Chapter 723 - The Selfish White Who Smiles on the Silver Screen, Part Seven
"—Nnyoheai?!!?"
After more than three minutes of silence had filled the stage, what suddenly pierced the ears and blinded the eyes of the entire audience was the ridiculously grand signal for the opening act.
It was no wonder that the announcer, who had been trying to fill the dead air with a desperate, half-crying monologue, let out a shriek of surprise at the unannounced thunderous roar.
After all, the moment the prison of layered stone pillars instantly shattered into dust, even the [Sword Queen] sitting beside her had widened her eyes, if only slightly.
Therefore, that was a perfectly normal reaction for a non-combatant, a representative of the common folk. And so, while a similar astonishment washed over the audience seats—
"Oh boy… what did you do, senpai?"
Amidst the debris of the stone prison that had exploded outward, two shadows separated to opposite ends of the stage.
One of them, Tetra, looked at the 'Silver' figure crowned with a distorted diadem that looked like a collage of colorful stained glass. His usually cool expression was gone, replaced by a twitch as he spoke.
And the other. Iris's eyes followed the 'White' figure, crowned with the now-familiar split diadem… and she was, as if inevitably drawn to it, utterly captivated.
"……………I don't know, but…"
While the rest of the venue was awash in amazement, confusion, and questions, she alone—with an expression that only she could make, one that recalled the past—
"He's making a familiar face."
—spoke. And in that instant, on the screen,
The two figures of similar 'color' charged at each other with all their might, and all sense of normalcy vanished from the stage.
"H-Haeh… w-whaaeeeeeh…………???"
And so, [Colorful Beauty], who began to let out weak, mysterious cries,
"Whoa…"
And so, [Undying], who watched on with a face of undisguised astonishment,
"…, …"
And so, even the famed [Sword Queen]… could do nothing but watch that scene unfold. In other words, there was no one present who could follow this from the sidelines.
'Water'—it was no longer on a scale that could be described with such a simple word. The force being unleashed, as if to cover half the field, was a tidal wave akin to the 'sea.'
The devouring clash of 'earth' and 'sea.'
And… against that backdrop of a hellscape resembling the end of the world, two inhuman figures clashed repeatedly.
The gold and silver, or perhaps violet, light dwelling in their eyes, and the enhancement effects cloaking their bodies drew contrails, but the range and density were anything but ordinary. From one end of the stage to the other, no matter where you looked, the space was filled with the lingering trails of their countless exchanges.
What in the world was this—
"…Hey."
"…Mm."
"Can you see it?"
"Barely."
And so, the words exchanged between two rankers, the polar opposites of ordinary people—one from the 'East' and one of the 'Strongest'—were more than enough to describe the current state of the stage.
Having gained conviction from that confirmation, the former let out a smile of utter resignation…
"Well, this is hopeless then—I think everyone should just enjoy the atmosphere."
"Mm… Let's have them provide atonement, I mean, commentary, during the highlight reel later."
As if giving up on their duties, the announcer deferred to the audience, and Iris showed her agreement. After that…
The members in the announcer's booth, their purpose lost, abandoned their commentary and fell completely silent.
◇◆◇◆◇
""—ORAAAAAA!!!!""
In less than thirty seconds, we clashed for the who-knows-how-many-th, dozens-th, hundreds-th time.
As a club shot toward my brow with enough force to shatter my face and kill me, I swatted it away with a backhand while simultaneously throwing a counterpunch at her face with my free hand, loaded with everything I could muster.
But the target vanished, and my right fist cut through empty air. The shockwave it released took the surrounding storm of magic bullets with it, dissolving them into the void.
Then, directly above me.
With my eyes wide open and my thoughts accelerated tenfold, my predictive abilities had already detected the incoming threat. At this point, I didn't even flinch. I just smoothly and casually back-stepped, instantly teleporting about twenty meters away. A moment later, a ridiculously sized rock stake slammed into the ground with a tremor.
It was an absurdly chaotic mess, but whether it was thanks to my thorough mental simulations beforehand, or because my ridiculous clutch performance in real battles—which often makes me wonder if I'm an idiot—was kicking in…
Not bad. I was getting into the groove—and, behind me!!
""—!!""
One spinning strike, another clash. We were two people who had cast off all our shackles and surrendered ourselves to a rampage; two people who, having come full circle, were now trying to beat the crap out of each other with extremely precise movements guided by strangely calm minds.
The moment my drawn jade blade and her diamond staff met, an even more ludicrous shockwave erupted, scattering the 'water' and 'earth' that served us both.
And of course, to prevent our own bodies from exploding from the intense impact, we were both thrown back by the recoil…—clash, clash again, clash a third time.
