kscans

Chapter 319 - The Strong and the Organizer

Regardless of whether it would be effective, there was something I wanted to try if we were going to fight Yamata-no-Orochi.

Powerful enemies have all sorts of strategies to defeat them. It was unclear if a randomly appearing rare monster would have one, but when you think of Yamata-no-Orochi, getting it drunk with sake comes to mind.

It felt like there might be a gimmick where throwing sake at it would temporarily prevent it from attacking or put it to sleep.

Unfortunately, I couldn't make any sake right now. The Wine Brewing Kit was heavy, so I wasn't carrying it with me.

For Hayato, this was the height of regret.

So we were fighting it normally, but Yamata-no-Orochi possessed considerable strength. It was also doing things to raise the difficulty even further, so it could be called a formidable foe.

At the start of the battle, Maris's taming attempt had enraged Yamata-no-Orochi.

We could have just weakened it before trying to tame it, but Maris had said, "Taming a Yamata-no-Orochi with only one head is a little..."

If we had followed the plan, we would have defeated the heads one by one, so if we weakened it, it would be left with only a single head. We didn't know if the heads would grow back, so even if we could turn it into a pet, a one-headed Yamata-no-Orochi was something even those of us who weren't tamers were against.

Besides, Lunaria had puffed out her chest and declared, "Even if we make it angry, I'm even angrier, so don't worry," which led to the opening taming attempt.

And as usual, after enraging Yamata-no-Orochi, Maris was defeated in a single blow. It was an outcome we all saw coming, but seeing it enraged her comrades.

It might have been my imagination, but Yamata-no-Orochi seemed to be enjoying itself, soaking in the hot spring source. Seeing that made our side's anger explode as well.

There used to be a system created by Hypnos where an NPC's stats would improve based on their emotions, but that had been abolished, so there was no such stat boost. However, their anger seemed to give their movements more sharpness than usual.

And so, here we were.

"Agres! A breath attack is coming! Take it!"

"You don't think of me as some kind of shield, do you...? Hey, look over here!"

Though he sounded reluctant at Ash's words, Agres used a taunt skill to temporarily spike his Hate Value. As everyone retreated from Agres's vicinity, Yamata-no-Orochi's breath attack assailed him.

So far, Agres was likely the most valuable player.

Agres retained the characteristics of his dragon form even as a human. It was a trait that made him weak to physical attacks but nullified all attribute attacks. As far as Agres was concerned, no matter what attribute of breath Yamata-no-Orochi spat out, he wouldn't take any damage.

It also had physical attacks, so he wasn't invincible, but when it came to attribute breaths, there was no better decoy.

Our basic tactic was to hammer it with attacks in the opening after its breath.

Speaking of decoys, Maris and Surya were also playing an active role. The movements of Surya and Garland in particular were spectacular.

It was a fairly open area, so the duos of Maris and Lancelot, and Surya and Garland, were demonstrating their true potential as mounted tamers.

They were both flying around Yamata-no-Orochi at high speed, attacking to draw the Hate Value of the heads the others weren't targeting and luring their breaths in the wrong direction.

Until now, we had only fought in narrow spaces, so this was the first time Hayato had really seen Surya fight, and he was astonished by her movements.

(That's a fighter jet...)

Surya and Garland were toying with Yamata-no-Orochi with acrobatic movements. They repeated Hit and Away tactics, but their movements were so dizzying that even Hayato, watching from the ground, felt his head spin.

They flew around, attacking with movements that could be called stunts, like sharp dives out of turns, corkscrew flights, and slipping between the monster's necks, dedicating themselves to preventing it from attacking everyone else.

Maris and Lancelot weren't losing, but they weren't on Surya's level. Her movements were that refined.

(She must have natural riding skill. But did she learn it in the game?)

The game had a skill called Riding. It was a numerical value needed to ride pets and used to increase the attack power of the pet while mounted. It was a game mechanic. Actually controlling a mount required a certain degree of technique.

You wouldn't be thrown off unless you were hit by an attack that specifically dismounted you, but controlling it required real-world training beyond just the numbers.

