Chapter 66: Dedicated to a Moment Part 13

"How should I put it? It feels like I've logged in again from inside the game."

"Ah, I get that."

Having experienced that sensation where your consciousness separates from your body and drifts in a zero-gravity space upon login, but this time within the game itself, we found ourselves in a place where the general map shape was identical to the Secret Garden, but the scenery before our eyes was the exact opposite.

The Red Spider Lilies that had bloomed across the entire area had vanished without a single root remaining, replaced by a flat, ambiguous ground that could have been soil or stone. As for the sky, it was as if the colors had been inverted; black stars shone in a white night sky. Because of this, it was as bright as midday despite being a night sky—a scene a bit too eerie to simply call fantastical. And the withered tree that stood alone in the "Upright" area showed a completely different appearance in this "Inverted" location... the hidden field "Inverted Tombstone."

" 'Let's make the withered tree bloom,' huh?"

The withered tree, which had felt completely devoid of life, was now in full bloom with cherry blossoms—silver petals tinged with a faint vermilion—blooming so profusely that the petals scattered under their own weight. And at its roots stood a simple grave marker... and above all else.

"......Is that it?"

"......That's probably it."

"......It is."

There was no rust, nor was it cracked or weathered. Yet, the "age" radiating intensely from it pushed aside the falling petals as it quietly stood up. I see. As Pencilgon said, describing it as a Robo-Samurai is indeed the most appropriate.

"......"

Mechanical armor of white and black covered its entire body, revealing no skin whatsoever. Even the face was fully covered, featuring twin-eye cameras characteristic of heroic robots. Light dwelled in those twin eyes, and while parts of its body emitted faint driving sounds, it quietly drew the katana equipped at its waist. Its full form was only apparent once it stood up; judging by its stature, which featured Japanese armor-style designs here and there, it was roughly two and a half meters tall.

"Now then... let's see what you've got."

Stopping Pencilgon and OiKatzo with a hand, I stepped forward alone. The machine armored warrior... the NPC Setsuna's lover from days long past, a Unique Monster, and what Vysache called a "survivor." The distance between it and me shrank with every step we took. It was like a duel in a Western, though the fact that we were approaching rather than walking away was the exact opposite. Who would strike first? When would we do it? I could feel my motivation and tension rising stupidly high.

"Tch!"

The distance between us closed to one meter. There, it took an Iaido stance. I see, fine then... If you're going to come at me full throttle from the start, I'll play along.

"Wethermon the Tombguard, now fair and square..."

"Severing Wind (Tachikaze)."

A mutter that sounded rusted through and through, contrary to its appearance. Along with it, a super-speed Iai slash was unleashed. Wethermon the Tombguard's arm blurred. A streak of light that looked like nothing more than a line. But my eyes certainly caught the glint of the blade there, and the sensation of instant death. Aiming for the neck, are you!?

"Let's go!"

Infight activated. The moment I ducked my head, a blade like blue crystal passed overhead. Without pausing to confirm it, I instantly closed the distance to Wethermon the Tombguard. And thus, the long, long battle between me and Wethermon began.

"Sunraku-kun seriously dodged that on his first look..."

"What do we do?"

OiKatzo asked briefly while keeping his eyes on Sunraku, who had closed in on Wethermon—now a literal storm of blades—and engaged in combat. Sunraku was attempting various approaches against Wethermon while wearing a smile... Does a leg sweep work? specifically, how tough is the armor? The gaps? The fingers? The eyes? The joints? While slipping through a barrage of blade strikes where a single hit meant unavoidable instant death, Sunraku tried to find a "what if" opening through trial and error. The expression on his face was a smile. But OiKatzo knew that wasn't a smile of composure. It was a half-twitching face; in other words, one could understand without asking that the difficulty was so absurd "he could only laugh."

"I'll start the 'preparations,' so Katzo-kun, hold the items I gave you earlier and stand by."

"Roger...!"

Pencilgon quickly looked away from the sprinting OiKatzo and took an item out of her inventory on the spot.

"I'm counting on you, Libra-chan...! This battle depends on you...!"

With a smile that lacked composure but had not given up on victory, Pencilgon spoke to the object. There, a set of golden scales shone brightly. And at that timing, Sunraku took a fatal slash (damage) and scattered into polygons.

How should I put this? I want to punch the guy who made this once. Cut down by Wethermon the Tombguard, whose performance seemed to pursue only "Fast," "Hard," and "Strong," I thought such things as I scattered into polygons and then stood up.

"Switch! Also, info!"

"Impossible game! Just dodge!"

"Roger...!"

While retreating, he answered my question of "Is there any effective hit against Wethermon the Tombguard?" with a very concise summary.

"Hiii, absolutely no openings!"

"No kidding...!"

Despite it only being a short period of two or three minutes, I stowed the Twin Emperor Bee Swords, which had already lost nearly 40% of their durability, into my inventory. While taking out different weapons, I watched OiKatzo desperately avoiding attacks.

"To think one respawn costs 4 million Mani..."

The reason I am standing here despite having lost all my HP is the item OiKatzo threw at me right as I exploded. Among consumable items, it holds the dignified highest price. The "Tear Jewel of Rebirth." By throwing or slamming it into contact with a player within ten seconds of them turning into polygons, it fully heals and revives them unconditionally—a so-called Perfect Revival Item.

