Chapter 660: The Fiendish Teacher Sunraku's Wild Lesson
I figured out something extra: those scorpions are polite enough to assault us with different tactics depending on the area. You've gotta be kidding me, Scorpions—you guys already commercialized the "throw your own brethren" strat...!?
"Saina, run on the ground! Nice, nice, this is getting hype! You're pretty good at using surprise tactics, ain't ya, Golden Age!!"
"Recommendation: Retreat."
"Don't be an idiot! Have you already figured out the answer!? I'm pushing through!!"
Falling high-mass objects are a threat, sure, but they're only a threat to slowpokes with AGI too low to get away in time!!
Mobility enhancement skills on full blast! Forcing a breakthrough through this Phalanx-like defense net and pushing ahead all at once!!
"Tch, looks like they know how to use their heads a little."
I totally thought the Relay Node entities would be hiding in the back, but past the defense net were just the Crystal Scorpions acting as launching pads, deftly tossing their brethren in three-man cells. And naturally, since they're Crystal Scorpions too, they're going to transition to attacking.........
"Two beats too late. Am I in a position that's hard to see even for the Relay Node entity?"
In that case, not here......... no, over here? Whoops, close one, but your response is still about two moves too slow. Jump to evade the swinging claws, then use a mid-air jump to dodge another one's tail sweep like a high jumper. Slap a Fading Mirror right onto the back of the one that did the first claw attack. The very next second after I evacuate, the simultaneous attacks of the others smash right into poor little Decoy-kun...... Oh, rare item, let's grab that.
"Target locked!!"
"Initiating attack?"
"Obviously! Saina, can you destroy that thing by yourself? I'll draw the aggro of the others."
"......If that is the order."
"Then I'm counting on ya."
Hey come on, my best friends!! Sorry, but we're in the middle of a lesson right now, so even if your commander is calling, you're gonna have to take a little detour! What kind of dressing do you want? I'll take your blood splatter!!!
"I'll clank-clank you down to the marrow...!!"
Sturdy Digging Pickaxe-kun... Don't you want to taste the sensation of shattering lives for the first time in a while...? Scorpions that leave you a safety margin are just walking ore veins! I'm gonna remind you that you guys are only a threat because you throw away your lives and ignore collateral damage.
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NPCs are just NPCs to the bitter end. No matter how closely their behavior resembles a human's, it is ultimately nothing more than a mechanical reproduction based on ones and zeros.
.........Though, if a human identity can be born from a brain that's considered large at 1500 grams, then in a game that uses an entire multi-story skyscraper just for one of its seven sub-servers, perhaps the NPCs in Shangri-La Frontier are more human than actual humans.
"Looks like taking them down is going to be surprisingly easy......... Or rather, it's so unexpectedly easy, what do I do? Let's just......... Alright Saina, we'll split up and take down the remaining two Relay Node entities."
Wielding a pickaxe as a weapon and having already shattered the massive frames of several entities, Elma=317's contractor, Sunraku, walked among the scorpions—now frozen in standby mode due to the defeat of the Relay Node entity... officially known as the Honor Guard entity—and announced this to Saina.
"Confirmation: This unit destroying a Relay Node entity solo."
"It shouldn't be that hard. Plus, we've already proven that you can be stored in the Inventoria even if we're a certain distance apart......... Honestly, this feels way too convenient; what if it gets nerfed? Saina, you can definitely be stored as long as we're in the same area, right?"
"It is possible."
"Then we're good. Don't go pulling a 'suddenly it's impossible' on me later, alright?"
Sunraku muttered some soliloquy that "Saina" couldn't comprehend, but as far as Saina was concerned, she merely answered his question without falsehood. That was all.
"Then it's safe. I can check your status from over here, and if things get sketchy, I'll recall you."
"......Acknowledged:"
Saina fundamentally judged the pioneer named Sunraku to be an existence that constantly had to be running at the very front. He wanted to acquire information ahead of time... or rather, it was more accurate to say he fundamentally disliked making plans and taking his time to do things steadily. Strike while the iron is hot, there's no time like the present, someone who worries about the remaining amount of an endless resource... A man best described as living life in too much of a hurry—that was Sunraku.
Perhaps the trust that it couldn't possibly reach the end with just this was what kept his legs moving... Yet, precisely because of that, Saina felt doubt toward Sunraku's instruction. Based on past tendencies, she had deduced that he would say something like, "I'm going to quickly crush the other two, so don't fall behind."
However, maintaining a consistent line of thought, whether consciously or unconsciously, is a difficult thing. If so, then sometimes he might issue orders like this, Saina accepted, and hurried toward a disciplined "army" in the opposite direction of Sunraku.
