Chapter 108: The Lion Goes All Out Against the Rabbit, the Crab Brings a Pizza Cutter Against the Phoenix

"What the hell did you do...!?"

After the victory result screen, Rust approached me as I returned to the entrance, almost grabbing me. Beside her, Mold stood frozen in shock; it seems these two haven't yet comprehended that they were defeated so easily.

"I could reveal it now, but wouldn't it be more fun to solve it yourself?"

Shaking my kettle head, I declare a rematch to Rust & Mold without hiding the feeling of superiority welling up from the bottom of my heart.

One win, one loss, one draw... Finally even. The previous battle was basically pushing a "first-sight killer" gimmick; it's a bit unsightly to call it a victory.

"Mold, was it? You should know what I did, right?"

"...Vaguely, yes."

"Mold, what does that mean...!?"

Mold probably understands vaguely who really fell for the trap set by Fiddler Crab.

The Phoenix has already fallen. However, given another chance, Rust, temporarily forgetting the humiliation of being on the receiving end of the arrogance only allowed to winners, carefully searches the surroundings with the Crimson Twinewing she boarded again, and asks Mold.

"Tell me, what exactly happened?"

<<...At that moment, the instant Rust launched a melee attack. Fiddler Crab used a 'Jamming Sensor'.>>

"Jamming Sensor... That industrial waste that only fudges your coordinates?"

I see. Combining Optical Camouflage, which makes you visually disappear, with a Jamming Sensor that deceives sensors might allow escaping recognition in this game.

But even so, it doesn't make sense. At that moment, the Crimson Twinewing, which slashed predicting the movement from the propulsion effect, suddenly stopped as if bound, had its limbs cut off without being able to resist, and was destroyed by having its chest crushed.

What on earth happened? The only ones who know are the other players observing from a third-person perspective, the Culprit (Sunraku) who did it... and Mold, who holds a position infinitely close to a third-person perspective on the battlefield.

<<...Simply put, in the instant the enemy's position became unknown due to jamming, Fiddler Crab circled right behind you.>>

"...Impossible. If it circled behind Crimson Twinewing from that position, booster effects would definitely appear. The possibility of walking on the ground is also impossible."

Jet Legs do not have ground walking capabilities. They are units that constantly hover in the air by consuming energy, gaining the terrain advantage of always being airborne at the cost of energy reserves.

Therefore, to circle behind, firing boosters is essential, and Rust is not one to overlook that.

(............Wait, Moving without showing effects?)

The battle begins, and while flying in Crimson Twinewing, Rust thinks.

Propulsion effects are flames, visualizations of heat in game terms. Which means if there is a movement method that doesn't rely on fire or heat, the danger of location identification via effects disappears.

(No way...)

"Mold, I figured out the trick to invisible movement."

<<Eh?>>

"If my prediction is correct..."

Leaping into the ruins of a street opened wide vertically, Crimson Twinewing locks on to Fiddler Crab standing quietly there and opens fire.

As if reproducing the previous game, Fiddler Crab's figure disappears, and the effects emitted from the jet legs cut off.

"There is only one type of Aerial Movement in this game that generates no effects when moving...!"

Firing a volley from the gatling below the hovering Crimson Twinewing, towards where debris slightly rose, finally reveals the hiding Fiddler Crab.

<<G-Gravity Float Legs!? Why, it should have been Jet Legs... N-No way!>>

"The new Nephilim type implemented in the update two weeks ago... Disguise Twin Legs (Gisou Soukyaku), that's the trick behind Fiddler Crab disappearing...!"

"Oh my, busted."

Well, I didn't think the same trick would work twice from the start, and besides, the first-sight killer performance of this Fiddler Crab is merely the tip of the iceberg.

Even so, this Disguise Twin Legs type Nephilim has truly interesting performance.

"Not a four-legged humanoid upper body like a centaur, but a type that literally 'Switches' legs..."

The lower body rotates on a vertical axis, and the two legs folded on the buttocks switch with the primary legs, allowing equipping two types of legs and up to four leg armaments. Truly broken performance... or not quite, showing it's a well-adjusted Good Game.

First, purely due to increased weight, mobility dies. Equipping large boosters can cover mobility to some extent, but due to the bulk, ultra-high-speed maneuvering like Kingfisher is impossible.

Next, fuel efficiency. This is worst-level bad, so obvious it would be strange not to understand.

After all, allocating energy to the switching function on top of two pairs of legs consumes energy like crazy.

That's the reason why it's not used much, despite being recently implemented.

So, I decided to swing to the opposite extreme. Don't think about energy efficiency from the start. Load all the weapons I want and aim only for a short-term battle.

This Fiddler Crab has the decisiveness to empty its energy in one minute if all weapons are fully activated. But in exchange, once the prey enters range, it absolutely won't let go.

