Chapter 85: Bird with Rabbits vs Humming Skull

NPC Name: Bilac
Level: 98
Job: Master Craftsman
Sub-Job: Archaeologist
Race: Vorpal Bunny Master Smith
HP: 175
MP: 530
STM: 120
STR: 130
DEX: 120
AGI: 30
TEC: 130
VIT: 169
LUC: 130

Skills:

• Best Step
• Quake Stamp
• Gigaton Swing
• Titan Blast
• Fortress Breaker
• Material Destroy
• Critical Focus
• Analyze: Legacy Lv.4

Magic:

• Damage Repair Lv.MAX
• Break Repair Lv.8
• Quick Forge Lv.4
• Stack Grind Lv.7
• Drain Enhance Lv.7
• Breakerize Lv.1
• Forge Rise Lv.MAX
• Strength Rise Lv.MAX
• Evolise Lv.8
• Fusion Rise Lv.6
• True Rise Lv.4
• Random Encounter Lv.3
• Enchant: High Robust
• Miracle Mining
• Legacy Sense Lv.3

Equipment:

• Weapon: Sledge Ogre
• Head: Fire-Watching Headcloth
• Torso: Rabbit Style Smithing Gear
• Waist: Rabbit Style Smithing Gear
• Feet: Rabbit Style Smithing Gear
• Accessories: Ifrit Glove

"Strong."

Having finished the battle by beating the crap out of the remaining headless horse, I was checking Bilac's status, but... I feel a severe sense of déjà vu. If I try to recall it specifically, I feel like something is going to jump out from under my feet... Ugh, my head.

"I say that, but this strength comes from experience hammerin' iron. In battle experience, I lose to ya."

"I've re-confirmed that both Emul and I could get our necks snapped just by being bonked on the head by you."

"What do ya think I am!"

Exchanging glances with Emul, and understanding what each other was thinking without words, we silently turned to Bilac.

"Silence is golden, as they say..."

"As they say, desu wa..."

"Emul, Yer... yer startin' to resemble this guy."

"Heeeeeh!?"

Emul has a shocked expression, but what on earth do both Emul and Bilac mean by that? Well, whatever. Worrying about this kind of topic is just a waste of playtime.

"Anyway, let's collect the Dullahan materials... and just head straight for the boss."

If we dawdle, it'll take even longer... meaning I'll probably end up taking too many detours.

General Dullahan's Decapitation Sword
A longsword possessed by a General Dullahan, likely wielding great power in the past. Now decayed, it can only sever flesh through brute force.
When attacking the target's neck, damage receives a correction.
The corpse that forgot its memories, its pride, and even love, lost even its own head. Therefore, the remaining torso aims for the heads of not only the living but also the dead.

"What misdirected anger."

In short, "I lost my head, so you guys lose yours too," right? That's completely taking it out on others. No, wait, if it was going around decapitating fellow undead too, then its kill score is actually contributing to the players, isn't it? Ultimately, it looks dull, so I'll probably sell it off eventually.

Just as I was about to stow it—rusted and caked with dried blood, making it less of a sword and more like a sword-shaped piece of scrap metal—into my inventory, Bilac stopped me.

"Hey you, lend me that for a sec."

"Hm? Here."

When I handed the General Dullahan's Decapitation Sword to Bilac, she stared intently at the sword, swung it two or three times, then nodded once as if satisfied and raised the rusted, decayed sword.

"Just as I thought, this sword ain't dead yet. Lend it to me later, I'll restore its true form."

"Hoh."

I won't use it, but being told there's a "True Form" piques a gamer's curiosity. Let's quickly conquer the area and see this so-called True Form.

"Still, compared to the areas so far, this map is incredibly simple."

"After all is said and done, you just have to go straight, desu wa."

Rather than crossing through a canyon passing between cliffs, this map goes along the canyon piercing through cliffs, so the shortest route is just charging straight ahead. Normally, miasma and undead would block the way, and you'd proceed while suffering from status ailments and debuffs... but I'm a human air purifier who rejects the weak, so it feels like I'm just taking a walk.

"Or rather, you guys should walk a little on your own..."

"Walking is tedious, desu wa."

"Stickin' to ya saves on Holy Water, so give it up."

True, I don't know how much Holy Water the Area Boss will consume, so the reason is valid, but... A half-naked bird-head carrying a white rabbit on his head and giving a piggyback ride to a black rabbit while proceeding through a canyon filled with corpses and miasma... how is that for a visual?

It feels somewhat off from the fantasy I envision... No, but from the perspective of "experiencing something impossible in reality," maybe it passes as fantasy?

"Uumu... God Games are as deep as deep mountains and dark valleys..."

What is a God Game, what is a Trash Game, or rather, what is a Game... While engaging in such philosophical thoughts (killing time), before I knew it, we came out into an open area covered in a dome-shaped black mist.

"Well, probably the Area Boss."

I touch it lightly, but it's not like there's a prior challenger blocking the way; this seems to be the default state.

"We're going through this, desu wa...?"

"I'm counting on you, Bird Person."

"Is that name default now...? Alright, let's go."

