Code: PIRULUK

The more regal-looking Kagari regarded the girl while she tried to recall her name. A very unassuming appearance, though that bore a certain charm as well. She particularly liked the glasses - they framed her nice brown eyes in a way that really brought out their roundness. Black hair was expected, since the girl was clearly some kind of Japanese, but the length was perfect. Overall, Kagari judged her as "reasonably cute". Also, during this time, she had managed to remember the girl's name. "Takino-san, was it? I wasn't trying to hide my royal status, but I was trying to hide the fact that I'm a slime. Hiding one meant hiding the other. As for why... well... does your world have RPGs? Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. In my world, many centuries ago, people hunted slimes. Young, burgeoning warriors, aiming to be heroes, hunted slimes in droves. See, there were a lot of us, and before I came to power, well - most of us were rather indiscriminate in finding our nutrition. When I assumed the title of royalty, I took us in a different direction, directing my race to become mostly foragers and hunters of wildlife - we stopped attacking humans. But, well, by that point, the damage was done. Slimes are strong in numbers, but most of us are weak individually. I am a rare exception, but that is exactly how I came to power. By the time I took power, we had gained a reputation for being weak nuisances. Guilds offered rewards to young warriors to wipe us out. Many of my family died at the hands of humans. Many of my sisters and brothers were ruthlessly slaughtered by humans who sought to get stronger, who sought to win glory and wealth. Our population was reduced by close to 70%. Finally, I took my people and withdrew. We hid from the world. We fled to demon territory, where we were sheltered and given places, jobs. I eventually rejoined human society in this guise, under the name Koizumi Kagari, because of... certain circumstances which I'd rather not explain. I'm happy to say that humanity has entered a much more civilised age, where violence and bloodshed have become less prevalent. But I am still afraid. I fear what will happen if they find out my race still exists in the world. I fear for my people. I fear for my life. With all this, is it not the bare minimum of prudence to hide my identity among this group of strangers, each one so powerful, so many of them human?"

The sight of the ethereal woman kneeling down made Kagari panic a bit. As a queen, it was obligatory to respond to such salutation with equivalent grace and respect, but she was currently in the midst of conversation with the other, less formal woman, and to turn her attentions away would be rude. Furthermore, it was clear that the kneeling woman expected her to respond in her regal persona, but her current conversation partner clearly would prefer her less formal, Keijo persona. Unable to decide between which persona to take on, she sighed and placed a finger on her forehead. Pressing gently, her body split cleanly into two halves, each half forming into a smaller, younger-looking version of Kagari. One wore her customary swimsuit and continued conversing with the autograph-seeker, while the other wore a dazzling blue dress with a billowing skirt that touched the ground, a small silver circlet resting atop her head. The more heavily-dressed Kagari turned to Ivory and spoke. "Please, rise. You have done nothing for which you may be faulted; Rather, the responsibility lies with me for not revealing my regal status. I had intended to keep my true identity hidden, but it seems that I will no longer be able to do so. Please, treat me as you would any other comrade-in-arms. I may be a queen, but I am here alone, without my people. What worth is a queen without her subjects? 'Tis nothing but a useless title. It would please me greatly if you could simply regard me as a fellow warrior, though I do request that you allow me to retain my queenly dignity." The smaller Kagari glowered at Andre while she said this last line.

"Eh? O-oh, um, sure. Do you have a pen? And what did you want me to sign?" Kagari was quickly brought out of her domineering stance by a question she was very comfortable with. As a Keijo Race Queen she had numerous fans, so being asked for her autograph was something she was extremely accustomed to, and allowed her to very switch between her dignified, regal persona and her more friendly, open Keijo pro persona very quickly. She could already feel her rage ebbing away as she fell into the comfortable role of celebrity sportswoman.

