Chapter 510: High-Jack Star

Author's Preface
W-What should I do...?
W-What am I supposed to do? P-Play Granblue... wait, what do I even start with...
I don't know, w-what on earth am I supposed to do...!!
F-For now, I'll just play Granblue...

(Infinite loop continues below)

Haji
buru

※Because of ingesting high-concentration Haji-buru particles, my internal timeline apparently went crazy, so I found a bug where the crystal appeared at the 4th Ult activation and fixed it. By the way, there will be no apology post, let me sleep.

My legs without boosters are way too slow, and my only armament is the Hammer Jack on my right arm. As for our health, there's still nearly a twofold difference. But let me just dare to say this—so what?!

"I'm just extracting the best parts."

"His movements... changed...?!"

Activating the Fugaku style in this situation, I evade Xenoselgus's attacks with last-second dodges utilizing steps and sliding feet, all while accurately landing attacks with my right arm.
But frustratingly enough, as expected of the US #2, right after I got about two hits in, she started adapting to my movements.

"You're in the way!!"

"You said it!!"

Charging in to interrupt the battle between me and Amelia Sullivan is the Valkyrie; I might as well assume every single one of her actions has a knockback attribute attached to it right now. If I deal with her poorly, I'll expose an opening, but at the same time, I can't just ignore her...

But even she should be well aware of how foolish it would be to destroy a Mechanitan Target Enemy right in front of Cursed Prison. And for my part, because of the Prison Break conditions, destroying it right now isn't very desirable either. I don't exactly want to buy designer clothes with the premise of tearing them up... at least outside of ShanFro, anyway.
That's exactly why the Valkyrie is still clinging to life; if our mutual merits and demerits weren't tangled up like this, we would've finished her off ages ago.

"What's wrong?! You plan on kicking the bucket while still wearing that armor?! Huh?!"

"Then just quietly expose an opening, you moron!!"

"Who the hell would do that?! I'll just keep chipping you down like this!!"

Is that so... then I'll just have to make an opening myself.

"Never show your hidden bullets, even to a cat... or so they say."

"What?"

Seeing my posture, which is completely different from my boxing-style stance up until now, the intensity of Xenoselgus's face increases by twenty percent. Wait, is she just furrowing her brows? That's a ferocious look so terrifying that humanity couldn't possibly muster it no matter how much hatred they harbored, though.

"Are you prepared?"

"Bullshit!"

Holding my left hand forward in a "paper" palm shape, I draw back my right arm like a billiards cue. A Knuckle Arrow? No, that's wrong; my fist is going to be modernized...!!

"My right hand is the hammer, my left hand is the magazine... It's Dust's secret stash."

"In your fingers... Wh-What...?!"

Did she notice because she closed the distance? But it's already too late!!!
A small lump of metal pinched between my middle and ring fingers. It's a bullet... A single bullet from Dust that I took out of the gun right before closing the safe after gathering materials!!

"Thanks for getting close!"

Gamma Server Secret Tradition! Not a final measure, but a Final Hand-Bullet!! My left hand acts as both the magazine and the barrel! My right hand is the hammer! Smashing the primer directly to drive the bullet in... Following the example of the Gamma Server's Atobird, I'll chant it too!

"Si vis bellum (If you want war)! Para bellum (Prepare for war)!!"

Ultimate Art: Gun Hand!!
Originally, this is a technique where you strike the primer with a knife, turning the hand acting as the magazine into something resembling a bloody broccoli... but Cursed Prison has metal hands, and this game doesn't have a dismemberment system!!!

Gachin! Accelerated by the Hammer Jack, the second joint of the middle finger on my right fist pierces the primer of the Secret Bullet without missing. How many dozens of times do you think I've turned my left hand into a red broccoli? I could make a bloody broccoli with my eyes closed.

"Bang!!"

"Dammit... What?!"

