NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

"Final question, man….. Can you lend those arrows at us so we can be the ones who place them?" Okami asked Ryoshi. "Since Red and I are the two fastest people in this party, placing those arrows would be a piece of cake."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, even if I want to. You see, these arrows only work when I pour my arcane onto it, not from other people. This could work if that person would also be a ranger, which is very unlikely," Ryoshi answered, while shaking his head. "And once I placed those arrows in their spots, I cannot retrieve them again. These special arrows are only for one use, since they're rare spells in Code."

I got what Okami wanted to do after asking about those points. But unfortunately, we cannot make that happen, considering the rules Ryoshi had for those bows.

Okami turned to me and asked some questions before starting our plan.. "Can you still use your lightning speed?"

"Yes. But I can just use it for five minutes," I answered.

Okami shook his head and continued, "No. Don't use all that time to take down these golems. Strictly use two minutes and a half of that lightning ability for this fight and reserve the other half for Alice. I'd love to use that lightning speed for five minutes. But our situation is a little bit different. We cannot afford to fail this early."

"Got it, Okami."

As soon as Okami briefed us about the new plan, everyone went into their position. He told us the layout of the fight and the places we needed to trap the golems. Okami assigned me to lure the golem first, while Okami would distract the other. I needed to drag the golem away from the other puppet and trap it in that specific place.

Okami also discussed some backup plans if I failed to do my part since there was no telling if I would succeed in my job. We were up against two golems created by Alice herself, which was the strongest character inside this world.

We also needed to protect Ryoshi, since he was the only one who could manipulate those arrows. He would follow my lead and discharge those arrows, trapping the golems in place. And if we couldn't, we would lose this fight and eventually die on the battlefield.

As Okami instructed, Match created a pillar of flames that would protect us from those incoming missiles. And those projectiles came from the puppets hiding from the forest.

This twister of fire would also negate some physical attacks from the golems. But I doubt that would happen, considering the damage that each of those enemies could deal.

Okami and I would distract those two golems and lure them at Ryoshi's sight. All we had to do was invite one golem and trap it inside the barrier Ryoshi would set. We cannot miss any arrows from Ryoshi, considering that we needed to make a shape, especially a triangle, to trap those enemies.

As the second batch of spells came in, Match's fire shield came into play. It protected us from the magic attacks directed at us. When those abilities hit the crimson net, those skills turned into ashes.

"Way to go, Match!" I exclaimed, as I dashed straight towards the golem.

"Keep your head focused on the game, Red!" Okami warned me, as we came close to the golems.

I readied my penitent's dagger and rushed towards the side, evading the golem's attack. Since I activated my right eye, I used my lightning speed and outran the puppet in front of me. As soon as I went to the side, I taunted the golem, hoping it would follow my lead.

However, there was a price that came while using this spell. I needed to limit activating this ability, since it would drain an enormous amount of mana inside me. And if I lost all my mana even before we trapped these golems, we would be in a pinch fighting these golems.

I also needed to restrict using over two minutes and a half of my lightning ability. When I activated this spell, I needed to make a window and trap the golems.

After a few seconds, the golem I lured bought my trick and soon chased me around. While that was happening, Ryoshi found a perfect place to hide and shot his arrows at those areas. As soon as he finished placing those arrows, Ryoshi gave me the okay sign.

It was my turn to shine since Ryoshi had already finished his job.

"Come at me, golem!" I shouted, while deactivating the lightning ability that I had.

Fortunately, I only used thirty seconds of my lightning ability against this puppet. I still had around two minutes to play with my spell against the other golem…. I could only hope we would trap this golem once and for all so we could focus on the other one next.

The plan moved smoothly without us experiencing any problems while dealing with the golems. As the arrows landed on the sites, I finally turned around and witnessed the barriers emerging from the bolts. Even the puppet stopped as it sensed an impelling danger ahead of it, especially when some shield of some sort appeared before our eyes.

"Checkmate," I mumbled, and watched the event unfold before my eyes.

The arrows piercing the ground emerged a shockwave, which eventually changed colour. It flickered a bright yellow light, with a force field emerging at the bolt's tip. All three darts did the same thing, projecting a fence that obstructed everything in its way. The occurrence happened almost instantly, almost outspeeding my lightning ability.

Within a few seconds, the shield trapped the golem inside. According to Ryoshi, nobody could destroy this barrier, not even the strongest weapon featured in Code.

The golem tried slamming its hands against the invisible wall, wishing that it could free itself from it. It even cast outrageous spells that I had never witnessed before and struck the barrier with those abilities. However, no matter how hard the golem tried, that puppet could never escape that shield.

All the puppet could do was sit tight inside and wait for five minutes. It was the only way to as soon as an individual got trapped inside that force field.

Everyone of us placed a timer inside our head and counted five minutes, which was the spell's duration. If the battle exceeded around five minutes without entering the citadel, that shield would deactivate by itself. And when the barrier disappeared, the puppet trapped inside would have a window to chase us down before we could breach the castle.

We did not want that to happen, especially now that we had already come this far. Our finish line was just in front of us. And if we ever entered that gate, our team would eventually meet Alice. Olivia and Pinocchio introduced Alice to me when I still resided inside the abandoned village.

Now that we took one golem out of the equation, Ryoshi and I needed to prepare for our succeeding plan. All we had to do was to trap the puppet once again, as we did with this golem.

I met Ryoshi as I went towards Okami's side. He went to my flank and tried striking a conversation.

"You know, we're like a team back there," Ryoshi confessed, while shooting the golem in front of us with his arrows. "We could always work together if you want to."

"No," I answered. "That's the problem, Ryoshi. I don't want to work with you. I'd rather die than be a friend of yours."

"What makes you say that?" Ryoshi asked, as we nearly approached the golem up ahead. "And if you really hate me, you could've killed me right now. But you didn't."

"I don't plan on killing you right now…. not right now, especially when you saved Match's life."

After our exchange, the two of us finally reached Okami's side. But as we entered their fight, Okami looked like struggling against the golem, considering the difference between their stats. Thanks to Okami's experience, that player remained to dodge every punch thrown by the puppet. But that manoeuvring won't last for too long, since Okami was nearly reaching his limit.

"We're here to back you up, Okami!" I shouted, and went towards the golem. "I'll take it from here!"

But instead of complimenting me, Okami shouted and cursed my back, "You fucking idiot! Don't approach the golem straightforwardly!"

Before I knew it, the puppet activated something that I didn't know and ran straight towards me. I tried dodging the attack using my lightning speed, but they predicted my attack. Fortunately, I evaded the attack thanks to my electric speed. But if I did not have that, I would have died from that attack.

"That golem could predict my movements. It's using some sort of feint attacks while activating some trap spells surrounding it. After seeing its friend over there, I think this puppet became upset and refused to stay down," Okami exclaimed, while wiping off his sweat dripping from his face.