Surviving These Unfair Scenarios [LITRPG - DIMENSION HOPPING]

The shock of the 'No Name' team was unparalleled. Not only had Nikolai, who was supposed to have died two scenarios ago, appeared without a clear reason, but now they also had a second Kazue standing in front of them. It was clear that this new Kazue was different in many aspects. She had a cold, unfriendly expression and a serious demeanor, a stark contrast to their own cheerful companion. Her clothes were also different; she wore practical, battle-worn leather armor, and her hair, while the same shade of brown, was unkempt and untied, unlike their own Kazue's, which was much more cared for and neatly styled.

The new Kazue, her eyes a cold, unforgiving shade of amber, wasted no time.

"We don't have to waste time with this."

She said, her voice a dry, emotionless monotone.

"One of the '3 Sons of Vharzun' will be on top of us soon if we stay exposed for too long. We have to deal with this anomaly as soon as possible. I don't know why another team has appeared in this scenario, but we can't waste any more time with them… We have to get out of here, and the best way to do that is to act as we always do: annihilate everyone quickly."

She then turned to the blond boy with the glasses and the sword in his hand, calling him by his name.

"Charles, don't hold back. The others won't be coming to support us, but we should be enough for such weak enemies."

She said coldly, however, before Charles could move, Nikolai, who had finally regained his composure, intervened.

"Wait!"

He said, holding the mechanical bird tightly in his hands. Falk, having been taken by surprise, was now fluttering desperately in Nikolai's closed hands.

"It won't be that easy. It seems there are two enemies with Rank A potential among them."

He said, pointing at Sebastian and Katya. The new Kazue didn't seem worried by this new information, but mostly annoyed.

"Then a change of plans."

She said to Charles, her eyes narrowing.

"We'll take care of the Rank A users. I'll go for the girl with the mask, and you and Nikolai will go after the old man."

The blond boy, Charles, nodded in agreement, his green eyes gleaming with a fierce intensity. However, Nikolai was about to protest.

"Wait! Hold on a second!"

But his words were unheard. The new Kazue and Charles both launched forward with a burst of speed that left afterimages in their wake, their targets set on Katya and Sebastian. The entire 'No Name' team, despite the shock of seeing two more opponents and having one of their own ignored, reacted instantly. Drake immediately moved to intercept the new Kazue, while Li raised his spellbook, ready to cast a defensive spell. Emir and Chloe moved to shield the Empress, and Gregor braced himself for an attack beside the Kazue that was riding Kuraymi.

However, before any of them could make a move, the new Kazue emitted an extremely heavy aura around her body, which enveloped her in what seemed to be shadows where only her eyes were visible. Immediately, the Empress, through Adam's eyes, saw what was happening thanks to the 'Cursed Vision'.

The environment around them immediately became heavy, and the gravity increased dramatically. Everyone present, with the exception of the new Kazue, Charles, and Nikolai, felt their weight increase as if many weights had been placed on top of them. It was one of the girl's skills, the control of gravity, one of the forces of nature, which obeyed her at will in a defined radius. Everyone instantly perceived their weight as if they had over 200 kg / 440 lb on them, which made almost all of them fall to the ground with no option to get up.

Li fell to his knees and arms, screaming in pain as he struggled to keep his face from being planted into the dirt. Kurayami, the great white tiger, fell with a loud thud, and the original Kazue, who was on top of him, fell face-first into the tiger's soft fur. Gregor was fighting to stay on his feet, his muscles straining and his legs trembling, the only one of that group who could stay on his feet thanks to his superhuman strength.

Still, the most affected were Emir and Chloe, who had the least physical conditioning. The increased gravity was a physical agony they were completely unprepared for, and they fell face-first to the ground, their bodies groaning under the immense, crushing weight. It was like being pinned under a car, and the pressure on their chests made it impossible to breathe properly.

"I... I can't breathe!"

Chloe whimpered, her voice a tiny, strained sound as she struggled to push herself up, her face a mask of red and purple. The gravity was enough to crush and suffocate them if they didn't do something soon, and every breath was a torturous, burning effort.

Emir, lying beside her, grunted in pain. His arms were trembling, and he couldn't even lift his head.

