W-what am I supposed to do...?
Wh-what should I even do? P-play Granblue Fantasy... No, where do I start...?
I don't know. Wh-what on earth am I supposed to...!!
F-for now, I'll just play Granblue...
(Repeat forever.)
Start...
...GBF.
Correction: Apparently, inhaling too many high-concentration Granblue particles scrambled my internal chronology. I discovered and fixed a bug that made the Ult Crystal appear at the fourth use of an Ult. No apology chapter will be posted. Let me sleep.
Chapter 510: Resound, Grateful Legacy — High Jack Star
Without boosters, my legs are painfully slow. My only weapon is the Hammer Jack on my right arm. And there's still almost a twofold difference in our HP. But I'll say it anyway: SO WHAT!?
No Face: "I'm taking the best parts."
Hannya: "Your movements... changed!?"
At this late stage of the fight, I bring out the Fugaku style. By mixing steps and sliding footwork with last-second evasions, I dodge Zenoselgus's attacks and accurately land strikes with my right arm.
The bastard's America's number two for a reason, though. After I land maybe two hits, Amelia starts matching my movements. Goddammit.
Hannya: "You're in the fucking way!!"
No Face: "Tell me about it!!"
Valkyrie charges in, trying to barge into the battle between Amelia Sullivan and me. At this point, it's safe to assume every single one of her actions carries knockback. If I engage her carelessly, I'll expose an opening, but I can't just ignore her, either...
Amelia must know how stupid it would be to destroy a Machine Swarm Target Enemy right in front of me—Cursed Prison. And given how Prison Break works, I don't particularly want to destroy one right now myself. I'm not buying some designer outfit just to tear it to shreds... At least, not outside of SLF.
That's the only reason Valkyrie's still alive. Without all the benefits and drawbacks tangled up together on both sides, we'd have finished her off ages ago.
Hannya: "What's wrong!? Gonna croak with that armor still wrapped around you, huh!? HUH!?"
No Face: "Then just give me an opening already, you fucking moron!!"
Hannya: "Like hell I will! I'm gonna chip away at you until you drop!!"
I see... In that case, I'll have to make an opening myself.
No Face: "Never show your secret bullet, not even to a cat... That's how the saying goes."
Hannya: "What?"
As I shift into a stance completely unlike the boxing guard I've been using, Zenoselgus's face grows a good twenty percent more terrifying. Or is the bastard just furrowing its brow? Even with all the hatred humanity could ever muster, I doubt a human face could pull off that expression.
No Face: "You ready?"
Hannya: "Keep talking!"
I thrust my left hand forward with the palm open and draw my right arm back like a billiards cue. Knuckle Arrow? Nope. My fist is getting a modern upgrade...!!
No Face: "My right hand is the hammer. My left is the magazine... And this is Dust's little stash."
Hannya: "Between your fingers... Wha—!?"
Looks like closing the distance helped you spot it. Too late!!
A little piece of metal is wedged between my middle and ring fingers. A bullet! Dust's bullet—the one I took out of his gun before I shut the vault, right after gathering my materials!!
No Face: "THANKS FOR COMING CLOSER!"
A secret technique from the Gamma server! Not a last resort, but a last hand-bullet!! Left hand as both magazine and barrel! Right hand as hammer! Strike the primer directly and drive out the round! In honor of Atbird, Gamma's trigger-happy maniac, I'll shout it too!
No Face: "SI VIS BELLUM—IF YOU WANT WAR! PARA BELLUM—PREPARE FOR WAR!!"
Finishing move—GUN HAND!!
Normally, you set off the primer with a knife and leave the hand serving as the magazine looking like a head of broccoli... But Cursed Prison's hands are metal. And this game doesn't even have a dismemberment system!!!
K-CHINK! Propelled by the Hammer Jack, my right fist accelerates, and the second knuckle of my right middle finger drives straight into the primer of the Secret Bullet without missing. How many times have I turned my left hand into a lump of red broccoli? I could make Bloody Broccoli with my eyes closed.
No Face: "Bang!!"
Hannya: "Fuck—What!?"
