Claire was... confused and irritated.
She had been shown the actions of Garett and his party up until the point in which they had defeated Algorithanus, the boss slime, and nightmare mode had been enabled for them.
She was aware of the troubles they faced, and the predicament they were put in by the Indeterminant.
There was something she did not see.
Their reaction to this predicament, minutes after they had defeated the slime king.
The four antiheroes, who seemed to be compassionate and loving towards one another, despite being thrown into a new world and an uncertain situation- thrown into the depths of despair and hopelessness as they viewed their circumstance from the eyes of one who knew that there was likely no escape from an unlucky event.
She did not see that these antiheroes had gone insane with laughter, and even the most grounded among them, Samantha, was thrown into the abyss of madness at that time.
She also did not see their reaction to the predicament, their interaction with those humans, nor their encountering of the exploit that allowed them to succeed in certain actions when all useful action was almost impossible.
That is why, when these anti heroes unexpectedly showed up to the village that Claire had by chance woken up in, and all of a sudden started acting like kings and making claims that they would kill anyone who opposed them...
Well, she was baffled and completely disappointed.
Had her judgement on them been wrong?
Or perhaps they were simply keeping up an act in order to prevent anyone from attacking them.
That had to be it. They were weak and in an uncertain situation. When in such a situation, there were two things to do. Either one would suck up to the strong and lick the boots of those who would throw them a scrap of bread, or fein strength until one became strong.
Only an idiot or an excessively confident person would choose the latter.
But it seemed that these antiheroes had done so.
"I can't allow these people to go on stomping on the poor slimes like this! I'll whip them all into shape so that they can be proper heroes, who can defeat the Indeterminant and bring justice to the world!"
So Claire thought.
The elven man gave off a strong impression of intimidation, but Claire was not afraid of him. She could tell that while he was haughty and overflowing with pride, that he would not be unreasonable.
Claire was not merely wishfully thinking that she could mold these monsters into warriors of justice.
She had seen Garett take compassion on Ashley. She had seen the concern that Trevor had shown for Samantha. She had seen the party slowly bond and become closer with each other as each minute passed.
She knew that they could not be evil people who wished for simple power. There was no way that people who were so compassionate to their comrades could lose all heart when referring to others around them.
Right?
Right!?!?
After being asked who she was and where she came from, Claire then spoke up to them
"I've been looking for you all! But what the heck do you think you're doing, barging in here and declaring that you're now the leaders of this village! I wanted to take your side because you all didn't seem to be bad people, but what do I find you all doing the second I take my eyes off you! I guess once a monster always a monster... sigh..."
"Fine. I will introduce myself, since we should likely try to come to some sort of agreement. I am the Determined. I will not say my name for reasons that I will explain to you, but I think we have quite a bit of talking to do."
The four monsters perked up in their seats as they heard these words from her.
Certainly, Claire's response was not the attitude to take against one who claimed to be so powerful that any opposition should submit to them on the spot.
Yet she had done so.
Everyone stared at Claire, waiting for her to make a move.
But it was the quiet spirit girl who spoke up first.
"Hoooo? Taking such an arrogant stance against us as to speak in that manner? And what exactly are you doing here, Mrs. Determined?"
Ashley then floated over to Claire and wrapped herself around her in a menacing manner.
"You cannot harm me. As the Determined, I possess a body in which its state cannot be altered, nor can it alter the state of another being. While this means I cannot harm you, it also implied that you cannot harm me."
Claire was not threatened in the least by Ashley's response.
"That much may be true... but I get a feeling just by looking at you that you have a great sense of justice... am I wrong?"
"What of it? I want you all to peacefully get along with those who are willing to assist you, instead of throwing threats around and acting like tyrants towards these weak slimes, and even towards the lizardmen that I worked so hard to convince to stop using the slimes!"
Ashley placed her transparent hands on her mouth, and began to giggle. Her hair stood on end, and the bags on her eyes combined with the red veins that popped out of the partially closed eyes made her eyes look like she was staring into ones soul.
"Hehehehehe... then it would probably be fun to see your reaction if we were to take out a few of these slimes. What about this one right here?"
Ashley floated behind a pink slime- a young girl.
"Wait! What are you-"
"Agh! Help!!!"
Ashley wrapped herself around the slime girl.
