The Strange Cat from Fuuto

It was a combination of sword and shield, with the longsword embedded in the shield, its blade gleaming with a sharp, cold light.

Six straight, pointed horns grow in a row on the forehead, which, together with the patterns on the mask, resemble a crown.

The dark red armor is understated and restrained, while the white patterns and the silver-gray metallic lining give it a domineering yet understated feel.

"This thing feels pretty good; it doesn't give me a heavy feeling of restriction!"

After stretching his body, Miku inserted his sword and shield into the groove behind him and waved to the cat, Baiya, saying, "I'll be going now. Keep an eye on things for me and let me know if anything unusual happens!"

"no problem!"

After receiving the reply, Miku leaped away from the throne room and disappeared from Baiya's sight.

In the forest, a small group of three men and one woman was led by a young man with blond hair. Holding a baseball bat, the blond-haired young man picked fruit from a nearby tree and said nonchalantly, "Hey, I thought it would be more dangerous, but it's not much different from a picnic."

"But, Xiao Tai still needs to..."

Before the bespectacled young man could finish speaking, the blonde, dark-skinned stunner beside him interrupted, "Don't say any more, Shiraki. Kota naturally has his own plans; after all, he's the man who runs a billiard hall!"

As she spoke, the blonde bombshell's eyes flickered, as if she wanted to push the man down, strip him naked, and rub him against the ground.

"That's right, you'll all come with me. After I win this game, I'll definitely give you what you want!"

The young man, nicknamed Xiao Tai, had a look of longing and anticipation on his face, as if he had already won the whole game.

"As expected of Kota, we'll be counting on you then!"

The blonde bombshell clung to Xiao Tai's arm when, just then, a group of red-skinned Inves appeared in front of the three men and one woman.

"Ah, look, Kota!"

The blonde bombshell hid behind the blond-haired youth, whose legs trembled slightly for some reason as he looked at Inves so close to him.

But he still forced a smile and said, "What's there to be afraid of? They're just some low-level Inves."

"Watch me take them all down!"

After saying that, Kota swung his baseball bat as if to vent his anger, and roared as he charged toward Inves.

The slow-moving and seemingly clumsy subordinate Inves always gives a harmless first impression.

In reality, despite being covered in thick exoskeletons, they are not slow-moving and prefer to travel in groups. On Earth, they would be definitely dangerous creatures in the food chain, tearing apart tigers and leopards like it's nothing!

"clang!"

The solid metal baseball bat was slammed hard into Inves's head by Kota, leaving a dent where the bat struck Inves.

"How about that? I can break bones with this!"

The smug little Tai was shouting arrogantly, but such an attack was not even a tickle to the lower-ranking Inves.

"Roar!"

Inves, his face wide open, revealed a gaping maw full of sharp teeth. After a roar, he swung his hand and sent Kota flying.

"what!"

Xiao Tai screamed and fell to the ground. The blonde hottie next to her screamed and ran away quickly after seeing this.

Instead of running away, the bespectacled man dragged Xiao Tai away, saying, "Let's go, we can't beat these guys!"

The young man, who had used all his strength to pull Xiao Tai up, caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of one of the Inves. Four thin, cicada-wing-like wings extended from its back, and it rapidly ascended towards them as the wings flapped.

"quick..."

The young man, whose eyes were still stuck in his throat, was shoved towards the flying Inves by the young man, pushing him into that gaping maw.

"Escape!"

With a loud shout, Xiao Tai turned and ran, not even glancing at the bespectacled man he had fed Inves.

But soon, his roar attracted more Inves. Dozens of Inves surrounded them, and with their gaping maws, they devoured them all.

"ah!!!"

Only mournful howls echoed through the forest. A moment later, a hand covered by a harness suit picked up the bespectacled man's bloodied, broken eye.

"Hey, what a bunch of idiots! If they could have united a little, they might have had a chance to escape!"

"But that's human nature!"

Miku tossed the eyepiece to the ground, indifferently strode past several mangled corpses reduced to bones, and continued wandering through the forest.

At the same time, the World Tree Force, under the command of the Director, was launching massive attacks on those participating in the survival game.

After using guns injected with anesthetic to shoot and bring the unconscious people under control one by one, they began to systematically collect the drives scattered throughout the forest.

"How much have you collected so far?"

"Report, there are already seventeen!" The team member holding the notebook said seriously, "Seventy intermediate Inves have been defeated, and each Inves is guarding a driver. We also found the driver in an inconspicuous place."

"continue!"

"Yes!"

The director, fully armored and seated on a bench with his hands on his sword, had his eyes constantly scanning the surroundings behind his melon-colored goggles, wary of any possible attack.