"Now, what will you do, Crimson Twinewing?"

After a brief stalemate, the action Crimson Twinewing chose was... Acceleration. It seems she chose to observe while inducing a response from me, rather than observing from a distance.

Against Crimson Twinewing readying dual blades and sweeping with shoulder-mounted gatlings, I also choose the move to approach.

Rotating the lower body, mode-changing to Jet Legs, dodging the raining gatling fire with minimal movement, I boost with momentum as if spilling energy.

Terrain advantage is theirs, hidden hand is mine, game experience is theirs. In that case, the element needed for me to surpass Rust is...

"Skill to corner into a sure-kill situation...!"

Activating Optical Camouflage again. Against the disappearing Nephilim, Crimson Twinewing responds calmly.

Jamming Sensor with intentional lag. For a few seconds, I vanish from Crimson Twinewing's, from Rust's world of recognition.

Changing legs to Float Legs. Silently and boldly, I approach right in front of Crimson Twinewing, and intentionally deactivate Optical Camouflage myself.

Sensor interference by Jamming Sensor is canceled by performing an attack.

She knows that too; the readied dual blades are probably vigilance against the attack she took in the previous battle.

That's why I reveal myself. Appearing not from the bushes where attention is directed, but straight in front, is the standard monster tactic in horror games, and being standard means it's effective.

"Whether you dodge or intercept... that place is Outside of Range and Inside of Range."

The [Bookmaker] equipped on the right arm is the main weapon and simultaneously a shield hiding the left hand.

Against Fiddler Crab's sudden appearance and the act of revealing its own position, Crimson Twinewing raises the dual blades without disturbing its behavior; it seems she noticed.

The positional relationship between Crimson Twinewing and Fiddler Crab is an awkward distance: too far to hit with melee weapons, too close for mid-range weapons to hit effectively.

Should she close the gap created between the two machines or not? Crimson Twinewing, not grasping the full picture of Fiddler Crab, must judge instantaneously whether it is a trap.

On top of that, dodge? Intercept? Distance at full speed? Retreat while attacking? Slamming all options against her, Attacking the player controlling the machine, not the machine itself.

However, she would deal with just this easily. That is precisely why... Fiddler Crab's hunt starts here.

"I verified the specs of this game yesterday...!"

I fire the Capture Net equipped on the left leg of the Float Legs side, which physically stops the opponent's movement for a few seconds.

The fired warhead opens, and the net made of reinforced wire expands like a flower blooming, leaping at Crimson Twinewing.

The net's projectile speed is faster than Crimson Twinewing's boost. In that case, the only option is to dodge while retreating up, down, left, or right.

And the moment the irregular maneuvering, the true value of Crimson Twinewing, is used for evasion—in terms of time, almost simultaneously with firing the Capture Net—I fire a deflection attack... a so-called "Placed Attack," aiming at the place where the enemy will come so they hit it themselves.

The Capture Net's collision detection does not react to other attacks from the Nephilim that fired it.

In other words, the Stun Maser fired from the left arm using the Capture Net as a shield passes through the wire net and hits Crimson Twinewing directly as she enters evasive maneuvers.

"Honestly, I'm fatally weak against sensor-stacked long-range machines like 'King's Gambit'... but on that note, I'm terribly strong against close-to-mid-range machines."

Distance can be closed in three seconds. In five seconds, Fiddler Crab's "Pincers" finish the enemy.

The right arm's [Bookmaker] grabs Crimson Twinewing's neck and tightens giri-giri, activating the unit mounted on Fiddler Crab's back.

"Sorry. I named it Fiddler Crab (Shiomaneki), but... this guy has Three Pincers."

Back-Mounted (Remodeler Circular) Industrial Circular Saw (Saw) [Pizza Cutter Wing].

Fiddler Crab's firepower, where most attack means are "Anti-Super-Giant Nephilim Weapons," melts durability to 0 in five seconds even for heavy-weight machines.

Just like the previous match, the torn-apart Crimson Twinewing explodes, and I smile in the afterglow of having a winning record.

Author's Afterword
Q. In short, what did the protagonist do?
A. Nephilim Hollow is a Good Game, not a God Game, so there are game-like compromises here and there.
Attacks overlap at the same coordinates (firing a laser at your own missile won't destroy the missile, and if both hit, damage applies). Taking advantage of this, the tactic is to read the maneuver of Crimson Twinewing dodging using the Capture Net as a shield, hit with the Stun Maser, and tear apart with overkill firepower.
Strictly speaking, by slamming a torrent of information at Mold who relays info to Rust, forcing Rust to act on her own judgment, he restricted the opponent's actions to some extent.

Actually, Fiddler Crab is 70% disadvantaged against King's Gambit.
Stealth is meaningless, and it gets bullied from outside its range.