Chapter 328: The Past Appears, Packed Tightly Beneath a Facade of Goodwill

"!!?!!!?!???!?!"

With a gurin!, I snapped my head back to the front at Mach speed, my mind racing at lightspeed while cold sweat poured down my face beneath my mask.
Why? Why? This is ShanFro, isn't it? Why??

".........!? .........!!?"

Calm down, calm down... No, no, no, that's Faer-kuso, right? That's Faeria, right!? It's not just some miraculous coincidence where their designs overlapped, right? I mean, sure, the original Faeria had Elf ears and this one has Human ears, but hair color and hairstyle aside, to have the exact same deep blue eyes and the exact same teardrop mole!? That's impossible!
Wait, does this mean... I have to escort this First Princess? This! Woman! With That face!?

"Calm down. Steel your heart. I've already overcome it. I've already overcome it..."

Ugh, the memories of the days I spent catering to her despite her unreasonable demands... The days of side quests spent constantly cleaning up her messes... The days of being constantly forced into disadvantageous situations because of balancing errors... The days of walking through a world where the textures had collapsed due to bugs... Ugh, Uuuugh.........

"I don't think I can do this..."

The Scarf (Emul) wrapped around my neck twitched in surprise with a bikuri, but I can't help it. Faeria was seriously messed up, okay? She was so broken you genuinely suspected the game was pulling lines from a completely different character every five seconds.

Dammit, is this because I've been away from a genuine Trash Game for too long? My mentality has grown dull... I need to convert these hellish memories into energy. I can do this. I can do this. I can kill...!

"Phew... I'll take out the guy who attacked first."

"What...?"

"The guy who launched the first attack. I'm going to chase him to the ends of hell and beat him to a pulp. I don't care if they have a numerical advantage or whatever. The guy who attacked first... I'm absolutely going to beat him to a pulp."

In a many-vs-one situation, the words of the "one" are usually nothing more than nonsense. However, my body bears the Scar. Combined with the titles I've accumulated, it generates enough pressure to make NPCs flinch.
Honestly, if they just pulled a classic mob-squad tactic and said "Surround him and take him down!", I'd be in a really tight spot. But it seems the system has gracefully arranged the situation exactly as I hoped.

"Heh... It seems they've sent an expert, capable enough to make veteran knights flinch... Very well. Then the one who first pointed their blade at you shall be the one to strike you down."

"P-Please be careful! Julian is an incredibly strong swordsman!"

Shut up, keep quiet or I'll slap you.
Using every ounce of my willpower to hold back the words that almost slipped out because of her Faeria-identical face, I leaped down from Memento Mori with my arms still crossed.
Pretending to stroke my chin, I lightly tapped my scarf with a chonchon, receiving a sign of acknowledgment in return. Alright, the progression of the situation is maintaining its ideal flow.

"Third Knight Order... 'Killing Sword' Julian. May I ask your name?"

"The Wandering Sword holds no name to offer a scoundrel."

Raising a rapier with a strangely long blade, Mr. Die Hard asked for my name. To be completely honest, I had absolutely no intention of killing anyone here, and I'd be in deep trouble if my name got out and the Kingdom put a bounty on me, so I just opted to remain anonymous. However, it seems he took that as a provocation.

"Hmph... Die!!"

Bending his strangely long rapier, Mr. Die Hard took the initiative. His strike was aimed precisely at the pulse on my neck, and if it hit, taking massive damage would be unavoidable.
Looking closer, the positioning of his attack was also exquisite. Even if I dodged the initial strike and moved to grab Memento Mori, his stance would allow him to immediately transition into a follow-up attack. At the same time, if the initial strike did connect, his stance was perfectly positioned to deliver a precise, fatal finishing blow...

(Well, it's completely trivial to deal with using Moment Sight and Levin Trigger: Hazard.)

