Challenge: The Fool with the Surname Okayamine

Chapter 181 Neighborhood Arc: "Intrusive War"

"ha...?"

Rion was so frightened by the quasi-spirits pointing weapons at her that her voice changed into a tremor.

"Wait! What a surprise attack? I didn't! I was just suddenly sucked into the door and then whooshed down from the sky! So... don't kill me!"

"Oh my gosh~ Oh my gosh~ How interesting that she's here~"

While Rion was trying to explain herself, Kurumi seemed to recognize her, put away Zafkiel, licked her fingers, and sat down at a table.

The others, however, harboring ulterior motives, dared not abandon their nameless angels, for the chilling killing intent that had filled the air just moments before was no illusion.

As the atmosphere in the classroom remained tense, Zhu Xiaoting and Lü Kesi suddenly spoke at the same time behind them:

"Congratulations on your successful arrival! You two special participants were specially invited by the 'Puppet Master'!"

"Huh? No!"

The crowd surrounding Rion turned around and saw the two puppets standing on the stage acting as referees gesturing wildly, while simultaneously looking at the two people surrounded with strange eyes.

Through the crowd, Rine's eyes met those of the two puppets on the stage who were looking at her. She could clearly hear the malice in their glassy eyes and voices, and her pupils trembled.

"Oh! Is he a special additional participant? He looks really strong! This is going to be really interesting!"

"Hmm, that killing intent just now was very strong."

Shi Fang and Cang exclaimed in surprise. Just based on the killing intent they had just felt, which they thought was from Rine Meng's sudden attack from the sky, even they, who were experienced in many battles, felt a sense of oppression.

Wow! Big sister! You're so amazing! You'll definitely be a great playmate!

"Hey! Didn't they just say the number of participants had been capped?!"

While everyone was marveling at the strength of the new enemy, only the honest and obedient Kong Wu sensed that something was amiss.

“Oh, because the ‘Puppet Master’ wants to give everyone a surprise,” Zhu Xiaoting replied.

Everyone glanced at Rion, who was now dressed as an otaku girl. Although the doll's explanation was clumsy, it was because this was the Tenth Domain.

But if they can fight and kill each other, then no matter how unreasonable things are, they will all become reasonable in the eyes of these madmen.

Only Kurumi's gaze was fixed on Rion's incredibly innocent eyes.

"Wait a minute! I remember you're a 'Puppet Master,' right? I don't know why you're here, but could you please open a 'Road to Heaven' to send me back to the Ninth..."

"Since the contestants are a bit shy, let Lyukos explain it to everyone himself!"

"The ninth spirit attribute, Radiant Rinne, is an unnamed angel whose [talented singing] and then her spirit dress..."

But compared to these insignificant details, her other identity is far more eye-catching!

That is—the former ruler of the Ninth Domain!

"The former ruler of the Ninth Domain?!"

A chorus of gasps rose and fell among the crowd, and their gazes toward Rion Meng instantly became complex, filled with awe, greed, and a surge of eager fighting desire.

"So he's someone of this caliber! It must be really fun to fight him! Don't you think so, Rainbow Eyes?"

Ignoring Zhengmei's question, and of course Zhengmei didn't care about anything, Caiyan's gaze hadn't left Rion's ever since her identity as the ruler was revealed.

"I see...she should be able to answer the questions I want to know."

Pushing up her glasses, Takeshita Aya muttered to herself inexplicably, as if she had locked onto a target. But unlike the others, she was the only one, besides Kurumi, who did not have murderous intent in her eyes towards Rion.

As for Kiri Rinemu herself, who was the center of attention, she was already trembling rapidly under the gazes of those who looked at her like she was prey, and her mind was racing with all sorts of wild thoughts.

"Wow...no! I don't want to die! Okay, if I can't escape...could you...do it quickly and let me die without feeling any pain before taking my soul crystal?"

You could say she's carefree, but her current feelings about the Tenth Realm are indeed true. As a former Dominator, she knows how vicious the Tenth Realm is.

"Besides, I have zero combat power! Even if I lose my singing voice, I would rather die than stay in the Tenth Domain!"

