บท 42: Chapter 42: Skullgirls Pt.1

~Third POV~

As Tatsumi, Ruby, Beatrice, and Toga were busy dealing with the first quest Erza and Echidna were dealing with the second quest.

Destroy the Skull Heart.

The mission takes place in the vast sprawling Kingdom within which Skullgirls takes place.

Ruled by the Renoir royal family, it is a prosperous land that contrasts sights of beauty to scenes of despair vaguely similar to 1940s America, the Canopy Kingdom is home to millions of humans, Dagonians, Ferals, and the giant-sized Gigans.

This kingdom is blessed with a very socially conscious royal family, a strong military, and amazing technology.

King Renoir's ruthless war campaigns lead to explosive technological and cultural growth, investing a lot into combining technology and magic to take on the other 2 countries during the Grand War.

There's a lot of discrimination against minority groups like ferals.

Parasite hosts specifically are heavily ostracized as hosting a Parasite is seen as taboo.

While the Renoir Crown rules the Canopy Kingdom, the Medici rules its sizable underworld.

The capital of the Canopy Kingdom is Canopolis.

Currently, the Canopy Kingdom is in peace with the other kingdoms and countries.

Despite this, the kingdom itself is not at peace as a new Skullgirl is currently causing chaos within the kingdom's great city, New Meridian.

Little Innsmouth is akin to a 'Chinatown', is a small but bustling residential and business district by the coast, accented by bold, clashing colors and chimney pots resembling coral.

This is the place where Dagonians live a race of humanoid fish people with more fish features.

The buildings are connected by an extensive network of wooden decks, walkways, and stairs, with strings of jellyfish lanterns hanging overhead.

A tram runs between the areas above and below sea level throughout the day, when the tide is low and this is also when the lowest level is exposed: the walls are covered in graffiti, the ground littered with trash bags thrown from above, and everything is tinted green from algae.

At night, the tide has caused the lowest level to flood, rendering it inaccessible.

The district sparkles with light from the buildings, lanterns, and many neon signs, all reflected in the water, many restaurants stay open until late at night, enticing people out for good food and a relaxing evening walking along the brightly lit walkways.

Currently at this daytime is when the other two members of the chat group have arrived.

Erza and Echidna enter the New Meridian city at the lowest level at Little Innsmouth in an alleyway away from people seeing them enter…

~Echidna POV~

So, this is what it's like to travel on a mission now this is certainly an enjoyment if only the teleportation here was unneeded…

Urgh…

I think I might be feeling sick…

Shaking my head of my thoughts and getting my stomach back together again I see a race of…

Well…

Fish people?

Now, this is certainly weird although familiar to the beast people in my world but I don't recall any fish race before?

Smiling at this discovery I can't wait to see what this world has to offer!

However, I glance around to see Erza is with me wearing a white shirt, skirt blue, knee socks, and shoes with a tattoo on her shoulder?

I should ask Erza more of her magic world at a later date.

As Erza was getting herself back together again she looks at me and smiles as she introduces herself, "Hello their Echidna it's a pleasure to finally meet you in person as you already know I'm Erza Scarlet."

Showing the same gesture I did a small bow raising my dress a bit as I introduce myself to her as well, "The same to you as well Erza Scarlet I'm Echidna the former witch it's a pleasure to meet you."

With that done with it was time to get into business!

Already using my [Authority of Greed: Everlasting Knowledge Seeker] I connected to the 'Od' of this world and…

Huh?

Raising my eyebrow it appears my Authority have worked showing me this world version of [Gospel of Wisdom] but opening it and reading the process…

Erza soon comes over to my side viewing my confused expression she asks me a question, "What seems to be the problem Echidna? It seems to me that you are having problems with your abilities is there something wrong?"

No this can't be right, is it?

Reading this world version using my Authority shows me not only one timeline of events happening but multiple ones as well?

What in the Witch of Envy is going on here!!!

Why does one point in the main history of this world seems to break off…

No, rather it seems to be branching off into different timelines of this world history?!!

How can such a thing even happen to begin with and who exactly are these girls with their each and own timelines of them wining the Skullgirl and either use the Skull Heart to grant their wish or simply destroy it?

