Two Sunlight Stones and a Fire Atma Fist... There’s no turning back now. Hello, everyone—Hard Pear here, running a three-star Agni Wrestler setup.
Chapter 509: Resound, Grateful Legacy — Sky High Tension
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Eight: "Th-this is an unbelievable exchange of punches! Neither side is giving an inch! All they're doing is attacking!!"
Kei: "I guess that's how heavyweights are supposed to fight. But for Cursed Prison to give up its mobility just to stand there and trade punches..."
Mysterious Silver Mask: "They're getting carried away. I'd do exactly the same thing."
Kei: "You would, wouldn't you... Oh, somebody chickened out."
On the screen, Cursed Prison is slammed into the ground by a reversal that flips it upside down. Then an intruder sends Zenoselgus flying.
Kei: "I see. So it’s payback for the trick that worked on Colonel."
Mysterious Silver Mask: "Because of the kill score, Valkyrie is more likely to target Zenoselgus. And with Cursed Prison as the opponent, carelessly destroying her would only make Cursed Prison stronger..."
Eight: "What about the bonus you get for defeating a Target Enemy?"
Kei: "The reward for defeating the third Target Enemy increases the rate at which you build up Heroic and Villainic Gauge. It's not worthless, but it's a painful trade-off when you have to strengthen your opponent to get it."
Neither side has necessarily shown every card in its hand. To Sunraku, a fight this intense is worth sacrificing some of his chances of winning. But even so, the complicated rules of this three-way battle are finally converging toward a conclusion.
Kei: "Cursed Prison is at a disadvantage in HP. But taking a direct hit from the opponent's Gauge move has given it the advantage in Ult Gauge."
It won't be long before Zenoselgus can use its own Ult, either. Which means the final uncertain element will be the key.
Kei: "What decides the outcome will be the Ult—and the Ult Crystal."
Eight: "Right. The crystal appears after the next one..."
Kei: "Ult Crystals do appear at random, but not very far away from the two players. If somebody really searches for one, it usually doesn't take long to find."
Mysterious Silver Mask: "There's an advantage in making your opponent use their Ult first. There's an advantage in using your own Ult to empty your Gauge first... But then there's also the nature of Prison Break."
If Prison Breaker's transformation counts as an Ult, its duration is thirty seconds. Even if Cursed Prison activates it first, that's ample time for Zenoselgus to activate its own afterward and finish the Ult's process.
Kei: "How they play around that timing will decide this match. We really are at the climax."
Beyond the screen, the battle approaching its fever pitch has moved to a new stage.
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No Face: "Indoor combat, huh..."
Naturally, when monsters start rampaging, their surroundings get destroyed. Rubble, clouds of dust, maybe even the pillars and ceiling themselves... They'll obstruct everyone's movements, friend and foe alike. And with Valkyrie running wild without a care in the world about collateral damage, the building is bound to collapse. The environment itself is trying to create openings for both me and Amelia Sullivan.
In other words, we'll be bleeding each other dry. Whoever runs out of blood—HP—first loses. The one with more HP has a direct advantage.
No Face: "Thirty percent HP left..."
Holy shit! I've still got thirty percent! I could fight another ten rounds at this rate!!
Hannya: "Hiding doesn't suit you! Come out!!"
No Face: "I'll crush you!!"
Tch. You dried-up meatball bastard. Attacking from the second floor, are you? You're hard and crusty all over, but that doesn't give you the right to act like such a hotshot! Release the jack—MANTIS SHRIMP UPPERCUT!!
No Face: "G-gh—HRAAAAGH!!!"
I catch Zenoselgus's enormous mass with just my left arm as the bastard drops with all that momentum from the second floor. The Hammer Jack on my left arm snaps under the weight, but even so, its final uppercut does its job.
Hannya: "G-bwoah...!?"
No Face: "Sorry. I wasn't putting my hips into those punches before... THIS is a full swing."
