Chapter 108: The Lion Uses Its Full Strength Against a Rabbit; the Crab Uses a Pizza Cutter Against a Phoenix
Rust: "What on earth did you do...?!"
The battle results have been finalized, and I've just returned to the entrance. Rust rushes at me as if to grab hold of me. Beside her, Mold stands frozen in a daze—it seems the two of them still haven't fully comprehended how easily defeat was carved into them.
Sunraku: "I could tell you right now... but isn't it more fun to figure it out yourself?"
Shaking my kettle-headed head, I don't bother hiding the feelings of superiority welling up from the depths of my heart as I declare a rematch to Rust and Mold. One win, one loss, one draw... now we're finally even. That match just now was, in essence, me forcing a first-sight-kill. Calling it a win feels a little shabby.
Sunraku: "Mold, was it? You can figure out what I just did... can't you?"
Mold: "...Vaguely, I think."
Rust: "Mold, what's he talking about...?!"
Mold, at least, seems to have a rough idea. He knows who the trap that Fiddler Crab set really caught.
The phoenix has already fallen. But, granted a second chance, Rust sets aside the humiliation of being on the receiving end of the arrogance reserved only for the victor. Boarding Crimson Wing Union once more, she carefully scans her surroundings and asks Mold:
Rust: "Tell me. What exactly happened?"
Mold (comms): "...At that moment, when you launched your melee attack—Fiddler Crab activated a Jamming Sensor."
Rust: "Jamming Sensor... a piece of trash that just falsifies your own coordinates."
Combining Optical Camouflage, which makes the machine disappear visually, with a Jamming Sensor that deceives sensors could indeed make it impossible to detect within this game. But Rust still cannot account for what happened next. In that instant, Crimson Wing Union—having read ahead from the propulsion effects—was suddenly stopped as if its movements were bound. Then, before it could resist, its limbs were severed, its torso crushed, and it was destroyed. What exactly happened? Only those who observed it from a third-party perspective—the other players—know the answer. Along with the one who did it, Sunraku himself... and Mold, whose position during the battle was as close to a third-party perspective as you can get on the field.
Mold (comms): "...To put it in a single sentence: in that split second when the jamming scrambled your read on the enemy's position, Fiddler Crab circled around right behind you."
Rust: "...Impossible. If it had circled behind Crimson Wing Union from that position, there would definitely have been booster effects. And there's no way it could've walked over the ground."
Jet Legs don't possess ground-walking capability. They're units that stay airborne by continuously consuming energy—gaining the terrain advantage of always being in the air at the cost of energy reserves. If that's the case, then to get behind her, using boosters would be mandatory. And Rust is not someone who would miss that.
(...Wait. Moving... without producing effects...?)
The battle begins. As she soars through the air aboard Crimson Wing Union, Rust thinks. Propulsion effects are, essentially, flames and heat rendered visible in game terms. Which means: if there were a method of movement that didn't rely on flames or heat, the danger of being located via effects would disappear.
(No way...)
Rust: "Mold, I've figured out the trick behind the invisible movement."
Mold (comms): "Huh?"
Rust: "If my theory is correct..."
Crimson Wing Union springs out into the remains of a vertically gaping street, takes aim at Fiddler Crab standing silently in place, and opens fire. As if recreating the previous game, Fiddler Crab vanishes, and the effects from its Jet Legs cease.
Rust: "In this game, there's exactly one type of midair movement that doesn't produce effects when moving...!"
Below the hovering Crimson Wing Union, where rubble is faintly stirring, she fires a volley of Gatling rounds. And at last, the hidden Fiddler Crab reveals itself.
Mold (comms): "G-Gravity Float Legs?! Why—they should've been Jet Legs... N-No way!"
Rust: "A new Nephilim type added in the update two weeks ago... the Disguised Dual Legs—that’s the trick behind Fiddler Crab’s vanishing act...!"
Sunraku: "Oh dear. Busted, huh."
Well, I never expected the same trick to work twice anyway. And besides, Fiddler Crab's first-sight-kill capabilities are merely the tip of the iceberg. That said, this Disguised Dual Legs type of Nephilim really does have some fascinating performance traits.
Sunraku: "Not a centaur-like quad-legged humanoid upper body, but a type that literally 'switches' its legs..."
The lower body rotates on its vertical axis, and the two legs folded up at the rear section switch with the first set of legs—making it possible to equip two types of legs and up to four leg-mounted weapons. A truly broken-sounding feature... but it doesn't quite reach that level, which is what makes this a properly balanced good game. First, the pure weight increase kills your mobility. Mount a large booster, and you can manage some degree of mobility—but the mass still piles up, making ultra-high-speed maneuvers like Kingfisher's impossible. Next, fuel efficiency. This one's easy to understand—so bad it'd be strange not to notice. After all, on top of powering two whole sets of legs, you're also feeding energy to the switching mechanism—so no matter how you slice it, it guzzles energy like crazy. That's why, despite being a recent addition, it's not widely used. So, I decided to swing in the complete opposite direction. Don't even consider energy efficiency from the start. Cram in every weapon I want to mount, and focus solely on short, decisive battles. This Fiddler Crab—when all its armaments are running at full capacity—has the admirable purity of running out of energy in just one minute. But in exchange, once a target enters its range, it absolutely never lets its prey escape.
