Chapter 512: The Conclusion Drawn by the Ominous Star

Author's Preface
Huh? I ended up updating normally anyway, didn't I? (Sleep deprived) (Two days before moving) (Piled up garbage) (If you don't do it, who will) (LF: Psychokinesis TM) [*1]

Was there any point in punching her while she was in invincible mode? ...The answer is no.
Was there any merit to going out of my way to choose a bothersome axe kick? ...The answer is partially yes.

Then, was this whole sequence of reproducing another game really necessary?
Even if I had foreseen a future of defeat, I had no intention of compromising on this... The answer to that, for all eternity, is yes.

◆◆◆ 

"Yeeaaaaaaahhhhhh!!"

Bear witness, O God of Caffeine! Right here, right now, I have overcome the trial of the Goddess of RNG and successfully pulled off the "Aster-Sky"!! I love you, energy drinks! When I die, please use my ashes as the foundation for Riot Blood!!

"Hah-hah-hah-haaaaah! Did you see that?! How was that?! A major success worth its weight in gold!!"

"───Yeah, I'll acknowledge it. But you see..."

The asphalt, pulverized as if it had exploded from the descending axe kick, was generating a cloud of dust that functioned like a smokescreen.
Tearing through that curtain of dust was the mass of meat that grabbed me by the neck... Xenoselgus.

"I'll be taking the win."

Her remaining health is... thirty percent.
In contrast, my health is just over ten percent, even looking at it favorably; I'll probably kick the bucket just from her drumming lightly on my face. Considering her invincibility time, probably only the final axe kick contributed to the damage; in fact, should I be surprised it even chipped her down to thirty percent?

But,

"Sorry, 'bout that..."

When my brain is accelerated this much, I can't just stop at "Yup, I lost, thanks for the consolation prize."

"......"

Xenoselgus's face grew even more ferocious as my body went limp and relaxed. She probably thought I was satisfied having done what I set out to do.

"If I don't relax my muscles once... I can't flex them again!!"

With my right arm, which was "restrained" by black metal fragments that had flown in through the dust cloud, I grab Xenoselgus's arm and laugh.
And before the cursed armor can completely restrain my entire body, using the strength I had already poured into my whole body, I initiate a joint lock on her arm while still being choked by the neck.

"Right on time, you damn model prisoner!!"

"Gh, ooooh... !?"

Even though she returned to her default state, supporting a heavyweight class with one hand is difficult. While escaping from the restraint of a wobbling Xenoselgus who had lost her balance, I control my posture, and although it was a bit shaky, I land without tasting the dirt.

"............"

"............"

We stand completely still, with a slightly far distance between us. Cursed Prison has nothing around to absorb, and Xenoselgus can't afford to leisurely look away for even five seconds.
It's a situation where neither of us can utilize our strengths; the only thing we can rely on is our own bodies...!

"...Hmph!!"

"Guh."

This bastard, where did all those thug-like movements from earlier go... she's unnervingly calm. She's closing in aiming for grapples an awful lot, what is this, wrestling? Tch, because of the health disadvantage, if I go with a boxing style, she'll just force a damage trade and kill me.

"But!!"

Taking the safe route here will only lead to a drawn-out mess. With this mentality of mixing adrenaline and caffeine in my brain fluid, I should be moving forward.
In-fighting is the true flower of fighting games! Hang in there, my real-life body! Burn through the caffeine at double speed!!

"Sshaaaaa!!"

"Guh, too close!!"

Bending my body to the absolute limit, I close the distance, aiming to link a double jab into an uppercut, but I'm forced to seal my right arm intended for the uppercut to block a knee strike aiming straight for my face.
By forcefully stopping my offensive turn, the turn passed over to Xenoselgus. I intercept the two palms reaching out to capture my body with my own palms, locking together solidly in a contest of strength... Crap, aren't I losing slightly?

" "Tch!!" "

A mutual Kenka Kick. Because we were in awkward postures, it wasn't a fatal blow, but my health finally drops below ten percent as a distance of about two meters opens up between us again.

"A slow bleed, huh............ hm?"

That is...! No wait, calm down, don't let her notice.
Right behind Xenoselgus, hard to see because of the dust and rubble... but that mysterious glow is unmistakably the Ult Crystal.

"......"

"What's wrong, aiming for a counter, Pumpkin?"

What do I do? If I can pull off a "Prison Break" here, I can definitely win, I can win... but... it's suspicious.
Has Amelia Sullivan really not noticed it? The fact that the Ult Crystal was kicked down is information she knows as well; the crystal doesn't grow legs and move on its own, so she can roughly predict where it fell.
It's actually in the rubble not too far from that prediction, but... the worst-case scenario is that she already knows about the Ult Crystal and is leaving it there as a trap.

The Ult Crystal won't activate unless a playable character directly strikes it or crushes it to destroy it. In other words, no matter how efficiently you try to break it, you have to commit an arm or a leg to do so. A harsh fifty-fifty choice right at the end... O God of Caffeine, please grant a revelation to this lost energy drink user...

