Songs in the Void: A Multiversal Score

ICDS Universe, Earth, United States of America, Page, Arizona.

"Part of me feels like Tatsuo had the right idea." Shin, after leaving his accommodations in a red suit of plate armor, said to himself while walking towards the Field Dungeon to blow off some steam. "How could such a young girl be so willing to sacrifice so many people? What makes it even worse, it's all just to keep me alive. And just me. No one else even seemed to be human in her eyes. Eh... That's probably not the best metaphor when you're talking about a blind girl, huh?

To clarify, in the universe where Infinite Competitive Dungeon Society takes place, every world is born with a World's Power. And the world, when in crisis, usually bestows that power onto a chosen individual. When that happens, that individual becomes what is known as a Hero. And from that moment, the lives of the World and the Hero are tied together. Because if the life of either were to be lost, then the world would effectively be over.

"Even if I know what losing a Hero does to a world, that is unforgiveable." Shin muttered while gritting his teeth. "I mean, yeah, I know that if I die and the World's Power is taken by one of these monsters that all want me dead, new life will never again be born among the humans. But is that a reason to treat me like a damsel in destress?"

"It sounds like a good reason to me, young man."

Hearing that voice, Shin, who was lost in thought, jumped in surprise. When he turned to see who it was, he noticed that two of the women Tatsuo brought with him, Scáthach and Tio, if he remembered correctly, were standing nearby and staring into the sky. And Scáthach seemed to be the one who had spoken to him just now.

"Oh, sorry ladies." Shin said awkwardly. "I didn't notice you there. I was... um... lost in thought."

"Think nothing of it, young man." Scáthach replied while waving dismissively. "But to answer our question, what you said about protecting you so that life does not cease to exist on this planet is a natural thought. No one wants to see their loved ones suffer just because one person lost their life, after all."

"I know that." Shin replied in a tone filled with repressed anger while clenching his fists in frustration. "But I'm not a damsel to be protected. I'm a warrior. I've trained for most of my life to protect myself and those important to me."

"I can tell." Scáthach replied. "You are skilled beyond your years. But that's all at this point. Though I have no doubt that you will be strong enough to do what you set your mind to in time. Accepting assistance would do you well. Though, you must be sure to choose your allies carefully."

Shin only lowered his head to think over Scáthach's words. Despite not being the most intelligent guy around, he could understand the wisdom in her words.

"Oh, they're coming back." Tio said, breaking Shin out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" Shin exclaimed in confusion before finally looking up in the direction where Tio was staring.

When he did, Shin saw Tatsuo [Blinking] closer and closer. Then, he turned to where he could feel James' presence and saw him vanish from where he stood next to a decapitated wyvern before he reappeared next to Scáthach an instant later.

"*Sigh* That was fun." James said with a refreshing smile on his face. His smile then dimmed slightly as he continued. "A little too easy, though."

"Yeah, but the thought of killing every one of them that I see is finally gone." Tatsuo replied as he appeared next to Tio. "Oh, you're here, too, Shin? How the meeting with the little bitch who thinks she knows what's best for the world go?"

Hearing the venom in Tatsuo's tone, Shin could not help but recoil slightly. In fact, he was so taken aback that he did not even realize that Tatsuo said more than he should have known about Ciara. He then shook his head and smiled wryly.

"Let's just say, I was thinking about telling her where you were staying after the meeting." Shin said while continuing to smile wryly. "That way, you'd end up killing her and we wouldn't have to worry about what she might do in the future."

"Please don't." Tatsuo replied dryly. "I don't wanna kill someone who hasn't done anything wrong. Even though speaking into my head is definitely worthy of death, she's necessary for this world. I mean, she can predict were monsters and Event Dungeons will show up. Event Raids, too."

"Besides, she probably already knows where we're staying." James added casually. "So, there's really no need to tell her."

*Ring!*

The conversation was brought to a stop when Tatsuo's smartphone rang. Pulling his phone out of a pocket in his bodysuit, Tatsuo looked down to see who was calling. And he was not surprised when he saw that the call was from Violet.

"Hey, what's up, Violet-San?" Tatsuo asked before falling quiet while Violet replied. "Oh, dinner's ready already? Alright, we'll be there in a few minutes... Okay, see you when we get there."

After that, Tatsuo ended the call. Then, he turned to James, Tio, and Scáthach.

"Well, let's get back." Tatsuo said. "Alfonzo's done cooking."

