Micchi Versus the New World - Chapter 122

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Chapter 122

Beating the succubi freed the rest of Semaris Clan who were still under their control. Not like they had a choice. It was that or our fists. With the demons and obelisk gone, Chieftain Breila and her people were safe for now. But no telling if another one might pop up later.

We got back to Yowan so the beastling army could lick their wounds.

"How the hell did you go and get yourself caught by these bimbos?" Yui chided Anya, who had sat in front of the hearth with a bottle of wine the second we got back.

"Aarghh… Lay off me. I fucked up, alright? Ririko and those damn succubi came out of nowhere. They hit hard and fast. We didn't even see it coming." Anya chugged her frustration away, but there was something deeper bothering her. It was easy to tell by her knee bobbing up and down and the other hand clutching the side of her face.

For now, Breila wanted to give her army a breather. We still had another hit to make. Grishant. To take out Ririko so that we could focus on the demons without worrying about getting hit from behind.

"Hey, Batwhore." I glanced down at Lilim, who was on all fours as my seat. "Is Ririko really on the side of you demons? How'd that happen?"

"I'm not privy to the finer details, but the queen of Mou'nan came to us herself. We were simply told that she was our ally and to obey her commands," Lilim explained.

"The one who told you. Was it Chika?"

Anya's restless leg stopped moving, and Yui turned our way.

The demoness nodded. "Yes, for she is our lord. Oh, but you are my master now! I will serve you until the end of my days!"

"Alright, you can shut up already." I yanked her wagging tail.

"Aahhh—!"

"It's too loud in here. I'm gonna go take a walk." Anya headed for the door.

"Wait, Anya!" Yui chased after her but flinched when the door slammed shut. "Anego, something's not right with Anya. She's never been this brooding before. That's a you and Kaoru thing."

That big oaf was probably still hung up on Chika—

"Wait. Me thing?" I squinted at Yui.

"Yeah. You've been lost in thought a lot. Don't get me wrong. I've been thinking, too! It started when we saw Chika again after so long," Yui said.

I grabbed Lilim by the horn to make her face me. "What'd you show Anya?"

"I really don't know! Our magic places you in a walking, dream-like state, but we can't control what you dream about. All we can do is enter and catch a glimpse," Lilim explained.

Then whatever Anya ended up seeing was probably what's bothering her. I got off Lilim, much to her disappointment.

"Yui, watch the mutt. I'm gonna go find Anya," I said on my way out.

Yowan recovered pretty quickly. They were tough beastlings. Animals after my own heart. I noticed Breila carrying lumber to repair the fortifications on their walls. She stopped when she saw me.

"Oh, Micchi! My forces will be ready to move against Grishant by tomorrow morning. I hope the succubus you held captive isn't giving you too much trouble?" Breila asked.

"Ain't much trouble. Where's Drox? Figured you two would be joined at the hips right now," I remarked jokingly.

"Eh?" She squeaked and went red in the face. The lumber slipped from her shoulder and crashed to the ground.

"Alright, switching topics… You seen Anya? Should have bolted out of the cabin just a minute ago."

"Ahh… aha… Anya, right! I saw her heading out to the creek!"

I made myself scarce and left the village in the direction of the creek. Like Breila said, Anya was at the creek. Her back was turned to me. She chugged the rest of the bottle and tossed it away. The glass shattered into countless pieces against a tree.

"Anya—" I reached out and got my hand slapped away.

"I wanted some peace and quiet, so you followed me out?" Anya sighed.

"The fuck is wrong with you? Even Yui's worried, and she's the one always upbeat about things."

Anya walked to the edge of the water and looked down at her own reflection.

"I just… I don't know. I dunno, man. When the succubus put me under her spell and made me see Chika, I couldn't do a damn thing to break it. I know it was all fake. It wasn't really Chika, but now it got me thinking. If I see her for real next time, can I really do it?"

"Do what?" I asked.

"Fight, obviously!"

"You didn't have a problem the first time. What's got your dick limp now?"

Anya sat down. Her hands brushed against the dirt until she found a rock. She chucked it across the creek, watching it skip over the waters to the other side.

"We went on a date," Anya said. "You know, food, movies, and a walk in the park? The whole shebang. I was happy. Then I woke up from that dream and was back in this world."

"Mine was a hug." I dropped down to sit next to her.

She laughed. "And you punched the shit out of her."

I laughed, too. It was a weight off our shoulders. The first time Chika showed up, I froze and Yui got seriously hurt. That couldn't happen again.

"For how much I've been getting stronger, it feels like Chika is still so far away. I'm probably still way too weak compared to her. I sometimes end up thinking that maybe it's because I got people I care about holding me back." I searched the dirt for a rock to toss but couldn't find one.

"You mean like Loraine, Kawa, and Yui? Micchi, buddy. Having people to protect doesn't make you weak. Chika had you two," Anya said, planting a heavy hand on my head and flicking a rock into my lap.

I tossed the rock and whiffed it. The thing flew across the creek inches above the water before embedding into the bank on the other side. Anya turned to head back to Yowan, laughing her ass off.

We spent the next few days marching to Grishant, battling stray demons along the way and saving villages captured by them. Their numbers were growing the farther we traveled. It started with small groups. Now whole damn platoons threw themselves into us.

"Damn. They're like ants. How many are they gonna send to fight us?" I growled, stepping over an unconscious demon and yanking the chain around Lilim.

"Sathorayn is an entire continent, Master! We demons have been building our forces for centuries anticipating this day. We are vast and varied. It's been our hope to whittle civilization bit by bit for years," Lilim said.

"It's a lot more than at Kajar, that's for sure. But I wanna fight someone stronger already! Where's Ririko?" Yui complained.

"You sure you wanna take her on? If you lose, she'll put makeup on you."

