Idol Gunner [Yuri Villainess LitRPG]

-WARNING-

The following track is classified as a Category S Danger by the Coalition

Danger Type - Propaganda

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“Wake up, child.”

Manta Nak heard the voice, but did not have the will to open her eyes. She wanted to sleep, and then sleep some more. Waving it off, she started snoring once more. Even though snoring should not have been possible.

“Child, this is no time to rest. This is no place to rest. Wake up, if you do not want to stay abandoned here forever.”

She mumbled gibberish, hoping to get her point across. She had no confidence in the words that left her, but she trusted the other party to understand them. Manta had done her part by attempting to communicate her disregard for such nonsensical stories.

“Manta Nak. Open your eyes. Please.” The voice whispered, accompanied by a hand that caressed her forehead this time.

Her forehead. Wet. There was something on it. Groaning in discomfort, she pushed the hand away to touch it herself. What was it? Had this annoying person put it there? Some kind of liquid. She felt it between her fingers, unable to remember what this consistency was.

“W-what?”

She opened her eyes at last, if only to figure out what it was. Bringing her hand back, she prepared herself for every disgusting possibility. And yet, somehow, she didn’t prepare herself for the actual answer. Black, viscous. She gasped, touching her forehead once more, with both hands.

“B-blood? What happened?”

“Child! Good. This is very good. Look at me.”

“What did you do? What’s happened?”

She finally looked at the source of the voice and immediately paused. Every muscle in her body stopped moving. Not even a twitch escaped. In front of her, with all twelve bony hands spread in various positions and symbols, sat a woman with no facial features. Her blank red skin looked back, and a voice echoed from within.

“You are here for a very special reason, my child. Do you understand that?”

“A…” She gulped and immediately straightened her clothes before kneeling down, “Aalarma, Goddess.”

“I shall not take up too much of your time, Manta Nak. For I am afraid I do not have much time, either.” Aalarma spoke. “Understand this, child. In an attack against your bloodline, your family was wiped out in their sleep by insurgents. And so were you. Yet, I have brought you here.”

“What?” Manta looked at the Goddess, only to remember that she was not allowed to. Her head snapped back down, hoping that she was not going to be punished for her transgressions.

“It is fine, child. You may gaze upon me.”

“Aalarma, Goddess. What could you mean? I am not fortunate enough to understand your words.”

One of her many hands tore through the hand at lightning speed. A blink later, it was on Manta’s chin. Pulling the girl’s head up, she let her entire form be seen. Just as majestic as the many paintings Manta had seen around her household. Trembling at the very beauty of the Goddess’ perfect form, she wondered what she had done to deserve such grace.

“You died, Manta Nak. But this was not fate. It was an unjust execution of mortal will. Thus, even though my power wanes, I must bring you back. You are necessary for Netsolnia to bloom. Without you, they have nothing, child.”

“Wh…at?” Manta shook her head, tears forming in her eyes, “I don’t get it. I…don’t. What is going on? What happened to my family? What do you mean, your power is waning? I could never let that happen. Aalarma, Goddess. What can I do to help you, worthless though my help will be?”

The Goddess sighed. Her hand moved to the top of Manta’s head, giving it a pat.

“Live, Manta Nak. Live, and fulfil your destiny. Do that, and you will have fulfilled my purpose as well. I was given this authority to ensure that Netsolnia never loses its glory. Protect this gracious land, and you will have done precisely what you were meant to.”

“Protect…Netsolnia? How? I am…nobody. I’m just…someone. I don’t know how. What do I even do?”

“Follow the path. The path in your heart. Stay true to it, and you will do everything that you need to. I have seen it, child. I have seen the many great things you will come to accomplish. You are meant for it. You are the savior of this great planet. Against those that would destroy us all – you are our only true defense.”

“Destroy us all? Who? Aalarma, Goddess. Who seeks to destroy our lands?”