This is normally an extreme point-blank technique. You practically have to press your left hand against the opponent's left chest—right over the heart—before firing. The accuracy is so shitty it's even known as the "Sexual Harassment Terror Attack." But with the Hammer Jack accelerating the whole round forward, primer and all, its pathetic range now stretches at least to something like medium distance.
And... yeah, of course you're surprised. I hyped that attack up like it was my ultimate trump card, and then missed, didn't I?
It's not like the skill I honed on that isolated island has gone rusty. I can still shift my line of sight and fire off-target whenever I want.
No Face: "Have you forgotten?"
For Cursed Prison, the power to wear the Machine Swarm, and even this bullet-launching magic trick—no, the very existence of Cursed Prison itself—are compromises. Extras. Things I don't actually need!!
Which means... Come on. My real trump card has always been the one card I pin to the board! This is the only move I need!!
Zenoselgus's guard, raised at the cost of interrupting its attack, catches nothing. In the instant of recovery after that whiff, the Good Bullet bursts against Valkyrie's cheek as she charges up from behind, ready to skewer both Cursed Prison and Zenoselgus together.
For the briefest instant, time belongs to me alone among the three fighters. Somewhere far away lies a gorge swept by violent winds... And a single thread, so thin it could snap at any moment, has nevertheless reached the other side.
No Face: "PRISON BREAK!!"
Hannya: "C-Cell Bur—"
—I've won.
But the goddess of random numbers is, as ever, evil, malicious, and an absolute bastard.
???: "—Huh?"
???: "—What?"
Cursed Prison's armor has shattered and burst away, revealing Prison Breaker. Zenoselgus has been slowed by its desperate attempt to react. And the two of us are standing on a helipad covered in cracks from the collateral damage of our fight.
But right now...
At the exact midpoint between us, in that very spot, a tiny firefly-like light appears in empty air. It swells in an instant until a brilliantly shining crystal materializes before our eyes.
???: "Ult—"
???: "Crystal...!!"
No Face: "Shit—FUCK!!"
I've screwed up! Amelia Sullivan gets the jump on me, taking advantage of the gap in my thoughts that has just overwritten the moment of freedom I created for myself.
Zenoselgus, radiating a green aura from its entire body, moves first. That glow is actually blood vaporizing and bursting out between the gaps of its cells, which have been activated far beyond their limits.
???: "!"
???: "!"
Neither of us has time left for insults. We're dealing with the enormous surprise of an Ult Crystal materializing right in front of us, the fact that both of us have activated Ults that interfere with our stats, and everything those two developments demand—all while continuing to trade punches.
No Face: "Ngh—"
Hannya: "What's wrong!? Come on, come on!!"
Zenoselgus's Ult, Cell Burst, has an extremely simple effect. It does just one thing: for twenty seconds, all parameters remain unchanged, granting an invincible super-armor state. That's it. What, that sounds underwhelming? Don't be stupid. This isn't merely about its HP not dropping!
Its parameters do not change.
That means for twenty seconds the bastard can use Gauge moves without limit, while being immune to damage and stagger—a genuinely invincible state. If I get caught within its range, if it gets even one grab on me, I'll be killed by an endless chain of suplexes!
No Face: "OOOOOOOAAAH!!!"
I dodge the grab coming to finish me for good and hammer out rapid steps, trying to seize the Ult Crystal. But Zenoselgus closes in with perfect positioning to shut down my movements, as though the bastard saw the whole attempt coming.
No Face: "FUCK!"
Hannya: "Ngh—YOU LITTLE SHIT!"
I kick the Ult Crystal away on instinct, sending it off the rooftop toward the ground. Zenoselgus's Ult lasts twenty seconds. Prison Breaker's lasts thirty.
Prison Breaker wins on overall specs, but there is no breaking through the invincible mode. Even though Zenoselgus used its Ult second, the bastard's effect is guaranteed to run out first.
What do I do!? Ten seconds would be enough. But—no, hang on—but—AAARGH, FUCK!!!
Oh. Right. Of course.
—The goddess of random numbers will laugh as many times as she likes at a miserable insect struggling to survive.