The walkout of the underground was relatively uneventful. Compared to how difficult it was to get to that room, it was a walk in the park to leave. We disabled all the traps and used my map to find our way back to the elevator.

It wasn't until we had all stepped in, save for Kura, who floated, that anyone said anything.

"Ah, this is going to be so much paperwork!" Marigold exclaimed.

"Shouldn't you be worried about letting those waifus escape?" Estouls asked.

"Don't worry, Kioshi is already doing enough worrying for the two of us."

Kioshi gave a silent nod of agreement.

I sighed and relaxed my shoulders. At least it was over. The two waifu service members would make sure that the rogue waifus were found and addressed. I had nothing to do with it anymore. Now I could address something else that was pressing me.

"Estouls, why are you hiding behind me?"

He had quickly slid behind me and only leaned out enough to look at us if he wanted to say something.

"Do I even have to say it? The ghost!"

He pointed to Kura. She made an evil smile.

"Kura, don't!" I said firmly before she did anything. She crossed her arms and looked away disappointingly. I'm not sure what she had in mind, but I know it was not anything I would want to deal with while trapped in this elevator.

We stood in silence until the elevator finally came to a halt and the door opened with a beep.

What awaited us was quite a sight. A platoon of security officers was waiting in the hallway. They all, or at least the ones I could see in the front row, were wearing a weaker type of armor that Kioshi wore.

What was even more surprising was the one who paced back and forth in front of the group. Shin-san, who was decked out in similar security gear minus the armor, gave a pep talk of sorts to the group.

"Thank you for getting together so quickly. To be honest, I was worried that you wouldn't believe what I had to say," he said as he paced. The other crowd members gave each other confused looks as if to ask, 'who is this kid?'.

"Now, I know many of you may be afraid. Honestly, I am as well, but we must put that fear aside, for our close friends are trapped down in the depths of this arena. They are trapped down there with the enemy, and we must charge in to save them."

At this point, the platoon had noticed that we were awkwardly standing in the open elevator while Shin-san gave his passionate speech. However, they didn't make any attempt to stop him as he continued.

"The day may come when our friends are trapped with an opponent they struggle to best, and no matter what we try, we cannot get to them. But today is not that day. Today we fight to rescue them!" Shin-san made a motion for the crowd to cheer along with him. They didn't respond as he finally turned to the open elevator.

Shin-san's face turned red when he saw us standing at the door. Marigold made a friendly wave to him as we stepped out of the elevator. He looked down at the ground for a moment before looking back up at us with a smile.

"Tai-san! I was just telling everyone here about how well you were taking on those waifus!"

"No, he wasn't! He was worried sick!" Someone from the back of the platoon yelled out.

"Shut up, Akira, no one asked you," Shin-san snapped back.

The platoon chuckled.

"Anyway, it's good to see you both are okay." Another member of the platoon said while stepping forward to greet Marigold and Kioshi.

"Yes, we had quite an ordeal. Now... I need to make a report on it...."

I will start working on the way to track down those waifus that got away.

"Yes, that's fine, Kioshi. Since we have the whole group together, you might as well take them," Marigold said with a sigh. Then, she turned to Shin-san. "Thank you for getting this group together; you're partnered with that troublem- ahem, Junkers Ju 88, correct?"

"Yes, I am."

"I thought so; I will properly thank you later. Also, Tai Juyo, that was reckless, but thanks for helping me."

"Don't mention it."

"Well, I should be off," Marigold said with a wave as she began to walk away. The platoon dispersed as well, half went with her, and the other half went with Kioshi. Only a few of us were left in the hallway.

"I don't see that ghost now. Is it safe?" Estouls said as he cautiously began to step away from me.

"Wait, what ghost?" Shin-san asked as he began to look around. Kura had disappeared somewhere, so it was only the three of us in the hallway.

"I'll fill you in later. We need to get back before our next match." I said.

Shin-san stared at me blankly for a moment.

