Chapter 131: The Passive Beating of Ruri Gokou
From the beginning of the battle, Eriri had pulled out a luxurious, throne-like chair from her storage space and sat with her legs crossed, unaffected by the falling rain. It was as if the space she occupied was separate from the rest of the battlefield.
Resting her chin on her hand, she watched the fights unfold with great interest, showing no signs of intervening. This was intentional on Eriri's part; most of her group had limited combat experience, and this mission provided an opportunity for them to adapt and gain it. Even the four-year-old Sakura wasn't exempt from the action.
Despite Sakura's initial hesitance and struggle to strike with resolve, after being pummeled by a Second Level opponent, she finally made up her mind. In response, she landed a punch so powerful that it erased her opponent from existence.
Elsewhere, Arche and Elaina found themselves engaged in fights with opponents of equal strength. Thanks to the impenetrable defense that Eriri had cast upon them, they completely ignored their enemies' close-range attacks. Using their proficient magic abilities, they attacked from a distance, steadily pushing their opponents into retreat. Victory was only a matter of time.
Chika Fujiwara and Asuna, both mid-Second Level were not so lucky. Up against enemies who were slightly above their level, they were taking a beating. Their enemies were ruthless villains, far more skilled and experienced in combat than the relatively inexperienced duo.
Chika, who had learned some basics of Flower Breathing from Kanae during the last mission, was now swinging her katana with impressive form. Meanwhile, Asuna applied the sword skills she had mastered in Sword Art Online to real life, delivering formidable strikes. Despite their best efforts, their lack of battle experience was holding them back. Still, this battle would undoubtedly help them grow stronger afterward.
Then there was Ruri Gokou, who was undeniably the weakest member of their group. As a mere Second Level beginner, she stood no chance against the more experienced and higher-level villains. Far from being able to hunt down weaker enemies for points, she was now stuck in a defensive position, barely fending off attacks.
"Falling behind means taking a beating—nothing unusual about that," Eriri mused to herself, watching Ruri Gokou's clumsy attempts to fend off her opponent with a poorly made iron sword, failing to even use the rudimentary Flower Breathing techniques she had recently learned.
Meanwhile, Shinobu swiftly dispatched Naraku, a loathsome villain, in one move. This made Naraku the first to fall after the red-haired villain Eriri had previously dealt with. He contributed 20,000 points to Shinobu's total but otherwise served no purpose.
As for Gabriel, she focused on targeting lone enemies, pummeling them one by one and rapidly collecting points. Her relentless assault was also why no one dared approach Eriri—Gabriel had already destroyed anyone who might have posed a threat to her.
Notably, Gabriel had easily defeated both Kamishiro Rize, in her ghoul form, and Fallen Angel Raynare, with red gauntlet on her right hand. Linali had seemingly altered her fate through the Villains Chat Group and managed to steal the "Boosted Gear" Sacred Gear from the original protagonist of her world. However, even with the Boosted Gear, her strength only reached high-Second Level. Against Gabriel, who was a solid Third Level, she stood no chance and was defeated in one blow.
While Gabriel was indifferent to the "Boosted Gear," dismissing it as a worthless weapon, Eriri noticed the fallen gauntlet and casually picked it up.
As soon as the red gauntlet touched Eriri's hand, it began to glow, and the spirit of the Red Dragon Emperor, Ddraig, within the gauntlet tried to pull her into its consciousness space, but to no avail.
Ddraig was puzzled, having never experienced such resistance before. His previous host, Linali, had experienced strange phenomena, like being able to foresee future events in her world and travel between dimensions—something not even the Two Heavenly Dragons could achieve at their peak. But now, after arriving in the Campione! world, Linali had been easily defeated and discarded like trash.
Now, as Ddraig sensed Eriri's perfect and overflowing spiritual energy, he was eager to make her his new host. He was certain that with his power, Eriri would soon become an unstoppable force, capable of even defeating the White Dragon Emperor's host.
"Little girl," Ddraig's deep voice echoed from the gauntlet, "how would you like to become my host? I am one of the Two Heavenly Dragons, the Red Dragon Emperor! I can rapidly enhance your strength, making you one of the strongest in the world. What do you say? Tempted yet?"
"Not interested," Eriri replied, rolling her eyes. She had no desire to become the host of the Boosted Gear. The Heavenly Dragons, even at their peak, were only Fifth Level entities, which were trivial to her. She could wipe out beings of that level with a wave of her hand.
Moreover, the idea of carrying a male spirit inside her body disgusted her. Just imagining it made her feel queasy.
Sensing Eriri's dismissal, Ddraig grew anxious. The gauntlet glowed again as if to plead with her, but before it could speak further, Eriri sealed it away.
She promptly instructed the chat group to recycle the item.
[Ding! Do you want to recycle the Fifth Level artifact "Boosted Gear"?]
"Recycle it," Eriri commanded mentally.
