Chapter 600: Serpents of the Clones, Hear My Blazing Roar
Author's Preface
Since this is Chapter 600, I figured I'd use an entire chapter to drop some lore I originally planned to put in this arc's epilogue.
Basically, the main story itself is word vomit; this thing has started eroding from the afterword into the main story.
The Sigmonia Frontline Valley is an area located almost squarely in the center of the New Continent. If you want to head to the frontline base from here, you have to cross the desert and the sea of trees... In other words, we need to traverse the very sea of trees and desert that currently blocks so many players, but in the opposite direction.
Even if she's secured the bare minimum required level, is it impossible to pull off a forced march while dragging along a completely useless, cowardly dead-weight like Wimp? No, absolutely not. We have her with us, the legendary helper with a proven track record of nursing that massive coward... Yes, Sammy-chan-san.
The body of a creature like a snake can slither across sandy terrain without any issues. Not having your feet caught in the sand is already a massive advantage, but on top of that, Sammy-chan-san is an expert at stealth missions, moving silently and swiftly. And best of all, she can carry not just Wimp but Emul on her back too.
Eh? What about Saina and me? I can just use the Levin Trigger: Hazard, and Saina is capable of long-distance flight using the standard Conquista Doll equipment. Yeah, if anything, Sammy-chan-san is the slow one here, but Saina and I can't use stealth while Sammy-chan-san can. Ergo, Sammy-chan-san is the superior upgrade.
"Are there really no strong monsters in the desert?"
"Addendum: They exist. The Sand-Diving Parasitic Bug Anisapikaian Worm and its ilk have a relatively high tendency to appear on the surface, but there are also other monsters, such as the one the Bugmen call the 'Serpent King of the Sand Sea'."
"It's a snake, right? Can't you guys get along?"
"...i hate that guy. he tried to eat me once."
Is there... no such thing as a hierarchy among snakes? Actually, I won't ask too many questions.
I get the feeling that if I start listening to her tales of woe, we'll still be at it when morning comes. What's more, since it's mostly a history of defeat and running away, it comes with the added bonus effect of rapidly plunging my mood into depression. Is this some kind of torture?
"That said, I don't believe the Serpent King of the Sand Sea will appear... Since it's a cold-blooded monster."
Ah, right, it's night time... Well whatever, I kinda wanted to see it, but avoiding unnecessary random encounters is for the best. Watching a massive bug that looked like the boss of all scarabs flee at breakneck speeds the moment it laid eyes on me, we continued our trek across the desert... Well, if it was that easy to cross, we wouldn't have had a hard time. Because shortly after that, we ended up in a hellish chase sequence pursued by a land-combat hermit crab with cacti growing on its back. Gah, stop shooting needles, the needles!!
◆
"Huh, where's Wimp?"
We ended up fighting after all. Watching the cactus hermit crab finally retreat only after we completely deforested every single cactus growing on the rock it was wearing as a shell, I looked around for the missing Wimp.
That's weird, Sammy-chan-san is right there, so for that coward to be missing... Oh my, Sammy-chan-san, isn't your throat looking a bit swollen?
"Ah... Do you need a barf bag?"
Blaaaargh...
"i need a cloth... and some clothes..."
Stop rhyming, what are you, a rapper?!
I see, it makes sense. Strictly speaking, Sammy-chan-san's stealth doesn't mean her body actually turns invisible; the principle is probably some kind of chameleon-style mimicry camouflage. Because her accuracy and presence-erasing are so perfect, it's easy to misunderstand, but you can receive the benefits of it by hiding inside her body... but still...
"Listen here, Wimp. I know you throw your pride away as your absolute first reaction to everything, but you know? Pride is like a seasoning."
"huh?"
"It just tastes better when you have it."
A victory is a victory, but the level of smugness you can display changes drastically, which is why pride is important. If you win by desperately throwing away all appearances, people might laugh at how pathetic you look. Winning fair and square and then trashtalking the opponent until they disconnect... that is the elegance of PvP.
"I'm not exactly telling you to fight, but if you're going to run, have a little more modesty..."
"i was running away with extreme modesty, wasn't i?"
That's not the kind of elegance I'm looking for... Whatever, as long as the escort target is unharmed, it's a win for the escort mission. Dammit, I haven't been able to restock since the fight with "Warphan," so I really can't afford to do anything reckless... There's a high chance it'll just get destroyed anyway, but I guess I should make a save point just in case.