"Tai-kun, that match has been over for about an hour now...."

I stared at Shin-san blankly for a moment.

"What! What happened?"

"Well, you weren't there, so they fought in the match."

"Did we win?"

Shin-san smiled at me.

"We did," he confirmed.

I let out a deep breath as relief washed over me. I was worried that we had lost—still, a whole hour past the match, I had not realized. I had not realized how long we were down there.

"I need to go apologize to Milady."

"Let's go catch up to the others. They were getting ready to join our group in the search to find you," Shin-san said as he began to walk away. Estouls and I followed him.

Sure enough, the others were dressed up in the same security uniforms Shin-san had found himself in. It was astonishing that security gave those away so freely.

We finally caught up to the rest of them as they slowly and dramatically walked to the hallway where we had come up from. It was from left to right: Trash-chan, my sister, Tanaka-san, Raphine, Junkers, and Osana-chan.

"Main-kun!" Trash-chan broke away from the rest of them

"Big brother!" My sister followed suit.

"Shin-kun!" Junkers did as well.

"Estouls!" Osana-chan was the last to start sprinting, but she was the first to reach our trio as we walked their way from down the hall. "You dummy, how could you go on an adventure with Tai-kun and not have me come along!" she yelled once she reached us.

"Sorry, milady, it was a spontaneous thing."

"Hmpf," was all she responded with as she crossed her arms and turned away.

The others caught up with us, and we began a lively exchange of stories of what we had been through. The tournament for the day soon ended, and we went home without a care in the world.

That is until Tanaka-san pulled me aside.

"With everything that happened, you didn't see our match for tomorrow."

"No, I did not, is there something I should know?"

"We have one match scheduled for tomorrow; our opponents are Amplifier...." He trailed off without finishing his sentence, but I understood what he was saying. Our next match was against my mother's team, and the bet was for whichever team lost in the tournament first to be declared the losers.

I sighed and thanked Tanaka-san for letting me know. He just nodded before going his separate way.

The night was long. I tried not to worry about the coming battle, but I still laid awake and stared at the ceiling for who knows how long. Eventually, I fell asleep, but I had a strong desire not to get out of bed upon waking. If not for Trash-chan barging in and pulling me out of bed, I might not have gotten up for several more hours.

I was in a hazy state for most of the morning until I finally found myself alert enough. I yawed as I looked around. We had already walked to the arena, but I didn't remember most of the walk until this point.

"Come on, Main-kun, let's look around at the shops!"

"You go ahead; I'm going to get a coffee and head to the pod."

I parted ways with Trash-chan and found my way to the pod. It was still early enough before our match that no one else was there. I sat down and took a sip of the coffee.

"You seem tired today," the voice of a particular ghost waifu said to me.

"Hello, Kura. I'm too tired to talk right now."

"You say that, but here we are talking right now. Anyway, aren't you worried about those waifus that got away yesterday?"

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"I'm sure that large security force was able to take care of it," I said as I took another sip of coffee.

"Hmm, if you say so. Well, I did some thinking about what your dad said about that key."

"Let me guess; we need to go on a treasure hunt to find it."

"No... we need to go on a treasure-finding quest!"

I ignored the specter and took another sip of my coffee. She flew in front of my face and made a frown while crossing her arms.

"Can't you just go to where my dad is and ask him for clearer instructions?"

"No can do, they'll catch me the next time I go to see him."

She spoke in an unclear way, and I didn't have the energy to get more details. I decided to let it go and finished my coffee in one last go.

"We have a serious fight today. Once that is over with, I will help you find that key or whatever," I told the ghost.

"Oh, good to hear! Well, I will look around today and see if I can find any clues!" she phased through the floor before I could respond. I let out a deep breath and leaned back on the couch. It was comfortable enough that I could almost fall asleep. Perhaps I should have gotten more than one coffee.

Someone barging through the door kept me from drifting off.

"Juyo-san, good morning!" Tanaka-san slapped me in the back.

