strictlysupreme Chapter 982 The Last Routine 161
Chapter 982 The Last Routine 161
Chapter 982 The Last Routine 161
Just as they were about to go deeper, a monster roared from the depths of the dungeon. The sound was so loud that even those on the top floor could clearly feel how terrifying the monster was.
Aqua was terrified. She raised her hand shakily and cried out, "What is that? This eerie roar... it's different from the ones before!?"
Even she was terrified.
But before they could react, other monsters, seemingly under the command of the fierce roar, charged towards the people on the top floor.
"Roar----"
"...Hey!" The moment Kobayashi saw the monster, he pointed at it and shouted, "The treasure chest is behind the elite goblin!!"
More than the monsters, he was concerned about the purpose of everyone's trip. If they could find a magical artifact that could change the personality of the Crimson Demon Clan, he would be able to endure even more dangers.
Aqua cheered excitedly, whispering rapidly with great joy and excitement, "Could it be that the target magical artifact is inside?!"
"If I had that magical artifact... um!" Softie seemed to be weighing her options, but ultimately, her sense of mission to save the Crimson Demon Village prevailed. She struck a Crimson Demon pose and shouted, "My name is Softie! The Crimson Demon Clan's most beloved younger brother! That magical artifact... I absolutely must have it! Bring it on!!!"
Then, disregarding everything else, she charged towards the elite goblin all by herself.
"Wait, wait!" Kobayashi shouted at her hurriedly, "Don't be impulsive, let's do this together! Darkness, I'm counting on you for support! And Megumin, whatever you do, don't use explosion magic! If you destroy the magical artifacts too, all our efforts will be wasted!"
"I understand, I'll help!"
"Tsk, damn it!"
Darkness drew her longsword and charged toward the elite goblin, while Megumin clicked her tongue in frustration. After all, she really didn't have much of a chance to fight back, which was very frustrating for a Crimson Demon who wanted to show off in front of her companions.
The elite goblins were strong, but they were still not as strong as the Demon King's officers. After being repeatedly outmaneuvered by Kobayashi and the others, and after being dragged into a war of attrition, they were eventually defeated.
Darkness clutched his chest, his face flushed and panting, and said, "Ha...ha...that was quite a heavy blow, not bad."
She just acted as a human cushion, without even thinking of dodging. Thanks to her interference, Kobayashi and the others wasted a lot of energy and stamina in dealing with the elite goblin.
"Phew, finally done."
Kobayashi wiped the sweat from his forehead. He was truly exasperated by these monsters. If it were just him, he could easily have dealt with them, but with Aqua, Darkness, and Megumin interfering, he wasted twice the time and energy each time.
"More important than this! The treasure chest inside!!"
Soft and eager, she ran towards the treasure chest deep inside the room. She opened the chest without even considering whether it was a mimicry of a treasure chest monster, which shows just how much she cares about the Crimson Demon Village.
Upon opening, a strangely shaped magical item quietly appeared inside the treasure chest.
"...Found it!" Softly picked up the magical artifact and shouted excitedly to everyone, "It's a magical artifact! Look, it looks exactly like Miss Chris described, doesn't it?!"
It looks a bit like a magnet.
It's a U-shaped magnet with one end blue and the other red, marked with an "N" and an "S". Although it's unknown whether it actually has the effect of reversing one's personality, judging from the magical item Chris mentioned, it does seem to have such an effect.
"In other words, this is a magical item that reverses personality..."
Huihui looked at it with a slight puzzlement.
Of course, it wasn't just Kobayashi and the others who thought it was a bit unreliable; she also felt it was rather dubious. But Ruanhu couldn't wait any longer. She had long hoped that Dongdonggu—her good friend—could return to normal, so she ignored all advice and used the magic item on Dongdonggu.
"Come on, Dongdonggu! Get ready! This time, we'll turn you back into a silly kid!"
That's really going too far.
It's like someone clearly wants to improve, even changing their bad habits and learning to live a more serious life, but you still force them to learn bad habits. To be honest, I'm a little annoyed by this soft approach.
