Chapter 339: O Dragon, O Dragon! Part 5

Author's Preface
Even as the writing picks up speed, the schedule tightens... Such is the transience of the world...

"QooooooooooooOOOOO!!!"

"You're... the Last (Third) one!!"

First, a head connected to the torsos of multiple small Raptors.
Second, a head attached to the wings of a large Coatl and the torso of what looked like a bug.
And now, the third T-Rex head... The body of the absorbed Forest-folk sprouted from the left half of its head, while the right half was covered in horns or something, leaving it completely immobilized as I delivered the finishing blow.

"...Well, there's absolutely no sense of exhilaration."

Twisting my mouth at the sight of the ruined remains of an NPC that had been acting just like a human only moments ago losing its shape and collapsing, I let my guard down just a fraction, having accomplished the first stage of verification.
But I immediately tightened my loosened helmet strings from the afterglow of victory and began observing the main body of the Devouring Great Crimson Clad once again.

"The red puddle attack again... But!"

That's convenient.
From the exploding, diffusing red puddle, yet another chimera clone began to spawn.
When I first saw this, I was far too overwhelmed by everything else to properly process it... but if you look at it with the intention of observing and analyzing, things start to become clear.

"Deep Slaughter!!"

"Confirmed on my end toooo!"

It means her theory was right. It pisses me off, but I have no choice but to admit it.
Looking closely, there was the lower half of a Forest-folk with a pterosaur's neck sprouting from it, and a shitty sea urchin-like thing made entirely by sticking a bunch of small dinosaur heads together... Ah, but the "T-Rex neck" and the "male Forest-folk" that should have stood out the most were completely absent.

"Hey, you... What happens when your stock runs out? Huh!!"

I don't have solid proof. Since it has Raid Boss specs, I can't completely discard the possibility that even if it runs out of ammo, it'll just kill us by physically beating us to death, making this entire endeavor meaningless.
But based on the information gathered so far, pushing through with this is the only option. The probability of winning is already astronomically low, so hesitating is just a waste of time. Time to bungee jump off the stage of Kiyomizu.

"Daaaah, out of the way!!"

Tossing the Mirror Shield of the Nether-King aside, I gripped the Areadbhair Rebuild with both hands and stabbed it straight down into the ground, piercing right through the dinosaur arm—or whatever it was—that had extended from beneath my feet. Whoops, the chimera clone is starting to sink. Looking closely, the warning signs are actually pretty obvious. Observation based on calm judgment really is important.
Calculating its emergence point from the swelling of the red puddle I was stepping on, I leaped the moment the surrounding red gathered into a single point, activating Flit Float to gain distance with a mid-air backflip.

"If the trick is exposed, there's nothing to be afraid of!"

"A seed... meaning a child... Ahem, 【Distortion Haze】!!"

I don't think I've ever been more thankful for the True Gaze Bird Mask's eye-power than I am right in this moment. The fact that I can keep that pervert in check with just a glare is a more broken ability than a million extra VIT points. Actually, should I just blow her away first...?

"Sunraku-kuuuun! Behind you! Behiiiind you!!"

"I knoooow that!"

Why do you think I retreated to the exact spot where I dropped the Mirror Shield of the Nether-King in the first place!?
Syncing my body's movements with the large shield as I scooped it up, I slammed the shield diagonally into the body of the Devouring Great Crimson Clad as it charged at me, its half-torn neck flopping violently. If I took it head-on, I'd absorb its entire mass and kinetic energy and die instantly, but with its trajectory deflected, my body—which weighs who knows how many dozens of times less than it—was merely knocked away, allowing me to escape the lethal zone.
Storing the Mirror Shield of the Nether-King into my inventory, I used one of the recovery potions from the 12 sets of 12 I had prepared in Inventoria. Miss, miss, miss, success, miss... What is this shitty RNG?

"Well, whatever. As long as I can maintain eighty percent, I won't get chipped to death...!"

This was a chicken playstyle predicated on defense from the very beginning. I never expected to beat it in two or three hours. The Lycaon clone you guys took down with three players and two NPCs, and the Golden Scorpion I soloed, took an entire night to beat, you know? Don't underestimate Full-Divers.

