Chapter 397: Forbidden Power (Uncontrollable)

Author's Preface
What the hell do you want me to do with nearly nine hundred votes manually! Me from the past, you idiot!! My estimate was that there would only be around 100...

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What the hell am I doing right now...

"Manifest! Guardian Divine Beast!"

"Gyoooooo!!"

"Mow them down!!"

Responding to the President's presidential spirit, the summoned Dragon (Guardian Divine Beast) of the United, "Bammeshi," gathered light in its mouth and fired it as a beam of light into the massive horde of pitch-black engulfing the blood-soaked land.
While the wicked Demons that had emerged from the demon realm using humans as sacrifices were swallowed by the light and erased while screaming in agony, the part of the horde outside the attack range crashed into the vanguard of the United States Army... No, the Allied Forces.

"Prepare the second volley! I will hold the front line until then!"

Uooooo! Eat a strike from the Type 32 Portable Consecrated Nail-Driving Hammer forged in the arsenal exclusively for Presidential equipmentaaaaaah Seriously what game am I playing right nowwwwwww!!

For the record, I would like to state beforehand that up until this point, there hasn't been a single breakdown in the storyline.

The trash elements of Epic of President Legend were the monotony of its combat and domestic affairs portions. That's what I had thought.
But when I invaded Envol, the Imperial Castle located in the capital of the Neo Galcart Empire, I was brutally reminded of how wrong I was. It only happened yesterday, but it feels like it's been ages...

The true identity of the Dark General was a Demon sealed away long ago?

The cornered Emperor formed a contract with the Demon?

Every single person belonging to the Neo Galcart Empire was used as a sacrifice?

We were forced to retreat due to their overwhelming military power?

I was forced to watch half my acquired territory get battered and torn to shreds via an event processing cutscene?

I overcame the trials of the Guardian Divine Beast and acquired a MAP weapon?

And currently, I am right in the middle of a Demon (Zombie) Panic action game.

And that's not all. Ever since the collapse of the Neo Galcart Empire, the game's category has been completely all over the place. Isn't inserting a paranoia element into a game that advocates for "United" totally missing the mark? It's even worse because the story actually holds up without falling apart.

"Eradicate them!!"

The guardian deity of the United States of Dinner, the Guardian Divine Beast "Bammeshi," formed from the prayers of the people, unleashed light once again.
By the way, since the player aligns the coordinates through a synchronized vision link, this is practically a shooting game now too. It's truly something else that even though what I'm doing is completely ridiculous, the game actually prepared perfectly logical reasons within the setting's lore...

"So you've shown yourself, former Purgatory General...!"

"Gyeeeee...!"

Shit. While the trash mobs have garbage AI, the enemy generals turned into Demons suddenly have exceptionally good movement. The thing that used to be the Purgatory General—which now had thorny tentacles sprouting from the abdomen of its bright red armor—not only used feint motions but clearly had increased its killing intent directly toward the player.

A spike in difficulty that practically screams 'All the gameplay up until now was just a tutorial'... Or rather, they practically threw 80% of the domestic affairs aspect out the window, right? The only order I can issue right now is 'Rapidly grow potatoes because they're easy to produce.'

And more than anything else, every time I return from combat, Rice-chan gives me casualty reports detailing how our allied forces are getting whittled down on other fronts... This is totally weird; just yesterday I was basically on the verge of unifying the continent, but now I'm being pushed to the brink of having to process a total defeat.

No, from a story perspective, I can understand it, you know? In this world, magical 'something-or-others' exist, albeit with miracle-level rarity. A President who can shoot beams has a massive advantage against regular soldiers, but against supernatural Demons, it becomes an even fight... I get it. But as a game, is this really okay? I can't accept this...

Living creatures cannot survive without breathing. And the act of exhaling breath from the body is exactly one-half of the two processes that make up breathing.
In other words, if you get tired of exhaling, you just have to inhale again.

"Waa, Sunraku-san is awake desu wa!?"

"Yo Emul, I'm gonna go on a quick solo gallop across the New Continent."

"He's trying to head straight into collapsing on the ground the moment he wakes up desu wa, this person!?"

Since I can no longer choose absurd, reckless tactics in Presi-Legend, I have no choice but to do them in ShanFro, right?

But before that, I'm going to go see your sisters. It's time for a slap with a wad of cash.

"Alright, here I go."

"Oww, a... zuh?!"

Bichi-bichiin!! Effuielle delivered two sharp, index-and-middle-finger slaps to my arm. Considering it felt like two consecutive jolts of static electricity, it was actually quite itchy.
But with this, my slot count is seven... No, strictly speaking, one slot is permanently occupied, so six. Should I seriously start putting some real effort into crafting accessories?

"Hey Effuielle, can you process this?"

"Hmm... That's a no-go, that one's too difficult."

No good, huh... I stored the scorchingly radiant scale into my Inventoria and bid farewell to Effuielle. Alright, next.

"What the hell 'm I s'pposed to do with a single scale, ah?"

"Yeah, true... Oh, by the way, do you know where Catzeria is?"

I asked Bilac, figuring she might know since Aramis has been constantly hitting on her, but the answer I got wasn't very favorable.

"What the hell do ya want, plan on headin' to the country of 'em cats?"

"Just felt like going for a run."

