It was good that we reunited with Fuka, but the twins are still out there.

If we’d defeated the Guardian, we could’ve taken the TDS, but both Fuka and I let them escape.

Still, just surviving is more than enough. As long as we're alive... we can figure something out.

“Where are Seiya and Yukine?”

We need to find them, but we don’t have any leads.

If we at least had a general idea of where they were, we could work something out.

“Um, looks like they’re both northwest from here?”

“...How do you know that?”

When I asked, she looked at me with a smirk and a half-lidded gaze, her eyes relaxed at the corners.

What’s with that weird face?

“Whaaat? Even you, Kaname-san, didn’t notice? No way, seriously? I can’t believe it~”

Her tone is seriously irritating.

Fuka has a real talent for getting on people’s nerves.

I wanted to snap back at her, but time was of the essence right now.

“Yeah yeah, so how did you find out?”

“Geez, play along a little more! Well, fine, I’ll tell you. Look.”

Fuka activated her gem and tapped on Map.

At the center of the glowing map, two dots appeared close together. A little farther to the northwest were two more dots, those were moving.

“You can check your party members’ locations on the map!”

Ignoring Fuka's smug expression, I carefully studied the map.

After we got separated, I ran into the Visor and immediately went to Fuka’s location, so I hadn’t checked the map even once. I didn’t know it had this kind of feature.

Apparently, once someone becomes a party member, they show up on the map, even if their name isn’t displayed.

“Now that we know where they are, it’s our move. Let’s go, Fuka.”

“Eh, wait. Aren’t you going to praise me? Like, ‘Great job!’, ‘You’re amazing!’, ‘My beautiful princess!’ This is totally the moment to shower me with compliments!”

“You don’t really deserve that much praise. Anyway, we don’t have time. Activate.”

I grabbed Fuka’s arm and pulled her close, then placed an Arrow Trap at our feet.

“Hoeh! Nuoh! Gyuhoh!”

Can she stop making weird sounds every time we teleport?

I adjusted the trap direction while checking the twins’ location on the Map.

“Once you get used to it, it actually feels pretty good! Like that thrill you get from a roller coaster—whoosh whoosh—it’s kind of addictive.”

Fuka, now done with the screaming, looked around cheerfully.

“Ah, but the scenery changing so suddenly... I might get motion sickness.”

“Just don’t throw up.”

If we’re talking raw power, the Arrow Trap ranks low, but in terms of utility, it’s incredibly effective.

It consumes very little TDP and has room for a lot of creative uses, which suits me perfectly.

“We should be around here.”

As we approached the dots representing the twins, I came to a stop.

On the map, they seemed to be coming our way from the west.

This spot was near a small stream, with river gravel scattered underfoot. There were forests to the west and east, with the stream flowing north to south between them.

The view was open, making it an ideal rendezvous point.

The twins seemed to be sprinting at full speed—they were heading toward us fast.

“Chances are high they’re being chased. Fuka, summon a Ballista and get it aimed over there.”

I pointed to the western forest and signaled her to be on alert.

“Sir, yes, sir!”

With a crisp salute, Fuka activated the Ballista.

From here to the forest edge was probably somewhere between ten and twenty meters.

“Stay right there—wait!”

“Yes! ...Wait, did you just talk to me like I’m a dog!?”

Ignoring Fuka’s complaint, I took a few steps toward the forest.

From here, maybe I could just make it in time?

I stopped and focused my eyes and ears.

I heard running footsteps and faint voices growing louder by the second.

A few seconds later, Seiya and Yukine burst out from the forest.

“Whoa, Kaname-san!?”

“Please help us!”

Drenched in sweat and with desperate expressions, they ran straight for me.

“What happened! What’s goi—oh.”

I was about to ask for an explanation, but it turned out I didn’t need to.

Chasing after them, slightly behind, was that thing.

Crashing through the trees came a massive figure towering above us.

It stood well over five meters tall.

Sharp eyes, a wide mouth with enormous pointed fangs.

A shaggy, oval-shaped body with short, thick limbs.

“A Boaboa!”

In the previous Death Parade TD, it was a troublesome boar-type monster known for its high HP and deadly charge speed in a straight line.

Because it was so large, several traps didn’t even work on it, which made it a pain to deal with—I remembered that well.

“This is not the time to be surprised!”

I used an Arrow Trap to bring the twins over to me.

We managed to put some distance between us and the Boaboa. It looked confused, probably because the twins had suddenly vanished, and stopped in its tracks.

“Hah, hah, haaaaah. We’re saved, Kaname-san.”

“Fuuuuuh. That was a close one.”

The twins weren’t weak by any means—maybe it was just a bad matchup.

The Boaboa was too big to fall into a Pitfall, and even stepping on a few Spiked Traps probably wasn’t enough to bring it down.

Its legs were charred black and bleeding, but it didn’t seem to have any trouble moving.

