I Became a Beautiful Girl, but I’m still an MMO Junkie

Chapter 82: No Talking, No Negotiating

“Too many of them…”

In the face of the sudden attack by the jellyfish-like creature, countless Luna Homunculi, the False Souls Longing for the Moon took the initiative to act.

Even the Homunculi that were usually so quiet when with Giant Zombie of the Giant’s Lineage were different when in the presence of this Sea Jelly. Or perhaps it was simply the Sea Jelly that made them to act this way.

In any case, countless particles of light began to approach us, almost completely covering us.

“They’re coming straight at us!”

Kouya yelled out.

The Luna Homunculi had only one means of attack; to generate shockwaves when near their target. Yuuki, who had sensed the enemy’s movements quickly, had already activated his ability, Giant Shield El Exceed, tripling the size of his shield and supporting its weight by kneeling on one knee.

He was prepared to take on all of the enemy’s attacks at the front line.

“I’ll hold them off here, so everyone else, run!”

But Yuuki’s desperate defense had not been effective. It was because none of the irregularly moving Homunculi were meant to directly hit Yukki’s shield. They swayed and changed directions, flying towards Yurachi, Kouya, and Anon-san.

It was as if they were unpredictable arrows of light, emitting an overwhelming amount of light that was almost comparable to that of daytime, flying towards them one after another.

“We have no choice but to cut and slash as much as we can!”

“We have to do it!”

“Let’s meet them head on with our swords!”

Although the three of them had entered battle mode, the outcome was already evident.

A sound effect, like fireworks exploding in succession, resounded as the Luna Homunculi sent shockwaves from all directions, swallowing up my comrades.

Mina and I were also caught in the aftermath and blown away. We were forcefully moved from the terrace to inside the room, breaking the window glass.

The space that had just been used in the maid game was now a battlefield, or rather a place of one-sided devastation.

Since everything happened in an instant, I didn’t know what to do.

However, there was one thing I understood when I got up from the enemy’s attack; there was no choice but to run. Because Yuuki, Kouya, Yurachi and Anon-san’s HP had all been reduced to zero.

“Mina! Let’s run!”

I quickly looked around and searched for our priestess – and there was Mina collapsed just below the broken window frame.

“Tenshi-sama,” I called out, but in the next moment, what I saw heading towards her was a Luna Homunculus, a False Soul Longing for the Moon, which had entered through the window, and her small body floated in the air as her HP was reduced to zero.

For just a brief moment, our eyes met as she flew through the air.

“Please, run!”

A kind-hearted girl who worried about me until the last moment dispersed into polygonal effects and disappeared. In pursuit of the remains of my fleeting comrades, I instinctively reached out my hand, but the presence of the Homunculi approaching so close made it clear that nothing would come of it.

“This!” I gritted my teeth and summoned The Melting Water, Waterlord from the item storage. I glared at the Luna Homunculi invading the building through the broken window.

‘Thank you for doing well, my friends. I won’t be satisfied until I at least get one strike back. I’ll make it rain acid’.

With such thoughts, I tried to call out to Fu, The Wind Maiden Sylph who was perched on my right shoulder. But then, someone pulled me back hard on my left shoulder.

“!” When I turned around, it was Lily-san.

“It’s impossible with those numbers. Do not let their sacrifice go to waste. We need to run,” she said, giving me a terribly calm look.

“But…” I tried rebelled, but the blonde girl dragged me towards the door to leave the room.

“Please don’t drag me down, Angel.”

Even if I said it was okay to leave me behind, it seemed like Lily-san was determined to head towards the door.

If I threw a tantrum here, Lily might not be able to escape.

It was frustrating, but it seemed like I had no choice but to agree with her and escape with her from here.

“Phew!”

With the help of Fu, I sprayed a gust of wind towards the Luna Homunculus that was pursuing us from behind, and aimed to make it stumble. Then, I dashed towards the door and quickly closed it, dropping a smoke bomb at my feet to make it difficult for them to track us down.

After seeing that shockwave, it was only a matter of time before a small door like this would be broken.

“You’re quite smart for an Angel.”

And so, I began my escape drama in the mansion, being led by Lily.

****

“I wonder which way should we escape…”

Fortunately, the building was well-built for a human dwelling, so there were plenty of places to escape. We went from the second floor down to the first floor, continuing down the hallway in a straight line, occasionally looking out the window to observe the situation.

“We’re surrounded by Luna Homunculi.”

“Yes, it seems so.”

The area around the mansion was full of Luna Homunculi wrapped in a pale blue light. Were they gathering because of the Sea Jelly from earlier, or were they instructed to do so?

“Breaking through this siege would be extremely difficult, even with a desperate charge.”

Suddenly, Yuji’s voice sounded next to my ear, causing me to jump in surprise.

“What?! RF4-you! You’re here!?”

“Yes. Where there is a beautiful girl, there is always a small official. And Taru-sama, I am currently on a covert mission, so please be quiet.”

Although Yuji gave me a serious expression and warned me, I felt that he was at fault for suddenly appearing and surprising me.

While giving him a subtle look, I reluctantly agreed to be quiet.

