Reincarnated Into A Dead Woman's Body In Another World-Chapter 252: Arc 4, Act II, - 97: Thrown Into Chaos
Fumeko’s eyes waxed open, lash by lash. Her barely kept hair swaying in front of her view. Darkness. A light pink to edges being the only discerning light.
Something felt, off... Like it was unclear, like she was lightheaded, like there was this fog beginning to brew within the corners of her mind.
Arising from the pinkish light were images, in a blur? No, they were not images; figures perhaps. The dim light made no effort to make it easier to perceive.
"Where am I...?" she absentmindedly muttered. Her body, she peered down. Like a drifting jellyfish her arms were aloft—aimlessly sailing in a void.
The images took shape, the only thing Fumeko could see at this point. What was going on before she was here? Why is she here? Is she-
"Kiddo."
Fumeko’s eyes ejected open, "Dad!?"
The figure formed slowly, tall and athletic, but no features. He was made of a pinkish hues swirling with darkness, two glowing pink eyes. "What are you doing?" he shook his head.
"I- what are you doing!?" Fumeko for some reason, couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t real...
"Watching you. You think I’m not keeping an eye on you kid? You’ve left quite the trail."
"Bullshit. If you’ve been watching me why haven’t you said a damn thing to me? Not even a letter," she sneered.
"This is what you wanted wasn’t it? So, it was time to let you go and see for yourself. I was tired of taking care of some ungrateful brat after all."
Something tore apart in her heart it felt like... Tears began to pool in her eyes.
"You thought you could take over from me? A detective? What have you figured out exactly? Always too late, never enough time to take action," he berated, each lashing forward like a whip.
Fumeko’s fists clenched. She held back the tears behind gritted teeth and furrowed brows, "You’re wrong! I’ve figured out plenty! I’ve helped plenty!"
"You’re not ready for the world and you’ll never be. Where’s the evidence? You still struggle so much, no matter how much you think you’ve improved."
Fumeko’s tears took a pause, examining her father- No, the thing before her, "If you’re such a great detective, then why don’t you open your eyes and see for yourself? You’ve been watching me haven’t you?"
She leered, "Who are you supposed to be? My dad wouldn’t ever say shit like that. He’d tell me to think before I act, he’d always advise me with a please. So why don’t you fuck off?"
The illusions grew and shrunk, akin to a water balloon about to pop. Another memory briefly entered the space, one of her own. She was short—much shorter.
It was hazy, but she had to look up to see the man towering over her. "That’s a little big on you kid," a hand reached down and took a hat off her head.
"I wanna be just like you dad!" a voice of a much younger Fumeko.
She could not see it, but she knew her father was smiling at the same time frowning, "Maybe when you’re older. You’ll be a detective if you want."
"Dad..." Fumeko in the present stared, having forgotten that memory from her much younger self. The brunette pouted and gave the faintest smile, "I’ll see you again."
The illusion popped! "She’ll never love you," another voice came from behind. Fumeko’s own voice telling her as such. Behind her was a still image of Jotou and Hotaru, standing hand in hand.
The detective’s smile only broadened, recalling all her memories; with the other three. "Who’s to say Dread? I can be charming if I need to," even in a drifting void she managed to flaunt her hair.
"You don’t know that and that’s all the evidence I need. Besides, I know for a fact that they all care about me and I care about them. Can the same be said about you?"
Her arrogance slipped through, the image fading and the illusions appearing thinner and thinner. "This is the most pathetic attempt at psyching me out."
All her adventures until now, all her memories with them made her smile brighter than ever before. Fortunately, no one else could see her do this.
"See you around Dread, I’m taking the head of elites this last stand if you haven’t gotten the news," shadows took over her form and she blinked-
Fumeko’s eyes actually opened, fallen to the side of the tent still covered in pink illusions.
"BLAST!"
"Hah!" "Slice!" Daiyu spun her greatsword near the entrance of the tent and took the head of a soldier.
"Meko!"
Fumeko shifted her head to find the invisible voice, "Sobi?" She blinked up back to her feet. "How long was I out?"
"About twenty seconds."
The barrel of a rifle poked through the illusion at the back of the tent. Jotou rushed towards it and spun the armite blade, knocking it off balance.
"Huckh!" The soldier on the other end felt the sparking sword pierce through his chest. Jotou pulled back, not a drop of crimson on her blade arcing with electricity.
"Detective," Jotou smirked to her, "Nice job, you made it."
"Sobi too apparently."
"Yeah! I think the circlet helped. I thought happy and nothing even got me, I just jumped out of the illusion like Jotou and Daiyu!" she cheered. "But..." an illusory white arrow pointed throughout the tent.
Figures appeared out of thin air; the arrows pointed to Hotaru fallen on the floor, her ears twitching and tail spiking. Feyan and Arabella were next to each other.
All those who were unconscious disappeared again, "I made them all invisible. Including you, but you’re both up!"
"I wouldn’t say ’just’ jumped out, Dread tried to make me see things first. She said she read Hotaru’s mind to find out what made me tick, but I got out before. I’m worried about what Hotaru’s seeing, but we’re playing tent defence right now," Jotou replied.
"Finally!" Daiyu turned back and shouted, "It’s been me, Jotou and Asobi, give us a hand will ya!? They’ve been trying to get through here."
Fumeko took the dagger that had fallen next to her and blinked towards Daiyu. "Dread’s been sending in invisible soldiers too so we’ve been swinging wildly. Careful, there’s holes in the tent even if we can’t see them," Daiyu relayed.
"Are you acting as a human shield for the bullets!?" Fumeko tried to look out the tent.