The other four monsters sat back, as if they were watching a movie casually. Even Samantha, who had now accepted that they were being looked at as being of pure evil, seemed to be perfectly ok with the situation unfolding.
Ashley tightened her grip around the girl, slightly choking her. But the girl was a slime, and didn't need to breath, so this merely constrained her movements. Ashley had formed a helix around the girl, and in the places where Ashley did not touch the girl the gel like body seemed to ooze out, whereas the places that Ashley's body did touch the girl, the girl were squished inwards.
"MMPH!!!"
[Player: Ashley. Trait acquired. Sadist. +5 Strength when attacking someone defenseless]
'A meaningless skill, but kinda funny to see what type of skills we are gaining when acting like this...', Garett thought.
Garett was not in the least concerned about the life of the girl in front of him, because he understood Ashley's intentions before she had even started speaking to the girl.
The Determined was right. Garett and his party were not exactly tyrants or people who wanted to rule through fear. They were also not going to harm anyone- especially not those who submitted to them- however, they had decided to rule this way as the logical choice- a gamble, no doubt, but one they would follow through with.
Ashley was now trying to show Claire that the party was not some sort of justice loving group who would simply fight to save people. If it was logical, they would even sacrifice the innocent so that they could survive.
There was one more reason though that Ashley was doing this, a reason that Garett had not picked up on, despite his great analytic ability and his bond with Ashley.
"Wait!! Please stop hurting that child!!"
Claire ran at Ashley and let out a fist to punch her, but as soon as it contacted, she was returned to her position as if she had not punched Ashley at all. Naturally, Ashley was still strangling the child.
"You really can't hurt anyone else... sorry about that... I wouldn't kill anyone who has bowed down to our cause... after all, we are MERCIFUL RULERS!!! I was simply testing you to see if you were lying about your abilities, trying to hide them from us... fortunately, you were not. As a reward for telling the truth, and because I don't wish to tarnish our BENEVOLENT reputation as KIND AND LOVING RULERS, I will allow this child to go free."
Ashley had emphasized every word that regarded good intentions.
This was to get deep into the mind of Claire, and show them that they were exactly the opposite of what she was emphasizing.
However, even so, Ashley let go of the child, who seemed to bobble back and forth like jello as she was released from the compression her body had been put through.
Once again, she was not hurt in the least, as she had no need to breathe, and her body was not rigid.
But even so, a tear fell from the face of the young girl, and she fell to her knees pouting, unable to comprehend what had just happened to her.
"Somebody shut that girl up. We need to focus on the task at hand. You there, take her out of our sight before I change my mind"
Trevor was the one who spoke, and it was to a blue slime male who was around 30 years old.
The slime male quickly took the girl away and the four continued to sit in their regal positions.
"Now then, have we proven to you that we are not going to work for justice as you somehow have created the delusion in your mind of us doing so? If not..."
Suddenly, Trevor choked up.
A single tear flowed down his eye.
"If... not..."
A moment of silence fell as Trevor tried to get the words out, mumbling.
Suddenly, even Ashley, who had seemed to be an emotionless monster driven by hatred just a second before, started hyperventilating and screamed in a high pitched voice.
"FUCK!!! I CANT DO THIS!!! ITS KILLING ME!!! AGH!!!"
She grabbed her hair and seemed to be completely stressed out.
"I'm sorry guys, I can't lose all emotions when I strangle a little girl like that!! I thought I could handle it but..."
Garett had his hand over his forehead as if he had a migraine as well.
"Shit. Shit. Shit. I can't do this either. It's too stressful to be evil. I feel like I could torture a criminal without feeling a shred of regret, but after all... even as a facade, threatening an innocent child is too much for me to bear..."
"Ah. You guys too, eh?"
A steady stream of tears had flowed down Trevor's face at this point.
There was only one person in the group who hadn't broken down and given up the act yet.
"Eh? You guys are giving up already?"
Samantha looked unfazed.
She had only ever cared about herself and her image. Now that she had given that up, she had no worries in the world. Samantha had never cared about the people she helped, as a matter of fact she despised them. The only reason she ever did anything was to raise her standing, and the reason she had thought the other party members to be so insane was not at their tactic of acting evil, but rather at their willingness to throw reputation aside for overall benefit.
