Chapter 619: The Whale Sings, and the Door Opens
"Sunraku! Incoming, it's a laser blaster!!"
"Alright, bring it on!!"
Taking the hit head-on, I used the mirrored surface of the Mirror Shield of the Nether-King to block the beam of light fired from Type-Stinger's right pincer—an attack that would have effortlessly severed a human body.
"Kuh, nggguuuu...!! 【Overload Mechanism】!!"
The mana-devouring mirror bloomed like a flower, converting the destructive light of the weapon into its own flames.
"Hell yeah! I'm getting fired up!!"
"You're literally, physically on fire right now!!"
『...It flashed, it's teleporting!』
The Wisdom Guard: Type-Stinger had absorbed three Inventoria units into its frame, granting it the ability to execute warp escapes.
The strike unleashed by Rust, equipped with "Suzaku," passed harmlessly through empty space as the grotesque mechanical scorpion vanished exactly one moment before impact. A few seconds later, Type-Stinger materialized in the exact same spot, its armaments prepped to fire.
But Rei-shi and Survival were already standing at the materialization point with their weapons raised... Listen here, we've already done post-nerf testing on that thing! Our understanding of Inventoria is far deeper than yours!!
"Once you know the trick, ambushing it is a piece of cakeeeeee!!"
"Here I go...!!"
*ZUGAGOONNN!!!!* A pincer attack from the grotesque armored knight and the STR-focused nekama shook the left and right sides of Type-Stinger simultaneously. The left pincer, which had already been pushed to its limits throughout the battle, was completely shattered by Rei-shi's greatsword, while the right pincer was smoking and throwing sparks from Survival's strike.
"As long as we can get a knockback, it's perfect!!"
"【Crystallization Freeze】!!"
A deafening roar erupted. The source was Yashirobird, who had clearly just fired a sniper rifle from way too close a range. It applies to guns in general, but landing a shot inflicts a physical impact on the target, and shooting a sturdy machine with a sniper rifle amplifies that effect even more...!!
With both pincers damaged and its legs shattered, the cornered Type-Stinger predictably—or perhaps inevitably—attempted to sweep us all away with the blade on its tail.
However, the swing of its tail was knocked off course by the point-blank sniper shot, and the blade itself was frozen solid by Mold's ice magic, leaving the boss wide open with a fatal vulnerability.
"I'll handle the tail! Finish it, Rust!"
『...You didn't have to tell me.』
Readying my Iron Katana 【Swirling Vortex White Waves】, I closed the distance to Type-Stinger clad in wind instead of lightning. Even as I perceived the mechanical bird-man diving from the sky wrapped in flames via sound alone, my sole target remained a single point on the tail.
The flames engulfing my body merged with the vortex of wind and the rotational force of my own spin, creating a tornado that vaulted over the back of the mechanical scorpion... Right here!!
"Seiten Style... 「Mawashikaze」!!"
『Suzaku, low-altitude boost.』
The sensation of Swirling Vortex White Waves striking something solid lasted only a fraction of a second. Before my brain could even process the resistance, the rotational energy imbued in my entire body violently severed whatever was trying to impede the blade's path.
Barely managing to kill the momentum of my spinning body—amplified by the sword-draw speed modifiers—with the landing, I looked back to see the radiant-feathered Suzaku rapidly ascending, having completely melted through Type-Stinger's back.
......
............
"...This is exactly why multiplayer is like this."
Tough. Way too tough. That one word sums it up entirely...
It had weaknesses, and it definitely wasn't omnipotent. But it was so damn tough... Because it absorbed the Inventoria, it kept retreating into the storage dimension whenever we used big attacks! Because it absorbed the Chestoria, even when we broke its parts, it would just repair them with spare weapons! And worst of all, the two idiots kept using us as target practice to test the performance of the weapons they bought!!
And on top of all that, it had the HP scaling of a six-player multiplayer boss, making it ridiculously resilient!! I never thought I'd be subjected to the classic MMO "jump-rope" mechanic in a game like ShanFro, where I assumed I'd be free of that nonsense...
"Thank god... I even went into debt with Survival, so if I had lost it, I seriously would have started bombing the devs with emails. Welcome back, Chestoria..."