To begin with, even raising the Riding Skill had a high hurdle, starting with getting on a horse, walking, stopping, and running. However, the NPC staff at the Tamer Guild would give you lessons, and it was said that if you got used to it, you could probably ride a horse in the real world.

Even so, Surya's riding was so incredible that it made you wonder what you would even need to do to be able to do that.

"Master, your hands have stopped making Melon Juice. Please hurry up and make some."

Esha approached Hayato, interrupting his thoughts with those words.

"Didn't your MP just fully recover?"

"I won't be firing Destroy again, but I'll be attacking for support, so I need the MP. Besides, I can't afford to lose to that Pat-sama's gun."

It seemed Esha felt a rivalry with Pat's gun, and she was more motivated than usual.

She wasn't losing, having blown off one of the heads with Destroy after it was enraged by the taming attempt, but Hayato thought she might have been inspired by Pat's precise shooting that supported everyone.

Her being motivated was a good thing, so Hayato started making Melon Juice as requested.

And while making it, he observed the other battles.

As always, Ney and Rosalie's coordination was excellent, and they attacked without getting in each other's way. They also moved as if protecting one another.

Besides those two, there was another pair fighting as a team.

Cecil and Simon.

"Ah! I remember now! You're that samurai I fought in the Clan War!"

"About time. Well, I'll count myself lucky you remembered at all. I'll have you know I haven't forgotten the frustration of losing to you."

"I had Noat's support back then! Let's have a mock battle next time!"

"I'd be glad to. Keep your afternoon free."

"You're not so bad!"

For some reason, they were getting along. Or perhaps their shared love for battle meant they were kindred spirits. While having such a conversation, the two of them were competing to see who could deal more damage to Yamata-no-Orochi.

And the ones who seemed to have plenty of leeway even in a fight against the strong Yamata-no-Orochi were Lunaria and Benitsuru. Each of them was handling one head.

"Whoa, Lunacchi, wasn't that move just now weird? How'd you dodge that?"

"Because I'm the Demon Lord. And Benny-chan, I think it's weird that you can parry that attack with a katana. And it's weird that you can slice through a breath attack. I can do it too, though."

"Maybe it's thanks to the katana Hayacchi made me!"

"For something Hayato-san made, I think it's incredibly dull. It doesn't look bad, though."

"That's just me! Thanks to this, I might have gotten stronger than I was back then! I'm seriously amazing!"

"...But I'm still stronger, you know. The Demon Lord is seriously insane, you know."

"Oh? You've got some nerve, Lunacchi! Alright, then let's have a contest to see who can contribute more! The winner gets treated to anmitsu!"

"Hmph, easy... but just one anmitsu. My allowance this month is already on the brink."

"I'm struggling this month too. Actually, I struggle every month..."

"I know, right?"

Lunaria and Benitsuru were fighting with a great deal of composure. It was undoubtedly reassuring, but I kind of wished they had a little more tension.

Their fighting styles were quite opposite. Lunaria would forcefully attack from any position, while Benitsuru would parry any attack.

Benitsuru was using the one-star Meitou Yatagarasu that Hayato had made.

It only had the performance of a normal katana, but it seemed to be no problem for defense, as Benitsuru effortlessly deflected attacks that seemed impossible to block.

And when she attacked, her movements weren't particularly fast, but she attacked Yamata-no-Orochi with fluid motions that had absolutely no wasted effort while dodging its attacks.

It was only Hayato's guess, but he thought it was probably a sword style focused on counters.

(How much stronger would she get if I gave her the five-star Yatagarasu...?)

The battle with his reliable comrades was by no means easy, but one by one, the heads were defeated, and with the final head down, they were victorious over Yamata-no-Orochi.

Everyone was cheering and saying, "Good work," but the real fun was just beginning.

The fun part after defeating a strong enemy is the drop items.

The moment it was defeated, drop items entered everyone's Item Bags, and they were checking them.

(Another controversial item...)

The drop item that entered Hayato's Item Bag.

It was the Ame-no-Murakumo. A divine sword also known as the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.

Its effect was to change its attribute to the opponent's weakness when attacking. It was an item that guaranteed a damage bonus against enemies with a weakness. The fact that its base damage was slightly suppressed was probably the developer's conscience at work. In this case, that would be Diite.