As the tall being stalked away, the slime that had been Kagari began to calm down, regaining her sense of self, regaining her intelligence. She felt her self-awareness creeping into her consciousness, pushing out the primal fear that she had instinctively ceded control to. She attempted to look around, but quickly realised that she had no neck to turn. Adding to that, she was not "seeing" in the usual sense of the word, but was receiving and interpreting sensory data from every part of her, from all over. She was able to see in all directions at once. This was a feat impossible for a human body. Ergo, she had at some point reverted to her natural form. ...fuck. Now all the humans knew she was a slime, and therefore knew that she was likely good EXP. Not a good situation to be in. Still, now that she had been exposed, it was no point continuing to hide what she was. She would simply have to be cautious in her dealings with humans - more so than usual. Firstly, she had to take stock of what was currently happening around her. The first thing she noted was a large man, a newcomer, a human, dangling a cheeseburger over her head, speaking to her like she was some kind of domesticated animal at a zoo. Rage flared within her, a red mix of anger and pride. She was no animal, no beast; She was Kagari, Slime Queen and Commander of the 3rd Demonic Legion. She would not suffer this indignity a second longer. She rose up, gathering herself off the floor, the amorphous substance that formed her body reshaping itself into the familiar form of Koizumi Kagari, complete with swimsuit. The slime further whirled around her arms, forming into the cannons of her IJN Akizuki form. Ignoring the hamburger, she glared at the offending human. "You stand in the presence of Koizumi Kagari, Slime Queen. I am not some pet, nor am I some wild creature to be tamed. Do not make the mistake of thinking otherwise."

Kagari was, understandably, in no position to respond to any of this. So she just sort of...stayed where she was and wobbled a bit.

Reminder that for this fight, Kagari will be holding back and Loli Battery will not be active unless Hiroki screams at her to fight seriously, or something along those lines.

When the fight had ended Kagari had largely secluded herself away from the rest, finding an empty room in which she could slowly rebuild her body. This was accompanied by a long session of speaking to Apocalypse Collider, where they had argued for quite some time about various topics. She wanted to improve their working relationship, but it seemed like the microphone was still unwilling to forgive her for what she had done - not that she had any other recourse at the time. When the castle ground to a halt, she decided to leave the room and join the others. The first thing she noted was that their numbers had swelled considerably. Mostly humans, but also a couple of non-humans in the mix. The second thing she saw was the large man with weapons stuck in his chest. Big mistake. At first she felt pity for this inhuman yet humanlike figure who was thus injured. But quickly, her pity turned to shock, then to horror, as she saw herself instead. Not in her human form, but in her slime form, her natural, true form - gelatinous, amorphous, bright pink. No limbs, no features, no face. The backdrop was a little rural village, of the kind that was a rarity to find in these days. She saw the half-digested body parts of humans suspended within her form as she attacked people, sparing no concern for woman or child. She saw an army of slimes behind her, swarming the village as they attacked. Finally, she saw ten, twenty, thirty men, all with swords, all with armor and swords and shields and boots, saw them desperately attacking her, some of them shielding the cowering figures of a young child. They slashed, and stabbed, and cut, and each swing of the sword drew along with it parts of her body, slowly, painfully reducing her to nothingness. Then another man, holding a staff of some kind, snapped his fingers and set her on fire. As she slowly burned away, the vision came to a close, replacing itself with the figure of the pierced man. Kagari staggered backwards and dropped to her knees, clutching her head and shaking in terror. Nononononononononono She never wanted to go back to those days again, those days of mindlessness, of savagery, those days before she had met Kagari, before she had learned to love. Never - not again. She didn't want to, she refused to! As the confusion overwhelmed her, she felt something bubbling from within her, her true self, her inner self. She tried to keep it in, but she couldn't - she was far too shaken to focus. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!" With an explosive shout, her body abruptly lost its form, causing her to collapse to the ground as a gelatinous, amorphous, featureless pink slime.

Kagari tapped on Apocalypse Collider. "Hello? Anyone there? I said to change my damn clothes." Patience, monster. There was some kind of interference. It's gone now. Initiating change. "Thank you. How Kagari put up with you, I'll never understand." Kagari didn't ingest my previous wielder. "I already said, there were aggravating circumstances." Like your hunger? "Like- you know what? Fuck that. I'm not arguing with a mic." Why do I help you transform again? "Contract." ...Dammit. While Kagari was arguing with her microphone, the transformation completed, leaving her dressed in her idol garb. Kagari Transforms into Idol Form. Heal 20% hp, DEX and SYN are switched.

