Chapter 546 - A Hero's Tale for You, A Hero's Tale for Another, Part V
The moment I squeezed the trigger, an extraordinary explosion of light and sound erupted, as if my eyes and ears had been blown apart.
It wasn't a misfire from touching the trigger in my regular form; the warhead had changed from its usual explosive type to a piercing one.
That otherworldly roar was the normal gunshot of the Scarlet-Thread Linkage form.
What I could barely make out was a single crimson flash from the glittering fragments scattered by the shattering [Mayhem Bunny]. I couldn't see the path of the 'Woodpecker' I had fired, nor the fate of the cocoon it struck. I couldn't witness any of it—
The recoil of the [Ruby Rabbit Bullet], which could easily launch a body into the air when fired, had been multiplied by twenty-four, and I was sent flying by the hopelessly murderous kickback.
I couldn't tell if I was flying straight or in a comical spiral. The impact was so severe that, not metaphorically, stars scattered and my vision whited out, making any split-second judgment impossible.
My right arm, which had pulled the trigger, was the worst of it, but I could only confirm that my entire body was still barely 'connected.' There was no way I could control my posture.
To begin with, this was a trump card that came with a handling warning from its proud creator that I found questionable: "You're meant to fire it outdoors, aiming downwards. I'm sure you can handle getting launched into the sky, right?" Firing it indoors was a mistake from the start.
If I'd fired it without any safety net, I would have been a stain on the wall in less than a second, not just a few.
If I hadn't set up a safety net, that is.
"—Hrk…!"
"Guh—hk'gh…!"
My time alone in the air, with no sight or sensation, was but a moment. A violent impact, which could be called merciful compared to the initial blast, shot through my abdomen—and as an involuntary groan escaped my lips, a breath that was far too reliable for its own good burst next to my ear.
The white faded, and my vision faintly captured the world again.
My eyes met for a fleeting moment with the princess who had rushed to my side like a prince or a knight, and I felt as if we exchanged faint smiles. Was it my imagination or not?
"Fuh… ugh—!"
Arche, who had caught me as I was sent flying with the force of what must have looked like a giant's slap, thrust her sword into the ground and tore a massive gash in the floor, dissipating the speed and energy.
But then—the next instant, a sound that could hardly be called a mere crash echoed through the air. A merciless, explosive roar.
At the same time, Arche, who had made impact with the arena wall hard enough to shatter it, let out,
"—Guh, ku… ah…!"
—a single, suppressed cry of pain.
Unlike some joke of a build with VIT:0, the physical body of a player who has properly raised their durability stats is genuinely superhuman.
In other words, if you're slammed into a wall or the ground with a massive amount of energy, this is what naturally happens. You become, not metaphorically, a cannonball.
And in the pain-free world of Arcadia, the thing that deals the most damage to a player, not in an HP sense, is pure 'impact'—I know because I've experienced it myself.
It doesn't hurt, but it really hurts.
Therefore, I do feel guilty for asking her to handle the 'aftermath of pulling the trigger,' having predicted this outcome nine times out of ten. However, I have no intention of regretting or reflecting on it.
It might be ungentlemanly to do this to a girl, but…
"Thanks, you saved me…"
"…I said to 'leave it to me.' Do not worry about it."
…as her comrade-in-arms, any unnecessary consideration would be a crime punishable by death.
Arche stood up amidst a clatter of rubble, a somewhat satisfied smile on her face. And me, for once on the receiving end, currently being held in her slender arms.
Together, we looked ahead—
"…Hehe, a direct hit."
"Hah, I'd have no choice but to laugh if that just scraped past the insides…"
Just as Arche said, it was a clean shot through the center. The cocoon, which had boasted otherworldly durability, now had a large hole punched through it, scattering shadows.
Second phase, cleared with difficulty… or so I'd like to think. Now what?
"I have never seen anything like that."
"Right? A true hidden bullet—well, it's a one-shot surprise trick. The mechanism bugs out or something, and however many you use, they become unusable for a full day."
So, with that last shot, all twenty-four of my [Ruby Rabbit Bullet]s are temporarily out of commission.
Actually, they just stop regenerating entirely… so depending on how you look at it, you could say I'm saving MP during this fight. Let's be positive.
"I can still fire the lower-tier twelve-shot version, but… I doubt it'll have a role to play. Not against a monster of this class."
"I see. …Your stamina, is it alright?"
"Yeah, I can still go on—so, the stun's worn off. You can put me down now."
"A shame."
It's not like I was willingly submitting to the humiliating experience of being princess-carried by a princess. I was just succumbing to the hateful, flashing debuff icon.
With a faintly amused smile, she set me down. I landed on my feet and gave a light hop—no issues. I wasn't bluffing; my spirit and energy were more than sufficient.
In that case—
"This is where it really begins, huh?"
"Yes, I look forward to it."
Shadows rose like smoke, and we stared at the cocoon that had begun to open. While I tensed up to refocus, Arche, on the other hand, gave a disarmingly relaxed reply, overflowing with pure curiosity and excitement.
As the cocoon's shadow unraveled from the edges as if melting into the air, a wavering tail came into view.
"…Be careful. No joke, this looks bad."
"Mm."
It was the same kimono-clad figure with nine tails, but the change was obvious at a glance. It wasn't just that its torso, which I had once severed, was now naturally reconnected—
The most notable change was its limbs, which had clearly deviated from being 'human.'
Its four limbs, from which shadows streamed like bristling fur, had changed their form drastically. They were now equipped with sharp, massive claws, undeniably those of a 'beast.'
Third phase, following the unmoving cocoon. Based on its appearance, I couldn't expect any graceful behavior—and as I watched its swaying tails, I had a realization.
"…By the way, Arche. About what we were talking about earlier, when did you hear that 'sound'?"
"…When I… cut it?"
"I see. I heard it when I cut it."
"…Ah, I see. So that is what it means."
In other words, the timing of the 'Death Nullification.' I had thought that by working with Arche, we had managed to kill it once, but it seems I was wrong.
Looking at the two tails, which had white, crack-like lines running through them and seemed somewhat sluggish… just as she said, it was probably 'something like that.'
"Should I be happy we took out two so quickly, or lament that there are seven more to go…"
"If the number of tails equals the number of lives, and there are seven left, it might not be seven more times, but eight."
"So we have to kill it ten times in total? Seriously, cap it at five or something."
"If you think of it as only needing to cut it ten times to defeat it, then it has been made considerably easier. As expected, your 'weakness' was the key to victory."
"Well, that's fine and all… but while my exaggerated paper-thin armor has been traced, where is your 'weakness' showing up?"
"……………………A weakness for you, perhaps?"
"For so many reasons, I can't even deny that…"
As we stood with our swords drawn before the unmoving 'shadow,' exchanging words without letting our guard down, Rep-La Nobody, That Which Slays All, was staring intently at us.
From its mask-like head, which lacked even empty sockets, an immense pressure of information was directed at us.
A pressure so great it made my skin crawl, without exaggeration the greatest I have ever faced. I had to keep up the light banter, or I honestly wouldn't be able to handle it.
""…""
At some point, we both fell silent, waiting for that moment—the moment it would move.
And that, in turn, meant.
That the pressure emanating from the smoldering shadow before us was so otherworldly that it made not just me, but even the great Iris hesitate to make a move—
In that instant, that feeling, the one that is there but out of reach, flashed, and,
"—!"
"—, …!"
—almost simultaneously, the shadow master appeared before us without warning, presence, or sound. I, a split second ahead, followed by Arche, swung our swords in a momentary reflex—
"—, —, —"
It was clearly, certainly, and amusingly laughing as it, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, effortlessly pinched and stopped the blades of both my Anima and Arche's Extra-Class Equipment with its left and right claws.
At the sight, I felt as if time had stopped.
And in that time, which in reality had not stopped for even a fraction of a second.
"—, ——————————————————!!!"
With the roar of an otherworldly monster—from the multitude of magic circles that deployed at extreme close range, a torrent of countless magic cannons was unleashed,
and a black flash that seemed to tear space itself apart filled the arena's gloom with a blinding darkness.
Let's get this party started.