Chapter 425: O Dragon, O Dragon! Part 2

"Man, this is seriously bad news..."

Arthur Pencilgon was not in the midst of the battlefield... but on the deck of the New Continent survey ship, where she could look down upon the battlefield from a bird's-eye view.
For the vast majority of players, this was their first Unique Scenario EX, and a super-large-scale raid battle to boot. Anyone would rush in, wanting to dive straight into the heart of the festival.
Amidst all that, there were also players who chose to remain completely still, waiting for the arrival of their "True Targets."
The clan "Wolfgang" were the latter type of players. With a few members absent and the addition of several outsiders, they glared down at the battlefield.

"I understand Akitsu Akane-chan, and I guess I sort of understand the younger Saiga sister. But where exactly is our loose cannon currently munching on weeds?"

"He was making various excuses about how something he prepared wasn't finished yet or whatever..."

"Is he planning to bring a battleship or something..."

Pencilgon and OiKatzo's gazes, staring from the deck at the massive chaos stirred up by the two dragons, were distant. It was as if they were averting their eyes from something...

A woman who had wrapped her arm around Pencilgon's shoulder whispered to the two of them, making absolutely no attempt to hide her delight.

"I knew it the moment I saw you, fufufu... You're No Name, right?"

"Kaaaatzo... why did you bring herrr...!"

"It was destiny the moment we were in the same area, so let's just give up, Pencilgooon..."

Yes, it was Argent Owl. To cut to the chase, they couldn't escape the Demon King (Sylvia).
Ignoring Rust, Mold, and Kyougoku—who were tilting their heads in confusion as to why Pencilgon, who usually flaunted an even mix of composure and malice to her surroundings, currently looked so utterly devoid of composure—Argent Owl floated a smile reminiscent of a carnivore and quietly asked a question.

"So? Where is No Face? Is that 'hitman (bullet)' you mentioned earlier him?"

"Yeah, that's right. Once that guy joins up, you can punch him or whatever, do as you please."

A godspeed sellout of her own ally. Yet the man in question was nowhere to be seen. The aggro of her venting was piling up entirely on Sunraku.

"Hey, Miss Pencil? Are we just going to spectate from here?"

"You're awfully pushy—... Well, whatever. Our targets aren't those sub-targets anyway."

If anything, she actually wanted the three dragons—excluding Noirlind—to moderately exhaust the players.
Pencilgon was well aware that they weren't opponents that could be defeated with a small group like Wethermon or Ctarrnid. Therefore, the core of her current "evil scheme" was how many allies she could secure when the battle against Siegwurm arrived.

"In the first place, I was wondering what they were thinking pitting every player on the New Continent against just one or two monsters, but looking at it from a bird's-eye view, the absurdity really stands out."

Deciding to ignore the overly familiar and mysterious female player for the time being, Kyougoku laughed cynically as she gazed at the massive swarms of white and the gargantuan green body that continued to shake an entire sector.

"I guess it means they have the specs to fight even with every player as their opponent, but still..."

"...It's a terrible situation where multiple raid mechanics are overlapping."

The players currently fighting below were simultaneously facing two entities: Brockentried, whose attacks were almost entirely indiscriminate AoE attacks, and Bryreinyego, who continuously birthed an inexhaustible supply of small dragons.
It seemed the colored dragons had no intention of cooperating with each other, as clashes between the dragons occurred occasionally, but...

"How should I put it, it's like..."

"Ants being trampled."

"Trash mobs in a Musou game."

"The feeling when you mess up washing rice and the spilled grains get washed down the drain."

"Kyougoku-chan's analogy was the hardest to understand, so you get a penalty game."

"Kuh, I guess people who don't cook for themselves wouldn't get it...!?"

It had to be said that even if ants charged into a clash between tornadoes, it would be difficult to produce a result other than being blown away.
While the situation itself felt inherently wrong, as long as it was implemented as a Decisive Battle Phase, there had to be some sort of clear route.

Indeed, from the ship, they could confirm that top clans, starting with the "Black Sword," were managing to somewhat form a battle line by temporarily constructing a joint front.

"It looks like dealing with Bryreinyego's small dragons isn't entirely impossible if we spam magic attacks. But the numbers are just too great, so we can't pull the magic classes off mob-clearing duty."

It was unknown whether Bryreinyego's main body would eventually transition into a new mode based on remaining HP, but from Pencilgon's assessment, there was no sign it intended to perform any actions other than producing small dragons.
If that was the case, should the physical DPS classes focus their attacks on Brockentried? That wasn't quite right either.

"...It clearly looks like it's sucking something up, right?"

"And isn't the ground turning into a swamp? Ahh, a tank fell over and got step—ah."

"...The ground hardened."

The players, buried alive in groups of over a dozen, only displayed their death effects on the surface. It seemed being fully buried resulted in an instant death.
The only saving grace was that the instant-death judgment only applied to those fully buried; if buried up to the waist, it only rendered them immobile.

"Isn't it kinda fun watching the human sacrifices scatter?"

"I would prefer it if they exposed the enemy's information more efficiently."

"Ah, you want them to die in an orderly fashion."

To put it bluntly, "Wolfgang's" battle wouldn't begin unless the appearances of Akitsu Akane, Noirlind, and Siegwurm were confirmed.
Therefore, they had no choice but to remain on standby, even as they were given strange looks by the respawning players.

However, that was strictly limited to those preparing for the "main event."

"Hmm... So No Face is going to show up at that timing too, huh. Well then, I'm going to go play for a bit."

Swinging her arms around, Argent Owl placed her foot on the edge of the ship.
Before Pencilgon even had the chance to call out and stop her, her body leapt out of the ship.

"Let's go!"

"Huh?"

Grabbing OiKatzo by the scruff of his neck.

"Wai—, Daaaaaahh!!?"

"Ahー, there they go... Well, whatever. The red one and the others will probably show up eventually... Alright, everyone, pay attention!!"

Clap! Pencilgon clapped her hands together and turned around.

"Everyone, free action!!"

"That's pretty vague."

"Well, just try to keep some strength in reserve. There's no telling what our two nuclear warheads are going to bring in... Anyway, once Akitsu Akane-chan arrives, let's group back up here for a bit. As for Sunraku-kun... well, he'll probably stand out one way or another, so our policy is to capture him on sight."

That being said, there was no point in playing the game if they just stood around here. Some floated belligerent smiles, while others seemed to think it would be good for killing time, as each of them scattered. Pencilgon, the only one left to see them off on the deck, let out a sigh, then floated a broad smile and addressed the remaining outsiders.

"Well now, I'm completely free... Fancy a drink?"

The fourteen outsiders simply stood there.
As if to say: if you want to move us, do not offer a proposal, simply issue a command.

Author's Afterword
Brockentried sucks up mana from the ground, healing and strengthening itself. But that's not all! After sucking up mana until the ground is depleted and turns into a quicksand hell, it can forcefully return the magic power to rapidly harden the ground!

In short, Sand Prison Burial.