James', Tio's, and Scáthach's eyes lit up when they heard that. Meanwhile, Shin was surprised by their reactions. However, he was too slow to comment on it, since by the time he thought to, the other four had already started walking towards the hotel.

"Alright, we'll catch you later." Tatsuo said while waving back to Shin. "We'll be hunting again tomorrow with everyone."

"Alright. See you tomorrow." Shin replied.

While watching Tatsuo's group return, Shin could not help overhearing the few Awakened who were out at this time hunting wyverns in small groups talk about Tatsuo and James in tones filled with awe.

"Did you see how those two cut through all those wyverns without even breaking a sweat?"

"Yeah, that was crazy. But who were they?"

"One of them was Void, the SS-Ranker from Japan. But I don't know the other one."

"Damn... Aat least we have a chance to clear this place with guys like that on our side."

"They didn't even take their kills. Don't they care about the money their losing?

"Haven't you been paying attention? The U.S. Government is cleaning them up for them."

"But aren't they worried about having them stolen?"

"The government wouldn't do something like that. Not in this situation, anyway. Otherwise, they might just leave."

After hearing what the other Awakened were saying, Shin finally turned around to look down into the Wyvern Nest. And when he saw all the wyvern corpses either missing a head or with a hole in their skull, Shin was dumbfounded.

"Just how long were they out here?" Shin asked himself. "They killed so many in such a short time."

*Zap!*

While asking himself that question, Shin clenched his fists, causing lightning to spark around his gauntlets, as Peika had been infused to them. And despite the fact that no one could see his face under his helmet, an excited smile spread across Shin's face.

"Peika, Ruyue, are you ready?" Shin asked quietly as he started walking towards the Wyvern Nest. "We gotta do our part, too. We can't let them beat us, right?"

*Zap~~~!*

In response, the lightning around Shin's fists increased in intensity. At the same time, a thin sheet of ice materialized under Shin's next step causing him to seemingly start walking on the air to the onlookers.

"Hey, is that Thunder Knight?" An Awakened asked after seeing the flashes from Shin's lightning. "Didn't he just finish helping the Flame Witch in Britain?"

Thunder Knight was the nickname Shin was given when he went to Britain to help with the Graveyard over the Lake at Windermere while trying to keep the fact that he was both Kang Shin and Yeon Hwawoo a secret.

Like that, Shin would spend the rest of the night hunting wyverns. And despite the fact that he spent much more time than both Tatsuo and James combined, he would only hunt about twice as much as there combined total.

Meanwhile, back at the hotel where Tatsuo and the others were staying, the Awakened who had come back from the Wyvern Nest to relax for the evening were sitting in the hotel's dining room and staring at a certain group of tables that had been pushed together with envy.

The reason for the envy in the Awakened's gazes was simple. The smell of the food on the tables in question was making them drool while sounds of protest could be heard from their stomachs. Meanwhile, the ones sitting at the table, Tatsuo and his group, were eating happily and looked like they were speaking about something rather interesting.

As for why it looked as if they were talking about something interesting, that was because no sound could be heard from that direction. And that was thanks to both Alfonzo and Scáthach, who employed their knowledge of sigils and runes, respectively, to stop any eavesdropping, both physically and psychically.

"So, we'll all be going out tomorrow." Alfonzo said while cutting into his dinner, chicken parmesan, after the course of moans died down. "We should probably split up into groups to fight them, right?"

"Maybe?" James replied. "I mean, they're pretty weak. The only ones who might have any trouble with them are Sumire and Shea. But if they were careful, they shouldn't have much of an issue with them, either."

"That would be if they could fly." Tatsuo pointed out. "But fighting airborne enemies while being confined to the ground makes it harder by default, right?"

"Well, that's not wrong." James replied while rolling spaghetti around his fork.

"We can rent a helicopter for them though, right?" Elicia asked with a smile while holding up her fork with a piece of chicken skewered on it. "Then, they would only have to worry about moving from the chopper to wyvern, killing the wyvern, and getting back to the chopper."

"Get to ze chopper~~~~!" James shouted in an authentic Austrian accent.

That outburst brought all the conversations around the table to a stop. While Violet, Aletia, Shea, Tio, Rias, and Sona stared at James blankly, those who appreciated the reference, namely, Tatsuo, Alfonzo, and Elicia, all gave him thumbs ups. Meanwhile, Scáthach only shook her head in exasperation.

"What? That was a classic." James said without shame. "And if you can't appreciate it, then you need to examine your own life and the decisions you made to get to this point."

