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Crim’s strongest attack cut from the Great Old One Cthulhu’s left shoulder all the way down to his right side, annihilating nearly 80% of his body.

“This… this can’t be… I’m… being destroyed?”

With most of his lower half already turned to ashes, and even the tentacles on his face being burned off, it was only a matter of time before he died completely.

“No… I don’t want to go back to that place… never… again..!”

Even as his body fell apart, Cthulhu tried desperately to stay, almost as if he were running away from something. But Crim ignored his reaction, readying her weapon… when she noticed something glowing further back.

“Is that… Lulu?!”

That light came from atop a pile of rubble from the destroyed buildings. Atop them was Lulu, three pairs of glowing wings on her back as she began chanting some sort of spell.

“But why, we just defeated the boss!”
“Stop it. There’s no need for you to go back to sleep!!”

Sorleon and Crim, followed by the remaining players, desperately tried to get her to stop. But Lulu just smiled at them.

Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.

She seemed to mouth those words before Cthulhu’s dying body was enveloped in light.

…
……
…………

“So… what are we supposed to make of this now?”
“Don’t ask me.”
“What… what even is that octopus?”

Crim, Sorleon, and then Suzaku stared in confusion at the scene in front of them. And what was there was also looking back at them with similar confusion— something that looked like a caricature of a small green octopus.

“Heheh, this way this little one won’t be able to cause any more trouble, right?”

Lulu replied with a chuckle, jumping off the rubble and easing her fall with a flap of her wings. She ran up to the octopus—likely Cthulhu—who was still trying to understand what had happened, and picked him up into her arms.

“Thank you very much. I was able to render him harmless with very little effort thanks to how much you weakened the wicked god.”

The girl beamed a bright smile as she thanked the players. She no longer looked gloomy or defeated, but was fully reinvigorated—melting the hearts of everyone there, except for…

Hmm, that octopus looks really annoyed and fed up right now.

The octopus was glaring angrily at Lulu, swatting her arm with his tentacles, but he had so little strength that she didn’t even seem to notice. And Crim decided not to mention it either.

◇◇◇

The whole central plaza had been completely destroyed from all the intense fighting.

So when it was announced that Crim and the others had defeated the boss, the players regrouped with the other teams that had been taking care of the tentacles, and they all gathered in the open space where Crim had given her speech that morning.

That place was a smaller plaza. Crim and Sorleon went to sit at the fountain in the center, while Lulu stood in front to talk with them, and the other players busily moved around—until…

“I’ve been meaning to ask… but what happened to you, Crim?”
“Ah… this doth ever happen; pay it no mind.”
“Awww, isn’t she cute? Smol Crim is always so adorableeee!”

After falling in battle, Freya had returned to life thanks to Reinhard’s revival spell. And as usual, she was forcing the now-shrunken Crim to sit on her lap while hugging her tightly.

By now Crim had gotten used to Freya’s antics, so she just let her do as she pleased, and instead focused on listening to Lulu.

“I…see…”

Lulu did not seem fully satisfied with that answer, but she decided to stop prying.

“Still… was it really wise to let him live like this?”
“Yes, he’ll be fine like this. I’m sure he’s also terrified of having to sleep for an eternity completely alone.”

Lulu was still holding onto the octopus in her arms, and she looked at it with a kind smile while saying that. But the octopus was still wriggling and swatting around as much as he could, almost like he was trying to say, “Unhand me, woman! Obey me!”

“Still, the curse of this place has been dispelled thanks to all of you, and all that remains is this cute octopus. There’s no need to be afraid anymore.”
“…I’ll admit, he doesn’t look dangerous…”
“He’s cute, isn’t he?”
“I mean… in a way, I guess so, but it’s more in the ugly-cute category…”

Sorleon sighed, knowing there was nothing he could do, and Crim felt the need to reply to Freya’s comment about the octopus’ appearance.

“So what are you planning on doing with that, uhh… small god you have there?”
“I’m curious as well. I hope it’s not your plan to just release him unpunished?”
“Don’t worry. He’ll always stay with me now, so I can also keep an eye on him.”
“…I see… well, that’s your decision alone.”

The girl seemed determined to do that, and it wasn’t like Crim would be able to bring herself to kill off Cthulhu now that he looked like a mascot character.

“And what of thyself? Hast thou any plans?”
“Hmm, well… I think I’ll just find a nice place to settle for now, so I can learn a bit more about this new world.”

The girl’s eyes twinkled as she looked up at the starry night, already dreaming of her future life and all the adventures that awaited her.

“But I also want to go on a trip later on. I’m finally free to go wherever I want, so I’ll use this freedom to its fullest… and I’ll obviously take him with me too.”

As she said that, the small octopus on her lap incredulously raised a tentacle to point at himself, and the girl just patted him.

“With that said, you better behave now, little Cluh.”
“Little… Cluh?”
“Yes, since I got Lulu, he’ll get the first half of my original name, so he’s Cluh.”

Realizing he was really going to be treated as a pet moving forward, the octopus began protesting again, but his hits had no effect now that he had lost almost all his power.

“Also, I plan on keeping the name I received from all of you, Lulu, so our names sound cute together.”
“Ah… well, I guess that’s true.”

Hearing the girl babble on, Crim decided it was too much effort to think about it seriously, so she just assented.

“…Psst, it really is her, isn’t it?”
“The way she talks with excessive benevolence… it’s definitely her…”
“And the way she’ll stick to her own thoughts and not listen to anyone else…”

Sorleon made a small circle with Reinhard and Cheval, who were a distance back, and leaning in, they began to whisper amongst themselves. It was too cryptic for Crim to understand, so she just ignored them.

Eventually, Cthulhu—now turned into an octopus—seemed to give up on trying to resist as Lulu hugged him while continuing to call him little Cluh. Then the girl turned around to see all the other players nearby and bowed to them.

“Thank you… thank you so much for everything. It’s only because of you that I’m able to live life on my own terms now…”

Her eyes filled with tears as she said that, but she was still smiling happily, and the surrounding players all seemed embarrassed to hear her like that.

All to protect her smile.

That had been their goal all along, and they had managed to accomplish it. But during the fight, Sorleon had added a secondary objective for them—for everyone to laugh and celebrate together.

“Lulu, what’s going to happen with all of R’lyeh now?”
“Well… the island is going to sink again, but not right away. It should go down at around the same speed as it resurfaced.”
“Ohh, so it won’t sink for around half a day more?”

While Crim began discussing less urgent matters, she heard the sound of many seats being placed nearby.

“Alright, the stove is on!”
“Where are the food stand tents?!”
“The grills are all set!”

Players with the Cooking Skill were setting up a place to cook nearby. They had also brought wheat flour and the food ingredients dropped by the tentacles, which had turned into a pile of octopus tentacles.

Oh yeah, they look kinda gross, but apparently they’re some sort of rare food that is supposed to taste really good…

Eventually, Crim spotted some of the players carrying around iron plates with very particular spherical indentations, and she understood that they were all about to go crazy making takoyaki.

“…We barely finished defeating that boss, and all of them are already full of energy preparing a festival, huh?”
“Well, I guess that’s not too strange for players like us.”

Crim was baffled by that decision, and Frey commented in response, having arrived there at some point.

It was like they were not tired at all. Even Lulu was shocked by that, seeing the players running about setting up tents and seats, all full of energy.

All Crim and her friends could do was shrug, knowing such actions were par for the course for gamers like themselves.

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