"Haaah...!" Dongdonggu was equally annoyed. She seemed unwilling to let this farce continue any longer. She couldn't help but sigh deeply and complain, "Softie, you're still saying that? I want to go back to studying."
"Hmph, you can only say things like that now!" Softie seemed convinced that this magical artifact could change Dongdonggu back to her original stupid self, but after shaking the artifact several times without any reaction, she looked at Kobayashi and the others with some confusion and asked, "So, how do I use this?"
"Why don't we just take it back and ask Chris?"
Aqua said that as a matter of course.
Clearly, no one here knows what to do, but if Chris knew about this magical item, then he should know how to use it.
"So, the only option is to go to Blake City where Chris is currently located." Huihui nodded in agreement and shouted, "We must make Dongdonggu the pride of the Red Demon Clan once again!"
“No, that’s not necessary.” Dongdonggu refused rather coldly, her brows furrowing slightly as she said, “Also, Blake City? I really can’t stay with you that long, so I’ll take my leave now—”
"Wait!" Before she could finish speaking, the soft-spoken girl stopped her and shouted, "There's no harm in trying, is there? Don't you want to go back to normal?"
That's quite a subtle point.
It was as if Dongdonggu herself wanted to turn back to her original form, while Ruanhuhu continued to earnestly persuade her.
"Dongdong Mushroom, you just forgot! The Red Demon Clan's power, coolness, strength, creed, self-introduction... and so on. You may be a silly child, but you're very talented as a Red Demon. As your friend, I don't want you to lose it!"
"Even if you say that..." Dongdonggu said with a troubled expression, "I don't want to change anything."
That's the problem.
People whose personalities have changed are unaware of this, and may even regard their past immaturity as shameful. In such cases, whatever they say in a soft and weak manner is almost useless.
"So!" the soft-spoken girl said, unwilling to give up, and urged with great emotion, "You don't realize how serious this is. Do you think I would lie to Dongdonggu? Please, come with me!"
"I'm begging you too," Huihui said, her face also filled with worry and anticipation. "If Dongdonggu can be restored to its original state using magical tools, it will be a source of hope for the other Crimson Demons."
"Even Huihui is like this..."
Dongdonggu seemed surprised that Huihui would also try to persuade her, but whether it was their pleas that softened her heart or Huihui's involvement that made her feel too embarrassed to refuse, she could only sigh and agree in the end.
"Sigh... I'm not entirely sure, but if you two are taking this so seriously, there's nothing I can do. Just try out that magical item, that's all, right?"
"Thank you!"
Seeing Dongdonggu soften and become soft, she was quite touched, and even had the mood to tease her, saying, "If it goes back to normal, what happened before will definitely become a black history."
"If we're talking about a dark history, I think it's the current state of your soft and cuddly selves," Dongdonggu said helplessly, spreading her hands. "You've been pitiful ever since just now."
"It's...it's pitiful!?" X2
These words really hurt both of them.
Kobayashi nodded noncommittally and said, "Well... that's true."
"Xiao Lin!!"
Huihui was a little angry, and her cheeks even turned red. But in Kobayashi's opinion, they were just acting like chuunibyou (a Japanese term for someone with delusions of grandeur), completely unlike the Crimson Demon Clan, and it was no different from their embarrassing past.
"I said let's hurry up and go, I think the monsters below are about to rush up."
Aqua said this out of fear.
Speaking of which, I almost forgot, there seem to be even stronger monsters down there. But now that we've got the magical item, making a quick getaway is the best course of action, so I grabbed the eager Huihui and turned to run.
After playing around for a while, urged on by Dongdonggu, Xiaolin and the others found Chris. When she saw that the magic item had been found, she seemed relieved and explained her purpose while also telling everyone how to use the magic item.
"Then, please try activating the magical item using the method I just described."
"Here, it's soft and fluffy, give it a try."
Huihui looked at the soft, fluffy thing.
Soft and fluffy looked at Dongdonggu and said with an extremely serious expression, "It's time to go, Dongdonggu!"
"Okay, okay." Dongdong swallowed and whispered, "I'm a little nervous..."
"Eh!"
Ruan Huhu used a magical artifact, and in that instant, a beam of light enveloped Dongdonggu, startling the bewildered Crimson Demon girl.
