Ambush

I looked at the list, wondering who to summon next. I'm a mage, and I already have a healer in Celestine. I need someone that can deal more powerful damage to monsters. A warrior or rogue would be best.

I trailed my eyes down the list, noticing a few characters from mangas and anime that I've read/watched when I was younger. When my eyes landed on the sixth one, I faltered in my step, which I tripped over a root, causing me to land on my stomach, scraping my palm against a sharp rock, "Ghaa! Oww!"

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6. Kotonoha Katsura [Rogue] (Yandere) {School Days} R

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"Ma-John!?" Celestine yelled in shock. She took a few steps towards me and reached out with her hand to pull me up. I winced when I grabbed her left hand with my right as I stood back up.

She felt and saw my bleeding palm, "Your hurt! Here give me your hand." She took his bleeding palm in both of her glowing hands while she cast her healing magic.

I started shivering in fear at the name and the anime she was pulled from. I knew that the game has all the types of waifus available to be summoned, but I didn't expect to summon a yandere this early.

I like yandere's, but only behind the screen where I'm safe. Those girls are crazy. Not to mention I don't want to see my other waifus get killed if we hold hands or anything more romantic than that.

I Instantly decided to sacrifice her as experience for Celestine, but not right now. I don't know what'll happen to her. Will Celestine transform back into a card, or will she stay the same? It's too risky to do it in the forest; I'll do it when we're safe inside the city.

"Thanks again, Celestine. Let's continue, shall we?" I started walking again with Celestine close behind me.

After taking a few steps, unknown to us, the blood on the rock started to disappear as if it were being erased from existence.

"Of course, John, it's my pleasure. May I ask what caused you to trip on the root?" Celestine asked in a curious tone.

"I just saw a big spider in front of my face, and it surprised me," I told her, turning my head a little to look at her. She gave me a slow nod in response which I found weird, but I didn't think much about it.

After that, I checked the remaining waifus on the list and eliminated all but five as the next to be summoned.

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Yureka [Warrior] R - She has both mana and stamina. She has no move set but can copy any technique when she looks at it.

Kalawarner [Magical Warrior] R - She has years of experience as a warrior that can fly and use holy magic.

Yomi [Warrior] R - Uses a scythe to produce wind blades. Little stronger than an average human, but once she kisses her Ashikabi (you), her full power is temporarily released. (SR)

Kanae Shinjou [Rogue] N - Basic assassin moves (Pickpocket, stealth, lock picking)

Kagami Fubuki [Warrior] R - She is a novice enchanter and an apprentice Iaijutsu user.

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I checked my mana, and it showed me that I have [110/120 MP]. I just need to wait two more minutes until it's full, but I wouldn't be able to summon any Rare cards for the moment, only Normal cards.

I then checked on the accessories hoping I got something to increase my mana. What I found made me excited.

I decided to give Celestine the Locket of Experience because she is my only healer, and, not to mention, with each level, she unlocks new spells in the process.

"Here you go, Celestine. This is for you."

I told her, handing Celestine the locket. It is made out of mithril. It has four main knots with smaller knots surrounding them and a purple amethyst secured in the middle of the knots.

"It's stunning." She gushed, bringing it to get a closer look as she opened it. Inside the locket is an auto-created picture of both of us. Celestine is standing in front of me, with me wrapping my arms around her, smiling. She turned around, lifting her hair, and asked, "Can you help me put this on?"

"No problem," I said, taking the locket back, wrapping it around her neck, and closing the clasp. She turned around after letting her hair drop back down and asked nervously, "How do I look?"

"You look beautiful," I told her, which caused her to blush lightly. She turned her head away with a tiny smile on her lips.

As for me, I used the main menu to equip the Warlord's Tunic, Ring of Attractiveness, Ring of Frost, Locket of Intellect, and the Ring of Defense.

With the locket, I would be able to summon two cards; one rare and, in a few minutes, a normal card.

I'll summon Yomi or Fubuki first, then Kanae in a few minutes. I wanted Yureka, but without any technique, she'll just be swinging the sword like a stick. As for Kalawarner, she most likely wouldn't listen to a human, so she's out.