Ashley hated people. She hated anyone who looked down on her. But while she was strangling that child, she did not feel a single person look down on her with disgust. No, everyone feared her. This was a thrilling emotion for Ashley to experience, however when she looked at the child crying, she realized what she had done and felt a complete and utter remorse.
She wanted all her life to strangle everyone who told her that she had to do better, while throwing work and expectations in her face and not doing anything to help her out. But to resort to this?
No.
Ashley resolved that she would not become a monster.
She would punish those who deserved the punishment. No more, and no less.
As for Garett, he had at first been completely focused on the logic.
He understood Ashley's actions, and tolerated them.
But when he saw the other two break down, it dawned upon him that this was not the type of person he wanted to become.
Even if he was a demon, he didn't want to become demonic.
And for Trevor, who had done well at keeping up the facade, well...
Trevor was a businessman. He was extremely good at putting on a poker face.
So good that they would call him the "iron casting" at his workplace. It implied that his face was merely a mold that had been cast rather than an actual expression of emotion.
But inside, Trevor was anything but calm.
Every time he proposed a deal, his heart fluttered back and forth as the client would flip flop between their undecided stance.
Every time he put on a presentation, he felt like his heart would leap out of his body, as he forced every word out of his chest.
And this situation was no different. Trevor could not stand the public stage. He had only taken it up because that was what needed to be done. But this time, he was unable to hold back his emotions.
And so, the four antiheroes of legend reacted to their own actions as such.
Garett kicked the chair, destroying it.
"Fuck! Be thankful for our kindness? Who came up with this idea in the first place!?"
"That was you Garett"
"I know that!!"
The three then walked up to the village elder, and to Claire.
Samantha still was unfazed however, and she was very confused as to why the rest of the party had given up on the act.
The other three bowed down to the ground in front of the two.
"We apologize for our actions. We will leave this place immediately."
And so, the three resolved to stop acting like villains, and to leave the place in order to make amends for the mental damage they had done to the girl.
"I was right about three of you then.", Claire said sternly.
"It seems that you three are indeed compassionate and kind towards others. However...."
Claire looked furious. She knitted her brows and called Arlo over with her finger.
"Do you think you can so easily come in here and threaten people like that and harm an innocent child!? If you want to repent then accept your punishment from me here and now!"
The three nodded. They were willing to accept punishment.
Seeing this, something struck Samantha.
A flashback of Ashley throwing a fireball at her in order to save her life.
The scene of Trevor yelling to defend her while she fell unconscious.
Samantha had become hardhearted as she thought of losing her social standing, but it dawned on her.
Perhaps there was more to life that looks?
And when she thought this, and remembered the anger she felt from being attacked- even if it was to save her, she was then aware of what the child just now must have felt.
And with this too, Samantha gave up her pride and bowed down with the rest of them.
"I will accept the punishment as well. Whatever you deem to be fit."
She could have sworn that the Determined flashed a smirk at her, but it disappeared in a second.
"Arlo, hit each one of these for me with your fist alone. Hit them as hard as you can, so that they feel it and never forget this."
Arlo realized who seemed to hold the real power right now. Knowing that the demons in front of him would not fight back, he nodded and raised his fist.
[Note: Damage is halved due to no use of weapon for Arlo]
[Note: Due to special event: Punishment, damage output value is maxed for all hits]
Slam!
Wham!
Thud!
Smack!
[Player Garett: HP 11/25]
[Player Trevor: HP 7/20]
[Player Samantha: HP 5/20]
[Player Ashley: HP 6/20]
And with this, the party was almost single-handedly defeated.
What a disaster.
Garett had not taken the emotions of his party into account.
He never would have thought that they would be the reason his plan failed.
There were so many other things that could have gone wrong that did not.
It was a complete miscalculation.
Their faces red from being hit, and their brains scattered from the impact, the four stumbled up.
"Oh? You all think you've paid for what you've done with just that?", Claire stated while standing above them with her arms crossed.
Uh oh.
They were all on the verge of death. Would they have to admit that to get her to stop?
She seemed to be some sort of warrior of justice, but she sure wasn't letting them off easy.
Perhaps this was because she hated those who were evil, or perhaps it was because she wanted them to become better through pain and suffering for their bad decisions.
"What more do you want from us?", Garett asked nervously.
The slimes couldn't believe what they were seeing. A higher demon nervous in the face of one who couldn't fight back, with only a mere lizardman to attack.