"Sleep for five seconds, alright, good to go."
Well then, we got interrupted, but we've reached the border between the desert and the sea of trees. From here on out, it's a danger zone on a whole different level compared to the desert... Though when you really think about it, why is the starting area the more dangerous one?
"We're going to reach our destination before the sun comes up while staying on guard for nocturnal monsters. Let's go..."
"h-hey."
"What is it?"
"can't we... do this tomorrow?"
.........Excuse me?
Having lost her house, Wimp was in desperate need of securing a new bed immediately and hadn't raised a single objection to crossing the desert. But now, she was doing the exact opposite. Staring into the sea of trees, she looked as if she were begging to turn back right this instant.
"Care to explain why?"
"i-i can sense a presence... it's not me... it's my presence..."
"I see?"
I quietly hold my head in my hands. Are you serious right now...?
"What do you mean desu wa?"
"She's saying there's at least one other 'Goldunine' besides her in this sea of trees."
"D-Don't tell me it's that one... A-Are we retreating desu wa?"
No, that's impossible. If that Goldunine were moving alone, maybe, but I highly doubt four Dragon-Serpents could move around without anyone noticing. Which means if there is one here, it's someone else... Judging by the nature of Goldunine's EX Scenario and my experience seeing them beneath Rabituza, there is a Goldunine who has awakened to its "individuality" from a cast-off shell.
If I recall correctly, 【Library】 mentioned seeing a woman followed by a massive swarm of snakes. Is it that one? I really don't want to choose the option of turning back here. If the trigger condition for the EX Scenario is forming a party with a player, there is a high chance the Goldunines are moving to locations where it's easy to make contact with players.
In other words, turning back here is not an option. I don't think the Goldunine supposedly residing in this sea of trees is going to move no matter how long we wait. There's a chance a player might trigger the EX Scenario and move them along, but in that worst-case scenario, we'd just end up bumping into them at the frontline base. If that's the case, I want to secure the base first.
"...We push forward."
"Eh..."
"But if we actually encounter another Goldunine, our only option is to run. I'll stuff you into Sammy-chan-san's mouth, and while I act as a meat shield, you run east... ah, run with everything you've got toward where the sun rises. Emul, the moment we encounter the enemy, use teleportation to retreat. Fly to either the frontline base or the Conquista Doll base."
"Y-Yes sir!"
"i-i get it..."
And one more thing. As we push through this sea of trees that's essentially turned into a literal pot of Gu poison for snakes, I have a good idea... I'm not saying appearances are everything, but first impressions are entirely based on appearances. That's just how it is.
◆
Has it been about ten minutes since we set foot in the sea of trees? As we proceeded through a forced march with zero illumination in the gloom, strangely encountering zero monsters, relying solely on player corrections, pit organ corrections, and sensor corrections, Wimp finally muttered softly, her expression as unmoving as a Noh mask.
"───we're being watched."
At the soft words, spoken just loud enough for all of us present to hear clearly, the furball on top of my head trembled with a twitch.
I strained my ears, but I couldn't hear anything in particular. Still, since Goldunine says they are "here," it must be some kind of instinct shared by the exact same species.
"...How many?"
"i don't know, but..."
Not just one. Those words make me instinctively want to cover my face, but I hold it in. Wimp is doing a surprisingly good job right now, and if I mess up and show my hand, it'd be a complete disaster. It would have been best to avoid doing this if possible, but... it seems the time has come to deploy Plan B.
I signal the start of the operation using a pre-arranged hand sign. Recognizing that Sammy-chan-san, who had been staying close to us while camouflaged, had moved right next to Wimp the moment she gave the crossing her arms, I open my window to transition to Plan B... Hmm? What's this, a notification? Did the concept of notifications even exist in this game?
"Is this... the reward for the Wandering Great Azure Plague?"
Ah, right. Since I hadn't logged in for a while, claiming the reward got pushed back. Come to think of it, I think an icon popped up when I fought "Warphan" too... or maybe it didn't. Well, it's not like I have to act on it this very second, but I'll go ahead and claim it.
『Head equipment changed.』
"Mweh?"
◇
"Ojou-sama, um... ah, the one standing next to that half-naked man?"
