Chapter 435: O Dragon, O Dragon! Part 12

Thanks to the participation of the Giants' Odin Clan, the players dealing with the White Dragon were rapidly regaining their momentum.
However, they were currently being pushed back into a situation that could once again be called a disadvantage.

The reason being, whether there was some sort of system processing on Bryreinyego's end due to the addition of people with an average height of three meters, the production pattern that had previously been spawning human-sized small dragons had changed.

"Humanoid!?"

"Tanks and rear support... you bastards! They're mimicking our roles like they're full-fledged players!!"

"Wait, wait, wait! I didn't hear anything about Giant-sized ones!!"

The small dragons, which previously possessed an ant-like, six-legged form, were now standing on their two hind legs and had resumed their invasion using arms shaped according to their "roles."
Furthermore, while the number of newly spawned ones was low enough that the Giants could handle them, Giant-sized small dragons standing three meters tall had even begun to appear.

It wasn't an immediate collapse, but the pressure of being slowly pushed back was something that the other dragons—who, no matter how strong or troublesome, were only "individuals"—could not create. It could be called a tension unique to Bryreinyego, a "swarm" dragon that produced clones.

"Oh, wa, ah... crap!"

Once again, another player failed to withstand the pressure of the swarm, pushed back by a tank small dragon and falling flat on their back.
Without missing a beat, the surrounding small dragons encircled the pitiful victim, snapping their jagged, unevenly sized fangs as they prepared to lay their hands on the player's life.

"Wai, hol—"

That man... a player named Reiji, fortunately or unfortunately, had not been killed even once from the beginning of the decisive battle phase until now.
Therefore, this was his first time experiencing the sheer terror of being ganged up on by creepy pseudo-dragons like a victim surrounded by zombies.

However, heaven's luck had not abandoned Reiji.

"Alright, that's five kills!!"

Through Reiji's field of vision, which was being blocked by the small dragons, traces of red and green... no, azure flashed by.
Immediately after, all five small dragons were defeated, their shattering effects scattering like snow.

"Yo, you okay............ hm?"

"Th-Thanks for the save... who are you?"

Holding a straight sword with a blade split evenly into two colors, red and azure—looking as if gems had simply been stretched into the shape of a sword—she stared at Reiji's face with a suspicious look, despite being the one who saved him.

Even though it was an inorganic mask, having a female-shaped face brought that close to him, it couldn't be helped that Reiji—a healthy adolescent boy—felt his healthy adolescent heart flutter.
Besides, judging from the voice, the player inside was probably female too. To have someone looking like a Queen of Jewels get so close...

".........By any chance, around summer, were you in Secondil with a female friend or someone?"

"Eh? ...W-Wait. You said Sunraku? Don't tell me...!!"

"Oh, I knew it! Seriously, you can't underestimate the RNG of fate!! Man, you really saved me back then, seriously! Even if I wanted to thank you, it's not like you can just go find a total stranger!"

Reiji's arm was grabbed with a yank and he was forcefully pulled to his feet. The mysterious female player—or rather, "That Guy," Sunraku—then proceeded to violently shake his hand up and down in a handshake.

"Wait, isn't Sunraku a male character..."

"Ah, this? Gender-change item. One of the rewards you can get from Ctarrnid."

A bombshell of information had just been casually dropped, but Sunraku, speaking as if he had poured lubricating oil into his mouth, showed no signs of thinking he shouldn't have said that. And Reiji, on his end, was too busy dealing with his healthy adolescent wholesomeness being shaken by the transgender-esque evil aura to care about the details.

"Anyway, glad I could finally thank you. Well, I'm gonna go farm some score now... let's do our best!"

"Ah, wai—"

"Musou Gaaaame!!"

Watching Sunraku(?) dive into the battlefield at a speed unimaginable for someone wearing heavy jewel armor, Reiji snapped back to his senses in a daze.

"Wait, why am I getting my heart swayed by a G.I.R.L..." 