I never thought that Yuji had survived. Perhaps because his butler uniform was black, it was difficult to sense him in the shadows or darkness inside the building? Or perhaps his thin presence allowed him to survive the shock wave fiesta?

“We’ve been found.”

I stopped thinking about how Yuji had managed to survive when I heard the panic in Lily-san’s voice. She pointed in the direction behind us, where two Luna Homunculi were following us.

They had somehow always been able to locate each other’s positions and had led the Giant Zombie of the Giant’s Lineage to us many times before. Due to this nature, being discovered by one was as good as being revealed to the dozens of Luna Homunculi waiting outside.

“Uh oh, this is bad…”

Lily-san seemed to have the same thought process, and her face looked unhappy. In order not to be caught by the pursuing Homunculi, we had no choice but to keep running for now.

After running in silence for a while down a somewhat long corridor, we soon arrived at a large door, which was a dead end. Without saying a word, we nodded at each other and reached for the door handle.

The room behind the door was a spacious area with multiple bookshelves, each towering up to two meters in height. There were so many books that you could play hide-and-seek between the shelves. Looking closely at the books stored on the shelves, there were some with spine sizes of about one meter. Could those oversized books be about the giants?

I was really curious about what’s written in them. But right now, we needed to prioritize our situation over intellectual curiosity. What should we do next?

There’s no doubt that enemies will continue to close in on us even if we stay here. But it’s impossible to deal with the large number of Homunculi waiting outside with just our current strength.

“What should we do next?”

As I asked the two of them, I distributed the Emerald Tear Potion to everyone to fill up their HP.

“Well, let’s see…”

Lily-san briefly looked at the door, where The Luna Homunculi, False Souls Longing for the Moon would soon appear, and drew her bow. Seeing her do that, I thought that we would fight to the end here.

“How about this?”

Lily has left the party:

As the log appeared, Lily-san pulled back her arrow and shot it towards me.

“Huh?”

It was a split-second decision, and my body couldn’t react in time. But miraculously, the arrow only grazed my right arm, changing its trajectory slightly in front of me.

Buff, Friendship of the Wind Fairy, has been activated.

It seems that I was saved by the automatic buff of the skill Friendship of the Wind Fairy; which reduces damage from flying objects and incoming projectiles. Lily-san’s arrow seemed to have met the condition for its activation.

“I missed the target at this distance? You really surprise me… What did you do?”

Lily-san, who shook her twin-tails unhappily, seemed unconvinced by the inexplicable phenomenon. However, I felt the same way.

“Why did you attack me…?”

I couldn’t understand the reason for this betrayal in this situation.

“It’s obvious. You use rare and valuable potions and items like they’re nothing, right? You must have a lot of valuable items.”

I understood why she was called Thief Lily as she spread her evil smile. In this situation, she can execute any action that could benefit her without hesitation.

“If we continue like this, we will undoubtedly be killed by that Jellyfish-like monster. So, before that happens, I’ll kill you and get the valuable drops.”

Then, she reloaded her arrow and declared her betrayal victoriously.

“Wait a minute. This is not the time to fight!”

I quickly hid behind a bookshelf and escaped her line of sight. Just like when we fought with The Big Slime, I shouted to her, proposing to cooperate.

“Again with that? You have a one-trick mind. If you want to continue to act like a good girl, go ahead and let me kill you quietly.”

I realized that her voice came from a different location and quickly moved behind another bookshelf.

“If that’s not acceptable…”

Suddenly, Lily-san was on the same bookshelf as me. In other words, there was nothing to block our paths. She smiled wickedly, pulling two arrows and aiming at me.

“I’ll strip off that cute angelic disguise of yours. Fight with all your might, desperately, and without reservation.”

I see. No matter what I said, Lily-san wouldn’t change her mind. If that’s the case, I’ll change my mindset too.

If she’s serious about it, then I can’t just let myself be defeated for free. I feel that her attitude of wanting to gain something even if she falls resonates deeply with that of an alchemist.

Even if I waste materials in a synthesis failure, I try to use that experience to connect it to the next alchemy. Even if I get killed by a monster, I want to use the information and materials I brought back for alchemy in some way.

With that kind of thinking, I spoke to her.

“If i’m going to fight Lily-san, there’s just one condition.”

“What is it?”

“If I win-”

Without looking away from me, Lily-san took aim with her bow.

“-please become my friend.”

From my end, I had no intention of ending it with sacrificing comrades and being killed by a rift within the group. If we were going to fight, I wanted it to lead to something positive in the future. And so, the result of my thoughts was to become friends with Lily-san.

Honestly, I wasn’t thrilled about PvP with Lily-san. But if the reward for winning was becoming friends with such a beautiful girl, it might be worth it.

Now, for some reason, I feel like I understand the feelings of the guys I fought with against The Big Slime.

“Of course… that’s fine, right?”

Lily, who for some reason had a startled look on her face, as if hit by a pigeon, reluctantly agreed.

“Is it okay… but we’re enemies now, right?”

I gripped my short sword in

my right hand and grabbed The Melting Water, Waterlord with my left hand, and dashed towards her as if to retaliate for the surprise attack earlier.

Without question, I called out to Fu, The Wind Maiden Sylph.