[Dungeon: The Trap of She Who Dawns Time . Area: outside . ]

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Clyde thought about the ordeal carefully before organizing the party . He needed to talk with the Wind or at least keep an eye on her . Chizuru and Dark would probably go at each other's throats if left unchecked . Great . So much for giving his team time off .

"My group will be a little smaller," Clyde said . "Our focus will be to take on whatever awaits us at the end of the barrier . Everyone else will be rescuing anyone caught in this trap . Melody, is there any way you can get us back into the real world?"

"We're still in the real world," Melody said . "Just coated in a bubble of illusion . Something this big is more than likely being sustained by a placeholder, maybe a sphere of energy, rather than Mother . I don't want to sit in here just to wait for it to wink out, so we'll have to shatter it or beat some since into Mother . "

"This is an instance in which I will interfere," Selkie said . "Trapping an ent.i.ty breaks the rules of the stone-viper games and so I'm permitted to correct this . " She looked uncertain . "I'll…still use minimum magic to not attract unwanted eyes"

"f.u.c.k yeah," Clyde said . "Easy mode . Alright, Selkie's in my group . "

Alice gave him a pout . He chuckled . "You know you're with me . " He would've pulled her if Tear and Melody weren't already holding his arms . If Kanako was present, she'd probably be hugging his waist just to join in the cl.u.s.terf.u.c.k .

"Alice, Selkie, the crusader champion, Charles," Clyde began, but was interrupted .

"It's Dark!"

Clyde rolled his eyes, continuing,

"And you . " He pointed at Tessa . She gulped . "I hadn't forgotten about you, Wind . "

Selkie's eyes widened .

"It couldn't be—that shouldn't be…"

"Look, it's nothing impossible, we are allowed to go wherever we want," Clyde said, "and we'll discuss it later . First, let's go beat up my mo—Melody's evil mother . "

The redhead sighed .

[Missing: Chika, Natalia, Kanako, Ruri, Matsume, Kiko, Sazuki, Ming, Noona, Yusuke, Tetra . ]

[Team: Clyde, Alice, Selkie, Chizuru, Dark, and Tessa . ]

"Everybody else, form your group and—"

"I'm going with your group and you'd better not argue," Tear said . Her eyes glistened, drying up the young man's protest .

"Fine, but I really need to keep this group small," Clyde said, but Harumi still walked over to him, arms folded, and would not be deterred . "Eight is the limit of any party . No more objections . Yuki, you'll be the leader of team two . "

She nodded, smiling .

[Improved team 1: Clyde, Alice, Selkie, Chizuru, Dark, Tessa, Harumi, Tear . ]

[Team 2: Yuki, Toru, Airi, Kitome, Seth, Melody, Chizuru's Crusaders . ]

Having a harem was going to be so much harder than he thought . Of course, it was . Women were strong-willed and brilliant-minded . They were going to keep him from f.u.c.king things up whether he thought he knew it all or not . There were no throats for them to go after at the moment .

"You know your jobs, so let's do this," Clyde said . "Check the entire area and help me break this d.a.m.n barrier so we can get into the school . The faster we get this done, the faster we get back to the cultural festival . "

Clyde and the others searched the enormous school yard for any clues to disable the barrier that would allow them access to the academy . He could imagine some people being traumatized by the monsters . He bet they weren't mere illusions, but sp.a.w.ned f.u.c.kers from Melody's world .

The young man admitted to himself that he was already missing Natalia . Annoying at times, but always had his back in combat . Wielding the Staff of Hopes, she was a powerhouse . If the culprit behind the illusion was anyone but Amaterasu, he'd relax, unworried . That f.u.c.king vision…If she harmed his friend in any kind of way, Clyde would…

He pushed away the thoughts . Even he had limits . Could he possibly threaten someone that outcla.s.sed him so much? And that's why he fought with Team Stone . Realistically, no one could fight the enemies they did alone . Not at their levels without some kind of bulls.h.i.+t cheat .

