"Tonight's the night."
"'That I will fall for you?'"
"'Over again?'"
"'Don't make me change my mind?'"
"That's 'Tonight will be the night.'" Roko sighed.
"What are we talking about?" Corissa blinked.
"Just a pop culture love song that these girls SHOULDN'T KNOW." Roko snarled.
"Bro's hating on us cause we know ball." Helena snickered.
"I-I want to know ball too!" Corissa yelped, "Tell me about balls!"
"How do these walking cow tits say the most sus things with allat innocence?" Isla frowned.
"That's Corissa for you." Roko sighed, "You get used to it eventually."
"How does one become both the virgin AND the whore?" Isla mused.
"Isla, language." Perry said sternly, "Anyway, do we have visual on any Archaeopteryx?"
"Not from my viewpoint." Roko reported from his side of the rooftop, "Helena, any reports?"
"Hm? Ah, let me check." Helena said as she moved precious time away from teasing Corissa to close her eyes and check her drones.
"Does this woman ever take anything seriously?" Isla grumbled.
"Do you?" Roko shot back.
"Why so hostile, Roko? You wound me." Isla said mockingly.
"Heal it then, doc."
"Oh. Possible hit." Helena reported, "Shadows moving in the eastern quadrant."
"Must've been the wind." Isla nodded.
"You know it isn't." Perry sighed, "Let's head east then."
The group moved down from their rooftop vantage point and followed Helena's directions across the town. Helena would continue to move her drones to try and get a good look at said moving shade but it avoided her drones quite skillfully, using the plentiful shadows of the night to hide with unnatural ease. Still, Helena did her best to chase the creature as they made the short way to where they were to meet this monster face to face. And with each of them tensed up, Helena went ahead and focused on using her drones to chase this shadow out into the light of the moon. And what emerged was...exactly how Roko predicted it would look.
A raptor like dinosaur except with long arms adorned with feathers. Except where skin and feathers would be was instead flowing black oil. With so much detail lost, it was almost a living silhouette, a moving shadow of an Archaeopteryx instead of a living creature. Still, it moved and regarded them like a living monster enough that it stunned the on-lookers for a brief instant. Until someone finally spoke up,
"I thought it'd be bigger."
"What?" Roko turned to look at Roland with a frown.
"I just thought it'd be bigger." Roland shrugged.
"No, that's a normal size for an Archaeopteryx." Roko replied.
"Yeah, yeah, I know it's like...a big raptor or something I was just...hoping for more." Roland said.
"Roland, we're not fighting T-Rexes."
"I know, I know. But it would be cooler if we were."
"Roland..." Roko sighed, unsure if he really wanted to take the time to reprimand Roland on this matter before Helena spoke up.
"Uhh...Roko? Something's up with the Archaeopteryx."
Turning around to face the dinosaur, Roko recognized the animal looking at Roland with a curious head tilt as if it had understood Roland's unreasonable critique. Then it began running off into the alleys again.
"Dammit, it's running away!" Isla cried.
"Everyone after it! Roland, follow close behind and once you see us corner the REASONABLY SIZED Archaeopteryx, help setup Helena on a vantage point."
"You know what isn't reasonably sized?" Roland muttered as he ran after the rest of the group.
"Envy is unbecoming of you, Roland." Helena chuckled.
Roko wasn't sure if he would have to start splitting their group to try and corner the Archaeopteryx but it wasn't long before the monster finally seemed to stop, the squeaking of small animals alerting them to an incident around the corner. With no other entrance into the alleyway, Roko simply advised caution as he headed the group around the corner...and discovered the Archaeopteryx eating a family of skunks.
"Oh ew." Isla said as she peered from around the wall.
"Huh. It's really uhh... Archaeopteryx-like?" Perry said, unsure of how else to put the sight of an ancient dinosaur picking up a live skunk up from the tar like ground it had made to capture the animals to eat with its beak.
"So what does this imply for the nature of these creatures?" Isla asked, "The eldritch ones I mean."
"I mean, good point." Roko frowned as the Archaeopteryx turned to face him with the butt of a skunk aimed at him, "I don't think I've seen these creatures...eat like this."
"Does it matter?" Perry frowned, "Let's go and kill it before it finishes eating."
