Chapter 326: And Thus, Forget Not Death

Author's Preface
I'm honestly starting to get in a rut writing solo scenes, so I think it's about time I made this hermit party up with someone...

Personally, I consider the Scythe category of weapons to be purely for decorative purposes. And it's not because they're useless as weapons. In a game, as long as the stats are the strongest, you can beat the Demon Lord with a wooden branch.
When I say decorative, I mean, "It's way too hard to use myself, so it's the most fun to watch someone who actually knows how to use it fight." The center of gravity is completely garbage, so even if you're just swinging it around, it's incredibly hard to control in Full-Dive VR... Well, if it's the type of game where the system assists your movements, it's usable.

That being said, in games that awkwardly twist their sense of style—in a good way—you'll see scythes at a fairly high rate. What this means is that I've already experienced the situation of being forced to use a scythe in games that twisted their sense of style so much—in a bad way—that they turned into complete trash.
Therefore, even if these are trash mobs that I can kill in one hit without any skill corrections...... they don't matter at all!!

"Out of my way, out of my way!!"

If you want to use a scythe like a grim reaper, the usage method is similar to an axe or a hammer. Rather than gripping your hands close together like a sword, you keep your hands far apart and swing it with broad strokes.
If I simply twist my body slightly while under the Overflow state, the motion amplification violently accelerates it into a tornado-like spin. Knowing full well that if I trip and fall, I could die instantly, I paid the utmost attention while slashing down the specters swarming me.
It truly was like slicing through a tangled mess. I don't hate games where you can easily become a powerhouse and slaughter armies. However, games where You are the one getting slaughtered by armies are garbage... I'm looking at you, Cosmo Buster.

But right now, you could say my current situation is oscillating somewhere right in the middle of those two. Either way, I'm being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. The Noblu Scytheless is certainly an effective weapon, but if you ask whether it's an effective AoE weapon, the answer is no.
Since I don't possess any scythe-related skills, the best I can do is manually replicate a spinning slash. Even if it looks the part, without parameter corrections from a skill, it won't be very effective.

"Tch...!"

Clicking my tongue, I activated Shana-oh Possession. I generally prefer not to use motion-correction skills since they vastly increase the accident rate when combined with Overflow, but for simple actions, it functions as a pure stat pump.
Leaping roughly three meters into the air with a jumping power far exceeding normal player limits, I activated Flit Float and leaped forward with all my might.

"Dammit... Are they infinitely spawning along its escape route...!?"

The shitty princess was sprinting with surprisingly good form. Thinking about it, since she's an immaterial existence, does that mean she doesn't suffer any physical resistance from her clothing? That's cheating.
However, since my body was propelled solely by the acceleration of a jump, it was destined to fall to the ground once the momentum ran out. With this scythe, compared to those scorpions, being surrounded by mere ghosts probably wouldn't result in an instant beatdown...

"...Should I Do it?"

Theoretically, it should be possible. Whether it's actually effective is a secondary concern, so I can ignore that. The only thing that matters right now is dealing with the Obstacles (Ghosts).

"Shana-oh Possession will still hold... Here I go!"

Spurring myself on, I dove straight into the swirling vortex of ghosts. The moment I landed, I drove the tip of the scythe into a soldier-like ghost right in front of me, then shifted the blade's orientation and executed another spinning slash, having completely lost count of how many times I'd done it.
A gaping hole opened up with me at the center, and before it could fill back up, I pushed forward. If I had been using twin swords, this would have been so much easier... Scythes are genuinely, exquisitely difficult to use.

"But... it's less than thirty meters away... I can make it!"

Inventoria! To think I'd be unveiling it in such a drab location... But don't worry, I'll be sure to completely silence the Witness (Shitty Princess) once and for all!!

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

.........

......

It was a monster designed with hatred and resentment as its foundation, and a key monster that exclusively spawned only when triggered by the Unique Scenario.
The Dullahan of Loss. The Evil Spirit Princess of the Ruined Kingdom, fleeing while clutching the very head he was supposed to have lost, maintained a wicked, deeply satisfied smile.
Every second, every minute she ran extended the suffering of that married couple. That was the only solace left to her now. That was why the evil princess ran, even using her former citizens and her own father as meat shields.

"Yo, shitty princess... Isn't the setting of your scenario supposed to have ended hundreds of years ago? It's way too late for you to be stealing the spotlight now."

She heard a voice.
The voice coming from behind her did not belong to the detestable Black Knight who had rejected her. Nor did it belong to the hateful woman who had Filleted her open until all her bones were exposed to the open air.
However, it was the voice of someone different from that woman... yet, they were a woman clad in the exact same mourning clothes, wielding a scythe... Why? How did they bypass the interference of the Specter Swarm of the Ruined Kingdom? What in the world was That thing visible behind them...
The ghost of the man once called King stepped forward, as if to protect the evil princess spirit. However, the man—who had become a ghost while retaining his fat, living appearance—was tragically nothing more than a punching bag. His devotion to protecting his daughter served as nothing more than a momentary distraction.