Yui shuddered and lost all confidence. "O-Oh… right…"

A couple of beastlings rode in on the back of wolves. One of them was Breila. Her face was caked in sweat. Splotches of blood stained her fur and claws.

"Grishant isn't much farther, but we have a problem ahead. This road leads through a canyon. Perfect place for an ambush. What do we do? Circle back and go around?" Breila asked.

"My vote is we go straight through it. What are they gonna do? Most they can do is send more to slow us down." I smirked, gesturing to the beaten ones that littered the ground.

"A-Are you sure you don't want to think about this? If they set a trap and ambush us like—"

"If you wanna stay here, be my guest. We'll finish this war with or without you. No skin off our backs." I shrugged.

Yui, Anya, and I made our way up to the canyon pass. Breila ordered her army forward, too. I could just see Grishant's peak from here. Once we finished here, we could finally take the fight to Chika.

The pass was fairly wide. A river probably ran through here ages ago. Taking the other road, the same one Anya and I had taken last time, was too narrow for a big army. It would take way too much time to move us all.

Sheer cliffs ran up the side of the canyon. I scanned the top for any signs of enemies, but there was nothing. Just the wind and a single, gnarled tree jutting out from the rocks.

Then a couple of rocks clattered down and rolled up to my feet.

Explosions rocked the canyon to the left and right. A rockslide of giant boulders came tumbling down. Anya picked me and Yui up and bolted ahead with Lilim dragging behind. She must have tripped, because we ended up tumbling over.

The rockslide had separated us from Breila's army, including our soldiers from Scoth and Jinwa.

"Shit," I muttered, then rushed up to the giant blockade of earth in our way. "Breila! You guys good?"

"Barely! No one's hurt, but clearing all this might be a problem!" Breila shouted back.

"I got a better idea. You guys move back, and I'll pummel a way through—"

"Anego, watch out!" Yui yelled.

I jumped back as pillars of ice crashed down where I was just standing. Sitting at the top of one of the columns shaped into a throne seat was Ririko, resting her cheek on a fist and watching us.

"Hello, hello! It's like destiny for us to keep meeting each other again like this! It looks like one of the demons that was supposed to be on my side betrayed me." Ririko waved from above.

"I have a new master now—"

Ririko snapped her finger and encased Lilim in a block of ice.

"Bitch, get down here so I can kick your ass!" I shouted.

"I'm gonna get you back for that cheapshot earlier, Riri!" Anya shook a clenched fist at her.

"Oh, phooey. All you want to do is fight, but who am I to deny you that? If it's a fight you want, then a fight you'll get." She snapped her fingers again.

Hordes of demons appeared at the upper edges of the canyons. The ground rumbled. Obelisks erupted to block the other way, enclosing us in a makeshift arena within the canyon. Demons poured from them like a tsunami. On the other side of the rockslide, a brawl was already in full swing.

Ririko jumped off the pillar and stopped several feet from the ground. Fluttering wings made of ice held her aloft. She breathed a cold breath onto her fingers, causing ice to coalesce on her already long nails into blades.

"Nice makeover. Ain't gonna matter when I run your face into the mud," I said, pointing a fiery Sacchan at her. "Anya, Yui! You guys take care of the small fry. Leave Ririko to me!"

Cackling like a maniac, the bitch rocketed towards me. I took a swing and missed. Fire from Sacchan ran up the pillar of ice. Ririko circled around and carved into my back. The impact knocked me down, and ice froze my hands and feet to the ground.

When I looked up, the pillar was falling. Lightning surged past me and shattered the entire thing into ice cubes. Yui flashed me a smile.

Right. When we were all together, we had each other's backs. Having people to protect didn't make me weak. It made me stronger so that I could protect them.

As Yui came running to me, a circle of light formed beneath her feet and bathed her in purplish light. Chains fired out to bind her limbs. I didn't know what it was, but my instincts told me only bad news.

"Yui! Get outta that!" I barreled through demons to get to her.

"Caught like a rat in a trap." Ririko grinned.

Unable to break free, Yui looked at me full of fear. Like all the times she walked back home as a kid.

"Anego—"

"I gotcha, Yui!" Anya jumped into the circle to tear off the chains, then pushed her out as the light blinded me.

When my vision adjusted, Anya was gone. Yui was lying on the ground, staring speechlessly at where she had been trapped just a second ago.

"Anya? Anya!" Yui tearfully shrieked, clutching the dirt in front of her.

"Ririko, you fucking cunt! What did you do to Anya?!" I shouted. Elements violently flicked off Sacchan and my body. Demons who got too close were thrown against the side of the canyon, charred black from being burnt or zapped.

Ririko clicked her tongue. "Chika wanted Yui, but I guess she'll have to settle for Anya. Sorry I can't stay and chat, Micchi. We've got something in store for you at Grishant, so you have fun here. Toodles for—"

Fire wrapped around my body. The next thing I knew, Sacchan connected with Ririko. She crashed like a bullet fired into the dirt. I landed next to Yui to check if she was okay. She wasn't. Tears ran down her face like waterfalls.

When the dust cleared, Ririko was on her feet and dusting herself off.

"Fuck your cliche of escaping. It ain't happening this time. You and me. One on one… We're finishing this here and now! Blizzard of Hokkaido, Ririko Minami, I'll write your fucking obituary and it's gonna be filled with you begging for mercy!"

Ririko started laughing. Puffs of cold air escaped her lips and formed a hailstorm above our heads. The ice gathered on her body like a suit of armor.

"Okay, okay… Fine! No more running. When I beat you, I'll bring you and Yui to that bitch on a gold fucking platter. Kaminari, Micchi Tokiwa, no amount of makeup in the world is going to pretty you up when I'm done with you!"