The moment I declared my desire to remain anonymous, I had already entered my full preparatory stance. Although Mr. Die Hard was the one who made the first physical move, I had already seized the tactical initiative...!!
And Mr. Die Hard was making one other massive miscalculation.

Sorry to deceive you, but as long as I remain in "This Form," Memento Mori is nothing more than a decoration.

"It's a one-shot! Make sure you don't bite your tongue!"

Increasing the stun probability with Lethe Vanisher, I drove a fist enhanced by Airgetlam's correction and Overflow's speed directly into Mr. Die Hard's jaw. Perhaps he truly didn't expect me to completely ignore the greatsword behind me and attack him bare-handed, because my fist sank into his jaw with a shockingly clean critical hit.
The Overflow state is essentially a motion-rampage state that processes a 10 as a 100. In other words, a fist swung with a full-power swing is unleashed with even more devastating force...!

"Bugueru."

"And... I can see you clearly!!"

"I-It tingled just a little bit, desu wa... 【Magic Edge】!"

"Guaa!?"

The exact moment Mr. Die Hard's feet left the ground and he flew into the air from the impact of the uppercut, my optional pa... Emul, having detached from my neck, fired a blade of magic that struck one of the knights trying to sneak up and harm the royal father and daughter.
Perhaps he never expected the scarf to transform into a Vorpal Bunny and attack him, because the completely caught-off-guard knight was sent flying. At the same time, Mr. Die Hard, having seemingly failed his stun-resist check, rolled his eyes back into his head and collapsed face-up toward the open sky.
I immediately stepped on the fallen Mr. Die Hard's chest and glared at the surrounding knights.

"Listen well, you fallen knights! If you value this man's life, throw down your swords!!"

Restraining the leader (top) and using them as a hostage to threaten the rest. It's one of the fiend's (Pencilgon's) tactics. Within her first year of playing, she successfully used this exact strategy to launch a lightning-fast blitzkrieg with a small elite force, seizing the enemy capital and forcing a hostage exchange under heavily favorable conditions right in the middle of enemy territory. That girl really is crazy...

"This cowardly act of attempting a surprise attack on His Majesty and Her Highness is worthy of ten thousand deaths! The only reason I haven't taken this man's life right this instant is solely due to the Saint's mercy!"

"L-Let the Commander go!"

"You coward!"

If doing this guarantees a win, I'll take that as a compliment. While aggressively stomping on Mr. Die Hard's head with a geshigeshi, I intensified the glare in my eyes and stared down the surrounding knights.

"Open a path. Or do you intend to pile the shame of leaving your commanding officer to die on top of everything else?"

Even before ShanFro, there were games that prided themselves on allowing players to converse with NPCs to some extent. They weren't functioning at the deranged, hyper-advanced level of ShanFro, but the AI in the gaming industry had advanced enough that they would at least get angry if you mocked them.

Usually, they processed things by triggering specific keywords, so experienced players would investigate the character's role in the story and reverse-engineer their reactions... But regardless of the game, for the "Knight" role, "Chivalry" is always a critical keyword.

The guilt of surrounding and attempting to assassinate the King and First Princess. The internal conflict of whether it was acceptable to abandon their captured commanding officer—the very person supposed to be giving them orders—to die.
And above all, my intimidating scolding was directly hammering into their Brains (AI). A body without a head is synonymous with a corpse. If I just shake them up a little bit...

"Guh, understood..."

This is way too easy. It's so easy it's making me anxious. At this rate, if that fiend actually got serious, we'd have the Pencil Dynasty all over again, wouldn't we?
Honestly, I expected to struggle a little more, but I never expected a one-punch KO. What do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Die Hard?

"Ugh, Guh..."

"Go back to sleep."

"Gueh."

Come on... Come on... Casually walking away in this situation is a straight-up impossible game, so come on, event flag...! At this point, I don't care if it's a meteor or an earthquake...!

".........! Sunraku-san, something is coming, desu wa!"

"Alright, here it comes!"

Welcome to the event flag!! Now, what exactly is comi.........

