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[Hell's Blizzard]:"What I'm worried about… is my sister."
[Shut-in Angel]:"Oh come on, why overthink it? Just get over here and have fun! If you keep hesitating like this, you'll never dare to travel again. You can't let your sister hold you back forever, right?"
[I Don't Wanna Eat Monsters]:"Exactly. If you keep hiding, you'll never be able to meet up with us, Fubuki."
[Hell's Blizzard]:"…Alright. I'll come."
[Bad Woman]:"I'll pass, as usual. But if conditions allow, I'll stream it."
[Shut-in Angel]:"Relax, there's never been a time without a stream."
Shut-in Angel:"Alright, let's move out!"
Moments later.
Esdeath's system pinged with the new transfer requests. She accepted all of them, and soon, five distinct female voices came echoing out of the shimmering portal.
"Whoa! It's freezing!"
The five staggered as they landed, each one instinctively sucking in a sharp breath. Frosty air puffed white from their mouths.
"Why is it so damn cold here?!" Gabriel wrapped both arms around herself, shivering.
"I-I can't… I'm gonna freeze solid." Maru shielded her hands, rubbing them furiously and blowing into her palms. Her cheeks were flushed red from the biting chill.
"Cold…" Frieren had already squatted down, curling into a ball with her face half-buried in her collar. Only her wide, watery eyes peeked out."Can I just… hibernate here?"
"Hang in there, Miss Frieren." Saeko Busujima hugged her own arms, goosebumps prickling across her exposed skin.
Even Fubuki, elegant in her evening dress, couldn't hide her trembling.
"You guys seriously feel cold? Rosen doesn't react like this at all." Esdeath looked them over with a mix of disbelief and disappointment. She'd assumed everyone from their multiverse group was on Rosen's level. Clearly not.
"There are winter coats in that cabinet. Put those on." She shook her head, a little comforted to see she wasn't the weakest in the chat after all.
Soon, everyone was bundled up. The coats had been made to Esdeath's measurements, so they fit differently on each of them. Maru, Fubuki, and Saeko managed fine—but Gabriel and Frieren were practically swallowed whole. With only their heads sticking out of the puffed-up coats, they looked ridiculous.
"Finally! I can feel my body again. Next time we cross over, we should really check the weather first. I don't wanna die of hypothermia before the mission even starts." Gabriel muttered.
"No lie… agreed." Frieren, surprisingly, chimed in. For a homebody elf who despised winter, this was her personal nightmare.
"Anyway, let's pull up the mission board first," Rosen said. "Esdeath's situation here is settled. We need to map out the next steps."
The main objective: support Esdeath in becoming the new Empress of the Empire.The side objective: protect the members of Night Raid. Each survivor meant an extra 1,000 points.
Pretty similar to the Apocalypse world mission.
"No need to worry about Night Raid just yet," Fubuki analyzed. "If Esdeath's to take the throne, the current regime has to go first. Which means eliminating Prime Minister Honest and the puppet Emperor. But that'll trigger heavy resistance. The most efficient move is to assassinate Honest directly. With him gone, the rest will fall apart."
"General Budo, though," she continued, "once he hears about it, he'll definitely raise his army. But… Esdeath, I'm guessing you can handle him?"
"Budo's mine." Esdeath's eyes lit up. "I've wanted that fight for ages, but he's always dodged me. This time, I'll make him face me head-on."
"Fine by me," Fubuki nodded. "As for the rest, we'll handle them however we see fit."
"Not just Honest," Frieren cut in. "All of his cronies need to be rooted out too."
"Right. That just leaves Night Raid," Rosen said. "But reality doesn't always follow the anime's script, so finding them won't be easy. We'll probably need to split up: one group searches for Night Raid, while another comes with me and Esdeath to the Capital for a decapitation strike."
"Splitting up? In horror games, that's the dumbest move ever!" Gabriel yelped—then paused. "…But this isn't a horror game. So, yeah, fine."
Everyone just stared at her in silence.
Gabriel had been more animated here than in her own world, practically buzzing with energy. She called it 'immersive crossover experience'—why treat it like you're just watching from the outside, when you can dive in?
Not everyone shared her enthusiasm. Frieren just enjoyed the adventure alongside the group.
For Fubuki, though, this was about proving herself. She wanted those points, those upgrades—anything to grow strong enough that her sister, Tatsumaki, would finally acknowledge her. She didn't want to stay a sheltered fledgling under Tornado's wing forever.
But the thought of her sister made her chest tighten. She had slipped away suddenly, without warning. Would Tatsumaki sense her absence? Of course she would.
Unless Fubuki returned immediately, it was only a matter of time before her sister discovered she was gone. And when Tatsumaki realized she couldn't sense her anymore…
Fubuki covered her face with one hand, sighing. Knowing her sister, she'd tear the entire area apart stone by stone if that's what it took to find her. There'd be no stopping her rage.
Which meant—once this mission ended, Fubuki couldn't linger. She'd have to go straight back.
Meanwhile, in the One Punch Man world.
No sooner had Fubuki's presence vanished from her spot than a green streak shot across the sky, blazing like a meteor.
Tatsumaki narrowed her eyes, face grim."Fubuki… you really were hiding something from me."
"..."
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