Clyde checked his Mental Navigation System, hoping that it'd lead him to a switch or something, but the arrow and meters only pointed at the obvious front entrance . The back way, even side doors all held the same unbreakable barrier . Selkie couldn't pierce it even with ent.i.ty-level brute force .

Abruptly, a group of monsters sp.a.w.ned in a circle formation around Clyde's team .

They were large lizard-like creatures with eight legs . Some had dark blue scales, others black . The young man a.n.a.lyzed them .

Generic Basilisk

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Level: 87

Type: Monster

Work under: trickster demoness sp.a.w.n…

Special: Petrifying Gaze . [Chance to cause paralysis or even petrification . ]

Weakness: Sound attribute .

Resistances: 20% physical .

[Your party has entered combat!]

"Battle form…oh wait, this isn't fully Team Stone," Clyde said . "These are basilisks . Don't look in their eyes or you'll be either turned to stone or paralyzed . Focus on magic damage!"

Alice, Tear, and Harumi nodded . Selkie shrugged . However, Dark, Tessa, and the crusader girl, Chizuru looked unsure, more than likely not used to taking orders . h.e.l.l, getting her crusader group to go with Team Two took intimidation before the champion gave them the command .

There were fourteen enemies, but luckily for the party, they all had the same level .

Clyde dashed forward to attack, although it was awkward to fight an enemy one couldn't directly look at . He started off with an attack he hadn't used in a while .

[Tier 3 skill: Sound Slash . Does physical and sound damage . Chance to cause deaf at 1% . ]

And the results were what he hoped for .

[CRITICAL . WEAKNESS EXPLOITED . ]

It was an instant kill; however, the cooldown prevented him from abusing it .

[Your MP has dropped from 380% to 350%]

He didn't have to worry about the others . Selkie and Tear virtually deleted the enemies with the greatest of ease . Alice and Harumi fought side by side, forces of nature . Chizuru's sword caught his attention—it was something that he figured held a cla.s.s of Legendary or higher . Dark and Tessa, the player characters fought with varying strategies, leading to easy victories . And soon, the victory screen graced the mind's eye of Clyde . And probably the minds of Dark and Tessa .

[Battle completed . Victory! Reward: 120,000 EXP and 20,000 dollars . ]

No chest . Clyde sighed . This world went out of its way to make sure they were rare .

[School ground mini-boss approaches…]

The area rumbled like the start of an angering earthquake . Clyde looked around, almost as if he were a videogame character . In real life, s.h.i.+t like this was more concerning . Especially in Satovia . A hole opened up from the ground, maybe thirty yards in front of the group . Something hopped out of the inky blackness, laughing .

"Boofa boofa boooffaaaa," it yelled, wiggling his tongue wildly . It turned its gaze to Chizuru . The monster had a white praying mantis body and a reptilian head, human hands, and two giant egg-shaped, all-black buggy eyes . Its gra.s.shopper-like wings were opened wide . "Boofa boofa boofaaaaaa . " It laughed hard . "Boof . "

The a.n.a.lysis told the young man everything he needed to know about this creature .

Abyssal Mantis- Jaffa

Level: 117

Type: Monster

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Work under: trickster demoness sp.a.w.n…

Special: none .

Weakness: fire, lightning, and taint .

Resistances: dark and its attributes .

[Your party has entered combat!]

Jaffa rushed the crusader champion, laughing goofily, his wings aiding the glide . The busty woman waited then swiftly pulled off a fighting mechanic Clyde hadn't seen before .

[Chizuru activated Counter . ]

[Jaffa's attack was reflected!]

[Jaffa's HP has dropped from 250 to 180%]

Tessa moved in to attack, aiming a curved sword etched with tornado symbols over the handle .

[Tessa activated All Encasing Wind . ]

[Jaffa is trapped in a wind tunnel . ]

Sure enough, a whirlwind, visible by all of the dirt it picked up, held the monster in place . Clyde, not wanting to miss out on the action, rushed forward and leapt forty feet in the air .

