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"Brother… Mom…" Camilla said, her voice quivering with emotion. "Okay! I'll do my best for everyone…!"
"And where must I go?" Teressa asked.
"To the frontlines. You and Insecta will charge Mother Scarlet. I call you the Three-Lady Stampede—three powerful older ladies with immense strength!" Vlad said, only for his mother to swiftly smack his head.
"Ouch!"
"Who are you calling an older lady?! That name is terrible, my son!" she snapped. "Now, I'll be going… Change the name, and also, I am not an old lady!"
Teressa fumed that her son called her old, and Vlad could understand where she was coming from. That remark was definitely rude…
"Hah, I brought that upon myself," Vlad sighed. "Anyway…"
"So what do we do then? If everyone will be fighting there…" Gofumina said.
"We're going to fight the golems while sneaking toward the King. At the same time… well, you'll see what I will do," Vlad said confidently. "Queenie's army will go to the frontlines. In summary, the Three-Lady Stampede will go to the front—this includes Insecta's Insects, our strongest soldiers as long as they're closer to her and her buffs. Then we go to the right side and cover any spot we can, fighting and pushing through. Queenie's army will cover the left side."
"Boys and girls! Are you ready for this?! We're going to rumble like never before! Another big raid! You're farming points, right?! Last time we got a bunch of awesome stuff, after all!" Queenie cheered her over one hundred player followers, who roared in unison below the walls. She was truly their beloved idol, livestreaming everything right now too, bringing thousands of viewers to another "collab" where they would split earnings.
"OOOHHHHH!" Her fanboys and fangirls cheered, of all sorts of shapes and sizes. There was even a group made entirely of skeletons called the "Skelebros," her most fervent fans and the ones with the highest levels here.
"And to incentivize everyone to fight with everything you've got, I thought about a special reward!" Queenie said, winking at everyone. "The five people who can gather the most Raid Points will get a special date with me! Yes! We'll get to do things together that nobody else does. How about it?! We could go to a dungeon, eat at a restaurant in the game world, perhaps even have fun~ What else? I wonder!"
"OOOHHHH?! HELL YEAH!" They cheered, everyone drooling for such an opportunity, their eyes blazing with conviction.
"Huh, Queenie? Are you sure this is fine?" Vlad asked, feeling she might have overdone it.
"It's fine. As long as it's in-game, it doesn't matter if I sell out a few dates! We have to protect this damn city, right? So I need them in top condition and as crazy as possible," Queenie said confidently. "See? I'm useful!"
"Yeah, I have to admit, you've got their hearts," Vlad laughed. "Thank you."
"Heh~ You'll owe me big after this, you hear me?" Queenie winked at Vlad and sent him a kiss, making Chris rage at him.
"Hey, what was that?!" Chris said angrily as Queenie giggled playfully and flew down. "D-Did you see what she did?!"
"Calm down, she was just playing…" Vlad sighed. "She's a troll, after all."
"Aaaahhh… whatever," Chris rolled his eyes. "I guess it's starting… so what are you doing with your lookalike?" Chris glanced at Vlad's Doppelganger.
"Isn't it obvious? Baiting," Vlad smiled. "He will distract the King and divert his attention while we fight his army and diminish their numbers. Meanwhile, we'll sneak behind him as we fight and help everyone else."
"Oho, now that sounds better! I think I'm in," Chris nodded, feeling it was time for things to get serious. "Alright! Too much Slice of Life so far; let's get to the action already! And it better not end any time soon!"
"Don't worry… I think there might be more threats than just that guy…" Vlad said.
"Eh?! Really? Who?" Gofumina asked.
"The Maiden of the Emerald Sea Cultists, and also Silver Moon City…" Vlad said. "I bet their forces are mobilizing close to us as we speak, but… if I can play my cards well, we could benefit from that rather than make things worse."
"Benefit from that? But how?" Chris asked. "Are you sure you're not just crazy?"
"Maybe, yeah," Vlad nodded. "Anyway, let's go."
As the group moved forward, Camilla saw her brother rush to the frontlines, worried.
"Big brother… you still worry about me, don't you?" she sighed. "That's why you left me here… But… I'll make sure to show you that I'm not useless!"
Furrowing her eyebrows, little Camilla's resolve strengthened, and…
"Gyooo…"
A whisper reached her pointy ears as her aura turned into a transparent tentacle made of nothingness.
"What's wrong? Are you worried? Huh? Someone you know is coming? Green?"
Camilla looked into the distance, her eyes seeing what others could not.
Green flames spreading from everywhere, slowly aiming at Elderbridge.
"It must be like brother said! The green lady people are coming…"
She gripped her fists tightly as her aura spread everywhere.
"But I won't let anybody touch my home!"
As Vlad rushed forward, the golems were finally within sight. His entire army, which he had built hostility with, was ready for confrontation.
And…
"Go!"
His Super Doppelganger flew through the skies. The golems, thankfully not airborne, didn't target his clone either…
Until finally, the tall, handsome King of a destroyed Kingdom, Ezekiel, faced his most hated foe.
"So you've finally shown your face, you bastard… I'll make sure you pay for what you did to me!"
With a furious roar, several magic circles opened as giant boulders were fired at the Super Doppelganger, who flew around rapidly, avoiding them one by one.
"It worked! He's buying it!"
As Vlad celebrated, a massive lion-shaped golem, over twenty meters tall, roared. Its giant claws rushed down toward him.
He grabbed his sword, about to retaliate…
And yet!
"HYAA!"
With a mighty scream, a blazing majin stepped forward.
Her giant fist moved forward as her aura exploded into an inferno of flames.
BOOOM!
The entire golem's arm was blown up as flames spread through the rest of its body, creating many cracks and causing it to slowly crumble.
"Oh? Am I stronger than before? I really thought I was rusty!"
Mother Scarlet was a much greater asset and investment than the prince had envisioned.
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