Originally, it's an ultra-close-range technique with such garbage accuracy that it's also known as "Sexual Harassment Terrorism" since you practically have to press your left hand against the opponent's left breast (heart) to use it. But because the acceleration device known as the Hammer Jack pushes out the bullet itself along with the primer, even though the range is still garbage, it can be fired at around mid-range.
And... yeah, of course she'd be surprised. After all, despite giving off such a strong 'trump card' vibe, I completely missed, didn't I?
But the skills I polished on that isolated island haven't dulled; I can still pull off a shot while shifting my gaze even now.

"Did you forget?"

For Cursed Prison, the ability to wear the Mechanitan, and even this magic trick to fire a bullet! The very existence of Cursed Prison itself!! All of it is nothing but a compromise and unnecessary excess!!
If that's the case, well then... a trump card is always just a single copy in the deck! It has to be this!!!

The slight hitstun from her guard whiffing after she interrupted her attack, and the flinch caused by the Bullet of Good bursting against the cheek of the Valkyrie who had been charging in from behind to skewer both Cursed Prison and Xenoselgus together.

For just a fleeting moment, a sliver of time meant only for me is born among the three of us present. A distant valley swept by raging gusts of wind... where a thin, fragile thread that looks like it could snap at any second has still firmly connected to the opposite shore.

"Prison Break!!"

"Gh, Cell Burs—"

──────I won.

But, the Goddess of RNG is truly a wicked, insidious, and utterly fiendish entity.

"———Huh?"

"———Ah?"

Prison Breaker, formerly Cursed Prison, whose entire body armor had shattered and blown away, and Xenoselgus, whose movements were sluggish due to her split-second reaction. The two were currently fighting on a heliport that was cracked to pieces from the shockwaves of the battle.

But, right now.

At the exact midpoint between the two of them... at those coordinates, a tiny light like a firefly flickered in the empty air... and in an instant, its volume swelled up, manifesting as a blindingly radiant crystal.

"The Ult,"

"Crystal...!!"

"Crap... Dammit all!!!"

I screwed up! In the gap of thought that had overwritten the blank moment I created, Amelia Sullivan was the one who took the initiative.
Releasing a green aura from her entire body, Xenoselgus begins moving one step ahead... That aura is her blood evaporating and spewing out from the gaps between her cells due to over-activation.

"Tch!"

"Tch!"

There were no longer any words left to provoke each other. Dealing with the massive accident of the crystal appearing right in front of our eyes, and the current situation where we both just popped our status-altering Ults—we simultaneously began adapting to all of it while slugging it out.

"Guh,"

"What's wrong, what's wrong?!"

Xenoselgus's Ult, "Cell Burst," has an extremely simple effect. There is only one effect: "For twenty seconds, you enter a Super Armor (Invincible) state where all parameters remain unfluctuating"... Just that. What, is that too lame? Don't be stupid, it's not just that her health doesn't decrease, you know?
Her parameters do not fluctuate.

In other words, for twenty seconds, she can spam gauge moves infinitely, takes zero damage, has zero hitstun, and is in a truly invincible state. If I get caught in her range, if I get grabbed even once, I'll be slaughtered by an infinite string of suplexes!

"Ooooooohhh!!!"

I dodge the grab attacks being extended to ensure my life is snuffed out, carving out high-speed steps to secure the Ult Crystal, but as if seeing right through that, Xenoselgus closes the distance with positioning that accurately seals off my movements.

"Shit!"

"Guh... You bastard!"

On reflex, I kick the Ult Crystal away, knocking it off the building's roof down to the ground. Xenoselgus's Ult lasts twenty seconds, whereas Prison Breaker's Ult lasts thirty seconds.
I win out in overall specs, but it's impossible to break through her invincible mode. Even though she popped it slightly after I did, her Ult is guaranteed to run out first.

What do I do?! If I have ten seconds I can pull it off, but, no, wait, aaaaaaargh dammiiitttt!!!!

Ah, but, that's right.

───The Goddess of RNG will laugh time and time again at the sight of bugs struggling pathetically.

Author's Afterword
The urge that I must play Granblue is so strong that I don't have time to be writing! And this feeling...

...is clashing with the feeling of "If I smash these overflowing emotions into my writing, my tension goes upuuu!!" It's really bad right now.

Hey Gachap*n... where are the Sunstones...? Where...?