"d.a.m.n I love these anime leaps," he said . Instead of the downward kick, he gave it the clichéd slash that normally killed enemies in one hit . Surprisingly the b.a.s.t.a.r.d was still alive after the Deep Slash .

[Jaffa's HP has dropped to 145%]

Seemingly p.i.s.sed, the creature howled, loudly . It sounded like thousands of vultures attempting to perform in a chorus . Clyde held his hand to his ear when he landed .

[Jaffa used Magic's execution . ]

[The wind tunnel has been shattered . This skill has been disabled for thirty minutes . ]

Jaffa held up a hand as it hovered the forty feet, wings fluttering . Red light formed in its paws .

"s.h.i.+t, be on your guard," Clyde said .

[Jaffa activated Tier 1 skill: Abyss's source light . ]

He aimed the beam at Clyde .

"Boofa boofa booffffaaa . " It laughed .

The red beam of energy looked like a Kamehameha wave as it rushed toward the young man . He dodged, but the monster quickly changed its direction, causing the entire party to jump around .

"Enough of this," Harumi said, aiming her wand .

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[Harumi activated Tier 1 skill: Kitsune's Thunderstorm . ]

The laughing abyss monster seemed to have sensed the impending lightning blast because it dodged . And continued to evade with ease .

"Boof boof boofa boofa, boof boof, boofa boofa," he said, waggling a taunting finger at the pink-haired girl . Then suddenly, it swooped down and knocked Harumi to her a.s.s, taking flight again right away .

[Harumi's HP has dropped to 94%]

"What a cheap shot," Dark said as he aimed a hand . "Great power—"

The idiot immediately grabbed the monster's attention, but instead of attacking, it laughed . Even folded its weird arms, hovering, eyes on the chuuni .

"Booofa boofa booooffa . " It laughed . "Boofa booffffffa boof . Boof booffaa boof . Booffa . Fafafafa . "

"What the h.e.l.l is it saying?" Selkie said . "Ugh . "

[Talent . Mystic languages activated . A skill you held since the beginning, this allows you to speak and understand all languages, including the old and unknown . ]

Clyde blinked . He forgot about this ability, as the opportunity to put it to use had not revealed itself until now .

"Great Power, power that is all mine, Dark scaling wave!"

[Dark activated Dark scaling wave!]

"I have never witnessed such a braindead, idiot human in my life," Jaffa said . "Oh wait, they all are!" He easily dodged Dark's magic, as well as Harumi and Tear's attacks . Selkie had no luck hitting it either . The creature stayed away from Chizuru .

"Stop with that annoying boofa c.r.a.p," Tessa said as she attempted another spell, only to get bashed to the ground by its flying rush .

[Tessa's HP has dropped to 123%]

"Okay, this is annoying," Clyde said . "We're not about to get stuck on some mini-boss that's doing nothing but talking s.h.i.+t about us in its own language . "

Selkie blinked .

"You…you can understand it?"

"It's an ability, but…"

Airi came out of nowhere to anime-dive into Clyde, eyes consumed with the l.u.s.t for knowledge .

"You've got to tell me about it," she said .

"Airi, get your a.s.s back in our group!" Kitome yelled from afar . "They can handle some bug without you . "

Selkie pulled the purple-haired young woman with a single hand and launched her sixty yards to Kitome . Fortunately the green-haired ent.i.ty stopped her in midair before the crash . The monster seemed amazed by that throw, judging by its open-mouth gawk, and while Clyde found it impressive too, this distraction was perfect .

[Clyde invoked Mystic wrath]

[Clyde activated Mystic lightning . ]

Direct hit! Jaff fell to the ground .

[CRITICAL! Jaff is stunned . ATTACK ONCE MORE!]

[Jaff's HP has dropped to 90%]

[Jaff has been inflicted with holy blight . ]

[HP halved by holy blight . ]

[Jaff's HP has dropped to 45% . Holy blight still continues!]

