Chapter 121: Embracing the Light of Ambition — Part 7
Let me introduce the insane members of this impromptu party—system-wise, just friends—that's recklessly throwing itself at a Unique Monster!!
Me! Level maxed, armor ranked up from tissue-paper grade to corrugated-cardboard-reinforced-with-bond grade! And Rei-shi! An unquestionably strongest player with armor that defies any measure of how many of me it would take to equal! That's it!
Sunraku: "Man, you still pull off disgustingly nasty moves...!"
Was it aiming for the exact moment my body lifted from a step, or just coincidence? Either way, a front-leg attack comes at a timing that normal dodging can't handle. I burn a charge of Inventoria's teleport—a trump card I can only use a distressingly limited number of times—to evade it. Against Lycagon, delay is never a good strategy, so I transfer into the storage space and immediately return. I dive right under Lycagon's feet as it glares down at me, front leg still extended from its swing.
Sunraku: "Keep staring down at the ground!"
Thanks to the Fatal Secret Art [Mirror of Fading], only my hate remains in place, and Lycagon's gaze is pinned downward. In that opening, I roll to the side and break away, switching weapons as I shout.
Sunraku: "Rei-shi!"
Psyger-0: "Apocalypse...!"
The pitch-black demon sword, wreathed in an effect like red-black boiling magma, slams into Lycagon's hind leg. Even Lycagon, it seems, can't remain unfazed after four or five repetitions of this—for the first time since the battle started, it finally displays a stagger animation. There's no way I'd miss an attack opportunity. Confirming from the corner of my eye that Rei-shi has leaped back, I hammer a one-two rush into Lycagon with Gilta Brille. Around the fourth hit, Lycagon recovers from its stagger and glares at Rei-shi with pure malevolence, then leaps at her, paying me absolutely no mind.
Sunraku: "Switch!"
Psyger-0: "Yes...!"
Here, the roles reverse. Now Rei-shi takes Lycagon's hate, and I take on the attacker role.
Sunraku: "I'll take that flank!"
Clad in the silver-light effect of Agatram—an attack skill that references the Luck parameter via the Hand of Fortune series and grants additional bonuses on successful criticals—my right fist crashes into Lycagon's right flank with a mixed gold-and-silver radiance. But this alone isn't enough. I thrust my left fist toward the predicted coordinates where Lycagon will be, firing a Crystal Bullet. Just before the black wolf's massive body overlaps those coordinates, I grow the bullet—now embedded in the ground—into a crystal pillar javelin to intercept it.
Sunraku: "At least flinch a little...!"
Psyger-0: "It’s all right...! Sword Dance [Flowing Spiral]!"
As if declaring such a thing unworthy of being an obstacle, Lycagon tramples the crystal pillar—grown in a position that obstructs its front leg's movement—and lunges at Rei-shi. But Rei-shi, taking an odd stance with the flat of her greatsword thrust forward rather than its edge, uses a flowing, spinning motion to parry and evade Lycagon's pounce. A moment of silence. Without the slightest sign of fatigue or damage, Lycagon slowly turns back toward us.
Sunraku: "What's the phrase for times like this again...?"
Psyger-0: "...'Pushing against a curtain, driving nails into bran'... I believe?"
That sums it up perfectly. I want a visible HP gauge on this thing... no, actually, being able to see it might break my spirit. We frantically switch between tank and attacker in response to Lycagon's actions. Put another way—one of us is absolutely unable to join the attack at any given time. I knew this strategy would take time, but knowing it and actually steeling yourself for it are two very different kinds of hardship.
Sunraku: "Rei-shi... how many now?"
Psyger-0: "...Six more times."
Sunraku: "Right... got it."
I recall the "trump card" Rei-shi told me about before we entered combat—burning through obviously expensive enhancement items without hesitation.
—The Demon Lord Emperor Satanael's Unique Skill, Apocalypse. The Emperor Demon Lord Satan's Unique Skill, Catastrophe... By fulfilling the condition of using each skill "five times," a certain skill becomes usable.
