Intermission: Christmas Festival at Snowland

Well, I can't exactly be surprised.

This whole thing was nerve-racking, but at the same time, it was exciting.

Me and the Phantom Mutiny were standing in the Main Lobby of North Continent, looking at the massive hologram in front of us in the center of the lobby.

It was counting down from 50 seconds, nearing its end. Everyone was nervous, and by everyone, I meant the players, they were staring at me and the Phantom Mutiny, visibly shaken up by our presence, as they should be.

"T-This doesn't make any sense, why the hell is Lucifer alongside the Phantom Mutiny?!"

One of the players shouted their question out loud by accident, but I ignored it.

He had every right to be confused.

It was Me, Emerald, Crimson, Christopher, Kuma (Or should I say, Minegishi), Angelica, Lucia, Florian, and Lucifer.

It's a long story of how the Demon King befriended us, so I'll keep it short.

Angelica managed to beat him up and change his ways, but she defeated Lucifer himself, rather than defeating George.

Currently, George is out for revenge while Lucifer has already been converted to the good side.

It's been a week since all of this happened, and things were at peace.

"Hey, question," Minegishi asked.

"What is it?" I responded.

"Lucienne, has anyone seen her? She's been inactive in the guild lately, and she's not responding to any of our private messages we're sending her outside of the Guild Chat."

Oh, that's right. Minegishi has a point.

We haven't seen Lucienne in quite some time, nor has she contacted us for a while. I was getting the impression that she wanted to be left alone, and spend time by herself in the Land of Demons, Pandemonium.

Maybe she regretted getting Minegishi and Crimson into a fight with a literal Primordial after what Crimson told me.

But then again, who knows? I'll do some research after this event.

"I'm sure Lucienne is fine, Minegishi, don't worry about it so much. Let's try having some fun first before we start overthinking."

"Eh, I suppose you're right."

"Are you ready everyone?!! The countdown has reached thirty seconds! Prepare for the grand festival in the wondrous Snowlands!"

An announcer was speaking on a large podium next to the massive hologram, getting everyone riled up and pumped.

"Hahaha," Lucifer laughed out loud, "I remember this festival clear as day! Don't you, Angelica, Emperor?"

"Ihihihi~! You bet I do! Last time we were in the Snowland Festival, I ended up being the winner, while Emperor was second place." Angelica looked at me with a smug expression, placing her hand against her hip.

"You only won because I was busy with schoolwork at home."

"Oh really? Haruto doing schoolwork? Sounds like bull to me." Said the angel.

"I mean she does have a point." Mumbled Emerald.

"You guys are really jumping on Emperor, cut the man some slack." Said Crimson, holding back his laughter.

"Are you calling me dumb?!" I asked, looking in their direction.

"No no, not at all." Angelica crossed her arms and tittered at my flustered expression.

The players must've been confused, seeing me act… flustered, and embarrassed.

Man, this sucked. I needed to keep my intimidating aura, but that stuff is hard around my Guild.

We're all friends here.

"Ten more seconds left!" Yelled the announcer.

"I've been meaning to ask…" Crimson gained everyone's attention.

"What is it?" Said Christopher.

"Why is Emperor wearing a Santa skirt, thigh-high socks, a Santa hat, and black lipstick?!!"

"I mean, what's the problem? He looks sexy in it if you ask me." Emerald responded, nodding her head with her eyes closed, and no shame at all.

"I wore these for a reason," I said, facing them with a smirk.

"What's the reason? Are you coming out of the closet?" Christopher jokingly asked.

"It's fairly simple. I believed that I would look less intimidating in these clothes, that's why I wore them."

"You have to be kidding me…" Mumbled Minegishi.

"I take it back, you're pretty dumb." Angelica looked up to the sky, placing her finger against her chin, "The Great Emperor, is dumb, and a Sadomaso."

"W-Why would you expose something like that?!" I shouted, having my voice change for a moment.

It was the Haruto inside of me talking, not Emperor.

"Hahahaha, your voice changed again!"

Angelica was just teasing me at this point, I couldn't hide my embarrassed expression. Crossing my arms, I turned away, mumbling to myself.

"Now let the Snowland Festival, begin!!"