[110+100= 210/220 MP]

When I equipped the locket, new thoughts popped into my head that I didn't think about before. For instance, I could have wished for an unlimited amount of tickets for the gacha without paying for it.

Or I could buy one million tickets for 1 Yen. I then thought of the drawbacks to them all. I would only be able to use the tickets for a limited number per day or month, or year.

Not to mention that I could have just wished to summon any waifu I wanted by only using one mana, but I would have needed to know all the waifu's names if I tried to summon them. I shuddered in fear at the last one since there were too many names.

I shook my head, focusing back on the situation at hand, ignoring the new thoughts popping in my head, but one kept popping back in.

'Why haven't we seen any other animals or monsters? Though I figured Aqua sent us somewhere without monsters, but no animals? That's not possible, not to mention we should have left the forest by now. Something's not right.' I thought to myself.

I started paying attention to the small details that I ignored before. What alarmed me was that I just noticed that we passed the same few trees and that the forest was completely silent.

I wanted to ask Celestine if she knew, but I kept quiet. I didn't want to alert the people watching us. I stopped by a tree that is most likely the tree I tripped over before, "Ahh, let's take a small break; my feet are killing me." I said, sitting down against the tree while patting the seat next to me for Celestine to sit.

"Thank you, John. My feet feel a little sore from walking so much. Do you have anything to eat?"

"Yeah, I got something. Here you go." I gave her half of the [Moon Rabbit Soup] in a cup and took the other half. I kept my eyes peeled at our surroundings. I slowly started to drink the soup.

"Thank you." She said, taking the cup and taking a small sip. "Mhmm, this is delicious." She paused after taking another sip and moved her head to my shoulder. She started to whisper to me, "Did you notice we're in an illusion, master?"

I nodded slightly. I put the cup close to my mouth and whispered back, "We need to find a way to get out of the illusion. It's most likely a group that is doing this."

She nodded in agreement while chewing on the small chunks of rabbit meat. "I'll cast a shield spell. It'll last for a few minutes only, master. So get ready." She took my arm, wrapping it around her as she drew circles on the back of my hand. She silently cast Absorption Shield.

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Absorption Shield- A spell that absorbs 25% of damage.

Time: 2 minutes

Cost: 100 MP

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I put down my cup, pretending to scratch my back while I discreetly took out the Talisman of Explosion. After a few more scratches, I moved my arm back and picked up my cup with the talisman in my hand.

"Here, use it when you find their location. It's an explosion spell, do just put in a little mana and throw it." I muttered, giving her the spell, but we both froze suddenly.

'What!? I-I can't move.'

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? POVs: (A minute earlier)

"Come on, Trerrun. Let's get them already. I used my illusions to make them walk in circles for a long time now. You know how most people sent here are weak; it's the best time to attack." Vogroz, a humanoid demon, begged a small shadowy figure with long ears standing next to two human teens.

"Not just yet, the human male... is strange... We need to be cautious." The shadowy figure spoke with a deep voice while its eyes glowed red. It soon hopped into the light, showing it's the same bunny from before. It sniffed the air with its little pink nose before he glared at John.

"Baah, your just jealous that you couldn't snuggle up against that woman's giant bazookas like that guy is. Don't worry; I'll tell you how it feels." Tatsukichi, one of the humans said, making Trerrun freeze up at being found out.

Vogroz stared at his boss in shock while the other human, Keiji, chuckled, then he tried to hide it by coughing. It didn't work.

"Y-you i-ignorant fools! How dare you besmirch my good name! Just do your duty for the demon king, damn humans." Trerrun stuttered in anger, wanting nothing more than to kill him, but he held himself back. Tatsukichi is useful for finding rare items and treasures, but he will enjoy feasting on his flesh when that human stops being worthwhile. As for Keiji, that human scares him a little.

"Whatever, Bun Bun," Tatsukichi said mockingly, ignoring the glare sent his way as he looked to Keiji, who nodded in agreement.

"Let's see..." Tatsukichi started to say, his eyes glowing light yellow as he stared at them, "Wow, that guy is a walking treasure vault, and the lady has a few treasures on her. She has most likely gotten it from the guy, so she must have a special ability then."

"Good, good. The demon king will be pleased. The last few transmigrators had weapons that only they could use, and it got annoying wiping their memories of our meetings. Do your thing, Keiji and remember, paralyze them, not poison them." Trerrun smiled wickedly as he looked at the last human.