'Surely their hearts must be broken with what they have done if they do not retaliate even after this. They could likely kill the lizardman so easily, yet they choose not to! They are truly repentant and willing to be punished for their transgressions!'
Of course, this was not... exactly right. While they were repentant, they were not listening to Claire solely for that reason. Claire had taken the upper hand by using the lizardman against the party, and currently they risked their weakness being found out.
Their emotional weakness had already been discovered. They absolutely couldn't let their physical weakness be discovered.
Claire smiled sweetly. It was a beautiful smile, worthy of a girl who radiated such beauty.
"I want you all to go and personally see that girl and apologize to her"
Ah, that was it.
Garett breathed a sigh of relief.
He didn't have to get rid of his only advantage.
And he did owe the girl an apology.
Even though it was Ashley who harmed her, and even though she didn't do any actual harm, she had caused mental damage and Garett let her do so knowing this.
Garett was at fault for allowing this to happen. Or at least that was how he felt.
Ashley seemed to twitch and jitter. She was surely worried to even try to speak to the girl.
"We will go.", Trevor responded, taken over by emotion, and biting his lip. He had never acted like this during all the time they were together. He may have shown concern for Samantha, but now he spoke quietly and humbly. His actions clearly had made him lose that arrogance he previously held.
And so, the four were led to the hut where the girl was resting in a bed next to the man who had taken her away.
The man, who had not witnessed the scene, seemed tense upon their approach, but the other slimes did not seem worried at all, which he found odd.
The four walked into the room with the girl, and stood by her bed.
The girl turned away from Ashley, fearfully.
"I..."
"I'm sorry for strangling you. I didn't mean to hurt you..."
"It didn't hurt at all! Not one bit!", the girl yelled back. "And I wasn't crying! I won't cry over something that doesn't hurt! I'm not a little kid!"
But with this response, Ashley felt a huge burden off her chest.
And once more, Ashley started crying.
"That's right... you aren't a little kid. Me and my comrades here... we are the ones who were little kids..."
"Because you're crying?"
"That's right. You're strong. I won't do anything like that again."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
The other three then apologized in turn, and the girl seemed to be happy once more. She even chatted with them all and the hut soon filled with laughter and joy.
After all, this was the proper way to do things.
After this, Garett once more turned to Claire.
"I don't know exactly who you are or what you want from us, but let me tell you one thing. Me and my party members will no longer harm an innocent person. However, this does not change the fact that I intent to torture and slaughter anyone who gets in our way."
Seemingly reinvigorated by the girls smile and laughter, Garett too smiled in the way that a father would smile at a boy trying to date his daughter.
It was not a smile filled with kindness.
It was a smile that said, "If you so much as lay a hand on the people I consider to be my family, then I will kill you"
It was not aimed at Claire. No. It was aimed at the people that Garett could meet in the future.
"We will become your heroes of justice. However, if you allow us to do that, the meaning of justice will likely change. Are you alright with that?"
However, Claire put her hand to her mouth and let out a "Pfft!" in laughter.
She seemed to be happy that Garett and the party were no longer trying to harm innocent children, but rather that they had directed their anger and stress elsewhere.
With those words, the other three looked up from next to the bed of the child that they were chatting and laughing with.
"That's right. For those who are not innocent, no mercy is needed.", Trevor agreed.
"I suppose we can become your so called champions of justice, if it means stopping scenes like what we just played out from happening. We won't be so forgiving on others as you were to us though.", Samantha replied.
"Mhm...", Ashley sniffled.
Claire too then let out a tear.
"I... I'm so glad that I was right about you all... you four were the best people to put my gamble on."
Claire was filled with relief.
She was glad that she could rely on the antiheroes, and resolved herself to work with them in order to spread kindness and compassion throughout the world, helping those in need and punishing those who tried to harm the innocent.
What Claire did not realize at this moment about the four in front of her- the four who currently smiled and laughed after having repented of their sins and making peace with the young girl they had harmed- was the very nature of their being.
For they were not heroes, nor were they champions of justice.
Nor was Claire born into this world for the purpose of becoming such a hero.
For she was the Determined, and it was her duty to lead the antiheroes.
And lead them she would- into chaos and destruction.
This is not the story of four people who were transported into a world who used kindness and friendship to save everyone from the horrors of reality.
This is the story of the antiheroes.