<Nocturnal Harmonia>

[Bloodedge]

It was almost disturbingly easy to talk the engaged Kaguya into sacrificing an entire vacation day normally dedicated to time with Miyuki. Yugi had even noted that touch to her ring earlier, when she briefly interacted with Ren. Reprehensions were still in place, it seemed... but defensive walls did nothing against forces that could simply fly over. With that seeming to be the case, he'd continue to flap his wings ─ even doing so to confidently slap Kaguya's rear-end as they separated. With that, he was en route to the first Magician.

As for Ren, instead of having his question answered... he was berated by Miko. In truth, he was twitching at the thought of receiving such a glare. Hearing the call-out that came with that note, though, had him throbbing. Was that all? No, it certainly wasn't. Ren didn't merely throb ─ he became a better version of himself along with the sensation of excitement. Perhaps he was even beading at the tip hidden in his breeches, even whilst actively fighting. "It's not the worst idea," was all he said, but the signs were all there. Said signs were even right in front of Miko's face, and in her ear, via a System notification.

〔SYSTEM NOTICE — SPECIAL BOND INTERACTION DETECTED〕

Bond Route: Amamiya Ren
Special Interaction Discovered.

Miko’s dominant and degrading behavior has triggered an anomalous response in Amamiya Ren.

Effect Unlocked: Masochist’s Ecstasy

When Miko displays bitchy, humiliating, or sadistic behavior toward Ren (verbal degradation, physical pain, etc.), he receives the following benefits:

• +30% Attack Speed
• +25% Critical Hit Chance
• +20% All Stats for 60 seconds (while within 30 meters of Miko)
• Significant increase in arousal and pleasure sensitivity (stacking with each instance of degradation or pain)

System Remark:
The target’s perversion has been recognized by the System.
Pain and humiliation fuel him.
The more she breaks him, the stronger he becomes.

Meanwhile, Yugi finally made his way to the first robed annoyance, only to have it dragging down the fireball from above. "Not happening," Yugi growled, Ruler's Hand grasping the Magician. Yugi's arm rose, flinging the enemy into its own spell long before it could even dream of reaching Yugi himself. "Good advice, dumbasses. If you make something as a group, it's probably stronger than a single one of you! You're not gonna beat me with brains made of ground pork," he taunted as the first mage burned. Sadly... the enemy forces had another trick that would take effect under a condition Yugi just met.

[Apollymi]

Perhaps at some point in the future, Kaguya would take a moment to realize how easily Yugi had creeped into her subconscious and made it possible for her to make different decisions. She wasn't even worried about her previous responsibilities nor was she concerned about keeping her fiancé busy during their shared vacation. In a singe moment she'd made another decision which leaned her away from that man, but surely it wasn't a problem. They just provided different sorts of things for her, and after all of that she was sure it'd be out of her system. Ah, but a slap to the ass her her bottom stinging as she took off into battle, in a way she didn't feel outside of interactions with this lad in particular. Perhaps that meant something more? She'd have to consider it, mostly while she was moving around fluidly taking down all kinds of knights while he hunted his intended target. 'Obviously it's all in my head. I'll just finish working it out. Though... all of this is pretty fun~' she decided as she felled another few creatures. If she was simply to take out as many as possible, she could concentrate on that.

At the same time, Miko was right in her choice to shit talk Ren. A young man who'd come into this fight with a boner, was currently throbbing in his pants. The initial twitch was from the idea of being glared at with Bloodlust but when called out about his perversions, the lad's dick became even more active, and she heard the confirming words of the System. "Tehehe♪~" A mocking chirp of a laugh left the girl's lips as she stepped a bit closer reaching for the head of his cock through his pants and squeezed with reckless aggression, squeezing and twisting even while, using Ruler's Hand to swat away incomings. "A filthy fucking masochist, should be more honest~ Now, get to work so I can torture you properly outside of a life or death situation♪~" Miko demanded of him before releasing the vice grip on his cock. "Oh and stay within 30 meters of me to keep your buff~" Miko added at the end having gotten all the information sorted.

Ah but it wasn't just fun, games and perversion here. No. Yugi was making progress against a Magician but in so doing was confirming the trap he'd figured would be coming. Miko hearng the food reference had only a gripe to make, "Keep it up, and we're having meat buns for dinner♪!~" she threatened as her stomach growled uncomfortably.

