Chapter 204: Testing

"I’m completely burned out..."

Seeing Asagiri lying in her arms with dim, lifeless eyes, like a candle flame that could go out at any moment, Yuuki Asuna felt both heartache and helplessness.

The heartache came from the fact that she had just sensed that terrifying fluctuation of power and knew he had used the Supreme Magic Bullet again, the ability that consumed an outrageous amount of mental power. He had recovered part of it earlier through the [Ring of Conversion], but this time, he most likely did not have enough physical strength left to convert into mental power.

And the helplessness was because...

Was he acting again?

Yuuki Asuna knew Asagiri’s personality too well. If he had already used [Sacrifice], then there was no way he would be saying something cool like "I’m completely burned out" at a time like this. If anything, he would be telling her to hurry up and clear the dungeon so Human Asura’s seventy two hour time reversal cooldown would not be wasted.

"Completely burned out. All that remains is... pure, snow white ash."

Kato Megumi and Iwanaga Kotoko understood Asagiri just as well as Yuuki Asuna did. Although both of them still wore anxious expressions on the surface, they had already relaxed inwardly.

The fact that he could still act cool meant he was fine.

As for Sakurakawa Rikka, the only person present who had no idea what was going on, she could not help hesitating when she saw Asagiri’s dim eyes, the dark gray mask slipping from his face, and blood slowly overflowing from his eye sockets and the corners of his mouth.

It looked like she was weighing something in her mind.

After two or three seconds, she finally made up her mind, stepped forward, and said softly,

"He’s on the verge of death. Even if we take the express elevator, we may not clear the dungeon immediately, and moving him in this state is too dangerous. So... I’m going to use my exclusive talent to save him."

Hearing Sakurakawa Rikka’s words, Iwanaga Kotoko did not ask the meaningless question of why she wanted to save Asagiri. Instead, she went straight for the crucial point.

"You hesitated just now, which means using your exclusive talent to save people requires you to pay some kind of price, right?"

Iwanaga Kotoko looked straight into Sakurakawa Rikka’s eyes and said each word clearly.

"I don’t understand. You’ve known us for less than three hours. Why would you willingly pay a price serious enough to make you hesitate just to save his life? It can’t be... love at first sight, can it?"

Hearing that, Yuuki Asuna could not help rolling her eyes.

This lewd loli was clearly testing Sakurakawa Rikka, so why was she suddenly dragging it in that direction?

Fortunately, Sakurakawa Rikka said nothing for a moment. After all, Iwanaga Kotoko’s personality was far too obvious. Even though they had only just met, she could already sense the vibrant abstract aura hidden beneath that cute girl’s dignified and elegant exterior.

"Because... I want to be able to die."

"Huh?"

Hearing Sakurakawa Rikka’s explanation, Iwanaga Kotoko blinked in confusion, then immediately asked,

"If that’s the case, why not just ask him to shoot you with the Supreme Magic Bullet? Why go through all this trouble?"

Sakurakawa Rikka: "..."

"I want to confirm that I’ve become human again by seeing whether I can die, but that doesn’t mean I actually want to die."

Iwanaga Kotoko puffed out her cheeks and muttered in a tone that sounded like self talk, though it was just loud enough for Sakurakawa Rikka to hear.

"Tch. So troublesome."

"Troublesome... perhaps."

Sakurakawa Rikka neither agreed nor denied it. She simply looked at the dying Asagiri and continued calmly.

"In any case, I believe the four of you are very strong. Perhaps you are the strongest Player team at this stage, and the core reason for that lies with him. I hope that in future dungeons, you can find a way to remove the cursed power part within me. Consider this... an investment in you."

"Cough, cough..."

Just as Sakurakawa Rikka was about to use her exclusive talent to heal Asagiri, she suddenly saw him sit up.

Though he was still coughing blood, a relaxed smile appeared on his face.

"So you really don’t hold any hostility toward us. I had thought you might take this chance, while I was dying and the three of them were exhausted and emotionally unstable, to kill all four of us and take our equipment and items."

"How did you get up?"

Sakurakawa Rikka’s brows furrowed slightly. Just as she was about to say something, Asagiri raised a hand and interrupted her.

Then he extended his left hand, caught a phantom Tarot card from nowhere, and crushed it.

"Persona, Hodell Franklin."

The moment the Tarot card shattered, the tall, blood faced Hodell Franklin appeared.

Yet this time, instead of looking terrifying or gruesome, he gave off a strangely reassuring calm.