"Blast!" A bullet flew in and hit Daiyu before it fell off, doing no damage. "That answer your question? Either defend around or go try waking any of them up," she held the greatsword up at the entrance.
Fumeko glanced back and blinked to where Hotaru was on the floor. An illusory butterfly flew around the perimeter of the tent as a safety measure—avoiding the three of them—before Asobi revealed Hotaru.
"Hey, wolfy," she shook the redhead. "Come on, it’s an illusion like last time. It’s not real, wake up!"
Jotou turned and ran for Hotaru and Fumeko, "This isn’t the Velatos Case, it’s completely in her head. I’m trying to figure out a way to get to her, but it’s harder than it sounds."
"She can still, HEAR US!" Fumeko leaned down to Hotaru’s ear.
"Grrr...!"
Fumeko recoiled as Hotaru bared her fangs and growled. "See?"
"Jotou," Daiyu had poked her head out the tent, a dozen bodies lying right outside it.
"What?"
"BLAST!" A bullet shot Daiyu’s leg and did nothing. "I’ll get you!" Daiyu pointed her blade out of the tent to the soldier aiming from afar. The soldier’s rifle shook in his hands and widened his eyes.
"Anyway," Daiyu tucked her head back in, "They’re taking over the area. There’s like, sixty or so left? At least what I can see. Dread’s nowhere and super bad news, they’re getting into two tanks."
"Didn’t Dread say she needed some of us alive!?" Fumeko squinted.
"Eh, of course if they can make prisoners of us it’s better for them. But why we gotta trust that bitch? She could be lying; or even didn’t say her full order.
’Either catch us alive or if it comes down to it, kill them’. We don’t know," Daiyu groaned.
"Thought about that; Gale also yelled, ’if I didn’t have the order’ before he died. And Trailon has a track record of giving orders not to kill me and to just capture me, so I wouldn’t put it past them," Jotou relayed.
"Why!?"
"Beats me psychopath, if I knew the answer I’d tell you."
"Well, they sorta know you’re not from this world, they called you a vas in Kria didn’t they? Maybe you’re special," Asobi’s voice replied.
A butterfly whizzed past a soldier charging through the side of tent’s illusion, "GAH!" It went through her neck and she fell face first on her rifle.
"Vas? You mean vase?"
"No, vas. It means vessel in Regimian," Jotou replied to Daiyu. "And yeah, it could be the reason; they might want you too. Anyway, no point racking our brains about it now.
Daiyu, you’re better suited to take down both those tanks. Flipping them upside down for now’ll be enough so we can get them back later.
Fumeko, keep blinking around and taking out anyone who gets in here; be careful of bullets. Asobi keep doing what you do, I’m gonna try to wake Hotaru up as best as I can. Daiyu, once the tanks are out, get back in here, don’t get cocky."
"I won’t," Daiyu half-closed her right eye and prepared to leave.
"Everyone surround the tent and enter at once! They’re going invisible on the floor. The princess is immune to bullets, the Thundering Blade can be shot in the back of her ankles.
Blunt weaponry and close range work better for those two, bash them unconscious! Namora can’t do magic if she can’t see, so shoot the rest!"
"BAH! HEY!" Fumeko’s eyes were covered in a pinkish light that she could not remove as she flailed her head all over the place.
"Ai, ai, ai... It’s my job to get on your nerves! Not yours on mine!" Jotou yelled to the ceiling.
"Ugh, I’ll stay put then," Daiyu complained.
’Why hasn’t she just blinded all of us then? Well, she did, but it didn’t last long. Surely someone who claims to be this powerful... She is the fifth and how much magic can you do before you start running out, regardless of level?’ Jotou peered to everyone around her, including Hotaru.
"Asobi!" Fumeko steadied and faced the side of the tent where no one was. "Cast Blinding Light on me!"
"Uh, turn left!" Asobi exclaimed. Fumeko did so. "Your other left!"
"That’s my right you twit!"
"Blinding Light!" a bright flash of white light blasted in her direction, Jotou and Daiyu shielded their eyes.
Fumeko kept her eyes wide open and through the pink light, a brighter white one passed through. It looked like she was peering through translucent pink jelly, "Blink!"
Shadows took over her form and the brunette disappeared into shadow and reappeared away from where she stood. She opened her eyes, "HA! It worked!"
"How...?" Daiyu raised a brow.
"I figured if I use magic to get away, it won’t bring the blinding with me."
"Sure..."
"It was a crapshoot."
"That makes more sense," Daiyu pursed her lips and shrugged.
’She can’t get all of us if one, we’re putting up a fight, two, happy memories and three, she’s losing mana by the second; the tent, her illusions, invisible soldiers, making what I can only assume are nightmares for all of them.
How long can she go? If she’s already being conservative with her magic... We just need to stall and ride this out.’ "Oh boy..."
"They’re coming!" Daiyu warned, peering out the pinkish illusion and the flaps of the tent. "They’ve got bats and metal shit."
"They’re gonna try and bash us with their guns too," Jotou got up, holding her blade to her side. ’Sorry Hotaru, just hang in there a little longer. You got this.
One thing that’s bothering me is neither Feyan or Arabella are getting up either. And surely this isn’t Dread’s full plan. Just send in a bunch of troops; a battle of attrition? No, there’s something up her sleeve, there has to be.’
Fumeko readied her dagger, three or four butterflies popped into existence, Daiyu tapped her foot and Jotou’s blade sparked from the tip all the way till her wrists.
"CHARGE!!!" the Trailonian soldiers from outside screamed as all of them pushed into the space...