"Be my guest." Roko scoffed.
Perry looked confused until he took a step towards the dinosaur and the Archaeopteryx chomped down hard on the skunk, causing a spray of it's notorious fluid at Perry.
"Aw gross." Isla said, covering her nose and ducking back behind the wall again.
"Oh god, that's..." Perry coughed and stumbled back, retching as he struggled to avoid puking, "That's nothing. That's fine. It's do-able. Uh...Roko go get him."
"Are you kidding me? No." Roko replied matter-of-factly.
"Well what else are we supposed to do?!" Perry frowned.
"Watch this. Momo."
"I'm not going near that." Momo frowned.
"No, shoot it."
"Oh. Yeah I can do that." Momo chuckled, "Lightning!"
A bolt of light blasted from Momo's hand, passing through the smelly gas unhindered and blasted into the opposite wall as the Archaeopteryx easily ducked the bolt.
"Huh? Lightning!"
"Didn't you dig out their nest with this spell?" Isla called, "Why don't you use one of those instead of these thin ass bolts?!"
"We're in the middle of the city, I don't want to cause any big property damage!" Momo cried as the Archaeopteryx continued to dodge her attacks rather nimbly.
"Well we can't just let it keep feasting!" Perry cried.
"Uhh...too late on that." Kaguya called out.
Like Kaguya said, their hesitation had given the monster enough time to finish consuming the poor family of animals.
"Awww...poor animals." Corissa whimpered.
"You must not be smelling these 'poor animals' then." Isla scowled.
"I kinda feel like we're not taking the eldritch creature finishing eating more seriously..." Perry said.
"I mean, I've never seen this strain of monster do anything like this..." Roko frowned, "But how quickly can it process this biomaterial in this method it's never used before?"
As if in response to Roko's question the Archaeopteryx practically pulsed as it began growing to an enormous size. So big that it began to rapidly outgrow the alley, forcing Roko and company to run out as the ancient dinosaur stepped back out into the moonlit night with a shrieking roar.
"Hey guys I finally caught up!" Roland called as he finally caught up with the rest of the group and realized the sheer monster in front of them, "Whoa! Now that's more like it!"
"Roland, I'm going to fucking kill you!" Roko shouted.
"What did I do?!"
"You said it was too small!"
"Oh, you're just going to blame this on me?!"
"IT LITERALLY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING UNTIL YOU SAID IT WAS TOO SMALL!"
"I didn't say it was too small, I said I expected bigger!"
"I'm not getting into this hair-splitting with you right now! But I will say that's probably something you've heard your entire life among girls!"
"I mean I have said that." Helena said as he drone popped out of the ground.
"We just lying now?!" Roland cried, "And can we focus on the giant Velociraptor?!"
"It's an Archaeopteryx!" Roko snapped.
"I KNOW! It's just...really hard to say." Roland grumbled.
"My disappointment in you is immeasurable." Roko growled.
"Not for nothing but we should probably deal with the dinosaur, guys." Momo smiled.
"Not for nothing but can't we just let Corissa deal with it with her magical nuke thing?" Isla asked.
When Isla said that, Momo turned to look at her with the most offended gasp that Roko had ever seen.
"Good point, Momo, go get em." Roko sighed.
"Yay! Thanks Roko!"
"We really doing this?" Isla shook her head.
"Just let me fight it a little!" Momo cried.
And before anyone could protest, Momo lunged at the Archaeopteryx. The ancient dinosaur turned to look at her just in time for her sword to land square on its beak, sending strings of lightning bursting out across the air. The Archaeopteryx looked...less than impressed and roared, the opening of it's beak sending Momo spinning back.
"Whoa!" Momo said, landing back on the ground with ease, "It's pretty damn sturdy!"
"Were they always this durable?" Kaguya asked.
"Well out of all the eldritch monsters we've seen, the oil ones were always the hardest to deal with." Roko sighed.
"Really?" Perry asked, "What about the flesh ones? Those take control of your body."
"We've only really dealt with them onve directly and mostly in passing." Roko replied, "But the one time it was direct, they took control of Corissa and awakened her holy spell so I think we're set if we see them again. Honestly it feels like we're overdue for a proper confrontation."
"Yeah, the oil monster's formlessness has always been a real problem." Helena nodded, "Second would probably be the tentacle monsters since they can eat magic now."