"Keep yOur voice down... There's nO mistake, thAt's one of 'The Original Eight'..."
"So that's one of the eight individuals that branched off from the First, the Progenitor..."
The First Snake, whose existence was said to have been established in the Divine Age, the First Goldunine. Among the cast-off shells shed by the Progenitor that gained their own egos, the single-digit individuals from the second to the ninth were referred to by "Ojou" and the other double-digit Goldunines as 'The Original Eight'.
Shiyu, the man who had already heard about this two days ago on a highly nostalgic beach... held his breath as he directed his gaze toward the group, barely visible thanks to his player corrections.
Amphi, "Ojou's" servant, was not present here. Unfortunately, Amphi was terrible at stealth and was waiting on standby in a different location. In the beginning, he had been treated with utter condescension, but recently, Shiyu prided himself on having built their relationship to the point where they shared a certain sympathy as fellow servants.
"What a terribly arrogant attitude shE has..."
"I guess being a single-digit doesn't necessarily mean they're as strong as they look..."
Even with the darkness mitigated, the distance was still an issue, so Shiyu observed the group through a Far-Seeing Tube. He framed the young girl crossing her arms with an arrogant, almost defenseless expression in the lens, even though she surely must have noticed them as well.
By some twist of fate, the girl, who possessed traits remarkably similar to the master that had helped him discover a new side of himself, continued walking without letting her smile falter. Was it out of pride that her power was superior to everyone else's, or was it because she believed in her servant's talents? Simply catching them in his line of sight wasn't enough to tell.
"What shall we do, Ojou-sama? If you'd like, I can launch a solo assault for some force reconnaissance."
"Let's sEe... It might bE fun to sEe how shE reacts based on how shE 'handles' uS, but... Shiyu, cAn you fight thAt? ThAt human cloaked in thAt ominous night..."
"Who knows? I suppose it completely depends on how they react... Hmm?"
He heard an exhale.
Shiyu felt an unparalleled sense of wrongness at the conclusion that reflexively popped into his head.
If he had heard a voice, that would make sense. But hearing an exhale was bizarre. Even though they weren't invisible to the naked eye, they were still far enough away that he couldn't make out faces without a telescope. There was no way he should be able to hear the sound of an exhalation.
That was exactly why, among all the "Cooperators" present, Shiyu was the very first to notice that—a testament to the real-life position held by the man named Kousaka Shiyu.
"Ojou-sama, cover your ears!!"
"Huh? What aRe you..."
In the next instant, as if pulverizing the midnight sea of trees───
◇◇
There were two women.
"Hey, hey, Isuna-chan, personally, I really don't think there's any need to go out of our way to pick a fight, you know?"
"Haaah? Stop yaPping. Dealing with one of the Original Eight is annoying enough, I'm not wasting my time on the trash around her tOo. We just cruSh them fIrst."
However, it seemed the two women were at odds over whether or not to attack a certain man in their line of sight.
The woman advocating for the attack had an oddly shaped King Cobra-like snake wrapped around her arm... Indeed, posing it exactly like a sniper rifle, she opened one eye abnormally wide, locking a single man in her sights.
In contrast, the woman arguing for a wait-and-see approach reprimanded the snake woman with a highly idiosyncratic drawl, occasionally stealing glances at the exact same man.
"No, that's what I've been telling you, see? That half-naked pervert, that's definitely the guy called 'Sunraku'~, right?"
"I don't giVe a crap about that! If I blOw his head oFf, he dies, obviouSly!"
"I don't know about that... Judging by Kyogoku-chan's stories, that guy can completely handle our side too~... Right? Isuna-chan, let's just drop it? A camper sniper can't win against that..."
"If that's the case, Hiiragi, YOU fight him when the time comes!"
"I can't even beat Kyogoku-chan yet, there's no way I can beat a guy who pulls off Manual Sword Saint~... Besides, lately Kyogoku-chan's gotten really good at surviving sneak attacks, it's totally unfair... I just want to have fun and easy PKs! Right? You get it!?"
"Like I care! That's exactly why I said I'll finish him off with Shiuko!!"
"Isuna-chan, all you ever do is hunt trash mobs or steal the good parts, there's no way you can suddenly aim for a big shot like him!!"