Miku also witnessed this scene. The cat perched on a tree branch scratched its chin and said, "This is clearly a foul. Although it's stated that there are no rules and that you can win by any means necessary, these guild-type pay-to-win players are really ruining the game experience!"

As Miku's dark red goggles took in everything, he couldn't suppress his murderous intent.

This game is not only a trial for Sha Cheng, but also a glimpse into the world where he and Bai Ya find amusement.

This game reveals the ugliness of human nature: betrayal, cunning, greed, deception, and murder...

Of course, there will be some bright spots, which is something they are happy to see!

Survival games are inherently rigged; as long as they maintain a facade of fairness, they can do whatever they want behind the scenes.

"Now that we've seen it, we can't just ignore it!"

Miku jumped down from the tree and reached behind him with his left hand to take the sword and shield off his back.

"Who goes there?!"

The commotion of Miku landing caught the director's attention. The director, who had jumped up from the bench, pointed his sword at Miku.

But upon seeing Miku's armor, he exclaimed in astonishment, "Why do you possess that Lockseed!"

"You mean this?" Miku chuckled, touching the apple-shaped locket around his waist. "It was a gift!"

"Don't think that only people from the World Tree possess the Driver; I have one too!"

Miku, having drawn his longsword "Sword Drawer" from his shield "Apple Reflector," pointed it at the director and said, "If you're not happy, come and hit me!"

Chapter 11: If I strike you with this sword, you'll die!

"If you're unhappy, come and hit me!"

With an extremely provocative tone, Miku twisted his wrist, and the sword moved accordingly. The director slowly picked up his melon shield, tightening his grip on the peerless military knife.

"Keep an eye on them and keep watch on the surroundings!"

"understand!"

After giving his orders to his subordinates, the director's eyes remained completely calm: "Although I don't know where you got that lock-seed from, since I've come across it, I'll take it back!"

"That's not a lock-type that humans can use at will!"

"Oh dear, I'm really scared. Is all you can do is talk?"

Miku spoke playfully as he rotated his wrist, and the "Sword Master" followed suit, the sharp blade slicing through the air with a whooshing sound.

"Insanity!"

The director, keeping his body low to the ground, stomped his right foot heavily on the ground, sending dirt flying as he quickly approached Miku.

The peerless saber slashed horizontally towards Miku's neck, but Miku raised his left hand, and "Apple Emitter" protected Miku's upper body before the saber could strike.

"clang!"

The sound of metal clashing suddenly echoed, the leaves on the trees rustled, and blinding flashes of light continuously erupted from the clash of swords and shields.

"It's pretty good!"

As Miku took a step back, dissipating some of the opponent's force, he stomped his right foot on the ground and twisted his waist, unleashing a tremendous force that propelled the "Sword Drawer" toward the director's face.

"boom!"

At the critical moment, the melon shield moved upwards, narrowly blocking Miku's attack. After that, the master's expression turned serious.

"So strong!"

Although this guy seems frivolous in his words and actions, his strength is top-notch!

His superhuman reflexes even made him appear stronger than his opponent.

The director, his arm jerking, exerted force instantly, using the momentum to retreat. His expression grew even more serious, as he hadn't even left a scratch on the "Apple Reflector" shield.

"Hey, hey, hey, is it not working anymore?"

Miku, rubbing his sword against his shield, chuckled easily, "Weren't you all so aggressive, saying you were going to take my Lockseed?"

"Why are we stuck in this stalemate?!"

"Humph!"

A Musou Muzzle appeared on the Musou Saber, and four bright spots lit up on the blade, representing the number of bullets the Musou Saber had in gun mode.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang!"

The director fired four shots in quick succession, emptying his magazine. Miku, facing energy bullets invisible to the naked eye, simply raised his shield lazily, moving up and down to easily block the director's four shots.

Although it is impossible to detect with the naked eye, as long as you observe the angle and direction from which the opponent fires in advance, you can predict the trajectory of the bullet and thus defend against it.

For Miku, who possesses superhuman reflexes, deflecting bullets is as easy as playing with a ball of yarn.

As for the Forbidden Apple Lockseed obtained from DJ Sagara, it possesses superior performance compared to ordinary Lockseeds, even rivaling the combination of the next-generation Genesis Driver and the Energy Lockseed.

Fortunately, the World Tree headquarters had already been destroyed by Miku. DJ Sagara, who took the sealed dangerous lockseed, intended to reduce the variables in the plan, and besides, no one would have pursued the matter under those circumstances.

But unexpectedly, it still benefited Miku in the end.

Is that all you've got?