"""Karorororo........."""

"Oh my, so this is the rumored Three-Headed Tyrannosaurus-san."

I've heard the stories. You're the veteran Scar individual who completely intercepted and wiped out a 15-man party of hardcore players, right?
Heh. However, I am a skilled player who waged a fierce battle against the Crystal Scorpions and ultimately slew the Golden Deviant. Taking the reins of an indiscriminate genocide machine like you will be child's play...

Instantly, the explosive roar unleashed simultaneously by its three heads caused the entire surrounding area to, without exaggeration, Shake. Ah, this is impossible. If we're talking pure individual specs, doesn't this thing surpass the Golden Scorpion? This is literally Lycaon-class.
Is the light dwelling within those six eyes hatred? No. A victor does not hate the defeated. If so, that is a far more primal, fundamental combat instinct. It was simply asserting the simple truth that it was the apex predator, using equally simple methods to ensure everything around it understood... That was all.

And humans require large numbers to even be considered a proper meal... Oh my, look what we have here. A flock of prey whose only redeeming quality is their sheer numbers, standing right in front of it.

"........."

Vorpal Secret Art 【Fading Mirror】 activated. Because of my Scar, if I leave it alone, its aggro will naturally lock onto me... Do your best, Third Knight Order. Consider this (aggro) as a cheer of encouragement from me. Please take good care of it.

"If they can protect the royal blood, I'm sure They (The Knights) will consider it an honor... Guh, now then, this way."

Desperately suppressing the urge to deliver a karate chop to the First Princess due to my trauma resurfacing, I placed Emul on my head, grabbed the King and First Princess, and attempted to escape the area.

"B-But in this darkness..."

"Darkness? Ah... please do not worry. Even with a mask like this, my night vision is excellent. Now, your hands, if you please."

"Ah..."

Haaa... Just leave the First Princess behind... Stop agreeing with the devil in my heart, angel! Dammit, my future is something I decide for myself!

The path we came from is blocked by the Three-Headed T-Rex and the Knight Order. I've pretty much grasped the essence of this quest now...!
Taking the hands of the King and First Princess, we stepped further into the sea of trees. Let's begin a fun, fun game of getting stranded in the woods, shall we?

Author's Afterword
The feelings Sunraku directs toward Arfiliya are somewhat similar to playing a second playthrough with Kiefer.
Rather than murderous intent, it's more of a cold treatment: "I'm never letting you eat my stat-boosting seeds again."

Draclus Dinocerberus "Scar"
The final stage of Dragon-ification, the terminal Draclus state... There's no point in hiding it anymore, so I'll just spoil it: Among the Jura Cerberusrexes that successfully infected and adapted to the colored dragons' factors, this is a veteran individual that has survived countless battles. It is likely the enemy with the highest kill count against the Forest-folks (Elves), and the very same monster that completely scattered the allied party led by the 10 PM Army. It functions as a sort of Area Boss, and unless it is defeated, the difficulty of progressing further into the New Continent will not decrease.

In terms of pure specs alone, it surpasses the Golden Scorpion and is an incredibly dangerous monster on par with Lycaon. It wouldn't be surprising if it Evolved (Ranked up) to the next stage soon. It's currently the gods' favorite monster to watch while drinking, purely because of how brutally it tramples players.
If it gains a Title (becomes an Avenger Target), it will become completely unmanageable, so the players really need to defeat it soon... However, thanks to some idiots progressing the World Quest, everyone is currently way too busy to deal with it. It's grown so strong that it's probably going to start shooting something out of its mouth soon.

This time, it just happened to casually pass by and one-shot the Draclus Dinocerberus (Normal) that was supposed to serve as the actual event flag, forcibly crashing the party.
As long as even one of its heads is awake, it can continue to operate, meaning it possesses the aptitude of a corporate wage slave capable of fighting 24 hours a day.

Oh no, I'm starting to lose entire days just thinking up monster lore...