[Bloodedge]

Ren was already under the effects of that new enhancement, but Miko didn't stop there. She closed the distance between them, grabbing right where the head of his cock would be to squeeze the life out of it. Ren recoiled, his entire body subjected to the brunette's will as a not-so-subtle, "Mrph~" passed his lips. Miko had demands to deliver as well. He was to get to work, specifically without leaving a 30 meter radius of Miko. Behaving like that, she could order him to do whatever she wanted. "Hai!" Ren chanted. He'd take a few seconds after his cock was released, ignoring the wet spot that surely transferred to Miko's hand in some capacity. In time though, he'd be right back in the fray.

At the same time, Yugi watched that Hollow Magician burn within the fireball... but its mana wasn't dissipating. No, it seemed to be spreading out instead, latching to every suit of armor and strip of cloth in the vicinity. "Goddamnit!" he complained before anything even came of it. The Magician's corpse would be collecting everything that died within the Dungeon thus far, repurposing itself as a massive golem whose strength was the sum of its parts. Igris had been a bit questionable for his actual strength, but this golem... was undoubtedly an S-rank threat, red name in the System and all. Miko was threatening meat buns for dinner, but Yugi couldn't be worried about that now. "Get the meat buns and shove them up this guy's ass, yeah? Maybe he'll explode from constipation or something!" he announced, falling back for the first time since Igris. "Don't get too close to that thing. 10 of 10, most annoying trap I've ever seen."

[Apollymi]

Miko knew the lad was already affected by that new thing caused by his masochism. Even so, she was going to have a bit of fun with him before sending him off to battle. She still enjoyed the sounds that escaped him and still planned to fully explore being a sadist with someone who understood she was herself a masochist. Still he would do as she said and Miko for her part in this would turn and lick that wet spot from her palm like a snack she'd snuck out of the pantry. After a moment like that there was only one thing to do, rejoin the fray but a strange situation was soon taking place.

That one felled mage was leading to a different problem. A collection of every dead thing so far to form a golem which was massive and strong. Miko had been threatening dinner plans, But this new beast of a thing was going to be an annoyance the likes of which this pair hadn't faced since Igris. "Fuck it all... I don't think meat buns are going to help with that..." Miko said while reapplying barriers to everyone and shifting herself around the knights amassing. "Definitely annoying, actually..." Miko stopped speaking. Thinking that this was the second time that a death or near death was enough to trigger a bigger problem than the original fight of a thing had been. She was beginning to wonder if the Shadows the army was talking about weren't just some edgy euphemism for undead things.Still, that was a matter for a different time. "Box it," she murmured. "Do we like trip it? Find it's core and break it? 'Cause I don't think we'll do real damage to it, outside of some pretty huge combo attacks," Miko offered. Kaguya slipped back in as well shaking her head. "This is a terrible mechanic. I thought whoever was in charge of the regular Dungeons was dumb," Kaguya said as she looked towards a mage who was close enough that she figured she could get the drop on it and kill it swiftly just to keep another golem from spawning, because surely another wouldn't be able to spawn if nothing else died immediately. "Oh well there goes that... apparently these Magicians are barriered while there is a golem out, we can't sneak the rest of them," Kaguya added to the information well.

[Bloodedge]

As much of an annoyance as this golem would be, Yugi intended to be more of one. His aggressive tendencies were only growing stronger by the minute. By the time Miko called out the phrase 'box it' again, Yugi was twisting it to his own idea. "That sounds like a plan," he mumbled. Should they trip it? Find a core? One of those wouldn't work. "If it has a core at all, I can't see it. Doesn't look like a construct. Looks more like the Magician just made itself a new body. We should..." Yugi intended to suggest taking down the other mages to avoid future golems being as strong or stronger. Sadly, Kaguya was already attempting the same thing to no avail. "Tch!" he scoffed. They'd have little choice now. If the Magicians were protected by the existence of a golem, the optimal solution would be to eliminate the current golem without killing anything else, then focus solely on the mages. Such an unlikely approach that was.

