Chapter 468: O Dragon, O Dragon! Part 45

Author's Preface

I-If I round up, I can make it to fifty chapters.

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So basically, long story short. My brain cranked the tension way too high and is now on the verge of stalling.

"You look like a cat getting picked up by the scruff of its neck..."

"I used my head too much..."

To be completely honest, I fully expected to just fall to my death, but I got caught by Rust—who had merged with her Tactical Mech unit once again—and touched down on the ground looking exactly like a dangling cat, just as she described.

"Can you fight?"

"Honestly, it's rough..."

Even I get tired if I overdo the whole hack-and-slash thing. I'll be straight with you, doing what I just did a second time is impossible; I might have been able to pull it off if my opponent was a punching bag, but... Siegwurm has currently turned into a phenomenally annoying time bomb.
What's required right now is the mobility to dodge those indiscriminate lasers, and if I poorly try to use Overflow in my current state, I'm guaranteed to end up as a stain on the ground.

"Master, the discarded weapons and unique component crystals have been retrieved."

"Nice... thanks."

"...For now, I'm going to join the fight."

"Don't break it〜"

Seeing off Suzaku—or rather, Rust—as she flies away, I wonder what exactly I should do now.
Isn't there something I can do? Blindly swinging a weapon around isn't the only way to fight, and honestly, with this ridiculous number of players here, I doubt my presence changes much anyway, but that's that and this is this.

".......................Heh."

"I finally find you, only to discover you letting out an unimaginably evil laugh, desu wa..."

"No, no, I just remembered something I'd totally forgotten about. But... can I pull it off? I seriously have no idea what'll happen, though surely it won't make things any worse... Hm?"

What is that black lizard doing, a kamikaze attack? No, something detached from his back......... Gah, that bastard can use physical barriers too?!

"Well, regretting it after doing it makes the bitter pills a little easier to swallow..."

Alright, let's do this then. It's difficult to pierce his body with a sword anymore, but I can still pierce his blind spot, probably.

"Saina, Emul, I need you to pass a message to our guys. Tell them───"

...

..

Alright, this is automatically going to expose me as the culprit, but I was planning on doing it eventually anyway; it's just a matter of now or later.
Now I just have to get to the coordinates, but... Oh, perfect timing running into you, Araba-kuuuun... No, it's not like I'm holding a grudge or anything, but I just can't seem to forget that time I got distracted by you and ended up being used for human stone skipping... Could you help me out a liiiittle bit...?

Crap, the Deep Slaughter Virus is... gh, eradicate! Eradicate!

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『───Ah, I'll confess. I'll admit it... I, no, I looked up to him. The supreme Dragon King, the shining immortal gold, that figure as the champion of the heavens was the absolute ultimate endpoint for me.』

Muttering to himself, Noirlind, now shrunken down to the size of a large dog, began his monologue.

『From the very moment I established my own identity, I wanted to become like him...』

Among the Color Dragons, who have a high tendency to mutate into grotesque forms in order to specialize their functions, that was the exact reason why Noirlind maintained a relatively standard dragon shape.

『But after gaining strength... I challenged him to a fight to prove my existence... and I realized it.』

"Realized what?"

『He is already finished.』

That was a strange thing to hear. Akitsu Akane tilted her head even as she kept running. What exactly made him judge Siegwurm as "finished"?

『Something happened over the course of his long life, that purpose "concluded"... and everything after that is his present. To him, even this very moment is nothing more than an afterthought.』

There were those who once descended upon this world. It was created in the midst of their battle for survival... and then, it lost.
It wasn't a defeat in the form of death or combat incapability. It was that it failed to protect the core foundation of its very reason for existence. When everything ended, the "Humans" were gone... leaving behind only the "Human-like things" prepared as their successors... At that point, no matter how much Genesis it incinerated, Siegwurm's battle had ultimately met the conclusion of defeat.

A defeated soldier of the Divine Age—that was the true nature of Siegwurm the Heavenly Sovereign... No, the Anti-Genesis Incineration Biological Unit "Siegwurm".

If he possessed human emotions, he would have dragged his past along and felt regret. But Siegwurm justified his existence as a weapon. He had accepted the end before he could even feel regret.

『Do you understand the disappointment of learning that the object of your admiration is just a spineless, empty shell?! Do you understand the sheer rage of having all your accumulated devotion emotionlessly scoffed at?!』

That was exactly why Noirlind hated Siegwurm.
Being praised as the Dragon King with such a spineless core was absolutely laughable. It was exactly because he had harbored such immense admiration that those inverted negative emotions made Noirlind scream, "I'd be a much better Dragon King than you ever were!"

『But... after being shown such a pathetic display, I can't even bear to look at him anymore.』

Wounding himself with his own power, loudly declaring that he is about to die, and begging them to kill him as an alternative choice.
Noirlind lamented over just how pitiful it was. The dragon who was hailed as the conqueror of the heavens was pleading for death while strangling himself.

『Then acting as his second and ending his misery is the least bit of mercy I can offer, but... Hmph, he wouldn't be happy being killed by a cheap imitation of himself anyway.』

Akitsu Akane couldn't find the words to reply to the black dragon laughing self-deprecatingly.
If it were Sunraku, he might have been able to shoot back a witty response. But Akitsu Akane didn't possess that kind of skill, which meant... she had no choice but to speak her heart with genuine words.

"A little while ago... I actually asked Sunraku-san something."

For Akitsu Akane, who kept running while looking up toward her idol, Sunraku—who always kept his eyes locked straight ahead—was undoubtedly someone worthy of respect... and a source of endless questions.

"I asked him, 'Why can you work so hard? Can you really push yourself without a goal?'..."

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"Well, asking me that out of nowhere is a bit... actually, isn't that just calling me reckless...?"

"Ah, um, that's not what I meant!"

"I figured, I don't expect that kind of toxic mindset from you anyway... Let's see, even I have something to aim for... someone I admire."

"Eh... Who is it?"

What kind of idol could someone who pulled off Sunraku's movements possibly aim for? A pro gamer? An athlete? Or perhaps a fictional character?
However, the answer Sunraku returned was completely different from any of those.

"My future self."

"Eh...?"

"Listen, no matter how many 'Uniques' or whatever there are, games are ultimately and absolutely equal."

From the old games played with buttons and controllers, all the way to Full-Dive VR. Whether it's a kindergartener or an old man, pressing a button unleashes a punch that can one-shot a trash mob. Whether it's a man or a woman, by grinding levels and upgrading gear, they can defeat the Great Demon Lord bent on destroying the world.

"If a motion can be reproduced in-game, it means it's a motion a player can achieve."

Though TAS was obviously impossible. Adding that quick disclaimer, the gamer kept right on going.

"Just because you can't do something now doesn't mean you'll be unable to do it for all eternity, right? In fact, I got my revenge on Lycaon's clone, and although it's highly reluctant, as these scars prove, I won... Even if my past self couldn't do it, my future self could."

"So that's why... it's your future self?"

"Exactly. Do people give up because they can't do it? Nope, they give up because they want to quit. It's all about motivation; as long as I have that left, I can do anything... The idol I strive to be is always waiting in the future at the end of all my hard work."

That being said, humans are lifeforms that constantly live in the present. Blushing completely out of sight at his own cheesy lines, he wrapped things up.

"The only thing our present selves can do is at least live in a way our past selves would be proud of, right?"

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"...I'm sure there's no single correct way to admire someone. Everyone has their own way of running, their own things to aim for... But the feelings you held, and the path you've run straight through to get here, are absolutely not a mistake!"