Kagari frowned. There was a new loli in the room, but her usual conditioned response of freaking out and getting excited wasn't occurring. Or rather, that wasn't quite accurate. It was happening, but it was simultaneously being cancelled out by an annoyingly vague sense of discomfort that prevented her from engaging in her usual behaviour. But there was no part of Kagari that would have felt uneasy about lolis, so clearly this feeling came from somewhere else. Somewhere... outside of her. There was something...strange about the new girl. She narrowed her eyes and hugged Hiroki tighter, nuzzling her cheek against Hiroki's mask while continuing to stare suspiciously at the new arrival.

"GYAH!" Kagari staggered backward and dropped to a knee, reeling from the enemy's strike. Doubled over, she clutched her abdomen to hide the fact that there was no blood. That was a strong hit; she lacked the excess volume to spare to simulate blood. She felt the uncomfortably familiar taste of metal in her body and retched, unwillingly recalling her numerous brushes with death at the tip of a sword. She grit her teeth in pain. In this state, she wasn't going to be attacking any time soon. She quickly brought her free hand up to her ear, Apocalypse Collider materialising under her fingers in its hands-free form. "Seems like you're in trouble. Again." "Shut up and change my clothes." Kagari Transforms! (Change forms to Magical Idol, heal 20% hp, Swap DEX and SYN values - DEX is now 4*1.2 = 5, SYN is now 6*1.2 = 8, after rounding up)

Kagari cupped her red and tender butt. If she'd been a normal human, repeatedly and quickly hitting a piece of metal with her butt would have been rather uncomfortable. Thankfully, her ass was as soft and gelatinous as the rest of her - even if it didn't look the part. She wound up and struck again. Kagari uses Hip Gatling on Suit of Armor A. If it fails, use it on a random other armor. ((Hip Gatling Deals Xd3 damage, where X is (DEX/2), rounded down. In Akizuki Mode, so has 6*1.2 = 8 DEX after rounding up. Hip Gatling is a butt attack, so Keijo Pro activates, improving base damage prior to modifiers by 8. Final damage roll = 4d3 + 8))

Serene grit her teeth in shame at having caused such a commotion just for one bloody injury. She joked with Saffron as they flew, attempting to disguise her embarrassment. "Hey, hey. I thought you were the princess here, Saffron!" She tried very hard to think up a fire pun that she could work in, to keep in character, but fell short. She settled for quietly resting atop the pegasus. All of these little considerations were far too insignificant, anyway. They had a battle to fight. Better to rest up and prepare for the next bit. Vuln up and hold.

Kagari eyed the machine with an air of indifference. She was never quite one for machines. Still, though, if this was what was churning out those sorry excuses for monsters, it had to be stopped. Such mob-like monsters with low intelligence and a lack of free will brought the monster race nothing but bad reputation, and their reputation was already bad enough. Besides, these monster-like things just felt... wrong. Unnatural. Weird. She considered her two targets, but decided to hit the armor. The machine was clearly able to produce new Heartless, but it had yet to demonstrate an ability to make more animated armor. Better to get those things out of the way first. Besides, it was a nice way to vent all her pent-up armor-related stress. The excessively precise movements of the armor clearly indicated it was an inhuman, therefore it was just not as dangerous. Nodding, she dove posterior-first into the melee. Kagari uses Hip Gatling on the Animated Armor. If it fails, use it on a random other armor. ((Hip Gatling Deals Xd3 damage, where X is (DEX/2), rounded down. In Akizuki Mode, so has 6*1.2 = 8 DEX after rounding up. Hip Gatling is a butt attack, so Keijo Pro activates, improving base damage prior to modifiers by 8. Final damage roll = 4d3 + 8))