"God fucking damnit. There aren't enough blowjobs in a lifetime to cover this dumb shit," Yugi complained while banishing his sword. "Does either of you have a gun?" Ren asked. He normally fought using a magic pistol in addition to his dagger; that could surely accomplish something. Yugi grumbled again while using Ruler's Hand on the golem's head, failing to properly pull it down by himself. "Never had time to give a shopping list. I guess it's as good a time as any to make another call," he said, phoning one Takemi Tae on his second System screen. Still barely holding the golem in place, he glanced in Kaguya's direction at the same time. "Check your inventory. You might've picked up step 1 of your... preferred build."

[Apollymi]

Miko had to box things to focus on the task at hand. Right now her current task was helping handle a giant golem and maybe also making sure that they didn't have to potentially run into any more problems. Yugi morphing that simple utterance into an idea of his own was about normal. Whether he knew the context of a box or not, Miko trust him to have some idea either contributing to or outside of one she produced. Still, it was quite disheartening. There was no observable core on the creature, and what was more, they couldn't even kill all the mages right just now, because the spawning of a golem was protecting the other ones. "Ugh, worst Dungeon ever!~" Miko chimed seemingly annoyed by that combination of things as well.

Ah but there might have been some hope to be called upon. Ren questioned whether or not anyone had a gun, and Miko shook her head, but looked a bit hopeful. "Iia, I haven't seen a drop for one either, but there's someone outside who might be able to help with that. Do you need something specific?" she asked. At the same time, since Yugi had pulled down the golem by its head, Miko was enforcing the hold on it using her own Ruler's Touch. At the same time, even though they didn't want to kill anything else immediately she'd use Bloodlust to still the enemies immediately around them so that they could potentially keep calm. As for Kaguya apparently she was supposed to check her Inventory for step one of her preferred build. Within the list of things currently attributed to her person was a Skill Rune, labeled Blaze. "Oya? You got me a fire spell? How do I use it?" she wondered immediately. Even in the dire situation she seemed quite happy to be on the move towards her more favored life choice. At the same time a phone call was being placed to Tae who was currently sitting in her office drinking a mana potion and still opening coin bags. She accepted the call having just stopped drinking. "I'm still opening coin bags but did you decide what you wanted me to get out of the shop?" she asked knowing the pair could handle themselves but also knowing that stuff could have gotten out of hand since she left.

No matter, Makima was watching the whole time and though she looked calm she was actually quite upset. This new development had her leaned forward looking at the screen. It was impossibly annoying to her that the Players didn't have access to a few more higher order fighting types on hand. Herself or Gojo might have been a bit much for no reason, but even a couple of sturdier fighters or a few quick gunners might have been helpful to the pair.

[Bloodedge]

Both Players would agree on one thing: this was the worst possible Dungeon setup ever. Yugi had an intrinsic hatred for everything they were currently dealing with, but at least a bit of cooperation was making things more manageable. For instance, Miko joined him in holding the golem down ─ an act that allowed its head to be dragged all the way down to ground level. Only the second use of Bloodlust was truly helping them though, simply by keeping a veritable ring of stilled knights around them. It seemed what Ren needed presently was a gun. Yugi was in a similar boat, summoning the Arachnid's Hand Crossbow, taking it into his right hand to loose poison arrows at those who thought they could vault or crawl over the knights affected by Bloodlust. "Nothing specific, just... a good one?" Ren requested.

Kaguya found something decent in her inventory. Yugi had quickly thrown the first Hollow Magician's loot into the box he already had open, not bothering to look at it. Lo and behold though, she had the most generally useful spell from it. "Fire's good! Hold it, squeeze it, break it!" he instructed. Shortly afterwards, Takemi Tae was answering the call. She'd receive no flirtatious greeting from the lad this time. "Need a gun, like twenty seconds ago! Whatever's strong and fit for an Assassin who's using it with one hand. Doesn't matter what the cost is; just sort A-rank and pick the first thing that looks reasonable. Go down to B-rank if you have to!" he said. All the while, Gojo Satoru was watching through the same screen Makima used. In all of this, he had only a single curiosity. "Why not just flex?"

