Chapter 647: The Scales of Combat Ratios Tilt Violently
The artificial dragon named Maxwell 8-1 roared.
Its incredibly stocky body—which basically looked like a yoga ball with a head, wings, front legs, back legs, and a tail attached—made the players think, "We can totally take this guy, right?"... but I found out later that the "8-1" part of its name meant it secured first place as the apex predator of its environment on the eighth trial. Don't run the simulation that many times!!!
So, to put it simply, this chubby little guy was apparently stronger than the Armored Cerberus.
"Impossible, impossible, impossible! What is up with that melee-killer setup!! Even Siegwurm showed a bit more mercy!?"
"Analyze its telegraphs! If you get caught in that field, it's practically instant death!!"
"Healerrrrs, heeeelp!!"
"I'm using an AoE heal! Anyone who needs healing, group up!!"
"I-I'm not feeling any feedback from my hits..."
"Two are dead!!"
"Ogogogogo!!?"
"Hiiigh! Hang in there, baby!! If you die, all five of us standing behind you are going to die together!!"
Despite having the physique of a fat cat, it deployed a field where remaining in contact for a few seconds dealt enough DoT to instantly kill tanks. It threw multi-hit punches using jaggedly protruding claws, and fired off a 3-way breath attack interwoven with delayed timings.
Listening to the players' screams as if it were someone else's problem, I kept my legs moving to fulfill my own job.
"Alright!! Bring it on, you crappy sea anemone!!"
The tentacled creature named Newton 6-2 had been continuously unleashing attacks against the annoying little bug flying endlessly in front of it for a while now.
However, instead of moving each of its dozens, or possibly hundreds, of tentacles individually, it bundled about ten of them together to smash down in a single unified strike. If that was the case, evading wasn't all that difficult.
It wasn't like I was playing a one-man show because I wanted to. In the middle of the fight against Maxwell, someone either screwed up, or this thing just noticed us on its own, and it suddenly crashed the party.
And so, thanks to the passive effect of my Scars making me highly likely to draw aggro from higher-leveled enemies, I broke off from the main group and was currently playing around with Newton-kun... but man, this was getting really annoying.
Newton-kun, being a tentacled creature, had a body surface covered in slimy mucus... and this mucus was terrifyingly slippery. To be specific, my attacks slipped off it so badly that even with my stats, my critical hits were missing the mark.
"And on top of that, as if following a textbook trope, it's highly acidic too...!!"
Defense specifically tailored to counter critical hits, toughness born of a massive body, and the ability to shatter weapons used for close-quarters melee attacks...!!
Could a coincidence like this even exist? Every single aspect of its specs was a perfect, absolute counter to a melee critical attacker. It was an even simpler natural enemy than Orchestra, which beat me down using pure superior specs...!!
Well, actually, even though Newton-kun had anti-critical and anti-melee measures in place, it wasn't equipped to handle high-speed combat, so I had plenty of leeway to deal with it using just standard, non-skill movements. It’s what you’d call Sennichite. [*1]
"Not yet—!!"
Saina and Emul were chipping away at it with magical attacks (or attacks derived from magical energy) that could serve as effective hits, but it was just a drop in the bucket.
I mean, just look at it, the thing looked incredibly tough. It had bundled its tentacles together to look like a humanoid wearing a skirt, but its upper half—the part that vaguely resembled a person—was clearly completely jacked, alright? You could just feel the high VIT radiating from its very aura.
Over at the Maxwell fight, which had turned into a scene of pure pandemonium, they were still the top-tier frontline players. They had mapped out exactly when and how far that bullshit instant-death aura would spread, and they were shifting to an offensive stance.
I'd landed a few hits on Maxwell myself, so I'd like to believe I've met the clear condition, but worst-case scenario, I might have to find a way to defeat Newton-kun...
"At least magic bullets can get through, I guess that's somewhat of a saving grace..."
Forget drops in the bucket; the damage looked more like someone flicking water droplets at a rock, but I still had various Leviathan-made weapons I bought under my name, so it wasn't entirely impossible... probably.
"I just don't know where its weak point is... whoops!!"
It might have a vaguely human shape, but despite its appearance, I highly doubt its head (presumably) is a weak point. Rather than showing off some reckless bravery, it's better if I just focus on managing its aggro.
This is weird, why am I the only one subjected to this quarantine measure? In a large-scale raid battle, shouldn't there be more... you know? Cooperation and stuff... Huh, strange. No, pull yourself together and focus on the fight.
However, for a completely different reason than being forced to hold back a boss solo, something was snagging in my thoughts.
"...Is Aguacate really just a disappointment of a weapon?"
Its contribution to my overall firepower was just too garbage. When I compared it to the damage effects of the Gatling Saina was blasting away with right next to me, it was so far beyond a problem of caliber or firepower that it actually brought tears to my eyes... But still, since I was a little curious, I pulled out that item.
"Wisdom Weapon Series!!"
Multi-Function Magic Warhead Formation Gun Armament? I don't bother memorizing the official name for every single thing, but I do remember the common name... A brand-spanking-new Legacy Weapon that can be crafted using the license obtainable in Leviathan's Fifth Shell Layer and the data from the Wisdom Guard we fought on the Fourth Layer!!
"You Fatty, if you prove to be useless, I'm selling you off to Yashirobird... Pierce through, 【STING】!!"
Unlike the game-specific window operations or test commands that the hardcore gunner players were raving about, this Legacy Weapon: Leviathan 【STING】 required the user to physically manipulate the gun's mechanisms to change its firing mode. By equipping its dedicated Magic Bullet Magazine, it could fire three... no, including that one, four different types of magic warheads.
In terms of shape, it looked like a thick firearm resembling a crossbow without a bowstring, and right now, it formed a warhead shaped like a single spear. Then, through whatever principles were at work, within the UI projected directly onto my retinas, the "0" indicating my remaining ammo count increased to "1."
Max ammo capacity: 1 shot. The special warhead that boasted the absolute highest piercing power out of all three firing modes... Mode "Javelin"!!
"You crappy sea anemone, you might be jacked with muscles, but there's no way you've got bones running all the way through!!"
Fire!!
The nail-like spear warhead shot out of the muzzle, threading the needle through the opening created when Newton-kun's attention was diverted by Saina's attack, and struck its torso. Completely ignoring the slimy mucus, it blew straight through the tentacles and buried itself deep within its core.
And as it turned out, even for an amalgamation of tentacles, getting a massive nail driven straight into its innards was apparently unbearable. Seeing its first display of writhing agony and confirming that this was indeed an effective hit, I prepared to load the next round...
"Sunraku-saaaaan!! We defeated Maxweeeeell!!!"
Alright, time to withdraw!! You narrowly escaped with your life this time, Newton-kun! I'm in a hurry, so see ya!!!
Author's Afterword
There are also others like Schrödinger and Euler down there.
Translator's Notes
- [1] Sennichite: A shogi stalemate.
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