Chapter 149: Flashpoint

That night, we stayed within the still-standing residential building of Zone A.

It was surprisingly high-quality and comfortable. The beds were nice and clean, with a perfect balance between soft and firm. There was even a hot water shower for all of us.

In the end, we stayed in separate rooms, of course… well, almost.

Nadeshiko insisted on sleeping next to me, and since I couldn't escape her, I reluctantly gave in at last, planning on just getting out as soon as she fell asleep. Little did I know, however, she ended up tying the two of us together with a rope to prevent me from doing just that.

"Heheh… Kaze, you're not going anywhere~"

"Tch…"

And so, I was forced to sleep that night with my body completely pressed against Nadeshiko's. She was surprisingly warm, for such a… cold-blooded, psychopathic killer. When she was sleeping, she almost seemed… peaceful.

I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, but later, in the middle of the night, I was woken up by her soft murmuring in her dreams.

Slowly blinking my eyes open, I noticed just how tightly she was hugging me, even though we were around bound together by a rope.

"Mommy… don't leave me… please come back… I got rid of the bad guy, see? So please… come back… mommy…"

I originally wanted to pry myself away from her, but after hearing this, how could I?

I lost all feelings of pity and sadness, but I still knew compassion and kindness. While her daytime persona was completely broken and maniacal, nowhere near normal, deep down she was still just a poor girl who had her family taken away from me once, only to be given a fake one as a replacement who only wanted to use her as a tool.

All of a sudden, I felt somewhat guilty for treating her the same way. I didn't love her in any way, yet I was keeping her by my side like this, just to use as a loyal, powerful ally in battle.

I gently embraced her back, sliding my hand through her hair like Hina-nee used to do for me when I was younger.

"It's okay… I'm here."

"Mmn…"

With my pats of comfort, she slowly began to quiet down again, breathing softly as she slept. Once I confirmed she was okay, I closed my eyes as well, still hugging her tightly.

*****

- The Next Morning -

"Attention, all disciples: A flashpoint event is beginning soon. The location has been marked on your maps."

We were naturally roused from our sleep by this loud voice that boomed across the skies, louder than any alarm clock and far more annoying too.

Shaking my head grogily, I attempted to get up, only to get pulled right back down by Nadeshiko. Because of the rope tying us together, I ended up landing straight on top of her, face mere inches away.

"Mm… Kaze~" She slowly opened her eyes, staring into mine, and I tried to break free. But alas, the rope was too tight.

She lifted her head up slightly, meeting my lips. I tried pulling away, but she held my head in place firmly. I couldn't use my hands, since I was using them to support myself to avoid falling down on her.

"Mmn~ ah~" She pulled away at last, licking her lips. "That was a nice wake-up kiss, wasn't it, Kaze~?"

"… When are you going to untie us? I'm going to check out the flashpoint event."

"Mkay~ I'm coming along too~"

She slowly untied us, smiling happily. The moment I was free, I leaped out of bed. I'm sure she felt my morning wood pressing down on her, but just chose not to mention it.

"Fufu~ how cute."

After everyone showered and was ready to go, we met up at the entrance of the residential building.

"Yo," Ming Yi said, the first to finish after me. He walked up and patted my shoulder. "Good morning."

"Morning."

"Heh… what did you do with her last night, huh?" He grinned suggestively, nudging my shoulder. "C'mon, tell me all the juicy details. I want to know."

So that's what you're here for…

"Let's see, we slept, we… yeah, that's bout it."

"Wait, what? You just fell asleep?"

I nodded. "Mhm. Something wrong?"

"WHAT?! MAN, you just let a golden opportunity slip by!"

"… I'm not 18 yet."

"You aren't? You look like you are…"

"I'm not," I said with a sigh. "And even if I was, I probably wouldn't have done anything to her either. I already told you, didn't I? She's just my pawn — nothing more."

"Heh… how much you wanna bet that will change in the near future?"

I scoffed. "10 bucks?"

Ming Yi grinned and flashed me a thumbs-up. "10 bucks it is, my friend."

*****

"So, I trust everyone heard that message?" I asked the other five once we had all gathered.

Mei'Er nodded. "The first flashpoint event has begun. Now, if I read my map correctly… it should be that way."

She pointed towards our left, which was the opposite direction of where we arrived here yesterday.

"I see… well, let's go for now. With any luck, we'll all be able to regroup with our respective teams there."

"My team was massacred last night…" Mei'Er muttered, shooting me a look of disdain. "Not that I care all that much."

"Oh yeah, by the way," I said to the elf. "What can I call you by? Just 'elf' is kind of…"

"You can call me Monica," she replied.

"Got it."

With everything sorted out, we headed off to the location marked on our maps, depicted by a bright blue marker.

*****

Because the location marked had a large blue radius around it, nearly as big as a whole Zone, we stopped as soon as we entered the circle. It was unusually quiet. Without a doubt, other groups of disciples were already here, lurking.

The obvious strategy here was to let another group handle the Beast that spawns, then go in for the killing blow. But with so many different groups around…

"Agh-!" A yell of pain suddenly rang out in the distance, followed by various explosions and war cries.

"… Looks like they've begun fighting before the Beast even spawned, huh?" I muttered.

"What's the play here, Kaze?" Ming Yi asked, bending down beside me.

"Nothing."

"E-Eh?" Everyone blinked in surprise.

"What? I'm not kidding. There's literally nothing we have to do other than wait for the right opportunity. Everyone else will start to get impatient after a while and go in — all we have to do is outlast them."

As the sound of battle heightened, signaling new combatants have joined the fray, I shrugged as if that proved my point exactly.

"But… what if your sister or that other side character is there too~?" Nadeshiko giggled charmingly.

"S-Side character? You mean… Furuwa?" I couldn't help but laugh at that one. "They'll be fine. I believe they can handle themselves, and neither of them are stupid enough to join the fight this early on. That said…"

I turned to Ming Yi and Koroth. "What about you two? Your team… do you want to go take a look to see if they're in trouble? Oh, but I won't be following, of course."

They shook their heads. "Even if we lose our teammates, as long as we can overthrow Elder Zhang, making it into the sect is no problem," Ming Yi said. "Besides, I don't want to risk being eliminated as well. If our teammates are currently fighting, that just means they aren't smart enough to be worth saving."

"I like the mindset," I remarked, then quickly snapped my gaze to our left as I sensed movement.

"Footsteps. Quiet."

The five immediately backed off slowly, remaining as quiet as possible as I observed.

It was a group of four people, all males. The interesting thing, however, was that I recognized one of them. He was the same guy who had tried courting Nadeshiko during the team formation phase, but got utterly rejected.

"Ara ara~ isn't that…" Nadeshiko murmured, seeming to have realized it as well.

"If I remember correctly, didn't he say he would kill me or something?" I wondered aloud with a smirk on my face.

"Fufu, can I call him instead~?"

"No. He threatened me, not you. And anyone who threatens me… won't have a good end."

Saying this, I glanced to Mei'Er, who had once tried making me into her servant. She noticed my gaze and looked away, blushing slightly from guilt and embarrassment at just how badly she got humiliated by me.

"It seems he's trying to join the fight over there," Monica said, furrowing her brows in thought. "Clearly, not the brightest tool in the shed."

"Judging from the arrogant and haughty expressions on their faces, they seem to be quite confident in their skills," Ming Yi chuckled. "But you know what they say… the more arrogant someone is, the less capable they actually are."

"You guys stay here," I suddenly said, smiling deviously as a plan formed in my head. "I'm just going to go… steal a few kills real quick."