"I don't know if it's the tears of a Goddess of Fate or what, but I'm grateful...!"

I don't know what methods she used, but Pencilgon had cornered the market on them. Twelve of them. On top of holding four of those each, we each held the maximum limit of five "Divine Elixirs of Life"—a lite version revival item that revives with half health. With a grand total of twenty-seven extra lives, we are challenging Wethermon the Tombguard. Truly zombies. To oppose an ultra-dangerous monster like Wethermon the Tombguard, who looks like he wouldn't even flinch if you smashed a rocket launcher into his head, we have no choice but to confront him with zombie tactics.

It looks like he's unleashing attacks without pause, but in reality, there is certainly a gap between attacks, even if it's less than a few seconds. With the Lake Dagger [Mod. II], reinforced and significantly increased in durability by Bilac's smithing, in both hands, I threaded through that slight gap and switched with OiKatzo.

"Okay, switching!"

"If you die, I'll take over again!"

"Aye... yo!"

Squatting down low enough to be practically on all fours, I evaded a flash from Wethermon intended to cut me in half at the waist. I vaguely suspected it was useless, but I tried grabbing his leg to see if I could flip him... Am I pulling on a telephone pole or something?

"Whoa!?"

I rolled to dodge a downward thrust coming to skewer my head without a shred of hesitation, then stood up. The victory conditions are vague, and we have no idea how long we have to keep fighting for our hypothesized "Time Elapsed Theory." But there is one thing I can say.

"Cumulonimbus (Nyudo-gumo)."

"Ideally, we keep the death count under ten..."

While searching for a way to escape the giant cloud arm swinging down to sweep away everything, I couldn't help but mutter that.

And then, seven minutes passed.

"Thunder Knell (Raisho)."

"Here it comes!"

"I can tell by looking...!"

Five lightning strikes per second, each guaranteed instant death, lasting for five seconds. While he unleashed a torrential rain of lightning putting out absolutely insane DPS, I fully evaded it using Skate Foot, an evasion skill that allows literal sliding movement. Because the DPS is so high, if I run at full power, I can avoid it. It seems the other two aren't dead either.

"Don't underestimate me!"

The moment the effect of Skate Foot ended, a thrust was released. I managed to shift its trajectory using Parrying Protect, a counter skill that normally deflects an attack and deals 5% of that attack's damage. Taking it head-on would only lead to a future where I'm a shish kebab, and I don't even have the leeway to test it.

Shoulder tackle with the katana hidden behind his back. Then a kesa-giri (diagonal slash) with a twist of the hips, aiming for where I dodged. I evaded the trajectory aiming to slice off my right arm from the shoulder by rotating my body, then leaped over the return upward slash with a backflip. This acrobatic movement wasn't done out of composure. If I jumped normally, I'd get "landing punished." I had to use a backflip, which is faster to get my feet back on the ground even by a split second... I had no choice but to do it, even if it was a move that drained stamina.

"Dodging machine gun fire is easier than this...!"

"Switch!"

"On it!"

I switched with OiKatzo. While tossing a Tear Jewel of Rebirth at him—since his head had just gone flying from a super-speed Severing Wind—I carefully but rapidly calmed my tangled thoughts. I retreated to Pencilgon's position, where she was continuing some kind of preparation in the back, making sure not to draw aggro by mistake.

"Not even ten minutes have passed yet..."

"In terms of 'no one dropping out,' this is the all-time best record."

"If this goes for an hour, it's seriously an impossible game."

"Taking that into account... I think the limit is twenty minutes... thirty minutes at the most estimate..."

Another two sets of this? Furthermore, if the difficulty rises in stages for the remaining twenty minutes...

"Can I certify this as a Kusoge (Shitty Game)?"

"Since we're doing a handicap run with only three people, probably not?"

Right... Or rather, what is Pencilgon doing? She's been alternating looks between the scales and her window for a while now. Noticing my gaze, Pencilgon flashed a grin.

"This is a Unique Item called the 'Scales of Karma.' I worked a little hard to persuade someone to lend it to me. The effect is... oops, this is bad. Ten minutes elapsed."

"OiKatzo! It's time, switch!"

We know full well that damage won't get through; the goal is to steal aggro. I slammed Drill Piercer, a multi-hit thrusting skill, into the back chasing OiKatzo. Confirming OiKatzo's retreat, I turned my gaze to Wethermon the Tombguard.

"Round Two, right? Bring out the horsey. Our pro gamer is going to use it for rodeo practice."

"......Mass Export & Summon Call, Tactical Mecha-Horse [Kirin]."

At the same time that rusty voice, which I didn't really want to keep listening to, chanted those words, a geometric pattern unfolded in the empty space of the field where only four people stood. As if forming matter with a 3D printer from the ground up, it transferred (summoned) a massive mass to this place.

"Horse...?"

"Shape-wise, that's the only way to describe it, but..."

"That's a dump truck with legs no matter how you look at it!"

"I said that, didn't I!?"

Since Wethermon resumed attacking the moment the summoning finished, we could only catch a glimpse of it, but even that was enough to understand that the metaphor "dump truck with legs" was by no means an exaggeration. What the hell is that? It easily exceeds five meters. Is OiKatzo going to be okay...?