"Waaaaahh ...
"Winter mushroom!?" xN
Everyone exclaimed.
Ruan Huhu was even more nervous and quickly asked, "How are you? Are you in a lot of pain?"
“It’s running normally!” Chris reassured them, explaining, “It’s because we’re manipulating mental energy, so these symptoms are bound to occur to some extent. Don’t worry, it will be fine soon.”
However, Dongdonggu's expression became increasingly strange.
"Ugh... Waaah...! I should have been serious...! This is supposed to be a wish...!"
"desire……?"
Hearing her say that, Kobayashi frowned in confusion.
I feel like there's something wrong with this statement.
She was soft and cuddly but extremely worried. She nudged Chris's shoulder and asked, "I said, is it okay to continue? I'm really worried about Dongdonggu!"
"It was so close! If we had continued, we definitely would have—"
"Wow!"
"You two, are you okay?"
Dongdonggu suddenly collapsed towards the soft, fluffy thing, and then the two of them fell to the ground together.
"The magical artifact is destroyed too." Darkness looked at the broken magical artifact and asked in surprise, "Was it... a success...?"
“No, that’s strange.” Chris stroked his chin, puzzled, and said after thinking for a moment, “It should have been working properly, but it’s like something’s blocking it, and it’s stopped working.”
"Aqua, did you see what happened just now?"
Huihui nudged the goddess next to her.
“Hmm.” Aqua nodded and said, “There seems to be some strange magic around the Winter Mushroom…”
"Aha……"
Dongdonggu stood up, dusted herself off, and complained, "In the end, nothing changed. I'm going back now."
"Dongdonggu! Wait, are you alright?" the soft-spoken girl asked hurriedly. "Rest for a bit before—"
"It's alright." Dongdonggu remained unmoved and said with a slight smile, "I have things I need to do back in the village."
After saying that, he turned around and left.
It was as if she had truly been manipulated.
"How could this be..." Ruan Huhu was dumbfounded. She couldn't help but murmur, "Dongdonggu, please! Wake up!"
"That's why I said that, because I'm awake." Dongdonggu looked at her and said, "Stop doing such boring things all the time, you should study hard."
"Wait, wait, don't go!"
"I'm also worried about you, Softie. What will you become in the future? Hurry back to the village. I'll teach you if you want to study. Goodbye."
"Dongdong mushroom!!"
As if she had completely lost patience, no matter how softly she called out, Dongdonggu walked outside without looking back and soon disappeared.
She knelt limply on the ground, looking utterly devastated.
"Why, why..."
"Soft and fluffy..."
Huihui looked at her with sympathy. The three of them were from the same village, and if her good friend became this normal, she wouldn't be able to stand it either... What did you say? Youyou was normal to begin with? Oh well, it doesn't matter if she's a freak.
Chris picked up the broken magical artifact from the ground and said with some surprise, "Something's not right. How could a magical artifact break like this... Hmm, let's investigate it a bit."
"Please," Kobayashi pleaded with Chris, after all, she was the embodiment of a goddess, she must know all about this kind of thing. But, compared to this...
He looked at the soft-spoken girl who was keeping her head down and not saying a word.
I'm completely depressed.
To be honest, he didn't have any better ideas. But he had no choice but to go back to the Red Devil's lair and think of something.
But the Crimson Village had changed drastically by then.
"Alright, the new Crimson Demon Clan is about to begin!"
“Oh oh oh————” xN
Under the Red Demon Clan Chief's command, many Red Demons shouted in response.
"Words of sympathy become actions etched in history—the Crimson Demon Clan is bound by this kind of thing. But they have no choice but to stop!"
"Yes, yes!" xN
"From this moment forward, awakened Crimson Demons... yes, as true Crimson Demons, let us create a new era together!"
“Oh oh oh————” xN
With such a slogan, it seems that the Crimson Demon Clan is about to reach new heights.
Just then, Dongdonggu returned and, upon hearing the Red Demon Clan Chief's slogan, clenched her fist and shouted, "True Red Demon Clan... Alright, let's keep up the good work from now on!"
(End of this chapter)