In response, Tatsuo, Alfonzo, and Elicia all nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Rias and Sona both rolled their eyes at their fiancé's antics. Violet, who knew where the reference came from, smiled a little while Aletia, Shea, and Tio, who had never seen a Schwarzenegger movie wore confused expressions, though in Aletia's case, it was only a confused glint in her eyes.

"It's a line from a movie." Tatsuo said as he leaned over to explain to Tio. "We can watch the movie when we get back home."

Hearing that, Tio smiled brightly. Meanwhile, Aletia and Shea both glared at Tio enviously.

"Let's get back to serious matters." Scáthach said, bringing the topic back on track. "We should try to kill the beasts while inflicting as little damage as possible. From what I've been able to gather by listening to the other hunters, we can get quite a sum should they be in good condition."

"Never expected you to be interested in the money, Master." James said in a slightly surprised tone.

"Not for myself." Scáthach replied while shaking her head. She then gestured towards Violet, Aletia, and Shea as she continued. "But those three will be living here after we leave. And having additional funds will be a good thing, will it not?"

"Well, I can't argue with that." James said with a shrug. "Not that I'll have any issues with that."

James then turned to look at Alfonzo and Elicia with a grin.

"Instead, we should be wary of our resident Fairy Tail wizards destroying the who canyon, right?" James asked playfully.

In response, Alfonzo only shook his head while Elicia rolled her eyes with a smile on her face.

"Maybe if any of the other wizards from our guild were here." Elicia said. "But we don't cause collateral damage."

"Why would the fact that they are 'Fairy Tail wizards' have anything to do with whether or not they could fight without destroying the bodies?" Rias asked curiously, her otaku senses telling her that this had something to do with anime and manga.

"Hmm.... How do I put it?" James asked himself while looking up at the ceiling in thought. "Okay, Fairy Tail is a guild of righteous wizards who all have tendencies like Erza."

Immediately, Rias, Sona, and Scáthach wore expressions of understanding. During their training sessions with the task group James was the head of, they had seen how Erza tended to leave large amounts of devastation in her wake.

"*Sigh* So, your Erza is the same, huh?" Alfonzo asked while smiling wryly. "I guess no matter the version, Erza just fucks shit up when she's fighting, huh?"

"Wait... Your Erza?" Rias asked with her eyes lighting up. "Does that mean you have an Erza just like you have a Grayfia?"

"That's right?" Elicia said with a smile. "She's Fonzie's fourth wife."

With that, Elicia pulled out her lPhone, the version of a smartphone Alfonzo invented in their world and scrolled through her photo gallery before she showed everyone a picture of Alfonzo, Erza, and his third wife, Sun Seto, from their wedding.

"Wow! She's really pretty... both of them are." Shea said in awe. "And those dresses are so beautiful. Are those what women wear when they get married in your world, Miss Lici."

"Seriously, Shea, just Lici." Elicia said with a smile. "And yes, dresses like that are common in many worlds for weddings."

Hearing that, not only Shea's eyes, but Aletia's and Tio's eyes also lit up as they turned to stare at Tatsuo. Even Violet, though she was not as obvious, was glancing at Tatsuo in anticipation. Yet, Tatsuo, who was only fifteen and still in the process of getting his full emotional range back, did not respond.

Sure, Tatsuo knew that he had possessive feelings towards the four ladies, but he had yet to mature enough to understand that there were feelings of affection mixed in, as well. So, the thought of marriage was still a long way away for him. Not that he would have been thinking about marriage at the age of fifteen even if his emotions were normal.

Meanwhile, Rias and Sona were exchanging distressed glances.

"What's wrong, Ri Ri? Sona?" James asked after noticing the expressions on his fiancées' faces.

"*Sigh* It's hard to choose." Rias said while shaking her head.

"Rias is right." Sona added. "We planned to ask Shuna to make our wedding dresses. But after Seeing Elicia's work..."

"Oh.... Yeah, that's between you guys." James said while waving away any part of that conversation. "But I support any decision you might make."

Seeing the way James separated himself from the decision, Rias and Sona both clicked their tongues in displeasure. They were hoping he would weigh in, even a little. That way, if Shuna was heartbroken when they told her they wanted to have Elicia make their dresses, they could blame it on him. But that plan died in its infancy.

Either way, dinner continued and everyone enjoyed themselves. And the food. Then, they split up and went back to their rooms to get some rest before they started hunting wyverns tomorrow morning.