Muttering to himself, Wu Ming, who was sitting on her and looked half-dead, had just opened his eyes when he met Kong Wu's gaze as Kong Wu moved around behind him.

"Ah, my back is so heavy... Hey, who are you?"

"Huh? There was more than one person who fell!"

"who..."

"Me? I don't know either. I woke up here. Right now, I'm probably just bait with no human rights."

"Oh."

The two women spoke in hushed tones. For some reason, they looked at each other with a sense of familiarity, as if they had met before, yet they were complete strangers to each other, having no memory of each other.

Just as everyone was still immersed in the shock and excitement brought by Rion's former ruler status, a bombshell exploded that shook the entire venue.

"Now that the intruders have introduced themselves, may I introduce myself now?"

Kurumi, who was sitting next to him, stood up and asked Zhu Xiaocheng a question.

"of course can."

"The third spirit attribute, Tokisaki Kurumi. Angel [Zafkiel]. Spirit Dress - [Kamui Spirit Dress - Third Edition]."

Kurumi's charming voice rang out, seemingly isolating the sound, and this time the people in the classroom did not cause a commotion.

Instead, the atmosphere became heavy; one could say that "time was stopped."

"...An angel? Isn't it the 'Nameless' angel?"

Tsunehachi raised one hand tremblingly and asked Akiko-machi, who was standing on the podium.

The puppet simply rotated its head, as if searching for information, and finally provided the answer:

"No, Tokisaki Kurumi uses the Angel, and wears the Kamui Spirit Dress, which belongs to the Spirit Dresses of Spirits. In other words—she is a true Spirit."

A silence that seemed to pause, so profound that one could even hear sighs.

"Rionmu, are you there?"

"Ah! Wuming, where are you! I can hear you, but where are you?!"

"Uh, is it possible that I was the one who absorbed most of the impact when we landed because you were sitting on me?"

"Haha, sorry... wait! If I hadn't pulled you back then, you probably wouldn't have fallen here!"

"What is it? Why do you sound so resentful?"

"Of course he'd complain!"

"what happened?"

"It's just that you bumped into the gate of the [Path to Heaven], and then we..."

In this classroom, which felt as if time had stopped, only the sounds of Rionmu talking to the unintroduced ordinary quasi-spirit could be heard.

In this extremely awkward space, only those of them who are oblivious to everything could act like this.

As for Kong Wu, he had no way of knowing, but this girl named Tokisaki Kurumi, who had taken him along on a whim, seemed to hold a very high rank within this unique group.

—She must be a frightening girl.

The emotions of every prospective elf present were fluctuating. First, there was the ruler, and then there was the elf, who was known as a god-like being in this world, in the same competition. They could only look at each other in bewilderment.

Only the girl named Ao seemed unaffected, glancing between Rion and Kurumi as if choosing prey, caught in a dilemma.

Kurumi, who was the center of attention, simply smiled and waved whenever someone made eye contact with her.

"Is she being sarcastic? I don't understand..."

Rion Meng made a light comment, after all, she didn't have any malice in Kurumi's words just now, but rather seemed more like she was on a gamble.

"Rion-nee-nee, I have a question. What were those Pokémon they were talking about? How are they different from pseudo-Pokémon?"

"Huh? Did I just mention that? Wait a minute! The legendary elf?!"

"...Nonsense."

While Rion was still in a daze, Nogi Ai whispered disdainfully, and several others agreed with her.

The others didn't even dare to make eye contact with Kurumi.

Then Lyukos clapped his hands again, drawing everyone's attention.

"That's it, now all ten of us are here."

"Excuse me...do I need an introduction?"

Kong Wuwei timidly raised his hand and casually grabbed Wuming's hand as he stood up.

"Need not."

"And what about this young lady?"

"Judging from this, she's just Rion's servant, probably not much stronger than you. There's no need to say anything."

Lyukos replied, his voice conveying a strong sense of impatience.

"I...I don't think I should exclude people!"

Okay! Okay! Uh, what's your name?