"You seem to be in good spirits this morning, Main-kun." Raphine joined in and slapped me on the back as well.

"You two are in better spirits than I am," I said in a groggy tone.

They ignored me and plopped on the couch. I think they started discussing Raphine's bow and arrows, but I wasn't too sure. I had already begun to drift off.

The next thing I knew, my shoulder was being shaken.

"Main-kun, Main-kun," the familiar voice of a green-haired waifu sought to bring me out of my sleep. I shrugged her off. That only made her more motivated. I felt the whole couch shake like I was experiencing an earthquake. I was standing in a flash. A small chuckle caught my attention as I realize I was no longer shaking.

Osana-chan was in the corner chuckling, Shin-san was shaking his head, and Trash-chan gave me a disappointed look.

"You slept all morning, Main-kun!"

"Sorry about that." I rubbed the back of my head and looked away.

"Don't worry about it, Juyo-san, the match is going to start soon," Tanaka-san said.

"What? When did that...."

"You were asleep, Main-kun! Everyone else left already!" Trash-chan sounded angry, but she didn't look like she was that upset.

"Sorry about that... go get 'em," I gave a weak apology and cheer. She smiled.

"Let's win this thing!" she cried out. The others cheered with her. I did my best to cheer as well before Trash-chan ran out of the door.

It wasn't long before our match was ready to start. If anything, Trash-chan was pushing it a little, having waited so long before leaving. I guess that was my fault for sleeping so long.

At this point, I was wide awake and ready to watch this fight. I sat down on the couch and stared at the arena.

"We need to figure out who we will send in first," Shin-san said while sitting down next to me. He was looking at his phone, and on the screen, I could see Button, the rabbit-girl. He swiped to Hally's profile next.

"I watched some recordings of their last matches; they usually send in Button first as an opener."

"Maybe we should send Raphine in then; raccoons are predators to rabbits, right?" Osana-chan asked.

"I'm not sure if they are, but it doesn't work quite that way with waifus," Tanaka-san said.

"Perhaps someone that can fly? Like Junkers or Estouls," Shin-san suggested. Tanaka-san started rubbing his chin as he thought to himself.

I looked out at the arena. The announcer was already getting the crowd riled up. We had to pick someone soon. I looked at Shin-san's phone and swiped it so that I could see Button's profile. She had speed but not much power. If she were the opener, we would want someone versatile enough to avoid her first blow.

"Send Raphine or Trash-chan. Both are quick enough to get a feel for this rabbit-girl," I said.

"You all have good ideas, but we are basing our decision on Button coming out first. But what if...."

Tanaka-san stopped rubbing his chin and made his choice. He hit the Button on his tablet, and Trash-chan's picture appeared on the screens queue to be the one sent in.

"Not that I have an issue with it, but why Trash-chan?" Shin-san asked.

"She seemed like the best choice. Especially if Button is not sent in first."

The competing waifus entered the arena—trash-chan on our side and, surprisingly, Amplifier on the opponent's team. The sound waifu laughed when she saw her opponent.

"I thought you might be the one to come in!" she said in a booming voice that echoed all around the arena. Most likely, it was to intimidate her opponent, but Trash-chan was not one to be discouraged.

"Are you going to do that loud voice the whole fight?" I heard her ask over the earpiece.

"Trash-chan, don't try to make her mad," I shouted back.

"I don't know how well you can see her face from here, but she already seems pretty mad...."

"Just focus on winning," I said with a sigh. I don't think Trash-chan heard me. The match had already started in a flash.

Amplifier reached Trash-chan before I could even blink. She tried to hit the trash-tier waifu with a roundhouse kick, but Trash-chan blocked the blow with her arm. Amplifier slowly pulled her leg down and faced her opponent. A sudden shock wave exploded around the two opponents, and a rolling screech rushed throughout the arena.

