Chapter 156: Fear Not the Tyrant

"Good grief, I only stepped outside because those cursed fish were gone and I thought I could finally go search for my beloved blade, so why in the world am I facing off against an Atlanticus Repnorca with just the two of us...!"

"Personally, I can't comprehend the mindset of crossing right in front of that Atlanti-whatever Repno-whatever just to save some guy you haven't even known for a full day...!"

"I owe you a debt of gratitude for saving me!"

"Gotta respect the fact that you can declare that and execute it without a shred of hesitation."

Moving his tail that grew from just above his rear, Araba carried me as he propelled us through the air. Under normal circumstances, I would be fully enjoying this mid-air swim, but right this very second, a dual-attribute killer whale... a monster apparently called an Atlanti-whatever Repno-whatever, is chasing us in absolute Enrage Mode.
Well, if a fly buzzes around your dining table and just when you're about to swat it, a second fly shows up, of course you'd get pissed. That being said, by some twist of fate I managed to pick my life back up, but... this is a problem.

"Isn't it gonna be pretty damn hard to outrun that thing?"

"...It will be difficult, yes. The Atlanticus Repnorca is a monster that is practically a mass of fighting spirit, and no matter who the opponent is, once it decides to fight, it will continue to rampage until it finishes off its enemy."

The Crystal Scorpions were like this too, but do these guys seriously not understand the concept of "pulling out while you're ahead"? I know the saying goes that a lion uses its full strength even when hunting a rabbit[*1], but if you ruin your own body doing it, there's no point.

"...Sunraku, I'll kite it to the outer rim of Ruluiath and somehow make sure it leaves the area."

"Why is it gouged out so weirdly? It goes here, like this, comes this way, curves like that... Ah, I get it now... Alright, change of plans. We're gonna beat the crap out of that Killer Whale Bastard."

"What, even I can move swiftly if we're in the sea, I won't blunder so ea—Wait, what did you just say?"

"Huh? I said we're gonna beat the crap out of that dual-attribute killer whale right here, we're changing the Chart[*3]!"

Araba did a double-take at me with a dumbfounded expression, like he was looking at a sardine trying to pick a fight with a shark, but it's not like I'm saying we're gonna charge in without a strategy.

"Araba, dodge!"

"Uwoah?!"

"Looks like it lacks the energy for a second shot or any electrical discharge after firing that laser..."

"More importantly! Sunraku, did you just say you're going to defeat the Atlanticus Repnorca, defeat it!? Are you out of your mind! That's obviously impossible!!"

"Sorry, but I'm dead serious, look over there."

Since my right hand was being grabbed by Araba, I used the Aspiring Blades of the Hero in my left hand to point at the urban area below us, specifically the main street leading up to the tower I had just used as a test subject. Right there, a straight, slashing scar—likely burned and "sliced" by the dual-attribute killer whale's laser—was gouging out the path paved with blue stone.

"Listen up, that Atlant... too much of a pain, let's go with Provisional Name: Killer Whale Bastard. The place where it launched an attack at me is around that completely collapsed mountain of rubble, and the place where I intercepted it was that weirdly shaved-off house. What in the world would you have to do to gouge out a spot like that?"

"What on earth are you..."

"It's a simple science problem, how does light behave when you hit a mirror with it? Ctarrnid's ability is 'Inversion,' and if it can flip over pure concepts, then 'Reflecting' an attack in accordance with the laws of physics should be child's play."

Hypothetically, if that "gouge" was caused by the aftereffects of the Killer Whale Bastard's laser, this entire area should have been leveled into a vacant lot, or at the very least, if that beam had an aftershock capable of gouging out a road five or six meters below, my body would have vaporized a long time ago.
And as the biggest reason to deny that theory, if it was created by an aftershock, the gouge should have extended continuously from the point where the dual-attribute killer whale was stationed all the way up to the tower; I have no choice but to say that such a half-assed gouging pattern is utterly unnatural.
Furthermore, the straight, gouged-out scar gets shallower the closer it is to the tower, and gets deeper the further away it goes from the tower. If that's the case, there's only one possible explanation.

Namely, while that tower certainly didn't let any damage pass through, it didn't neutralize it either. I hypothesize that a "Reflection"—something that could be called a physical inversion—took place.
And the laser that landed a direct hit on the tower reflected just like light hitting a mirror, its direction inverting based on the angle of incidence, and the laser deflected downwards gouged the road deeper and deeper the further the reflected light traveled... if I think about it that way, it perfectly explains the current scenery and that weirdly gouged-out main street.

"And what does that matter! Don't tell me you intend to hit that thing with the Atlanticus Repnorca's attack and reflect it!?"

"Oh, ding ding ding, correct answer. Emul would have been panicking a bit more than that."

Oh, seeing him open and close his mouth like that makes him look a bit fishy.

"Listen up, it takes about twenty seconds for that guy to fire off that diabolical laser, so we're gonna kite it real nice and make it fire that thing right in front of the tower again. Only this time, dead straight."

Could this tower itself be a gimmick... nah, that's overthinking it. But at the very least, an object that "reflects" attacks has to be designed with the explicit premise of being exploited. I can think of at least three cheese strats off the top of my head; the fact that they specifically went out of their way to make it "Total Attack Reflection" instead of "Indestructible" means there is some kind of underlying intent.
This isn't the time to debate whether that intent is a trait of the combat field or a trait of the scenario. The enemy shoots a laser, and we have a means of reflection; as long as those two factors exist, a player can stand up against even a gigantic monster. And if you hype yourself up by making it sound cool for the time being, all the better!

