Chapter 1061 - Shadow of the Apex Predator
[Rivelmet Wolf]... It was a phantom beast encountered roughly two years ago in a canyon far to the north of the Garden of Divine Creation's main player district. It was first spotted by the seventh seat of the Northern Faction, the [Great Tiger].
Standing no less than four meters tall, it possessed a jet-black frame of imposing proportions and eyes as crimson as fresh blood. Aside from its curious tail, which formed a cross-like shape, its overall silhouette was remarkably simple.
Tora-kichi, who happened upon it while on a solo stroll, had prioritized sharing the information over the Northern Faction's usual creed of following the way of a [Traveler] and avoiding non-archived data. He had judged it to be a sudden, catastrophic disaster-class encounter. Because of that, its appearance was widely known.
"That plain-looking bastard was the real deal..." Such was the sentiment that had spread through the rumors, apparently moving a great number of players at the time.
Rare entities, whether items or enemies, are the lifeblood of a game. Countless large-scale search parties and subjugation teams were formed... and yet, to this day, not a single secondary sighting had been reported.
Still, there were those who continued to search.
For example, the second seat of the Northern Faction, [Group Wolf], likely due to a personal connection or simple interest in the beast. There were also Tonic-san and Ricky-san, the sixth and tenth seats respectively, who had followed in his footsteps to Nortalia. Even among the general player base, the number of those chasing the tail of this phantom never dwindled.
Well, given the impact of the initial information, it wasn't surprising.
This happened roughly two years ago, long before I ever dived into this virtual world. Even back then, the [Great Tiger] was renowned as the Northern Faction's foremost combat expert. And even with his full power...
He could only manage a double knockout at best.
In other words, even if it was in the past, this entity possessed power that could rival or even surpass a combat-focused [Title] holder's full strength in a solo fight.
...Now, I didn't have time to dwell on that, but I had one thing to say.
All we had left were our names and our experience. Most of our actual substance had been stripped away. To drop a monster like this in front of us, when our current specs are lower than an average player's, is a joke. What the hell do they expect us to do? Do they honestly think we can handle this?
That was about the size of it.
But since I had no choice but to push those complaints aside...
"I'll hold the line... but I won't last ten seconds on my own! Cover me!"
"Right, Sora!"
"Ah, yes!"
We gripped our respective blades, diving into the sudden onset of war without hesitation.
Tora-kichi, as the only person with experience against this thing, naturally took command, and none of us hesitated to follow. The authority of the Anima ring, which couldn't be revoked, was still active. Thus, while his attacks might be meaningless, the [Great Tiger] could still serve as an unbreakable wall. He took a step forward to meet it head-on.
At the same time, Ashe didn't relinquish her duty as the brain of the team even while following his lead. She maneuvered with Sora, whom she had designated as her partner, and spread out to the left and right. That meant...
"..."
I took a step back, positioning us as three vanguards and one rearguard. Rather than forcing someone into a role they were ill-suited for, I needed to take the unique strengths that no one else could replicate and sharpen them into a killing blow. I opened my eyes wide and began my [Memory].
I had heard the stories... or rather, I had read the articles out of curiosity, so I knew what I was looking at. However, even if information existed, it was verbal rather than visual, so its accuracy was low.
I'd already given up on making sense of this nonsensical situation. If we were going to strike it down... if we were going to clear this for real, the first step was to truly understand it.
...
The giant wolf looked at the small beings who had formed a formation and even launched the first strike. It swallowed its greeting-like roar and returned to a state of stillness. But that didn't mean it wasn't going to move.
In an instant.
"Tch... You're a nostalgic sight, you damn beast!"
A sudden charge, a sharp turn, and an assault from nowhere.
Tora-kichi swung his spear the moment the wolf closed in, but with an abruptness that reminded me of a certain black void, the giant wolf vanished and reappeared behind him in the blink of an eye.
However, Tora-kichi met it as if he had anticipated it, rolling his bluff movement into the take-back of a swing from his cross-spear. Even if he was beginning to regain his original performance, the blade that shone just as brightly as the wolf's fangs had zero attack power due to the constraints the wielder carried.
Furthermore, a spear was not a weapon inherently suited for close-quarters grappling. Managing a mass that far exceeded a human's in a head-on clash was hardly its forte... and yet.
The power he clad himself in was that of four of the Tiger's jaws, refusing to back down against the Wolf.
