Chapter 643: Any and All Who Block My Layer Shall Be Annihilated

Author's Preface

With such a bloodthirsty subtitle, who could possibly be taking center stage...

◇

Jump, dash through, slide under, warp, warp, and step back.

If one had to describe the phenomenon that just occurred, it would probably sound something like that. The hearts of those staring at the "passage," as if searching for the shadow of the man who vanished into the next layer, were now completely united.

Namely,

"That was totally useless as a reference..."

It all boiled down to that single phrase.

"No seriously, what the hell was that movement? I'm playing a light warrior type too, so I thought I could copy him."

"I don't have Teleport magic memorized, though!?"

"You can probably pull it off if you have scrolls."

"Wait, he didn't use a scroll at the very end, did he?"

"Maybe that cloak casts magic by proxy or something? Like the Sword of Anguish?"

Even so, a clear is a clear. And because it was revealed that there was a completely absurd first-timer trap waiting at the very end, the players' strategy discussions suddenly heated up with renewed vigor.

"So I guess just sprinting through the first stepping stones is the correct answer."

"Honestly, even the tanks should probably unequip their armor and run. Not for speed, but to help dodge those lasers."

"Instant TeleportApport is a pretty big blind spot... And if you combo it with a Disposable Magic MediumMagic Scroll, the recast timer doesn't matter."

"But more importantly, what the hell was that guillotine!"

"Right when you let your guard down in front of the goal, it just snicks right through you..."

"As long as you know it's there, it's really not that scary."

"Wait, I thought it was weird how he placed his hat on the ground instead of putting it in his inventory earlier, but that really is a rabbit! What the hell is that guy carrying around!?"

Exactly, that's the real point, Psyger-0 thought. The general public assumed the relationship between Sunraku and Emul was that of a Tamer and a Tamed Monster, but Psyger-0—being in the exact same situation—knew that was incorrect.

And the fact that Sunraku and Emul proceeded to the next layer together meant...

"...Akitsu Akane-san."

"Eh? ...Ah! Psyger-0-san! Is that the effect of the chalice? Your appearance changed so much I didn't recognize you!!"

"Yes, well......... um, there's something I want to test. Would you mind helping me?"

"Of course!"

......

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

"Hm? Wait, didn't those two just go in together?"

While several players had dropped out trying to secure the second clear... one of the players deeply engrossed in the strategy discussion mumbled out loud, causing the rest of the group to look up. Standing inside the passage—which everyone had assumed only permitted entry for one person at a time—were two players.

"Dragon Princess-chan and... who's that?"

"Psyger-0... wait, wasn't Attack Holder a male avatar?"

"It's probably a gender-change item. Word is it's one of the rewards from Ctarrnid."

"But why now...? More importantly, since when could multiple people enter at once?"

A ninja wearing a fox mask, and a knight with half her face covered by a grotesque mask. Even ignoring the fact that they were both girl avatars, they formed a duo with completely mismatched aesthetic worldviews. However, their demeanor wasn't exactly, "We proved we could get in together, so the verification is done." The way they stared straight ahead at the door at the very back of the passage was with the eyes of those aiming for a clear.

◇◇

"...We're going, Akitsu Akane-san."

"Yes!!"

Just because her base model had become female did not mean the avatar known as Psyger-0 had explicitly been weakened. Her physical strength, her skills, her magic... none of it had changed from before her gender swap. Therefore, the strategy for the first obstacle—the stepping-stone area where the platforms collapsed after one person crossed—was extremely simple, and relied entirely on brute force.

"Hmph!!!!"

"Juuuump!!"

Psyger-0 drew her massive shield and braced it at an angle, and Akitsu Akane used it as a springboard to physically leap cleanly over the entire stepping-stone area. After that, Psyger-0 simply used the actual stepping-stones to proceed... Up to this point, it was a strategy that barely justified bringing two people, but the real show started from here.

"If I recall correctly, the Ninja job has a spell called 'OboronabariHazy Concealment' that allows you to assimilate with a party member's attack... is that right?"

"Yes! I have it memorized!!"

"Then............"

If Sunraku broke through using pure brute force, the method Psyger-0 chose could only be described as using her brain, which resulted in brute force.

Raising the Sword of Taiji, Psyger-0 activated a spell that—among all the spells the avatar Psyger-0 possessed—was top-tier in terms of visual flashiness... a spell whose visual spectacle could rival even the unique Secret Art of the Sword of Taiji itself.

"Akitsu Akane-san, please run all the way to the back... I will open the path."

