Chapter 259: Naked Murder

A mortar-shaped field, a Tsuchinoko with arms extending from its mouth, dim visibility... If you line it up in text, it sounds like a setup for a tough battle, but actually doing it wasn't all that difficult.
The field-related detriments of slopes and inclines act as equal shackles for the enemy, the extending arms can be dodged as long as you're prepared for them, and it doesn't seem to have any attacks specifically utilizing the dim lighting.

That is exactly why I'm getting anxious. It's so excessively lukewarm that my vigilance only deepens.

There's no way a monster related to a Unique Monster could be conquered this easily. Its strange toughness gives it a boss-monster-like feel, but even so, dealing with it is way too easy.

"It has grabs, sweeps, and slams, but no projectiles... It looks kinda slimy, so I'll try to avoid direct contact."

Nine times out of ten, it's a multi-phase boss. That's fine. The problem is exactly how strong it's going to be.
When it comes to clones of Unique Monsters or kin created by them, the points of reference are the randomly encountered Lycaon clones or the Sealed Generals in Ruluiath.

The latter is still somewhat manageable, but in the case of the former, the difficulty of a Solo Clear skyrockets instantly. Or rather, it becomes a near-impossible game.

"I already promised I'd defeat it, after all... At the very least, running away isn't an option...!"

The swinging Konsho sent the Black Tsuchinoko's scales flying off its skin. A crisp sound, a crisp strike; solid feedback. The shattered scales scattered into the dim darkness and... crystallized.
In ShanFro, the item acquisition check triggers when you "hold or grasp" an item. I threw the Meiki—which currently has worse performance than Duxram—into the air and caught the crystal with my left hand.

"Let's see. 'Component Crystal: Goldunine Reptica 3'... Is that this thing's name?"

Somehow, it sounds more like a machine's designation than a living creature. Oops, sorry Meiki. If we safely clear this, your effect will no longer be industrial waste, so bear with it for now.

I bought a massive amount of healing items, but I ended up using quite a few of them on the way here to recover from the detriments of the Levin Trigger: Hazard.
Going for a "No Damage" run is obviously underestimating it too much, but I still have to minimize the hits I take.

"You left yourself open!"

Severing Slash, Sengoku Burai, Sword Dance [Spinning Blade], connecting from Persistand into Flowing Flash Dance.
A multi-hit combo that minimized stamina consumption caused flowers of visual effects to bloom. The writhing Black Tsuchinoko and the arm extending from its mouth... Ah, the fact that it isn't a tentacle but a human-like arm with bones and joints actually worked against it.
From that angle, it's surprisingly hard to swing your arm around!

"I don't care if it's the second phase or the third phase, I'm gonna force the transition and crush you!"

What's wrong, what's wrong! Isn't your response time a bit poor? Is it lag? Are you using a trash connection? Your reactions are two moves behind!

Even though I'm fired up, it's still incredibly tough. It is a boss enemy, after all. Or rather, it doesn't feel like my attacks are doing any damage to the Tsuchinoko part itself, so in that case...

"Ei."

Zan! (Attack on the arm)

Bushu! (Splattering mucus)

Juwawa... (The surface of Konsho begins to melt)

"Hoaaaa!?"

Seriously!? It drains weapon durability!? Dammit, even Duxram's critical effect probably wouldn't prevent this. If I wanted to play it safe, I could just hit the Tsuchinoko part with Duxram, but...
Looking at the arm flopping and writhing around with a bitan-bitan, it's glaringly obvious that it's the weak point... In other words, I either burn through my weapons' durability to keep hitting the arm, or I hit the Tsuchinoko itself where the damage is terrible but the durability drain is normal.

But too bad for you. This Konsho has an effect that recovers durability by consuming the user's HP!

"It's a battle of attrition over resources! Let's beat each other until we sink to the absolute bottom...!"

Meiki-kun... Yeah, um... It wasn't meant to be! That's right, you just weren't compatible with this enemy!

............

.........

......

As expected, it's the most fun when the numbers exchanged—offense and defense alike—are hyper-inflated. The slimy, completely scaleless arm was already carved with countless wounds, and by focusing my consciousness on the half-melted Konsho, the blade was reborn using my life as sustenance.

But this is a troublesome Tsuchinoko. The combination gauge for Konsho is fully charged, but Meiki's gauge is barely filling up because I'm forced to attack the rock-hard snake part with it.
Well, it probably wasn't designed this way intentionally, but to think these Twin Blade Swords with differing performance would have a weakness like this.

The moment the effect-laden Meiki pierced the Black Tsuchinoko's throat, the damage bonus from Single Thought, Rock Pierce exploded since I had attacked the same spot previously.
That likely triggered some sort of effect, but it was completely dispersed by a wound resembling a tattoo that crept from its torso all the way down its arm, a wound that had been spreading ever since the battle began.

"Dammit, I know why, but it still feels like a waste."

Potion gacha time... Oh, a winner.

With my HP recovering from "near death" to "about to die," I readied the Isana Togetsu and glared at the Black Tsuchinoko... or rather, Goldunine Reptica 3.

"Second phase, huh..."

Was the trigger elapsed time, or simply a damage threshold without any twists? I won't know unless I test it, but there is one thing I do know for sure.

It seems I had slightly misunderstood that monster. Namely, it wasn't that there was something inside the snake...

Something is wearing the snake's skin.

"So you're shedding, huh."

The outer shell is nothing but an outer shell. No wonder my damage wasn't going through. It's like fighting an armored knight and aiming exclusively for the armor.
And the something inside that Black Tsuchinoko is waking up... no, it's trying to cast off its skin.

For what purpose? Speaking in meta terms, it's the second phase. Speaking like a roleplayer... to crush me for real.

As if a superball was bouncing around wildly inside a balloon, the Black Tsuchinoko—already oddly shaped for a snake—began twisting into an even more grotesque form due to impacts from within.
From what I could see, there were four "strike points" attacking the Black Tsuchinoko from the inside. Considering the arm that retreated earlier, could this possibly be a two-armed, two-legged monster...

At that moment, the Black Tsuchinoko's body was torn open from the inside by an "arm."
It was different from the imitation arm earlier, which was merely called an "arm" because its shape possessed bones wrapped in flesh and skin, along with joints, fingers, and claws.
When praising a woman's hands or fingers, people often use the phrase "like whitefish." And a woman's hand that perfectly fit that description—smeared in what was likely the Black Tsuchinoko's purple bodily fluids, though I couldn't clearly judge the color—flexed bewitchingly.

"Hey, hey... This is supposed to be the prelude, right?"

I haven't even triggered Goldunine's EX Scenario yet, and you're already throwing a humanoid boss at me? How generous...

"Haaaaaa........."

"The areas restricted by age ratings are conveniently covered by scales... but she's completely humanoid."

She is humanoid. If you close your eyes to the fact that she's about three meters tall, she'd look entirely human. She's got two massive mountains, but those are basically weapons of mass destruction. I'd definitely die if those bouncing things hit me.

I can't see her face since she's looking down. Only the chilling exhales of the woman? inside the Black Tsuchinoko echoed loudly. Normally, this is where the BGM would kick in... Nothing? Ah, I see.

At that moment, a sudden impulse seized me.

"Hey, Snake Woman."

"........."

Lycaon possessed the intelligence to understand our words, Wethermon was human, Ctarrnid used some sort of telepathy—I don't really know—and Vysache uses human speech like it's nothing.
Then, is it possible that Goldunine is the same?
Driven by that trivial question, I attempted to strike up a conversation with the three-meter-tall humanoid woman.

"Put some clothes on. It's common sense, you know."

"............Hu, Man."

Was I hearing things? No, that's not right. A breath alone wouldn't produce the sound "man."

"Wanna introduce yourself? I am..."

"I, Am,......... Gol, Du, Niine."

The self-proclaimed Goldunine raised her head.
She had two eyes, a nose, and ears... But a long, bifurcated tongue flicked from a mouth that was split all the way to the base of her ears. Her eyes were not mammalian, but the slit pupils of a reptile. That undeniable Serpent Visage clearly proved she was not human.

"ThereFore... I'll kill You."

"Bring it on! I'll turn you into crafting materials, you Snake Woman!"

What were the words you're supposed to say to repel the Slit-Mouthed Woman again? Let's see... Ah, right. I remember now.

"Napalm! Napalm, right!?" [*1]

Using Napalm to repel a single Slit-Mouthed Woman... What a dangerously unhinged urban legend.

Author's Afterword
Half-naked Bird-Head: "Don't just stand there naked, put some clothes on! It's common sense!"
Fully-naked Snake Woman: "I don't wanna hear that from you! I'll kill you!"

Conflict only occurs between those of the same Level (Perverts)!! (ASCII Art Omitted)

I want to list all the reasons why Goldunine-chan is incredibly troublesome, but doing so would be a massive spoiler, so I'm stuck in a dilemma where I can't say anything.
If you want to know just how troublesome she is, imagine a Yokai Human Bem combined with Yandere and Tsundere traits, granted the violence attribute, acting like a Kemono Friends Slayer-san completely devoid of kindness.

But seriously, why did she take a humanoid form, I wonder. How strange. (Playing dumb)

Translator's Note

• [1]"Pomade vs. Napalm:" In Japanese urban legends, the classic way to repel the Slit-Mouthed Woman (who resembles the snake woman) is to chant the word "Pomade." Sunraku misremembers the word "Pomade" and accidentally threatens her with "Napalm" instead.