Chapter 260: Moonlight into the Moonless Depths
Good things and bad things usually come at the same time. When they lean heavily to one side, that's what you call "good luck" or "bad luck."
For example, when you buy a game, the good luck of getting entertainment comes with the bad luck of spending your money... your assets. But few people complain about that, because the good luck outweighs the bad—that's why games are fun. In that sense, trash games with a low good-luck factor are pretty much just throwing money away... Heheh. But isn't that exactly the path of carnage you sign up for knowing full well? Whoa, shit, instant-death attack—dodge, dodge.
Self-Proclaimed Goldhuneenay: "Ssssss!!"
Sunraku: "Your movements are way too honest, dumbass!"
I got a chill when it shaped that poisonous, menacing slime oozing from its body into a sword, but I can manage this level even without energy drinks. That said, the terrain is bad. I'm trying to figure a way out of this bowl-shaped hole.
Sunraku: "Tch... [Firing-up]! Then [Growing-up]!"
The Whalelore Moonblade is a horrible match for this. I switch to Gilta Brille, focus on maintaining distance, and immediately activate the crystal bullet I fired straight down, forming a crystal pillar to serve as an improvised shield. Its bodily-fluid weapon is liquid, so parrying is basically useless. Deflecting it just makes it splatter everywhere—you'd get better results dropkicking a curtain.
Sunraku: "It's technically a mineral, though..."
The self-proclaimed Goldhuneenay slams its liquid curved sword into the crystal pillar, and the purple slime starts slowly melting it. The pillar, its durability shredded, is shattered by a kick from Goldhuneenay, exposing me hiding behind it.
Self-Proclaimed Goldhuneenay: "Die!"
Sunraku: "Sorry, but that's the Mirror of Fading... or whatever."
Lethal secret art: [Mirror of Fading]. As the self-proclaimed Goldhuneenay focuses on the decoy created by the aggro-shedding technique, I slip inside its guard, my right arm shining with silver light, and drive a leaping uppercut into its jaw. Its mistake was crouching down to finish off my decoy. The solid weight of my right fist sinking into its jaw—I didn’t really expect it to be able to dissipate the impact, and sure enough, it doesn’t.
Sunraku: "Rattle that brain!"
The blow, its stun chance boosted by Lethe Punisher's effect, sends the self-proclaimed Goldhuneenay reeling backward. It flinched! Hell yeah!
Sunraku: "To the gut! To the gut! Big wind-up... Gut!"
A relentless volley of rib shots. The self-proclaimed Goldhuneenay staggers back several steps, and I pile on even more combos. I fire a crystal bullet at a precise angle and activate it right in the path of its swinging sword—another crystal pillar. With a sound of flesh smacking into something hard, the self-proclaimed Goldhuneenay's wrist slams into the crystal pillar, and the poison fluid temporarily loses its form as a sword.
Ha! I’m used to timing things down to the frame! Come back after you’ve learned to hit a roulette jackpot by timing your stop!
Real roulette aside, in games, the wheel's animation often has nothing to do with the actual result—it's decided by the elapsed time from when you started. Even when my timing was perfect, the needle would nearly stop, then suddenly freeze or speed up again. I could only laugh.
Anyway, back to the fight. For me, this situation leans toward "good luck," because the enemy went out of its way to change into a "humanoid" form with "mostly physical attacks." I wouldn't say I'm amazing at PvP, but I just beat that insanely strong swordsman, and I'm riding a wave of momentum right now.
This "wave" thing isn't something you can control with player skill. Sometimes you're living healthy but still rack up loss after loss. Other times, you're dead tired but somehow keep winning. "If there were a way to perfectly calculate the timing of peak performance, I'd pay to know it," a pro gamer acquaintance of mine (a fish) once said. Couldn't agree more. But right this moment, I've caught the perfect wave.
Sunraku: "I didn't exactly plan on role-playing against a giant, but the basic approach has enough in common... Whoa!"
Focusing its poison fluid into a single weapon makes the danger nice and clear. It occasionally attacks with movements that blatantly defy human anatomy, but... What? A human body twisting into a "W" shape and charging you is standard stuff in Constipation. Hell, the real fun starts when that "W" person also gets a one-meter vacuum hitbox.