Clash, clash, clash, clash, slam, slam, slam, slam, slam, slam, just relentlessly smashing our own selfish wills against each other.
I was smiling (having fun). I had no idea about her.
I felt like she might be smiling, but she also just looked royally pissed. Considering she had activated her 'Crown,' which she had consistently avoided using in public, the latter was highly likely.
Was it natural to assume she was furious at her cheeky junior's unfiltered tirade? Well, whatever. This was way too much fun, anyway.
The authority of the unique title 'Screen,' through its enhancement effect [Vollin-Rafted (Conductor of the Finale Leading to Ruin)], was a simple add-on enhancement that expanded the operational methods of her Anima.
It could only be described as the 'removal of restrictions,' allowing for the simultaneous screening of her strange Anima, [Invertia]. In other words, the field where [Screen] and I were currently rampaging had the rules of three different programs applied to it.
One was [Zel Celeste Zeatese (March of the Innocent Fool)], which enhanced—or rather, sent berserk—our 'status.'
Two was [Al-Angasha Apolicim (Blood Dance that Scatters Heroes' Blossoms)], which sent our 'skills' berserk.
And three was [Hel-Hekaritu Heistio (Song of Decadence Drunk on Mad Symphony)], which sent our 'magic' berserk.
And you can assume that the usual penalty of sealing the other two programs is not in effect—so that's the current situation. A genuine, full-power, lawless festival.
All stats were more than doubled. Skills had vastly increased power and effects, plus drastically reduced cooldowns and costs. As for magic, it was the same as before…
"—[Water Enchant]."
The blue light dwelling in the rabbit dagger I drew transformed it beyond a greatsword into something resembling a colossal tower, and it slashed and crushed the massive stone pillar that approached from the front. My magic was not, in fact, the same as before.
My previously sealed [Water Spirit's Blessing] skill was not only released from the singular effect of the 'Song of Decadence,' but it was now also getting the berserk buff from the 'Blood Dance.' Multiplication upon multiplication upon multiplication had turned it into something truly insane. To be blunt, it was uncontrollable.
However, its output was so ridiculously broken now that just randomly spraying it around did the job. If it could wear down her barrage through sheer volume—
"Tch…! Don't you dare adapt to this on your first try, you bastard!!"
"I'm trying my damnedest! Praise me for it, senpai!!"
—I could slip through the gaps and go for the punch.
I threw my fist, swung my blade, hurled my words, and carved a smile onto my face—Ah, this is fun. Yes, so much fun. You've got to be kidding me. Where in any of this is there room for boredom?
You should have gone looking for me.
Or not me, specifically, but someone to play with. If you're not interested in fighting, that's fine. Then you should have tried seeking out someone you could roughhouse with like this.
Even if not with fists, then an opponent you could trade barbs with without holding back.
Listen here, you bastard [Screen]. I'm going to be me, for my own sake, and slam you with my 100% self-centered, annoying-little-shit, selfish moves!!
"Since we're in a world of dreams, after all—"
"…!"
"—Whether you're selfish or not, the one who dreams is the one who's right!!"
Complaints and dissatisfaction can go to hell. We have the right to seek out fun.
"Gah—!"
I pierced the great shield of rock that rose to block my attack, and my right fist connected with silver… but she, too, was in the midst of this lawless vortex, her thought acceleration skill constantly active just like mine.
So there was no way she couldn't react in time. It was within my expectations that she'd block my punch with her staff at the last possible second—but,
Of course, it was a [Sextuple]. It wasn't the kind of power you could block head-on.
And so, [Screen] was sent flying like a piece of scrap paper… however, despite taking a hit that should have been excessive overkill against a player, she only lost about 20% of her health.
With her stats enhanced, her avatar's durability was more than doubled, and with her skills enhanced, her defensive cards must have had insane performance. That made sense.
Meanwhile, my base VIT is non-existent and I have few defensive skills, so even with the multipliers, I'm probably only as sturdy as thick cardboard right now—but anyway, that aside.
This incredibly fun stage of the silver screen, one I wished could last forever, was naturally and unfortunately time-limited. This dream made real was limited to a mere ninety seconds, with only a third of that remaining.
And in thirty seconds, no one will be left—when the curtain falls, the performers simply exit. Those who agreed to take the stage are subject to a forced death when the effect ends.
Of course, I refuse to accept such a conclusion. Which is precisely why… hey, you get it, right?
"Come on, senpai, let's have some fun—'It is not a sword forged by a god.'"
"Tch, damn it…—'The earth that tempts the heavens is a single star.'"
With thirty seconds left, let's fight with all our might.
[Trickster of Zenith] and [Vollin-Rafted (Conductor of the Finale Leading to Ruin)]. Birds of a feather to the extreme.