I'm alive, so calm your tits! Yeah, I survived the battle with those guys by a stroke of luck and a mighty fine breadth of hair. Honestly though, even I have no clue what exactly happened back then, but from my recollection, it was all thanks to this big guy. Schocco, yeah, that's what the others called him.

"Crap-!" I shouted once I realized he was about to slam me right in the face.

I was already on the ground by this point, so a punch from our angle would've immediately crushed my head into a pancake. This being the case, I did notice something peculiar about my attacker's Eyes.

"He's nervous." I thought to myself, "Maybe this is actually his first time offing someone completely. I don't think I've ever seen a guy look this terrified of killing a person, but to think it'd happen when I'm the one about to lose my life... Dammit old man, this was just plain unfair!"

The mighty fist slammed, creating a crater around us as the quake sent my body to its epicenter. Still, I opened my Eyes and noticed his own staring back at me. How could I see him still if I was dead? I didn't know the answer to that either at the time.

"Quickly, before the dust settles!" He whispered so the others couldn't hear him, "Order us with those powers of yours to think you're dead! You can do that, right?"

"Ah, so that's it." I smirked, "You didn't kill me, that explains a lot."

In actuality, those Eyes weren't scared out of their mind because he was about to kill me, but because he was in the process of betraying his friends and switching sides. Yeah, if I had to do that, I... wouldn't care all that much, honestly. But I can see how it'd affect a regular guy like him.

"It's gonna take a lot of Focus to Command all four of you." I explained.

"Well figure it out, 'cause I honestly don't see any way how you're gonna survive these three at the current state you're in without it!" He urged me to begin chanting.

"...Fine." I sighed, "I Command those three..."

Finishing the sentence, I still wasn't sure the Command had worked. There was no way of knowing until the dust settled and they all ran up to inspect my body. If it turns out I hadn't poured enough Focus into my Iro Ability, or that something went wrong during my chant, then this really would be the end of me. Thankfully, my worries were unfounded.

"...Eh? That was it?" The other guy finally arrived to take a gander at me, "I barely even did anything, and he's already dead?"

Phew, looks like it worked after all. But still, given my Ability's rules, I have to somehow constantly balance keeping Eye contact with everyone in order for this to work. I purposefully didn't include my newest ally into the Command exactly because of the fact it'd lessen the burden I had to endure due to this rule. Right, that must be pretty weird for Schocco—All of his friends should be seeing a completely mutilated dead body right now, but he sees me completely fine, staring at all three of them. Hopefully his acting won't give us away...

"Can you blame him, though?" The cheery knife girl teetered along, poking my warm, squishy cheeks a few times for funsies.

She... Is she alright in the head? No, I vividly remember making them think my head got completely splattered by Schocco's punch, so why the hell is she still checking if I'm alive? Or is she just that dumb that she genuinely thinks I'd get up from that. H-Hey wait, did she just lick my blood off the finger she used to poke my face with!?

In any case, while they were busy engaging in friendly banter, I happened to catch a glimpse of Schocco's expression out of the corner of my Eye. He was terrified of getting found out, so his face was mostly a sweaty mess. Geez, be more obvious about the fact that you're hiding something from them, would ya'!? Alright, if he just shuts up and doesn't say anything, then we'll be in the clear.

"...If by earful you mean an earful of hurt, then sure!" The cheery weird girl sang a tune before stopping, "Ah, but let's first cut this guy up."

...What?

"The animals eat dead bodies away way faster when they're bleeding from every orifice." She continued with her explanation.

The hell kind of a reason is that! Seriously, what is wrong with this girl!? She already made double sure I'm dead, and yet she still wants to fillet me for the animals!? These animal activists are really starting to get scary! Schocco, ignore what I thought to myself earlier—Say something and save me!

"That's such a lie!" That other guy got mad at her, "You just wanna steal all the credit by making it seem like you killed him!"

"Boohoo, you got me..." She sulked.

Phew, I lucked out with having the other guy put some reason into her, thankfully. Had he not done that, I might've actually had to endure getting willingly sliced up without moving a muscle. It'd all be over though by then, so for now I should think of a way to make my escape.

Thankfully, Schocco finally got serious about this plan of his and lured the others away. He had a bit of a moment where he pitied me and asked them if they felt remorse, to which they obviously denied it. Yeah, I wouldn't feel bad about killing an asshole like me either, but what can you do.

"...Use this chance to run away." Schocco briefly muttered to me under his breath while the others were waiting for him to go with them.

"Thanks for this, but I'm not going anywhere without Nelly." I nodded back with a confident whisper.

