If getting through the snakes was difficult the first time around, rummaging through the rooms and avoiding being seen while running back and forth between hallways was all but suicidal. Thankfully Issei seemed to have grabbed the devil's luck, because very few snakes were roaming around, mostly actually focusing on sunning themselves on windowsills and open patches of the deck.
'Does she think I'm still down in the lower levels?'
She could be hunting down the other kids. And wasn't that a morbid thought, for Issei to have drawn her attention and managed to escape, only for the monster lady to turn around and start hunting for the others.
No, she wouldn't do that!
Why was he so convinced of it?
Because she was a sore loser. Because she only started 'taking it seriously' after he kept escaping her. To the point she went several days without doing anything different just to see if she could catch him herself, give up, and started using those pets of hers to cheat.
Or so he hoped.
Either way, it took about another ten minutes to accomplish what he truly needed!
The rooms on the cruise ship had an electronic lock, though those were automatically disengaged with the power shut off, meaning he was dependent on a ring of keys pulled out of an open janitor's locker to get into places.
But that was all he really needed.
In the end, collecting this and that had proved to be simple, if time consuming. And Issei had definitely noticed that something was up - the air itself felt electric. So the teenager figured he'd only have a little bit longer. Success or failure, there was a single shot at defeating Dusa-Chan!
'I don't want to fail….'
So his actions were swift.
He stopped for a moment to chug down a bottle of water and relieve himself in a toilet that still had water. It was a silly thing, a stupid thing, even, but he didn't want to go into battle… uncomfortable.
And the pain meds Issei had swallowed weren't doing anything, but he didn't expect something labeled with the picture of a laughing baby to actually do much.
Still. It was the little things.
So he pulled out the compact mirror and checked his corners, he tugged his backpack closer and made sure nothing jingled, but most of all, he took a few, final deep breaths.
This was it.
The last moment.
"DUSA-CHAN! COME AND GET ME!"
Screaming at the absolute top of his lungs, the brown haired teenager felt a strange sort of acceptance and a surge of joy washed over him!
"I WAS THINKING ABOUT YOUR OPPAI!"
For a moment there was silence.
The serene lapping of waves in the distance along with the cawing of seagulls. Issei wondered if he had actually yelled loud enough to be heard and if he should repeat himself.
That was when he heard it.
The hissing. It wasn't particularly loud, but the amount of snakes he heard more than made up for it with a chorus of death. Then came the offended shriek off in the distance accompanied by a screech of tearing metal.
'Step three is a success.' He gulped nervously.
Assuming that was for him, the idiot rushed off, unable to keep a hysterical laugh from bubbling out of him as he ran pell mell towards his end.
Time for step four.
After that? Who knows!
He hadn't thought that far ahead!
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