───Thou shalt cast aside thy fear. Follow the guidance of the caffeine. (Auditory Hallucination) (Visual Hallucination) (Delusion)

"Yeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhhh!!"

If I win, I'm celebrating with an energy drink!!
I dive into the curtain of smoke myself, sprinting straight for the faint light at top speed. But,

"───Of course I noticed it."

A shadow falls over me. It's proof that Xenoselgus—who has surprisingly excellent jumping power despite her heavy build—took the shortest path with a backflip to position herself between me and the Ult Crystal. It means she secured both the geographical advantage and the initiative, and that I fell right into her trap...

The face of the Goddess giving me that crazy look after chugging a can of energy drink changed into something else... wait, aren't you the Goddess of RNG?

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!"

A young, high-pitched scream, mixed with tears.

"Wh—aaat!!?"

Xenoselgus's body stiffens unnaturally, and genuine astonishment surfaces on her ferocious face.
At that moment, a gust of wind blew in. The wind easily cleared the dust... revealing the sight that had been hidden by it.

What was buried and stuck in the rubble was indeed the Ult Crystal, but further beyond it were two figures.
One was the young girl (Kurikinton), probably unable to stand up from fear and despair, and the other was... the Valkyrie, looking as if her entire body was on the verge of exploding!!

A whole bunch of things I want to say, like 'You're still alive?!' and 'Why didn't you run away?!'... but in this exact moment, the roll of the dice from the Goddess of RNG and the high-speed processing brought about by the Goddess of Caffeine provided the final boost.

The Ult Crystal, Kurikinton, the Valkyrie, Xenoselgus, the gauge, the Ult, the distance... Everything connected; all I have to do now is run through it!!

"Sshaaaaa!!!"

I overtake the stiffened Xenoselgus and punt the Ult Crystal buried in the rubble with a murderous kick honed from a trash soccer game!!
If this were that game, it would have been a magic shot that shattered the enemy goalkeeper's ribs; the crystal punches through the remaining lingering dust and smashes straight into the chest of the Valkyrie.
The Ult Crystal can only be destroyed by playable characters; conversely, if you get the hang of it, you can use it as an indestructible bullet! The sensation of scooping it up and throwing it with the top of my foot—!!

"My hand... will grasp victory!!"

The moment the deflected Ult Crystal and the Valkyrie align, I pour all the twist in my body and the heat of my entire spirit into Cursed Prison's palm, gripping the Ult Crystal and slamming it straight into the Valkyrie's chest.
The shattering crystal, an all-out strike of body and soul, doesn't stop at merely destroying the gem; it pierces the chest of the Mechanitan's final maiden, goes straight through her back... and firmly grasps the power core, the very heart of the Valkyrie.

"Gh... Ooooooohhh!!"

Heavy footsteps from behind. Even if I "Prison Break," Prison Breaker takes normal damage, unlike Xenoselgus's "Cell Burst." She's coming to finish me off without fearing the damage... But!!

"Gather, you trash!!!"

"It's not an Ult!?"

That's right, what I chose in this final phase wasn't the "Prison Break" that scatters armor fragments around... it was Cursed Prison's Gauge Move, the "Forbidden Gravity" that pulls all absorbable objects in the surroundings toward the user!!

I consume the Villanic Gauge, fully charged by the power of the Ult Crystal, to unleash a gauge move I almost never use because it normally just gets in the way of positioning.
Amidst twisted road signs and half-destroyed cars floating and being pulled in... the thing I'm after cuts through the empty air and flies toward me. I saw it fall from the roof in the explosion; right now, I am the master!

Gachin, gashan, the body of the Valkyrie, now reduced to a silent scrap heap, is disassembled and equipped onto my right arm.
And finally, the Valkyrie's assault lance, drawn in by the gravitational pull of the ominous star, fuses with my right hand gripping the power core───

"......!!"

"......!!"

Looking back, there was the Meat Daruma.
There were no words, but the gaze we exchanged conveyed that our thoughts were perfectly aligned.

───Good Game.

"O lance, avenge her!!"

From the arm adorned with the design of the fighting maiden on the right shoulder, a lance imbued with will spews fire.
The assault lance, whose structure was rearranged upon being equipped, is launched using the missiles as propulsion, stabbing straight into Xenoselgus's heart and flying forward, ever forward.

It crashes into the entrance of the half-destroyed building, and then──────

"I can't exactly boast that I won through pure skill."

The moment I spun around and turned my back, a massive explosion put an end to everything.

Cursed Prison vs Xenoselgus... Cursed Prison wins.
With this, all three of Masked Hannya's characters have been defeated... The fierce battle has reached its conclusion.

Triangle Trinity... Winner: No Face.

Author's Afterword
Q: I want the protagonist to win, but if he just normally overcomes them with skill, the power balance will...

(Drinks an energy drink and gains eyes) [*2]

A: RNG game is fine, isn't it?

Translator's Note

• [1] Looking for: Psychokinesis Technical Machine

• [2] gains eyes: I was told this is a Bloodborne reference but not sure.