Chapter 466: O Dragon, O Dragon! Part 43

Author's Preface

Fimbul deserters, two limit breaks is fine, isn't it?! The meta is single-sided Varuna Bonito Kengo anyway!! [*1]

───I sing of my black half.

───What I dream of is the abyssal source, the black god solitary in his arrogance.

───The throne is but one, the logic is also but one. Therefore, my right half is the black logic.

It was a phrase preaching of a god that existed in the world of the beginning, in an ancient era predating even the Divine Age.
As if reacting to those words, Psyger-0's right half dyed a pitch-black hue, and from her back, a torrent of non-material power erupted to form the shape of a wing.

But, it must not be forgotten.

In Genesis, there are two gods.

If so, what is spoken next is...

◇ 

"───I sing of my white half."

Catching the shattering golden dragon horns in her field of vision, the grotesque knight spun her words.

"What I dream of is the Empyrean, the white god tyrannical in his greed."

The exact opposite of her right half which showed a demonic visage, her left half dyed in a white that even displayed a certain kind of divinity.

"The whole is but one, the logic is also but one. Therefore, my left half is the white logic."

Black on the right, white on the left.
That was an error; the placement of the divine corpses should have been white on the right, black on the left. However, while it was an error, it was not a mistake. For now, the power of Genesis was still too immense for a tiny human body.
Coincidentally, that form, which was extremely close to the Divine Age ideology of "supernatural power detuned so that humans could handle it," was the newly acquired shape of the Sword of God-Demon.

"My left and right, the mutually exclusive Dual Reason, yet borne by my singular body."

The power emitted from the greatsword stabbed into the earth was the wave of Genesis.
Divided by the median line into left and right, black and white, the wings of Genesis were sucked into the greatsword as if enveloping Psyger-0.

"My right is the logic of Erebos, my left is the logic of Aether. Dual Reason inversion, I manifest the Supreme Ultimate [Taiji] with these twin gods and my own body."

The great earth.
The greatsword that sucked up an enormous amount of "power" from it.
Forces of opposite phases flowed into the greatsword that split into white and black, radiating light. It was a Taiji symbol of power limitlessly close to the root, stirring an immense amount of "white" and "black" with opposite colors, creating a vortex.

"O Genesis, manifest, my body is the boundary point of Taiji. The one who demonstrates the logic to the distant mortal realm."

The name of that sword was the "Sword of Taiji [Paradox]"; the blade, which should have been inorganic, expanded as if it were growing, creating a massive circle.
Sucked up, poured in, the swirling power was compressed within that circle.

The Golden Dragon King witnessed that spectacle in its entirety... and then, he stopped evading.

『My name is Siegwurm. Anti-Genesis Incineration Biological Unit, the greatest masterpiece of the magnificent Sieg Lindwurm! Therefore... Therefore! I absolutely will not run from that!!』

Light ignited within Siegwurm's maw. Taking head-on the resolve of the Dragon King that had continued since the Divine Age to confront and obliterate, Psyger-0 was slightly overwhelmed...

And then, as if to push her forward, a massive amount of buff magic was slammed into her. Shifting her gaze slightly, she saw her older sister—who had likely gathered every single support class in the vicinity at the eleventh hour—and the support players who had fulfilled their jobs while gasping heavily for breath.

Looking far into the sky, that person's figure was no longer there. The blue flames that had claimed the record, the black lightning, and the deep navy light had all already vanished from the dawning sky.

But even so, there was no longer any fear left to make her retreat.

That magic releases its power upon meeting three activation conditions.
One: A complete incantation, with no shortening or omissions allowed.
Two: The "Taiji Gauge" added as a separate frame for the equipper of the sword and armor must be exactly 50:50.
Three: The caster's "Erosion Rate" must be 100 or higher.

Only when all these conditions are met is the use of that magic unlocked.
And now, having met all of them... white and black, the double helix preaching the two providences became a brilliant radiance.

"Clash and devour my flesh, myth of the Dual Reason... 【Zend-Avesta】!!"

『Breath of Bane!!』

On one side, a full-powered breath meant to destroy demons; on the other, a myth unleashed through the motion of driving a fist into the center of the blade circle.
A clash of power against power. The black and white spiral waves locked blades head-on with the golden breath that scorches Genesis.

───If this had been the Psyger-0 of the past, the equilibrium would have ended in a golden victory.

───If Siegwurm's horns had been in perfect condition, the Dragon King's breath would have incinerated the legacy of Genesis.

But that was nothing more than a hypothesis based on the past.
In reality, Siegwurm had currently lost four horns to the ballista archer, the golden avenger... and the rabbit traveling from a distant past. Having lost its energy generators, the breath's power had decayed, while conversely, the grotesque knight was further amplifying the waves of the spoken myth with human strength.

Therefore, between the weakened Dragon King and the newly updated greatest record... there was no need to even compare them.

"G-Go...!!"

The gold was swallowed and erased by the white and black spiral.
And then, the mythical light swirling like a tornado scored a direct hit on the Golden Dragon King's head, causing a monochrome explosion that knocked Siegwurm's massive body down, belly to the open sky.

"U, ku..."

