I'm getting tired of writing solo scenes, so I want to put him in a party soon. What a damn hermit...

Chapter 326: Therefore, Never Forget Death

I've always thought the great scythe category is an ornamental weapon. Not because it's useless as a weapon—in a game, if the stats are maxed out, you can beat the demon lord with a tree branch, after all. "Ornamental" because it's just too damn unwieldy to use yourself, so the most fun is watching someone who can use it fight. The center of gravity is all wrong, so even just swinging it around is a nightmare to control in full-dive… Well, if it's a type the system assists you with, then it's usable.

Still, in works where the creator's tastes are warped in a good way, you see scythes as weapons pretty often. Which means I've already been through the hell of games where those tastes were warped in a bad way and I was forced to use a scythe. And that's exactly why—even if you throw a wall of fodder soldiers at me that I can one-shot without any skill buffs—it doesn't matter how many there are!!

Sunraku: "Outta my way, outta my way, OUTTA MY WAY!!"

When you use a scythe like a reaper, it's similar to how you'd use an axe or a hammer. Instead of gripping it with both hands close together like a sword, you grip it wide apart and swing. In Overflow state, even a light twist of the body gets amplified into a tornado-like spin, and if I fall, I could die in that instant—so with utmost care, I mow down the ghosts clinging to me. Truly a flash of the blade through a tangled mess. I don't dislike musou games—they let you feel like an overwhelming powerhouse in a simple way. But being the one musou'd—that's a hard no… I'm looking at you, Cosmo Buster.

Still, the current situation's wavering somewhere between the two. For better or worse, I'm getting pushed by sheer numbers. Noble Cysilence is an effective weapon, but whether it's great as an AoE tool—not really. Without any scythe skills, the best I can do is manually replicate a spinning slash. Even if I nail the visual, without parameter buffs, it's not gonna do much.

Sunraku: "Tch…!"

Clicking my tongue, I activate Possessed by the Great Asura King. I don't really like using motion-correction stuff since it bumps up the Overflow accident rate, but for simple actions, I can use it as a straight pump-up. I leap about three meters up—freakish even for a player—and kick in Flit Float, lunging forward with everything I've got.

Sunraku: "Shit… so she's got infinite spawns along her running path…!?"

The shitty princess ran with a sprint that was oddly beautiful in form. Come to think of it, being a non-physical entity, does she not have physical clothing to restrict her? That's cheating. But my body's movement is purely from the jump's acceleration. Once the inertia runs out, gravity says I fall. If I've got this scythe, compared to those scorpions, getting mobbed by ghosts probably won't mean an instant beatdown…

Sunraku: "…Should I do it…?"

In theory, it should be possible. Whether it's effective is secondary, so I can ignore that. What matters is dealing with the obstacle—the ghosts.

Sunraku: "Great Asura King's still holding… Let's go!"

Spurring myself on, I dive into the surging sea of ghosts. The moment I land, I drive the tip of the scythe into a ghost that looks like a soldier, then shift the blade's angle into my umpteenth spinning slash. An empty space opens up centered on me, and I advance before it can fill back in. If this were dual blades, I could've pushed through way, way easier. Scythes, man—they're genuinely, exquisitely awful to use.

Sunraku: "Still, less than thirty meters to go… I can make it!"

Inventoria! Gotta debut you in a dump like this… but don't worry, I'll definitely re-kill the only witness—that shitty princess!!

She was a monster built on a foundation of hatred and grudges, and a key monster that only spawns as a trigger for a Unique Scenario. The Evil Princess Spirit of the Fallen Kingdom, clutching the head of General Dullahan that should have been lost, fled without ever letting her wicked, gloating smile falter. Every second, every minute she ran meant suffering for that couple. That was the only solace left to her now. That was exactly why the evil princess fled, using her former subjects—even her father—as shields.

Sunraku: "Yo, shitty princess… your scenario ended hundreds of years ago by the setting, yeah? No point in butting in now."

A voice rang out. The voice that came from behind wasn't that of the loathsome Black Knight who had thrown her away. Nor was it that of the detestable woman who had cut her open and killed her, leaving her whole skeleton exposed to the open air. But that voice—it was a different voice from that woman's, yet a woman clad in the same mourning dress, carrying a scythe. Why? How did she get past the Ghosts of the Fallen Kingdom? That thing visible behind her… what in the world…?

The ghost once called a king stepped forward, as if to shield the evil princess. But the man who'd become a ghost in the same obese form he'd had in life was a sandbag, pathetically so. His devotion to protect his daughter could only stall me for a moment.

Sunraku: "It's a saying from another world's game, but… let the dead sleep like the dead, thou——"

Before the AI could even process the meaning of those words spoken by the woman in mourning,

Sunraku: "—Huh. Well, there we go."