"I don't care if it's a king or whatever, we've gotta challenge a 'Lord' where it's questionable if we could even win if we gathered all these things up and smashed them into it, so I sure as hell can't afford to be caught half-assing it with weak knees in a place like this!"

"...Understood, I will believe your words. What should I do?"

"Fishing."

"...Come again?"

There's this thing called lure fishing, right. It's that type of fishing that uses fake bait; since a lure is never going to be a living creature no matter how you look at it, when you're fishing you have to make the lure dance around with little twitches to trick the fish into thinking it's alive. It's the exact same principle, well strictly speaking it's different, but starting right now I'm gonna have Araba run for his life with everything he's got to trick that Killer Whale Bastard into thinking he's "acting together with me."

"I don't know the mechanics behind it, but you can swim through the air too, right? Basically, I need you to run away with everything you have until the flames covering its upper half ramp up in firepower... and it becomes capable of unleashing that attack one more time. While you're doing that, I'll head to the tower and adjust my positioning."

"Won't that be difficult? The Atlanticus Repnorca is clearly targeting you, so if we split up, it will most likely chase after you."

"I've got a little bit of a secret strat for that."

I am a man who learns from the past, and a man who gets stubborn the moment someone tells him no! I flashed Araba a fearless grin and told him it was a secret strat, but the truth is I'm only just about to test it out; still, there's absolutely no need to reveal that kind of behind-the-scenes reality to an NPC. Right now, the role I must play in this world is the fearless grin of the "reckless yet courageous pioneer standing against the Atlanticus Repnorca," not a smile that breeds anxiety.

"Listen, once I give the signal, I'm going to disappear. I'll probably be able to nail that Killer Whale Bastard right to the spot for a little while, so... if my secret strat succeeds, it should start targeting you next."

"You say it like it's nothing, but what do you mean disappear... No, I suppose this is not the time to be pressing you for answers."

"Alright, I'm gonna explain the strategy, first..."

At the end of the day, it's just an AI, and unlike a human, its thoughts and actions are nothing more than a facade of life driven by pure logic. That being said, this is Shangri-La Frontier we're talking about, and in this game where there are suspicions that they're using military-grade AI for their monsters, I can understand exactly what kind of feelings that Killer Whale Bastard is going through right now as if it were in the palm of my hand.
It's currently engaged in an intensely bitter struggle to exterminate a fly that slipped into its room, and its frustration is about to reach its absolute peak... I get it, I understand that feeling all too well. It's the exact same mental state I'm in when I'm being forced to play an endlessly repetitive, agonizingly boring mini-game. It's not like it's an obligation, and it's not like any severe penalties will trigger if I quit, but my own gamer pride absolutely refuses to let me select log out.
There was a guy similar to you up on the surface too, though the difference in strength is probably like heaven and earth... Meatheads of this specific archetype might be extremely difficult to control mid-combat, but manipulating them on a tactical macro level is actually relatively easy.

"Alright then, allow me to show you a Magic Trick[*3] courtesy of Sunraku-san, the man with the meathead physical build... Now, Araba!"

"I won't be held responsible for what happens to you!!"

Fleeing from the approaching Killer Whale Bastard, Araba released the hand that was gripping my arm. Naturally, my body continued to fly through the air out of pure inertia for a second or two, but by the third second, I began my downward freefall. In response to this honest movement—one completely bound by the laws of physics, unlike the evasive maneuvers I had been pulling off until now—it looked as if the Killer Whale Bastard's eyes practically gleamed.
As if deciding it absolutely wouldn't let me live any longer, the Killer Whale Bastard opened its jaws wide, closing in to completely pulverize me in a single bite. Araba was probably watching the moment of impact between me and the Killer Whale Bastard from a short distance away. You're gonna get so damn busy after this it'll feel like you're dying, so you'd better be getting into a crouching start position right about now.

"Well, I highly doubt I'm going to get an answer back... but let me just ask you one thing."

Falling Up[*4] with the wind rushing against my back in a way completely unthinkable for being underwater, I threw a question out to the Killer Whale Bastard that was only a few seconds away from engaging me. Now then, let the verification testing begin.

"Why is it that you guys are... able to 'wait in ambush' for me?"

Author's Afterword
As for the Reflection effect installed in the four towers, I think you'll vaguely understand the reason if you don't think of it as "Why is there such an effect in a place where a mid-boss is stationed?" but rather "Why is there such an effect on the towers existing in all four directions of Ruluiath?"
In reality, what the protagonist is currently doing isn't necessarily a detour either. After all, the juice poured into a cup won't decrease unless you drink it...

Translator's Notes

• *[1] Lion hunting a rabbit: A reference to the Japanese proverb "A lion uses all of its strength even when catching a rabbit" (獅子は兎を狩るにも全力を尽くす). It means a strong opponent shouldn't hold back or underestimate a weaker foe.

• *[2] Chart: The Kanji is written as "Strategy" (Sakusen), but the Ruby text reading is "Chart" (Chaato). In Japanese gaming culture, "Chart" is a speedrunning term referring to a meticulously planned route or sequence of actions. Sunraku is abandoning his old route and improvising a new one.

• *[3] Magic Trick: The Kanji is written as "Strange Technique/Sleight of Hand" (Kijutsu), but the Ruby text reading forces the English pronunciation "Magic" (Majikku).

• *[4] Falling Up: The Kanji is written as "Down" (Shita), but the Ruby text forces the reading "Up" (Ue).