Chapter 425: Dragons, O Dragons! Part Two

???: "Yeah, this is seriously bad..."

Arthur Pencilgon was not in the middle of the battlefield.

She was standing on the deck of the New Land Research Vessel, a place from which she could look down over the entire battlefield.

For the vast majority of players, this was their first Bonus Unique Scenario. And with it taking the form of an enormous raid battle, just about everyone was rushing headlong into the middle of the festival.

But among them were also players who had chosen not to move, waiting for the arrival of their real targets.

The clan Wolfgang belonged to that latter group. With several members absent and several outsiders added to their number, they surveyed the battlefield below.

Pencilgon: "I get Akitsu Akane-chan. I can even sort of understand Saiga's kid sister. But where exactly has our human bullet wandered off to, hmm?"

Oikatzo: "He was making all kinds of excuses about something he'd prepared still not being finished yet..."

Pencilgon: "Is he planning to bring a battleship or something...?"

Pencilgon and Oikatzo stared down from the deck at the massive chaos being caused by the two dragons, their eyes distant—as though they were trying very hard not to look at something else.

A woman approached the pair—or, more precisely, draped an arm around Pencilgon's shoulders—and whispered to her without even trying to hide her delight.

???: "I knew the moment I saw you. Fufufu... You're No Name, aren't you?"

Pencilgon: "Kaaatzo... why did you bring her heeere...!?"

Oikatzo: "The moment we're in the same area, it's fate. Just give up, Penciiilgon..."

Yes. It was Argent Owl.

In short, there was no escaping the demon king—Sylvia.

Rust, Mold, and Kyogoku tilted their heads at the sight of Pencilgon—normally someone who showed equal parts composure and malice to everyone around her—looking so completely devoid of composure.

Ignoring them, Argent Owl wore the smile of a carnivore and quietly asked:

Argent Owl: "So? Where's No Face? Is that hitman you mentioned earlier him?"

Pencilgon: "Yep. Once he joins us, punch him or do whatever else you want."

A betrayal of one of her own at lightning speed. Sunraku himself was nowhere to be seen, so the completely misplaced resentment simply kept piling up against him.

Argent Owl: "Hey, Miss Pencil? Are we really just going to stand here and watch?"

Pencilgon: "You really don't waste any time pushing in, huh... Ah, whatever. Those secondary targets aren't what we're after."

If anything, she actually wanted the three dragons other than Noirlind to wear the players down by a reasonable amount.

Pencilgon knew perfectly well that these were not opponents like Wethermon or Ctarnidd, monsters that could be defeated by only a small party. That was why the heart of this particular scheme was how many allies they could secure for the battle with Siegwurm.

Kyogoku: "I was already wondering what they expected to happen when every player in the New Land piled onto just one or two monsters, but looking at it from above really makes the absurdity stand out."

Kyogoku had decided, for the time being, to ignore the mysteriously overfamiliar woman player. Watching the mass of writhing white and the enormous green body that kept shaking an entire section of the battlefield, she gave a cynical laugh.

???: "I guess that means they've got enough raw specs to fight every player here at once..."

Rust: "...And now multiple sets of raid-level capabilities are overlapping. It's awful."

The players fighting below were simultaneously dealing with Blockentreed, whose attacks could almost all be called indiscriminate area attacks, and Bryleinyego, which continued producing lesser dragons without end.

The Color Dragons did not seem interested in cooperating with one another, and the dragons themselves occasionally collided as well, but...

Pencilgon: "It's kind of... how do I put this...?"

Rust: "Ants getting trampled."

Mold: "Trash mobs in a musou game."

Kyogoku: "Like when you screw up washing rice, spill some, and watch the grains get swept down the drain."

Pencilgon: "Kyogoku-chan's comparison made the least sense to me, so you get a punishment game."

Kyogoku: "Tch. People who don't cook for themselves just don't get it...!!"

If ants charged into a collision between two tornadoes, it was hard to imagine them accomplishing anything beyond getting blown away.

The situation itself felt strange, but if it had been implemented as the Decisive Battle Phase, then there should be some route to clearing it.

Sure enough, top clans led by groups such as Black Blade had formed a temporary joint front, and from the ship they could see the battlefield just barely beginning to take shape as an actual battle line.

Pencilgon: "Looks like Bryleinyego's lesser dragons can be dealt with if you keep hammering them with magic. Problem is, there are way too many of them, so we can't pull the magic classes off mob-clearing duty."

It was unclear whether Bryleinyego itself would start moving once its remaining HP triggered a mode change, but as far as Pencilgon could tell, it showed no sign of doing anything besides producing lesser dragons.

That did not mean the physical damage dealers could simply focus on Blockentreed, either.

Pencilgon: "...It sure looks like it's sucking something up, doesn't it?"

Argent Owl: "And isn't the ground turning into a swamp? Ah, that tank fell and got stepp—oh."

Mold: "...The ground got compacted."

Only the death effects of more than ten players who had been buried alive rose above the surface. Apparently, being completely buried meant instant death.

The one saving grace was that the instant-death check applied only to players who were fully buried. If they were buried only from around the waist down, they merely became unable to move.

Argent Owl: "Isn't it kind of fun watching all the sacrificial test subjects drop?"

Pencilgon: "I'd rather they uncover information about the enemy a little more efficiently."

Argent Owl: "Ahh. So wait your turn and die, basically."

Put simply, Wolfgang's own battle would not begin until the appearances of Akitsu Akane, Noirlind, and Siegwurm had all been confirmed.

And so, even as the players who had respawned looked at them like they were staring at something bizarre, all they could do was wait.

That, however, applied only to the members who were planning around the "main event."

Argent Owl: "Hmm... So No Face is supposed to show up around then too? In that case, I'm going to go play for a bit."

Windmilling her arms in broad circles, Argent Owl planted one foot on the edge of the ship.

Before Pencilgon had time to call out and stop her, she launched herself over the side.

Argent Owl: "Let's go!"

Oikatzo: "Huh?"

With one hand clamped around the back of Oikatzo's neck.

Oikatzo: "W-wait, daaaaaaah!?!"

Pencilgon: "Ahh, there they go... Well, whatever. The red one and the others will probably show up eventually too... All right, everyone, attention!!"

Clap.

Pencilgon brought her hands together once and turned around.

Pencilgon: "Everyone, free action!!"

Kyogoku: "That's pretty vague."

Pencilgon: "Just try to keep some strength in reserve. There's no telling what our two nuclear warheads are going to bring with them... For now, once Akitsu Akane-chan gets here, regroup here. As for Sunraku-kun... well, he'll probably stand out somehow, so grab him the moment you spot him."

That said, there was no point in playing a game if they were only going to stand around doing nothing. Some scattered with combative smiles on their faces, while others looked as though this would at least make a decent way to kill time.

Pencilgon alone watched them leave from the deck. Then she let out a breath, broke into a broad grin, and turned toward the remaining outsiders.

Pencilgon: "Well, now I'm bored... Want to have a drink?"

The fourteen outsiders simply stood there—as though saying that if she intended to move them, she should not make a suggestion, but simply order them.

Blockentreed can absorb mana from the ground not only to heal and strengthen itself, but also to drain the land until it runs dry and becomes a sand hell, then force mana back into it and rapidly harden the ground again!

In short: Hell-Sand Burial.