"Void! Ah, that's because someone calls me that, so I just used that name for convenience. And spirit dress... I don't think I have one. I don't know much about spirit dresses, I guess they don't exist!"

Kong Wu stood up with a perfectly justified air, while Wu Ming, whose hand he was holding, was speechless.

"This baby really is a newborn..."

Nogi Ai murmured blankly.

"A newborn? I don't think so, I'm probably around seventeen years old..."

After Kong Wu turned his head to respond, Nogi Aiai let out a soft "hmm..." and buried her head in her hands in thought.

“I’m telling you, Miss Sora. We are not human.”

"I'm still a little shaken," Rinpa said in a low voice.

"Yes, I know that."

Kong Wu tilted his head slightly without question, while Wu Ming selectively pulled his hand back.

"Ouch! What are you doing! It hurts..."

Ignoring Kong Wu's cries of pain, Wu Ming simply took a few steps and stood beside the trembling Hui Li Li Yin Meng.

"Could it be that Rionmu is also a recent arrival in this world, like me?"

"Sigh! Probably, but her appearance is much more standard than yours, look at her white hair!"

"Didn't I say I wasn't empty?"

"How could you not be! There's no nameless angel, and the spiritual energy fluctuations aren't that strong. The only difference is that the Path to Heaven seems to have been... no! I was brought here by you! Get me back right now!"

"I don't know how to deliver it!"

"How would I know how to do it!"

"Then what did you do before? Hurry up and send me back to the Ninth Realm, I don't want to die!"

"I do not know!"

"Ahhh!"

Rion, on the verge of tears, frantically shook Wuming's body. Although she looked completely helpless, she seemed like an innocent girl who was harmless to humans.

But to these contestants, it seemed like a deliberate attempt to conceal their strength, making them even more fearful.

Just before Wuming was about to be shaken unconscious by Rinemu, Zhu Xiaoting spoke again:

"Alright, now that everyone's here, the rules are simple: this is a battle royale to determine the final winner. There are no extra rules here—please fight to your heart's content!"

Zhu Xiaoting told him this, while her gaze was directed towards Rinemu, and through the puppet, it seemed that the manipulator was smiling happily.

"I never expected this! I never expected her to suddenly fall here! If I could turn her into a puppet... then, according to rumors, I, Mizuha Kizunain, would probably come here too... When the dimensional gate is opened, the interesting Thousand-Thread Puppet Show will begin immediately~"

Back to the doll.

Lyukos very respectfully took out something that looked like a gem from his bag.

It's probably about the size of a palm, but if you call it a gemstone, its shape is quite peculiar. What can I say? It looks like fragments of glass beads glued together.

"This is a crystallization of souls bestowed by the ruler of the tenth realm, the 'Puppet Master,' and we will give it to the final victor!"

"That's awesome..."

Someone whispered something.

Wuming then asked Rinemeng, who was standing next to him, what a soul crystal was.

"Well..."

Rion pointed somewhat shyly to her chest.

"It's similar to the heart of a quasi-elf. Oh, and it's also the spiritual power produced by this tiny crystal. Because it can be absorbed by others, there must be many people coveting it here."

The girl, sweating profusely, explained that for some reason she always felt that the girl with glasses behind her was watching her, which gave her the creeps.

Finally, the competition began with the doll's announcement, and even Rion, who didn't want to go out, was forced to leave.

—For the people here, they must fight to survive; they can live by killing each other, so even if Rion couldn't sing, she would never want to come here.

In the school building corridor, Wuming asked the blonde girl:

"Everyone's almost gone, Rion, aren't we leaving?"

"Ah...where are you going? Me, this useless piece of trash, and you, who's even worse than me?"

The girl spoke frankly, saying that she was always very self-aware of her other abilities besides singing.

However, Rion will regret her choice in less than 5 minutes...

"No way! How can someone start fighting outside the classroom?! Oh no, they're about to break in—!"

As Rion watched Kurumi and Nogi Ai getting closer and closer to her as they fought, she became increasingly flustered.

"Uh, Rion, what should we do?"

"What should we do? Run! How can you be even dumber than me? You're just empty-handed!"

"I am not nothingness!"