Chapter 265: Defeat Isn't the Only Way to Lose

Miss.

Hit.

Looks like Lady Luck is in a good mood today. Not only did the potion gacha leave me well in the black, I somehow managed to snap about three death flags in a row too.

Sunraku: "My left arm... should be usable again soon, right?"

Even a "curse" apparently can't keep repeating the same state of continuously resisting something forever. Over the course of this whole escape, nearly all the poison stuck to my left arm has peeled away. Never thought I'd see the day I was grateful for this damned wound for something besides letting me wear clothes for three minutes.

Sunraku: "Still, this situation is about as bad as it gets..."

Aydward has ordered the ordinary Vorpal Bunnies to evacuate to the rear, but there isn't a tank here who can hold back those four dragon-serpents.

Sunraku: "Sorry. Got tangled up with one seriously troublesome woman... snake and all."

Akitsu Akane: "............? Oh! Because she's a snake!"

Getting your joke understood on a time delay is pretty painful, Akitsu Akane. Stop that.

Still, we got lucky being able to pin down the dragon-serpents even temporarily. Plan B only assumed we'd use one as an obstacle to slow the others down. I never expected them to get themselves tangled together.

Psyger-0: "Um... I just hit her normally with my hammer, though..."

Sunraku: "It's fine, it's fine. If that much could kill her, I'd have settled this by myself already."

She literally reset her own broken neck, which is about the most "monster wearing a human shape" thing imaginable. At this rate, even cutting her head off might leave the body rampaging around on its own.

Sunraku: "Aydward! If you can, I want you to call Big Bro... Vysache! But that's asking too much, isn't it?!"

Aydward: "I sent a messenger already! But either way, if we don't stop her here, we're finished!"

Fair enough. We finally pushed the battle line forward; getting driven even farther back because of this thing wouldn't even make for a funny story.

Sunraku: "If this isn't an EX Scenario, this sure looks like a forced-loss event..."

But a forced-loss event doesn't necessarily mean you just stand there and get beaten one-sidedly. A fight that ends after you shave the boss down to a certain HP threshold also counts, in the sense that you still can't actually win.

Sunraku: "Lycagon didn't have some prerequisite scenario either. Maybe repelling her is still possible...?"

Wishful thinking. I'm worn down, obviously, and so are Akitsu Akane and Rei-shi... Actually, I've been forcing myself not to ask this, but why the hell is Rei-shi just casually here? Ruluiath? Did she grind Vorpal Soul in Ruluiath? Damn it, hitting me with a surprise on a delay... As expected of the master strategist, Rei-shi—Saiga-san...!

I've got a vague feeling Akitsu Akane leaked the information. Given that Enchant: Vorpal is weapon-free magic, I can't imagine an SLF addict stuffing a limited inventory full of useless weapons... No, that's probably overthinking it.

Goldhuneenay: "Ufufu... a dragon, a wolf, and the presence I find most unpleasant of all... Ufufufufufu. Let's break them aaall, kill them aaall, erase them aaall. Yes, let's do thaaat."

Sunraku: "From what I've confirmed, she shapes poison into swords and fires them at high speed! Looks like getting hit curses you, so stay alert!"

Akitsu Akane: "Right!"

Psyger-0: "Understood..."

Akitsu Akane should be okay, but this is rough for Rei-shi. She isn't exactly slow, but she isn't agile either. Saying she got hit because it came from outside her awareness sounds like an excuse, but it really is the kind of attack that's hard to dodge when it comes without warning.

And thinking back on the self-proclaimed Goldhuneenay's attacks, I can practically smell additional effects besides the "curse" itself. Nine times out of ten it'll explode too... No homing. I repeat: no homing.

???: "Hieeeeee..."

I glance aside and, for some reason, there's a Vorpal Bunny riding a boar, both bunny and boar trembling like leaves. Since the bunny can talk, she must be part of the Vysache family. Is she the rabbit assigned to Rei-shi?

Sunraku: "Hey, bunny over there."

???: "Hyowah! B-b-bird person! Whoa, Wott Hogg, it's the real one!"

Wott Hogg: "Bwee!"

Sunraku: "Uh, yes. That's me. Sunraku, also known as the bird person. Hello."

I don't know why. Her fur is black and she looks nothing like Emul, but on some soul-deep level she feels weirdly Emul-ish.

She's smaller than Emul too, so she gives off little-sister vibes... though she doesn't look all that strong.