[Apollymi]

Both Players didn't like the set up of this quest. After finding out the details of it, Kaguya also didn't really like it. While they held down the golem they seemed to be strategizing quite a bit. Ren needed a gun, nothing special just a good one. "Everything that comes out of the shop is good. So got ya'," Miko said knowing that Yugi would take care of relaying that message. At the same time, Kaguya was given an explanation of how to use the Skill Rune and would immediately be doing so, "Ooh~ I get to play with fire♥~" she said with that same amount of teasing flirt in her voice. "Enter the real pyromaniac♪~" Miko chastised while Kaguya felt the rush of power into her hand and arm and then the magical knowledge of how to use it making her grin from ear to ear. "And you love me♥~" she said to Miko, as her empty right hand was soon shown holding a small flame dancing in her hand.

All the while Tae was being given instructions. They needed a gun, one-handed decent A-rank or B-rank which ever was afforadable by what she had. Tae was a reasonable person, she used the functionality of the shop to her advantage and perused with the reasonable amount of urgency. "I think I found one, do I drop it in my Inventory or in yours?" she wondered earnestly as she made the purchase. Whichever was stated the gun would be passed along post haste. Just the same Miko was now using her catalysts to whip around that forced circle and keep the others at bay. Pulsing blasts of concussive force would knock back but not kill anything else while they worked towards a solution to their problem. At the same time, Gojo's face rather suddenly appeared in the same space Makima's was. He had a question, and it seemed it wasn't directed at anyone in particular. "Flex? Like a skill... I only," Miko paused. "Status!" she looked over at the screen and all but the cooldown for Megiddo were currently off. Right. That was something which they'd noted in the hall. "Never mind, I can... but I only get one use. Red or Blue. Do I red this thing to death and wait? Do I blue the mages and kill them all at once?" Miko's conundrum was one which every gamer face. With skills that had such limited uses when were they to be used. "Right now we have access to other people... I might be better off saving it for one of the times we're alone and don't have coverage. Can't blow the whole offensive load in the first hour," Miko said having to think about the long term of being stuck in this wave based fight for hours on end.

[Bloodedge]

Ren would soon be getting the gun he needed, and Kaguya could play with some fire. Things were looking up for the Concubines this round. Yugi also finally had a chance to use that hand crossbow he'd been wanting, though it was an unnecessary extra cost of mana in the long-run. Oh well; he considered it necessary to help keep the extra enemies at bay. Tae had a gun ready to purchase in a matter of moments, needing only to know whose inventory she should place it in. "Drop it to me," he instructed. Just then, the golem forced itself up. Yugi still had a firm grip on its head via Ruler's Hand, so... he was flung into the air as a result. Upside-down and still flying, he scoffed, taking the opportunity to scan the battlefield from above. This wasn't looking good.

Whenever Tae placed that gun in his inventory, Yugi would immediately transfer it to Miko. Alas, Ren suffered a stab by an assassin to the back of his left thigh during all the commotion. He was left grounded on one knee, holding up his dagger in defense against an attacking knight. Meanwhile, Miko was coming to realize she had another opportunity to borrow Satoru's Skill. She wasn't sure which to use, if either. Satoru took a moment to give it some actual thought. "Hmm. If I used Blue, I could clear that whole Dungeon. I can use it more than once though. But I don't get why you're limited. You've got the concepts, right? Use it. Both of you have just been making stuff all day, so make some fucking paper!" he advised. Yugi heard that exchange, and actually liked the idea. "That's not bad. I wonder if that could work..."

[Apollymi]

Ren would indeed be getting the weapon he needed but until that time, it would be Kaguya holding the line creating a circle of fire to keep other things out as Yugi was tossed up in the air. No matter, Tae was soon dropping the gun of choice into Yugi's Inventory to be passed along to Miko. Was also soon sorting through that same Inventory tab and grabbing the gun, while that pair of catalysts of hers floated over to Ren. The one behind the knight would be pulsing with an aggressive concussive blast, "Oooh!♪~" to knock it away from the lad who was defending himself, while the other pulsed healing at his rear closing the wound on his leg from the inside out while she made her way over. "Wooah♪!~" Here you go. Just let me make sure you're fixed up before you go..." she offered quickly, handing over a gun called Black Falcon for the lad's collection. "Same applies as before, it's yours♪!~ Also I'll drop you some potions in case you don't feel 100 percent after this. You can't use them in here but you'll be able to once you're out." Miko chirped. It didn't take very long to seal up the stab wound and make sure it wouldn't just reopen.

