Chapter 40

**Battle at the Cafe** (カフェの戦い *Kafe no Tatakai*) is the fortieth chapter of Oumi Noko's manga series S Rare Soubi no Niau Kanojo.

## Summary

In the corridors of the Shougakukan building, Yurina's group meets up with Daigo's group and Yurina is elated that Daigo is okay. Haruka also happily reunites with Ami, but the latter seems more interested in whether the monsters did anything promiscuous to her. Haruka informs Ami that the monster she just fought, Puppeteer, was unimplemented and used attacks she'd never seen before, and also mentioned that the monster Medusa was in the building. Though Riho has no recollection of either of the monsters, Ami comments that Puppeteer and Medusa were among Rinko Yamada's rejected monster designs. As the others are unfamiliar with her, Ami informs them that Rinko Yamada was the monster designer during Grimzelia's beta phase, and many of her designs made it into the final version. Saori suggest that Rinko may be the mastermind, but Daigo and Ami reply that that may not be the case as she only designed the monsters and they can't be sure of where she is. Ami then humorously laments that she was unable to see Puppeteer fight Haruka. After Yurina advises that they need to be cautious with the unimplemented monsters, Haruka voices her concerns about Rikoha as she noticed there was a time when she stopped amidst her constant healing (consequently, Daigo is filled with dread as he realizes Rikoha must have been buying items). Yurina speculates that Rikoha must have just gotten on a subway and reminds them that she was informed to go to Grizel Cafe if anything happened. The group continues on their way.

At the Grizel Cafe, Rikoha continues to operate Daigo's phone and loudly remarks that Pleiades, Rin Mei, and Karasu have all been afflicted with an unknown status that she cannot heal them from. Nonoka irritably points out the presence of Karasu's younger siblings, and Rikoha awkwardly tries to assure them that Karasu is okay. Rikoha then recalls how the two possessed girls had been chasing and how, between Haruka and Ami, she was the only one among them kept in the dark about Grimzelia. However, when Nonoka asks if she wants to fight monsters too, Rikoha gives a firm no. Rikoha then asks the Grizel Cafe employees, who are also aware of the Grimzelia crisis, if the cafe is really safe. Kanako assures her that it is as they have their own "secret weapons". Kanako then gives Rikoha some takoyaki and ice cream, but, before Rikoha can eat, one of the takoyaki balls is swiped from her. Rikoha and the others turn around and see that Arachne and the two possessed girls have entered the cafe. Rikoha begins to panic and curses Daigo, claiming that the cafe isn't safe at all, but one of the possessed girls points out that they found it by following Rikoha's phone. The monsters possessing the girls, Grand Tortoise and Droplet Angelly, then exit the girls' bodies, and Arachne orders them to kill everyone. Kanako orders another employee to get the "secret weapon", and orders Nonoka to take Karasu's siblings to the back, while she and Rikoha fight. However, before Nonoka can escape, Arachne catches her with her "Spider Thread of Death", trapping her in a web. Nonoka squirms futilely, only making the threads tighter. Arachne then orders Grand Tortoise to pierce a hold in Nonoka's belly, but, just before it can do so, its horn is severed by a giant shuriken. Mayu then appears, talking with an unknown person on her cell phone, informing that there are no problems with the equipment system, and is instructed to destroy the enemy.

Meanwhile, in Medusa's room, Lamia sees the aftermath of Medusa's battle with the Rankers and comments on how troublesome they must have been for Medusa to go so far as to destroy her statue collection. Aggravated, Medusa kicks the helpless Karasu, explaining to Lamia that her dual-wielding skill gave her a lot of trouble. Medusa then bitterly asks Lamia to fix the statues, and Lamia reluctantly complies. Lamia grabs the shattered remains of Marimo and Honoka's petrified bodies and swallows them into her stomach. Lamia complains that her skill wasn't meant for such a purpose, but Medusa is indifferent. Lamia then asks what they will do about Karasu and Medusa says she will torment her until she dies. Medusa advises Lamia to keep her guard up since the remaining Heroes may have other powerful weapons at their disposal. Lamia disregards her warning, stating that she doesn't care about the enemy's skills since she will just swallow them all.

