Chapter 207: Sharing the Same Heaven - Part 13

At that moment, my body moved reflexively.

"Like I'd let you escapeeeee!!"

Five seconds left until the next flash, and only one chalice remains. Are you kidding me, letting it use a healing action right as the purple light goes off after coming all this way!? Like hell I'll let that happen!!
Despite receiving a cool-sounding lore description and name, the absolute best weapon for dirty work among Sunraku Weapons, the Aspiring Blade of the Hero (Duxram) No. 1, was hurled forward with all my might. By the way, in the hierarchy of my armaments, Togetsu is at the top, followed by the Brilliant Scorpion Gauntlets (Gilta Brille).

Being simply sturdy just means you can abuse it as much as you want. Though it cannot reach the level of a hero, the brilliance of the blade reaching out pierced into the purple chalice as it was being lifted upwards while spinning. It was a desperate struggle akin to praying to RNG, but after repeating shuttle runs and throwing orbs (potions) for over ten minutes, it seemed the purple chalice had already reached its limit.
The Aspiring Blade of the Hero (Duxram) No. 1 dealt the finishing blow to the dam that had been holding back the flood, and the purple chalice released its light. But it wasn't the light that inverted damage into recovery; it was the light of collapse, brought about by losing the core that maintained its existence.

『Even if the world is completely transformed, your core remains unshaken. If that is so, do humans still swim through the sea of stars...?』

Poetry time. The next phase is here. I have absolutely no idea what it means, so I'll just memorize the contents for now while recovering the fallen No. 1.
With all the chalices destroyed, Ctarrnid had lost its eight-colored brilliance. However, despite Rei-shi and I launching attacks to draw its attention quite a few times, there were absolutely no signs that Ctarrnid's main body had taken any damage. Well, it's hard to imagine that Ctarrnid—a magical lifeform... no, perhaps it's more accurate to call it lifeform magic—would be affected by external damage. If that's the case, any external changes must be actions Ctarrnid is performing itself.

Its tentacles were folding up. I know it sounds weird to describe it this way, but Ctarrnid's tentacles, which had possessed an extremely organic octopus shape, were folding up three-dimensionally and linearly. Yeah, that's it. It looked exactly as if the modeling lines used to construct 3D graphics on a computer were being forcefully folded in on themselves.
Mass and physics were completely ignored. The folded tentacles overlapped in the exact same spatial coordinates, reducing a single tentacle—which should have been thicker and longer than those utility poles you rarely see nowadays—to half its size, then half again, until it was eventually completely absorbed into Ctarrnid's main body.

"If that were a normal octopus, it would be hilarious..."

"...Facing an octopus that can kill us just by twitching, it's pretty hard to laugh carelessly."

You get it, Rust. That's exactly right. When comical actions are backed by actual strength, fear and anger well up before you can even think to laugh.
An octopus without tentacles. It was an appearance that looked as if someone had stuck octopus eyes onto a circle drawn by someone completely incompetent at using a compass, but soon even those eyeballs sank into its torso. Ctarrnid ultimately became a black lump resembling a deformed apple, but it began squirming from the inside, its silhouette distorting eerily as if something were trying to burst out from the shell known as Ctarrnid.

『We have come far, far, so far. I do not know her homeland. My homeland was the sea of stars, my brethren, and her smile.』

"Long-form poetry has arrived!"

"Is this... its final form...?"

"No, let's wait and see, Rei-shi. I'm getting serious pupa vibes from it, so it might squeeze in one more phase before the final form."

The expansion of Ctarrnid's body abruptly stopped. And what came next was contraction. Ctarrnid's body didn't deflate; rather, it just compressed itself smaller and smaller, reducing only in size.

『Existing in this world, yet not of this world. There is no flesh upon my body, no bones within my frame, and no blood flows through my veins.』

"Well, it has no bones because it's an octopus, right!"

"Babuffuu!"

"Mold! Stay!!"

Akitsu Akane, don't just insert jokes via surprise attack like that, Mold's laugh threshold is way more sensitive than a normal person's.
Well, whatever. I highly doubt there will be any leeway to laugh during the Ctarrnid fight anyway. If you still manage to screw up, it's unfortunate, but we'll just have to ask you to do your best as a corpse.

"I-I'm fine, I'll take it seriously, so Rust, Sunraku, please stop looking at me like that..."

You see, the species known as gamers are absolute experts at addition and subtraction. If something gets in the way, they can subtract it without a shred of mercy, alright? I'm joking, Mold. Stop looking at me with the eyes of livestock that just realized it's being led to the slaughterhouse. There you go, good boy, good boy.

『If that is so, I shall make delusion reality, manifest as an illusion, emerge from fantasy to become imagination. Thus, precisely thus, I become the virtual and seek my blood and flesh.』

"Does that mean it wants to eat Yakiniku?"

"Akitsu Akane, stay."

That actually stimulated my laugh threshold a bit, that was close. However, the moment I saw Ctarrnid's transformation, I realized this was no time to be laughing. Placing Emul—who came running over with a panicked face, likely knowing it better than I did despite me having seen the real deal—on my head, I shouted to everyone.

"Everyone, ready your weapons! 360-degree vigilance!!"

If I had to compare it to something: a Collapsar that crumbled, unable to withstand its own power. A monster of gravity that swallows celestial bodies and devours even light... A Black Hole (Hole of Nothingness). Following its reduction and compression, Ctarrnid transformed into an eerie, pitch-black hole torn into the space itself, and dozens of magic circles deployed around it.
Since I'm not a Magic class, I couldn't comprehend the mechanics behind those magic circles. However, the distinctive light effects leaking from them felt intensely familiar. While they were strictly a bit different, the fact that they were almost identical meant the activated effects were likely similar. And that magic normally belonged to fragile monsters like Vorpal Bunnies or Cait Siths.

『Resist the surging waves of the lifeblood, for conflict is the very essence of life.』

Random Encounters. They were likely tuned specifically for Ctarrnid, acting as a genuine "Random" "Encounterer," and a quick count showed over thirty of them activating simultaneously.

Trash mobs were fishballs, strong mobs were left as is, and Chimeras were Kaisen-Ohs. What does that mean, you ask? It's a phrase describing the current hellscape.

"This is awful! It feels like a hunting game, a zombie game, and a fighting game boss battle all mixed into one!"

"We're going to die, die, die desu waaa!"

"Gaaah, save all your crying for Rabituza after this is over! Alright, time for a Mob Train!!"

As I—who had been fleeing in a straight line—leaped to the side, the Giga Oarfish, Arctus Regalecus, charged straight into the massive horde of rotten fishballs.
There's a term called a "Monster House." It's a type of trap in dungeon-exploration games where a massive amount of monsters spawn in a sealed room, and you can't leave until you defeat every last one of them. It comes in various forms—sometimes it's a lynching by several monsters higher level than the player, and sometimes it's an overwhelming wave of numbers from lower-level monsters that outnumber you tenfold. It seems Ctarrnid decided to graciously give us the best of both worlds.

I'll tentatively call it the "True Random Encounter," but thanks to the dozens of spells it activated, the Colosseum was completely buried under a massive horde of fish and monsters. And because the definition of their existence had been inverted, the fish had transformed into rotting, half-fishmen, while up in the sky, Arctus Regalecus let out a roar that an Oarfish absolutely should not be capable of producing, trying to lock onto its target.

"...What is this."

"It's the classic 'Call for Help' command!"

"...Understood. Mold, support me."

"Got it!"

It's incredibly helpful to have a partner who understands terminology from other games to some extent. Look at Akitsu Akane. Hearing my words and seeing the sight before her, she blurted out something completely off-key like, "Are they Ctarrnid's friends?" Well, I can at least praise her for actually continuing to move properly while saying it.

"Rei-shi! I'll hold the aggro of the big one! You clear out the trash mobs!"

Think about why Ctarrnid used the Call for Help command. Generally speaking, "Calling for Help" is something trash mobs do. While Boss Monsters sometimes summon subordinates or familiars, summoning them this indiscriminately feels out of place.
If that's the case, these monsters aren't walls. They are the "blood," "flesh," and "bone" it seeks. In terms of lore, Ctarrnid's lines are its monologue, but in terms of game mechanics, they are hints for the next gimmick.

Ctarrnid's poetry is cryptic, but it's spoken in modern language. If you break it down alongside the current situation, the answer becomes clear. Ctarrnid stated that it has no blood or flesh, and thus it seeks blood and flesh. Making delusion reality, manifesting from fantasy, passing through the virtual, and becoming imagination.
The important part isn't the meaning of the words, but the number of them. "Delusion," "Illusion," "Fantasy," "Virtual," "Imagination"... If we consider the octopus form from before returning Ruluiath to its correct position as the first phase, we can deduce that Ctarrnid has a total of five phases. In other words, its current state is the "Virtual Form."

"Emul, while I draw that thing's attention, deal with any trash mobs that get close. Also, finish them off completely if you can."

"Y-Yes sir."

Seeking blood and flesh, it summons a massive amount of blood and flesh right before its final form. Now then, let's slot in the final piece of the puzzle. Ctarrnid has been giving us hints this entire time.

『Advance with an unwavering heart. There is no height you cannot reach.』
To drag down Ctarrnid—who was positioned high in the sky—do not give up fighting just because it's out of reach. And true to its word, by intercepting every single tentacle, it descended to the ground.

『Discover the self you believe in. Even if the world is completely transformed, your core remains unshaken.』
Eight chalices. Eight lights. Even if your gender, vision, or stats are altered, your core remains unchanged. Whether I turned into a woman or had my speed swapped for sturdiness, by continuing to fight, every chalice shattered.

If that's the case, what did the line from just a moment ago... 『Resist the surging waves of the lifeblood, for conflict is the very essence of life.』 mean?
The surging waves of the lifeblood perfectly describe our current situation. The lives woven within this sea have gathered in one place and are attacking us. And the action it demands we take is "conflict," not "flight."
If you think about it calmly, it's obvious. Ctarrnid hasn't just transformed into a hole right now. It's transformed into a massive, wide-open mouth. The bastard ordered a Kaisendon delivery at the absolute final hour.

"Then what we need to do is already decided."

We have to reduce the amount entering its mouth to stop it from getting full. In other words, the Fourth Phase is a battle of how much we can shave down its combat power for the Fifth Phase.

Author's Afterword
I hinted at it in the main text, but Ctarrnid's phases do actually have proper names assigned to them.

• Delusional Form: Strictly speaking, this isn't Ctarrnid's main body, but rather a form born from the "perception" influenced by Ctarrnid. You engage in a suitably intense death match against a giant octopus that shouldn't actually be there, and then get suitably released. Araba's grandfather fell for this.

• Illusory Form: Ctarrnid's main body that appears before those who conquer the area gimmicks. From Ctarrnid's perspective, it's actually in a pretty relaxed state.

• Fantastical Form: Ctarrnid mimics its former appearance, entering a state where "it doesn't physically exist there as matter, but in terms of entropy and stuff like that, something is definitely there." It's essentially like a fully grown adult wearing their old high school uniform.

• Virtual Form: The butterfly breaks free from the pupa and dances.

• Imaginative Form: The feelings have obtained a tangible image. Come, challengers. Now is the time to bring your blood, flesh, and bone, and face me.