Chapter 520: An Orchestra For You, Part 2

Author's Preface
Shirafuji you seriously really you
At least reload

Seiten Style "Tachikaze"... A secret art belonging to a school where any technique wielded by Wethermon could be a guaranteed kill, and undoubtedly the name of its fastest sword-drawing technique.
Fastest to draw, fastest to slash, fastest to sheathe... If everything is the fastest, it's the strongest, right? It's as if that's what he's saying with this sure-kill blade that guarantees death even if it's not your first time seeing it, now drawn and aiming for my neck for the first time in months.

But at this exact moment, I realized one thing...

"Nn... goraah!!"

Clang!! A tremendous impact blew my body away along with the Final Blade of Aspiration's End With the Hero (Eska=Wallach) and Duxram I used to guard. But the offensive critical guard I pulled off thanks to my current stats succeeded in defending against that fatal fast-draw without reducing the durability of the two golden swords or my own HP.

"No abnormalities in my stats... You forgot your level-down ability, Pachi-emon!!"

It's not a perfect reproduction; defending against "Tachikaze" normally is impossible. But with my stats remaining unchanged since the start of this battle, and the term "First Movement" giving me certainty... whether it's his durability or his damage, this reproduced Wethermon is a dead copy of the original Unique Monster "Wethermon the Tombguard".
At the very least, just lacking that level-down field reduces his instant-kill cheat attacks to merely instant-kill dangerous attacks. The problem is whether I need to "defeat him" or "survive him"......... no, should I be thanking my lucky stars right now?

"Leveling up, unlocking the Seiten Style... I always wondered."

Not to deny Wethermon's stage gimmick, but that kind of fight is a sort of event battle, explicitly different from normal combat, which naturally brings up a certain question.
Yeah, like, what would happen if my current self, without being leveled down, fought Wethermon head-on...?!

"Bring it on, Pachi-emon, don't think I'm the same guy from that day! Right now, I'm... pretty damn strong!!"

"Ooshike (Tidal Rush)."

"I know that throw well enough to mimic it myself!!"

The reproduced Wethermon's massive body closed the distance in an instant. If I let his outstretched hand grab me, I'll be thrown and slammed down without a second to break my fall. But right now, I can follow his movements with my eyes, and I can even launch a counterattack while dodging!!

"Haaaaah!!"

I toss the two swords into the air, continuously activating various skills to buff myself while gripping Areadbhair Rebuild in both hands.
Vorpal Secret Art [Sever and Divide]! A twin slash capable of severing the moon, only possible because it's a Bastard Sword that can be wielded with one or two hands, carves a wound into the reproduced Wethermon's upper arm. As the blade in my hands vanishes into my inventory, I catch the two falling golden swords and hammer a relentless combo into the reproduced Wethermon.

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

"Raishou (Thunder Bell)."

"Then we're even on speed."

Levin Trigger: Hazard. The power of black lightning I didn't possess back then over-accelerates my body. Quantum Gaze activated, forecasting an absolutely terrifying amount of "death" raining down upon me from the visualized attack trajectories. But it's too slow! No matter how fast a single lightning bolt is, your DPS isn't cutting it.

"Which is why I can pull off crap like this...!"

One lap around the reproduced Wethermon as the axis. Extreme micro-movements, taming my excessive mobility to the absolute limit, draw a circle around Wethermon with a continuous trail of lightning strikes. But guess what? The trail painted by the brush can never catch up to the brush itself! Tracking lightning, when the very last bolt strikes the spot I was standing in less than a second ago... I've already begun my attack animation!

"Guh!!"

The reproduced Wethermon swings his katana at me as I raise both golden swords high above my head. But that blade passes straight from "my" waist through to "my" shoulder without an ounce of resistance, slipping right through like an illusion......... and right behind the Fading Mirror clone stands me, taking a full swing with Centipede Type Tausend.

"Oooooryaaaa!!!"

Clean hit! The mechanical halberd crunches critically into his faceguard. It wasn't enough to dramatically blow him away, but I definitely gave him a good one. I'll just chip him to death right here, right now!!

...
......
.........

How many minutes ago was it that I was so fired up?

"H-How long is this going to keep going...?!"

This is weird. Don't tell me his HP is locked? There's no way, if someone like Siegwurm showed up with that, it'd be an impossible trash game! Even putting that aside, Wethermon is the type whose HP automatically depletes as he progresses through his phases!

"Tch, don't mess with me!"