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"Who said anything about leaving for good?" Schocco smirked, "Hide away and rest up, then come back when you feel better. I'm gonna need you soon when we face up against the elder."

So that's the case? Damn, now that he said that, I kinda really don't wanna have to keep chasing after that old bastard...

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And so, the four warriors left to go find the old man without me. I laid back in my crater still, refusing to move at least until a few minutes after I couldn't hear them anymore. Even then, I was pretty anxious about getting up, but duty called so I had to muster up some courage.

"Ngah, every bone in my body is creaking weirdly." I said as I barely sat myself up, "Damn, I'm alive, but this just isn't gonna work out."

At this moment, I was strongly considering just leaving the rest up to Slanted Eyes and the others, but I knew that wouldn't bode well for Nelly. After all, she didn't leave me behind, so why should I run away by myself in that case? Also, if I wimped out now, there'd absolutely be zero chances of her falling for me.

"Eh? Oh great, now my clothes are wet as well..." I felt the dirt on my butt progressively turn into mud, "Wait, what the hell is water doing so deep in the jungle?"

It was then when the tiny Water Goddess' face popped into my mind. Right now, they should be chasing after that Green Eyed buff guy, I think. Who knows, maybe they're already fighting him... Ah, but either way I doubt this water came from her.

"It's filling up quite fast. Was there like an underground water source under here or something?" I found myself bathing in the naturally made pool of water by now, "Feels kinda nice, though. The water's pretty warm, so it must be coming from a hot spring."

Hey, hot springs have a natural healing ability to them, right? My wounds and aching bones are already feeling a pretty significant amount of relief just from this, so I guess I should just enjoy this lucky gift I got.

"Nelly..." I cooped up in the water, "Today I almost died, y'know? If I don't get a kiss after all this, I'll definitely get mad! Ack, tss!!! ...It better be on the lips, by the way..."

The water was steaming, my wounds were beginning to hurt from the hot water. Maybe sitting here wasn't so smart after all. The Sun is up, so it's not like I'll catch a cold from this once I get out, but having to wait for my clothes to dry will certainly prove to be tedious. Guess I only have myself to blame.

"Aaand now the water's disappeared into of thin air." I looked around to find not only the crater, but also all of my clothes and skin as dry as if the water was never there to begin with, "At this point, it's getting pretty impossible to assume this has nothing to do with Allucius."

Water appearing and disappearing out of nowhere, a naturally calming air to it... Yeah, can't be anyone else that can do that. This theory is only made evident once I tried getting up.

"Huh?" I stood on both feet firmly planted on the ground, dumbfounded, "My arms—They're fine..."

Not a single scratch, cut or bruise was on them. My broken dislocated shoulder also looked to have popped back into place. I felt... better than ever! Goddess' water or not, it's a damned miracle! Wow, what a clutch heal! Thank you!

"Okay, I better not waste this opportunity I was given!" I got up with a newfound strength in me, "Schocco, wait just a bit more, I'm coming!"

As I ran through the shrubs of the island, I had time to evaluate my current standing in this ordeal. I had powered up my Iro Ability significantly since I came here, and now I actually feel confident in going up against the old man. My Focus is still pretty weak, especially after I used it to trick the other three into not seeing me, but it should be just enough to squeeze by against the old bastard. I can negate almost all damage with Command now, and if I play my cards right, I won't have to fight alone this time! ...Wait, there they are, I'm right behind them!

"No way, you're supposed to be dead! We killed you! How did you...!?" Were all words uttered in shock and disbelief by these guys once they saw me smirking back at them. Schocco wasted no time in coming over to my side, keeping the conversation short while hopefully giving us as much time as we would need to win against the old man. This was gonna be difficult, but unlike last time—I know I can win!

"Ahem." A familiar voice interrupted us right as the match was about to begin, "I heard you were in trouble from Nelly, so I rushed in to see how you were doing—But you look better than me!"

"You!" I jumped back.

"More enemies to fight!" The three warriors groaned collectively, "Old man, you said this kid was the only one!"

"Grrr...! Dammit, who called you here!?" The old man furiously stomped on the ground, "Go back to Cardina, you idiot! I don't need you anymore!"

"Lem, this guy on our side?" Schocco muttered to me discreetly.

"Yeah, he's someone I've really come to adore as of recently!" I smiled, "Unlike SOME people, he actually shows reliability when I need help the most!"

"Scoring brownie points even at a moment like this... You already won me over, Lem, there's no need for that."

"You kidding?" I chuckled, "I'll keep praising you until your daughter gets the hint!"

"So who is he?" Schocco asked.

"Lune Grimheart...!" Olya's Eyes glew an ominous White, "You'll regret coming here after all!"