The snake woman—Isuna—snapped (metaphorically speaking) at the woman named Hiiragi, a vein popping on her forehead. Hiiragi fired back, feigning timidity while lacing her words with venom. Before long, their argument escalated into a shouting match entirely unfitting for a sniper. But fortunately or unfortunately, they didn't need to worry about their loud voices giving away their position to the others.
After all, a sound far, far louder than their voices───
◇◇◇
"Keeheehee, fiNe, I forgive yOu. We don't waNt to get close to thAt either."
The earth was squirming. No, it was actually several massive serpents, each as thick as a log, spread out entirely to carpet the ground.
Sitting cross-legged atop that floor of snakes was a single woman.
Dressed wildly, as if she had simply punched a hole in an animal hide and draped it over herself, the woman accurately tracked their movements as they walked through the sea of trees, despite the distance being far beyond what the naked eye could possibly see.
"There are otHers tOo... Such a pain if they spOt us... Keeheeheehee! If you get spoTted, I'm abandOning yOu."
Trembling at those words was one of the snake bodies forming the carpet on the ground... But bizarrely, that specific body physically cut off abruptly after extending a certain length. And yet, not a single drop of blood fell from the cross-section of meat, while the other snakes gazed with eyes full of pity at the body shivering as if terrified of something.
"The old, oLd me... I wonder if she's strOng? There are some kids hidIng out there, but I can see right through thEm... But the guy nExt to her is pretty interesting tOo, right?"
Rather than seeing the world through her own eyes, the woman was remotely viewing the scenery through the eyes of one of her detached, independently acting heads, observing the state of the older "her" who still maintained her arrogant, insolent attitude.
She was curious about the irritating weapon rabbit and the strange "object human" that had attacked from the sky a few times in the past, but the one who drew her attention the most was undoubtedly that naked... thing.
That detestable wolf—the reason why the woman, despite possessing "eyes" that made nothing of the darkness, still feared the night. It wasn't born of hatred or insult, but simply out of curiosity; the nocturnal actions of that wolf-shaped entity coming to kill her irritated the woman to no end. But since her current self couldn't win, running was her only option.
A human exuding an aura identical in nature to that detestable beast. He was far too abnormal to ignore. She had seen guys who "reeked" of it a few times in the past, but it was incredibly rare to find someone giving off such a dense presence.
"Maybe I'll try provoking him a bit?"
For some reason, she felt the urge to mess with him. As the cautiousness that had kept her alive thus far struggled to suppress that instinctive impulse, a blinding light suddenly burst into the woman's vision.
"!?"
The woman was currently looking through the eyes of her kin. And those "eyes" saw things differently from normal ones.
Instead of focusing on the target, they looked at the background, the scenery, and the environment around the target, paradoxically causing the target itself to emerge in sharp relief. It was a special set of eyes made possible entirely by magic.
In other words, for the woman's eyes to be blinded meant that a colossal amount of magic had suddenly erupted, and───
◇◇◇◇
"N-No, um, I didn't want to pick a fight or anything, I just wanted to go take a quick look..."
"If it's dangerous, you can't go look! That's just common sense!"
There were two people yapping loudly at each other. The pair consisted of a massive man towering at around two meters tall, and a woman who looked even smaller than her actual height when standing next to him. The man wore heavy armor that looked like it required an immense amount of muscle just to put on, while the woman, in stark contrast to her gloomy face, wore remarkably bright-colored clothes that looked utterly devoid of defensive value.
A knight and a woman. Depending on how you looked at it, it could seem like a scene straight out of some heroic epic... The problem was the totally immersion-ruining reality of the situation: the massive man, bent at the waist, was clinging to the gloomy woman's arm while whining in a bizarrely high-pitched voice.
"...You're jUst scarEd of the dark, arEn't you?"
"Th-That's not true! Even O-sama said it! 'As long as you have muscles, everything will be fine!' he said!!"
※O-sama: Refers to the Hollywood star, Augustus Ortiz. He was cast as Cursed Prison in the officially greenlit live-action adaptation of Galaxia Heroes.
"Like I keep asking, who the hell is O-sama... Ah, geez, don't take your clothes off! Stop striking weird poses!!"
"Heh heh heh, you don't know, Nine-chan? This is called Most... Most... That's right! It's called Most Mayonnaise!!"