Kagari's butt moved without stopping as she struck down tiny shadow creature after tiny shadow creature. But there were so many of them, it was honestly a little too tedious to keep fighting them in her normal style. As an outfighter, she prioritised quick hits over strong attacks, but while that was effective in a one-on-one situation, cases like this where she was surrounded by enemies were better dealt with by infighters. Without significantly changing her external appearance, she adjusted her muscle mass, concentrating them in her hips and thighs. Anyone who was paying extremely close attention would notice her butt get slightly bigger, but there was no other sign that showed her transformation to an infighter body type. She aimed at a large mass of the shadowy things, near to Snow's location. She hesitated a bit about going so close to the armored woman, but bit her lip to stop her fear. She was a human right now. There was nothing to worry about. Running toward the mass of shadowy creatures, she incorporated a few cartwheels and pirouettes into her wind-up, adding force to her forward motion. Just before she reached the shadowy mass, she leapt upwards, somersaulting midair, twisting her hips sharply downwards. The sheer force of Kagari's butt blew away the air in its path, creating a vacuum in its wake. In a single strike, all the clustered shadowy monsters were blown away, smashing against the walls of the perimeter and dissipating into shadowy mist. Kagari made sure that her swimsuit was in order, then folded her arms and started searching for her next target.

Serene barely had time to register the key before her leg collapsed under her weight. Crumpling to the ground, she spread out both arms to cushion her fall, lowering herself slowly. She gently probed the wound, yanking out the spear. A sharp jolt of pain ran through her thigh, but she ignored it and checked the damage. No arteries severed, thankfully, but this blood loss was not good. She quickly conjured up a small flame, searing the wound shut, the smell of burnt flesh filling the air. When the deed was done, she retrieved the key from the spear and tried to stand up. Putting her weight on her uninjured leg, she stood unsteadily and carefully, wobbling slightly, falling just as Meredith arrived to sweep her off her feet. Carried gently atop Meredith's strong arms, Serene stammered out a response, the feeling of being carried by someone entirely unfamiliar to her. "A-Aye, I appreciate it." With that, she relaxed a bit, allowing herself to savour the feeling of being carried like a princess. She turned her face away at an angle where it would be hidden from Meredith's line of vision, and a slight tint of pink entered her cheeks.

Kagari growled as the turrets on both of her Ten-chans gave out. The guns she was copying were powerful, but had issues with overheating. Thankfully, she kept a holster of spares. Swiping a pair of spare barrels from her leg holster, she swapped out the spent barrels, quietly assimilating them back into her main body through her palms. While she did so, she felt a sharp pain lance through her back as one of the larger creatures swiped out at her, leaving large gashes in her skin. She quickly used a small bit of her body to create fake blood that spurted from it, then spun full around, shoving the freshly-changed turret barrel into the mouth of the thing. Snarling, she pulled the trigger, blowing a gaping hole in its head, before sharply jerking her hips to the side, her butt viciously striking another Heartless that attempted to blindside her, sending it flying into the barrier. Leaving covering fire to the remaining Ten-chan who was on auto mode, Kagari quickly repaired the damage to her back, closing up the wound. The bits of herself she had scattered as blood would find their way back to her eventually, so she didn't need to worry about that for now. More importantly, she had been forced to use her butt. That meant she was now committed to this battle. Previously, she had stayed at a distance, picking off heartless that tried to approach her with Ten-chan, but now that she was committed, she had to go all out. That was the code she lived by, one that had kept her alive all this while. Keeping one of her turrets in manual mode, she bent down, preparing, then launched herself butt-first into the largest mass of shadow beasts she could find at barely subsonic speeds, counting on the remaining Ten-chan to cover her back.

Serene rubbed her chin with her fingers. "Hmmmm..." No way to know if the person was telling the truth... Ah well, burn first, ask questions later. She dashed out from behind the wall and lobbed a spear of fiery wrath at the knight as she cleared the corner. Move to X10, tosses a fire spear at Knight 2

"Mmmm. Let's heat things up." Up proficiency in- do I really have to say it.

Serene frowned, but did not move from her spot. Instead, she responded to the call for help in a similarly quiet fashion. "What charges were you jailed on?"

Kagari simply strode along the path, her arms crossed before her. As she walked, the two Ten-chans mounted on her split bow fired round after precise round at the weak enemies, each shot taking out an enemy. Her perky and well-trained butt was one of the few things she could take pride in, and she wasn't going to waste it on small fry like these. It was reserved for truly threatening opponents, and these creatures seemed nowhere as dangerous as the strange tree-like ones they had previously encountered. So, instead of paying attention, she allowed her cute little turrets to do the work as she tried to enjoy what little of the scenery remained.

