Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

Chapter 267 – The Last Stretch (1)

As the orbs were taken down one after another… The fight against Aery, or rather, the devil Beelzebub, was getting dire.

“Ughh, that devil really knows no mercy!”
“At this point I’m starting to think the devs don’t even want us to win.”
“Stop complaining!”

The two argued as they stood, back to back to cover every angle, and still looking determined despite their bodies riddled with wounds.
Crim reprimanded Suzaku for complaining, but his feelings were justified.
That devil princess was the strongest so far.
And no one had been able to anticipate just how much.

“Again, how many times do I have to tell you to stop touching the fire before you get it, you dumb hero!”
“You try dodging them then!”

Shao was also getting annoyed, and Suzaku snapped back. It did not matter how careful he tried to be, the entire battlefield was on fire.

Just touching those dark blue flames made one’s body feel heavy, like it was turned to lead. That effect lasted until they received any form of healing, which meant that Shao was put exclusively to healing duty.

Just that environment alone was a big hindrance, only made worse by their opponent’s extremely high overall stats.

*”Ahahahahahah!”*
“Ack..!”

Beelzebub jumped around *in mid-air* and swung down on Crim, who felt her arms go numb as she blocked and retreated.

Yes…she was not using her wings to fly around. It was hard to believe, but she was relying *entirely on her legs*, airdashing freely through the air.
It was similar to how Crim used the walls of buildings as footholds to move around in three dimensions, except that Beelzebub did not need anything solid to step on.

“Hahah, do you think we can learn to do that if we practice enough?!”
“What’s so entertaining in any of this?!”

Sorleon was in the worst shape out of everyone, as he had been on the front taking most of the hits so far, but he also looked the happiest as he watched how Aery jumped around the air.

Crim was starting to suspect that too much adrenaline had gotten to his head…but she also could not afford to think of such trivial matters.

“Oh no-”

The previous attacks had left Crim’s posture broken, so she could not react on time. Sorleon tried to rush in and cover her, but he was too far away.
By the time he turned around, Beelzebub had already leapt and was heading down…

“…I…won’t…let youuuuuu!!”

A girl with wings of energy that looked like a butterfly charged from the side, her spear violently knocking Beelzebub away.

“…Prez?!”
“Oh good, I made it in time!”

Crim raised her voice in shock, seeing such an unexpected and swift entrance.
As the butterfly wings vanished from that girl’s back…Kasumi, who for some reason was all battered up and covered in mud, stood next to Crim.

“Sorry for the wait. We took care of those orbs, just like you wanted!”

Kasumi announced that, very proud of herself.
She did not do that long though, as she soon turned to look at Beelzebub, who had been pushed a distance away.
And then…others came running as well.

“Aww, Kasumi was faster, I wanted to get here first…!”

Then came a frustrated voice, as Lycoris flew in with her floater.
It was also not very common for her to speak in such a competitive way, so it seemed like the personality of the rest of the guild had started to rub off on her, and Crim mentally apologized to Ryunosuke for that.

“Hmph, I didn’t think others would get in my way..”

After that, in a similarly frustrated way came Hinagiku, who was still raring to keep fighting.

“Huh, no way! I’m the last one?!”

Then came Setsuna, shocked to see the others were already there as she appeared next to Crim.

“We’re here too. Everyone made it back alive!”
“We two barely had to do anything though, make sure to properly compliment their efforts later.”

A bit later than the rest came Freya and Frey, who had been running around supporting the other four girls. Now everyone from Lua Cheia was back together.

But they were not all.

“There’s no way we’ll let the United Kingdoms hog all the glory.”
“Yup. Sorry Commander, it took us a bit longer than anticipated.”
“Reinhard, Cheval!”

The new voices that joined made Sorleon call their names with delight.
Reinhard and Cheval were also pretty battered as they came from the western side, but they had taken care of the other enemy servants. Behind them were also Lueger and Ernesta, amongst other familiar faces from Nord Glacier.

“Hold it, I’m here and I’m ready to steal the show!”
“You’re not the only ones who completed your task!”
“Now now, don’t be forgetting about us either, ahahah.”

Then from the east came Elmir with his Silver Wings guild, White Lily’s Lily Garden, as well as Jed and the Black Wolf Pack. All members of the Lua Cheia United Kingdoms.

“Big brother, I also cleaned up the enemies here!”
“I see…I’m so glad, I was starting to get worried about putting you in charge, so at least you made it through.”
“Hmph!”

It seemed like the players from the Blueline Republic, led by Shao’s younger sister Mei, had also been successful. Everyone was starting to regroup again.

There was only one enemy left, the strongest of them all, Beelzebub, who kept laughing in front of them.

“Everyone… This is our last stand, let’s win and go home full of smiles!!”

As Crim gathered all of her remaining strength, the nearly five hundred players that gathered there cheered so loudly the whole forest seemed to shake…

***

#Afterword:#
Q: Do the devs have any intention of letting them win?
A:
　＊　　　　　＋　　Not at all
　 　　 n ∧＿∧　n
＋　(ヨ（* ´∀｀）E)
　 　 Y 　　　 Y　　　　＊

“All of you, gather in the director’s office later for a meeting.”
“ “ “Okay.” ” ”