[Ding! "Boosted Gear" has been recycled. You have earned 5,000,000 points.]
"Not bad. This thing is pretty valuable," Eriri muttered with a smile. From now on, the "Boosted Gear" would no longer exist in any world, and the White Dragon Emperor had permanently lost his counterpart (and rival).
Looking at her newly increased point balance, Eriri shook her head and smiled lightly. She thought of giving 4,000,000 points to Gabriel, who had done all the work to defeat Linali. Since Eriri herself had little use for points and had a good relationship with Gabriel, she decided to transfer the points to her friend. As for the remaining 1,000,000 points, she planned to share them as a red envelope in the chat group for her sisters to enjoy.
With those 4,000,000 points, Gabriel's promotion to Fourth Level was practically guaranteed, bringing her one step closer to surpassing her sister.
After finishing her thoughts, Eriri shifted her focus back to the battlefield. Resting her chin on her hand once more, she glanced forward and noticed Ruri Gokou struggling again.
"Hmm, should I step in and help Ruri-chan?" she wondered.
At the start of the battle, the Villains Chat Group's leader had set his sights on Eriri. Based on how she had instantly killed the Second Level red-haired man earlier, he recognized that Eriri was extremely powerful.
However, his perception of Eriri as a character from a slice-of-life anime remained ingrained in his mind, making him believe her strength had limits. Confident in his own abilities, having spent decades undefeated after his reincarnation and becoming the leader of a chat group, he felt assured of his victory.
Pulling out a blood-red, glowing magic sword from his storage, he approached Eriri, his gaze filled with lust. Although he couldn't capture her for his harem, he still intended to enjoy her before killing her, as her beauty was simply irresistible.
The villain leader even considered capturing Eriri and fleeing back to his world immediately after defeating her, abandoning the mission and the chat group altogether.
But dreams are just dreams. Before he could get more than a few meters toward Eriri, Lala blocked his path.
"Your opponent is me," Lala said cheerfully, holding a uniquely designed sword that was clearly a technological creation. It was a product of her genius, and its durability and sharpness far surpassed any ordinary steel weapon.
Lala's most powerful attack involved firing a laser from her tail, a blast strong enough to destroy a planet. But clearly, none of the Villain Chat Group members were worthy of seeing such power. Lala's swordsmanship alone was enough to deal with any of them.
"Out of my way, girl," the villain leader snarled. Although Lala's beauty was on par with Eriri's, he had no interest in her. His attention was wholly focused on Eriri.
Feeling his disgusting gaze from afar, Eriri frowned slightly and called out to Lala, "Lala, kill him."
"Got it!" Lala responded cheerfully, instantly shifting into a battle stance with her sword.
"Hmph, you don't know your place. Fine, I'll kill you first," the villain leader spat, his magic sword glowing with red lightning as he slashed at Lala. But what happened next shocked him.
With a casual swipe of her sword, Lala effortlessly deflected his blood-red energy slash, cutting it in half as if it were nothing.
The villain leader knew the power of his own attack. Even though it was just a casual strike, it should have been enough to kill anyone below Fifth Level Yet, Lala had countered it with ease.
Up until now, he had underestimated Lala, thinking she was nothing more than a quirky inventor. But seeing her effortlessly nullify his attack, he realized her true strength.
Finally taking Lala seriously, the villain leader's expression darkened as he gathered his strength.
His body blurred, leaving behind afterimages as he charged toward Lala with his sword engulfed in blood-red lightning, intending to finish her off with a single blow.
However, Lala showed no signs of panic. With a relaxed smile, she raised her own sword, casually meeting his attack head-on. The two swords collided with a loud clang, sending shockwaves rippling through the air.
Despite the villain leader's overwhelming confidence in his own strength, he found himself unable to gain the upper hand against Lala. Each strike he launched was perfectly countered, his power neutralized with ease.
The battle between the two intensified as their movements became faster and more fluid. They clashed again and again, their swords striking with such force that the sound echoed throughout the battlefield. It soon became clear that, despite his best efforts, the villain leader was locked in an even fight with Lala.
Their fierce swordplay created violent shockwaves that shattered the ground beneath them and caused the air to tremble. The rain pouring down was swept aside by the sheer force of their movements. Both combatants were locked in a high-speed duel, their figures flickering in and out of view as they exchanged blows.
Despite the intensity of the fight, Lala's expression remained light-hearted, as if she was merely playing a game. Her movements were fluid and natural, as though she wasn't taking the fight seriously.
On the other hand, the villain leader's expression grew darker with every exchange, his frustration mounting as he realized he couldn't overpower her.
Lala, however, was merely toying with him. With her power at the Sixth Level, Eighth Stage, she was a whole level above the villains chat group leader. Though she could end the fight at any moment, she deliberately held back, matching his strength and engaging him in a sword duel that appeared evenly matched.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone