Chapter 296: Like Icarus Charging Full-Force Into the Sun’s Curtain

Tentatively named X Broccoli. As far as I can see, its entire body is made of magma or something equivalent. Its appearance clearly defies what you'd call a living creature, but its behavior feels like a monster with biological motion. Size-wise, it's about the same as Bilac or Aydward — so, roughly half the size of a tall adult man. The mysterious broccoli-shaped parts are probably… wings—or perhaps insect wings.

Anyway, getting a few steps closer doesn't seem to set it off. Shadowboxing right there didn't cause any problems either. Deploying a weapon, though — that's out. On top of that, sometimes even shadowboxing made it let out that warning sound. Once it shifts into alert mode, its cry (?) changes. But if I stop my battle prep and back off a few steps, alert mode cancels right away with no fuss.

Sunraku: "Hmm... Hellooo!"

X Broccoli: "Fulululululu…"

It does react, but no verbal response. Guess the NPC theory is pretty thin. Safe to treat it as a non-aggressive monster. For now, "battle prep" is confirmed as a clear switch that flips it into alert mode. Next up: just getting closer.

Sunraku: "Not scary, not scary... Look at me. I'm clearly half-naked. No hidden weapons or anything. So no need to be scared..."

One step, two steps. I steel myself and take a bunch of steps forward at once — whoa, slip damage.

Sunraku: "Huh...? Wait, I'm on fire?!"

I frantically leap backwards and put out the Staring Bird Mask, which had started burning. You've gotta be kidding me — its durability's already down by half. That was close.

Sunraku: "So this is one of those ‘touch it and you’re out’ types... In that case, the combat-based strategy... no, I mean, if that happened, a normal player would just die too."

The thought of somehow blowing up the ceiling to drop the water down flashes through my mind for a second, but player safety isn't guaranteed at all, so I'd probably get crushed to death before seeing the result. Besides, something tells me a strategy that relies on combat is, more than winning or losing, just not the right answer here.

Recording — ???: "We came from the sky. The sky is our domain… There is no god in heaven. God is below…!"

Whether he was a jobber, a mad scientist, or the guy who gets killed in the opening of a horror movie — whatever you call him, the man in that recording definitely said those words. I'm not about to jump to the convenient conclusion that the X Broccoli in front of me is "God" and I've stumbled on this game's final boss way ahead of schedule. But at the very least, this area where something described as "God" exists is underground. It'd be way too hasty to rule out the X Broccoli being connected to all that.

Sunraku: "That said, depending on how I get the spark, combat might end up being necessary..."

When I took a sample of Goldhuneenay’s “poison (curse)”, the basic prerequisite was slicing it with Goldsheen. I really doubt it's gonna be nice enough to interpret me hacking at it with a blade as a sign of friendship.

Sunraku: "For now, let's keep weapons holstered and try a bunch of stuff."

Thankfully, there are no prying eyes here. No need to hold back.

Attempt 1: Groveling.

Sunraku: "Could you PLEASE share your spark with me?!"

A first-rate gamer doesn't test the waters — just full throttle straight out of the gate. I direct an all-out, full-power groveling bow toward X Broccoli, as if to say this right here is the very soul of Japan. I keep my head down for about ten seconds. I get a reaction, but no response to the groveling.

Sunraku: "This is a problem. I'm all out of ideas."

What's more effective than groveling on your knees?

I was genuinely out of options, so I put on a regen accessory I bought at Effuielle’s shop and found the perfect distance where the slip damage and regen recovery cancel each other out for zero net damage. While I was toasting myself just right, a thought hit me.

Sunraku: "The reason shadowboxing sometimes triggers the alert and sometimes doesn't... huh."

Basically, figure out what exactly makes X Broccoli go on alert. Pin down that criteria.

First: plain old shadowboxing. Man, it's been a while since I played a game while thinking "I don't wanna go to school"... No alert.

Next: shadowboxing while staring straight at X Broccoli. I'll charge straight in and knock it flying— alert sound!

Sunraku: "I had a feeling. Is the system actually reading the player's thoughts here...?!"

I leap backwards while drawing my conclusions about the conditions for transitioning into alert mode. If the alert net catches players who act with the intent to fight... Hey, Broccoli Boy. Check out my weapon. Blade-to-Blade Sword handmade by Vash... Aaalright, broke through the alert net! I see. So if you deploy a weapon for purposes other than combat, it lets it slide. Though the second your intentions change, it's probably instant alert mode.

Sunraku: "Which means, sure enough, I can't use Goldsheen... Achieving my goal through an attack seems like a no-go."

I inch closer while thinking over my options. Goldsheen's ability triggers on critical hits. The possibilities are either "figure out some way to use Goldsheen" or "there's a method to get the 'spark' without using Goldsheen."

X Broccoli: "Folololololololololo…"

Sunraku: "Theory: maybe that cry is actually Morse code... It's scary because it actually seems plausible."

