NOVEL SIMPLE Betrayal (16.1)
Game
Thoughts
“Talking”
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-20,000! (62,060/1,035,150)
I can’t believe…
The wall of pink Ki surrounded Gray, his fur burning away as he was consumed by the blast.
-20,000! (42,060/1,035,150)
I’m really…
He felt an unimaginable pain, but he couldn’t bring himself to open his mouth and scream. His body was exhausted - stuck in place as he was tormented by the attack.
-20,000! (22,060/1,035,150)
Going to die…
The wall of power flooded around him, encompassing his entire body as his Saiyan armor burned away in an instant.
To fucking Raditz…
-20,000! (2,060/1,035,150)
“[Noble’s Slash!]” A voice screamed, but Gray had no idea who. His world was a blur, his entire vision consumed by the pink void.
I’m… dead…
For just a second, Gray felt at peace. His body stopped struggling, his eyes closing and wiping away the bright pink light. For just one moment, Gray’s thoughts faded away as he accepted his outcome. He was dying, and there was nothing he could do to change the outcome. All of his stress disappeared.
And then, suddenly, the world of pink was replaced by a different color. As if Zeno himself was intent on ripping away Gray’s one moment of peace, the pain disappeared. He opened his eyes, a wall of green light blaring in front of him.
Or… not?
In front of Gray was what could only be described as his Ki-blade on steroids. A giant green rapier, spanning nearly 20 feet long and high along with being composed entirely of Ki, slashed downwards. It cut cleanly through the wall of pink Ki, continuing its path until it reached its true target.
Said path was Raditz’s right arm.
“Arggh!” Raditz screamed in pain, his hand that was blasting the energy wave being cut clean-through at the elbow. His arm slid away, blood flowing down from the stump as his hand plummeted into the snow below. The Saiyan captain stared in shock, clutching at his elbow.
For a moment, no one moved. Not that Gray knew that - his mind rattled with pain as his HP sat at near zero. Then, one voice shouted out.
“C-Captain!” A concerned voice came from one of the surrounding Ozaru’s. Another one followed shortly after.
“Cheater! She cheated!”
“,,,Asuna?” Gray asked softly, his eyes half-lidded as shock marred his face. The female ape to his right held the shining Ki rapier in her hand, her eyes squinted shut as her face was twisted in pain.
“Fuck! I did it, it's too late now!” She screamed, turning to Celia, “Destroy that thing! We gotta go!”
Celia held her giant ape hand upward, her fingers stiffening, then closed her hand abruptly. The large ball of light in the sky, acting as an artificial moon, collapsed in on itself into an explosion cloud. Asuna grabbed Gray’s arm, dragging the injured Saiyan with her as she launched into the air, their bodies slowly shrinking as the light faded.
“She interfered!”
“Don’t let them leave!”
“Kill the traitors!”
Angry shouts came from behind them, the squad of Saiyans struggling to chase after them as they started to shrink back into their humanoid forms.
“Celia! Can you do something?” Gray shouted, his voice a mix between a monster and a human as his body shrunk. He stumbled in the air, his body’s balance being thrown off as he was condensed back into his Saiyan form and his HP plummeted. His body ached, his eyelids growing heavily as unconsciousness clawed at him. The girl nodded as the fur faded off her body, turning around as she flew after them.
“Close your eyes! Keep going forward!” Celia shouted, and Gray squinted his eyes shut as he blindly followed Asuna, his bloodied body feeling more sore as it became small again. Behind him, Celia formed another large flashing ball of light in her hands, throwing it behind her as she continued to fly after Gray and Asuna.
The trio of Gray, Asuna, and Celia sped off, careering down the mountain as they headed toward the shoreline
“Where are we heading?” Asuna shouted, dragging the beaten body of Gray behind her.
“Can… you find… Saeko, Celia?” Gray huffed out, his voice ragged and hard to get out as his HP continued to drop slowly, his battered body not enjoying the way he was being dragged through the air at an immense speed.
“I’ll look for her energy,” Celia responded, “Just keep heading for the shoreline!”
“Don’t let them get away! Get that fucking traitor!” Raditz’s voice shouted, his voice barely audible as the trio blasted away, but the squad of Saiyans were stopped in their attempt as they were forcefully turned back into apes. The Saiyans stumbled and fell back to the ground, their balance disrupted as they had to wait for their bodies to grow and even out again.