I'm the kind of guy who can casually pull all-nighters doing deserted island survival games. If I really wanted to, I could probably fight straight through the night... but "can" and "will" are two different problems, and it's not like this ends with the reproduced Wethermon anyway, so I have to figure out the clear condition for this situation.
Let's assess the situation. Skipping the reproduced Wethermon details. What's important in this battle is that it's an Orchestra gimmick. Dodge Ooshike, land a counter.
Orchestra's ability is likely "Story Reproduction"... much like a bard singing a heroic epic, it summons partial reproductions of formidable foes the player has fought so far. But it doesn't seem like I just have to defeat them, nor does it seem to be a time limit. I counted when I had a breather, and that "Diva" singing her song... or rather, the orchestral performance itself has already looped about four times. In other words, if I don't meet some specific condition, I'll be stuck fighting forever. Raishou, dealt with via a Fading Mirror escape.

I've realized this time and time again, but ShanFro values its lore; sometimes lore takes priority over game balance... or rather, the game balance is built entirely upon the lore. So the key here is to analyze Orchestra from a lore perspective. In that sense, Library might actually be the optimal solution for clearing ShanFro.

"Orchestra... sings heroic epics!"

Heroic epics narrate the great deeds of a hero! So, how does that link to this situation?! Heroic epic, great deeds, things achieved... things achieved?

"I've got it!!"

Alright, think! Force some free space in my over-clocked brain! And use that freed-up brainpower to rummage through my memories!! Let's see, back then................ Shit, all I can remember is Seiten Taisei (Clear Sky Conquest)?! Come on, do your best, you scavenger!!

『───The Tombguard, out of love, averts his eyes... The Hero, stares down the blade...』

"Right, I remember!"

I thought it was just BGM, but it's not. The singing voice of the "Diva"... her lyrics!!
With this, I can—no wait, I don't have the weapons, I don't have the skills, I can't reproduce it!! No, wait. They definitely wouldn't expect me to come all the way here wearing the exact same gear I used on the Old Continent, which means...!!

"Come on! This is the climax!!"

"Seiten Taisei."

Here it comes, Wethermon's final trump card, the cooldown-canceling instant-kill barrage! But that part isn't important. What matters is the final strike, "Tensei"───!!

A rain of lightning falls, and cloud-arms wait at the end of my dash. I jump, and fire rains down. I break out of the smoke trying to capture me, and he launches a godspeed fast-draw. Looking back on it now, even if my stats were buffed by the Scales, I did a damn good job handling this with fixed Level 50 stats.
But for the current me, these are just attacks that won't hit as long as I don't drop my guard. And the real issue is the finale... Wethermon's ultimate strike. If you fail to dodge and take it head-on, your blade shatters and your flesh is easily severed. "Tensei"... what did I do back then? I failed the healing potion gacha twice before that moment arrived. I did this...!!

"Secret Art Awakening, I call it Flesh Sword-Draw...!!"

Stab. Thanks to all my time running around Bakumatsu, my well-trained seppuku techniques allow the blade to slide smoothly into my stomach. The system dictates that 1 HP is guaranteed to remain... and using Duxram, which is now impaled in my side, as a makeshift scabbard out of my own body, I draw the blade.
I'm aiming for the flat of the katana. Back then, it required two skills, but right now, Quantum Gaze is more than enough...!!

"Kun-yomi Finiiiish!!!" [*2]

Slash! The reproduced Wethermon's katana plunges into the ground right next to me. A perfect reproduction is obviously impossible, so creating a similar situation is the right answer, isn't it?

『───And so, the Tombguard finally rests for eternity... In that moment, whose face does he recall...』

The answer lay in the lyrics closing out the First Movement by the "Diva," and the fading phantom of Wethermon.

"Tensei" cleared... shifting the reading to "Appare", huh. Alright, let's move on to the next one.

Author's Afterword
A heroic epic needs no personal interpretation; if you're acting, stay true to the script.

Translator's Notes

• [1] Pachi-emon: A portmanteau of "Pachimon" (a Japanese slang term for knock-off or counterfeit) and Wethermon.

• [2] Kun-yomi Finish: Sunraku is referencing a kanji wordplay. Wethermon's ultimate strike "天晴" is read with its On-yomi (Sino-Japanese reading) as "Tensei" (Clear Sky). However, when read with its Kun-yomi (native Japanese reading), it is pronounced "Appare", which translates to "Splendid!" or "Brilliant!". Yes, I know this seems a bit redundant.