Naturally, the one who jumped at it during the drop item report session was Cecil.

"Alright! It's mine!"

"How did you come to that conclusion... That said, does anyone else want it?"

It would probably sell for a considerable amount of money, but it felt like a waste to do that. Besides, the other members all had their own beloved weapons, so no one wanted it.

The members of Kokuryu also said they didn't need it because they had weapons Hayato made for them, which made Hayato happy.

In the end, the conclusion was that it was fine to give it to Cecil.

"Then I'll give it to Cecil, but since you don't have an Item Bag, I'll have to give it to you when we get back."

Cecil had a demerit from God, Diite, that prevented her from using an Item Bag in exchange for removing equipment restrictions and allowing her to equip weapons in slots other than her hands. Her equipment slots were already full, so she couldn't hold a new weapon right now.

"You got it! Oh, right. Give me that Yatagarasu Benny's holding too. It looks cool, even if it's dull."

"Huh? N-No way! This is mine!"

"Fine. I'll pay you for it."

"Th-This is my treasure!"

Benitsuru held the Yatagarasu as if cradling it with both hands. And like a cat, she hissed at Cecil.

"Hayacchi made this for me, so I wouldn't give it up for any amount of money!"

"What, Hayato can make them? Then make me a five-star one."

"Don't say it so easily. I think that sword is something Benny-chan, the princess of the Eastern Country, should have, so I won't make it for anyone else. Besides, I promised I'd give Benny-chan a five-star Yatagarasu someday."

If he thought about strengthening his forces or making money, he should probably mass-produce them, but on an emotional level, Hayato didn't want to do that.

"H-Hayacchi...!"

As if moved by Hayato's words, Benitsuru, with tears in her eyes, tried to hug him. But Simon stopped her. Her movement was incredibly fast.

Lunaria, who had been listening to this exchange in silence, drew Arondight from its sheath.

"Harassing my best friend... It seems the day has come to settle things with you, Cecil-chan. You should think about what words to carve on your grave. If you can't think of any, I'll carve 'The Demon Lord is the greatest'."

"Oh! You wanna go?! Alright, let's have another round!"

"Later. If you cause trouble, I'm not giving you the Ame-no-Murakumo."

"Gunu... That would be a problem... Fine, I'll give up. I like the design, though."

"And you too, Lunaria-san, calm down. I know you're acting out of concern for your friend, but if you go on a rampage here, I'll tell Rosalie-san and have her reduce your allowance."

"Threatening the Demon Lord, you have quite some nerve. In light of that, I will let this go... so, please ask Rozacchi for an allowance increase for me."

"To begin with, Hayato has no right to do anything about Lunaria-sama's allowance, does he...?"

It was only natural for Rosalie to say that, but for some reason, her words made everyone around them start laughing, and the strange atmosphere was dispelled.

For the time being, the problem was gone, so Hayato wondered what to do next.

Should they fight Suzaku now or do it another day.

They had consumed a fair number of production items. Their equipment's durability had also decreased quite a bit. It would be safer to head back once.

However, considering everyone's strength, Hayato concluded that they would probably be fine fighting Suzaku as they were.

"Alright then, it'll be back-to-back battles, but let's fight Suzaku. Once that's over, we can get in the open-air bath, so let's do our best."

Perhaps they had forgotten about the bath, because Hayato's words seemed to remind them, and their spirits rose even higher with a chorus of "Yeahs!"

"Hayato-kun, you're good at inspiring everyone. And at organizing them. I don't think Ivan-kun could do this."

Diite said this as she looked at Hayato happily.

"It was just a coincidence."

He didn't intend to inspire them or anything, but it wasn't a bad thing that their motivation was up.

Besides, he hadn't done anything significant to organize them.

Cecil and the others were all a bit of a handful, but none of them were truly bad people, so Hayato thought they would listen if he just talked to them properly.

"By the way, there's no superior version of Suzaku, right?"

"Unfortunately, no. Unlike a normal monster, Suzaku is also an event boss."

It was unclear what difference that made, but he guessed it was a boss monster that would cause problems if its type changed.

After finishing their break, Hayato and the others aimed for the summit of Takamagahara where Suzaku awaited.