"It's a line from a different Game, but... The dead should sleep like the dead, thou────"

Before the AI could even process the meaning of the words spoken by the woman in mourning clothes,

"──mori, right."

The head of the Evil Spirit Princess of the Ruined Kingdom was severed by the Noblu Scytheless.

As the Folklore (Flavor Text) stated:
After that scythe was swung, only the silence of death remained.........

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

.........

......

"And catch!!"

Alright! Serve you right, you shitty princess!
But there's no time to bask in the afterglow of victory. Stashing the Noblu Scytheless into my inventory, I sprinted back the way I came at full speed.
I dashed straight through the ghosts, who were rapidly collapsing like melting ice cream, completely ignoring the "Thing" I had pulled out to close the distance between myself and the shitty princess. I couldn't even spare the time to put it away... It's not like someone could just drag it off and steal it anyway!

"Uooooh, running in high heels is so annoyinggggg!"

To think Overflow would actually be helpful here. It's impossible to sprint at full speed in high heels. However, under Overflow, I could achieve speeds comparable to a normal dash even while stepping on my tiptoes.
I ran, and ran, and ran... There they are! Hey, you two, even if you want to kiss, you kind of need a face to do that...

".........!"

".........!"

Uwaaaaa, it's a total bloodbath!?

The True Quiet had raised its scythe, while the General Dullahan continued to swing its sword with such mindless obstinacy I started to wonder if its AI had reverted to something from three generations ago. Wait, isn't that AI bugged? Or rather, is it caught in an infinite loop...? Argh, we can talk about that later!

"Thank you, Arcanum!"

The recast timer has finished, and Shana-oh Possession is barely still active!!

"Uoooooooo!"

Stepping firmly onto the earth, hop!

"Make it in time..."

Focusing all my strength into both legs, step! As if giving me a supportive push, my HP healed slightly! Perfect timing... Oh, so it procs even on indirect kills.

"Reeeeeeeach!"

Jump!!

Soaring higher than the General Dullahan swinging its sword on horseback, the mourning dress danced through the air, bracing itself right on the edge of losing control.
Raising the head tightly gripped in its hand...

"Special Deliveryyyyyyy!!"

Dunk shoot!!!
The angle of the head is a bit sketchy, but please forgive me. Since it was remote-controlled from the start, it shouldn't make much of a difference.

"Fubeh!?"

Following the trajectory of the dunk shoot, my face slammed directly into the General Dullahan's shoulder, causing me to slide down to the ground and faceplant into the dirt with a beshari. Ugh, it kind of smells like mold... If I hadn't healed back there, and if the demerit from Levin Trigger: Hazard hadn't been based on intervals, I definitely would have died.

"But... how did it go!?"

I completed the head delivery. What happened!?

"........."

"........."

Ohhh... It's like successfully defusing a bomb with less than a second left. Although it's silence, it's neither a critical silence nor a fatal one.
Having regained its head, the General Dullahan stopped its sword-swinging arm, and the scythe the True Quiet had been about to swing down in resignation stopped dead right in front of the General Dullahan.

Ignoring me doing a silent fist pump, the two lovers—having Been reduced to the absolute limit—slowly reached out their hands, packed with thousands of emotions... and this time, they finally touched.

"...Joha, nna."

"V-in, cen... t."

It's a touching reunion. Should I scatter some Rice Shower? Or maybe salt?
Since both of them are monsters—and not even Unique Monsters at that—they aren't the actual individuals like Wethermon was.
The Johanna and Vincent who once lived died without salvation, and these two making out won't change that fact.

But even so, even if it's just remnants licking each other's wounds... it's an undeniable fact that here, in this place, two lingering regrets reached a peaceful conclusion.

If this were a different kind of game, a gust of wind strong enough to blow up my skirt would have blown through. That wind brushed past me, sweeping through the canyon as if carrying away the two crumbling monsters.
All that remained was me, and two rings that had fallen to the ground, linked together like a chain into one.

『Unique Scenario: "Sorrow Born of Love, and Thus Death" has been cleared.』
『You have acquired "Never Again Parted".』

It's a line from a different game that I also said to that shitty princess... but I might as well dedicate it to them too.

"Thou, forget not the joy of life, for there is peace in death. Therefore, Memento Mori... Right."

Perfect... If the original game wasn't infested with immortal combat medics, I would have given myself 120 points.
Now then, I need to head to the Crystal Nest Cliff and grind out some Vorpal Souls and ores to replenish my severely depleted stock.

Author's Afterword

• The person the Evil Spirit Princess of the Ruined Kingdom was based on was from an inland area.

• Grudge Tears of the Black Death: An enhancement item, an enchantment item... it can be used for a lot of things on its own.

• Noblu Scythelent: A weapon, but simultaneously...

• R.I.P.: An evil magical girl transformation item. Unlike the scythe, getting duplicates of this truly has no use.

• Never Again Parted: A wire puzzle that has absolutely no intention of letting you solve it. 1+1=1.