Magnificent, simply magnificent, the Tsarina Series!
Bilac mentioned something about "Jewelers this and that...", but the dress section, which was woven from Tsar-Beryl Emperor Treasure Crystals, was surprisingly light and easy to move in despite its appearance.
And right "now," this full set of equipment has a passive MP recovery effect. Since it triggers individually for each part, having all four parts—head, torso, waist, and legs—equipped means an MP pool my size fully recovers in five minutes.
Furthermore, with its magic reflection effect, a small dragon's breath (small) results in absolutely zero damage!

And then! After accumulating the gauge and pumping myself up with various enhancement skills...

"EX-calibur Mode!!"

In an instant, all my magic power (optionally) is devoured, and the crystal blade rapidly extends.
This is the expansion form equipped on the Glitter Grit—the ability to physically extend the blade by consuming MP! It's not a magic blade or anything; the actual blade itself enlarges, so the required parameters increase too! It's heavy!!

"That's why... I use it like this!!"

A vertical flash aimed at a Giant-type small dragon. By fulfilling the adjusted HP condition and reaching 100% on the gauge, the ultimate move "Glitter Sword" becomes usable.
Letting the weight do the work, I cleaved through the small dragon with a single stroke—though the design probably made it easy to cut in the first place—and turned around while holding the shrunk blade. In reality, a pose like this isn't necessary, but I have to wait out the "seconds."
The Giant small dragon, having a vertical line carved into it, tried to counterattack me... but its body unnaturally stiffened. Then, the carved wound emitted light...

"Judgement!"

Mas-sive! Ex-plosion!!
...Seriously, how much effort was put into this thing? Sure, monsters and weirdos in Tokusatsu shows always explode for no reason, but still.
The ultimate move "Glitter Sword" smooths out the attack motion and generates additional damage. Simply put, your attacks won't be deflected, additional damage triggers a few seconds after the cut... and if that was the finishing blow, it explodes.

"It's a toy..."

Is she trying to hide it with the design? Because I definitely didn't miss the massive "EX" designed into the blade.
But it's nice that it inherits the movement calculations from right before the blade expansion. There are games where you completely lose control in mid-air the moment you activate a special move, after all. Watching a character perform an ultimate attack motion while falling without any consideration for the landing is funny to watch, though.
Also, since it's in the two-handed sword category, it taking up both the left and right equipment slots is a slight minus point, but well, I ordered a two-handed sword in the first place, so that's just a matter of feeling.

Slicing and dicing through the ant-type small dragons, I occasionally helped up players who were on the verge of death to farm even more score.
Strange, I figured someone would have come over by now... but no one is coming.

"Tch, are you telling me to shine even brighter?"

Stabbing the Glitter Grit into the ground, I activated EX-calibur Mode in that state. Because I invested everything into Critical Speed, my basic motions have been heavily restricted, but that is fine in its own way. If that's the case, I just need to prepare substitute means and make do.

Leaping into the air, I manipulated the window and called a new weapon to my hands. I knew this one was absolutely advantageous in terms of compatibility, but I wanted to try out the Glitter Grit first, so I held off... but since they're seriously swarming like trash mobs in a Musou game, it's time to unseal it.

The dragon-slaying blade that was once plunged into a Naga that wasn't even a true dragon, spending its time simply rusting and decaying... Originally a spear, snapped by its former wielder, and further shortened, it's led quite a turbulent sword-life? But... now is the time to unleash its true power.

"Roar, Areadbhair! Raise your flames and purge away the dragons!!"

As if saying it had been waiting for this very moment, the pitch-black blade wrapped itself in fire, cleaving through the Giant small dragons with a sharpness equal to or greater than the Glitter Sword, which was systematically in an "easy to cut" state.
Stepping over the massive bodies falling as fire erupted from their wounds, I dashed toward a place where, for some reason, the small dragons were clustering.

"I don't really know what's going on, but it's time to farm kill score!"

Author's Afterword
The fact that Imron's weapon, with its versatile effects, is closing in on the sharpness of the highly specialized Areadbhair shows his shining skill as a blacksmith.
Well, Areadbhair's effect is passive, though.