Chapter 199
Author’s Preface: This Christmas, I’ll be spending a hot night with Xeno Diabolos-kun. Hey! Drop that sword!! Xeno Dia-kun, who lets me farm even with a pathetic light-element party, is a good civilization. Xeno Vohu-chan, who put me through hell, is a bad civilization.
Mold: "With this kind of boss, it's pretty common that some item reveals its true form."
In the special strategy meeting for Operation Defeat Ctarnidd—a gathering of knowledgeable minds from various fields to find clues to solving the problem we currently face—I nod in agreement at Mold's words.
Sunraku: "Yeah, in the games I've played, that kind of thing came up a fair bit. There were also patterns where it wasn't an item, but a specific weapon or magic serving as the trigger."
Akitsu Akane: "Then we just have to find that item, right?!"
Sunraku: "Akitsu Akane, stay."
I'm gradually getting the hang of how to handle this one. Well, that aside, Akitsu Akane is a holder of a hidden job descended from the thief class. She probably has the highest exploration aptitude out of everyone here. Which is exactly why I need to send her to the highest-priority search location.
Sunraku: "Even without solid proof, we judged that we can't win against Ctarnidd as things stand. That's exactly why we're holding this strategy meeting right now. Throw out any information you have, no matter what—we need to find a clue for conquering this."
The Unique Monster "Ctarnidd of the Abyss." Let's start by summarizing the basic info.
Sunraku: "Well, he's almost certainly hiding his true form or something... but that guy's, you know, an octopus. Seems he makes his living as the landlord of this giant octopus pot called Ruluiath."
Psyger-0: "He most likely... possesses the ability to 'invert' the natural order of things... at a system level."
Even the state of life itself rests in the palm—no, the tentacle—of his hand. With him, a ruined cityscape becomes newly built in the blink of an eye, and fresh fish gets cooked into rotting fish paste. In that process, something goes horribly wrong somewhere and you end up with Homo Fishiens, but that's beside the point. The core ability behind all this is exactly what Rei-shi just said—his power of "Reversal." An ability so far outside the norm it can sink an entire island to the bottom of the sea.
He's probably a boss monster whose performance leans toward the magical side among Unique Monsters. But since just rolling that giant body around could mince triple-digit numbers of humans, it's hard to argue that he's weak against physical attacks.
Rust: "...At the very least, based on the information we have now, there's no weakness that deals direct, massive damage to Ctarnidd."
Mold: "If I had to say... wouldn't it be the Blockers, Rust? Four of Ctarnidd's tentacles were stitched to the ground by chains. So by defeating the Blockers, the number of tentacles Ctarnidd can use decreases... maybe?"
To Rust, who pointed out the fact that no weakness has been found, Mold speculates on the reason for the Blockers' existence—phrased as a question. The one who answers why it's phrased as a question is Akitsu Akane.
Akitsu Akane: "So Ctarnidd-san is tying himself up, huh."
Sunraku: "Yeah. That's it exactly."
The four towers positioned at the four corners of Ruluiath. The four monsters within them. Magic, physical, long-range, close-range. Each imposed different restrictions on players, making them troublesome foes. But what would happen once we defeated them had been a mystery until now.
And upon encountering Ctarnidd, we visually confirmed the fact that his tentacles could be sealed. But here, Akitsu Akane's question of "why" comes up. I mean, think about it—this inverted city of Ruluiath is, in its entirety, practically under Ctarnidd's direct control. Why would a boss set up a gimmick that weakens himself?
Araba: "Is it not that Ctarnidd watches the struggles of those who wander in to soothe his boredom?"
Sunraku: "If that's the case, then it's good news. It means Ctarnidd-kun, while setting up shitty traps, has also placed the key to solving them somewhere in this city."
The arrogance of the strong. I'm not going to call it carelessness. Hell, if the strong aren't arrogant, the weak can't win. If defeating the Blockers isn't an in-battle gimmick but rather a minimum condition for challenging him—something that merely induces a weakening of Ctarnidd's main body—then separately, there must be a flag for facing Ctarnidd in the correct sense.
Sunraku: "This game's strength and weakness is that conquering it equals analyzing the worldbuilding. We have to solve the 'why' and figure out the 'how' to challenge him."
There's too little information on Ctarnidd to leave room for analysis. If that's the case, we need to shift our focus. Not Ctarnidd himself, but his throne room... in other words, an analysis of Ruluiath itself.
Sunraku: "Ruluiath can be broadly divided into four areas. The shipwrecks, the towers, the city, and the castle."
Ruluiath is an "inverted" city—meaning there was a time when it existed in its correct position. The castle and the city were likely pre-inversion, and the towers and shipwrecks were formed after the inversion... or so the setting would suggest.
Sunraku: "I checked the shipwrecks, and there weren’t any items that seemed connected to the lore. I looked around when I went to retrieve some lost property, so I can vouch for that."