"We..."

He gasped out, the words barely audible. Gregor saw their plight, and a wave of desperation washed over him. He tried to move toward them, his body screaming in protest with every single step. The weight was immense, and his movements were agonizingly slow, as if he were walking through solid concrete. Every inch he covered felt like a mile, and the helplessness he felt was a torment far greater than the physical strain. He grit his teeth, his jawline tense, and let out a low growl of frustration. He had to help them, but his steps were extremely slow.

Near them, the Empress, in Adam's body, was also crushed by the increased gravity, but she immediately used the [Spectral Mist Step] skill to transform her body into mist, freeing herself from being suffocated and crushed under her own weight. But even so, the gravity made it so that even her gaseous body could not move very fast or very high. But that wasn't the most important thing right now; she did not want to waste this opportunity, so she tried to move with great difficulty, a thread of vapor inching along the ground with the intention of escaping.

Katya was also affected by the increase in gravity, but due to the power she now had thanks to the mask of Arianka fused to her face, she was able to remain standing with relative ease. However, she barely had time to defend herself from the attack of the new Kazue, who reached her in a second and attacked her by creating a sword made entirely of light, very similar to Drake's spiritual swords.

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The weapon was a blinding flash, a streak of pure energy that cut through the air with a faint hum. Katya, with her scythe raised, was able to block the first attack, a ringing clash of living metal and light. But the new Kazue's attacks were relentless, a flurry of slashes and stabs that came from all directions. Katya could only focus on blocking, her scythe moving in a defensive arc to parry each blow. Her movements, however, were becoming more sluggish with each passing second.

Katya's mind was in turmoil. Kazue was the most important person in her life, even more than her own life, and now another Kazue was attacking her. Normally, she would have dismissed it as an impostor and attacked with fury, but for some reason, she couldn't… Her own heart and the Soulbond she had with the original Kazue told her that, in some impossible way, the one in front of her was also Kazue, not a copy nor an illusion.

Sebastian, on the other hand, seemed totally free from the pressure of the increased gravity. But instead of staying still, he saw the havoc it had caused on Emir and Chloe and heard their choked cries of pain, so he began to trot towards them as fast as his tired legs would allow him. Charles, however, reached him in a second, trying to intercept him and launching a slash with his glowing green katana.

Sebastian didn't notice this until the last moment, raising his arms and covering his face with his hands. He was not a combatant; he was just a regular old man thinker, and he covered himself as any normal, untrained person would, even closing his eyes before the impact. However, Charles' sword impacted directly against his hands, and a loud metallic sound was heard, while the palm of the old man's hand had completely stopped the cut.

"What?!"

The guy exclaimed, his eyes wide with disbelief. His sword, a powerful weapon capable of even cutting the strongest of metals, had been stopped by the hands of an old man? Fortunately, before he could think any more, Nikolai arrived behind him.

"Stop!"

Nikolai said while panting a bit.

"There is something wrong here! We don't have to attack them; we have to clarify things first."

Charles looked at him but did not release the sword.

"I'm sorry, but Lady Kazue's orders were clear."

He said calmly without averting his eyes from Sebastian.

"I will talk to her myself! Just don't hurt them so much."

Having said that, Nikolai ran towards where Kazue was fighting Katya.

Charles was left with the sword in his hand, but did nothing while Sebastian reincorporated himself and ran towards Emir and Chloe. However, he noticed something strange… He saw a vapor string moving slowly, almost at ground level, and he did not hesitate to catch up with it and give it a lunge with his katana. The figure of Adam materialized immediately, and the Empress screamed in pain just moments after the force of gravity finally reached her as well. Charles withdrew the sword from the back of Adam's possessed body and sighed. However, something seemed to catch his attention. He looked at Adam's body with a critical gaze for a bit until he finally opened his eyes wide and let out a comment in disbelief.

"No way… He was right."