Amplifier disappeared, and Trash-chan went stumbling forward as if she had been kicked in the back. Then she took another apparent blow from the side. Then another blast from the front. She began to stumble around, taking blows from her invisible opponent. In reality, Amplifier was now moving too fast for the audience to pick up, but the slowed-down version of the fight showed her relentless attacks on Trash-chan.

Trash-chan continued to get knocked around. She put her hands up in front of her chest as she stumbled around. It looked like she was about to catch an American football with the way she held them ready. With a snap of Trash-chan's wrists. Amplifier suddenly became visible to the naked eye.

The sound waifu's leg was caught in Trash-chan's hands, and her foot was mere millimeters away from making contact with Trash-chan's chest. The trash-tier waifu spun her opponent around before tossing her halfway across the arena. She took a moment to regain her balance while Amplifier crashed into the ground.

"Feeling dizzy." I heard Trash-chan say, though I don't think she meant to relay anything to us.

"Do you need to switch out, Trash-sensei?"

"No... no, I'll take her down."

Amplifier pushed herself up from the ground and brushed off the dirt from her arm. She continued to brush herself off with her back turned to Trash-chan. A trash-whip appeared in Trash-chan's hand, and she began to run at Amplifier.

The sound waifu turned to her opponent and put both her palms on the ground. Trash-chan didn't stop her charge but was suddenly blown back by a burst. She stumbled as she tried to catch her footing. Amplifier didn't wait; she launched forward from her pose, with her hands on the ground, and tackled Trash-chan. Trash-chan landed on her back, and Amplifier pinned her with a firm press on the trash-tier waifu's shoulder.

Amplifier tried to strike Trash-chan in the head, but her fist only collided with the dirt. Trash-chan had avoided the blow by leaning her head to one side. They stared at each other for a moment without moving. Finally, Amplifier lifted her fist. She opened her hand in a sort of claw shape.

Trash-chan didn't wait for the next attack. She snapped her wrist, and the trash-whip that she had not let go of wrapped around Amplifier's arm. Amplifier didn't seem phased by it until combustible trash appeared in Trash-chan's hand. The sound waifu tried to back up but was held in place by the trash-whip.

The combustible trash exploded, and Amplifier was thrown up a short distance into the air. Trash-chan emerged from the fiery explosion while doing a backflip. When she landed on her feet, she jumped up in the air at Amplifier.

The sound waifu tried to react, but Trash-chan was quicker. Another combustible trash exploded. This time, it was in the air next to Amplifier. Trash-chan rode the explosion into the air. She did several flips in the air before landing on her feet. Amplifier, on the other hand, crashed into the ground. She was out cold.

The crowd roared as Amplifier was teleported out of the arena. I let out a sigh of relief as the first fight was over. We just had to win one more.

"Good job, Trash-chan," I said.

"Thanks, Main-kun." She was trying to sound tough, but she was clearly tired.

"We will switch her out for Raphine next...." Tanaka-san said out loud. It was clear he was thinking to himself.

We still went ahead with his switch-out plan, and Raphine appeared in Trash-chan's place.

In Amplifier's place, Antidoton appeared. She gave a smile of sharp teeth to her opponent.

Raphine pulled her wooden bow back, and several arrows of light appeared. Then, she just stood in place. It was more than that, however. She completely froze: her hair didn't wave even as she stopped moving, nor did her light of arrows seem to make the typical effect they did. It was as if she was completely frozen in time.

Antidoton just stayed where she stood. She threw a die on the ground. It was too far away for me to see what it rolled, but Raphine suddenly unfroze when the die landed on a number. Her arrows flew across the sky. Two missed and crashed into the ground next to Antidoton; the last one hit her in the shoulder. Above Antidoton's head, a red 6 suddenly appeared and faded out. Raphine drew several more arrows and froze again.

"Tanaka-san, what is her ability?" I asked.

"DM, she has complete control of what goes on here...."