Gold, silver, and treasure were overflowing, but those probably hold no more value than simply expensive flavor items.
Sunraku: "Did we find anything in the towers that might serve as a clue?"
Rust: "...Nothing. They were just giant traffic cones, hollow inside. ...Mold, we’re having a serious discussion."
Mold: "Traffic cones... heh... s-sorry."
Akitsu Akane: "Then the castle and the city are where we should be searching!"
The city can wait. If we search that, the sun could very well rise before we finish.
Psyger-0: "So, in short... we have no choice but to search this castle... is that it?"
Sunraku: "Yeah, after going around in a circle, that's where we end up."
A silence of several seconds falls over the group.
They say meetings tend to dance in circles. There was almost no need to talk this long just to reach such a simple conclusion.
Sunraku: "Alright, let's pull ourselves together and search! The underground is THAT, so let's not go in there, and tear this castle apart from corner to corner!"
Sunraku: "...That’s what I said, anyway..."
This castle is pretty damn big. Big enough that you can get genuinely lost in a not-at-all-funny way. Aside from the color scheme—which looks like a painting error with its uniform blue—the room doesn't deviate from what you'd expect of a chamber in a standard castle. I toss some wood, dyed blue to its very core, into an unlit fireplace and ask Rei-shi:
Sunraku: "Rei-shi, did you find anything?"
Psyger-0: "Not particularly... If you mean swords crafted purely as ornaments, then..."
Rei-shi lightly swings a decorative sword that had been hanging on the wall. It looks terribly unreliable for a fantasy setting where you fight with swords and magic. As Rei-shi guessed, it's probably not an object set up as a weapon.
Sunraku: "Usually in these things, there's a clue in the throne room or something..."
Akitsu Akane: "Then shall we go to the throne room?!"
Sunraku: "Ctarnidd isn't going to run away just because we're in a hurry. Stay, stay."
Akitsu Akane: "Yes, sir!"
If you're gonna call me something, make it Colonel Sunraku. In terms of name resonance, I think Colonel or Brigadier General sounds the coolest. Marshal feels a bit too grandiose, even going full circle.
Sunraku: "In this kind of exploration game, you'd expect to find a diary or something..."
Currently, Team Fugutaiten is split into two groups, continuing the search. Rust and Mold paired up in a very natural flow, so for convenience, "A-Team" consists of me, Rei-shi, Akitsu Akane, and Emul. Ceecrue, Araba & Nereis, and Stude are attached to the other team. So far, we haven't found any notable clues, but I'm still running my analysis brain at full throttle.
What is the relationship between Ctarnidd and Ruluiath? That's the key to opening the door—the flag for overcoming the perception-based gimmick Ctarnidd has set up. In the first place, this inverted city was probably originally an island nation about the size of a single city, existing above the sea. At the very least, I can't imagine building a circular city this elaborate for just one territory.
And then something happened to this city. The desolate, uninhabited streets prove that. Quarantine, collapse... the first thing that comes to mind is a pandemic like a plague, but whatever it was doesn't matter. Something happened to this city, and then Ctarnidd came and did something to it.
Sunraku: "...Looking at it, the destruction doesn't look like a giant monster went on a rampage, does it."
A ruined, desolate city. But if Ctarnidd had invaded this city... wouldn't it be broken in a much worse way? Even if not, Ctarnidd—who could probably turn the entire city spotlessly brand-new without much difficulty—what reason does he have to keep a city broken this half-heartedly, left in this state? If it's just his hobby, that's one thing, but...
Sunraku: "This city definitely had traces of life. Remnants of people living here. But somehow, it's..."
Psyger-0: "A gradual... extinction..."
Sunraku: "Yes! That. Exactly that, Rei-shi."
Wait, was I thinking out loud? Whatever. Analysis is more fun when multiple people slug it out, putting their theories in the ring like boxing gloves, rather than doing it alone.
Sunraku: "This city wasn't wiped out in an instant by some unstoppable disaster. Doesn't it feel like it went through a much more gradual kind of ruin?"
Despite Ctarnidd arriving, a fatal panic didn't occur? It's almost as if the previous residents and the current resident swapped places through a moving process.
Sunraku: "No point agonizing over it. Let's search the next room."
Akitsu Akane: "Understood! Leave the lockpicking to me!"
Thief classes really are handy at times like this. Without Akitsu Akane, I'd have to open doors with a master key (violence).
In that moment, my attention is suddenly drawn to the fox mask affixed to Akitsu Akane's face. As she turns, about to dash toward the next room, I catch a glimpse of the scar-like patterns engraved on her bare skin—the curse markings carved by Siegwurm the Sky Ruler.
Sunraku: "...That's it."
A demon that has been summoned does not use violence. If that’s true, then what happened between Ruluiath and Ctarnidd...
Sunraku: "A contract."
What the people who once lived here presented was the rights to this land. Then what did Ctarnidd present in return?
Surely, the answer to that lies at the furthest reaches of this castle.