It’s like I just scratched an itch that I didn’t even know was there, and it’s the most satisfying scratching I’ve ever done. I feel great!”

“I can hear that.”

“Come on, don’t you feel the same?”

“I… I kinda do, but I’m more worried about their reinforcements.”

“Why? Come on, Pupaya. These guys are nothing. The two of us just wiped out an entire ship of them. If anything, I have to admit I feel kind of cringe for getting so worked up over them. I expected a way harder fight.”

“Well, you do have that blessing from Nell, Rod, magic-nullifying powers, and a lot of experience, so… you’re kind of OP even before you get super pissed off. I think it’d be hard to find somebody who wouldn’t get wrecked by you when you’re like that.”

“I know. I’m amazing, aren’t I?”

“I regret saying anything.”

Fenrir looked overboard and noticed the man he dropped into the water, unfortunately, managed to get onto his back and was safely floating atop the water. “Saya—” He didn’t even get to finish what he was about to say before Saya shot an arrow overboard, hitting the floating man straight in his forehead.

“So much for drowning.”

“I’m disappointed now. Next time, I’ll keep somebody alive and tie something heavy to them before tossing them overboard. You know, like in the good old days back when we threw witches into the water.”

“You mean back when a bunch of insecure men threw innocent women back into the water, Onii-wan?”

“Yeah. Like I said, the good old days.”

Fenrir received a heavy smack against the back of his head via Saya’s bow.

“I deserved that one,” Fenrir said.

Saya grumbled and said, “I wish Cass was here to hear that. She’d be throwing you overboard with your feet stuck in cement if she heard that.”

“Honestly, I’d deserve that, too. Sorry, I guess my griefing side has been brought out which makes me like stupid, edgy jokes again. You know how it is. Edgy losers on the internet, like me, have to make fun of women to feel like we have any sort of power in the world.”

“Can we go back to killing the actual losers now?”

“We should, but… I actually feel really guilty about making that women joke now. What’s happened to me? Back when I was a teenager, I would have just thought it was a slightly edgy joke that was only alright to say around my friends. But now, I actually feel bad. Is it because I’m not a virgin anymore? Is this what growing up does to you? Is this what actually knowing the touch of a woman and going outside does to a former troll?”

“Yes, Onii-wan. Now if you’re done being dramatic and feeling bad because one of edgy joke, can we kill the guys jumping onto this ship now?”

Fenrir looked around and saw that the ship they were on got pinched between two others, and enemies were jumping onto their deck from both of the new ships now.

“That’s probably a good idea,” Fenrir said. “Want to make it a competition? Whoever kills more owes the other sexual favors.”

Saya’s cheeks reddened as she whacked Fenrir with her bow again. “This really isn’t the time for that! B-but… deal.” The next second, she sent an arrow through the nearest enemy’s head. “That’s my seventh.”

“Se-seven? But if I count the ones from before, I’m only up to four!”

“Eight.”

Fenrir realized he was going to lose the competition if he didn’t hurry up and farm some kills, so it was time for him to get serious again. And this time, he wouldn’t be playing with his prey.

Back at Nameless, the attackers who boarded rowboats to assault the beach were finally landing and shouting orders at each other. Most of the beach had a green mist hanging in the air over it, and this mist occupied the air around the wall as well.

The good news for them was that nobody was atop the walls taking shots at them, meaning they had a safe approach. They brought ladders with them as well in hopes of scaling the walls with their ladders, their masks and potions protecting them from the mist, to get an easy entrance into the town rather than try to force their way through the front gate.

Unfortunately for them, it wasn’t going to be that easy.

The gate, previously closed, was raised to allow entrance into the city… and to allow firing out through it. More importantly, it allowed Serra and Azalabulia’s avatar, standing side by side, to bring out their strongest magical attacks.

Firing their attacks from the wall might not have been a safe option, but they were still able to stand away from it and fire through the entrance. Not all of the invaders on the beach were within their line of sight, but enough were for Serra to summon a large cannon while Azalabulia’s avatar summoned a dragon-shaped blast of magic.

Anybody not able to jump out of the way in time was decimated in an instant.

Azalabulia’s magic destroy multiple rowboats and annihilated a group of five men standing near each other, and Serra’s cannon shot a torso-sized ball that went straight through the bodies of two others.

“It’s almost as gory as old horror movies,” Serra said. “Cool.”

Cassiel, stepping up to stand next to her, said, “Since when do you think gore is cool?”

“I’ve always loved gore in horror movies. You would know that if you didn’t cover up your eyes every time things get gory.”

“Sh-shush. I—I don’t like looking at that stuff. Also… I feel weirdly pissed off at Fen for some reason.”

“Maybe he’s talking about your boobs somewhere.”

“I wouldn’t get mad at him for that.”

“Heh. Not anymore.”

“If I feel this way, he said something that deserves it.”

“It’s like you have a psychic connection. I have one too, but it’s based on horny. I get horny whenever he gets horny.”

“That’s not the same thing. You’re always horny and always purposely trying to make him horny which just makes you even hornier.”

“It’s a psychic connection. Can’t explain it. Magic.”

Cassiel sighed before checking the situation as best as she could. With all the smoke and sand from the magic combined with the mist on the beach, it was hard to look through it to see what the invaders were doing. It didn’t help that any others left alive spread out farther to the sides of the beach so that they weren’t within firing range from the gate.

“It looked like they had ladders,” Cassiel said, “so they’re going to try scaling the walls. They probably have some sort of immunity to the gas as well. If we let them get on the walls, they’re going to be able to open fire on us from the high ground, and we’ll be in trouble.” Looking down at her left hand, Cassiel flexed it a few times before holding it against the center of her chest. “Though I have been cast away as one of yours, I beseech you, oh Lord, to protect me with your divine strength so that I may deliver holy retribution to those who would wish to destroy us.”

Serra and the others standing around had no idea what to expect when they heard Cassiel suddenly start to chant something, which none of them had ever heard from her before, and their questions regarding why were answered when a golden barrier of light surrounded her body. It looked like a bubble at first, but it tightened around her until it was just over her skin instead.

“I’ve still got it,” Cassiel said. “Looks like praying lately has paid off.”

Serra blinked a few times. “Praying? When?”

“I—I do it in private. It’d be embarrassing if one of you saw me. A-anyways, that’s not important. I wanted to hold back and keep this for an emergency, but I can’t let them get on our walls. While I hold them back, I want the rest of you to get into the nearby buildings, get as high in them as you can, and take up defensive positions at the windows facing the wall. If any of them get on top of the wall, I want you to focus your fire and take them down. Use the buildings as cover and don’t let a single one of the bastards get comfy up there.”

Following some cheers, those under Cassiel’s command spread out among the buildings, leaving only Serra at her side. “But… what about the gas?” Serra asked.

“This barrier should protect me from it. It’ll buy me a few minutes out there.”

“But… you’ll be alone, and they—”

Serra, with a genuinely worried expression and concern in her eyes, didn’t get to finish her sentence.

Cassiel held Serra by her chin and brought her lips against the smaller girl’s.

After a couple of seconds, Cassiel pulled away and said, “I learned that one from Fen. Go give Nell an update. I’ve got some bastards to smite.”

Serra, shocked and silent from the suddenly extra cool and insanely hot Cassiel, could only nod her head in response as Cassiel turned to face the beach.

“I might not be with the empire anymore,” Cassiel said, “but let’s see if I can earn my wings.”