"Ora, hurry up and spit out more clones! I'll hack them to pieces the second they pop out!!"

Ah, not the Meat Seeds, noooo, they're growiiiing!!

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

.........

......

"Rest in peace... Seriously, please just stay asleep..."

I muttered that as I stared at the final chimera clone—a monster consisting of a T-Rex torso sprouting a massive number of raptor necks and the upper half of the other Forest-folk—sinking into the ground. Dammit... It actually had the toughness to match its appearance... Well, the fact that the two of us were able to take it down means it was weakened... No, wait, is it referencing their HP right before they were eaten? If so, does that mean the torso's HP was based on the state it was in after having its three heads ripped off? Then of course even two of us could beat it; it was practically half-dead already.

"Hey Deep Slaughter, is your MP holding up?"

"Oi, oi, Sunraku-kuuuun... When a Mage runs out of MP, they just become an obstacle that can't even function as a shield, you knooow...? Ah, but I do have holes and a stick, so there might be some demand as a doll..."

"As long as I don't kill you, it's safe."

"Wait, Sunraku-kun, you just chipped twenty percent of my health."

Whoops, looks like my murderous intent accidentally put some force into it.
Ignoring the idiot who was persistently licking the rim of her potion bottle with a chiro-chiro sound, I looked at the Devouring Great Crimson Clad, which seemed to have completely exhausted its ammo.
Every time we defeated a chimera clone it spawned, the parts used and the total number of clones in the next wave decreased. And having just cleared that raptor-heads-T-Rex-with-one-Forest-folk spawn, it's safe to assume its stock of devoured monsters is completely depleted.

Now then, the question is what to do from here... but it's practically an established rule that Raid Monsters have distinct stages, forms, and phases. Since mechanics involving specific items are the exclusive privilege of final bosses and mid-bosses in scenarios, the standard theory for Raid Bosses is that visual, motion, and stat changes occur either through HP fluctuation or by fulfilling conditions via specific actions.
Considering that, emptying the stomach of the Devouring Great Crimson Clad—a monster that is clearly gluttonous by nature—has an extremely high probability of being the trigger to transition it to its next phase.........

And the Devouring Great Crimson Clad responded to that hypothesis with an action.

"VaRrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

"Whoa."

"The first time always bleeds, you knooow? Ah, it's burning!"

Feeling the sensation of a barbecue party sizzling against the flat of the Areadbhair Rebuild I thrust out to my side, I glared at the dragon corpse as it let out a shriek and began scattering its own blood-like body from all over.

"What... Uwaah!?"

To begin with, the Devouring Great Crimson Clad has the shape of a dragon, but it doesn't have wings... meaning it's not the typical fire-breathing, flying type of dragon. Well, part of that is because its entire body is solid red and damaged everywhere... but how should I put this? No matter how you look at it, it's an aquatic creature.
I mean, I've been trying not to touch on this too much, but I definitely heard about a dragon that died before players could even interfere......... Considering the Crazed Ultramarine "Blue" was sealed in the deep sea, this is definitely you, isn't it, Eldranza-san?

Well, that's fine for now. Story-based lore analysis directly connects to game-mechanic analysis in ShanFro, but the cause of Eldranza's death isn't of particularly high importance right now. What's important is that it possesses aquatic features... meaning it has gills and fins.

"Hey, what do you think would happen if we got slapped by that?"

"Wouldn't we end up looking like a snack forcefully squashed flat?"

Smashed into tiny pieces, got it.
The red droplets spraying from its body, accompanied by a squelching squirming that once again felt like something halfway between liquid and solid, began to hypertrophy its flesh—the parts that formed its silhouette. Or rather, it looks like its head has multiplied to six...

"Oi, Sexual-Harassment-Fingers, the countermeasure you proposed resulted in That. What's plan B?"

"Teasing play, stopping right on the edge so you don't Climax, maybe? Ah, my cheek is going to end up well-done!!"

Areadbhair Rebuild... To think it could be used like this.

Author's Afterword
In short, it's a game of musical chairs. Those who lose their jobs have no choice but to snatch the jobs from those currently employed.