Switching my weapon to Togetsu, I invade the mist. I feel discomfort like being wrapped in smoke for a few seconds, but passing through the black miasma licking my skin, the final Guardian (Area Boss) blocking players in this Canyon of Ancient Souls reveals itself in the center.

A black skull, looking not charred or painted, but as if something oozing from the inside dyed it black. And from there, similarly pitch-black spine, a few ribs, and an abnormally large right arm bone remain. It wears the dark miasma like a robe to compensate for the missing parts.

And in its right hand, it gripped a very bad-taste staff made of a non-human spine decorated with human jawbones like petals.

"A skull bastard that people who like this sort of thing would love thoroughly."

"Be careful, that's a Humming Lich... the guy eatin' the grudges and death around here to make the miasma fillin' the whole canyon!"

"Hieee, I don't want to get close, desu wa...!"

Hahaha, at least this is a game not rated R-18G. If you categorize it as just a bad-taste skull, it's not scary, not scary.

In this day and age, gore games with genuine gore expressions banned for minors have a 30% chance of being banned from sale, you know? A bad-taste skull monster is a piece of cake.

"If yer gonna do it, don't forget to enchant Holy Attribute. Just physical won't work on him."

".........Eh, physical attacks are nullified?"

Understanding the meaning of my words and the fact they implied... that I don't have anything like Holy Attribute enchantment, Emul and Bilac also froze with expressions of shock.

And the Humming Lich, not one to overlook this, showers miasma onto my defenseless back.

"Uwooh, what the!?"

Scolding my own carelessness at the sensation like being swept roughly with a brush, I turn around to see the expressionless black skull's jaw opened wide enough to look like it might fall off. Coming up with a hypothesis, I open my status screen.

Yeah, health is chipped a bit, but no particular status ailments.

"Ah... I see, so in short..."

I have no means to attack the Humming Lich, and the opponent, clearly a pure magic type, finds its miasma-based Curses ineffective against me who holds the "Curse (Marking)."

A strange stalemate, a situation called Sennichite (Repetition)... but that is only if I was conquering it solo.

"Fufufu... Emul, looks like it's time for Rabbit Gun [Turret Palm] again."

"Again, desu waaaaa!?"

That said, the "Curse (Marking)" only nullifies buffs/debuffs on me; I take damage normally from attack-type magic and hexes. And if I take a direct hit with my VIT, which has reverted from cardboard to toilet paper, even though I have some HP secured, it'll be like a drop in the bucket; death is unavoidable.

Dodging the attacks unleashed by the Humming Lich manually, like a character in an event scene who somehow slips through gunfire unscathed, I match the timing and thrust the Rabbit Gun—aka Emul—at the bad-taste skull.

"Right now you are a single-shot revolver! Hahaha, BANG!"

"Pyaaaaa I don't understand the meaning, desu waaaa!? [Magic Edge]!"

Closing in on the Humming Lich by threading through gaps in the miasma, a blade of magic is fired from the thrust-out Emul. It doesn't deal massive damage, but it seems to deal decent damage, as the Humming Lich shows signs of disliking Emul's attack.

I tried slashing a few times in the openings, but as expected, the bone parts seem to be physically immune too. Stowing the Togetsu [Waxing] which passes right through, I decide to focus solely on Emul's attacks.

"Bilac! How's progress!?"

"Ah jeez! Can't do it that easily, ya fool!"

In the direction I called out, Bilac, downing an additional Holy Water in one gulp, barks back at me half-angry. In her hand is the General Dullahan's Decapitation Sword, which I thought wouldn't be used, and she is exercising magic on it.

The reason being, perhaps the AI judged that it should grant mercy in the event of an unexpected "no effective hits" situation, Bilac proposed this:

"It's a hasty job, but I'll make a weapon that works on the Humming Lich right here."

Believing in Bilac who told me to hand over the General Dullahan's Decapitation Sword, I am executing a decoy play called hate gathering for the umpteenth time.

"Miasma types are Torrent, Sphere, and Encirclement. Hands popping out of the dark ground, trash mob summons, then hitting with the staff... Movement means are short-range teleport and position swap with miasma clone..."

"Pyaaaaaah we're surrounded, desu waaaa!!"

"Compared to Ash Blizzard, this is Very Easy...!"

Moon Jumper activated. Leaping over the miasma trying to crush me and Emul in one breath, I jump back a few steps and compile the gathered motion information.

"Overall a degraded Wethermon, but the instant teleport is troublesome... Random? Or is there a pattern based on position?"

Unlike Wethermon, where I had to move almost on reflex or die, responding to the generally slow motions of the Humming Lich is easy. But this is a subjugation battle, not an endurance battle, so just running away means a slow defeat.

And the instant teleport and clone swap it uses occasionally are quite annoying. Are the destination coordinates random, or is there some rule? Verification is needed. I need to induce teleports while chipping away health with Emul.

"Done!"

Bilac shouting the completion of the work, and the Humming Lich making some suspicious movement, happened almost simultaneously.

Author's Afterword:
This is the real "Leave your head behind"... just kidding.

Smithing Magic is actually convenient, so quite a few players learn it. However, there is a difference in effectiveness between players who take it as a main job and those who take it as a sub.