Keiji scratched his head, sighing in boredom as he let his unique skill slowly spread out from him towards the two people sitting on the floor.

Not even a few seconds later, John and Celestine froze mid-movement. Before they could start panicking, the bushes 12 feet from them began to rustle. Not long after, a demon and a bunny appeared.

Tatsukichi turned invisible slowly started moving forward, first to capture one to take as a hostage. He decided on Celestine since he wanted to touch her giant melons and piss off John and Trerrun.

'Irinarah dugged gold when she made Keiji fall for her, such a useful tool.' Trerrun thought to himself. He started boasting, "Haha, fools, you fell into my trap. You didn't expect a cute bunny to be a demon, did you? You will regret throwing that rock at me when I'm through with you, peasant."

"Yeah yeah. Did you think the demon king wouldn't know about you people coming here?! He's so smart and planned to use you for his own goals. Since the beginning. How else do you think he's winning, huh?" Vogroz gloated smugly, jumping up and down in excitement. He'll get promoted for sure, and many female demons will flock to him.

"Now we'll see if your worthy of joining the demon king's army or as experience. Well, one of you anyways as for the other, it'll be much more pleasurable for the army." Trerrun spoke menacingly.

"..." I tried to say something, but nothing came out. I glared at my open hand, trying to think about how to use the explosion talisman, but nothing came to mind.

Celestine, on the other hand, was calm as she slowly started to move her hand closer to mine. She took it in hers and waited for them to get closer.

Trerrun moved a few feet more as he was about to describe how John would be used by the army when suddenly, Celestine stood up and threw something at them. It started glowing before it exploded.

"Wh-wha..." Trerrun stuttered in shock, with the others widening their eyes.

BOOM!

After the explosion, I slammed against the tree, feeling the wind blowing my face as something shattered like glass. Celestine, on the other hand, landed on her back after rolling twice.

For the next two seconds, I could see dark spots, and I couldn't hear anything. I heard and felt Celestine moving closer to me. She touches my shoulder, most likely casting a spell, allowing me to regained my senses and movement. "Ahh, thank you, Celestine. That was scary."

"Your welcome, John, but that explosion was more powerful than I expected it to be," Celestine told me, looking at the dust cloud caused by the explosion.

[2,800XP Gained!]

[Leved Up! x 7]

(Thunk, thunk) *things falling*

'What? Why did I...no...' I thought, confused for a moment, before I went pale, shakily turning my head to the source of the explosion.

I felt my eyes widen in shock at the scene before me, and a severed hand landed a few feet from me amongst other smaller pieces; its burned black and charred-like. I felt bile coming up from my stomach, but I pushed it back down forcefully.

"Master, please don't look. Just look at me, and let's get out of here." Celestine pleaded towards me. She moved my face towards her, giving me a sad look in her eyes.

I didn't say anything, but I knew someone could be alive still. I needed answers. I shakily got up to my feet and walked towards the explosion. As I walked, I felt Celestine grabbing my hand, squeezing it as we walked.

The dust finally settled, and I saw the aftermath. The hole is pretty wide and deep with many burning pieces with a smell that I'm ignoring for my sanity.

What surprised me was that there is a body lying on the bushes further back that is badly burned but is somewhat intact. Meiji is only missing his right hand, and his skin is scorched.

I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm my nerves for what I have to do next. I arrived at his body and grabbed his burned shirt.

"Tell me, how did you intercept Aqua's teleportation?!"

"Argh, uhooh! B-ba-bastard. Y-You'll g-get no-nothing from me." Keiji screamed in pain and glared at me hatefully.

"Tell me!!" I screamed in anger before Celestine grabbed my arm with a frown on her face.

*Ptui*

I cringed at the bloody spit landing on my face. I wiped my cheek, staring into his green eyes when he spoke his last words, "Th..ther...there wil... will be... mo..re comi...aahh..."

I dropped his dead body to the ground and stared up at the sky, just realizing that this isn't like in the anime or light novel. It's real and deadly.

I flinched when I felt Celestine wrap her arms around me in a hug. I felt my knees weaken, forcing both of us to our knees while tears fell down my face.