At the same time, she was still speaking to Gojo, her attention back on his words as well. What he was saying did make a lot of sense, and while she was limited by the usage of his skill as he used it to once a day, that didn't mean she didn't get the concept. In fact her own use of Mana Reversal gave her a deep understanding of it, she couldn't apply it to everything but she could definitely use it to boost her own skills and the like presently if she found the right combination of skills and abilities to use. "Oooh♪~ Box is open♪!~ I know what to do♪!~" Miko said after taking in all that information and having it fed into some of her other thought processes. She was planning to build something for herself, and the use of Gojo's skills concepts could make the creation of the skill more natural to herself. Meanwhile Kaguya was ready to join the fray back with Ren. "So, do you have a plan with that gun of yours and do you need backup?" she wondered willing to play nice for the sake of actually helping the Players get through what was obviously going to be a hellish day.

[Bloodedge]

From his place in the air, Yugi managed to work out something resembling a plan of attack. They were past the halfway point of the current Concubine summoning already, but Tae herself was powerful enough to deal with a golem of this strength. If they needed to deal with other knights and the like before the next mage, it wouldn't be such an issue. What was an issue, however, was the golem's size. It was easy to hit, but hard to damage. It was easy to avoid, but then the smaller enemies were made more of a problem in its place. Perhaps Ren's plan with that gun being swapped from Inventory to Inventory was viable. "Good shit. Be ready for a call in about ten," he said to Tae once the transfer was complete. Shortly after, Yugi caught himself at the upper end of a pillar, where he released Ruler's Hand to prevent being thrown again immediately.

Ren wasn't in too much danger. Miko's catalysts were at the ready to fend off the knight attacking him and begin the process of healing his leg. "Arigatou!" he exclaimed, believing that single knight would have been the end for him without the assistance. Now, Ren had a magic gun in his inventory. Now... he could be truly useful, even with less than ten minutes remaining. Kaguya came to offer assistance and check Ren's plan. He summoned that gun into his left hand, keeping the dagger in his right with a reverse grip. Now with a futuristic-looking black revolver with gold accents and a falcon motif, he looked to the golem. "Rangers can do a lot more effective damage than Assassins. A Ranger with a bow is roughly the same, but one that can get their hands on a magic gun can rival the best Fighters in damage output. If I can get into an unseen position, I can at least maim that thing with a gun like this," he proclaimed, slowly picking himself off the floor. All the while, Yugi was shifting his gaze toward Miko, who apparently had something in the works. "What is it?"

[Apollymi]

Apparently, Tae had done a good job. Yugi claimed she should be ready for another call in about 10 minutes, and for her part in this Tae could only agree. "Hai hai, finishing up my mana potions~" she said as she hung up. Of course, there were soon other things to deal with, like the saving of Ren which Miko took care of while also healing the lad. He seemed legitimately grateful for her help and she could only wonder if people like him were actually at a huge disadvantage during raids normally. A good Tank was probably necessary to let an Assassin work properly. "Iia, I called you here. I can't allow you to die to something like that," Miko confirmed. With him back and standing and with a new gun in his Inventory he had something to say.

"Sou ka... I know a Ranger that has that kind of power. I know what you mean," Kaguya said, but there was the issue of getting him into a blind spot which would take a bit of time. "Hm, getting you into a blind spot might take a bit though..." she added thinking about it from a regular perspective. "Ooh? They're opening now?~" she questioned the box scenario. At the same time it was Yugi who was asking what was in the box this time. "I am making Kyoka Suigetsu, with a touch of Misdirection, specifically for this case, Overflow with a touch of blue. Objections? Comments? Constructive criticisms or additions?" Miko explained in concise but probably odd terms for anyone who wasn't familiar with at least 3 of the Aeons major works. "I am sure she is speaking a foreign language. But she seems so excited about it," Makima said observationally. All the while, Miko was in her Inventory. "I just need a second, I can help with this," Miko claimed. As she began feeding and sacrificing runes to get stuff done. Misstep Veil, A water rune, Predator's Instinct, Stealth... all would go into her newest skill.

