Chapter 434: O Dragon, O Dragon! Part Eleven
After the crossing.
Siegwurm wheeled his golden body around on the spot, dispersing the momentum of his charge and coming to a stop while hovering in midair.
Sunraku drew and separated Pale Sheen... He swung Goldsheen through, then remained motionless with Netherlight held at his waist.
Siegwurm: "—I am astonished."
In the very midst of the Dragon Blight, one corner of the battlefield had fallen startlingly silent. Only Siegwurm's voice echoed through it.
Siegwurm: "My Frenzy Domain—Jazzy Zone—is a Skill-killing field that throws the mana within all of you into chaos. Even with your sight stolen and your legs weakened... you still cut me?! Me?!!"
Sunraku: "...Damn it. I expected the Skill seal, but... activating it as an interrupt is bullshit...!"
In that instant, everything from Sunraku's left eye down to his right hip burst apart. At precisely the same moment, Siegwurm's left horn and left wing exploded.
Siegwurm: "What power! This... from a mere graze?!"
Sunraku: "Talk about getting taken out the instant I showed up...!"
Siegwurm watched Sunraku sink to one knee and still laughed, even as the left half of his face and his left wing—the places Goldsheen's point had traced—"crystallized."
As though nothing could have made him happier.
As though saying, How dare you do this to me?
Siegwurm: "My gravitational field honors heroes above all! Sunraku, wolf-scarred warrior!! I shall permit you your final words!!"
Sunraku: "So that's why I don't die at zero HP, huh? In that case..."
Still on one knee, beneath the True Eye Bird Mask whose left half had been sliced away, he searched for something with an eye buried beneath damage effects... then slowly extended his index finger.
At the end of that finger were Noirlind, who had regained balance and retreated into the sky, and Akane Akitsu, riding upon the dragon's back.
Sunraku: "—You two... are the main characters now..."
Siegwurm: "Magnificent!!"
The damage effects spilling from Sunraku's body vanished. Strength left his body, and just before his face struck the ground, his entire form shattered and disappeared.
Siegwurm: "O humans. O pioneers. How brilliantly you shone! How admirably you stood against me! And what of the rest of you? Show me your radiance! Stand against me! If you cannot even surpass me, how could you ever stand against the Primordial Awakening?!!"
No one could move.
There was no one present capable of telling the golden Dragon King, who had nullified not only magic but even Skills, "I'll take you on next."
Partly because there was no hope of victory.
But more than that, no one had the confidence to show him anything greater than what they had just witnessed.
Siegwurm: "...Very well."
As though his interest had been spoiled, Siegwurm turned his gaze away from the immobilized players. Then, wearing a savage grin, he fixed his eyes upon Noirlind and Akane Akitsu.
Siegwurm: "In that case, let me see the radiance of these so-called main characters."
The crystal consuming the left half of his face and his wing shattered away, revealing the nearly unscathed gold beneath.
The battle between black and gold began anew.
◆
The result hadn't been worth the cost, but whatever.
Sunraku: "...All right."
Use the Gender Inversion Grail, switch sexes, get dressed...
Sunraku: "Hey, you there!"
???: "M-me?!"
Sunraku: "I heard Arthur Pencilgon, who made quite an infamous name for herself a while back, is raising hell somewhere... You wouldn't happen to know where, would you?"
???: "Uh, ah, um... I think I heard she was over by Blockentreed...?"
Sunraku: "Thanks!"
Pa-chink!
Firing off a wink straight from Pencil's own playbook, I dashed out of Skull Azuchi and considered my next move.
For now, I'd tracked down Pencilgon, who stood out in the worst possible way. Finding Oikatzo and Rust in the middle of this enormous free-for-all, however, would be a real pain...
Sunraku: "Hmm..."
Oh, right.
Sunraku: "I just need to turn the idea around."
Time to stand the egg on its head.
In that case, the best way to stand out would be... Hmm, Bryleinyego, I guess.
Sunraku: "This is basically a raid battle, so there's no point sneaking around."