If that's the case, it's a decoding problem my IQ can't handle. Worst-case scenario, I'd have to sell the info to that fake magical girl... Hmm.

Sunraku: "Uh, I don't know your name, but... Mister Broccoli."

X Broccoli: "Folololololololo…"

Honestly, I feel like sincerity is a concept that only works on creatures of the same species, or things you've got some degree of superiority over. But this is an enemy so tough groveling didn't work, so it can't hurt to try.

Sunraku: "Truth is, the reason I'm here is my Aniki... ah, he's this ridiculously hardcore gangster rabbit. He gave me an order to come get something called a 'spark.'"

I mean, I can't help thinking: what's the point of talking in a situation where our mutual linguistic comprehension is literally zero percent — a stunning feat of zero communication? But my only other option is brute force, so I don't have a choice.

Sunraku: "No attacking, okay? ...So, anyway, what I need it for is... restoring this thing? Reviving it? Something like that..."

And then — the moment I pull out the Decayed Areadbhair as part of explaining the situation, trying not to project any hostility...

X Broccoli: "Vivivivivivivivivivi…"

Sunraku: "Ki—…"

I suppress with every fiber of my being the urge to scream, “It’s here!!” and start swinging the Decayed Areadbhair around. Beneath my charred mask, I bare my teeth in a grin. You see that, you bastard?! I’ve survived the split-second world of dating sims and sold out my entire stock of fawning to that saintly, haughty idiot Fuckaria! I can pull off perfect communication with some mysterious object, no problem!!

Sunraku: "That's it... good boy... good boy... Me... want... spark... You... give... spark... Good boy... good boy..."

X Broccoli hovers there, staring intently — or so it seems — at me and the decayed giant-spear tip, Areadbhair, that I hold. Its demeanor is completely different from both its normal state and its alert state. I keep one thing fixed in my mind: Areadbhair isn't a weapon, just a display ornament—an item I'm showing it. Holding that recognition steady, I move closer and closer. I take off all my equipment. Stark naked... no, since there's an inner layer for the unequipped state, I'm technically half-naked! Just barely half-naked! Just barely half-naked (self-identified) as I get closer. The damage I take per second keeps increasing. It overtakes the regen from my accessory. I feel my HP being shaved down, chunk by chunk, but I still push forward.

This is fundamentally different from the effects of Dis Pater, Nether King’s Mirror Shield—or of Shakkotsu Breaker. My actual body is starting to burn. The damage effect and the flames mix together, shattering my whole body as I move forward... and shout.

Sunraku: "Anything's fine, just PLEASE gimme the spark!!"

X Broccoli: "Voooooooooouuuu…"

It flares outward. X Broccoli... no, now that I've gotten close enough to see — I was right. That crumpled, huge, incredibly huge... "butterfly" spreads its wings, colored by magma. As though scattering wing-scale dust, the thing released from the magma butterfly's wings is a wave of searing heat accompanied by a shockwave——

Sunraku: "Bwoh—"

I'm incinerated in an instant, vanishing like a cloud of dust along with the death effect. Next time I wake up, if this was a pointless death, I swear I'm coming back to beat your ass. Remember that...!

For it, sleeping at the bottom of a volcano for "the appointed time" wasn't even painful. Pain is an emotion that only exists because of a will. To it — whose thought process was closer to an insect's or a computer's — the intruder who fell through the crack in the ceiling was genuinely of no concern whatsoever. Even its response wasn't because it wanted to. In the first place, it has no biological autonomy or personality. To interference A, respond with answer B. A system of reactions and responses that merely bundles simple behavioral patterns to give the illusion of adaptability. That is the red ◼︎◼︎◼︎◼︎, endlessly accumulating power at the bottom of the earth. It shares a category with the other "Red," but its principles and origins are distinctly different...

The monster named “Red Tempered Greatwings” simply followed the reason for its existence. That is, to fulfill the directive: "Compensate for what is missing with the power you hold." For that purpose, it blasted out flames with enough firepower to burn to death even a player specialized in fire resistance. Even though that incinerated the noisy creature. Red Tempered Greatwings harbored no particular emotion over the fact that its power had indeed been imbued into the steel that required its flames. It simply returned to its original state. The day it, ceaselessly amplifying its power within this cage of earth's crust, bathes in the light of the surface... is not far off.

[• Red Tempered Greatwings] [Another "Red," distinct from Great Red Devourer. Fellfate Caldera was never a volcano to begin with; its true nature is the "───" of "────", and the one lurking in the deep layer is Red Tempered Greatwings.] [Like the other "────," it possesses no clear will or emotions, functioning more like a system that simply fulfills its reason for existing. Incidentally, had it been attacked, it wouldn't have been strange for Fellfate Caldera to erupt—not volcanically, but with a steam eruption.] [Incidentally, since it has raid-boss specs, that shockwave heat blast from earlier has absurd firepower: even Josette stacked out for full defense would only barely get away with being half-dead. No wonder paper-thin armor gets turned to ash... and it's an AoE attack, too.]