"Well then, hello, I suppose. Name's Koizumi Kagari. Kagari's fine." The turret sitting on her head waved its cannons happily and made a [:3] face. "This little guy's Choujuusenchihou-chan. But that's a bit of a mouthful, so I just call him Ten-chan."

"Thanks Magna. I'll be... fine. I just need to get used to it and remember that I'm not who I used to be." "...For me? Uh... thanks, I guess..." Kagari wasn't particularly hungry at the moment, but she accepted the stranger's goodwill. She reached out and took the chocolate, unwrapping it and downing it in three bites, allowing the sweet taste to permeate her body. [Kagari has gained <<Chocolate>> as a sub-form]

Kagari muttered unintelligibly under her breath as she allowed herself to be led away. "armorhumanbadkildeathhumanbadarmorbadscaredarmorscaredscared" Once they were outside the building, she hugged her arms around herself, crouching down to the floor, head bowed forward as she continued to mutter, her eyes wide open and her pupils dilating in fear. A familiar name broke through her panic. It was familiar, but it felt odd. It felt wrong. ...Kagarin? Who's Kagarin? The fresh air and distance from the triggering factor allowed her frenzied mind to calm down as her breathing slowed to a regular pace and her eyes returned to normal. Gradually the shivering stopped. That's right. I'm Kagari now. I'm not a powerless, weak slime any more. I'm Koizumi Kagari, Magical Idol. One of the humans. One of the hunters. That was her final gift to me. She straightened up, having regain her composure. She took a deep breath in, then out, then turned to Magna. "It's okay. I'm fine now. Thanks. That was embarrassing." She bit her lip and lowered her gaze, a look of pain and mourning flashing briefly across her face. "I'm not very good with armor, especially not the kind that looks like it's been worn to slay thousands of monsters. It reminds me of many things I'd much rather forget. I have nothing against Snow personally, really, but I'm just... REALLY not good with armor."

Kagari groaned and placed her head in her hands. Great. The person she was planning to avoid. She had nothing against Snow personally, not yet anyway. She was a bit abrasive and seemed on the bossy side of things, but she did carry herself with the dignity of a ruler, and Kagari knew better than most the burden of rule. Especially when one's subjects were literally brainless. So, objectively, there should be nothing stopping the two of them from being friends. But armor scared Kagari. It reminded her of swords, of arrows, of magic fire raining from some interloper's staff. It reminded her of days spent cowering in fear as her siblings were mercilessly bisected in front of her. But most terrifyingly, it reminded her of a past self, one who cared only for survival, one who attacked innocent beings, one who lived solely on instinct and was incapable of thought. She thought she'd transcended that, she knew she'd transcended that, but the sight of armor, the sight of tall humans clad in plate and wielding iron brought forth a primal mixture of fear and anger. One does not live through 500 years of armored humans attacking one's family without bearing some sort of lingering trauma. Even now, as Snow walked over to approach them, Kagari felt an irrational fear. The image of an armored human, walking slowly and calmly in her direction, was too similar to the image of a confident adventurer closing in for the kill. ...wait. She was walking over. Kagari buried her head deeper into her hands, curling in on herself, trying to calm herself down. One of the turrets in the split bow on her lap changed form, gaining tiny arms and legs without hands. It wiggled itself free of its mount and jumped on top of Kagari's head, patting her soothingly. She was here. The armored lady was standing right next to them. Tremors began to overtake Kagari's body as it instinctively responded the presence of an armored individual in close proximity. please dont kill me please dont kill me im not good exp im just a weak slime please leave me alone please dont kill me please dont kill me please

Kagari coughed and stood up, walking over to join the armored fighter and the undead. "I'm right here, Magna." With the rigging attached to her waist, she took up considerably more space than before, making it a bit difficult to shimmy in next to them. Faced with this quandary, Kagari detached the split bow from the corset and hugged the two segments in her arms, placing them on her lap as she shifted to sit next to the Hellfire Knight. "So who's the new ally? Please tell me it's not the book person or the armor person."