Raphine let her arrows free, except the bow snapped just as she did. The arrows fell harmlessly to the ground. Antidoton didn't give her a chance to rest. With another die roll, a giant baseball bat appeared in the pink waifu's hand. She charged forward and batted Raphine across the arena. A red 70 flashed over Raphine's head as she smashed into the arena's wall.

Raphine managed to stand up on shaky legs as her golden bow appeared in her hand and her golden quiver appeared on her back. She drew a single arrow and aimed it at her opponent.

"When I fire the arrow, switch me out," Raphine relayed to us.

Antidoton shrugged and threw another die. Once the die settled, Raphine's arrow cut through the air. Per her request, she was immediately switched out. Junkers came into the arena in her place.

The plane waifu took to the air and captured Antidoton's attention. At that moment, Raphine's arrow crashed into the pink waifu and encased her in a block of ice, save for her head.

Antidoton struggled but was unable to break free. Junkers swooped overhead and dropped a bomb on her opponent. The arena was engulfed in an explosion as Junkers soared safely in the sky above.

Then, before the smoke could clear, a figure launched out into the air above the explosion. It was the rabbit waifu, Button, but she didn't stay long. As she got close to Junkers, she was suddenly swapped out for Hally. The robotic waifu immediately grabbed the metal frame that surrounded Junkers, and she tore it in two like it was made from paper mache. As if to add insult to injury, Hally suddenly spun midair and delivered a strong kick on the now exposed Junkers. The plane waifu went crashing into the ground at a sudden speed. She was out cold.

Hally landed gracefully on the ground as Junkers was teleported out. Estouls was all that was left, and he was immediately brought into the arena. Hally tossed aside Junkers' torn mecha fuselage as it disappeared and faced her next opponent.

She did not hesitate for a moment before charging at Estouls. He was barely able to avoid the blow. His lance and shield quickly appeared in his hands, and he tried to hit Hally by swinging both through the air. She merely leaped back out of harm's way before any blow could be delivered.

"Go get her, Estouls!" Osana-chan yelled.

Estouls charged forward at his opponent. He made many rapid strikes, but Hally gracefully dodged each one. Estouls finally stopped and jumped several meters back. The opponents stared at each other a moment.

When she got tired of waiting, at least that was my guess, Hally charged at her opponent. Estouls took the opportunity and threw his lance at her. It was a surprise, Hally was unable to dodge the attack, and the lance smashed into her shoulder. It bounced off, apparently dealing no damage.

Hally tried to strike Estouls, but he blocked it with his shield. He took the opportunity to grab hold of her. She struggled, but he took her into the sky on his summoned griffin in no time flat. They flew as high as they could in the arena before Estouls finally let go.

Hally crashed into the ground like a meteor. I had once been told that her frame was made of tungsten, and it was at this point that it seemed like that could be true. A crater was left in the ground of the arena where she landed. She was officially out cold. The crowd cheered as Estouls landed on the ground. His griffin disappeared, and he took a shaky step over to his lance.

I'm not sure what I felt, but something sunk in as I realized the fight was over. The bet was over, and we were finally free. I let out a sigh of relief and plunged into the couch. I feel like I could finally relax.

Unfortunately, my chance for relaxing was cut short. A figure suddenly jumped out from the crowd and tackled Estouls into the ground. A lot of dust was thrown up.

When the dust finally settled, I could see Estouls down on the ground, and a triumphant Vicky was standing over him. She let out a loud laugh, loud enough that it echoed around the suddenly quieted arena. The crowd fell into hushed whispers.

An electrical bolt zipped behind Vicky and took the shape of a waifu. An annoyed Kaeru smacked Vicky in the back of the head before taking a deep breath.

"Hello, everyone." Her voice echoed around the arena. "Sorry to spring this on such short notice, but this arena is sealed off from the outside world." Her voice echoed again, but this time worried murmurs began to come from the crowd. "So, if you all could just wait patiently where you are, we will be done with our objective shortly." The electrical waifu finished. At this point, panic arose from the arena, but the people trying to run out first quickly found themselves blocked by an invisible wall.