Micchi Versus the New World - Chapter 94

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Chapter 94

Both of us bashed our way through the maze like the walls were made out of wet tissue paper. It was just all stone after all. We left behind a trail of rubble and a hole through each wall, eventually coming out the other side to a new chamber.

Here, a long walkway with a drop deeper than anyone could see, extended to the next area, but was trapped with large axes and wrecking balls suspended by chains, swinging like pendulums. The path was wide enough for both of us to walk comfortably on it, but the obstacles were the hard part. Getting knocked off would mean instant death, and who the hell knows what's down there.

"Alright, how about I throw you across?" Anya suggested.

"Yeah, fuck you. There's gotta be another way," I said.

Seeing no other option, I brought Fade out for help. The god spilled to the ground face first and ass in the air.

"Oh, why have you brought me out? How am I supposed to help you? This trial is yours to overcome, not mine!" Fade complained, rubbing his head and sighing.

Lyria bellowed with laughter. "Haha! I thought I sensed the Celestial Bell. You have been made a patsy of these barbaric apes, I see. You have always been the weakest among us, Fade. Perhaps I shall witness your end in my trials. What a sight that will be to behold!"

"Kuh…" He stared down at his feet in shame, the whole 'godly' aura diminished to just a wimp getting kicked in the dirt.

Well, well. Looks like us boneheads weren't the only ones screwing with each other. The gods in this world picked on their runts of the litter, too. Lyria's snobby tone ticked me off though, and for once, I'd like for Fade to come out on top and make her eat those words.

"You gonna let her bully you around like that?" I asked, pulling him by the decorative collar around his neck up to my face.

"I… I am weak." Fade avoided looking me in the eyes. "For all my boasting, my strength pales in comparison to the other seventeen. Even should I speak, my words are hollower than an empty coffin. Even should I fight back, my strikes carry no weight. I'm—"

"A little bitch boy?" Anya chimed in.

"Nnh… A little bitch boy…" He hesitantly confirmed.

"Being weak is a choice. Letting people push you around is a choice. You don't lose when you get shoved to the ground, but you do lose the moment you decide to stay down. If I knew you were gonna be a little bitch about it, I'd have just let you stay in the bell." Tired of his whining and looking at his ugly mug, I tossed him back to the ground.

Fade made a troubled expression, then returned himself to the Celestial Bell.

"Like always, we only got ourselves to rely on." Anya patted me on the back.

I walked right up to the first obstacle until I was a foot away from the swinging metal axe. The bladed edge carved just low enough that we couldn't crawl under. There was no way back up if we're knocked down.

"Screw it. Give me a hand," I said to Anya.

She quickly caught on to what I wanted to do, positioning herself next to me. We balled up a fist each, waited for the right moment, and sucker punched the side of the axe so hard, it swung out of control. The chain link that suspended it caught onto the chain of the next obstacle's wrecking ball, ripping them from the hinges and causing a domino effect on the proceeding ones.

Every metal axe and ball crashed into the abyss, leaving a clear path to the next chamber.

As I was about to push open the door to the next room, Anya grabbed my arm. I had a feeling we might eventually come to blows. Some god's power was dangled in front of us and only one could take it. Why wouldn't Anya want it for herself?

However, when I met her eyes, preparing myself for a fight, Anya grabbed my head instead and ruffled my hair into a mess.

"The hell are you doing?" I backed away from her.

"Before we keep going, I need to know one thing. Do you still care about Chika? Even after what she did?" Anya asked me.

The question took me by surprise. I balled both hands into fists, clenching them until they trembled and my nails bit into my palms.

"Of course, I do. I ain't afraid to admit that I am what I am today because of her. Getting my ass whooped by her, acting like she doesn't care about us anymore… it makes me want to beat the answers out of her even more," I answered.

Before I knew it, Anya bear hugged me so tightly that I couldn't break free.

"I'm not hugging you back! Let me go!" I growled.

"Me and I are the only two words you know, I swear. It's never us. You keep pushing people away to do things yourself until the last moment when you're alone, then you ask for help. There's nothing wrong with asking for help from the start, you know? That's why I was more than glad to go with you. Someone had to chaperone your sorry ass from making," Anya grinned, finally letting me go and walking past me to open the doors.

