Two beacons of hope appeared in the dark. They shone with snow white and azure blue. These blades danced around the beasts, cutting them as easily as butter.
It was Suzuki who wielded the two weapons. His movements flowed like a powerful river, every attack channeling into the next. His strength was focused and every attack had a clear purpose.
No matter how much Suzuki's body had changed, he retained every aspect of his sword-wielding expertise.
His weapons danced closer to the beast upon Gabriel. The azure and snow joined into one bright force, blinding everyone in the room.
"Thunder Dragon's Blizzard Storm!"
Suzuki yelled out his attack's name before dealing a blow so powerful, so out of this world, that the huge beast was not only cut into two halves, but one of the said halves have completely evaporated from the face of this earth.
While everyone was blinded by the light, Suzuki charged toward Naomi's table. He cut down the deformed humanoids without a sweat, beheading all with one slash. He was so unnaturally fast, that Naomi could only see the aftermath, namely the monsters' burning corpses.
Gabriel pushed the beast off of himself. There was a sharp pain in his chest that lingered even after he stood up.
"Thank you!" He gestured to Suzuki. "One of our men is out of commission and another's missing. If you could help us find--"
Suzuki rushed away without listening to another word. Instead, he charged the nearest monster and continued his elegant slaughter.
Gabriel was speechless, but that didn't last long.
Naomi grabbed his and the still frozen Stevie's hand and began pulling them away.
"Come, quick! The monsters are focused on Suzuki, we can run away!"
"What about Pepon?" Gabriel pulled away his hand.
"Huh? You're kidding, right? That rando' should be the last of our problems!"
"But we have to defend her!"
"What are you talking about? We can't even pick a fight with these... Things...! How could we defend her if we can't even defend ourselves?"
Naomi had a point and even Gabriel had to admit that. But even then, there was no use arguing with the guardian demon.
Gabriel took a sharp fork from the table and rushed away to find Pepon.
"Oh, sure!" Naomi mocked him. "Let me grab this shiny spoon and come after you! Let's just hope one of those monsters is made out of ice cream or soup!"
The two's paths have separated. Gabriel ran into the dark, desperately searching for Pepon.
Naomi put Stevie on his back and rushed to the nearest exit. Thanks to his great memory, he remembered where it was and he could find it even while being blinded by the dark. He rushed straight to the door and reached to open it, but as he did...
"Huh? What the..."
It looked like a normal door down to the last detail. But as Naomi tried to grab the handle, something blocked his way.
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"What the hell? Why can't I reach it? Damn it! This is just like one of those nightmares you have after overeating on tofu, there is an invisible wall!"
It was as he thought of that metaphor that he realized the truth. His hand pulled away from the door and slapped onto his forehead.
He had the right idea all along, but he didn't know it would be like this. It was a very clever way of testing them, but he couldn't appreciate it for the single fact it was dirty. Very dirty.
"Everyone!" Naomi turned around and yelled into the dark. "This is not real! This whole thing is just an illusion!"
The screaming stopped. The monsters disappeared. Silence sat in the room.
"Oh, but it was just getting interesting!" A voice sounded from above. "Whatever, I will cease my spell."
There was something that sounded like a clap and, as if nothing had happened, they were back inside the fine dining room. It was lit up, the guests were still alive and there were no monsters in the room.
Gabriel woke up with his head in his soup. The others were surrounding him besides Suzuki, who woke up at the last table he had approached.
Everyone's eyes were gathered on them. More specifically, on Suzuki, whom the females of the room surrounded from all sides.
"Were we under the effect of a spell?" Gabriel asked himself.
As he raised his head, there was a cat standing on top of their table. His fur was pure white with brown surrounding his eyes and covering his ears.
The cat was standing on two feet. He sported a blue vest and a few earrings. He was also quite well-fed, given his large belly.
"Hewwo!" The cat waved at him.
"Who... Are you?"
"I am Howard Phylon Cepathon, the High Mage of Astria. But you can call me Pepsi."
Stevie raised his head from the table. There was still a clear horror in his eyes.
"Are we... Not... Dead?"
Pepsi leaned close to him with a smug smile.
"No, but I don't think I would be so happy about that!"
Suddenly, the doors to the dining room slammed open and every guest turned quiet. Armored men entered the room, each bearing serious expressions.
Amongst these guards were the king and his family.
And the king was angry. Very angry.