Polynya

From there, Tesla loads another mag into her gun, yanks the woman up so she’s sitting, and fires a shot sideways through her body.

Kodai claps his hands together. “Tell her to come back.”

“You can, um, go ahead and come on back.”

“Roger, Rin,” Tesla’s voice echoes out of the speaker.

“Now to see about something else.” Kodai’s iNet desktop comes alive on his pupils and he pulls up the live feed from Tritania to find Tamana standing on the rooftop of the Shinigami’s rented guildhall in Aramis.

(0)__(x)

Tamana has been leveling since the betrayal yesterday, aided by a dark spell that increases the EXP doled out at night. Now up to level fifteen, Tamana isn’t strong enough to do as much damage as he’d like her to be able to do.

But psychological damage can sting far worse than physical damage.

Tamana Nakamura Level 15 White Warrior

HP: 410/410

MANA: 389/389

ATK: 117

DEF: 134

MATK: 149

MDF: 108

LUCK: 6

She stands in her alien Tagvornin armor custom fit to her shapely form. The armor is black, with red accents that run up the sides of her body. The collar extends up to the bottom of her elven ears and her white hair has been cut short to better fit the helmet.

Tamana places a skull-shaped helm on her face and locks eyes with Kodai’s feed.

She knows, Kodai thinks. He admires her armor for another moment. It was incredibly expensive, and without the serpent woman behind the door, he wouldn’t have been able to procure it.

The armor is from an extinct Proxima world known as Unigaea, and the weapons of Tritania are all but useless against it. Even if they weren’t, it would still be hard to put her down, as the enchantment on the armor adds any damage to the wearer as extra HP.

Kodai is hoping to get some of the Tagvornin armor himself, but this armor previously belonged to a woman, and unlike much of the armor in Tritania, it didn’t mold to fit his form.

No matter.

Kodai watches as a dragon takes shape in the air above the rooftop.

The mirrored female dragon is a new addition to their ranks. The irony is that it was his younger brother’s guild, most notably a letter sent to the dragon by the filthy goblin, that turned the dragon to the serpent woman’s attention.

It wasn’t long before the serpent woman had one of the stronger RPCs go to the Cape of Chukchis and take the dragon. And now the mirrored beast has a golden collar around its neck preventing it from getting away. If it so much as tries to attack any of the Shinigami, the collar will decapitate her with its inner blades.

Riding the dragon is an RPC named Tomas, who wears Tagvornin armor and a Corinthian helmet. Tomas was one of the serpent woman’s first converts, and from what Tamana said, Tomas is the reason that the Swede has come to Tritania, which turned out to be completely true.

FeeTwix Fajer.

Kodai shifts his gaze from the dragon and Tamana to FeeTwix’s livestream, which shows the Mitherfickers moving in a wagon towards Katiyana. He has been monitoring the feed on and off since yesterday, after he became aware of who the Swede actually was.

So far, FeeTwix had been good at covering his tracks, but he’d let lots of stuff slip too, like the sign fucking pointing to Katiyana.

Then there’s the high elf that’s with them, another telltale sign of where Ryuk’s guild is heading.

It’s too easy, Kodai thinks, refocusing again on Tamana, who waits patiently on the rooftop of the Shinigami’s guild. Once the mirrored beast has settled, Tamana climbs onto the mirrored dragon’s head. The mirrored female dragon is older, overweight, and not so glamorous with all the scales that have been plucked from her stomach, but she’ll work as transportation for now, until they can get some griffins in Polynya.

After Tamana secures her seat, the dragon begins flapping its wings.

This should really kick Ryuk in the nuts, Kodai thinks as the dragon lifts into the air. Tamana will prove a formidable foe for his younger brother’s guild, and Tomas, at level 51, will seal the deal.

They’ll respawn, and she can kill them again once they do.

It’s too easy, he thinks as he focuses on Tamana. She’ll never break from the trance put on her by the serpent woman.

Kodai laughs aloud and Rin looks at him.

“Everything okay, boss?” the pink salon manager asks, swallowing hard.

“Yes,” he says sharply, “you’d know if things weren’t okay.”

A message flashes on Kodai’s iNet screen and he flinches.

Satomi: Your mother requests to see you and your brother at noon tomorrow. There will not be food, so eat before you come.

Kodai’s recent happiness shatters into a million pieces. He closes his eyes, bites his lip, and finally fires off a message to their mother’s assistant.

Kodai: Tell her we will be there. Has she contacted Ryuk?