Maybe I had something to say back. Maybe I didn't. Part of me wanted Anya to be wrong, that I could do things on my own without help. But…

Both of us could feel Lyria's rage in the atmosphere for passing through by unconventional means. Taking our victory in stride, we entered the next room and waiting for us was an army of undead. Beyond them, a giant vault of gold and black contained the final prize.

"You may have cheated the other chambers, but now you face the many dead of those who came before you. Soon, you shall also join their numbers!" Lyria's voice was dripping with impatience.

"You keep throwing shit at us, and we'll keep knocking it back." Anya cracked her neck and knuckles.

"Insolent— What?" The goddess sounded confused. "There are more of you?"

A spear flew past me and Anya, decimating the undead into piles of ash. It plunged halfway into the vault, creating cracks and fissures along the final door. Lightning struck down on the weapon, vanishing it from sight.

Entering slowly behind us, wreathed in fire, one side of the kimono shedded down her right arm which wielded the spear named Kamigoroshi, was Kaoru.

"I was wondering where you two had disappeared to. So you found the trial. Now step aside," Kaoru demanded.

This bitch was planning to take it for herself. No wonder she joined us on the expedition to Mou'nan.

As I turned to fight, Anya stuck an arm out to stop me. She walked ahead to put herself between me and Kaoru.

"Sorry, Kaokao. We were here first. You can take your shotacon ass back upstairs." Anya made shooing gestures at her.

"Whatever power is behind that vault, I will have it for myself. The only way I can protect Yonnu, to protect my paradise, is by acquiring it to become stronger than Chika. If you get in my way, I won't hold back," Kaoru warned, her Bishamonten persona emerging as the flames grew in intensity.

I guess we weren't so different after all. We both want it to be able to beat Chika and protect the ones we care about. Too bad only one of us could take it.

"Afraid I can't let you do that. See, that power is going to Micchi instead," Anya said.

"What?" My whole body went numb for a moment, trying to process her words. "Anya… you…"

She glanced over her shoulder and flashed a stupid smile. "From the very start, I've always been on yours and Yui's side. I won't be like Chika. I'll make up for abandoning you guys. Now get going and make me proud, kid. Go!"

Without sparing another thought, my legs moved on their own towards the vault.

"I won't let you!" Kaoru threw her spear, the force carving a trench in the ground as it flew toward me.

"Your fight's with me." Anya caught it in mid-air, her fist clenching the spear like a dragon's jaws clamping down on it. "It's time to settle which of us is stronger, Kaokao!"

As the two were duking it out, their battle caused the entire chamber to shudder.

Already made brittle by Kaoru's previous attack, I easily smashed open the vault doors and raced down the long corridor. The echoes of their cataclysmic showdown could still be heard and felt all the way down here. I came into a wide chamber where the high walls had evenly spaced alcoves, displaying suits of armor and each holding different weapons. There was a pyramid at the center of the room, with steps leading to the top. Something was shining at the very peak.

An explosive force back where Kaoru and Anya were fighting knocked one weapon off a suit of armor. It crashed to the ground. I picked up the flanged mace which felt enchanted. However, in trying to swing it, the weapon broke in my grip.

"Nothing's going to match Sacchan, but maybe that will." I turned my eyes to the top of the pyramid.

However, as I stepped forward, someone else had entered the room behind me.

"Anego," a voice called out.

It was Yui.

"Yui!" I gasped, glad to see her.

But that only made one of us. Yui wasn't smiling. Instead, she had her nunchucks out, holding it so tightly her knuckles turned white. It didn't take a genius to figure out why.

"That's the whatchamacallit goddess thing up there, right?" Yui asked, slowly making her way up to me until we were only inches apart, but facing away from each other.

"Yeah," I answered truthfully. "I'm going to take it, become stronger, and bring Chika back to us."

"That makes two of us. I'm tired of everyone leaving me behind. I hate that you guys think I'm too weak to stand next to you all. Isn't that why you went off without me and went with Anya instead?" she cried.

"No… That's not it. I just didn't want to see you get hurt anymore—"

"Because you think I'm weak!" Yui lashed out with an electrifying strike from her nunchuck.

The hit sent me skidding on my feet and arms tingling from the shock. "Tch… Yui, damn it!"

"Kaoru and Anya aren't the only two who have a fight to settle. Micchi, I'll show you that I can take care of myself!" the lion roared.