“It just kept charging at full speed like an idiot, and it jumps around too, so some traps didn’t activate in time.”

“After it got caught by a Pitfall once, it seems to be more cautious now.”

This kind of behavior wasn’t possible in the last Death Parade TD.

The Boaboa, which had been scanning its surroundings, stopped moving as it looked this way.

A loud snort blew away the gravel, and its forelegs scraped the ground repeatedly. It’s going to charge.

“Fuka!”

Now, before it starts moving, is the perfect chance!

“Fire!!”

A shot from the Ballista positioned directly in front of it.

The bolt, released with perfect timing, seemed to pierce the Boaboa's forehead—but the massive body leapt into the air.

“Whaaaat! That body, and it can jump like that!? That’s just not right!”

“Complain later!”

We were now in the shadow of that massive body.

If this keeps up, we’re definitely going to be crushed to death.

“Evade!”

I forced everyone to dodge with an Arrow Trap, then activated another to gain distance.

The impact rattled our guts and sent gravel flying.

Even though we were quite far away, the blast of air still reached us.

If we had taken that hit—who knows what would’ve happened.

Cold sweat burst from my body and clung to my back, soaking my shirt.

I had been too focused on the battle royale, neglecting the presence of monsters. I should’ve known this world had dangerous monsters in it.

Time to switch gears from PvP combat.

“I’ll place a Decoy. Set Pitfalls in a line ahead of it! And in the holes, put Flamethrowers too!”

“G-got it!”

“Seiya, surround the Decoy with Spiked Traps! Also, put an Electric floor directly beneath the Decoy!”

“Leave it to me!”

They followed my instructions smoothly, setting the TDS traps efficiently.

“Fuka, keep the Ballista aimed straight and stay on standby!”

“Y-yes. Standing by!”

She seemed to understand that this wasn’t the time for jokes—she wore an uncharacteristically serious face and spoke tersely.

The Boaboa slowly got up again, turned its head toward us, and charged at full speed toward the Decoy positioned between us.

“Five, four, three, two…”

One more step and its front legs would get caught in the Pitfall.

If we hit it with the Ballista then, we’d win. Just when I was sure of victory, the Boaboa jumped again.

It ignored the Decoy completely, aiming to slam into us instead.

The massive body soared over the entire area where we had laid the traps.

“Fuka! Fire at the Decoy!”

“Huh!? I don’t get it, but okay!”

Even though she didn’t understand what I meant, the Ballista fired its massive bolt.

“Seiya, activate the Electric floor!”

“R-right!”

The bolt struck the Decoy directly in the back. However, without destroying it, the bolt’s trajectory changed.

Straight upward.

The bolt, now charged with electricity from the Electric floor, continued to ascend.

Directly above, the Boaboa’s exposed underbelly waited defenselessly.

The bolt pierced its belly, shot through its back, and flew out the other side.

Spraying blood from its abdomen and back, the Boaboa crashed down onto the river gravel.

After confirming it wasn’t moving, I let out a huge breath.

“Haaah... Somehow, we pulled it off.”

The moment the tension snapped, my legs gave out and I sat down. All strength drained from my body.

We could’ve tried to shoot the Boaboa directly while it was airborne, but it would’ve taken time to realign the Ballista, and I didn’t think a flustered Fuka could handle it quickly.

That’s why I went with this plan.

“Hey, hey! What just happened!? Why did the bolt’s trajectory change!?”

“How did you do that? Tell us!”

The twins rushed over, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me.

Whoa—two beautiful faces closing in on me in excitement. Not a bad feeling.

I glanced at Fuka. She didn’t seem to fully understand the situation, but clearly believed the victory was her doing, proudly grinning at me.

“The mechanism is simple. I just stuck an Arrow Trap to the back of the Decoy. When the bolt hit it, its trajectory was redirected.”

I mimicked the motion with my finger, first moving horizontally, then shooting upward.

The gamble in this plan had two parts. First, whether the Arrow Trap could be layered onto the Decoy. When I was looking for Fuka earlier, I’d added a wall at the placement site, which made it possible. But whether the Decoy’s back would register as a wall was questionable.

The second gamble was whether the Arrow Trap would affect a bolt fired from the Ballista. I’d never tested that—total guesswork.

I’m really glad it worked out.

“It was a victory thanks to everyone’s traps.”

The Boaboa leapt to avoid the Pitfall, then got hit by the Ballista bolt imbued with electricity from the Electric floor.

If any one of us had been missing, we might not have won.

“In other words, our first teamwork mission.”

Fuka fidgeted as she muttered something creepy.

“Ew, don’t say that.”

“Fuka-san and Kaname-san, haven’t you two gotten kinda closer?”

Seiya frowned, while Yukine squinted at us suspiciously.

“Now that we’re reunited safely, let’s celebrate. Welcome back.”

I stood up and extended my hand to my companions. The three of them exchanged glances and grabbed it in unison.

“““We’re back.”””