Back at the cafe, Arachne is incredulous that Grand Tortoise could be taken down in one hit, to which Mayu explains that the skill she used to defeat the monster has not yet been implemented. Kanako is confused by Mayu's possession of such a weapon, but Mayu tells her that without the presence of Riho or Yurina, talking to her would be a waste of time. Mayu then engages in battle with the remaining monsters. Arachne orders Droplet Angelly to fight her, while showing a total disregard for the monster, wanting only to use her as a shield. Mayu throws her shuriken at Angelly, but the monsters dodges and fires two wads of slime at her hands. Droplet Angelly then engulfs Mayu's head in an attempt to suffocate her. However, the shuriken returns and strikes Droplet Angelly, destroying the monster and freeing Mayu. Mayu admonishes Arachne for sacrificing her minion in such a way, but Arachne argues that minions should be the ones to fight first and points out that she has wrapped Mayu up in her webs while she was fighting. Arachne examines the immobile Mayu, admiring how tasty she looks since she has a real body and is not just digital data. Arachne then summons a swarm of smaller spider monsters to feast on Mayu's body. The spiders crawl over Mayu and bite into her skin, injecting digestive fluids. Arachne explains that they will liquefy her insides and suck out every drop of her; a process called "external digestion". Seeing that Mayu is in trouble, Rikoh and Kanako try to figure out what to do and determine that someone must be friend-summoned in digital form. Nonoka suggests that Rikoha register under Grimzelia and friend-summon, but Rikoha slyly retorts that Nonoka should be the one to be friend-summoned. With either one refusing to fight, Mayu is left helpless as Arachne begins to taste her and she begins to realize the hopelessness of the situation. Arachne orders her spiders to finish Mayu off, but, suddenly, she notices that it has become colder. At once, the spiders are encased in ice and drop off of Mayu's body, along with Arachne's webbing. Suddenly, Yuki-Onna appears alongside Lolivia and explains that she froze the spiders, also commenting that Arachne must have sunk low to be assigned to Grizel Cafe. The cafe employee appears, explaining that it took a while for her to wake them up since they were tired from preparing the takoyaki and ice cream. Arachne angrily asks Yuki-Onna and Lolivia if they have betrayed the other monsters, but they explain that they are only acting to help the Second Demon King, assuring Arachne that they have found the vessel. Although they do not care about the humans at the cafe, they know that Daigo (the Demon King) would be upset if anything happened to them and they want him to try their food. But, above all that, Yuki-Onna and Lolivia admit that they despise Arachne due to her utter disregard for her companions, pointing out that their mission is to help all the other monsters. Arachne agrees that she cares nothing for her fellow monsters and, as such, attacks Yuki-Onna and Lolivia, planning to devour them. Lolivia uses her "Tempest" skill to create a pillar of water to block off Arachne's webbing attack and Yuki-Onna attacks her from behind with a flurry of icicles. Arachne summons her spiders to block the icicles, sacrificing them as well. Lolivia observes that she and Yuki-Onna are too weak to damage Arachne and, noticing the giant shuriken, asks Kanako if it is a replica. Kanako explains that Mayu brought it and shuriken aren't even available in Grimzelia to begin with. Lolivia observes that Mayu is the only one who can defeat Arachne, but she is nearly dead due to the digestive fluids. Rikoha suggests that they friend-summon her to heal her, but Nonoka wonders if the healing of her digital form will also heal her real body. Kanako recalls that, during the beach incident, Ami reported that Eternal Wind's movements were sluggish, which may have been due to an ailment from her body. Regardless, Rikoha places their bets on summoning Mayu and registers her as a friend. Arachne grabs her with her webbing, but Lolivia frees her with a water attack. Finally, Rikoha friend-summons and recovers Mayu, successfully giving her a digital body with a new shuriken that resembles a flower. Arachne tries to attacks, but finds that her webbing has been frozen by Yuki-Onna. Mayu swoops in and attacks, defeating Arachne with one blow. The others celebrate her victory, and Mayu calls the unknown person on her phone, reporting that friend registration and digital UR equipment are functional. She then says she will head for Shougakukan.

## Key Events

* Yurina, Ami, and Riho reunite with Daigo, Haruka, and Saori
* Mayu battles and defeats Arachne at the Grizel Cafe
* Lamia consumes the shattered remains of Honoka, Marimo, and Karasu to restore them

## Character Appearances

* Yurina
* Daigo Seko
* Saori Kashiwagi
* Riho Utsugi
* Ami Utsugi
* Haruka Nanao