Chapter 601: Midnight Scream, Dawn's Little Girl
Author's Preface
The problem of the protagonist abandoning his humanity way too much
───The Death Voice is a birth cry.
Back in the nostalgic days of SpellCre, the player who suggested the magic called "Song" preached that to me.
Death Metal isn't just about grudges and anger. The birth cry shouting out to the heavens that "I am here" is the true essence of Death Metal...
Unfortunately, even now I haven't managed to find a conclusion to the question of what exactly Death Metal is, but I still properly remember the secret to letting out a Death Voice.
In other words, scream until you die.
"VAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
Seiten Style "Bokyou", to put it bluntly, is a skill meant to flinch the opponent by letting out a loud shout. But as a secondary effect, or perhaps an intended effect of that nature... while this skill's effect is active, your voice volume increases. Added to that is the microphone Saina had for some reason... the loudspeaker audio unit. In short, by routing it through a mic, the volume increases even further. And the ability of "Burning Visage" is to grant special additional effects to skills and magic originating from parts located on the head.
For example, magic incantations are performed with the mouth. If you do a full incantation, an effect combining debuffs and damage is added on top of the normal magic. So what happens with "Twilight Roar," which fires an acoustic wave from the mouth? ...Apparently, this is what happens.
"VAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!?!?"
The sudden conversion of the breath released from my mouth into blue flames disrupted the wavelength of the Death Voice. No matter how you twist it, a normal human shouldn't be able to breathe fire from their mouth, but this Burning Visage belongs to the same category as that Violent Blood Crimson-Clad Skull Crown. Whether it's fire or lightning shooting out of my mouth, it wouldn't be strange... Well no, it's completely bizarre, but if we're bringing that up in a game, humans shouldn't be able to reach speeds that turn them into splatters on a wall using just their leg movements in the first place.
"y-you're not human..."
Shut it, reptile.
Pulling myself together, I continued the Death Voice. The flamethrower blasting from my mouth illuminated the pitch-black night of the sea of trees with a pale blue light. I could see the branches and leaves of the trees touched by the flames decaying and turning to ash as if rotting away... It seems it's not just simple thermal energy. I hadn't found a use for this until now, but isn't this actually a pretty good combo?
"VAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH... VAAAAAARGHHHHH!!!!"
But even though it's a game, it's Full-Dive. As long as avatars are created based on the human body, there is a limit to breathing. It felt quite long, but it probably hadn't even been a minute since I ended my flamethrower. I swiftly and quietly caught my breath so as not to let anyone realize I was panting... and gripped the mic once again.
"Hey you!! Sneaking around peeping at us like that... If you got something to say, show your mug!!"
Leaking blue flames from the corners of my mouth, I shouted furiously. If Wimp had definitively stated they were "here," they were probably watching us... And whether they were teamed up with a player or still playing solo, we were going to pick a fight with them first before they could try any cheap tricks!!
"Who do you think this person is?! One of the eight split from the First Serpent, the 8th Goldunine!! If you have a problem with that, say it! We'll hunt you to the ends of hell and make you regret it!! Ain't that right?!!"
"........."
Shouting rapidly as if to overwhelm them, I turned my gaze toward Wimp. The cowardly snake with nothing but a grand title crossed her arms and gave a single nod, keeping an expression as if she were looking down on the world itself. Her face was so stiff you'd want to ask if it was a mask, and her knees were trembling noticeably, but I'll turn a blind eye to that for now... Just managing to keep her entire body from shaking earns her a pity passing grade.
"And besides! If you wanna challenge her, you gotta go through me first!! If you really want to be turned into EXP and dropped items that badly, I welcome the challenge!!!"
............I waited for a reaction.
I don't know what number they are, but if the Goldunine that might be out there loses her temper and charges at us, to be honest, my only options are either to run or to desperately fight them solo out of pure recklessness... So, how about it?
I assume all the Goldunines probably have some kind of cowardly, clingy attachment to life. Fighting with a desperate resolve to die is entirely foreign to them. In that case, if we show a highly belligerent intent, then conversely───
"t-they're backing awoooy...!!"