"King Ego Star... MOst of the things you sAy with absolute confidence are complEtely wrOng..."
The correct term was Most Muscular, but the woman, an in-game NPC, had no way of knowing that, and the man didn't realize it either. Because they were progressing at a snail's pace near the frontline base side of the sea of trees, their bickering never reached Sunraku's group.
And because of that, they were arguably the faction that took the least amount of damage.
Aaaaaaaaaaaah............
"Fuhyuhii!?!?"
"Ow, ow, ow! My arm! You're crushing my arm!!"
"I'm not scared! I'm noooot scaaaared!! MAYONNAISEEEEEEEE!!!"
"Gyaaaaaaaah!! (A scream born from her arm being twisted)"
"Gyaaaaaaaah!? (A shriek of terror born from the sudden scream)"
Correction.
Reacting to the sudden "sound" echoing from the depths of the earth, this faction may have suffered the most casualties after all.
◇???◇
"───I cAn feEl it. We aRe gathEring somEwhere..."
Far, far away. This was the "Coradelsol Giant World Road," located at the westernmost tip of the New Continent. A place harboring the largest ecosystem on the New Continent, where massive beasts breathed quietly yet secreted fierce, explosive power.
The melancholic young girl was sitting atop the horn of a gigantic ox-type monster. Its neck had been halfway torn off by a massive set of jaws, and its face was locked in an expression of sheer agony as it drew its final breath... As for the rest of its body, it was currently being ripped into even smaller pieces by four massive Dragon-Snakes, vanishing from the world in the blink of an eye without leaving a single bone behind.
"Unpleasant, unpleasant, sO very unpleasant... Whether I clOse my eyEs or opEn thEm... Ah, hOw much longer must I wrIthe in this unpleasantness?"
There was no one here to decipher the emotions floating in her eyes. It was like a burnt-out flame, like ice that would never melt, like a wind that blew endlessly... Her gaze simply never wavered, the will dictated in the distant past shining dimly even now, unweathered by time.
"My adOrable children, gathEr more and mOre power... The war is nEar. We shall crush everything intO a pulp, and slaughter them all, alrIght?"
Unbeknownst to the world, the Dragon-Serpents and Goldunine the Inexhaustible continued to amass power. And beyond the horizon her eyes were fixed upon───
◆
It was probably a stroke of luck that Emul had gotten off my head in preparation for Plan B. The reward item I obtained for my involvement in defeating the Wandering Great Azure Plague worked differently from the Devouring Great Crimson Clad; it equipped itself the moment I claimed it... From a lore perspective, it manifested as if seeping out from the player's own body.
What I received was the Head Equipment "Burning Visage." It was less a piece of equipment and more a phenomenon. After all, the moment I equipped it, it wasn't like I put something on my head... my head itself erupted into flames.
"S-Sunraku-san!?"
"No, it's fine... No problem. Executing Plan B. Saina!"
"Acknowledged: Activating loudspeaker unit. It is highly recommended that the entity named Emul and the entity named Wimp cover their ears."
"i-is it really that dangerous?"
"Maximum volume."
Who the hell do you think I am? It's not a past I'm particularly proud of, but the Magician of Dead Steel who continued to sing until the very end of the world is none other than me... Those far away, listen closely! Those nearby, get ready to have your eardrums blown to shreds! Alright, take a deep breath!!!
"VAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
As if to blow away the silence of the night, a high-pitched deep bass resounded into the heavens───!!
Author's Afterword
8th Goldunine "Wimp"
Kin: Sammy-chan
Cooperator: Sunraku
42nd Goldunine "Ojou"
Kin: Amphi
Cooperator: Shiyu
19th Goldunine "Potato Sniper" [*1]
Kin: Shiuko
Cooperator: Hiiragi
63rd Goldunine "???"
Kin: Orochi
Cooperator: None
117th Goldunine "Nine"
Kin: Ophion
Cooperator: King Ego Star
Goldunine "Nameless"
Kin: Glatos, Volemos, Sanatos, Avelisia
Cooperator: None
Translator's Notes
- [1] Potato Sniper (Imosuna): Japanese gaming slang for a sniper who stays prone or camps in one spot (etymology goes a bit deeper apparently).
Comments
this is like 3x more than the average chapter
We're 2/3 of the way there 🎊
Post a Comment