The armor and sword, which once bore the vow of inevitable destruction, now lost their power due to a different restriction.
The grotesque helmet, transformed to a dull gray, closed its eyes, and she fell to her knees, unable even to stand properly.

"Zero, can you fight?"

"Gauge-wise... not right this moment,"

"I see... The firepower is high but being unable to move is a drawback. The practicality seems low against Lycaon."

"Sister............"

Psyger-0 smiled bitterly at her older sister, who, ever since her younger sisters unlocked Lycaon's EX Scenario, had increasingly been evaluating everything in ShanFro strictly on "whether or not it's effective against Lycaon."
Perhaps displeased at receiving information from someone who had cleared it—and a family member at that—her older sister had recently started pouting whenever her younger sister leaked any information regarding Lycaon, so Psyger-0 kept quiet as well, but surely it was about time to help her out through some means or another.

A momentary relaxation. The battle was certainly not over yet, but the sense of accomplishment from "doing everything I possibly could" slightly erased the vigilance from Psyger-0.
And the surrounding players also slightly lowered their guard at the massive firepower landing a direct hit.

And that momentary window of time...

Was more than enough to make the Dragon King resolve himself.

『───Ah, I see. So this is where I die.』

A shiver. A "chill" fully utilizing Shangri-La Frontier's reality assaulted every player participating in the Decisive Battle Phase.

『To pin down Genesis itself and command it... Come to think of it, wasn't that the very 'summit' that the great people of the Divine Age first discarded......... If so, this must be something to rejoice about.』

A monologue as quiet as a calm sea, yet the voice echoing from the cloud of dust seemed to compel every player to "shut up and listen", as if enforcing a 'cutscene'.

『O close friend, my small friend Vysache. It seems I will be departing before you... But, exactly because of that, I must impose my final trial.』

When the dust cloud cleared and his figure was revealed... who was it that gasped?

『O humanity, the widespread people of Number One; the people of Number Two who carve out this world of divine corpses. This is the final trial imposed by Siegwurm.』

There was no longer any trace of that divine gold. His entire body, having burst from "the inside out," was scorched and festering to the point where there were fewer intact parts than damaged ones. His body itself looked as though it had become golden fire, and only his voice was quietly spun.

『What I release from here on is the Buster Piece (The One That Smites Harmony), using my own body as fuel and kindling. My death is an unavoidable destiny, but... if you do not stop this, this land will perish.』

Two suns—no, the Dragon King's entire body, radiant as the sun, swelled up, and the golden "power" emitted from his entire body converged onto a single point... right before Siegwurm's eyes.

『A flame of demonic destruction that has already left my control... Are you sure about this? The aftershocks will scorch you.』

The sphere of light, currently still human-sized, flashed for a single instant... and in the next moment, countless lasers fired from it indiscriminately, as if exploding outwards.
Players unlucky enough to take a direct hit evaporated, and NPCs were blown away by the shockwaves of the explosions generated upon impact with the ground.

『Nu? You...』

And then, the glint in Siegwurm's eyes, which had maintained a flat, emotionless state until now, wavered in confusion.

The muttered word of "Why," was...

Directed at Noirlind, who had, for some reason, intentionally moved to take the attack.

Author's Afterword

In the initial drafts, I planned to name the new ultimate move 【Kali Yuga】, but since some new lore sprouted up, I decided to go with 【Zend-Avesta】.
There's a reason I didn't just use 【Avesta】—or rather, is it super obvious what kind of influence Siegwurm's character design had on me by now? [*2]

As for the effects:

• Damage increases the lower the caster's Erosion Rate is compared to the target; damage decreases if it's higher.

• Hits 50 times (damage multiplier increases every 2 hits, meaning it effectively strengthens in 25 stages).

• Upon activation, the Taiji Gauge drops to 0, and the Erosion Rate increases.

The Taiji Gauge consists of a "Black Gauge" and a "White Gauge" extending from the left and right toward the center. Doing good deeds for your Karma Value fills the White, while doing bad deeds fills the Black.
It also fills if you punch either type of "Genesis Kin". You can't use the magic at 51:49; it has to be exactly half-and-half. The fastest way to charge it is to find a complete stranger, beat them half to death, and then heal them, repeating the process over and over.

Translator's Notes

• [1] Fimbul Deserters...: A reference to the Granblue Fantasy meta at the time of writing. Grinding for the "Fimbul" bow was a notoriously brutal experience, and players who gave up early dubbed themselves "Fimbul Deserters." The author is coping with only getting "two uncaps" (stopping at 2-stars instead of fully maxing the weapon) by arguing that it doesn't matter. Since the current meta—combining the "Varuna" and "Bonito" summons with the "Kengo" class—relied entirely on massive single-turn burst damage, Fimbul's sustained damage buffs were no longer strictly necessary anyway.

• [2] Zend-Avesta / Character Design Influence: The Zend-Avesta is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, a religion famously centered on the cosmic dualism of good and evil (Ahura Mazda vs Angra Mainyu), mirroring the Black/White Genesis lore. The author is likely hinting at Digimon or Fate franchise influences for Siegwurm's mechanical "Anti-Genesis" aesthetic and named attacks.