"Unfortunately for ya, I don't go out much, so I dunno."

"Use... No, never mind, put that mystery tool away! A hole!? Are you planning on drilling a hole!?"

I escaped the workshop as if fleeing from a mystery tool that looked like a drill fused with a soldering iron. Next! Or rather, the last one!

"Oh myy, welcomeee."

"I'm here... Elke."

That money-grubber, her eyes are sparkling brilliantly because she understands exactly why I came. But teasing her would just be a waste of time. Time is money, but while money can be earned over time, time cannot be bought with money.

"I've seen the fastest world. If so... the Secret Law (Law), I can do it now, right?"

"Ufufufufu... It's payment upfront, you knooow?"

"It's a seven-connection."

Thud!! At my command, a massive leather sack large enough to practically bury the pruning room materialized. Even if we concede on the money itself, shouldn't we be concerned about where exactly this leather sack was generated from?

"Fwaaaaa... Seven hundred million Maniiii... Ufufu, moneyy, moneyy...!"

Elke, looking completely like she had ¥ marks... no, Mani marks floating in her eyes, clung to the leather sack and scrambled up it.
Then, opening the sack at the top, she shoved her face inside and stopped moving for several dozen seconds... When she raised her face next, the absolute ecstasy from moments ago was nowhere to be found; she jumped down from the sack with a solemn expression.

Pofu-pofu, Elke clapped both hands, and rabbits that appeared out of nowhere picked up the sack filled with seven hundred million Mani as if carrying a portable shrine and hauled it away. Ah, they bowed, so I should bow back.

"Thank you for your businesss... Sunraku-san is like a money tree, aren't youu... Now then, come over hereee..."

Standard Skill Pruning is basically performed on top of some incomprehensible magic circle. But this "Secret Law" thing seems to be a bit different.

Another pofu-pofu clap of the hands. The seven Vorpal Bunnies that appeared were holding shallow, wide objects meant to catch liquids... what the general public would call Sakazuki (Sake Cups), along with the pedestals to hold them.
They then placed the seven pedestals and cups around me as I stood in the center of the magic circle, and left.

"Hiii, it won't hurt, so please don't move, okaay?"

"Bring it on."

Even if my head gets cut off, I won't move an inch from here. As immovable as a frozen screen...! A trash game version of Furinkazan.
By the way, the breakdown goes like this:

• As fast as a trash MMO announcing the end of its service.

• As quiet as the NEWS section of a bug-ridden game site that developers abandoned fixing.

• As fiery as the backlash against developers dropping bombshell remarks.

• As immovable as a game screen freezing due to forced, shoehorned online elements causing processing lag.

Just like that. A trash game Furinkazan designed specifically to make people uncomfortable. What a terrifying tactic...!

"───Now then, Pioneer. Recall the techniques to connect and spin."

Whoa, hold on, I can't handle an abrupt, serious question without accelerating my brain's processing.

"...Limit Over Accel, Exceed Gravity, Kurama Tengu Secret Tradition, Space Charge, Hermes Boots, Bloodburn Burst, Limit Maximize."

"───The resolve to shatter the yoke."

Red water welled up in a cup.

"───The one liberated from the world's laws."

The second one followed suit.

"───The hidden, ancestral techniques."

The red liquid was just like...

"───The distant sky, a law lacking ground to stand upon."

...my blood.

"───The light, nimble rhythm of divine steps."

Even though I hadn't bled or taken any damage.

"───The blood impulse that burns even oneself."

However, it felt as though the very definition of my existence as an individual had been expanded.

"───The foothold leading to the absolute limit."

The seven cups overflowed, the red liquid staining the magic circle and flowing, creeping toward me standing in the center.

"───The absolute bottom of the bottom, the one that harbors even the distant sky. I plead to the immaculate mercy, what I offer is compensation, the brilliance of value."

The mixed reds—despite all being the exact same color—turned into a pitch-black liquid that clung to my feet and seeped in. Honestly, it just looked like I was being devoured by a slime monster, but if you clear your mind, even fire is cool. If you quit a game just because the publisher caused a controversy, you could never survive having trash games as a hobby.

"───Connect, spin, overlap without mixing, and bind them together even while accepting the destiny of parting."

I don't really care, but this is totally the classic 'falling to darkness' trope where you dabble in evil powers in pursuit of even greater strength, right?

"───Seven brilliances, the one light that overlaps and shines. 【Pruning Secret Law (Planning Law): High Connection】."

And so, the dark, muddy liquid completely seeped into my body... and I obtained power...! Fufufu, Fuhahahahahahahaha!!!!

I tried it out.

"Good morning, Emul."

"That is the absolute fastest death record in history desu wa."

It felt like breaking my own neck before the Grim Reaper's scythe could even reap my head? I bet even the Grim Reaper would be confused by that.

Author's Afterword
The difficulty spike in Presi-Legend feels like a player who had been comfortably beating up a Killer Machine until just a moment ago suddenly being forced to fight the Orphan of Kos.
Moreover, your situation is constantly at a disadvantage, and about five new mechanics were added on top of it.

To fix a plot hole, I'm having Sunraku-san return to ShanFro for a bit.
It's not like I really wanted to talk about the new scorpion or anything; I had no choice. Truly, no choice at all.