On the other hand, the new Kazue had Katya more and more against the ropes. She unleashed a flurry of attacks with her light sword, each one faster and more precise than the last. Katya, with her conflicted mind and her body under the strain of gravity, was having a harder and harder time defending herself, until finally, the new Kazue managed to create an opening and attacked with a thrust that would have perforated her stomach. However, at that moment, Drake arrived, and with a fierce kick charged with Imperial Ki, he managed to rip the sword from the new Kazue's hands. The sword, being made of light, dissolved as soon as she let go of it.

The girl was taken by surprise.

"How is this possible?"

She thought with her eyes very widely open.

"How is he moving without any problem in a gravity field of this magnitude?"

The blond was moving as if gravity itself did not affect him at all. Drake stood between Katya and the new Kazue in a martial arts stance, ready to attack.

"Disable your skill."

He said, his voice a low, furious growl.

"Or I will force you to myself, even if you have my friend's face."

It was a miracle that Drake had been able to do it. His trait, 'Great Weight Control', allowed him to regulate his weight automatically, which was enough for him to move normally in the gravity field. But only weight control would not be enough for a force of nature like that not to affect him, and yet he was able to do so... Drake did not know it yet, but without meaning to, he had realized that his trait was much more versatile and complete than he believed. Not only did it automatically control his weight, but it also controlled his mass without altering his body, something that should have been a scientific impossibility but was made real thanks to the power of the system.

The new Kazue was dumbfounded by this fact, her eyes wide with shock. She looked at Drake, then gritted her teeth and let out a frustrated remark.

"Tsk… You remind me of how Drake was when we first met."

She said, her voice filled with a profound resentment.

"I abhor it."

She created another light sword in her hand and was about to launch herself toward him when Nikolai finally arrived, screaming.

"Stoooooop!"

His voice was laced with an urgency that everyone could hear, and the sound of his feet scraping on the ground made the new Kazue pause, her sword of light still hovering just a few instants before another flurry of attacks. Her head whipped around, her eyes narrowing as she looked at him.

"We shouldn't be fighting now!"

Nikolai said, his voice urgent as he gestured wildly with his hands, Falk still clutched tightly in his right palm.

"There seems to be something strange going on in all of this. These 'copies' aren't really copies; they're the real 'them', I mean 'us', I mean 'you'... You get what I meant."

He fumbled for a moment, trying to find the right words to explain the impossible situation. The new Kazue shot back, her voice a dry whisper of contempt. Her eyes were hard and unforgiving as she kept her light sword pointed at Drake and Katya.

"How can you be sure of something so ridiculous? It goes against everything we know about the system."

She said. Nikolai replied, his expression turning serious.

"You can't rule anything out in the system, no matter how ridiculous it is. Besides, I have a certain hunch."

He looked at her directly, and his voice dropped to a low, serious tone.

"Not to mention that what I have here is really the actual soul of old man Isaac Volta."

The new Kazue hesitated. Her light sword, which had been glowing with a cold, unforgiving light, flickered for a brief moment. She had long since learned not to distrust Nikolai's "hunches"; the boy had a certain type of sixth sense for judging people, and for that reason, with a low growl of disgust, she immediately unmade the gravity field. A collective gasp of relief and exhaustion washed over the 'No Name' team as the immense weight was lifted from their bodies, and they collapsed, panting.

The new Kazue looked at Nikolai, her eyes still filled with a deep suspicion.

"I hope you know what you're doing."

She said, her voice a low growl.

"Just trust me."

Nikolai said, and he looked around at the rapidly darkening sky. He gestured urgently with his head.

"At worst, there's just some connection here that I don't understand. But either way, we have to find some cover right away. Who knows how long it will be before Vharzun's curse affects us and they can track us down."

The new Kazue groaned again, a sound of pure frustration, but she raised her voice.

"Charles!"

She shouted, her gaze now fixed on the ruins in the distance.

"Go with them! We'll find a place with a roof to cover ourselves for now."

Charles nodded, sheathed his katana with a click, and prepared to go with them. The new Kazue looked at Drake, who was also panting a little.

"We need to talk, but first, we need to find shelter."

Drake gritted his teeth, his frustration evident, but still he answered.

"We found an empty house that's in good condition, not far from here. We can go there."

The new Kazue nodded and began to move toward the ruins, while the rest of the 'No Name' team followed with great difficulty.