Chapter 259: Naked Murder
A bowl-shaped arena, a tsuchinoko with arms sprouting from its mouth, dim visibility… String it all together and it sounds like a recipe for a brutal fight, but in practice, it's not that tough. The uphill and downhill slopes are a hindrance for the enemy too. The extended arms? Manageable with a little caution. And it doesn't seem to have any attacks that exploit the darkness.
And that's exactly why I'm uneasy. It's too easy. That only deepens my caution. There's no way a monster connected to a Unique Monster could be this straightforward. Its weird toughness definitely screams boss monster, but even so, its patterns are way too simple to deal with.
Sunraku: "Grab, sweep, slam—no projectiles… And it's all slimy, so I'll stick to avoiding contact entirely."
Ten to one, this is a multi-phase boss. That's fine. The question is just how strong those next phases are. As a spawn created by a Unique Monster—a clone, essentially—my frame of reference should be either the random-encounter Lycagon (Shadow) or the Blockers in Ruluiath.
If it's the latter, I can manage. But if it's the former, the difficulty of a solo clear shoots through the roof. Actually, it would border on impossible.
Sunraku: "I already promised I'd take it down… So running away isn't— an option!"
I swing Goldsheen, blasting black tsuchinoko scales right off its hide. A clean hit, solid feedback. The shattered scales scatter into the dim darkness… and crystallize. In SLF, the trigger for acquiring an item is "holding or grasping" it. Right now, Netherlight's performance is below even that of Duxram, Blade of Aspiration, so I toss it aside and catch it with my left hand.
Sunraku: "Let's see… 'Composite Crystal: Goldhuneenay Reptica 3'… Is that this thing's name?"
It sounds less like a living creature and more like a machine designation. Sorry, Netherlight—just hang tight. Once we clear this, your effect won't be vendor trash anymore.
I stocked up on tons of recovery items, but I burned through quite a few already just healing off the penalty damage from the Levin Trigger: Hazard on the way here. A no-damage run would be underestimating it too much, but I still have to keep the hits I take to an absolute minimum.
Sunraku: "Opening!"
Sword Breaker’s Havoc, Warrior’s Ultimate Manifestation, Sword Dance: Spinning Blade, Persistence—chain into Unbroken Lightdance. Multi-hit combos that conserve stamina bloom into a flower of visual effects. The black tsuchinoko writhes in agony, its arm still extended from its mouth. But the fact that it's not a tentacle—it's a human-style limb with bones and joints—worked against it. From this angle, it's got to be hard to rotate that arm!
Sunraku: "Second phase, third phase—bring 'em on! I'll smash right through!"
What's wrong, what's wrong? Your response time is terrible. Lag? What are you on, a trash connection? You're two steps behind!
Still, for all my bravado, it really is tough. A boss enemy through and through. More to the point, it doesn't feel like my attacks are actually getting through to the tsuchinoko body itself. Which means…
Sunraku: "Eyah."
SLASH! (Strikes the arm)
SPURT! (Viscous fluid sprays everywhere)
Sssssss… (The surface of Goldsheen melts)
Sunraku: "BWAAAH?!"
Are you serious—weapon durability damage?! Dammit, even Duxram's critical hit effect probably couldn't prevent this. If I want to play it safe, I should just whale on the tsuchinoko body with Duxram… But watching that arm thrash and flail around, it's so painfully obvious that it's the weak spot. Which means I either keep smashing the arm and burn through my weapons, or I beat on the tsuchinoko body for worse damage but normal weapon wear.
Too bad for you—Goldsheen has an effect that consumes the wielder's HP to restore its own durability!
Sunraku: "It's a war of attrition! Let's beat each other 'til we both hit rock bottom…!"
Netherlight… uh, well, you know… it just wasn't meant to be! Yeah, this enemy just isn't a match for you!
Yeah, there's nothing quite like the thrill of combat where every number flying back and forth is inflated to hell. The scaleless, slick arm already bears countless gashes. I focus my will on Goldsheen, half-melted as it is, and the blade drinks deep of its wielder's life to resurrect itself.
But this tsuchinoko is a real pain. Goldsheen's combination gauge has been full for a while, but I'm forced to attack the tough snake body with Netherlight, and its gauge builds painfully slow. Not that this was an intentional design, but who knew there'd be a drawback like this when dual-wielding two Blade-to-Blade Swords with completely different traits?