The Evil Princess Spirit of the Fallen Kingdom's head was severed by the Noble Cysilence.

According to the lore flavor text: After that scythe was swung, only the silence of death spread wide…

Sunraku: "Here we go, CAAATCH!!"

Alright, you shitty princess, how d'you like THAT! But no time to bask in victory. I stash Noble Cysilence in Inventoria and haul ass back the way I came. I dash straight through the ghosts melting away like ice cream, not even sparing the time to stash the "thing" I'd pulled out to close the gap between me and the shitty princess—I just leave it. It's not like anyone's gonna yank it and steal it anyway!

Sunraku: "UOOOOH, RUNNING IN HIGH HEELS FUCKING SUCKS!"

Can't believe Overflow's actually a lifesaver here. I can't sprint at full speed in high heels. But with Overflow, even a tip-toe-like step produces speed matching a normal dash. Run, run, run… I see 'em! Hey, you two, even if you're gonna kiss, you kinda need a face for that…

General Dullahan: "………!"

True Quiet: "………!"

Uwaaah, it's a total bloodbath over here!?

True Quiet's scythe was raised high. General Dullahan keeps swinging his sword with an honest simplicity that makes me suspect his AI reverted three generations back. Actually, isn't the AI kinda bugged? Not bugged so much as locked in a loop… ahh, save the analysis for later!

Sunraku: "Thanks, Fool Arcanum!"

Recast is ready, and Possessed by the Great Asura King's timer is holding on by a thread!!

Sunraku: "UOOOOOH!"

Plant hard into the earth and hop!

Sunraku: "Make it…!"

Put every ounce of strength into my legs and step! A tiny bit of recovery, like a boost! Good timing, but… huh, so it procs on indirect kills too.

Sunraku: "REEEEACH!"

A massive leap!!

Higher than General Dullahan swinging his sword from horseback—a mourning dress dancing in the air, straining at the razor's edge of losing control. I raise the head, gripped firmly in my hands, and…

Sunraku: "DELIVEEERY!!!"

DUNK SHOT!!! The angle of the neck's a bit fucked, but let that slide—it's remote-operated to begin with, so what's the difference.

Sunraku: "Fubeh!?"

Mid-dunk trajectory, I smash my face straight into General Dullahan's shoulder and slither down to the ground, ending up eating dirt with a splat. Ugh, I'm getting a kinda musty smell here… If I hadn't healed back there, if the demerit from Levin Trigger: Hazard wasn't on a fixed-interval trigger, I'd have definitely died there.

Sunraku: "But… how'd it go!?"

I made the head delivery, so what happened!?

General Dullahan: "………"

True Quiet: "………"

Ooh… this feels like defusing a bomb with under a second left. Silence, sure, but not a crisis or fatal silence. Having reclaimed his head, General Dullahan stilled his sword-swinging arm. The scythe that True Quiet had been about to swing down in despair stopped just short of General Dullahan. Ignoring my silent fist pump, the two who had fallen as far as they could fall… who had once loved each other, slowly—but with a hand laden with every emotion—reached out to each other… and this time, they touched.

Vincent: "…Johan, na."

Johanna: "Vi… incen, t…"

A moving reunion. Should I throw a rice shower? Or salt?

Both of them are monsters—and not Unique ones at that—so unlike Wethermon, they aren't the actual individuals themselves. The real Johanna and Vincent must have died without salvation, and no amount of snuggling between these two remnants changes that fact. But even so. Even if it's just remnants licking each other's wounds. The fact remains that, in this place, two lingering attachments met a good end.

A gust of wind blows—the kind that, were this a different game, would flip a skirt right up. It brushes past me, then sweeps through the canyon as if to carry off the two crumbling monsters. What's left behind is me—and two rings, fallen to the ground and linked together like a chain, now one.

『Unique Scenario "Love Brings Sorrow, and Sorrow Brings Death" cleared!』 『Obtained "Never to Be Parted Again."』

It's a saying from another game I threw at that shitty princess, but… guess I'll give it to them too.

Sunraku: "Thou, who art blessed with the peace of death, must never forget the joy of life. Therefore, remember death—Memento Mori… or something like that."

Perfect… would've been a hundred and twenty points if the source material wasn't a game crawling with immortal medics. Welp. Time to hit Crystal Nest Cliff and farm Vorpal Souls and all the ore I blew through.

The person the Evil Princess Spirit of the Fallen Kingdom was based on was from inland.

Black Death’s Grudge Tears: An upgrade item, an enchantment item… you can use this on its own for all kinds of stuff.

Noble Cysilence: A weapon, but at the same time…

R.I.P.: An evil magical-girl transformation item. Unlike the scythe, if you get duplicates, you genuinely have zero use for them.

Never to Be Parted Again: A puzzle ring with zero intention of ever being solved. 1+1=1.