“I do not know. I cannot see that far. It is beyond our boundaries. Far, far beyond.” The Goddess answered, “It is a terrible danger. That is all I know. Be wary of these beings, Manta Nak. They are strong. They carry strange weapons. But I assure you that you are enough. You are all Netsolnia needs. Just remember to walk your path. Trust your heart, Manta Nak. Your strength will always be enough.”

“Aalarma, Goddess. I am unworthy of such words. I…”

“You shall be. If you believe yourself unworthy, then you shall be. Do not utter those words again, and you shall shine. Trust in me. Trust in your own abilities and your destiny. It shall come true. I have seen it.”

“Aalarma, Goddess…”

_____________

“Hey, M. Wake the fuck up.”

She shook her head, wiping the drowsiness off her eyes at once. Sitting up, she wondered why that dream had occurred once more. It had been so long since she had met the Goddess. But even now, once in a while, she appeared as if to remind her of her duty. Stretching her arms, she tried to bring herself back to Netsolnia.

The familiar red landscape welcomed her, even if she was not conscious enough to appreciate it yet. An outstretched hand obstructed the view a second later, and she begrudgingly took it. She needed some help to get on her feet right now. Who knew that sleeping after almost ninety hours of continuous work could take such a toll?

“How much further?” Manta asked Leader Y.

“Not that much. We camped early, and we hid well. I don’t think any of the soldiers spotted us, so we should be done in the blink of an eye.”

“There are patrols, though.” Second Leader T interjected, “It won’t exactly take a blink of an eye. In fact, you might get into trouble if you blink your eyes too much and don’t pay attention.”

“Second Leader T, are there any as-of-yet uncommunicated issues you have with my method of handling this scouting mission?”

“Of course not, Leader Y.” He shook his head, giving him a salute, “Your orders are absolute. I was merely trying to point out a small logical deficit in your choice of words.”

Leader Y chuckled and then punched the Second Leader’s stomach. The younger man recoiled in pain, grabbing his stomach with a moan. The Leader, meanwhile, turned to Manta.

“What do you think, Third Leader M? Do you think he was trying to undermine my position as the Leader of this mission?”

Manta sighed, starting to walk, “I was thinking, Leader Y. No, I was wondering. I was wondering why all of us are called Leaders when there are only three people in the whole mission.”

“That is because…” Second Leader attempted to recover, still muttering his way through, but unable to stop himself from answering a question, “If one of us is to die, all power will be transferred over to the next. It is a foolproof plan to ensure we never lose any important information because of a lack of leadership.”

“You are right, Second Leader. Let me rephrase my question. Why is it that I cannot be called Soldier or Scout, and just given the title of Leader in case something was to happen to Leader Y?” Manta asked as the other two started walking after her. At her words, however, Leader Y puffed his chest out and overtook her. Clearing her throat, she added, “Not to say that I would wish for that to happen.”

“Are you trying to question the law of the land, Third Leader!?” Leader Y boomed, “That is how things have been done, and that is how they shall be done. You cannot just bestow a title on someone without ceremony. A Soldier cannot be turned into a Leader, no matter what. If a Soldier is all who remains, then they shall die as a Soldier, and the information shall be lost!”

“Yeah, and that sounds a bit…inefficient.”

“You make a good point, Third Leader.” Second Leader nodded, back to normal now, “But unfortunately, that does not mean you’re right. The rules are, after all, the rules. You must learn to follow them.”

“Yes, Second Leader. I apologize!”

Manta gave him a salute, too, and then internally cursed both of them. She had asked the same question to the last five teams she had been assigned to, and gotten the same answer. It was as if they had been taught it in military school. Then again, they probably had.

Since she did not want to talk to people like them for too long, Manta tuned them out. The walk was then spent in relative peace. They made their way through the desert from rock to rock, making sure to avoid any patrols guarding the meeting spot. Second Leader T took one patrolman out when they got spotted, but that was the only casualty.