Sunraku: "Now then... what will you do, Crimson Wing Union?"
After a brief standoff, the action Crimson Wing Union chooses is... acceleration. It seems she's chosen to observe in a way that forces a response from me, rather than observing from a distance. Against Crimson Wing Union—which levels its twin blades and strafes with the Gatling guns mounted on its shoulders—I, too, choose to close in. My lower body rotates, mode-changing to Jet Legs. I evade the rain of Gatling fire with minimal movement and boost with the force of dumping energy like there's no tomorrow. The terrain advantage is hers. The hidden cards are mine. Game experience is hers. If that's the case, then what I need to surpass Rust is...
Sunraku: "The skill to corner her into a confirmed kill...!"
I activate Optical Camouflage once more. Against the vanishing Nephilim, Crimson Wing Union responds with cold composure. A deliberately lagged Jamming Sensor—for several seconds, I vanish from Crimson Wing Union's world, from Rust's world of perception. I switch my legs to Float Legs. Quietly, and boldly, I approach directly in front of Crimson Wing Union—and deliberately release the Optical Camouflage myself. The sensor disruption from the Jamming Sensor is canceled by performing an attack. She knows that. The twin blades she has at the ready are likely a precaution against the attack that finished the previous battle. That's exactly why I show myself from this position. Appearing not from a grass thicket she was watching—but straight ahead, directly in front—is a horror-game monster staple. And "staple" means it's effective.
Sunraku: "Whether she dodges or counters... that spot is out of range... and it’s in range."
The Bookmaker equipped on my right arm is my main weapon—and simultaneously a shield that conceals my left arm. Faced with Fiddler Crab's sudden appearance—an act tantamount to revealing my own position—Crimson Wing Union doesn't let its movements waver. Crimson Wing Union raises its twin blades. It seems Rust has realized something. The positional relationship between Crimson Wing Union and Fiddler Crab is an awkward distance: too far for a close-range weapon to land, yet too close for a mid-range weapon to connect. A void has been created between the two machines. Should she close that gap or not? Not knowing Fiddler Crab's full capabilities, Crimson Wing Union must instantaneously determine whether this is a trap. On top of that: dodge? Counterattack? Retreat at full speed? Attack while falling back? Every possible option must be slammed against—not the machine, but the player piloting it. Attack the player herself. That said, with just this, she'll handle it easily. And that's exactly why... this is where Fiddler Crab's hunt truly begins.
Sunraku: "I already verified this game mechanic yesterday...!"
I fire the Capture Net—equipped on the left leg on the Float Legs side—which physically stops the opponent's movements for several seconds. The launched warhead opens, and the reinforced-wire net blossoms outward, lunging at Crimson Wing Union. The net's launch speed is faster than Crimson Wing Union's boost. If that's the case, the only option is to dodge while retreating—up, down, left, or right. And the instant Crimson Wing Union's signature irregular maneuvers are used to evade... at nearly the exact same timing as the Capture Net was fired, I unleash a deflection shot—an attack released at a location where the enemy herself will come to meet it. A so-called "placed attack." The Capture Net's hit detection doesn't react to other attacks made by the Nephilim that fired it. In other words: the Stun Maser in my left arm, fired with the Capture Net as a shield, slips through the wire mesh and scores a direct hit on Crimson Wing Union just as she enters her evasive maneuver.
Sunraku: "To be honest, I'm fatally weak against long-range machines loaded with sensors, like Kings Gambit... but against machines that focus on short and mid-range, this thing is absurdly strong."
Three seconds is enough to close the distance. Five seconds is enough for Fiddler Crab's "pincers" to finish off its prey. Bookmaker on my right arm seizes Crimson Wing Union by the neck, tightening with a grinding squeeze, as the unit mounted on Fiddler Crab's back comes to life.
Sunraku: "Sorry about this. I named it Fiddler Crab... but this thing has three 'pincers'..."
Rear-mounted Industrial-Type Remodeler Circular Saw: Pizza Cutter Wing. With virtually all of its attack methods being "anti-super-massive Nephilim armaments," Fiddler Crab's firepower can reduce even a heavyweight machine's durability to zero in five seconds. Just like the previous match: torn to pieces, Crimson Wing Union explodes into nothing, and I smile in the afterglow of a winning record.