"They can do WHAT now?!" Isla cried.
"Hey, a little help here?" Momo cried as she, Mikado and Varis were busy keeping the dinosaur from crashing into innocent homes.
"Ah sorry!" Perry cried as he ran forward to help.
"What are you waiting for, Roland?" Helena's drone asked, "Get in there."
"I dunno, it's kinda big." Roland scratched his head, "I dunno what I could do to it."
"Seriously?" Roko scowled.
"Look, it's not like I DON'T want to help!" Roland protested, "I just don't want to waste my energy you know..."
"Roland this entire situation is YOUR FAULT!"
"How?!"
"You're the one who was so disappointed with it's size that it went and ate up more biomass to grow even bigger!"
"You can't blame that on me! It's not my fault it reacted like that!"
"Hey Roland." Helena said, "Run a scenario with me real quick okay?"
"Yeah?"
"'Does this dress make me look fat?'"
"..."
"Why aren't you answering? Are you afraid of a reaction? Even though it shouldn't be your fault?"
"..."
"Exactly. Now go out there."
"Goddamn pedantic mofos, always needing to be right." Roland muttered as he drew his swords and walked briskly towards the dinosaur he had difficulty pronouncing.
"Ok Roko." Isla tapped her finger on her arm impatiently, "What's the plan?"
"I mean, I think they got it." Roko shrugged, "Momo's enchantment magic's keeping everyone safe and we have plenty to wear it down in time safely. So if we just wait-"
"For a house to get flattened?"
"I said safely didn't I?"
"I dunno, I think you're underestimating this." Isla frowned, "I think we should just let Corissa nuke it."
"That is the final option, yeah." Roko nodded, "But Momo really wants to fight it."
"It's good practice!" Momo called.
"The more we let it live the more it learns though, right?" Isla frowned.
"You have a point." Roko sighed, "I'd hate for them to develop something like the tentacle monster's magic eating."
"Just five more minutes!" Momo called, "I'm having fun!"
"Man, sucks having a battle junkie doesn't it?" Isla sighed.
"Oh, you too?" Helena asked.
"A few actually." Isla moaned, "I keep telling them to section them off into their own little unit so they can fight themselves into a shallow grave but-"
"Isla, you know what the boss would say with that kind of language!" Perry called.
"Yeah yeah." Isla rolled her eyes, "God, if I could restructure our entire troop."
"Why not start your own?" Kaguya suggested.
"Now THAT's an ide-"
"No one would follow you." Perry called.
"You all seem to have an awfully lot of free time for someone who's supposed to be killing a giant dinosaur!"
"I don't think it's used to a body like this." Momo reported, "It's not hitting as fast or hard as normal."
"Well then, just end it." Roko called back.
"Big talk for someone who hasn't even drawn his sword yet!" Roland retorted, "Man, this isn't even worth bragging about. Maybe if it could-"
As if in response, the Archaeopteryx suddenly roared, a louder roar than usual but nothing it hadn't been doing before. What it hasn't been doing before was releasing a stream of red hot fire from it's mouth, the combatants all scattering underneath this wave of burning fire.
"ROLAND!" Everyone screamed at the poor knight who quietly curled up in a fetal position and slowly waited for the fire to consume him from several feet away.
"Okay, Roko I'm gonna call it here." Isla scowled, "Corissa, go nuke it!"
"I-It's not a nuke!" Corissa yelped "And..."
"It's fine." Roko sighed as he watched the Archaeopteryx approaching the houses nearby with walls of flames protecting it's surroundings, "This is getting out of hand anyway."
"O-Okay!" Corissa nodded.
"Can she even get close right now?" Perry asked as he rushed back.
"Doesn't need to if you use the right spell." Roko answered, "Right Corissa?"
"Right." Corissa nodded firmly, "Sanctuary!"
A circle of white light exploded around the young girl and began to travel towards the Archaeopteryx. From prior experience, just touching this light would disintegrate it. But apparently this Archaeopteryx was not done with surprises as it recognized the light and with a flap of its wings, took to the skies, off into the air where Corissa's light could not reach it.
"WHY IS IT FLYING?!" Roko cried, already full up to the limits of his patience with these surprises.
