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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Manta Nak was getting tired of waking up from unconscious spells in an underground cell. She was also tired of Neon Terra being the only person waiting for her to wake up there, but at least it was still an endearing sight.

He was crouched in front of the prison bars she had been locked behind, banging on them to get her attention. As she stirred up, stepped forward, and pushed her head against them, a grin spread across his face. Manta looked at the shiny guard’s armor, and the entire situation explained itself.

“What do you want, mister guard, sir?”

“No time for the show, Manta. We need to leave.”

“Are you trying to break me out of prison, mister guard, sir?”

Neon shifted himself to the cell’s gate and opened it with the key on his waist. “I might believe the stupidest tall tales, Manta. But not even once would I believe that you were responsible for what is happening right now.”

“What is happening?” Manta asked as she got out of the cell and stretched her limbs.

The long, dark corridors of Region Y’s prison system were not a surprising sight to her. She had been here before, many times, though not in a prisoner’s outfit. And because she had come here multiple times, she knew that nothing felt wrong. The damp walls, the rocky floor, and even the torches that barely lit up the environment.

Everything was as she knew it was supposed to be. Why was Neon, then, sweating so profusely? Why was he claiming that something had happened? She blinked twice, and the memories slowly started freshening up. The events of the days past came back to her in flashes.

“The Governor.” She whispered, looking to her friend for answers. “He died. Yeah, that envoy killed him. I know he killed. Angel saw it; those two guards also saw it. Do they think I’m the one who did it?”

Neon shook his head and started jogging towards the right end of the corridor. There were multiple Lanes in the prison, and they were in Lane 15. The very last one, which was reserved for the worst criminals. That was where they had put her. To even get out, they would have to make their way down to Lane 0, which was about a fifteen-minute walk. She tried to keep up with him.

“They know you didn’t kill him.” He explained. “They think you did even worse by making enemies of the envoy. Now, you’ve got all of the Upper Regions believing that Region Y has declared war on them, so…”

“We’ll be razed before we even have the time to amass our armies.”

“Go figure.”

They reached the end of the lane and turned left. Each of the Lane exits on either side led to a long passageway. These two passageways moved down in parallel and contained the different Lanes between them. The thought behind it was that in the case of a prison break, everyone would be funneled together and easy to deal with. The brainchild of the very first Governor of Region Y.

Now, with the passageway staring them down, they had no choice but to be part of that hypothetical funneling. Guards would be waiting for them eventually. That was not a possibility, but an inevitability.

“What happened to Angel?”

“They let her go. She’s the one who explained it all to me.” Neon looked back and gave her a gesture of goodwill. “You should not have taken her there in the first place, but she turned out fine. The guards vouched for her having done nothing. You’re the one who angered the envoy and started the war.”

“Wait, started?” Manta stopped, taking a deep breath in confusion. “Do you mean th-”

“It’s been almost three weeks, Manta. You were unconscious for three whole weeks. We don’t know why, but it's nice of you to wake up now. The enemy is already at the gate.”

Three weeks? That did not even feel like a number that should have been possible. She could not have possibly been sleeping for that long. To her, it had felt like the blink of an eye. Falling unconscious and then waking back up had been a matter of moments. Yet, she had not been awake for three whole weeks.

Why?

To your left, child.

The sound that echoed in her head startled her more than it warned her. Manta stumbled and fell to the floor with a yelp, frightened by its sudden occurrence. As she did, a guard’s sword swung where she had been just moments ago and struck the wall of the passageway.

“Manta!”

Neon’s own sword came down swiftly. One swing at the hands of the attacker, and the hand was cut off. It clattered to the floor, along with the sword, and Manta crawled out of the way. The guard howled in pain, trying to make sense of the blood spurting out of his hand.

“You…traitor!” He spat on Neon, blinding him for a second, before picking up his sword with the other arm.

A quick kick on Neon’s shins, and he fell down. The guard turned to Manta, sword raised, and screamed as he brought it down.

She rolled away, letting it hit the ground as she stood up and kicked the unstable guard on the head. He was thrown against the wall, giving her enough time to snatch the sword out of his hand and thrust it into his neck.

As she pulled it back out and wiped the blood on her brand-new prison clothes, she felt like vomiting. A month ago, this guard might have been a friend. He might have drunk with her and Neon at a random party. Now, he was lying dead in the passageway he was guarding. She looked at the Lane he had come from – Lane 12.

“Manta…keep moving.” Neon gestured at her, and they started running again.

What had the voice been, though? She gripped the sword, ready to defend as required, and spoke in her own head. Repeating the same question over and over, she asked the voice to make itself known again. It had been familiar, but she hadn’t truly heard it in such a long time.

Focus on your goals, child. We will have time to speak soon.

Manta took it in stride. Accepting the echo this time around, she kept going.