[Your MP has dropped to 330%]

"f.u.c.k him up!" Clyde ordered, releasing Mystic wrath to conserve MP . Swords drawn, the team beat the s.h.i.+t out of the bug monster . Alice sp.a.w.ned a giant magical-girl like mallet made of light and finished it off with a smash . And looked…cute doing so . The young man thought he'd seen everything, but wasn't prepared for that .

[Battle completed . Victory! Reward: 500,000 EXP and access to the main dungeon . ]

Clyde wished he had his phone right about now, but with it being stuck in the locker with his normal clothes, simply texting their success wouldn't be happening . So Tear teleported over to the group, relayed the message and hopefully scolded Airi a little and informed her not to give Yuki anymore trouble, and returned .

"Who's ready to check out the s.h.i.+t storm Amaterasu setup for us," Clyde said, failing to hide his excitement a little . As much as he hated that Melody's mother disrupted the cultural festival, it has been a while since he gotten the chance to take on a dungeon . In addition to making sure everyone was safe, the young man craved some loot . And while it gave him shudder, he felt the gleaming eyes of Tessa and Dark also craving the same thing . Airi wasn't a "player" but she was an adventurer—a true one—and was at least honest about her wants .

Clyde pushed open the front doors of the academy and led his team in . The first sighting of the dimly lit building made him pause .

[Amaterasu's Trap . Floor: 1 of 4 . ]

The tan walls were decorated with a few paintings at a few intervals . On them were students and guests with expressions of utter horror, as if they witnessed their greatest fears before someone took an expensive photo . Blood also oozed from them in snake-like patterns . Some of it dripped from the ceiling . An unsettling odor of smoke, iron, and flesh hung in the air .

As if the sight wasn't bad enough, screams and yells of both male and female echoed in the background .

A male demonic voice hummed through the air, causing the hairs on the back of the young man's neck to stand .

"Welcome to h.e.l.l-Cademia . Please enjoy your tour of the greatest academy in the world!" The demon laughed . "Just stay away from the elevators . Floor four is restricted to the Overseer . If you run across the cages and cells with our playthings, you may snap photos, but no touching the metal . Our guards will kill if so . Tta and thank you for choosing to tour with us . "

That announcement gave Clyde enough cold blood to get him moving . What kind of h.e.l.lish illusion was this? He could definitely understand the universal hate for tricksters in general .

"Floor four it is," the young man said . "It could be a trap . "

"It totally sounds like a trap," Tessa said . "But also not a trap . Ugh… I don't like this—it looks so horrible . "

"I hope she hadn't harmed any people," Harumi said .

"I wouldn't put it past her," Clyde said .

He was able to confirm the elevator's barrier when they found it . The barrier applied to the stairs too . Inky blackness, thicker than muck, seemed to ooze from them . The young man would've skipped these paths with or without the barrier unless there was absolutely no choice .

"Look at this," Dark said, picking up a cross-shaped stony tablet that was about six inches tall and wide . "Maybe this is one of those puzzles where you match the shapes . "

"That should be easy," Tessa said . They couldn't find anywhere to put it; however, Selkie and Tear discovered two more of the stones . One was a painting of a nine-tailed fox and the other, a tree .

"You know, I think we're simply overthinking this," Clyde said . "This one's actually simple . Give Dark the tablet with the tree, Harumi the fox, and Chizuru the cross . "

They looked at him skeptically, but obeyed . The tablets glowed .

"How in the void did you figure that out?" Dark said .

"By thinking like a gamer," Clyde said . "The symbols represented some sort of essence of members in our party . I guess by having them hold the stones, things would happen . "

"Let's take these to the elevator and get moving," Alice said . "I don't want to be in this place longer than I have to . I hope Natalia's okay . "

"Have more faith in our Nattie," Tear said . "And not even Amaterasu can break her . "

Before the team could take a step, the building shook . Ten wisps of orange light sp.a.w.ned in random intervals . Then immediately took shape into what Clyde could a.s.sume were Abyssal creatures of horror .

"I'm afraid we cannot allow you to proceed into the elevator . "

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