The moment Netherlight, wreathed in its effect, pierces the black tsuchinoko's throat, the Mind Over Mountain damage bonus detonates from striking the same location again and again. It surely triggers some kind of effect, but it's instantly scattered and nullified by the tattoo-like wounds crawling from its torso all the way down its arm—wounds that have been there since the fight began.
Sunraku: "Dammit, I know the reason, but it still feels like a waste."
Potion gacha… Oh, jackpot.
My HP, pulled back from "dying" to merely "on the verge of death," lets me raise the Whalelore Moonblade once more as I glare at the black tsuchinoko—this Goldhuneenay Reptica 3.
Sunraku: "Second phase, huh…"
Was the trigger elapsed time, or just raw damage with no gimmick? Without testing, I can't know for sure. But one thing is clear.
It seems I'd fundamentally misunderstood this monster. Namely: it isn't that something is inside the snake…
Something is wearing the snake's skin.
Sunraku: "So basically, it's shedding its skin."
The outer shell is just that—a shell. No wonder my damage felt like it wasn't going through. It's like I've been attacking a suit of armor on an armored knight. And that something inside the black tsuchinoko is awakening… no, it's trying to cast off its skin.
Why? In meta terms, it's the second phase. If I want to put on some role-play airs about it… it's getting serious about crushing me.
It's like a super ball bouncing around inside a balloon. The black tsuchinoko's body—already an odd shape for a snake—contorts even more grotesquely from the internal impacts. From what I can see, there are four "striking points" attacking the black tsuchinoko from the inside. Combined with that arm that pulled back in… Don't tell me this thing's a two-arms, two-legs type of monster…
Just then, an "arm" bursts through the black tsuchinoko's body from the inside. But this is nothing like the mockery I called an "arm" before—the one shaped with bone wrapped in flesh and skin, with joints, fingers, and claws. It's a woman's hand. The kind you'd describe as "like a white fish"—pale, elegant. Slick with the black tsuchinoko's bodily fluids, which are probably purple (though I can't quite judge the color in this light), it bends with an eerily sensual grace.
Sunraku: "Whoa, whoa… This was just the preliminary bout?!"
I haven't even triggered Goldhuneenay's EX Scenario yet, and it's throwing a humanoid boss at me? Talk about over-the-top generosity…
???: "Haaaaaaahhh…"
Sunraku: "The age-restriction-critical spots are covered by scales, but… that's a fully humanoid form."
Humanoid, yes. If you overlook the fact that it's about three meters tall, it would look exactly human. It's got two large mountains, but those are just mass weapons—if I get clipped by one of those swaying things, I'll die.
Its head is hung low, so I can't see its face. Only that bone-chilling sigh of the woman(?) inside the black tsuchinoko echoes unnervingly. At times like this, a BGM track would… Nope, nothing. Ah. Okay, then.
And then, on a whim, I'm seized by an impulse.
Sunraku: "Oi. Snake woman."
???: "………"
Lycagon had enough intelligence to understand our words. Wethermon was human. Ctarnidd… I couldn't really tell, but it had some kind of telepathy. And Vysache uses human speech like it's nothing. So maybe Goldhuneenay is the same? Out of that tiny curiosity, I try speaking to the three-meter-tall humanoid woman.
Sunraku: "Put some clothes on. It's common sense."
???: "……hu… man"
Was that my imagination? No, it wasn't. You don't make a "man" sound just from breathing.
Sunraku: "Want me to introduce myself? I'm—"
???: "I… am… Gol… du… nee… nay…"
The self-proclaimed Goldhuneenay raises her head. Two eyes, a nose, ears… A long, forked tongue flicks from a mouth ripped open to the roots of her ears. Her eyes are the slitted, reptilian eyes of a predator—utterly inhuman. That serpentine visage makes it unmistakably clear: this is no person.
Self-Proclaimed Goldhuneenay: "There… fore… I kill."
Sunraku: "Fine by me! I'll turn you into crafting materials, snake woman!"
What was that word again—the one that's supposed to repel the Slit-Mouthed Woman? Uh… Oh, right, I remember now.
Sunraku: "You mean 'Napalm, Napalm'?!"
Using incendiary bombs just to fend off one Slit-Mouthed Woman… what a terrifying urban legend.
Half-Naked Bird-Head: "Put some clothes on. It's common sense."
Naked Snake Woman: "You're the last person I want to hear that from. I'll kill you."
A fight only breaks out between perverts of the same level!! (ASCII art omitted)