I know the "Before You Read" says that even though they go to another world, the tone of To Love Ru will remain the same since there's no reason to take things seriously, Lala is broken in any world.
But even though you and I know that, the protagonist has no idea. He has just been sent to a world where he could die at any moment while being extremely weak, so it makes sense for him to take things too seriously. However, once he realizes there's no reason to do that, what the "Before You Read" says will come true.
Sorry if this chapter and the next one feel a bit too serious, but rest assured that the tone of the series will not change.
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"Miss Lala."
"What is it, Peke?" Lala asked.
To her surprise, Peke did not reply out loud, instead he connected to her D-Dial and sent her a message.
Lala took out the D-Dial and read the message quickly, after doing so she directed her gaze toward Yuuji, who had been completely motionless and silent for a while, as if he were lost in his thoughts.
"Yuuji, we should go somewhere else," she said after hesitating for a moment.
"Mm? Why?" Yuuji asked, coming back to his senses when he heard her voice.
"It is... well... this place is very dangerous. There are hundreds of supernatural beings. We should choose an easier target," Lala explained with obvious concern.
Yuuji observed her for a moment before nodding.
"Alright, come here."
He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her toward him, then activated Shadow Cloak.
On the ground, the shadows cast by the fire behind them began to ripple violently until they detached from the ground as if they were a living substance, rising and wrapping around both of them in a dark mass that adjusted to their bodies. The cloak did not cover them completely, it looked more like an extremely dark black garment and somewhat light. Something that tries so hard not to stand out that it ends up standing out. However, the real effect was not physical, but perceptual, the presence of both of them noticeably diminished.
They did not become invisible, but they began to be subconsciously ignored by anyone around them, as if their figures lost relevance in other people's minds.
"What is this?" Lala whispered.
"A shadow cloak. It reduces the attention we generate, with this the numbers do not matter as long as we do not get too close," Yuuji replied quietly while they began moving deeper into the village.
"Using shadows to make clothes... what a great idea," she murmured with contained excitement.
"Let's try to find someone separated by going around the village."
Yuuji had neither the intention nor the ability to face a large group, so the plan was simple, locate someone isolated and deal with them.
However, after half an hour moving forward with extreme caution, the situation started to feel strange. They had circled the village and kept going deeper, but they found no one. Neither supernatural beings nor humans.
In a village of hundreds of houses there was not much movement but rather a silence that felt unsettling, interrupted only by the sound of burning wood and the occasional structure collapsing.
After searching for a while longer, Yuuji finally decided to stop.
Even though they had only walked for almost an hour, the progress had been slow and forced, since they had to stay crouched and move with extreme caution, and the cloak had been designed for a single person, which made it uncomfortable to cover both of them.
"If we keep going forward, we will not be able to get out before we are detected," he murmured. "What should we do?"
"We should leave. Deeper inside there are too many supernatural entities. Let's go," Lala insisted.
Yuuji frowned.
"I do not know when we will find someone again. Maybe we should search a little more."
In any group, no matter how large, it was illogical for everyone to remain together all the time. There always had to be someone separated.
"But..."
"It seems like you really want us to leave," Yuuji said when he noticed her expression. "Is there something you are not telling me?"
"N-no!" Lala replied, waving her hands exaggeratedly. "I am just worried that there are so many enemies."
"In that case..."
Yuuji did not manage to finish the sentence. A spear of light shot through the air at great speed and passed close to him, tearing the shadow cloak that covered them and opening a wound on his arm.
"Kughh!" he groaned as blood began to flow rapidly.
"Yuuji!"
"I felt something strange in this direction. Who would have thought it was two humans who escaped," said a pretentious voice, the kind that tries too hard to sound noble.
In front of them appeared a middle aged man with light brown hair and an arrogant expression. The black wings extending from his back, as well as the fact that he was floating several meters above the ground without any visible support, made his identity as a fallen angel obvious.
"Escaped...?" Yuuji repeated, catching his words.
"Did you not know?" The fallen angel formed an amused smile while speaking. "How entertaining. You must be from outside. We killed all the humans and burned their corpses in the center of the village. Do not tell me... was one of them your friend?" he mocked.
Yuuji stared at him.
"You killed them all?"
He knew what they were capable of and understood the harshness of the era he was in, but the fact that this place had once been an anime had softened, on some level, his perception of the brutality of the place.
"Surprised? I love that expression on inferior humans," the fallen angel continued. "I will have some fun with you before killing you."
At that moment a loud explosion echoed in the distance, illuminating the three standing there.