To me, thoroughly conditioned by the unparalleled anatomical blasphemy that is Constipation, an enemy rotating its hips 180 degrees to attack behind itself is nothing. I detonate a pre-planted crystal bullet. Three rapidly growing crystal pillars lance toward the self-proclaimed Goldhuneenay like spears... but their tips don't reach her. Just as calculated.
Self-Proclaimed Goldhuneenay: "Gi, ih...?!"
Sunraku: "They're not for attacking—they're for getting in your way... Alright, time to rack up some damage!"
Once its movements are sealed, it's the Whalelore Moonblade's time to shine. Now then, let's collect Goldhuneenay's "curse"... wait.
Sunraku: "In concrete terms, what even is the 'curse'...?"
In this game, a "curse" isn't an object—it's a status debuff. In other words, just numbers and text... How the hell am I supposed to collect that?
Sunraku: "Even when I slash its body normally, all I get is 'Component Crystal: Goldhuneenay Reptica 4'..."
No, wait—is this the target item? No, no, something feels off... And it's subtly ranked up to 4. Did it evolve on the spot?
Sunraku: "Hey, snake woman, try showing me that 'curse.'"
Self-Proclaimed Goldhuneenay: "GAAAAHHH!!"
Sunraku: "Ohh, some serious muscle there..."
I expected it to break out since its durability is trash compared to its looks, but I didn't think it'd shatter my pillars like it was firing off a shockwave.
Self-Proclaimed Goldhuneenay: "Kill! Kill! Kiiill!"
Sunraku: "Its thought process is about on par with me after three all-nighters... Huh?"
Goldhuneenay's curse is poison, right? If it's poison, that means it must physically exist as some kind of substance. Which leads to the conclusion...
Sunraku: "You're kidding."
You want me to intercept that liquid curved sword of hers with a critical slash? Man, that difficulty spike is a bit much... No, wait. It's not impossible.
Sunraku: "Then I'll need some prep... Can I pull this off?"
I know my way around trapper play, but setting a trap in this situation is a tall order. At minimum, I need the Whalelore Moonblade and Gilta Brille, and since I'm solo, I have to manage aggro while moving.
Sunraku: "Time-wise, counting my backup plan, I've got one shot—no deaths, no mistakes... That's perfect! This is exactly when you raise the stakes!"
Let's do this! And for that, changing the plan! I'm sticking with the Whalelore Moonblade and building up the combination gauge.
Sunraku: "Bring it on, snake woman! I'll dance until my caffeine burns out!"
Self-Proclaimed Goldhuneenay: "Ssssss!!"
The poison-fluid blade swings down. I step to the side and activate Formula Drift—the foot I planted, which should've acted as a brake, instead skids and accelerates me. Drifting across the rough rock, I slide right beside the self-proclaimed Goldhuneenay. Its skin looks fleshy... but slashing it feels utterly unrewarding, like high-density rubber slathered in varnish. I chain skills and slam a powered-up Unbroken Lightdance into it.
Tch. Sure, the self-proclaimed Goldhuneenay is tough, but more than that, this terrain is a far worse match for me than I thought.
My character Sunraku's stats are lopsided but manageable; however, nearly every skill I've learned is mobility-related or boosts my mobility. And this bowl-shaped hole has few upward escape routes. Above all, even though it's night, the moon isn't visible... That's the biggest restriction, locking me out of activating Mánagarmr Pride.
In other words, I can't perform at my best right now. I could use the Levin Trigger Hazard and Lapistella's Star Mantle for even more mobility than usual, but in a situation where I can't afford a single mistake, unfamiliar movement is too risky. A grab attack—a poisonous palm that clearly means instant death on contact. I evade by a hair's breadth with my fake Ryuguin Fugaku imitation footwork, then slash upward at the self-proclaimed Goldhuneenay's wrist with a reverse-grip Netherlight in my left hand. Even for something snake-derived, its bones are absurdly sturdy—I can't deal proper damage even to its wrist, where there's less flesh. No, wait... this is harder than before...
Sunraku: "Shit—?!"
No, it's faster too! Don't tell me shedding its skin means this?!
Self-Proclaimed Goldhuneenay: "Kalolololo..."
Sunraku: "Got a tan? Actually, quit copying me, dammit..."
Its pale skin darkens to an even harder jet-black hide. The poison-fluid curved sword that was in one hand now appears in the other as well. Clearly harder, faster, and even more vicious than before, the self-proclaimed Goldhuneenay licks its lips and glares at me with its serpentine eyes.