Idol Gunner [Yuri Villainess LitRPG]

Sanada was the first to move. Equipping her steel axe, she zipped through the wasteland with an eerie lack of expression. The Lizard Demon, taking note of her sudden attack, tried to dodge. Moments before it could move, the steel hit its tail, and sparks flew into the grim, red-tinted sky.

The Lizard jumped back, learning from its lack of attentiveness. Now, with all four girls in sight, it would be easier to deal with any incoming threats. That is what Kana thought its intentions were. Over and over, these larger demons had proven that they could pick their targets. Just now, it had crept up on them without a single creak and managed to attack. Even now, it had to be calculating its next.

She did not have time to look at the fallen girl. She did not want to look at her. Just as quick as the others, Kana withdrew her grenade launcher from the system and pressed the trigger. Bullets, fire, and explosions rained down on the impervious skin of the demon at once. Right after they subsided, Jina swooped in from the smoke, slashing its ankles. Unfortunately, just like before, all weapons either bounced off or hit a metallic wall at the Lizard’s skin.

Sanada ran over to Kelsey and Kana, and took a moment to recover and plan her next move. Jina, still ruthlessly swinging her sword against the beast’s skin, was slapped across the head with the tail.

She buckled, lost her grip, and almost fell down. But recovering with the same tenacity, her sword switched to the hammer mid-swing. Instead of cutting the Lizard’s cheeks, the flat face smacked it with heavy force. Jina had used the momentum she gained due to the hit on her head and transferred the same energy into her attack. And it worked. A vertical, visual boom cut through the air, the same nanosecond, the Lizard was sent flying into a nearby rock.

Its back cracked against the brittle material, and it fell to the floor. Kana aimed her grenade launcher and shared a single glimpse with Kelsey. The sniper bullet hit the small tooth sticking out of the creature’s wavering jaw, blasting it wide open. Before it could be shut, the grenade made its way inside. Jina ran out of the range and took her place beside the other girls.

For the next two seconds, nobody let out even a single breath. The Lizard pushed itself up as the grenade counted down inside its belly. It gazed downwards, calculating the danger it was about to face. And it did calculate. Almost instantaneously. Boosting itself forward with its front legs, it flew towards the girl with its mouth wide open.

Mid-jump, the grenade went off. The Lizard Demon’s vertical trajectory was thrown off by just an inch or two, but its mouth was still aimed at Kana. She held her grenade launcher up, wondering if shoving another one down its throat would do the trick if it wasn’t enough. But her hands froze the moment the orange glow from its insides shone through.

The heat and light threatened her, growing beyond the demon’s small stomach and spilling out at full speed. Her hands shook, but only until she gritted her teeth and steeled her resolve once more. She could not let this one get away. She could not let it get her. Even now, out of the corner of her eye, blood was pooling out of RiRi’s still body. Kana met the flames face-to-face, hand heavy on the trigger.

Sanada jumped up at the opportune moment. Using the sledgehammer, just like Jina, she bashed the face against the monster’s upper jaw, pushing it to the ground. With her hammer as the barrier, the mouth was shut once more. The flames poured out of the gaps of its teeth, but did not reach far. Its mouth began to swell with the collecting gas; the girl heaved with exhaustion, as her ankle’s bandage tore off.

Without a word, Kelsey ran forward and grabbed her, jumping back before the second explosion inside the monster’s mouth rocked the ground.

The two Pink Beats members fell on the ground as the Lizard Demon stopped moving. Its eyes were still looking around its periphery, and checking everything that it could see. But for now, it was not moving. Jina switched to her sword and held it straight above the demon’s head. Hand flat against the hilt, she pushed the blade down. Instead of piercing through, though, it just bounced off and lodged itself in the ground once more.

She screamed, raising the sword once more, and bringing it down a second time, only to be met with the same result. A third time, and nothing changed. Kana stepped forward and put a hand on her arm, pulling the girl back before she ended up hurting herself with the redirected blade. Jina cried, shrieked, and tried to fight back, but ultimately gave in and went limp, satisfying herself with a single kick.

The Lizard had completely stopped moving, for some reason. Kana bent down and tried to open its jaw, but it was shut tight. Since its teeth were still just as sharp and left a small cut on her thumb, she gave up on that idea, too. The demon was not defeated, but seemed to have given up on fighting back. She turned to look at Kelsey and Sanada, who were spectating her little inspection.

Their eyes met, and Sanada looked away. Separating herself from her blonde teammate, she hobbled over to RiRi and crouched down. Pushing the hair out of the leader’s face, she opened her mouth to say something, but ended up shaking with sadness instead. She lifted the girl and hugged her as the blood spread all over her clothes, too. Kana looked away. She didn’t have the strength to keep seeing this scene unfold.

The Lizard was her main focus. How could she kill it? How could she make it pay? Swiping out a small pocket knife from her inventory, she lined it up with the creature’s eyes and poked them in. Surprisingly, it slid right through. For the first time, a yelp escaped the Lizard as it opened its mouth and cried out. A strange satisfaction filled her gut. Pulling the knife out, she stabbed it once more, letting its cries echo through the sky.

Kelsey had already walked over to Sanada and RiRi. She helped the vocalist pick up the dead body, and they quietly turned to the main gate. Even as they left, however, Kana kept stabbing the creature’s eyes. Jina watched, standing with her sword at the ready, as she changed the eye she was aiming for. Butchering the other one, too, she took a deep breath and cursed the smile that was slowly spreading on her face.