"Even with all those damn guns, you still ain't usin' 'em... Hey Yashirobird, how about taking out another loan?"
"..................Even with installment payments?"
"I'm starting to get genuinely worried you're gonna go bankrupt in real life..."
I can easily picture a clear vision of him getting arrested for embezzling company funds at this rate. Well, whatever. As long as it's inside the game, it doesn't matter how many gun maniacs go bankrupt or get a criminal record.
"How was that, Isana... Checkmate."
『Fufu... It is undeniably a joyous occasion, and it is a fact that I have been longing for this, yet for some reason, I feel a little lonely. Perhaps 'Ivory' was actually operating on a sane logic circuit when she spouted that nonsense... No, I suppose for her, the true joy begins now.』
"I kinda get what you're saying, but right now, I'm gonna focus on the immediate rewards right in front of me..."
The gimmick of the Fourth Shell Layer had been conquered, and the shopping basket was fully pressed against the Fifth Layer. The boss of the Fourth Shell Layer had been defeated, and somewhat miraculously, all of us had survived to see the end.
Survival and I almost died about three times each, and if we assumed there were ten missiles fired in total, at least seven of them were locked exclusively onto Mold. Honestly, it's a miracle Mold even survived. Towards the end, when Rust got totally heated and completely abandoned her cover fire for him, an overwhelming aura of "Ah, Mold is dead" emanated from every single one of us.
Whoops, this is no time to be thinking about stupid things. It seems we've entered an event cutscene. Isana, who had always maintained the same eye level as us despite the changes in her shape, gently floated upwards... looking down at us as she began to speak.
『My utmost blessings to you all! Sunraku-sama, Survival-sama, Psyger-0-sama, Yashirobird-sama, Rust-sama, Mold-sama. The six of you have successfully opened the Door of Wisdom, and thus, Leviathan shall now unlock the core of the Divine Age here and now.』
Drifting through the air inside the shopping basket as if singing and dancing, a light ignited in Isana's hand.
『What will you accomplish? The power of the Divine Age is immense. It can burn forests, dry up rivers, bury lakes, and level the earth. Killing a person is almost far too easy... but even that is fine. If humanity is to be destroyed by humanity, then that is much, much healthier.』
The light began to take shape—a shape utterly unfitting for this sci-fi, futuristic fiction. It formed a primitive "key" to unlock a lock.
『I am "Whale", yet I am also "Whale". A mechanical beast that stood by humanity, yet could never become human... I could not give birth to them, I could not raise them, but... was I at least able to teach and guide them?』
*Gagong*, the ground shifted. No, that's not right... What is moving is the outer wall of the Fifth Shell Layer. And to be even more precise, it isn't a wall. Something that opens, closes, and locks can only be described as...
『Let us open the door. Wisdom is the very history of humanity—piling up from the past, stacking higher in the present, and looking toward the absolute limit in the future───』
Light began to spill out from the floor...!!
『Amberjack Pass: Level 4 has been acquired.』
『Title 【Re: Uncharted Territory】 has been acquired.』
『Title 【Leviathan Runner】 has been acquired.』
『Title 【The Hand That Touched the Truth】 has been acquired.』
『As a reward for defeating the Fourth Shell Layer Centralized Trial Target, the "New Standard Mass-Produced BW Beacon" has been acquired.』
『Grand Quest progress updated.』
Author's Afterword
Title 【Re: Uncharted Territory】
A title bestowed upon the first person to conquer the Whale of Wisdom created by humanity of the past. It is a land tread upon by countless feet, yet it is a land stepped upon for the very first time.
Title 【Leviathan Runner】
A title bestowed upon those who have reached the Fifth Shell Layer of B-2 Leviathan. Conquering the whale that swims through the stars is akin to catching a glimpse of the shadows of those who once sailed even the sea of stars───
Title 【The Hand That Touched the Truth】
A title automatically acquired by entering the Fifth Shell Layer while "Isana's" affection/affinity rating is maxed out. (In a multiplayer party, if even one player has maxed affection, the rest of the party can also acquire the title.)
"Isana" does not lie. But even she is a maiden, and she has a few secrets she wishes to keep hidden.
That refers to her one and only love, and an affection that remains unfading even now.
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