NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

After another hour of rest, everyone woke up and prepared their things. We needed to ready ourselves for the ultimate fight of our lifetime against Alice, the strongest character in this game. Although I had little knowledge to gauge Alice's strength, that girl was the one who created those golems.

And if we experienced troubles taking them down, I could only guess we would have to give it ours all against Alice.

"That's the room we need to go to, right?" Match asked, as she glided her eyes at the door next to the shelves.

Okami nodded and answered, "Yes. Alice also mentioned that we would meet a butler on the way out.. Fortunately, she told us we don't have to fight anyone besides her."

"And according to Red, this place holds the obelisk. I think we need to defeat Alice before getting that obelisk. Red, did Alice give you anything? She would have messaged you something about the obelisk. That girl is one generous motherfucker," Okami asked, as he turned his face to me.

I received a message from Alice, but I did not know if I would share it with all of them. According to Alice, Okami would use me as bait to grab that obelisk. Although I did not believe what Alice had said, those words still placed some doubts in my mind.

Since Okami was still a player, I could not trust him fully with his actions. If I needed to team up with someone, that person should not be a player. That individual should also be a non-player character, which would understand my feelings.

And the only person I could think of was Alice. That girl even told me that the two of us shared the same fate as I did, especially when we lost someone we cared about. However, there was only one difference.

Alice got locked up inside her cage while I could waltz freely outside. And if I wanted, I could change our fate and destroy this game, together with the game developers.

"Hatred" was the word that linked us together. Alice and I got driven by our emotions, which led us here.

I brushed those thoughts aside and faced Okami. "No. No, I have received nothing from Alice."

All it took was one lie to change everything. After answering Okami's question, all of them resumed talking to themselves about our plan.

However, Match gazed at my face. Her eyes scrutinized mine, hinting that Match knew that I lied. She even grabbed me at the back, with her mouth curled downwards.

I leaned towards her ear and whispered, "I will tell you everything later, okay?"

Match nodded at my words and waited for the meeting to end. She kept fiddling her hands, itching to ask me right away. However, she knew my words would affect the team.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell them? That sounds important to me."

Match's words pierced through like a nail into my heart, since her words spoke the truth. If I told Okami and Ryoshi about what Alice had said, things would go smoother.

But I cannot fret, especially right now.

Before we entered the room, Okami called forth a meeting. We planned on talking about bringing Alice down with the weapons and abilities we had. Since we were up against someone stronger than our team, our team needed to plan something about it.

"Before I could say my thoughts, I'd like to hear your ideas for this group. Anything would do as long as it's reasonable," Wolf asked, and started with a question. "Let's start with you, Match. You're the only mage here. So please, let me hear your thoughts."

Match played with her fingers while thinking of something. She was never shy when I first saw her. Maybe the journey we had, fighting various enemies, changed her spirit.

"Ooh, ooh, I know! I can create you a barrier made of lava. Instead of using my abilities as an offence, I would use it as our defence! Since the lava could burn through most elements, using it as a shield could help us in this fight!" said Match, with her eyes sparkling like the stars. "But If I do that, my limit would increase. I would use my level spells around two and a half minutes instead of five! That might hold us down."

"Actually, it's quite the opposite. That lava barrier would save us some time. And I was about to tell you that," Okami answered, and continued. "If you could do that, be my guess, Match. And you should place some wind magic on our feet so we could float in the air if we need to. That ability is highly valuable, considering that we need all the spells against Alice."

Match's role was just like before. She would act as our support and mage that would cast offensive magic towards our target. That girl also knew how to position herself away from the fight, which made our planning easier than before.

After dealing with Match, Okami turned his face towards Ryoshi. "We already know that this guy could create some indestructible arrows. But I doubt we could trap Alice inside a cage. She's a smart opponent, even smarter than all of us combined. I'm afraid that those barrier arrows or whatever Ryoshi calls it would become a shield against Alice's projectiles."

Okami had a point when he said those lines. I also thought we could use those arrows and trap Alice inside, as we did to the two golems.

"I didn't learn anything new besides these arrows. And like before, I have seven arrows ready to use as an indestructible shield. So, like you've said, I will use these bad boys as shields. Maybe I would even use these darts as a wall to go through some door if we saw one," Ryoshi confessed, as he prepared those bows in his quiver. "I still also have my lightning bolts here. Maybe I could use this to out-speed Alice and hurt her."

"Well, that could work. But I think Alice would be slightly faster than lightning. But that would only happen if she notices an attack heading straight in her direction. I remember Alice used something like that when I charged straight at her with one of my finishing blows. She protected her vital organs during that time but couldn't protect her entire body," Okami narrated, as he nodded to himself. "And that topic would lead to you, Red."

After talking about Ryoshi and Match, Okami finally changed the subject and included me. "You can manipulate and use lightning. Although you could use it for a limited time like Match's, that lightning spell would activate longer than it should be. I want you to attack Alice from behind and use that lightning ability to catch her off guard. You also need to use your [shadow walk] and walk unnoticed at the sides. Don't worry. The others and I have your back." Okami explained, as he met my eyes staring back at him. "Among all the members in this team, Alice would pin me down to the ground. She knows that I'm the strongest player in the world. And even with this smurf account, I could deal some damage to her. I don't even have Fenrir with me, the dog…. or pet with me for this battle. But I know that we would have a fighting chance against Alice,"

I took a deep breath and replied to Okami, "Just like Ryoshi, I didn't learn anything new besides my own skills. And, as you've said, I could use my [shadow walk] and my lightning abilities to slice through Alice's back," I answered. "I'm not good against this, Okami. But I will try to do as you've told me."

"Then that's good enough for me," Okami answered, as he cleared his throat. "And last, my role for this team. Since we do not have a tank, I would soak some damage and attack Alice at her front. I will use my forms to distract her while the rest of you bombard her with your spells and attacks. Don't worry about me since my health is significantly larger than all of you combined."

"And always remember to look at me and hear my words. Alice has an AOE attack or area of effect attack. That means that Alice also has spells that could annihilate the entire area if we're not careful. That spell won't bring down this castle, but a part of it would definitely be destroyed afterwards. If I signalled you to retreat, withdraw and hide under Ryoshi's barriers. If you don't, you die," Okami continued, as he looked into our eyes for the last time. "Are you guys ready? Protect each other's back if Alice attacks. But also make sure that you protect yourself from her. Always know that some of you might get hurt or even die from battle. But we cannot back down right now. We have to move forward as a team. We have some chemistry with each other, right? This is our last stand, everyone! We should look alive as we step on the other side of that door!"