"Sacrifice."

A dim yellow glow spread from Hodell Franklin’s body, like the flickering light of a candle at dusk.

In the next instant, Sakurakawa Rikka saw Asagiri’s pale complexion immediately recover some color, while blood overflowed from Hodell Franklin’s eye sockets and the corners of his mouth. Then he turned into radiant dust and scattered into the air.

"OK, full health resurrection."

"Huh?"

Sakurakawa Rikka parted her lips slightly.

She carefully observed Asagiri’s face. Although he still looked exhausted from overusing both his mental power and physical stamina, and his once bright black eyes had become a little dull, it was obvious that he now only needed rest. He was no longer in any life threatening condition.

"I’m afraid... I’ll never forget you for the rest of my life."

Asagiri looked toward a certain empty point in the air and spoke in a deeply emotional tone.

"Kyozan Mental Hospital watchdog."

Yuuki Asuna, Sakurakawa Rikka, Iwanaga Kotoko, Kato Megumi: "..."

As expected of Asagiri.

The Blackwatch Commander had at least been the final boss of the normal route in this dungeon, yet after being completely annihilated by the Supreme Magic Bullet, he still ended up with such an absurd, ridiculous, and somehow painfully fitting nickname.

He had truly gone down in infamy. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"He really was pretty strong."

Yuuki Asuna noticed the slight unsteadiness in Asagiri’s steps and immediately moved to support him, draping one of his arms over her shoulder. Her eyes were full of worry as she asked gently,

"Are you okay? That guy actually managed to injure you that badly. If all of us had been there... then you wouldn’t have..."

"Why are you blaming yourself? That doesn’t sound like the you I know."

Asagiri smiled, reached out with his free hand, and gently pinched Yuuki Asuna’s cheek.

"If he hadn’t needed to split his power to create the blood wall and block you on the other side, the outcome of that battle would have been even worse."

"Worse?"

Yuuki Asuna sighed, sounding both helpless and a little exasperated.

"You didn’t feel any pressure at all, did you?"

"I did. I really did."

Asagiri smiled.

"There was one moment. When he used his full power and landed that hit on me, I did feel a brief flash of excitement. But that was only for that one moment."

Hearing the conversation between Asagiri and Yuuki Asuna, Sakurakawa Rikka could not help feeling a little dazed.

What kind of joke was this?

That had been the final boss of a Stage 2 dungeon.

Soloing him was already absurd enough. But now he was saying that during the fight, the only thing he had felt was a fleeting moment of excitement?

Who exactly was the boss here?

"Was that really the boss of the normal clear route?"

Iwanaga Kotoko saw Yuuki Asuna supporting Asagiri’s body and immediately hurried over as well. As one of Asagiri’s official girlfriends, there was no way she was going to lose here.

However, because the height difference between them was so ridiculous, she could not sling Asagiri’s arm over her shoulder the way Yuuki Asuna could.

After half a second of thought, Iwanaga Kotoko displayed her astonishing wisdom.

She first took off her beret, then carefully lifted Asagiri’s arm and rested it on top of her fluffy golden hair. With her arms folded over her chest, her posture became both strangely dignified and comically absurd at the same time.

"At this stage, most Players shouldn’t be able to get past that guy at all, right? And since it’s still a Stage 2 dungeon, the difficulty shouldn’t be wildly different from the others. Compared to the challenges we faced in the last dungeon, that Blackwatch Commander was far too strong. I feel like... we may have entered the hidden clear route again this time."

"That’s very possible."

Asagiri nodded thoughtfully.

"If this floor really was part of a hidden clear route, then that fire escape was not only a safe room before the boss fight, but also a warning. Reaching that floor meant facing the boss. There were probably other escape routes back on Floor B2."

"If that’s the case, then the route the Doctor deliberately lured us onto, the one that was easiest to notice after the illusion..."

Kato Megumi muttered to herself, then suddenly smiled.

Seeing that smile, Iwanaga Kotoko could not help asking,

"What are you smiling about?"

"It’s nothing. Just..."

Kato Megumi glanced at Asagiri and could not help laughing softly.

"Although the Doctor originally intended to lure us into a trap, from the final result... it ended up killing the Blackwatch Commander for us."

Asagiri sighed, looking very helpless.

"There was a road to heaven, but it refused to walk it. There was no door to hell, yet it threw itself in."

Yuuki Asuna immediately retorted,

"It didn’t throw itself in. You, a monster more terrifying than hell itself, actively came knocking on its door."

.....

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