“That stupid bitch! You’ll be faster now, don’t let them leave!” Raditz’s voice echoed again behind Gray, “And one of you fucking healers get over here!”
A giant army of apes formed behind them again, leaping into the air as they sped toward the fleeing trio at incredible speeds, powered up by their transformation. Celia reached her hand up again, squeezing it as she crushed the bright orb once again, forcing the group to turn back into their humanoid forms. They plummeted back into the ground again, unable to maintain their flight as they repeatedly changed in size and weight.
“We need to go faster,” Celia said in a strained tone, her hand clutching at her arm, “I can only do that one more time. We aren’t moving fast enough to shake them all off!”
True to her words, the small army of roughly 30 Saiyans behind them was dwindled down to a small group of 5 as the slower Saiyans either stopped to help Raditz or were unable to keep up. Celia raised her hand again, flinging back another artificial moon as the small group of Saiyans still chasing stalled out, their bodies careening in the air. Asuna kept her grip on Gray’s arm, dragging him along as she continued to speed down the mountain, the ocean growing bigger as they got closer.
“Found her,” Celia spoke up as she shot forward, catching up with Asuna as Gray’s near-limp body slowed her down, “She’s a bit to the east, right by the water. Follow me, and be ready to fight. I can hide our energy from the scouters, but those two won’t let up, and I’m almost out of energy.”
Gray sluggishly looked over his shoulder, noticing that the group of five Saiyans was now reduced to a pair, with a tall slim male and slender female Saiyan keeping chase. He silently used [Observe] as the two dots slowly came closer.
The first was a slim woman, with short spiky dark hair and a square face. She had defined muscles and looked to be close to 6 feet tall.
[Simpleton] Peacha:
[Saiyan Raditz Squad Member]
Age: 24
PL: 47,768,990
HP: 90,600/90,600
TKI: 282,450/282,450
Reputation: -50/100 (Negatively-Viewed)
[Simpleton] Modifier - Individuals with this modifier will lack common sense.
The second was a slim, absurdly tall man. He looked like he was well over 7 feet tall, with defined but not overly large muscles. He had a long face, with sunken cheeks, that was framed by long straight yellow hair that went to his shoulders.
[Timid] Berri:
[Saiyan Raditz Squad Member]
Age: 27
PL: 81,998,259
HP: 160,890/160,890
TKI: 396,119/396,119
Reputation: -20/100 (Negatively-Viewed)
[Timid] Modifier - Individuals with this modifier will be naturally timid. They will gain 10% less CHA.
We… are probably fucked.
[Quest Complete!]
…or not?
Asuna dragged Gray downwards abruptly, following Celia as they blitzed toward the shoreline. As they landed, Asuna wrapped one of Gray’s arms around her shoulder and hobbled him over to a collection of rocks. Behind the pile of large rocks was Celia, who had landed a few moments before them, along with Saeko, Ranfan, and Nam.
Behind them, the duo of Peacha and Berri finally caught up to the group, floating above the beach as they looked around furiously.
“How strong are they?” Saeko asked, watching the two Saiyans float a few hundred feet in the air, looking around with their scouters. She crouched one of the rocks, speaking in a hushed tone toward Celia and Asuna. Asuna carefully laid Gray down, his body covered in a pool of his own blood as Ranfan crawled over to look at his injuries.
“The girl is about ten times stronger than you,” Celia explained, the normally emotionless girl having a slight frown on her face, “The other one’s close to twice her strength.”
“Ten and twenty times stronger…” Saeko hummed, looking down at her sword, “I don’t think I can do much. My sword skills can’t make up that big of a difference.”
“I… don’t know what to do,” Celia admitted, her frown becoming larger, “It would likely take all three of us just to take down the weaker one, and even that wouldn’t be guaranteed. We can’t run anymore - I’m out of energy to keep stalling them.”
“Can’t we keep hiding?” Ranfan whispered-shouted.
“No,” Asuna answered this time, her face looking grim, “They’re still looking because they want to have some fun. Eventually, they’ll get bored and just blow up the whole beach.”
