kscans

Chapter 40 - A Castle on Sand, a Throne in Flux, Part Four

"Ngh—?!"

The sound of a distant explosion was followed by a pillar of light that shot up into the sky. Before I could even widen my eyes, the battlefield began to change with terrifying speed.

First, the great serpent's demeanor shifted. The beast, which had been burning with rage, suddenly tensed up and began whipping its head around as if on high alert. It no longer showed any sign of its previous obsession with reaching the seventh scale, nor did it even seem to notice me standing nearby.

Next was the dust that had tormented me for so long. Not just the cloud clinging to the serpent, which had been the source of the damage, but all the sand whipping across the entire battlefield was blown away, clearing up as if scattered by the pillar of light.

And most importantly, the massive tower of flowing sand that served as the landmark of the [Great Flowing Sand Cavern] and formed the stage for this boss battle—it began to collapse.

"I did it... I think?"

With such a clear shift in the situation, even I could figure it out. Sora had likely succeeded in destroying the seventh scale.

And that meant—

"Alright... from here on out, I'm flying blind."

It meant that what came next would require complete and total improvisation.

First, I needed to quickly identify what pattern this post-gimmick phase would follow, and then—

"...Huh?"

As my mind raced, a questioning sound escaped my lips unconsciously.

The thing was, as the tower of flowing sand collapsed from the top down, a deep rumbling had echoed through the cavern, shaking me to my core. But... it's still going, isn't it?

Even though the tower of flowing sand has already crumbled into nothing.

"...The hell?"

In fact, this rumbling, this sensation of the desert itself vibrating—I recognized it. Having just recently experienced it while being chased, I couldn't help but remember.

Then, a cry echoed nearby.

I looked over to see the [Dusty Worm] cowering in fear, all of its overwhelming, kingly presence gone.

Something was very wrong.

I had expected that once all the scales were destroyed, a cutscene would trigger and the battle would end. Or perhaps the serpent would be significantly weakened, and we'd have to fight it again.

Both were common scenarios for battles against colossal bosses like this... but something felt off.

Arcadia had no background music. But right now, a certain BGM was blasting at full volume inside my head.

What was that song again...? Ah, I remember. It was from that rather gruesome...

"—monster panic movie, wasn't it?"

A scene so abnormal it could only be described as "the desert exploding." And from beneath it, red emerged.

Red, red, redredredredredred—a literal flood of countless dark, dried-blood red.

A massive swarm of [Desert Serpents] poured in, as if to close the circle of the now wall-less battlefield.

Their target was, by my estimation, a single point: the great serpent, which had finally started to scream in a frenzied panic next to me. I had no idea why they were so fixated on it, but one thing was certain in this situation.

And that was, at this rate, I would be crushed no matter what.

And that fate would befall someone else even sooner—someone who was closer to the center of the battlefield than I was—

"Ngh, Sora—!!"

She was likely at the spot where the pillar of light had erupted, roughly halfway between the center and the outer edge.

I unceremoniously tossed the straight sword I was holding into my inventory and kicked off the sand with all my might. The AGI I had poured excessive points into exploded underfoot, sending a massive spray of sand into the air.

The pillar of light was long gone, but I remembered its direction. As long as I ran in a straight line, my agility value meant it wouldn't take long.

The effect of Idaten was rapidly diminishing, and combined with the sandy terrain, I was at risk of tripping. If I were to slip at top speed, this fragile body of mine would be torn to shreds like it had been put through a grater—but I couldn't slow down now.

I cursed myself for freezing up, even for a few seconds, in the face of the emergency. Who would reach Sora's presumed location first, me or the swarm of moray eels? Honestly, it was going to be close.

"Nngh—dammit...!"

My super-high-speed dash, which covered several meters in a single step, was less like running and more like leaping. The unnatural gait, impossible in reality, was starting to mess with my brain's control the longer I kept it up.

Even with Idaten, five seconds. That was the limit I could control the top speed of my AGI, which boasted a value of 430 with equipment bonuses included—

"Gah—?!"

As if to say "I told you so," the heel of my foot dug into the sand at the wrong angle, and my posture shattered. There was no correcting it; a slip of a fraction of a second—in a motion far from a gentle tumble, my body was flung diagonally upwards.

In that instant, my thoughts went blank. This is bad, this is really bad, this is terrible—leaving my brain to spit out useless words, my body,

"—[Quick Change]."

...was already moving, almost automatically.

I summoned the [Distorted Iron Lump Hammer] into my empty hand and gripped it tight. The next moment, the full weight of the weapon, normally beyond my strength, registered. I grit my teeth and endured the intense shock, which felt like my arm was being ripped from its socket, and watched as my HP, which had been below twenty percent, was slashed by another seventy percent.