That skill is the very reason the player known as Psyger-0 holds the title of "Attack Holder." If we can just land it, there might be a chance of victory. Trusting those words, I've been walking a contradictory tightrope: protecting Rei-shi while also making her fight.
Sunraku: "Damn it, you really just run rampant however you please..."
Honestly, I have no clue what criteria this thing uses to determine hate. Just when I think curse-bearers get priority because it obsessively targets me, it suddenly attacks Rei-shi. At this point it's less wolf and more cat—so capriciously free-spirited I can't even catch my breath. That said, if you chase two rabbits, you catch neither. The fact that Lycagon never completely fixates on one target is exactly what lets us maintain this precarious equilibrium.
Psyger-0: "The moon is hidden!"
Sunraku: "It's coming...!"
There's an item called a Torch. Mainly used at night or in fields like caves where light doesn't reach, it raises the brightness in a five-meter radius centered on the torch... But—
Sunraku: "In a game where it's basically just dim and you can see fine at night anyway, who the hell carries that item around regularly... Right!!"
The clone's movements themselves don't differ much from normal clone attacks. But the mere fact that its form becomes invisible makes it exponentially more dangerous. I focus every nerve on my hearing, searching for the source of a sound like dragging a burlap sack full of sand, giving form to the invisible death through imagination alone. Even if I can't see it, it's there. Even if it's transparent, it has mass. Pinpointing the invisible clone's approximate position from the sound of its emergence and the sound of it kicking off the ground, I convey it to Rei-shi with a pointing finger and a shout while breaking away from that spot at full speed.
Sunraku: "Eeeek!?"
A wind brushes my spine. Not a natural phenomenon—the flow of air displaced by a massive presence, and the exhalation leaking from lungs powerful enough to move such mass, grazed my back by the narrowest of margins. Rei-shi... is safe. Relief that the frontline collapse was unwarranted. I glance up at the sky. Moon behind gathering clouds, wind before the flowers—yes, clouds passing over the moon can certainly evoke a sense of elegance. But to me right now, they evoke nothing but irritation. The hidden moon slips free of the clouds, its gentle light illuminating us and Lycagon. And because the moonlight now illuminates the surroundings, I clearly see—in the spot where Rei-shi and I were moments ago—the fading form of a wolf identical to Lycagon.
(As I thought—moonlight. No, more precisely, a special attack that only activates the moment light is interrupted... What do I do? The timing is too uncertain to formulate a countermeasure.)
Light... a light... damn, if only I had a flashlight. No, that won't work. Unless I prevent the fundamental activation itself, sooner or later I won't be able to dodge it. The flow of the wind. The state of the sky. There are still plenty of clouds crossing the moon's path. Don't tell me the weather itself is our enemy...
Sunraku: "No, wait... there is a plan. A brilliant one to stop those invisible clones."
Psyger-0: "There... really is?"
But using this in front of Rei-shi... no, that's wrong. A weapon you never use has no value—it's the same as shoes you never wear. And besides... treasure is most enjoyable at the moment you show it off. With no reason left to hesitate, I ask Rei-shi to take the hate while I operate Inventoria.
Sunraku: "Yes, indeed. It's true I can't wear a powered suit. But that doesn't mean absolutely everything is off-limits...! Sorry to wake you in the dead of night, but you've got work!"
I extract three items from Inventoria. One: the Non-Standard Ether Reactor, restored to its former glory by Bilac's hands. Two: the helm—the head casing of the Non-Standard Special Enhanced Armor Glosswing—which serves as its baton and whistle. And three... corresponding to Glosswing—no, to which Glosswing corresponds—a steel body with red coloring. The power-less, empty shell simply folds its wings, as if awaiting its master's command.
Sunraku: "Now then, your first assignment... Suzaku!"
The Non-Standard Tactical Machine Bird Suzaku is equipped with the Non-Standard Ether Reactor. Under the star-filled sky, on the moonlit plain, the crimson machine bird awakens.