Asuna groaned, the soft Saiyan girl slumping over as her hands reached up to cover her face, “Fuck! Why did I do that?! Why the fuck did I do that?! Why did I let you convince me to do that?”
“It was simply the best option,” Celia said as if it was obvious, “It would’ve taken everything I had to save Gray from that attack, even as an Ozaru. I needed energy to help us escape, so someone else needed to stop Raditz. You just happened to look the most convincable.”
“Fuck…” The normally soft-spoken girl cursed again, “I can’t believe I did that… why did I do that…”
“No use lamenting about it. I’ll delay them, and you guys run,” Celia finally said, staring at her left arm with a conflicted expression, “I have a few… tricks. I’ll be a burden for the rest of the mission anyway - I can buy you guys a few minutes at least. No more than te-”
“Shut up,” Gray finally groaned out, his attention being focused on something else so far as he struggled to think due to the injuries racking his body, “I’ll take the other one, alright? Just get the weak one.”
“Did that stomp give you brain damage?” Celia asked, the emotionless girl looking at him incredulously, “You might have a chance at full power, but a strong gust of wind could finish you off at this point.”
No, I can work with this.
[Hidden Quest Complete!]
Survive the fight with Raditz
Rewards:
+100 Attribute points (10x multiplier from [Nightmare Mode])
+10,000 Coins
+100,000 XP (10x multiplier from [Nightmare Mode])
+100HREG
+100EREG
Bonus Rewards:
+2 [Perk Token] for bringing [Raditz] below 25% HP.
+100 Attribute Points for bringing [Raditz] below 25% HP.
+100,000 Coins for bringing [Raditz] below 25% HP.
+500,000 XP for bringing [Raditz] below 25% HP.
+100HREG
+100EREG
[You have leveled up multiple times!]
+200 Attribute points!
“Just give me a minute… I’ll fucking win…” Gray spat out, forcing himself to sit up as he now had another 400 points to distribute. His body protested, and the world started spinning as he sat up, but Gray ignored it. Gray wanted to think about how he’d distribute the large amount of points most effectively, but he could barely sit up, much less think about the pros and cons of each stat boost.
I got no fucking HP and no fucking Ki, so let’s just dump it all into those.
Due to barely escaping death, your [Zenkai Boost] skill has been activated!
[Zenkai Boost] - Your body grows stronger by fighting.
For surviving against an opponent over twice as strong as you: +100 to all stats.
For fleeing against your opponent: Your Zenkai Boost is half as effective.
I get a penalty for being a bitch? Fair enough.
Gray hissed as he pushed himself into a crouching position, feeling his body recover partially from the stat increase. He glanced at his stat page.
Gray Tanaki:
[Saiyan D-Class Recruit]
Age: 15
Wallet: 156,150 Coins
Lvl: 14 (108,000/250,000 XP)
PL: 152,775,200
Available Points: 0
HP: 117,750/218,350
TKI: 146,500/330,875
STR: 485
AGI: 700
END: 450
INT: 505
CHA: 195
LUK: 505
KI: 655
HREG: 456
EREG: 456
Skills: [Observe LVL 5], [Running LVL 6], [Determination LVL 4], [Ki Control LVL 9], [Ki Gun LVL 5]. [Ki Enhancement LVL 4], [KI Suppression LVL 5], [Ki Sense LVL 2], [Pushup LVL 4], [Punch LVL 4], [Kick LVL 4], [Jump LVL 4], [Flight LVL 4], [Prediction LVL 2], [Zenkai Boost LVL 1], [Cognitive Acceleration LVL 1], [Ah! Lord Freiza! LVL 1], [Mouth-Beam LVL 1], [Ki-Blade LVL 1]
Perks: [Gamer’s Mind], [Gamer’s Body], [Double-edged Sword], [Legendary Super Saiyan], [Perfect Ozaru], [A Cute Pawn], [A Humble Master], [Ladies Man]
Fighting Styles: [Boxing Style: Kolra LVL 2]
Party: [Saeko, Celia, Asuna]
Still not Raditz-level, damn.
Celia stared at him, her eyes wide as she watched his energy shoot up,, “...Okay, you can have him.”
Gray stood up, stretching his arms widely as he spit out a final glob of blood into the ocean behind them, “Take the other one. It’s fine if you don’t win - just stall for a bit. I won’t take more than 2 minutes.”
