Chapter 189: Squeezing in Four to Run from Five

Author's Preface

I cleared the story of Xenoblade Chronicles 2; it was a breath of very fresh air. In exchange, I basically didn't participate in the Splatfest at all.

Clam Blitz... ugh, my head.

Today is the exciting seafood tour! During the day, they aren't fresh while they're moving, but they drop fresh materials when you defeat them—it's not strawberry picking, it's zombie picking!

"So the rare enemy is Kaisen-Oh! Hahaha, this is amazing, this time it's a massive amount of fish clinging to an anglerfish!"

I've heard that female anglerfish absorb the males and all that, but an anglerfish that absorbs entirely different species is way too terrifying. Chimeras are supposedly mutants, but is it really okay for them to just pop up this casually...? No, it's a rare enemy after all, so this level of encounter rate where it only shows up occasionally is probably normal.
United Rounds is insane, the rare enemies in that game seriously have the spawn rate of a mythical cryptid, so hundred-man cannibalistic free-for-alls constantly break out just for a single rare enemy.

Mood-wise, it feels like a Musou game; the Aspiring Blades of the Hero—which wouldn't be an exaggeration to call an effectively indestructible object—is racking up an extraordinary kill score.
I don't even have the time to check the names of the items dropping anymore, I'm just tearing apart the inexhaustible waves of Fishmen and tossing them aside, tearing and tossing... Mermaids take 100% damage once you land a clean hit to their face, so the matchup itself is easy, but it still hurts that they have the advantage of being up in the air.

"Out of the way, Twin-Tails!"

"Sunraku-san, you're kicking them away without mercy even though their top halves are shaped like humans, you're as unhinged as ever desu wa!"

"Right now, in my eyes, they just look like flying punching bags! Take this, Ponytail!"

A person can only truly get serious when they're fulfilling their own desires, and right now, in an MMO with no actual end goal, my desire is to line my pockets!

"Fuhaha, fuhahahahahahahaha!!"

You with the long black hair! You with the blonde twin-tails! And you with the airy silver bob! Perish and become materials for me to cash in!!

"I occasionally think this, but... aren't I traveling with something not quite sane?"

"It's o-KAY, he's just like a pred-ATOR. There's no right or wrong in eating PREY, it's instinctive be-HAVIOR."

Hahaha, hilarious, an NPC is lecturing me on a player's thought routine.

The seafood tour never ends! During the day, it was just a mindless chore of playing a Musou game against rotten fish, but the night is different! This time, it's a wild rampage against fresh, lively fish that aren't rotten anywhere! Actually, they're going on a wild rampage too, so it's a total thrill ride!

"I-Is that the mother of the shooting-type Kaisen-Oh from earlier!?"

"That's a Slavgiven Carrier-Angler! Are you seriously going to challenge that!?"

With Emul on my head practically in tears, we gaze up at the powerful presence looming in the sky above us.
The Giga-Oarfish, Arctus Regalecus, was like a train.
The Killer Whale Bastard, Atlanticus Repnorca, was a monster that felt like a tank mixed with a fighter jet and the main cannons of a battleship.
If that's the case, what should the Slavgiven Carrier-Angler be compared to? Hahaha, just looking at it tells you the answer.

"Hey there, mother of the shooting-type Kaisen-Oh! Your kid was absolutely delicious!!"

"I knew it, this person's brain might actually be broken..."

"Hey Emul, I've heard there's no part of an anglerfish you throw away, so does that mean it'll drop a massive amount of materials?"

"Your brain really is broken desu waー!?"

One massive singular entity, and a massive swarm serving it. From the mother ship—which isn't quite as large as Arctus Regalecus but still has a massive vertical length with added horizontal girth—Carrier Aircraft (Fish) bearing the strange markings of odd parts are being launched, baring their fangs at us.
Oh yeah, what else do you call something built like this other than an "Aircraft Carrier"?

"Araba, how strong is that reverse-harem anglerfish?"

"...Not as strong as the King of the Deep, but conversely, they say the only things capable of beating that are the King of the Deep or the 'Forest of the Sea'."

I see. I'd love to check out that Forest of the Sea today as well, but... well, I won't ask for too much. I have a boss fight coming up, so I'll let it slide with just the mother's materials.

"Look at that, the materials are coming right to us. If they're an aircraft carrier, we're a torpedo squadron of Destroyers. Want to try out some fitting battle cries?"

Take aim... Fire!!

"Oof... Mornin'..."

"Are you perhaps not a morning person, Sunraku? You were like this when we met in Fifticia too, though..."

"Nah, it just took a while to sink the aircraft carrier..."

"Are you talking about a different game?"

Believe it or not, this is a ShanFro story. Emul and Araba passed out from exhaustion, but I've got a boss fight coming up right now.
I only took a weak hit of caffeine so I can't say I'm at 100%, but if I start going all out right now before the seventh day, I definitely won't last.

"So, is this the result of snapping her back to her senses?"

"I tried my best, but unfortunately..."

"Ahaha, ufufu."