The mission this time was easy. Region B and G had decided to keep peace talks in Region X. Since it was a neutral, ungoverned land, it was easy for Manta’s team to sneak in to spy on them. That was the only way they could get information, after all. Any Region after M was considered too unimportant to share current affairs with.

So, once the three of them got close enough, they crouched down and approached the group with caution. There were three representatives from Region B, and three from G. Beside them, two guards each. A temporary rock shed had been crafted to keep them out of the blistering heat of Region X.

Leaning against the small windows of the shed, the three spies eavesdropped.

“The situation in Region J requires our immediate attention, after all.” Region B’s representative spoke in a raspy voice, “We do not wish to have a complete pause on warring activities. We both know we wish to claim the other’s territory. But I believe we can come to an agreement on our priorities for now?”

“Some peace talks.” Leader Y whispered, grimacing.

The Region G representatives whispered amongst each other. Only after an intense debate did one of them finally speak up.

“We agree with Region B’s priorities. The Region J situation is far too volatile to be ignored for long. In fact, we are willing to send some of our strongest fighters to combat the threat. What do you say to that?”

“Your strongest? That would be very, very helpful.” Region B’s representative happily admitted, “But I am afraid it would still not be enough. The fighters over there are…special. The massacre during the battle between C and H, as you might know, has proven they have no limits. The recent killing of Region H’s two most powerful generals is something we all grieve.”

“Two of four?” Second Leader gasped, looking at the Leader, “Who killed them? These fighters in Region J. Is it a rebellion?”

“No way.” The Leader shook his head, “It cannot be. Giants from Region G being sent to crush a rebellion? Why would they involve everyone if it's such a small deal?”

They looked at Manta, but she didn’t want to communicate. It was a foolish idea to speak so close to the enemy, raising the question of how these two managed to get so far. And it wasn’t her job to analyze every bit of information anyway, so she would be more than glad to just take it and go.

“These off-worlders must be crushed with prejudice and immediacy!” The Region G representative hissed, “I still remember my battle with the Four Generals of Region H. To think that two of them have been taken out by those aliens! It is unacceptable. We are all disgusted by their unprovoked violence.”

The world went quiet. The moment those words reached Manta Nak, her pupils expanded. The dream was still fresh in her mind. And now, this. What did it mean? For so long, she had convinced herself that it was nothing more than a hallucination. It had been years since she had started to believe that her meeting with the Goddess had never happened.

And yet…

“Off-worlders?”

Beyond our boundaries. Far, far beyond, the Goddess had said.

“Beyond our boundaries?”

“Third Leader!?” Leader Y snapped in a whisper, staring at her with wide eyes, “Keep your voic-”

“Who is that!?”

The voice that made its way outside through the window did not come alone. By the time the Leader exclaimed in shock and stood up to run, the arrow that had slipped out through the opening pierced through his skull. Blood splattering on the ground, he fell down and died on the spot.

Manta took a deep breath, scrambling backwards, trying to gather herself. The Second Leader, gasping, was barely able to control himself from shaking. And yet, as the guards inside the rock shed started to step outside, he got on his knees and put a hand on his chest.

“Leader Y!” He proclaimed.

“No, no.” Manta shook her head, standing up and taking a step back. “Forget it. We need to go!”

“No! These are the rules!” The man gritted his teeth and smacked his fist against his chest once more, “Leader Y! I, Second Leader T, hereb-”

Manta screamed and stumbled further back as another arrow came out of the window, killing the Second Leader in an instant.

How had this happened? Why had this happened? As the guards appeared from the other side of the shed, she got back on her feet and started running. Eyes watering, but adrenaline pumping, she kept running without a thought. There was no time to stop and think. She was alive. That was what mattered.

Live, the Goddess had said. Manta needed to live.

The people from beyond their boundaries had arrived. It hadn’t been a dream. It was real. All of it was real. Blasting through the desert at her highest speed, she made her way back home. To Region Y.

It had not been a dream. Manta Nak needed to live.