"Conclusion: Plan B appears to be a success."
"Heh... All according to my calculations."
"That's an absolute lie desu wa!!!"
Listen, Emul, no matter how complex the equation is, as long as the answer is right, you get a circle. Whether it's a two-choice question or a hundred-choice question, there's no difference between a seriously derived correct answer and a correct answer guessed by chance after rolling a die. In terms of just getting by on the spot, that is.
"In other words, RNG is trash, but it's useful."
"I have absolutely no idea what you mean desu wa..."
Demons are evil, but they are scrupulous when it comes to contracts. Which means the Goddess of RNG is definitely an entity of the dark side.
But I suppose it's safe to say we've crossed our biggest immediate hurdle. Now all we have to do is sprint into the Serpent's Apple before any annoying normal monsters catch our scent. Even assuming Cooperators of other Goldunines with the exact same idea as me were hiding in the frontline base, they should know full well what would happen if they started advertising "There's a Unique Monster right here" in a player hub.
"Alright then, now we just have to quickly slip through the sea of trees... and... ah."
"what is it?"
"No, well... ah, yeah. Give me a second."
Averting my gaze from the rest of the group who were floating question marks over their heads, I focused my attention once more on that thing that had been sitting in the corner of my vision this whole time.
As long as I'm currently alive, it shouldn't be zero, but... ah, yeah. My max HP has been scraped away so much that it's giving me the illusion my HP gauge is gone. My max HP is 1 right now, isn't it? What kind of challenge run is this, where I instantly die if I trip and sprain my ankle?
"Haaah... I'm going to refresh for a bit."
"Y-Yes sir?"
Set up a camp, lie down and save, exit the camp... Oh, look, a tree of the perfect thickness right here.
"Funggduo!?"
"Hoa!?"
A full-power, body-and-soul, critical-hit, crushing headbutt! The heaven-rending, earth-shattering, spring-drying, world-shaking blow rocked the large tree, and above all, smashed my head in and killed me. Extinguished...
"what on earth am i being forced to watch..."
"Eccentricity: The behavior of the bizarre, or an eccentric person."
It's to return to being a normal human. In other words, this action is an extremely normal deed based on humanity.
...
............
..................
There is no night that does not end in dawn, and there is no goal that cannot be reached. In that case, we too shall reach our goal along with the dawn.
"whoa..."
"Right? By the way, I've actually beaten that castle in a fight before."
"if you're going to lie, at least come up with a slightly better one."
"............"
"Eh?"
It's true, yeah. Strictly speaking, it was Scorpion Sunomata, but that was a shack I built by chipping away at my own soul... You could basically say it was my win.
"Alright then Wimp. Even though it's early Monday morning at dawn, there are going to be more people... Let's move quickly."
Or rather, I might end up being late for school. It's around 5 AM right now, so even if I have to clear some event, speed is going to be required. It would be great if things went smoothly, but...
◆
".........Hnn."
"Good morning, Loli Sensei!!!"
Speedily and smoothly using the Chalice, I became a female body and bowed my head. Dammit, no wonder that idiot was making a racket...!!
My slightly drowsy brain rapidly rebooted at the current situation: the strongest little girl Bounty Hunter, wearing not her combat attire but the casual dress handed to her (by those idiots, via me) as everyday wear, was for some reason reigning over a tavern on the New Continent.
Author's Afterword
The Loli Sensei who suddenly came to the New Continent.
Her single declaration, "I want to eat Ferocitas Delectamentum," stands in the way of Vagabond Chef Wimp as a trial!
Wimp: "fero... what?"
Sunraku: "What the hell is a Ferocitas Delectamentum?"
Survival: "What the hell is a Ferocitas Delectamentum?"
In search of the phantom delicacy, Wimp challenges the raging high seas───!!
Eh? The fish market is open from the morning?
Vagabond Chef Wimp Episode 2!
"The Trick to Auctions is Slapping Them with Cash"
Wait for the next episode!!
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