However, I should consider these names to be important since these people seem to have a great change in this world future or another.

Anne, Peacock, Parasoul, Valentine, Filia, Squigly, Cerebella, Double, Eliza, Ms. Fortune…

And many more but what concerns me the most is the possible outcomes of this world but this one seems truly foolish to me.

A timeline where robot cat girls destroy any life form?

Can such a thing truly happen here in this world be such outlandish and impossible but true?

But going over the views of this world timeline I get the main general information needed in this world at least.

According to my [Gospel of Wisdom], it seems to me that were in the Eliza timeline going according to these events that haven't happened yet since it's still day out.

I was interrupted as Erza was shaking me was when I finally noticed her as she was talking to me, "Echidna! Echidna! Come on damn it will you wake up and notice already…!"

Huh?

Returning myself to the present situation I hold my book close to me as I inform Erza of our situation, "Sorry about that Erza it takes time for me to realize when I process knowledge using my Authority but sorry for the wait I just have enough information to go off on what I attain from this world Od."

Erza smiles at me as she lets me go as I feel the pain in my shoulders and my [Aura] that Ruby unlocked for me started to heal.

Wonder this [Aura] stuff truly a wonder of the soul.

After that, I started to explain my findings of this world to Erza explaining what is going to happen in this world and who Eliza is.

Eliza is a popular singer in New Meridian and is predominately known for her amazing charity work, which is namely blood drives.

Under her lavish appearance, Eliza harbors a dark secret, she carries the Parasite [Sekhmet] and uses the blood she gains in the drives to make herself young and beautiful perpetually.

It did not take long for the Medici Mafia to discover this secret and use it to their advantage and blackmail Eliza.

After I finish explaining it to Erza she has a look of fury on her face but calms down as she says to me with clear determination, "Alright then it seems to me we have a common enemy here if that Eliza woman is going after the Skull Heart then it seems we're going to cross paths soon…"

Yeah, another old monster by this world standards is certainly weird…

But then again, I'm one myself considering I have lived about 400 years old or more give or take but there is a difference between Eliza and myself.

She chose to become a threat to herself and everyone around her for her selfish goals of enslaving humans or other races.

I chose my path to help people with my knowledge that soon made me become one without any emotion.

Sigh…

Looking over to my [Gospel of Wisdom] I soon read what exactly soon that…

Hmm…

Smirking at this I tell Erza in a happy tone to her as she looks at me confused, "Say Erza it looks like we may get a chance to deal with that Eliza sooner than expected."

Erza raises her eyebrow as I motion her to get out of the alley was as we both hear voices of the discomfort of someone in distress, "Let mewout! Your trunk is for your JUNK, not me!"

The next thing we see are two buff animal humanoids as a bird and dog as the dog person says to what I believe is Ms. Fortune if my info is correct of this world is getting catnapped, "Oh, we ain't letting this cat out of this doggie bag."

The next thing that happens from my book plays out here in the real world that they slam that creation called a car with Eliza and Cerebella.

The ribbon-like dress wrapped around Eliza's body forms the shape of an Ankh, an Egyptian symbol commonly associated with 'eternal life.

Cerebella has light brown skin and mint green hair color, tied up in a sharp ponytail. She wears purple eyeshadow as well as matching mint-green lipstick and nail polish. She has a small purple diamond tattooed on her left cheek. Her eyes have alternatively been portrayed as being black or purple.

Her outfit is befitting that of a performer: a bright orange strapless low-cut mini-dress, with a band of cloth with an orange and black triangle pattern around her upper-arms, billowing cream sleeves, and maroon appendages on the cuffs, and a black choker.

She wears black thigh-length boots, with an orange diamond pattern along the length of each boot, that are pointed at the ends and have a skull sitting each bridge with Vice-Versa in its dominant form atop her head, her resemblance to a jester becomes more apparent.

Seeing this I see Erza is already disagreeing with these people what fun this will be.

Erza then goes forward wearing her usual armor as she has her swords on her side as she says to me, "Echidna how about you deal with Eliza and I deal with the clown that sounds good to you?"

Sounds good to me?

I for one was waiting for my chance to get a piece of the action against that parasite Eliza.

With that me and Erza rushed in to help out a feline gal from her caged imprisonment.