“Uoooh! Deyah!!”
A muscular student swung his fist with a deep war cry.
His target was a black luster rhinoceros beetle monster armor beast. One of two culprits responsible for unleashing the small monsters that were attacking the insectary.
His fist covered with an iron gauntlet had the power to dent the shell of the insect, and after a clean hit, the monster armor beast groaned and was thrown back.
“Nuguuh! U, guuu…!!”
“Big brother! Wait! I’ll save you!”
The little sister saw her big brother’s predicament… But as the golden stag beetle monster armor beast tried to run, her body was attacked from the side by a powerful wind.
Her slender body was thrown up by the sudden gust, and smacked to the ground.
“Kyaaah!?”
“All right! Keep dealing damage like that!”
As he fought the two monster armor beasts and gave instructions to the others… Shian carefully checked the situation to make sure it followed the plan laid by Egos.
He knew they had to let the stag beetle get away, but he smiled as he saw how strong his party was, since it easily cornered two monster armor beasts.
(I was surprised when two appeared, but it’s a nice chance to confirm how strong my party is. It really is the best!)
He made use of his knowledge of the game to gather characters he liked and that would be useful in battle, so his party was more than capable of dealing with an unforeseen situation.
Shian learned from Zenon and Isaac’s mistakes, and made sure everything went as planned. As he thought this, he reviewed his party in his mind once again.
“How’s that you monsters!? Are you done!?”
The muscular boy in the front line getting worked up was Velda. The character in charge of attacking and tanking.
The punches unleashed by his well built body were very powerful, and if he continued to level up, he would be able to use elemental attacks as well. He was a reliable front line character.
“Don’t get careless, Velda! We don’t know how strong they really are!”
Said a girl to the heated Velda. She was the magic attacker Peewee.
She had distinctive sharp eyes, and her spirit was just as strong as her appearance implied. She attacked her enemies with that same intensity.
“Strengthening magic! Please be careful as you fight!”
And further back was the small girl named Neries, who cast buffs.
She had small glasses that made one wonder if they actually did anything, but they were a charm point. She had no attack power, but was quite excellent at casting buffs.
Shian was on the front line with Velda, helping the back row from time to time when they were attacked. This party took position where needed in response to how the battle was going, and it seemed to be quite balanced.
And when you added Egos, another main character with reincarnation bonuses, the two monster armor beasts never stood a chance.
They were going easy on them in order for the plan to work, but Shian thought about how there was a clear difference in power despite them holding back. He smiled to himself, and gripped his spear tightly.
(Easy easy, too easy! The plan is as good as done! We’ll have them kill Phi, remove Yuugo from the scenario, and I’ll have my way! Everyone will look to me as the one who took down the monster armor beasts and ended this incident, and Melt and An might even realize they’re wrong about me! The combat miko will be mine! Everything will be mine!!)
As he indulged himself in his greedy fantasies, he looked at his opponents.
The shell that once had a beautiful black luster was full of wounds, and looking at it made him snicker.
(Trill and Riel, was it? I only remember them as bug freaks. They’re pretty much just base enemies.)
They each turned into monster armor beasts with the power of a rhinoceros beetle and a stag beetle, but they were opposites in how they looked and fought.
The big brother, Trill, had a hard carapace and used his horn, making him a fighter that made use of his power, while the little sister Riel was a speed type that used her agility to throw her enemies for a loop.
The player would have to fight one, depending on the route they picked… But Shian did not remember ever having trouble with either of them.
At the proper level, they were both easy to take care of. Even in Yui’s route, the main character could defeat one of them on his own, so it was easy to take them down with a party.
The plan was for Egos to go after the one they let run away, on his own, but he should be more than enough to take care of it.
With their main character powers, game knowledge, and the power of the well leveled party, opponents like these barely put up a fight. Thought Shian, while giving instructions and trying not to let this self-conceit show on his face.
“Everyone! We don’t know what hidden abilities they might have! Deliver powerful attacks, but deal damage consistently in a way that doesn’t leave you open for an attack! We have plenty of time, so let’s take them down safely!”
His party replied loudly, but… Thinking about it for a bit, he realized these orders might seem odd.
Being careful and not showing an opening made sense, but saying they had plenty of time was strange.
Many monsters were attacking people in this insectary. The ones who created them were the monster armor beasts in front of them, so they really should take them down as quickly as possible to stop the rampage.
But what he just said ignored the safety of the people being attacked.
Obviously he was holding back for the sake of advancing the scenario in the way he wanted. And for that, he needed to let Riel get away, but… It seemed no one noticed the inconsistency.
No one in the six person party dealt a decisive blow, and they continued to hurt and slowly deal damage to Trill and Riel.
Egos would sometimes give Riel an obvious opening to escape, but she failed to notice it and kept being attacked.
(Dammit, enough already. Go kill Phi or the plan won’t advance…!)
Shian clicked his tongue, annoyed about having to continue holding back.
But as he thought they might be running out of energy, and that it might be better to just finish them off already…
“Fu, fu, fu…! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha…!!”
“Ufu, ufufu, ufufufufufufu…!”
“…What’s so funny?”
Trill and Riel suddenly started laughing.
They were covered in wounds and in tatters, looking like they could collapse at any moment. Shian felt some fear as he watched them let out mad laughs, but Velda, who had a rough temper, spoke with disgust.
“Looks like we hit them too hard and they went loopy. Shian, we should put them out of their misery.”
“A-ah… Yes…”
“H-hey, hold on! It’s exactly when the enemy starts acting in an erratic way that we should be cautious…”
Velda talked about finishing the fight, but Egos grumbled because he wanted to force it to continue, for the sake of his plan.
But… Shian was only half listening. He could not take his eyes off Trill and Riel.
Something was off. His instincts rang alarm bells, giving him an indescribable sense of anxiety.
Not moving due to this sense that something was not right was unfortunate for him.
He could not make a decision and finish the fight, and they would come to fully taste the reward for playing with their opponents, and for their wicked scheme that involved ending the life of a child.
“Fuhahahahaha…! I get it, I get it! The beat of evolution is echoing within me! A perilous situation is awakening the possibilities inside me!!”
“Me too, big brother! The danger to my life is spurring evolution! It’s coming! It’s coming! Further awakening!!”
“What…!?”
Trill and Riel slowly got up and stretched their arms to the sky while yelling with joy.
Their bodies released bright lights, and as Shian and others looked on with surprise, the lights intensified and Trill howled.
“It’s time for evolution! We will reach yet another domain!!”
The yell ejected the light.
Shian and the others had to look away, as the light was too intense even with their eyes closed, but when they turned back to the siblings…
They saw two very different monster armor beasts.
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