I backstep, rotating my right side behind me while keeping my left hand forward. I draw back my right fist like I'm drawing a bowstring... I'll take those front teeth!
No Face: "DIE, ASSHOLE!!!"
Hannya: "Guuuuuh!!!"
Fuck! The bastard blocked it at the last possible second!! I wonder if professional fighting-game players actually train in martial arts. Plenty of Sylvia Goldberg's teammates are built like bodybuilders, after all.
Hannya: "Didn't hurt a bit..."
No Face: "You've got greasy sweat on your forehead, alien."
Hannya: "Nah. That's oil..."
Oil...? Oh, don't tell me this overfried doughnut of a meatball has changed its body's composition into oil using its ability...!!
Hannya: "Get roasted alive!!"
SNAP! Zenoselgus's powerful fingers click together. The nails of its thumb and middle finger scrape against each other, striking a spark—and the breath pouring from the bastard's mouth instantly becomes a stream of flame.
No Face: "WOOOOAH!!"
I dive instinctively into a staircase leading upward. Perfect. How convenient... Stage select! On to the second floor!!
Oh, look. Little Miss Valkyrie is out for a walk up here. Wouldn't want to interrupt... Ah. Yeah. A different aggro ratio doesn't mean she won't turn on me, too. Right.
No Face: "GUBWOH!"
I scramble up the stairs, and an explosion goes off behind me. At least I can safely assume the route back downstairs is gone now.
Up. Up. Up...
No Face: "OH, THIS SUCKS!!"
Let's take the elevator. I'm on the eighth floor now... There's one coming up from below... Okay, it's here.
No Face: "............"
Hannya: "........Hello."
No Face: "GOODBYE FOREVER!!"
Mantis shrimp punch! Ordinary punch! Ordinary punch! Reset—MANTIS SHRIMP PUNCH!!
No Face: "Look at you, using the conveniences of modern civilization like a regular person, you monster! GO TO HELL—AND HAVE A NICE TRIP DOWN!!"
Hannya: "Wait—YOU FUCKING—RAAAAGH!!"
A furious flurry of blows leaves the bastard reeling. I press the elevator's down button and send the whole package on its way. Goddammit, what kind of villain rides an elevator upstairs, anyway...?
BANG! Creak, creak, creeeak...
Oh, if my guess is right, that asshole is smashing through the elevator ceiling to climb back up.
No Face: "Tch..."
Still not high enough. With a building this big, I need to get all the way to the roof. Come on, legs! I believe in you!!
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Machine Swarm attacks, an all-out battle between heroes and villains... Looking down from the building, Chaos City is a wreck of fire, black smoke, and rubble.
Hannya: "Impact Convert’s already been patched, you know."
No Face: "I’m happy that actually stuck as the name, but it’s pretty embarrassing, too."
I came up with it on the spur of the moment, after all... Well, never mind. That's not why I brought us up here.
No Face: "The final battle's going to look better under the open sky, don't you think?"
The smoke from the disaster makes a perfectly clear blue sky impossible... But the wind sweeps the dust away. It must make one hell of a sight for the audience.
No Face: "Right now, we're the main characters, you know? Not nameless extras. If we get to write the script as well, it'd be a waste not to make it exciting."
Hannya: "...So you're even like Real Cursed Prison in that respect."
One corner of the rooftop twists and sags in the heat. Valkyrie rises from the floor below, melting through the concrete like magma. Well, somebody's literally fired up. Ready and raring to go, huh?
The cast is assembled. The stage is perfect... Now all that's left is the coordinates.
No Face: "Look up at the heavens! Nothing but cowards too weak to outshine the sun! But not me! I am the baleful star—a star of the first magnitude that makes even the sun look dim!!"
Hannya: "If you're so desperate to look cool, I'll make sure you go out in a blaze of glory!!"
The tension's at its peak. We're on the very top floor. Now there's nowhere to go but straight down—
Silver Mask: "Foooo!!"
Metius's creator: "Foooo!!"