“Don’t get cocky…” Celia said warningly, standing up as she looked up at the two Saiyans floating high in the air above them.
Gray ignored her, shooting upwards as he flew directly at the Saiyan man, whose eyes widened in surprise as he spotted Gray approaching.
“Finally came out-” The more confident female Saiyan, Peacha, started to say but stopped in shock as a Ki bullet swiftly shot upwards and ripped through Berri’s arm.
28,600! (132,290/160,890)
Even Raditz struggled to dodge these. Do you think you have time to dialogue?
“You damn…” Peacha glared at Gray, trying to think of an insult, but eventually just grunted in frustration as she shot toward Gray. She was stopped in her tracks as she jerked her head back, a sword flying past her face and cutting her cheek, courtesy of Saeko, who’d thrown her sword upward with amazing precision. Peacha was forced to turn her attention away from Gray as Asuna flew at her, Celia and Saeko shortly behind her.
Meanwhile, Gray had paid no mind to Peacha’s attempted insult, instead dashing directly at Berri. His hand slammed upward, hitting Berri’s guard as the skinny man crossed his arms.
9,200! (123,090/160,890)
Berri zipped backward, trying to create space between the two, but Gray didn’t let him off so easily. He shot forward, his fists blurring as the tall man tried to dodge the onslaught.
1,200! (121,890/160,890)
2,300! (119,590/160,890)
5,600! (113,990/160,890)
1,000! (112,090/160,890)
1,500! (111,490/160,890)
900! (110,590/160,890)
9,500! (101,090/160,890)
5,200! (95,890/160,890)
3,250! (92,640/160,890)
“Fuck!” Berri grunted, his attempts to dodge and block the strikes resulting in various levels of success. He crossed his arms, a Ki ball forming in both hands as one of Gray’s fists slammed into his guard again. The Ki blasts exploded, creating a blinding light around the two men.
A bootleg solar flare, huh? Not good enough.
Gray squeezed his eyes shut, lunging forward blindly as he gripped onto Berri’s Saiyan armor and prevented him from backing away. He grimaced as he felt a Ki blast slam into his gut at point-blank range, opening his eyes as he blinked rapidly while his vision returned.
-15,280! (102,470/218,350)
Gray blinked away the spots in his eyes as his vision returned, bracing himself as he kept his grip on the front of Berri’s armor, tanking the duo of point-blank Ki balls that slammed into his chest as Berri tried to shove Gray away.
-18,650! (83,820/218,350)
-12,990! (70,830/218,350)
Gray yanked Berri closer so that their faces were only inches apart, glaring as he stared into the lanky man's eyes, “You done?”
The man stared at him with wide eyes as Gray grinned evilly, Gray slammed his head forward, headbutting the man harshly.
16,500! (76,140/160,890)
-5,960! (64,870/218,350)
Gray kept his grip on Berri’s armor, pulling the man closer again as he reeled backward from the headbutt. He thrusted upwards with his other Ki-coated hand, slamming into the skinny man's stomach as Berri hunched over, spit flying from his mouth.
29,500! (46,640/160,890)
“W-Wait!” The skinny man spat out, his arms pressing into Gray’s chest as he desperately tried to push him away, but Gray didn’t let go of the man's armor.
“Sorry,” Gray grinned, his teeth bared as his knee shot up, slamming into the defenseless man's stomach, “But I’m pretty pissed off right now.”
11,250! (35,390/160,890)
I’m usually not arrogant enough to let losing to Raditz get to me, but I’m fucking pissed off. I went Ozaru and still almost died. I need a fucking training montage or something. I’ve been getting my ass beat too much lately.
Gray stared down as the man hunched over again, his hands gripping the top of Gray’s knee as he tried to push it out of his stomach. Gray raised his arm, slamming his elbow into the dazed and panicked man's head.
8,700! (26,690/160,890)
“S-Stop…” Berri muttered, obviously dazed and disoriented from the repeated blows to his head.
“Nah,” Gray said simply, pressing his pointer finger directly into the man's chest. Berri looked down in horror, his body shaking and spazzing as he tried to rip himself from Gray’s grip. Gray’s grin grew even wider at his fear, his Saiyan pride rearing up at seeing another Saiyan warrior look so pathetic in front of him.