"Wait, is it not supposed to fly?" Perry asked blankly.
"NO! I mean, it can like...float a little. Maybe glide a few feet but Archaeopteryxs can't freely fly like THAT! Just look at the size of it's wings compared to its body! Who thought it could fly?!"
In response to Roko's question, everyone around him looked away, unable to look him in the eyes.
"I'm so fucking done." Roko curled up in a fetal position as well, "Just let it eat it."
"N-Now now Roko, we still need to fight a giant...fire breathing...and flying Archaeopteryx." Kaguya said with the most falteringly reasonable tone she could muster.
"At this point, does it qualify as a dragon?" Helena asked.
"Maybe if I die, I can wake up at the start of yesterday." Roko muttered.
"Roko's now's not the time to try Re: Zero Starting Life in Another World!" Helena cried.
"Is that another ball I'm supposed to know?!" Corissa cried.
"FOCUS!" Isla shouted, "Can we deal with the dinosaur first?!"
Isla's screaming snapped everyone back to attention but soon came the question:
"So how do we get up there?" Momo asked, "I can help make us jump higher but we can't fly like that and if we just wait for it to come down, it'll probably get the first hit anyway."
Isla huffed and puffed angrily until a familiar black gauntlet patted her gently on the shoulder. When she looked up, Isla saw Varis standing there and he gave her a thumbs up. Taking a few steps forward, the black knight dropped his body, preparing a lunging kneel as he drew his sheathed sword back behind his body, free hand resting over the handle as he prepared what seemed to be a single slash. The Archaeopteryx seeing this, flew over him as it prepared to attack, circling around to behind the black knight as it prepared it's breath weapon. And yet Varis remained unmoving.
"Um...it's behind you n-"
Corissa' gentle correction was cut short as Varis finally lunged forward, disappearing in blistering speed. And in the instant afterwards, the Archaeopteryx released a sharp cry as it's head fell to the ground, and it's body crash landed into the earth, digging through the dirt before it finally stopped practically inches outside the village perimeter. In the air was Varis, facing the right direction with his sword drawn and monster slain.
"Oh, I forgot he could DO that." Perry and Isla exclaimed.
"Do what?!" Corissa and Momo cried in surprise and excitement respectively.
"What, did you guys not know?" Isla blinked, "It's his sword style.
"Varis has a sword style?!" Corissa and Momo cried in increasing surprise and excitement respectively.
"Haha. Yeah, he uhh...sort of picked it up while he was journeying with our group." Perry laughed awkwardly.
"What's it called?!" Momo demanded, "What does it do?!"
"If I recall correctly, it's called Inga Oudan." Isla mused, "Translated...I think it means something like Soul Crossing?"
"When did he learn something like that?!" Corissa yelped.
"He uhhh..." Perry scratched his head, "He actually killed his…'Master', I guess you can call it? It really was just a master swordsman who crossed paths with Varis one day and just drew his sword on him. The two fought for like an entire day before Varis finally killed him after mastering Inga Oudan from him."
"A whole day to master a sword style?" Roko frowned.
"That's just how this style's practitioners passed down their techniques." Isla shrugged, "The find a candidate and try to cut them down. If they survive and beat the master then the knowledge of the style is inherited magically."
"He couldn't refuse?" Helena asked curiously.
"Not at all." Perry shook his head, "And it's not for lack of speech or anything either. The style's evolved from a concept known as Tsujigiri where swordsmen would simply cut someone down at a crossroads just to test their new sword. It's evolved now to such an extent that their techniques now sort of...rewrite fate itself so that their slash will always hit the target when they draw."
"The slash he did just now was known as Inga Oudan Iai: Purgatory Decent for example." Isla explained.
"That's how it was explained to use by another master anyway." Perry said as he and Isla shrugged.
The group looked dumbfounded, unsure of how to take this new information until someone spoke up.
"Iai, you say?" Helena said, her growing smirk coming clearly across in her voice through her drone.
"No! NO!" Roland protested immediately, "V-Varis' technique is a sword DRAW technique! I want to slash and then sheath my sword before they realize they've been cut so it's a sword SHEATH technique! Completely different!"
"It still falls under iai though." Momo remarked.
"NO! NO, IT'S COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!" Roland screeched.