Chapter 389: Side 8: The Swallow that Cuts the Stars

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Bullets fly back and forth.
The two revolvers gripped by Raid Boss: Yura spit fire with a resounding roar, and the propelled iron slugs hurtle toward the two opponents, carrying a clear, distinct murderous intent.

"Sshaaa oraaaah!!"

"Hmph!!"

However, the two facing the strongest player are not the kind of soft targets who will simply end up as sandbags either.

"Ooh! They both deflected the bullets!!"

"They can respond from that position?"

"Can you do that?"

"If it was 'Ready, set, go,' I probably could... but if they were fired with max delays mixed in, I'd say maybe a seventy percent chance?"

"I get kinda jealous sometimes, it really looks like being in the Shinsengumi makes bullet deflecting easier."

"Well, Raid Boss-san deflects bullets perfectly fine even when he's on the Ishin side, though."

"Because he's Raid Boss-san."

The exact moment the two bullets were split perfectly in half, burying four metallic fragments into the tenement wall, Matsuribayashi: Sunraku and Our Hero: Tousen broke into a sprint.

Both belong to the Shinsengumi, meaning they lack any system corrections for firearms, so their offensive methods naturally converge on the swords gripped in their hands.

"Divine!"

"Punishment!"

Sunraku unleashed two slashes sweeping upward from a low stance, while Tousen brought down a massive overhead slash aiming straight for the ground. Bound by a silent agreement exchanged in a single glance—'No hard feelings even if we die'—the two presented Yura with a simultaneous, two-pronged ultimate choice.

However, the answer was a resounding 'No'.
With two guns gripped in both hands, the one wielding them is the strongest Raid Boss in Bakumatsu. If the choices are lacking, he simply forces his way through to create a third option.

"Reload."

""!?""

With both hands occupied, he operated his menu window using only his pinkies, tossed the two handguns straight up, and in an almost completely lagless, seamless sequence, grasped two fresh revolvers—fully loaded with all shots—in his hands.

A chain of roars echoed. The continuous firing, which forced an excessive load onto the weapons, shook the air itself as four vanguards of murderous intent were unleashed point-blank toward each of their faces.

"Ah, I'm de—"

"Hey, you bastard! Saying 'die' is incredibly vulgar, you know!?"

"Ah, Divin—"

"That works."

"I really don't understand how any part of this is okay?"

"Wait, are they seriously going to dodge that rapid fire...?"

"But Matsuribayashi went face-first into the dirt, and Our Hero threw out his back... Their numbers advantage got completely overturned in an instant."

I see. Indeed, even to Kyougoku's eyes, the situation looked completely disadvantageous for them. While Sunraku dodged the bullets by voluntarily slamming his own face into the ground using some incomprehensible skill called 'Self-Tripping,' Tousen dodged by bending his body backward to the absolute limit. However, judging by his expression, even in a Full-Dive game, doing such a reckless reverse crab-bend doesn't come without risks.

But unfortunately, in turn-based battles, boss monsters often take multiple actions per turn, and the player nicknamed Raid Boss similarly refused to halt his assault.

"Re-reload!?"

"Tch...!"

"Collateral...!!"

He discarded the empty revolvers, and at that exact moment... yes, he caught the revolvers he had tossed into the air earlier—the ones still holding ammo—aimed them squarely at the two who had broken their posture, and immediately fired.

Dodging was impossible, and their stances were too unstable to deflect the bullets. The two, having reached that conclusion far faster than Kyougoku who was simply watching from a safe zone, twitched slightly.

"Hey now, sacrificing your Mobility (Legs) against Raid Boss-san is a terrible move."

"Idiot, sacrificing one of your arms when you're a dual-wielder is a way worse move, isn't it?"

"Should I balance it out?"

""We'll pass.""

Yura, holding Sabimitsu in his right hand and a revolver in his left, made his move. His target was Tousen, who was scattering damage effects from his left thigh. He pointed the muzzle at the Shinsengumi who had dropped to one knee... However, the very next second, perhaps sensing something, Yura leaped straight up on the spot, twisted his body, and swung Sabimitsu forcefully behind him.

"Ga, nii...!?"

"Good job, meat shield!!"

"Gubaaah!?"

The body of 'Zeninari', who had interrupted the impromptu alliance with a solo mid-air surprise attack Divine Punishment, was bisected perfectly from the waist down. However, as if bursting out of his upper half, the event-exclusive weapon 'Catfish Tailfin' shot forward, and Sunraku, whose left arm hung limply, lunged at Yura using Zeninari's upper half as a makeshift shield.

"Can you see in front of you?"

"Now is the time to open my mind's eye...!"

"Wait, I'm the one getting stabbed!?"

"Let's go!"

Continuing the charge as if to say 'prepare yourself', Kyougoku wondered if Sunraku had pulled a heel turn again, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

"Dammit, you're such a pain!!"

"Thank you!!"

Tousen, having dodged the thrusting blade by shifting his body, pressed the back of his greatsword against the meat shield and pushed with all his might, just like a baseball swing.
Sunraku, not resisting the force, fell backward, dodging a decapitating strike by a hair's breadth.

"Ah, the meat shield's head flew off."

"Excuse me, aren't you guys utilizing my body a bit too efficiently?"

"Hello, Mottainai Ghost."