She wanted to laugh. She really, really, really wanted to laugh. Kana could not describe or explain why, but her chest felt heavy with a loud one. She didn’t let it out, though. It needed to stay inside, shut down forever and ever. This was not the time to laugh, after all. Kelsey and Sanada were out of sight already. They would reach the gate soon. But now that the Lizard had opened its mouth to scream, she had an opening.

Pushing the barrel of the grenade launcher into the Lizard’s mouth, she put her finger on the trigger and closed her eyes. Kana pressed it. She did not know how many times. She did not count. She did not want to count, either. However many was fine. Over and over, she pressed until there was no time left. Then, letting the weapon disappear, she hopped back and kept her eyes on the monster.

Multiple explosions rocked the insides of the beast and sent it flying away into the distance. Somewhere along the way, one of the blasts finally ripped apart its body into multiple pieces. As its blood and guts rained down on the wasteland, Kana felt like she could breathe again. Like she was allowed to actually exist, once more.

Jina walked to her and stood there, too. Together, the two of them witnessed the remains of the demon mixing with the pool of blood that RiRi had left behind. Its trail, leading to the main gate, was like a grim marker in case they had forgotten their way home. The goth girl slipped her hand into Kana’s and gave it a squeeze. She didn’t fight back. She held it tight, too.

#&$%&@! Kill +50000

Explosion Kill +140

Kana. Jina. Sanada. Kelsey. Four of them. Two hundred thousand points, then. Kana should have been happy. She should have been overjoyed at how far they had come. Nobuko was done for, now. Ruby Passion Jr. would never be able to claim the fourth spot. They had achieved exactly what they set out to do.

Kana let go of Jina’s hand and started walking towards the main gate. Behind her, her partner followed.

_____________

RiRi was admitted to a hospital after the Coalition officials found out that she still had a light pulse. Every major name in the industry came to visit at least once. Some brought flowers, some brought cards. Some just came to talk to Sakai and left. Ryuji Tanaka did not show up. There was no response or message from Lilac Shower. The Fluorescent Angels, too, did not come to visit.

Through Friday, the remaining two members of Pink Beats and the current members of Velvet Choker stayed in the hospital. Still wearing the same clothes that they had been in the previous night, none of them had gotten even a wink of sleep. Yamada and Yamazaki, who had driven the girls to the hospital, had been the ones coordinating most of the discussions with the doctor.

As night set in, the Coalition officials called relentlessly to ask about their whereabouts. But Sakai Entertainment had already decided not to participate that night. None of their calls were returned or entertained. Yamazaki had to turn his phone off to get away from the incessant ringing.

By the time it turned into Saturday, the hospital was in an internal uproar. Sakai had started complaining about their lack of urgency and had been asking for answers every hour. The surgeons and nurses scrambled to get something done. Specialists were called from different cities to deal with the situation as speedily as possible. Half an hour later, RiRi began her fourth operation of the day.

Yamazaki had informed the girls that they found a strange poison inside her body. In fact, they weren’t even sure if it was poison. It was some sort of rot that was corrupting her insides. It kept her alive by not letting her bodily functions stop, but also made it impossible for the doctors to do their job with efficiency. That was what had been causing the delays.

Kelsey hadn’t said a single word throughout the day. Not encouragement, not positivity. She hadn’t even berated Kana for her mistakes and choices. Instead, she had spent most of the time in the chair closest to the OT. Every time someone headed in, she tried to get a glimpse at her leader, and then sat back done. Kana had been steeling herself to hear the blonde’s complaints, so this threw her off way more than she expected.

Sanada had also not been the same person as usual. She had, in stark contrast, been very aggressive towards both of the Velvet Choker members. Refusing to look in their direction, purposefully making their stay uncomfortable, buying food for herself and Kelsey, but leaving them out. She was doing everything she could to make her stance on the situation clear.

All of this had left Yamada and Yamazaki in awkward positions. Being good enough friends, they had tried to maintain peace. Yet, the differing behaviors of their teams and their professional duties to put them first meant that there was always something off about the hospital to everyone who visited.

Jina, somehow, felt like she had been hurt the most. She had never particularly liked Kelsey, but she had been close to Sanada. She had slowly been growing to appreciate RiRi. Kana wondered if her words had had any effect on the girl. If seeing those two hundred thousand points pop up for killing the monster had made her wonder about why they were doing this. What did she think about Nobuko and Ruby Passion Jr. now?

Kana did not know. Jina had smiled at her, helped her out, and been a good friend just like always. But she hadn’t spoken up. Nobody had. Nobody was allowed to.

Later in the night, the four girls found themselves together in the waiting lounge. They were the only people there, since it was reserved for VIPs. The tension in the air was tight enough, and the shared gloom only made it heavier. It only broke and shifted when the clock hit half past one.

The door opened, and two men stepped inside. Yamada and the head surgeon. Both of them had something to say, but the manager decided to go first. It wasn’t as important, he claimed.

“The Coalition called. The weekly scores were calculated just now. Sakai Entertainment is in fourth place, followed by Lilac Shower’s Ruby Passion Jr. in fifth, and HMC’s Fluorescent Angels in sixth.”

Not a single person heard his words. Every pair of eyes was glued to the doctor. In an uncomfortable, despairing voice, he delivered his bit of the news.

“I’m sorry. We weren’t able to save her. Rie Rin has passed away.”