Chapter 189: Running from Five with Four in Between
I cleared Xenoblade 2's story. It was a wonderful breath of fresh air. In exchange, I mostly missed the Fest.
Serious Asari... ugh, my head.
Today's the exciting Seafood Tour! During the day, the enemies aren't fresh while they're still moving, but once you take them down, they drop fresh ingredients. It's zombie hunting—strawberry picking style!
Sunraku: "The rare enemy's a Kaisen-Oh! Hahaha, holy shit, this time it's an anglerfish with a ton of other fish stuck all over it!"
I've heard that female anglerfish absorb males and whatnot, but an anglerfish that absorbs other species is way too terrifying. Chimeras are supposed to be mutations, but can they really pop up this often...? Well, it's just a rare enemy. Spawning once in a while is normal for an encounter rate. Take Unite Rounds, for example—rare enemies there have such abysmally low spawn rates, like real-life tsuchinoko, that hunting just one causes a hundred-player feeding frenzy.
Feels like a Musou game. Duxram, Blade of Aspiration, which might as well be an indestructible object, is racking up an utterly abnormal kill score. I don't even have time to check item names anymore. I just tear through the endlessly spawning fishmen and toss them aside, tear and toss... Mermaids go down in one full combo after a single hit to the face, so they're easy enough to deal with, but damn, their aerial advantage still stings.
Sunraku: "Outta my way, twintails—oraa!"
Emul: "Sunraku-san, you're mercilessly kicking away creatures whose top halves are still human-shaped! You're as unhinged as ever, wa!"
Sunraku: "Right now, they just look like flying punching bags to me! Ponytail—oraa!"
The only time a person can get truly serious is when they're fulfilling their own desires. In an MMO with no real end goal, my desire right now is to fatten my wallet!
Sunraku: "Fuhaha, fuhahahahahahahaha!!"
You with the long black hair! You with the blonde twintails! You with the silver airy bob! All of you shall end up as nothing but vendor-trash materials!!
Araba: "I find myself wondering, at times, whether I am not accompanying something... shall we say, something not entirely sane."
Nereis: "It's fine. That is the same as a predator. There is no good or evil in consuming prey. It is instinctive behavior."
Hahaha, isn't it hilarious when NPCs start explaining a player's thought routine?
The Seafood Tour never ends! During the day, it was just grinding a Musou game against rotten fish, but night is different! Now I get to rampage against fresh, lively fish that aren't rotten anywhere! Though they rampage right back, so the thrill is off the charts!
Emul: "I-is that the mother of the daytime shooting-type Kaisen-Oh!?"
Araba: "Slaygiven Caryangler! You seriously intend to challenge that thing!?"
With a tearful Emul perched on my head, we gaze up at the monster looming powerfully overhead. Arctus Regalex—the Gigant Oarfish—had been like a train. Atlanticus Lepnorca—the orca bastard—was, how to put it, a monster that mixed a tank, a fighter jet, and a battleship's main cannon. So how should I describe the Slaygiven Caryangler? Hahaha, you'll understand the moment you see it.
Sunraku: "Mother of the shooting-type Kaisen-Oh! I've already enjoyed your child as a delicious meal!!"
Nereis: "As I thought, this person... might be a little insane..."
Sunraku: "Hey, Emul. They say there's no part of an anglerfish you can't use. Doesn't that mean it'll drop a ton of materials?"
Emul: "You really have gone crazy, wa—!?"
A massive One, attended by a vast swarm. Not as large as Arctus Regalex, but still enormous in both height and width, the carrier-mother launches strange fish-like attack craft bearing bizarre component symbols, all baring their fangs at us. Yes, indeed. If something's built like this, what else could you possibly call it but a "carrier"?
Sunraku: "Araba, how strong is that reverse-harem anglerfish?"
Araba: "...Not as strong as the King of the Deep Sea, but conversely, the only things said to be capable of defeating it are the King of the Deep Sea or the 'Sea Forest.'"
I see. I'd like to check out this Sea Forest before the day's over... but let's not be greedy. We've got boss fights coming up, so I'll settle for just the mother's materials.
Sunraku: "Look, the materials are coming to us. If they're a carrier, then we're a destroyer-led torpedo squadron. Want to try out a battle cry that fits the theme?"
Target set... Fire—!!
Sunraku: "Yo... good mornin'..."
Akitsu Akane: "Could it be that Sunraku's not a morning person? You seemed the same way when we met in Fifticia..."
Sunraku: "Nah, well... sinking that carrier took some time..."
Akitsu Akane: "Is that a different game you're talking about?"
Actually, it happened right here in SLF. Emul and Araba collapsed from exhaustion, but I've still got a boss fight ahead of me. I downed a weaker caffeine dose, so I can't go full throttle, but there's no way I'll last if I push myself to the limit right before the seventh day.
Sunraku: "So, is that the result of getting him back to his senses?"