She has a massive grin on her face.
Rust, who is usually the quiet and stoic type, has her cheeks completely slackened with a wide, beaming smile. Even a baby who doesn't know the harshness of this world would have a slightly more refined smile than that.

"No seriously, yesterday was so rough... She started saying things like she was going to go on a muscle-training journey so she wouldn't die before the sequel came out."

I understand the feeling, but it's an emotion I don't really relate to. Trash games are usually only discovered after someone else has already passed judgment on them, so eagerly anticipating a release is a rare occurrence in itself. Well, if I had to name a similar feeling, it'd be waiting for a mail-order trash game to arrive.

"Is she going to be useful like this?"

"I'm fine. I'm going to do VR training to prepare for the coming day of destiny. So I'll go all out without holding back in ShanFro, and in the previous game too."

Rust says this with a massive smiley face, but my questioning gaze asking "Is she really going to be okay?" is directed at Mold instead of her.
The response was an incredibly ambiguous, strained smile... but well, it'll probably work out somehow. Our current strategy team is completely made up of players, so we can die without any hesitation.

"The place we're heading to now is the southern tower of Ruluiath... the 'Conch Shell' that completely nullifies all long-range attacks."

Though I haven't actually seen it myself; Rust and the others are the ones who confirmed it. We don't even have solid proof of its nullification conditions yet. We're partially going to test that, but our absolute must-do objective is taking down the Sealed General.

"I don't have any effective attacks against the remaining 'Barnacle' or the 'Married Fishmen'. If I can't deal damage, I can't draw aggro, so I'd literally just be there to make noise."

If I really tried, it's not like I couldn't act as a defensive tank, but the resource consumption is way too intense to justify wasting on mid-bosses.
There's also the final resort of the "Human Tank Strategy" where I stick a Turret (Emul) on my head and run around, but there's very little reason for me to be the one underneath...

"I could probably serve as an attachment part for Emul and charge in, but I think I'll be leaving both the 'Barnacle' and the 'Married Fishmen' up to you guys."

"Understood, let's head out to conquer the Conch Shell then. Come on Rust, snap back to reality."

"Haaa~ The air is so tastyyy!"

"........."

Is this girl really going to be okay?

I review the operation details.

The target provisionally named "Conch Shell" possesses the ability to completely nullify all long-range attacks, regardless of whether they are magic or skills.
Therefore, getting into point-blank range for an in-fight is absolutely essential to defeat it, and for this operation, your humble servant Sunraku will be handling the roles of main attacker and aggro magnet.
Rust will remain on standby at long range, looking for openings to close in and attack with her bow from point-blank range.
Mold is on support duty for Rust. If he gets too close to the Conch Shell and accidentally draws aggro it'll be a massive pain, so basically Mold will solely focus on supplying buffs to Rust and won't involve himself directly in combat.

"The operation name is... 'Clam Digging'."

"I'm pretty sure conches aren't clams..."

"Mold, the small details don't matter. It's a trivial issue, don't worry about every little thing."

Team Nephilim Hollow, moving out. The three of us ready our weapons and infiltrate one of the remaining three towers.

"............"

"I see, a 'Conch Shell', huh."

Well I'll be. Clionea technically had a human shape until it opened its buccal cones, but it seems like all the Sealed Generals are generally humanoid.
I fought a robot armor dressed as a Japanese-style samurai before, but this guy is the exact opposite, strongly bearing the traits of a Western knight. Even though it uses a lot of seashells overall, the most prominent feature is definitely the massive conch shell completely encasing its head.
I was totally expecting something like a turban shell or something along those lines, but no matter how you look at it, that's...

"An Ammonite, huh."

"Rust hesitated to definitively call it an Ammonite because 'it might be a Nautilus', so we just went with Conch Shell..."

"You guys sure get hung up on weird details... well whatever, if it's humanoid, anti-personnel skills will work."

The Ammo-Knight readies its stance, dual-wielding a slender sword reminiscent of a rapier—where the spikes of a turban shell have grown incredibly long—and a cutlass that clearly looks like it was made by human hands.
A dual-wielding showdown, huh? Sounds interesting, Ammo-Knight. Dual-wielding different weapon types has a high romance factor, but that's exactly why it only shines when you use it at the last possible second. I'll teach you that boss characters don't get any special buffs just for using it right from the start of the battle!

"Just like the plan, I'll keep him occupied."

"Are you sure? Even as an evasion tank, with your defense..."

That's a very valid concern, which is why I reply with a smile.

"Compared to a far more troublesome Humanoid Enemy, a guy on this level isn't even a threat."

Now, let's begin the subjugation.

Author's Afterword

• Slavegiven Carrier-Angler
  Domination Monster
  Water/Dark
  Sprays a special pheromone to take in males of other species.
  The taken-in males are turned into familiars by the bodily fluids pumped into them from the mother!

By the way, the reason Emul was half-crying is because Sunraku fast-talked her into using her random encounter ability.
A Sweet Scent [*1] user, perhaps?

Translator's Notes

• *[1] Sweet Scent user: A reference to the Pokemon move Sweet Scent, which can be used outside of battle to force wild encounters. Sunraku basically used Emul to forcefully spawn the rare monster.