The announcer finally declared the festival, and the Hologram in front of us would disappear, showing a massive portal behind it.

The large portal swirled in blue and white colors, producing snowflakes from the inside.

The players around us charged towards the massive vortex, jumping inside and transporting themselves into the Snowlands.

"It finally began! Let's go have a blast, everyone!" Angelica was the first of our group to make way, as Lucifer followed behind her.

"You may have won the last Snowland Festival, Angelica, but I will be the victor of this year!"

Angelica and Lucifer were equally matched in determination, you could almost call them rivals.

"Oh yeah? Let's see what you can do, Demon King!"

They both entered the vortex, leaving us behind.

"Welp, I guess it's about that time, you ready Carmine?" Crimson looked below him, glaring at a sleeping fox curled into a ball.

It was Carmine, she could alter her form, and change it at will.

"Nrooowww…" Carmine opened their mouth, letting out a cute yawn, "Is it that time already, Master Crimson?"

"Yeah, c'mon, we don't wanna be left behind." Crimson crouched down, and held out his palms for the Fox to jump into, "I'm putting my trust into you Carmine, let's kick ass."

The fox nodded their head once she jumped into his hands.

"Yes, let us kick the ass, master!"

"Kick 'the' ass?" Asked Lucia, a bit confused by her way of speech.

"Oh." Crimson glanced towards Lucia, grinning, "She's not used to my sort of slang all that well, so she's trying to adapt."

"I see." Lucia approached the small fox in Crimson's hands, "My name is Lucia, it's nice to meet you."

"Hello human child, I am the Primordial of Death, Carmine. I was the protector of Terra, destroying those who defied her will, and posed as a threat to her existence. But now, I have been taken by an incredible master who cares dearly for me, his name is Crimson Argonaut!"

"Did you have to tell them everything, Carmine?? One thing at a time, please!!" Crimson shouted at the small fox, wanting to facepalm himself.

"A-A Primordial? You defeated one of the Primordials?" Lucia was shocked, as she should be, frantically asking her question.

"No," Minegishi barged in on the conversation, placing his palm against Crimson's shoulder, "We defeated the Primordial, together."

"Seriously? That's an amazing feat! No player in the history of Isekai World Online could defeat one of them!"

"Kuhahaha!" I laughed, hearing their conversation from afar, "That's because the Primordials are weakened. Their true power has been sealed away, giving Crimson and Minegishi the victory."

"Hey, thanks for ruining my moment, Emperor! Damn, jackass." Crimson was annoyed, scowling at me.

"Well, he does have a point." Said Minegishi, shrugging at their conversation, "If Carmine was at her full power, then I'm certain we would've lost."

"Aye! Minegishi, why are you siding with Emperor on this? C'mon man, this is was our time to shine!"

While Crimson was arguing with Minegishi, Christopher, and Emerald approached me from afar.

"You look stunning brother, are you not ashamed of crossdressing?" Emerald was smug as ever, placing her hand over her mouth, teasing me.

"Maverick Lionheart was genderless at first, so cross-dressing in their Game avatar is no issue," I replied with the same smug look.

"Oh? Genderless. I never knew." My sister removed her hand from her mouth, a bit stunned by my response.

"Even if Emperor was a man, he would look better in woman's clothes, don't you agree, Emerald?" Christopher smiled, having a folding fan over his lips.

"He would. My little brother, attracting both men and women, I'm jealous."

"Cut the talk," I responded, turning to face the portal, "We should get going, I'm sure Angelica and Lucifer are already causing trouble for the other players."

"Fufufu, very well. I'm excited to see what this event has to offer."

"Same here. From the looks of it, there shouldn't be any worries of death, considering everyone else's excitement." Christopher was perceptive as ever, but he was far from wrong.

There was a reason why everyone else was so excited, and it was because of their inexperience with this event.

These were a bunch of players who never participated in the Snowlands festival, so they had no idea what to expect.

Sure it may have been the holidays, but that's not stopping Isekai World Online from throwing death at you at any given time.

"This event is far from safe. We should be fine, but I am uncertain for the other players." I walked towards the portal, crossing my arms, "Alright Phantom Mutiny, let us have a grand event!!"