Pulled by a weight greater than my own, my wildly spinning body was forced into a single, arcing rotation—and—[Quick Change].

I stretched out my arm, summoned a dagger beneath my feet, and kicked off it with all my might to break free from the forced spin. My entire body screamed from the reckless maneuver, and my HP dropped even further—but I survived.

"YEAAAH!!"

I landed with enough force to send sand flying and immediately broke into a run again, forgoing any attempt to brake. The few seconds of lost time hurt, and honestly, I had no conscious idea how I'd pulled through, but I was alive and still running—good enough for me!

To reduce the risk of another accident, I lowered my leg turnover rate—in other words, I lengthened my strides and took fewer steps. It looked more like I was bounding than running now, but it gave me a sliver of breathing room for control without sacrificing speed.

Alright, I should be close by now... There she is! I'm here to save you, Princess!!

"Sora!!"

Even against the similarly colored sand, her golden hair shone brightly.

The situation was so sudden and overwhelming that the thought of running hadn't even crossed her mind. The girl, who had been standing frozen, staring blankly at the great tsunami of serpents, whipped around as if jolted by my voice.

"Ha-Haru-sa—what, what is that...?!"

Her eyes were spinning as she desperately pointed at the horde, but unfortunately, I didn't have time for a Q&A. I pushed her frenzy aside for later and reached out my hand as I ran up to her.

"—I'm counting on you!!"

Just that one phrase. Sora, whose ability to instantly grasp my intentions I trusted implicitly, responded in a flash once again.

"Ngh, [Spectate—"

I grabbed the small hand that clung to mine, pulling her into my arms. Whether it was due to the direness of the situation or the desperate look on my face, Sora wrapped her arms around me without a hint of shyness, and,

"—Ale]!!"

...without hesitation, she played her trump card.

I paid no mind to the phosphorescent glow that enveloped my body. I looked up and saw a writhing wall already before us. Contact was seconds away—

"Hold on tight!!"

"...Ngh!"

The feeling of her pressing against me, her warmth—I'm sorry to say, but I was in no state to appreciate it. Holding Sora tight as she clung to me, I unhesitatingly leapt into the air.

An AGI value of 430. With the twenty-percent boost from [Spectate Ale], my actual value was over 500. For comparison, the fastest of the top players currently pushing the boundaries of the game had a value of around 350. In simple terms, my stats were a monstrous 1.5 times theirs.

Our bodies soared high into the air, the force of our takeoff blasting away a huge chunk of sand—and we were easily clearing the top of the tsunami-like horde.

"We're fly...ing!!?"

A cry of surprise erupted from Sora in my arms. Of course she'd be surprised; I was shocked myself.

"Are you serious...?!"

Somehow managing to control my body after it had jumped to a completely unexpected height, I held Sora tight to keep from dropping her—no, at this point I was practically hugging her—and let out a cry of my own.

Wait a minute, I just jumped at least twenty meters vertically! I have [Jumble Step (Jump Enhancement)], but I was expecting half that at best and was planning to use the serpents' heads as footholds—

"Tch, results are all that matters...!"

I was surprised, but we had escaped the immediate danger. The serpent tsunami wasn't that deep; if we just flew over it and landed behind them, we wouldn't be crushed.

"...Seriously, though, how are you supposed to beat this?"

I couldn't help but feel like I was doing something fundamentally wrong. I muttered in a daze, looking down at the hellish scene unfolding below.

"Ngh... ngh...!"

As we began to fall and the wind roared past, Sora let out a wordless cry in my arms. I had willingly launched myself into the air, but of course, it was terrifying to be flying and falling for a normal person.

"Sorry, Sora, I'm letting go with one hand."

Aerial jumping required at least one free hand. Sora clung to me even tighter without a word. I supported her with my right arm while contorting my body into a bizarre pose to summon a weapon beneath my feet.

After slowing our descent a few times, we landed on the sand, and I let Sora down. The girl crumpled to the ground, looking even more exhausted than she had when I'd first reached her.

"Yeah, my bad. I didn't expect to jump that high..."

If someone had picked me up and launched me twenty meters into the air without warning, only to drop me, I'd probably be in the same state—well, that is, before I learned how to aerial jump.

When I bowed my head in a sincere apology, Sora looked up and shook her head vigorously. The next moment, as she was about to open her mouth, she froze.

Her gaze was fixed on something behind me... Huh? Now that I think about it, it's gotten noisy back there—

"—Huh?"

A horrified expression I'd never seen before on Sora's face. Following her trembling gaze, I turned around and froze as well.

I'll say it again, and this time, I'm not asking—this is a monster panic movie.

There, where we were both staring in stunned silence—the great serpent was being eaten.