"I'm the one being treated as a waste!!"

Regardless, perhaps feeling some sentiment toward 'Zeninari'—who had been skewered through his upper body and ultimately decapitated—Sunraku and Tousen wiped away fake tears that weren't even there and roared.

"I won't forgive you! How dare you do that to Zeninari!!"

"Yeah, this is for him!!"

Another Wraith radiating a massive amount of negative emotion toward Sunraku and his partner was added to the pile, but honestly, the person who botched the surprise attack was also to blame.
At the very least, even if—by some one-in-a-million chance—he had managed to kill Raid Boss-san, neglecting to deal with the other two was incredibly naive.

That being said, purely in terms of rankings, successfully landing a Divine Punishment on Raid Boss-san basically guarantees a top-tier spot, so it wasn't a terrible gamble. While Kyougoku was pretending to be an expert on the subject, she overheard a disturbing conversation next to her.

"Man, I ran away, but then I bumped straight into Raid Boss-san and got cornered, so I just charged in out of desperation... Well, obviously it was impossible."

"Ran away? From who?"

"Eh, well, that's..."

The next instant, the wall of one of the tenement houses shattered from the inside.

"First Place, Second Place, and Matsuribayashi! I couldn't ask for better prey, oi oi oi!!"

"I found you, Sunrakuuu!!"

"Geeh! You guys are still alive!?"

'Blizzard Hunter: Seii Taishogun' and 'Mad Dog: Jumonji Daifuku' crashed the party. Another highly toxic ingredient had been thrown into the dark pot, and the situation descended into absolute chaos.

Or so it should have.

"I'm going to get a little serious now."

That single sentence, completely devoid of any exaggeration, was an absolute death sentence. And Jumonji Daifuku, who witnessed its emergence from the closest vantage point, spoke its name with a smile that was an unholy mix of joy and terror.

"Star-Severing Pole (Kiriboshizao/Dried Radish Pole)...!!"

Schwing. A single sword was smoothly drawn from the empty air.
No, could you even call it a sword? There is a type of greatsword known as a Zanbato, designed specifically to cut down horses. But that... that sword was even longer, looking exactly like...

"Star-Severing Pole... Seriously!? The New Year's event reward!?"

"Isn't that the 1st place reward from the Ganryu event!!"

"Eh, what is that."

"It's Raid Boss-san's try-hard weapon! It's the physical proof of the legendary 100-man slaughter... Record this, hit record!!"

Given the words flying around, it was almost certainly modeled after Sasaki Kojiro's "Drying Pole" (Monohoshizao) from his duel on Ganryu Island. However, swinging a sword and swinging a pole are two completely different things.
If anything, the sheer size of it would only leave massive openings... But Kyougoku's rather optimistic thought vanished like mist the moment she saw Jumonji Daifuku's torso, his head having been sent flying in an instant.

"Aaaand Mad Dog is dead again."

"No, just the fact that he moved to react is pretty impressive."

"How many minutes do you think they'll last?"

"Five minutes!"

"Two minutes!"

"What about you, Kyougoku-chan?"

"Eh, ah... Three minutes?"

"The time it takes to make instant noodles, huh... The safe bet."

"But also the classic choice."

Kyougoku had no way of knowing, but ranking rewards each came equipped with a special ability. However, rather than fantastical effects like shooting blade beams, the main effects were primarily player assists, such as boosting physical strength or reducing stamina consumption.

And the effect imbued in the 'Star-Severing Pole' wielded by Yura was Air Resistance Reduction. That simple effect transformed a fighting style that should have normally exposed massive openings due to its sheer length into an incredibly dangerous disaster zone in the hands of Yura's skill.

"Crap..."

"Divine Punishment."

"Damn youuu!!"

Sunraku's left arm flew through the air. The length of the blade meant an immense amount of kinetic energy was loaded into the tip.
Even without an absolute severing effect triggered by a critical hit like Sabimitsu, the swung blade effortlessly sheared off the avatar's arm.

"Chiii...!"

"Hey Shogun! Buy me some time to heal!"

"You're asking the impossible...!"

"It's fine, I'll wait."

"That opening is fatal! Chesuto (Divine Punishment)!!"

Taking advantage of his declaration to wait, with the tip of his blade hanging lazily toward the ground, Seii Taishogun saw a chance for victory and lunged in with a massive overhead strike.

However, he had forgotten something.

"You rushed it, Blizzard Hunter."

"What an idiot. We're talking about a Drying Pole and Raid Boss-san here."

If a master wields the Drying Pole, then the Returning blade will strike down even a swallow.

"Return Divine Punishment."

"A-At least let me land one hit───!"

Slashed perfectly horizontally, Seii Taishogun put the absolute last of his strength into throwing his Oodachi. Perhaps carrying the grudge of its wielder, it sliced through the air with a sharpness completely unfitting of an avatar on the verge of death and zeroed in on its target.

"Whoa, that was close!?"

"Tchii!!"

"If I hadn't deflected that with 'Ground Blizzard', I would have died instantly..."

"Curse youuu!!"

I'd like that back-and-forth tension back now, please. Right next to Kyougoku, who muttered that with half-closed eyes, two more vengeful spirits were added to the pile.

Author's Afterword
Even if you get a bit stronger or tougher, you'll still just get beaten to a pulp by a mob—that is Bakumatsu.