Mold: "I did everything I could, but unfortunately..."
Rust: "Ahaha, ufufu."
He's beaming. Rust, who's generally the quiet type, is smiling a slack, radiant smile. Even a newborn baby who knows nothing of the world's harshness would have a more subdued smile than that.
Mold: "No, seriously, yesterday was just a huge ordeal... At one point he started saying he was going on a muscle-training journey so he wouldn't die before the sequel comes out..."
I get the feeling, but it's not an emotion I have much connection to. Trash games are generally only discovered once someone passes judgment on them, so it's rare to actually look forward to a release. Well, if I had to say, maybe when I'm waiting for a trash game I ordered online to arrive.
Sunraku: "Is he usable like this?"
Rust: "I’m fine. I’ll do VR training to prepare for the coming day of destiny. So, both in SLF and the previous game, I’ll go all-out without holding back."
The extremely smiley Rust says that, but I send a questioning look not at Rust himself, but at Mold. The reply is a vaguely troubled, ambiguous wry smile... Well, we'll manage somehow. This time, every member of the assault team is a player, so we can die without hesitation.
Sunraku: "We're heading to the southern tower of Ruluiath now. This one's the 'Conch'—it nullifies all ranged attacks."
That said, I haven't actually seen it myself. Rust and the others confirmed it. And in the first place, we don't have absolute proof of the nullification conditions. Part of this is to verify those conditions, but the primary objective is taking down the Blocker.
Sunraku: "I don't have any effective attacks against the remaining two: the 'Barnacle' and the 'Married Fishman Couple.' Since I can't deal damage, I can't even pull aggro. My only role would be literal background noise."
It's not that I couldn't act as a dodge-tank if I tried, but the resource consumption would be too extreme to justify against a mid-boss. There's always the final resort of the Human Tank Grand Strategy—sticking Emul the turret on my head and running around—but in that case, there's not much need for me to be the chassis...
Sunraku: "I can manage a suicide charge as Emul's accessory attachment, but I'll probably have to leave both the 'Barnacle' and the 'Married Fishman Couple' to you guys."
Mold: "Understood. Then let’s go take down the Conch. Come on, Rust, back to your senses."
Rust: "Ahh, the air is so delicious!"
Sunraku: "..."
Is this guy really going to be okay?
Confirming the battle plan. The provisional name "Conch" possesses the ability to nullify all ranged attacks, regardless of whether they're magic or skills. Therefore, to defeat the Conch, closing to point-blank range for an infight is absolutely essential. In this operation, yours truly, Sunraku, will serve as the main attacker and aggro-manager. Rust will stand by at range and, seizing any opening, attack with his bow from close quarters. Mold will support Rust. Since Mold getting too close to the Conch and drawing aggro would be a problem, he'll basically focus solely on supplying buffs to Rust without engaging in direct combat.
Sunraku: "Operation name... 'Clam Digging.'"
Mold: "Isn't that... not a clam?"
Rust: "Mold, details don’t matter. It’s a minor issue, so there’s no need to fuss over every little thing."
Team Nephilim Hollow, sortie. The three of us ready our weapons and infiltrate one of the three remaining towers.
Sunraku: "..."
Sunraku: "I see. So it really is a 'Conch.'"
Well, well. The Clione also maintained a human form until it opened its buccal cones, and it seems all the Blockers are humanoid. I've fought a robot armor dressed like a Japanese samurai before, but this one's the opposite—it's heavily decked out in the trappings of a Western knight. Even though it uses a lot of shell armor overall, the most conspicuous feature is the enormous spiral shell covering its entire head. I'd been imagining something like a turban shell or the like, but that is, no matter how you look at it...
Sunraku: "...an ammonite."
Mold: "Rust was reluctant to confirm it as an ammonite, saying 'It might be a nautilus,' so we went with 'Conch'..."
Sunraku: "You guys get hung up on the weirdest things... Well, whatever. If it's humanoid, anti-personnel skills will work."
Ammone Knight takes a combat stance, dual-wielding a rapier-like slender sword formed from the elongated spines of a turban shell, and a cutlass clearly forged by human hands. A dual-wielding showdown, huh? You've got my interest, Ammone Knight. Dual-wielding different weapon types has high romance value, but that's because it shines when used in desperate moments. Let me teach you that there's no special bonus for a boss character to use it from the very start of a fight.
Sunraku: "As planned, I'll take this guy."
Mold: "Are you sure? Even as a dodge-tank, with those defenses..."
That concern is perfectly valid. So I reply with a grin.
Sunraku: "Compared to a far more troublesome humanoid enemy like Wethermon, that thing's nothing."
Alright. Let's begin the assault.
・Slaygiven Caryangler A DOMINATION MONSTER WATER / DARK It scatters special pheromones to enthrall males of other species. The enthralled males are transformed into minions by the secretions pumped into them from the mother body.