Then I might as well go wild and make it flashy.
Heh heh heh. I'll show them the full power of the massively updated New Sunraku...!
And if I wanted to stand out as much as possible, one protagonist alone wouldn't be enough.
Sunraku: "Emul, Saina. Hide-and-seek is over. From here on out, the stage belongs to us."
Emul stopped hiding on my head and popped upright. Saina, who had been sleeping soundly—and intelligently—in Inventoria, was summoned.
Emul: "...I'll ask just in case, but what exactly are you planning?"
Sunraku: "I'm going to rampage so spectacularly that I turn myself into a landmark."
Saina: "It is an action that can only be described as extremely barbaric. However, because it is based on an intelligent motive, I—this unit—support it as well."
Glad to hear it. Let's dish out some violence intelligently.
It looked like we'd entered the combat zone while we were talking. That must be the mini white dragon I'd heard about... I see. With its freakishly enormous abdomen and the token little horns growing from it, its silhouette really was exactly like an ant.
Sunraku: "Then let's get started with New Weapon Number One!"
One of the entries in the Imron-versus-Bilac weapon-performance competition... an Imron-made longsword: Glittergrit, Crystal Sword of Heroic Radiance!!
As expected of one of the finest player blacksmiths around, the craftsmanship was excellent.
Yes, the craftsmanship was excellent. It wasn't as though the sword was useless, and one glance was enough to tell that Imron had carried the concept all the way through.
But still... Hmm...
Sunraku: "Deluxe Glittergrit, on sale for 6,980 yen... or something..."
Was it the color scheme? The gloss? No, the design itself already leaned in that direction... But what was with this overwhelming toy-like quality?!
No, I understood. The materials themselves were red and green, two colors that didn't fit together particularly well. If one were merely used as an accent, that would be one thing, but when both were incorporated into the design in equal proportions... yes, I could see why it ended up looking vaguely Christmas-themed.
But the design! The colors! The gloss!
Every single element came together in perfect harmony to make this the perfect toy!
Still...
Sunraku: "This one's better for cooking up dirty tricks, though..."
No, let's be blunt. In terms of pure performance, Bilac's weapon was superior.
But lately, Bilac had shown a tendency to make nothing but extremely specialized weapons on the assumption that, "Well, this guy can probably use it."
A shield that demanded min-maxed stats and could get its own user killed if they fell short—what kind of shield was that supposed to be?!
Seen that way, this sword was vastly more versatile. All I had to satisfy were the conditions of "HP below a certain threshold—as usual," "gauge accumulation—it'll fill eventually," and "voluntary MP expenditure—I'll let that one slide."
Sunraku: "...All right! New policy: don't sweat the details!"
Now then—opening move: self-slash!!
With Shakkotsu Breaker, I temporarily nullified Lycagon’s Contusions on my torso and legs. Factoring in the time limit before the Lycagon’s Contusions themselves broke down...
Four hundred and eighty seconds.
That was my "first activity window."
Sunraku: "The new armor I had prepared for this very day..."
A complete set crafted with lavish quantities of material from the Imperial Crystal Twin Scorpions!
Women's Imperial Crystal Twin Scorpion equipment, known as the Empress’s Supreme Treasure Gear, Tsaritsa Series!!
Since it was nighttime, the entire set had been dyed a solid crimson. Aside from the full-face helmet, it was elegant enough that it would not have looked out of place at a party.
Perhaps because Tsaberil Imperial Treasure Crystal and materials from the Imperial Crystal Twin Scorpions had been used throughout, the entire suit resembled a sculpture carved from gemstone into the shape of a woman wearing a dress. The beauty of its brilliance lent it a feminine elegance, while beneath that beauty lingered the sense of protection so formidable that a lesser blade might break against it instead.
Sunraku: "Maybe I should've used this weapon while I was male..."
Well, that was part of the charm. Time to go.
I would shout to the clan members scattered throughout this battlefield—not with words, but through my actions and their results.
I am!
Right here!!
Just where is this protagonist even trying to go...?