Thus, the spear凪 flashed horizontally as it crossed paths with the massive foreleg that swung down like a log. At the same time...
"Ngh...!"
"Hah!"
Two sand blades slid in from the left and right. They didn't manage to repel the limb, but given our current meager output compared to normal, it was a gap created by a momentary clash that deserved nothing but praise. They didn't miss the opening.
The scissoring sword flashes closed in on the foreleg engaged in the struggle...
"Ngh..."
"Ah."
Before they could connect, it vanished again.
...
The giant wolf had soundlessly jumped between the three vanguards and the one rearguard... that is, between Tora-kichi's group and me. It let out a small snort, as if evaluating its prey once more.
I see. So this is it...
"...A teleportation ability into blind spots."
"Yeah. And looking at that move just now, it can react to each person individually. It's completely unfair."
Beyond the massive frame, the Tiger answered the murmur of the Princess, who was seeing it for the first time.
The unique ability of the [Rivelmet Wolf] number one: Blind Spot Jump.
This giant wolf, quite literally, shifted its position into the blind spot of its opponent silently and instantaneously. If Tora-kichi's past speculation was correct, its effective range was about ten meters in a straight line.
Aside from reading the beast's movements and aura, detecting the activation of this ability in advance was extremely difficult.
Moreover, as Tora-kichi just grumbled, it appeared impossible for multiple people to cover the blind spot for each other. As long as a blind spot existed for that specific person, even if others had a line of sight to that location, it didn't interfere with the jump. It defied all logic.
And yet, observing its behavior in person left me with two split emotions.
A sense of admiration that Tora-kichi had managed to draw against this thing in a sudden solo encounter...
And a sense of exasperation that Tora-kichi had managed to draw against this thing in a sudden solo encounter.
"Oh?"
And then, on this side, it was one-on-one between a man and a beast. My eyes met those blood-red orbs.
And the eyes that were meeting mine... vanished again.
A total blank. A perfect severance. It was a piece of fantasy that deserved nothing but praise. The presence that had disappeared from my perception without a trace suddenly overflowed from the void right behind me.
The obstacle had shifted its position, making the view ahead clear. Thus, the three of them turned around to look back at me, a situation that already felt nostalgic... In other words.
It was a simple, orthodox Arcadia experience. It was the sensation of time dilation I had grown so familiar with, occurring in the midst of a fantasy where a tiny human body challenges an overwhelming monster.
This is the stuff. Amidst this situation, I returned the look to my comrades who were watching me without a hint of worry, though I didn't quite have the leisure to flash them a smile.
All we had left were our names and our experience. Most of our actual substance had been stripped away.
To drop a monster like this in front of us, when our current specs are lower than an average player's, is a joke. What the hell do they expect us to do? Do they honestly think we can handle this?
Fine then. I'll show them.
"Don't look down on me."
Equipment status... all systems go.
[Aquamarine Rabbit Heart] activates Crimson Desperation. Furthermore, a partial deployment of [Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King] on both arms, followed by the summoning of the [An=Re Galta].
[Nine Tail] shadow thread release, focusing on arm reinforcement for a shock-absorption configuration...
External rotation output [Kai], convergence and release at sixty percent capacity.
I still haven't seen enough, and I wouldn't dare say I've seen through its movements even if my mouth were torn open, but...
"Move!"
...!?
Sorry, but when it comes to the basics of blind spot jumping, I've got a word or two of my own to say.
The read was correct. The timing was perfect.
I twisted and bundled the power that had been coursing through my body from the moment our eyes met. With an instantaneous turn, I swung the greatsword [An=Re Galta]. The counter-ambush struck the sharp claws that had been swung like a backstab, blowing them back along with the foreleg.
"...Take that!"
A platinum edge tore through the black fur in the wake of that motion. Instead of blood, red light effects danced to decorate the stage. It went without saying who had won the exchange, and thus, the result was...
"...Oh. I guess you're the one saying 'don't look down on me' now?"
A graze on the shoulder muscle, unfortunately. It had jumped into the blind spot again, this time further behind my comrades who had been looking toward me. It was a position where the entire party could finally face it properly.
In those blood-red eyes glaring at me with hatred, I felt a will that wasn't just some programmed fabrication.
"Heh."
This is the stuff.
I couldn't help but let my cheeks relax as the content I loved so much finally arrived.