Sunraku: "This place is about to become a battlefield. Get yourself evacuated to the rear."

It's a last-ditch effort, but I try another MP recovery... Oh, hit.

???: "Um, but..."

A long cry comes streaking toward us.

Emul: "Whaaaaaat do you think you're doooooing, waaaaaa!!"

???: "Fugeh!?"

Whoa, beautiful aerial offense. Full-on luchador stuff... Wait, aren't you a magic class, Emul?

Emul: "You suddenly ran off, and then I find you standing right in the middle of the very front line, waaaa!!"

???: "S-sorry, Emul-nee!"

Emul starts furiously chewing out her little sister... She is her little sister, right? In a situation like this, no less. Okay, calm down a little. I can't join in because I'm busy recovering, but Rei-shi, Akitsu Akane, and Aydward are fighting for their lives holding off Goldhuneenay right now, you know? Time and place. That's what I'm saying.

Sunraku: "Anyway, Emul. I'm giving you a mission."

Emul: "H-Hai na!"

Sunraku: "I seriously need you to bring Vash-aniki here... No, really."

As things stand, Vash is genuinely the only possibility I can see for ending this fight. Players can die and respawn, but if Aydward dies, all I can see ahead is one hell of a bad future.

Sunraku: "I'm counting on you, Emul. This is the highest-priority mission."

Emul: "H... Hai na!"

???: "S-see you, bird person! Tell me your heroic stories later, okay!? Hiyah, Wott Hogg! We're gonna become the wiiind!"

Wott Hogg: "Brrrrrrooo!"

I watch the rabbit-on-boar whose name I never got tear off into the distance, then gulp down an entire potion. It doesn't literally sit in my stomach, but I'm still starting to get sick of this.

Sunraku: "Guh... All right, Emul! Go, go, go!"

Emul: "Hai naaa!"

...Now then. If I can just get Aydward evacuated too, I can die without holding anything back, but I doubt they'll make it that easy.

Sunraku: "No helping it. Time to commit!"

Come to think of it, this is the same lineup we had when we fought Lycagon. Fine. Let's see just how far we can take this!!

Until my left hand fully recovers, holding a weapon in it won't do me any good. I stand up with only Blue Predator, Sea-Eater Sword gripped in my right hand.

Compared to me at full power, I'm at maybe forty percent. Still, that doesn't mean I can't do anything!

Sunraku: "All right! I'm gonna wipe that look right off your face!"

And if I'm lucky, trigger an EX Scenario while I'm at it!

Sunraku: "Ahh... you alive?"

Akitsu Akane: "Somehow..."

Psyger-0: "I know it's only a game, but... this is still a little hard to take..."

Then again, this time we got the hellish bonus formation of four dragon-serpents thrown in too. Lasting five minutes against that has to count as putting up a pretty damn good fight.

That said, my right arm has been bitten off, Akitsu Akane has lost her left leg, and Rei-shi took an impact to the gut hard enough to crack her armor.

Aydward being on death's door yet still having all four limbs attached is practically a miracle... Good work, Goddess of RNG.

Sunraku: "Hey, Aydward. You, and only you, run for it."

Aydward: "Gh..."

Sunraku: "If I throw myself into a suicide charge, I can at least buy enough time for you to get away."

Maybe I could've done a little more with the powered armor and Tactical Machine Beast, but I don't have the reactor with me right now, so those aren't options.

No point whining for what I don't have. The question is how to buy time... Taunt her and pull Aggro? No, if I do that, I'm probably getting cursed in the face or around the waist. Going from half-naked to fully naked would be rough in several different ways. Stat-wise and visually.

Sunraku: "All right, you shitty snake! I'll flick you in the forehead one more time, so stick that forehead out here, asshole!"

As long as the system doesn't actually kill me, I'll keep moving even if I'm reduced to nothing but a head... I'll move like hell...! If I really get serious, I can overcome even the ultimate shit bug that seals every sense except the vision in one eye. Roar, my left hand! Now is the time to unleash the forbidden secret art, "Forehead-Flick Cherry-Blossom Blizzard" (just made that up)...!

Vysache: "Oi, Sunraku. Maybe that's true for you lot... but life ain't something to throw away."

Sunraku: "Bweuh?"

That was a weird noise. More importantly—Big Bro Vysache!!

[Goldhuneenay is, in fact, a gimmick boss, so this is a forced-loss event. The route apparently branches depending on whether Vash comes or not.]