There was only a single basis for this strategy. During the trials of the numerous players who had failed before her, she had witnessed a certain player try to block a pendulum blade with their sword, and noticed that not only did their sword chip, but the pendulum blade itself suffered a slight chip as well... Based on nothing more than that observation, Psyger-0 was preparing to have Akitsu Akane sprint full-speed straight down this highly dangerous path.

"───I gaze up at the blue heavens, and reach out my hand. Yet my body is heavy upon the earth, and what this body wields is a heavy mass of forged martial might."

It wasn't as if her hypothesis was completely guaranteed. That's why... she would force every element required to reach success entirely through pure power. The Sword of Taiji became cloaked in pale blue light, rapidly sucking away Psyger-0's MP to surge with a violent, vicious radiance.

It was a spell from the Radiant Heaven Magic ArtsSkystair School—a magical discipline designed not for standard mages, but specifically for full-heavyweight magic warriors—and it was one of the two ultimate secret arts, possessing the exceedingly rare activation condition of requiring a two-handed heavyweight weapon.

"Then O Heavens, O Sky, bear witness. My single strike shall begin from the earth and strike the heavens. Carve my path into the sky!!"

It was a stairwayKizahashi of a supreme strike extending from the earth to the heavens.

"...【Stairway Leading to the Radiant HeavensSkystair Protos】!!"

Simultaneously with a full-power swing, a massive burst of extreme light blasted from the greatsword, tearing straight through every single gimmick in the passage waiting for pitiful victims.

Since the MP consumption was variable, the beam of destructive light—fueled by a massive eighty percent of Psyger-0's total MP pool—blew away the spike gimmicks, obliterated the lasers, pierced clean through the violently opening and closing shutters, and pulverized every single pendulum...

"Hidden Blade Principle! 【Oboronabari】!!"

A single shadow sprinted down the radiant path carved out and created by the light.

Through a movement spell meant for approaching enemies by completely nullifying friendly fire from a party member's magic attack and "mimicking" the magic itself, Akitsu Akane melted completely into 【Stairway Leading to the Radiant Heavens】 and dashed straight ahead.

The tunnel of spikes meant to pierce the Pioneers was utterly blown away by the light the moment the spikes began to emerge, rendering them completely incapable of stopping Akitsu Akane.

The net of lasers meant to slice the Pioneers was unable to form its web as the far more powerful light tore through them, completely incapable of entangling Akitsu Akane.

The shutter trap meant to bisect the Pioneers had its very physical defense rendered nonexistent, allowing Akitsu Akane to slip right through unimpeded.

The pendulums meant to block and smash the Pioneers away... were completely gone. Pendulums inherently swing back and forth on a set path, meaning no matter what they do, they constantly remain in the line of fire and cannot escape.

As a result, by the time Akitsu Akane reached that point, it had been reduced to nothing more than a straight, empty hallway.

And the true final obstacle, the decapitating blade meant to sever all relief...

"If I know it's there, I won't fall for it!"

She dodged it anticlimactically, and in a sense, Akitsu Akane reached the end of the passage even more effortlessly than Sunraku had.

"We did it!"

"..."

Psyger-0 nodded silently at Akitsu Akane, who was hopping up and down on the other side of the passage to express her joy, and pulled a single throwing knife and a paper cylinder... a scroll, from her pocketInventory.

"........."

【My Body As a Shield】: A teleportation spell that allows the caster to instantly warp themselves into a position to intercept an attack when a party member is targeted. She had originally bought it so she could heroically cover Sunraku whenever he was in a pinch... but since Sunraku didn't need that kind of support nearly as much as Psyger-0 had assumed, it ended up rotting in her storage as a tragic Disposable Magic Medium with a sad history attached to it.

However, there was one very interesting way to use this magic.

Because this spell activates purely in reaction to an attack, it doesn't care whether the attacker is hostile or not. In other words, as long as Psyger-0 throws a throwing knife at full power (stacking throwing-type skills) and targets her party member Akitsu Akane...

"Ouch."

"W-Are you okay!? That hit you straight in the face!!"

"Ah, no... It hit the mask side, so there's barely any damage."

It was what you would call a techniqueminor trick. The clattering sound of the throwing knife hitting the ground after bouncing off the face of Psyger-0—who had instantly reached the goal line via a self-inflicted staged warp—echoed unnaturally loud through the utterly devastated passageway...

Author's Afterword

The players watching from the outside: "That was totally useless as a reference..."