A Knight's Loyalty | Food Fantasy AU Fanfic

Chapter 36 - Battle or War?

"Well, that's one thing settled then," Ryouri nervously announced. "Thank you, Vodka."

"It's nothing to thank me for," Vodka spoke. "If anything, I misbehaved, acting on anger and disappointment in a friend."

". . . Are you intoxicated? You aren't normally this emotional and understanding. Or maybe that's evidence that you're sober for once?"

Vodka shot an icy glare at Ryouri. He immediately shriveled up a bit.

"Just saying! Totally not in a serious manner at all."

"Guys, Servant, we should get back to the situation," Strawberry stated, and every ally agreed.

"Let's go find the others!" Vanilla shouted with excitement. He grabbed Strawberry's hand and quite soon, Double Scoop was off.

"Attendant, they're right. Let's go," Vodka acknowledged, taking another drink and following the twins. Ryouri followed behind her, and the team embarked into the corridor.

~

Catcakes was being especially careful. Raindrop found the reason why obvious - they were the group collectively made of UR ranked Souls (with the exception of Brownie) and Spaghetti surely would be waiting for them.

". . . Seems safe. But just to be sure, B-52, can you scan the area for life forms?" Catcakes asked. B-52 nodded.

"On it." He rotated his head 360° degrees, before his visible eye displayed a green check mark for a few seconds. Then it reverted to normal. "There are a lot of people up ahead. Either corridor is safe, although the one on the left would allow us to meet up with Ryouri and his squad."

"Caviar? Anything to say?"

Caviar shook his head. "I have nothing to argue against that with. We should still be careful of course, but let's head left."

"I was thinking the same thing." Catcakes started down the left corridor, leading the back team to meet up with the middle.

~

Kuri couldn't help but recollect what had just happened - what had almost happened. It seemed bizarre to think about, how Mooncake and Salty Tofu had appeared just as Whiskey was about to attack Kuri. Sanma seemed astonished as well, but neither of the of the two bothered to question it.

"Seems kinda quiet here now that Whiskey's gone." Everyone's gazes moved to Mooncake once she spoke. Salty Tofu nodded.

"Yeah, it's gotten quite boring actually." He kicked at one of the loose rocks on the floor. "I almost wish we got a chance to fight Spaghetti."

In a bizarre and somewhat crazy manner, Salty Tofu smiled. "I would love the chance to fight Spaghetti head-on."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself, Salty," Kuri spoke nonchalantly. "Arrogance kills people. Or, more specifically, arrogance kills allies."

"Kch. Yeah, I know, I know." His voice lowered to a mumble. "I know quite too well actually."

"I wonder what's taking him so long?" Mooncake mused, stopping to sit in one of floating rings, kicking her legs back and forth and back and forth again. "Since we technically just infiltrated his base, shouldn't he be all defensive and stuff?"

"I get the feeling something is about to happen," Sanma stated out of nowhere. Kuri put on a curious glance.

"Why is that? Any reason in particular?" Sanma shook his head in response.

"No, just . . . Just a feeling. We should remain on guard and ready."

~

"They're waiting for me?" Spaghetti mused to himself. "How pleasant of them. There's only four of them right now, so let's send in some Fallens before the reinforcements arrive."

". . ." A few sounds - clicks of switches, footsteps on tile - echoed around the room.

"Oh, and Borscht. Be hasty, alright?"

Borscht said nothing and continued on with her duties. The sounds of gas releasing, like a cryonic chamber being opened in a film, only set to ten times the volume and intensity. Or rather, nearly eighty times the volume.

A variety of Food Souls emerged, all from different rarities, classes, time periods, backgrounds - their unique personalities all obstructed by the control of the medallion. Their wills, desires, motivations - all of it - was now worth nothing in this world.

Spaghetti liked that. If they'd no free will, they would surely bend to his. However, it still bothered him, the words of Whiskey, and the case of Milt and Caviar.

They were capable of escaping, but so far it's only been URs. Two, for the matter of fact, so it was still rare.

It was rare. Yes, but still possible. Spaghetti stood up, erasing the thought from his mind, preparing to lead his minions to victory. This was his battle to win.

"Escargot, Foie Gras, Seaweed Soup, you three go ahead first. Seaweed, I need you to get Milt and Caviar on our side, whether it be by injection or something else. Just don't be obvious. Foie Gras, just use your charm, Escargot will be there to make it more powerful. Hold off on the enemy approach until I come up with more strategy. Dismissed."

Foie Gras, Escargot, and Seaweed Soup immediately went to the Throne Room with no argument. Of course, it isn't like they could've argued either way.

~

Foie Gras hated her position. She was such a desirable Food Soul. She was such a powerful Food Soul. She was . . .

Foie Gras hated her position. She was such a usable Food Soul. She was such a weak Food Soul. She was so vulnerable back then that she allowed her guard to go down just enough for the syringe to pierce her skin. Because of her horrible mistake, she and Escargot had been taken. Because of her horrible mistake, they were being forced to fight against their own will.

Upon entering the Throne Room, those three Food Souls were in a circle formation around the girl - their Attendant probably. Each of the Food Souls faced outwards, and the Attendant faced up. They covered every possible entrance.

Foie Gras couldn't stop herself from entering. She couldn't stop herself from creating a charm. She couldn't stop herself from creating an opening for Escargot to get up close and attack.

Foie Gras couldn't stop herself from doing anything. In simple terms, she couldn't do the right thing.

In the combat, she could hear nothing. Nothing was heard as she cast her spell. Nothing was heard as Escargot fell asleep and went invincible. Nothing was heard as the Attendant recognized her Food Soul turning against themselves.

The expression she wore . . . Foie Gras couldn't help but feel horrible. She wanted to desperately be free of the control the injection held - no, the medallion held - over her. Except, only Spaghetti had that power. Spaghetti and someone else had that power . . . Who was it again?

~

"Mooncake!" Ryouri shouted at his Food Soul. Her gaze clashed with that of Salty Tofu, and the two were at each other's necks. It appeared Salty Tofu was winning. "Salty?! What are you two doing?!"

He took a step towards them, but the tip of a blade stopped his approach, and he quickly realized the blade was belonging to Sanma, Kuri's Food Soul. "Sanma . . . ?"

The room exploded with a flash of green light, causing Mooncake, Salty Tofu, and Sanma to be snapped back to their senses. Sanma pulled back his blade. Salty Tofu pulled away from his grip on Mooncake, even helping her up, although quickly. Ryouri let out a sigh of relief.

With a glint in her eye, Kuri turned to the attackers - a regal blue-themed female Food Soul with a staff and the ability to float seemed to be the culprit of the charm. Her companion was a young boy with a snail shell large enough for him to call home. With the flick of Kuri's wrist, the two were set aflame, for not longer than a matter of seconds.

"Take Grilled Purgatory!" Kuri exclaimed as the rest of the flames disappeared. She then looked to the Attendant having just arrived. "Ryouri! You have some talents to use, right? Let's overpower these two!"

"Of course!" Ryouri shouted, pulling out three knives and tossing them to the assailants, and, quite quickly, the attackers were nearly down. "It's no problem! But . . . What happened?"