Chapter 166: Villian Hides In the Shadows, Whispering Calmly Part 1

Fighting with all of her might, Natsume-san managed to earn us a total twenty four minutes and 4 seconds.

「I’m so sorry and ashamed……」

「No, no, honestly in round three you did even better than expected. You even managed to get all of your gauge back, so it was an amazing comeback.」

「Yeah, yeah, and who would have thought that a Chaos Cube would appear in a place like that? So it’s not your fault.」

As for the overall result, Natsume-san lost. She was clever and managed to pull surprise after surprise, but unfortunately Lucas was way too responsive with his actions. In the end, Yggdryer was smashed to bits by Dr. Sandalphon, mere meters away from freshly materialized Chaos Cube.

「Nah, if its anyone’s fault, it would be that monster out there who managed to anticipate all of Natsume-chan’s actions.」

Although for most of the third round Lucas was falling behind Natsume-san, he suddenly started playing more seriously and caught up to her in a matter of seconds. But there was still something in Natsume-san’s recollection that bothered me.

「Natsume-chan, you said that there was a news helicopter going after you, right?」

「Ah……」

「Even though they were fighting one another so fiercely, I’ve managed to observe that there was always a news helicopter hanging in the background, putting its distance.」

「I, see……」

To be honest, I don’t blame Natsume-san for not noticing this right away. Compared to other fighting games, Galaxia Heroes: Chaos has a whole lot of things going on at the same time. Way too many information to process.

NPCs can make the Villain escape that much harder. They can see, hear and report a whole lot of things you’d never really expect them to. So while you fight, you need to watch out for them as well.

And because the setting of this game is quite modern, the NPCs can share information in between themselves surprisingly fast. By talking to one NPC, you can learn that someone else spotted a Villain on the opposite end of the city. So if you don’t take precautions against NPCs, you’re pretty much screwed.

「…… Even though I’m a Pro Gamer, I couldn’t secure us a win. I know this may sound bad, but…… Please, I leave everything to you guys……」

「Nfufu, there’s no need to be so stiff and uptight! Just leave everything to Onee-san here! I’ll settle this with a bang!」

「She’s right. Just leave everything to us. I’d be more furious with you if you actually tried to act all high and might even though you’ve lost.」

The only one who’s responsible for this situation is that jerk, Katsu. So I hope he’s ready to bear the consequences once he finally decides to show up. Otherwise Natsume-san might never stop feeling bad about it.

「Now, then…… Let this here “No Name” show the whole world just how Villains should act and play.」

「Just…… Don’t do anything TOO crazy.」

Since Lucas won the first match, this means that he stays in Full Dive. Now it would be Pencilgton’s…… No Name’s job to take him down.

The fact that Silvia Goldberg will go third threw a wrench in our overall strategy, plus the fact that Natsume-san lost the first match…… So even if Pencilgton wins the next two matches and manages to stall Silvia Goldberg as long as she can, we’d still be cutting it really close.

It was certainly a difficult task to pull off. Now the question is: is Pencilgton up for the task like that?

Still, the world does not know about Pencilgton’s true nature…… If they did, no one would voluntarily want to be closed in a “boxing ring” of a game together with her. Especially if she would act like her old self.

「Is Amane-san…… I mean, No Name-san going to…… be okay?」

「No problem. Certainly, since this is a new fighting game, she may not be all that good at it. Maybe she’s even mediocre or even worse…… Heck, I think that she wouldn’t be able to score but a single win against you, Natsume-san.」

「So why then……!?」

「However, if you give her a certain degree of freedom within the game……」

She’s that type of gamer that will make your life a living hell and wish you’ve never logged in in the first place.

「Now then, for the second match Player Lucas continues as his Dr. Sandalphon, but just what kind of character is the mysterious masked Player No Name going to choose……?」

「It’s Clock Fire. It’s the kind of character that is similar to Yggdryer in its playstyle, but according to the materials provided by the developer unlike a short distance counter type, Clock Fire prefers mobility and long range combat.」

Dr. Sandalphon comes from the comic books “Dr. Sandalphon”, while Clock Fire comes from an entirely different series. Beause of that, maybe Pencilgton can earn some additional time if she decides to roleplay this.

When it comes to Pencilgton, the best way for her to play games like that is to choose those characters that would allow her to fully utilize her purely chaotic evil nature to her favor, so by that standard Clock Fire should click with her perfectly. Almost too perfectly, I’m afraid.

No, I’m sure of it. The two of them are practically one and the same.

「Now then, now then…… Let’s show those guys some of our world-famous Japanese hospitality, shall we……?」

It was a strange looking woman wearing a blue trench coat and top hat. Also, her left eye was missing, replaced by mechanical prosthetic with red retina. That is the Villain “Clock Fire”, coming from Galaxia Heroes’ universe, from the “Hydro Hand” series, to be exact.

「Hmm, for now…… Right, right, you there, young missy, what happened to your mom?」

For now, Clock Fire shuts her left eyelid close to hide her artificial eye and talks to an NPC, a little girl eating ice cream with a smile on her face while sitting on a bench.

「Are you a friend of Mama’s? She’s over there, talking to her other friend.」

「I see, I see, what pretty mom you have there. Those ice cream look yummy. What flavor are they?」

「Chestnut flavored!」

「What a refined taste for a stupid brat…… Ekhem. I mean, look here! I have a gift just for you, since you’re so lovely little thing!」

While smiling in a way that betrayed no malicious intent at all, the Villain in a trench coat placed a cute and fluffy teddy bear right on the little girl’s lap.

However, this was not just an ordinary teddy bear. It did not contain a belt or glue of any kind, but still it got stuck to girl’s body. Even though she tried to pull on it really hard, the toy wouldn’t budge in the slightest.

「Mister Teddy Bear?」

「It seems that Mister Teddy Bear took a real liking to you. Please take a good care of him, missy.」

「……? Okay.」

「In that case, I’m going to chat for a bit with your mom, so you just sit here and enjoy your ice cream.」

Then, with footsteps as light as if she was dancing, Clock Fire went towards the girl’s mother and tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

「You’re that little missy’s mama, correct?」

「Eh? Yes, that’s right……」

「I’m sorry if it’s so sudden, but…… Do you see that teddy bear that’s sitting on your little girl’s lap? See, it’s the same as this one……」

Just like some sort of magic trick, Clock Fire produced a teddy bear out of nowhere and just threw it down on the street right under the NPC woman’s legs.

The teddy bear bounced from the ground a few times while making a soft noise, only to land at the very center of the road, where it was almost immediately smashed flat by the tires of the truck that just happened to be passing by…… And then it exploded.

「To put it simply, would you be willing to do some work for me, my dear Mama?」

The burning remains of the truck turn over in the air, debris and flames raining down all over the people in its close vicinity. Others get hit by shrapnels of asphalt that scattered from the impact of the explosion. In the blink of an eye, ordinary peace and tranquility transformed into a vision of Hell, filled with human cries and screams. In the midst of all that, Clock Fire…… No Name was acting as if it was nothing special and just continued in a nonchalant tone.

「Don’t worry, it won’t be anything too difficult. Even someone like you can do it. Your reward shall be your child’s safety…… But it’s not like you can refuse, can’t you?」