A fallen angel on one side, floating in the air while looking at them with disdain.
Two people on the other side, a girl who was not taking the situation seriously and a boy who was taking it far too seriously.
When he heard the explosion the fallen angel changed his expression, showing annoyance.
"It seems the hypocrites of heaven have attacked. What a shame, but I will have to kill you quickly," he said with the disappointment of someone who had lost a toy.
He raised his right hand and formed another spear of light in the air that pointed directly at Yuuji and Lala.
At that instant Yuuji's left eye shone red, already accustomed to the sensation of using the Feng Shui Engine he moved quickly and pushed Lala out of the way just before the spear struck, exploding and opening a small crater in the ground.
"You are not a normal human. Perhaps three or four times stronger than average," the fallen angel said without looking too surprised. "But that is nothing compared to true power."
Several more spears were created and fired rapidly. Yuuji dodged them as best as he could, being wounded several times in the process. While carrying Lala he left her at a certain distance and changed direction.
"Saving your girlfriend? I am not that naive," the angel said, ignoring Yuuji and aiming toward Lala.
But before he could fire, an icicle shot toward him from the side forced him to dodge and interrupt his attack.
"Magic?"
The fallen angel looked toward the source of the attack and found a transformed Yuuji in a semi monstrous form, his body had elongated and thinned unnaturally, so much that his skin seemed directly attached to his ribs while two long deer horns emerged from his head.
"What are you?" the fallen angel asked with disgust when he saw his appearance.
Yuuji did not respond. He launched several spears of ice toward the fallen angel, which he destroyed easily. It was obvious that, using that power for the first time, Yuuji's attacks lacked the refinement necessary to harm the fallen angel.
However, among the icicles thrown there was a small flame that was different. Considering it insignificant, the fallen angel did not dodge it, he only tried to destroy it like the rest of the icicles.
He was surprised when he failed to destroy it, but when he saw that the impact caused him no pain his small surprise returned to his usual disdain.
But when he tried to mock him he noticed something strange, he discovered that he could not hear his own voice. He moved his lips, but the sound did not reach his ears.
It was not a great disadvantage, but being caught by human magic, and one of such low level, was the same as humiliation in the eyes of a fallen angel.
His surprise immediately turned into fury and he tried to take revenge, that was when he discovered that on the ground there was no longer just one Yuuji but multiple copies of him.
"Simple tricks" the fallen angel said with annoyance while attacking all of them at once.
However they simply shattered into countless pieces of crystal without being damaged while even more Yuujis appeared than before.
"Where is the real one?" he shouted with fury.
The answer was instant. He felt contact on his back and immediately tried to turn around, but unfortunately for him it was already too late, all his limbs were restrained by a dark cloth preventing him from moving.
After his limbs the cloth continued rising until it trapped his wings as well, forcing him to fall to the ground unable to remain in the air.
The impact against the ground did not cause him serious damage, but when he tried to stand up he felt a sudden weakness and extreme dryness.
His body was dehydrating at impossible speeds.
"What did you do...?" he asked angrily while standing up.
The surprise that came when he realized he could hear again was interrupted by a direct punch to the face that, due to his weakened state, pushed him backward, followed by a kick to the chest that knocked him to the ground again.
He finally found the original Yuuji right in front of him, but now Yuuji was looking down at him.
The fallen angel felt something just beneath him and tried to defend himself. Yuuji completed his Wendigo transformation, enhancing his abilities, and before the fallen angel could defend himself an icicle burst from the ebony ground beneath him, piercing straight through his chest.
[You have completed part of the Main Mission - Path of Power (1):
Demons (0/1)
Angels (0/1)
Fallen Angels (1/1) (New!)
Dragons (0/1)]
Yuuji looked at the fallen angel impaled on the icicle for a moment before letting himself fall to the ground, breathing heavily.
"He is dead..." he murmured after a while with relief.
But that relief did not last long, as it was quickly replaced by anger.
"Is no one alive?" he asked when Lala approached.
She shook her head.
"No humans."
"I see. That is why you wanted us to leave."
"I am sorry."
"It is not your fault," Yuuji replied before wrapping his arm around her waist again and activating Wind Flight, rising into the air once more.
From the system inventory, which could store only objects that came from it, he took out an old card.
It had no flashy decorations nor any shine, in the center stood the image of an ancient tower surrounded by letters that were impossible to understand.
XVI, The Tower.
A card Yuuji had obtained recently and never imagined he would have to use so soon.
Yuuji used the card and it moved on its own, rising from his hand and heading toward the center of the village.