[Bloodedge]

Kaguya thought getting Ren into the golem's blind spot would be a tall order. He could agree. Without a Tanker of some sort, Assassins without active Stealth truly were lacking a necessary combat advantage. The golem was large and presumably gullible, but... the other knights, assassins and mages were a massive wrench in any plan to get behind the golem. "I promise I'm usually better at sneaking in from behind," he commented, offering a flat innuendo while getting himself together. There was no point in Ren hiding his interest in Kaguya; he'd already taken quite a few feels of her person. Still, the important thing here was getting into proper position. "I think I can manage. Do you feel comfortable taking it from the front for just a minute?" he asked, thinking a single moment of distraction could make the greatest difference.

It seemed Miko's intention with her new Skill and knowledge of Gojo's techniques was... a mashup of things from a few different Aeons manga series. Yugi had no objections to the idea she presented. He did have a comment which featured an addition, but no constructive criticism. So then, what would Yugi be saying overall? The answer was simple. "Does a boner count as criticism, or can I leave it in the 'addition' category?" he asked before addressing things a bit more seriously. "Go deeper into the crafting interface. You can sample a Skill, with a cooldown. Try adding Bloodlust's concept," he suggested, aiming to use Bloodlust against the golem itself ─ albeit with no obvious results.

[Apollymi]

This attack pattern was having to be worked out. In a moment like this, someone like Ren made a bit of a deadpan joke, one about his ability to give from behind. "Oya♥~ You seem pretty confident about that~" A flirty retort came from Kaguya. At the same time, Miko chuckled just a bit adding a pointed jab into the mix, "I can vouch, from the back or backdoor'd is great with that one♪!~" Miko asserted making Kaguya laugh. "Wahaha♥~ Chill, my baby has been corrupted♥!~" Kaguya would continue to claim anytime one of those lesser seen outbursts occurred. Moving on from that he wondered if she felt comfortable with the idea of pulling aggro for a bit, "I mean, I can definitely take it... it's gonna be pretty rough though~" she claimed, while being a bit cheeky.

Still, Miko didn't intend to let them fully take on the golem by themselves. No, she fully intended to help out, even if only by proxy. Of course, she ran her idea by Yugi, and found the lad to be overly excited by it. "I definitely have something it could be added to... probably a box," Miko claimed with a chuckle. The only thing he had to really add, was the idea of her using the deeper parts of the System to add Bloodlust to the whole thing. "Sou ka, I didn't see this here the first time..." she said previewing this whole thing. Still, she had a whole selection to run with by the time the System spat out a reading for her. And by the time it was done Miko stood up grinning. "I got a thing now... you two do your thing!♪!~" Miko chirped. "Kyoka Suigetsu: Shinkiro♪!~" A pulse occurred as she enacted a stealth skill which she turned into one which grabbed attention. She turned everything back onto herself and in so doing would attract the attention of everything direct to her, and cover the existence of the others. They could do whatever they wanted and for the next few minutes everything in this room as far as an enemy would be attracted to her.

[Bloodedge]

If Amamiya Ren had self-confidence, most of it was in his stealth. He was definitely no stranger to surprise penetration. In fact, he had a similar surprise planned before Miko called today. That should have been coming to fruition this very moment, but this quest clear was far more important. At least Kaguya wasn't so bothered by his perverse speech. She even went right along with it, claiming she could handle the frontal assault with a bit of roughness... though in far more interesting terms. "I think you'll be better for it getting a little rough," Ren observed. He meant to get moving after that, but instead there was a new Skill of Miko's being put to use.

A boner could count as an addition, apparently if boxes were involved. That was interesting to know, Yugi thought. "Really? You'll have to show me later. You've got so many fucking boxes, I can't tell which one I should aim for," he quipped. Annoying though it was, Yugi had to do away with Tae's seal to avoid reaching its second state ─ which had all the downsides. He wouldn't need it just yet, though. No, Miko's Skill creation led her to the use of an ability that kept everyone but Miko herself from being properly acknowledged by their enemies. All eyes were on her, and that was... "Perfect~" Yugi decided. He'd be taking advantage before the assassins ever could. Yugi dropped from that high point he'd been stuck to, landing atop the golem's head. He swapped crossbow for chokuto, aiming a lightning-infused blade down at the golem's crown. Alas, it couldn't pierce easily ─ he'd have to keep the force up and push it through. As Yugi struggled with that moment of penetration, Ren slipped around knights and assassins with no issue whatsoever, aiming to reach the golem's rear.