“D-Don-” He started to say, but Gray didn’t let him finish as a Ki bullet shot through his chest, creating a small hole in his heart.
26,690! (0/160,890)
[Saiyan ‘Berri’ has been defeated!]
+50,000 XP!
+5,000 Coins!
“Thanks for the XP,” Gray said, letting go of the limp man's body and letting him plummet down to the ground below.
I need to get some more fighting styles. Kolra’s boxing is too slow for a situation where I need to go help the others ASAP, and tanking hits to end the battle quickly like this is pretty annoying.
Gray glanced over to Peacha, who was fuming in the air a couple of dozen feet under him, staring around as she was surrounded by the three girls, “One of you just fight me, you bitches!”
She shot towards Saeko, stopping and spinning around as Asuna shot a Ki blast into her back as she did, then yelled in frustration again as Saeko slashed into her armor and fled backward immediately.
“Someone just fucking fight me!” She screamed, her hands pulling on the short spikey black hair on her head.
“Sure,” Gray said, and Peacha spun around to see Gray floating directly behind her.
“Fin-” She was cut off as Gray screamed, pointing his finger past her while his face twisted into a look of horror.
“[Ah! Lord Frieza!]”
Peacha blinked, staring at him incredulously as she didn’t turn around, “Huh? Why would Lord Frieza be her-”
She was cut off again as Gray blitzed upwards into her, his hand lashing out and grabbing her by the throat.
“Would’ve been funny if it worked, but there’s only a 5% chance, so it’s not surprising.” Gray mused, tightening his grip on her neck as he held the girl upward.
The girl grabbed his hand with one of hers, trying desperately to pull it off her neck as spit flew from her mouth, while the other started punching repeatedly into his stomach.
-600! (64,270/218,350)
-960! (63,310/218,350)
-250! (66,060/218,350)
-600! (62,460/218,350)
-550! (61,920/218,350)
“I’ll make it quick,” Gray said simply, his other hand flying up and pressing his finger into her forehead. Peacha swung her head widely, her punches turning into Ki blasts as she desperately tried to get out of Gray’s grip, but Gray ignored her weak attacks as they slammed into him. His fingertip glowed, and a Ki bullet ripped through Peacha’s brain a second later.
-62,520! (0/90,600)
[Saiyan ‘Peacha’ has been defeated!]
+35,000 XP!
+3,500 Coins!
“Harsh,” Celia said, floating up to Gray as he dropped the woman's corpse onto the sandy beach hundreds of feet below them. Gray resisted the urge to let a maniac grin leak onto his face, his Saiyan instincts preening at how easily he’d killed two warriors that were stronger than him just minutes earlier.
“I’m not in the mood to fuck around,” He responded, “We’re in a bit of a shit situation now, huh?”
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Gray Tanaki:
[Saiyan D-Class Recruit]
Age: 15
Wallet: 164,650 Coins
Lvl: 14 (193,000/250,000 XP)
PL: 152,775,200
Available Points: 0
HP: 50,200/218,350
TKI: 140,260/330,875
STR: 485
AGI: 700
END: 450
INT: 505
CHA: 195
LUK: 505
KI: 655
HREG: 456
EREG: 456
Skills: [Observe LVL 5], [Running LVL 6], [Determination LVL 4], [Ki Control LVL 9], [Ki Gun LVL 5]. [Ki Enhancement LVL 4], [KI Suppression LVL 5], [Ki Sense LVL 2], [Pushup LVL 4], [Punch LVL 4], [Kick LVL 4], [Jump LVL 4], [Flight LVL 4], [Prediction LVL 2], [Zenkai Boost LVL 1], [Cognitive Acceleration LVL 1], [Ah! Lord Freiza! LVL 1], [Mouth-Beam LVL 1], [Ki-Blade LVL 1]
Perks: [Gamer’s Mind], [Gamer’s Body], [Double-edged Sword], [Legendary Super Saiyan], [Perfect Ozaru], [A Cute Pawn], [A Humble Master], [Ladies Man]
Fighting Styles: [Boxing Style: Kolra LVL 2]
Party: [Saeko, Celia, Asuna, Ranfan]
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The next half of the chapter will be out later today, or you can read the next three chapters right now at Patreon.com/Koyon! Thanks for reading!