The closer they got to the exit, the more obvious the fighting outside became. Past Lane 10, she began to hear the screaming and clashing in the distance. The sounds of destruction, massive destruction, were out of the stories she had heard as a child. The closer she got to those stories becoming reality, the further she wanted to be. She did not want to be here. She did not want to see her home destroyed.

But she was the one who had brought them here. Manta had forced the hand of the envoy at the wrong time and paid the price. The Governor was dead, Region Y was under attack, and there was no changing the past. Increasing her pace, she imagined how much better it would have been not to make such mistakes. She could have still saved the people of this region if she hadn’t been so impulsive.

Yet, it was all done now. She had doomed her own people.

Two on the left.

“Split, Neon.”

She stayed back as he jumped forward without question. As soon as she did, two guards appeared from Lane 8, ready to slash them at once. One hit the wall, then turned to Neon. One swung at the air, then redirected her sword to catch Manta with the momentum.

Blocking the incoming attack, Manta pushed back and smacked the guard in the face with her hilt. Behind her, Neon kicked the guy in the stomach, causing him to fall on the guard Manta was fighting. Both of them tumbled to the floor, collapsing in a heap.

“Sorry about that.”

Not wanting to kill any more people than necessary, Manta quickly sliced both of their palms and kept running with Neon. It was a small injury in the grand scheme of things, but it would ensure that they did not come after them. She didn’t need to end lives to find her freedom.

“Could have just killed them. They’re not very nice people.” Neon chuckled. “Those two in particular, I mean. Just the rudest bullies.”

“So were you, Neon. Once upon a time, so were you.”

He shrugged, “Maybe. Don’t slander me like that.”

Four incoming. Two from the front, and two from the left.

“Two ahead of you.”

Manta pushed Neon forward, letting him fall against the bodies of the guards coming towards them. She herself turned to the left and swung her sword without looking. In this position, with the guards inside Lane 5, she was the herder. She was the one taking advantage of the funnel, and that let her damage them once.

Steel clanged against steel as the two guards were sent back in surprise. Manta aimed for their legs, stabbing both of them through their cheap armor, on the ankles. They groaned and fell down, so she sliced their palms as well, then moved on.

Neon had taken care of his set of guards as well. With all of them on the floor, he had pulled out his knife for the job. Two jabs on their palms, and the same outcome had been achieved. Leaving the guards whining on the floor, then, the two continued to make their way out.

The voices kept coming as the number of guards slowly trickled up. Lane 4 had six, Lane 3 had seven, Lane 2 had three. Every single time, without fail, the voice of the Goddess Aalarma helped the two of them get out of difficult situations.

Quick defense, followed by a precise offense meant to permanently disarm them. That was the flow that every fight followed. Even if they were trying to stop them, the prison guards were still members of their own society. They were still people who had been hurt by this sudden violence and were trying to find an outlet for their pain.

Was it right of them to attack her for it? No. In no story she ever heard did they justify being cruel in response to cruelty. But either way, she understood the reasons behind it. She could feel the weight of their swords, because she herself did not have family to worry about. The lack of it helped her relate more than anything else could possibly have.

As they reached Lane 0 and she disarmed the final guard in their way, Manta looked at the exit gate, which was already unlocked. The sounds of the fighting outside had only gotten louder. A loud explosion rocked the entire building, and she hugged the wall to maintain her balance. They were using bombs, too. How many people had they brought to take down a single, unfortunate region?

“When you get out, find Angel Olk.” Neon stayed where he was. “Explain everything to her, and take her to the main gate. I will meet you both there.”

“No, no, what do you mean?” Manta tried to grab his arm, but he pulled away and maintained his distance.

“I need to get the other people back there, Manta.” He explained. “I might have saved you, but that’s only because you’re my friend. I am still a guard of this region, and I have a duty towards my own people. I’m getting them out before I meet you both there. Just keep Angel safe for me, please?”

“Fine.” Manta understood him. He didn’t need to repeat himself. She shared the same values. Personal associations aside, they were still soldiers. “You'd better be there. Main gate, got it?”

“Yeah, I told you, Manta. I remember where I asked you to come.”

“Fuck you, Neon.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

She got out of the prison, up the stairs, and emerged in the open air of Region Y. Her clothing would probably do her no favors here, but that was the hand she had been dealt. Manta would have to find a way to deal with the prejudice that would come from the people.

Step away, instantly.

Without even looking around, Manta ran to the side at a moment’s notice. Ducking and rolling away, she barely made it out of the way as a fireball crashed into the floor and set it aflame. It had missed the entrance of the prison, which was good. But where had it come from?

She looked up, hoping to see catapults. But luck was not on her side. It was not on Region Y’s side at all. The Upper Regions had taken this very seriously. Their pride had been hurt considerably, and now their rage was raining down on their combined enemy. Raining down in the form of fireballs.

Fireballs thrown by half a dozen Giants standing outside their gates, towering above Region Y.