(Combat Power Estimation: Win rate 0%... However, assuming "Victory" is narrowed down strictly to the order of destroying only a specific part of a specific entity... Win rate 65%.)
"These numbers are sufficient for a gamble... 'Vanity Box' deployment, Twin Swords Mode."
The necessary specs required not diminishing the main body's mobility, while simultaneously possessing the firepower or attack volume needed to destroy the Relay Node entity's parts. Therefore, having deployed her Twin Swords in imitation of her contractor, Saina began analyzing the "tactics" of the scorpions even as she voluntarily advanced into the massive, swarming horde of Crystal Scorpions.
"Linear behavior. However......... it is strange."
There was an anomaly in their force deployment. Or rather, the army had already been activated before Saina even charged in, which was strange in the first place. Why was that...?
"No no no no... Hiiiii!!"
"Kanako-chan is!!"
"I told you it was impossible at Level 60! We're gonna diiie!! Nooooo!?"
"Nyukki got hit for a home run!!"
"It's scary even in a gameeeee!!"
The reason was simple and clear. It was none other than the fact that someone else had provoked the Crystal Scorpions before Saina even charged in.
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This is strictly a "what-if" scenario, but if it had been Sunraku facing this situation instead of Saina, he would have simply watched the dying players exactly as they were. Even if they noticed his presence, he might have mockingly chanted a "Rest in peace," but he definitely wouldn't have helped them.
And the same went for Emul. Because she belonged to the monster category of Vorpal Bunnies, even as a Vorpal Bunny who understood human speech, Emul possessed a certain wild severity. She would fundamentally prioritize her own survival over Sunraku's (partly because Second Humanity could die as many times as they pleased).
But Saina didn't know that. From seeing him save Wimp, protect the Saint, overcome Siegwurm alongside many other players, and challenge Bahamut, Saina currently judged Sunraku to be "a person who, when push comes to shove, cannot overlook the plight of others."
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Because of that, the action Saina took was to save the two who were still alive.
"Recommendation: Swift evacuation maneuvers."
"Who!?"
"Evacuation...?"
Slumping to the ground—a state equivalent to suicide in the Crystal Nest Cliff—the players blinked in shock at the non-human doll that had suddenly intervened, but Saina didn't have the time to care about their reactions.
"This unit will handle the Crystal Scorpions. If you do not wish to be forcefully extracted via death.........! Evacuate, swiftly."
"Eh, um, eh, thank you very much?"
Saina no longer had the luxury to care. In the first place, her twin sword equipment was meant for breaking through the scorpion swarm with minimal engagement to reach the Relay Node entity. It was an incredibly inappropriate choice for acting as a rear guard against a horde of Crystal Scorpions rushing in with surging momentum.
"Guh......... Damage: Moderate."
And the fact that, before they split up, Sunraku had taken on the vast majority of the aggro using every trick in the book......... Or the bad luck that this swarm's tactics specialized in pursuit......... And the foolishness of taking even a single moment to change equipment......... The accumulation of all these factors led to Saina being effortlessly swatted away by a single Crystal Scorpion.
"Restoring posture, is......"
But they wouldn't allow it. A pursuit battle is a battle to hunt down those who flee. Giving no rest, allowing no escape... The crystal tail, swung with enough force to gouge the earth, blew Saina away once again.
"Damage: Severe......"
Silence. Taking evasive action to avoid taking any further follow-up attacks... she realized it.
Saina's durability had already fallen below thirty percent. Sunraku, even from a different location, should have been aware of that. Yet......... there was no sign whatsoever of Saina's frame being transferred to the Inventoria.
And Saina had no means to send a message to Sunraku from her current location. Perhaps, by some coincidence, she could have used communications if Sunraku had been using a tactical mech, but given the demerits of the Curse Marks, that possibility was practically non-existent.
"Wait........."
Elma=317 is a Conquering Doll. A mechanical doll operating based on the "Reconquest Project" drafted by Andrew Jitterdoll, laying its life on the line to become the strength of the next generation of primitive humanity.
Even if Saina were to be pulverized here, so what? It would simply mean the loss of the 317th Elma model, and since the Conquista Dolls had already made contact with the next generation of primitive humanity, there would be no hindrance whatsoever to the "Reconquista Project."
The Crystal Scorpions closed in. Their inorganic eyes couldn't care less about what the Saina before them was. Anything that entered the land where their sovereign resided was equally an "enemy," and whether it was human or doll, what they would do remained unchanged. Thus, they advanced and trampled...
"No........................"
That word spilled out of the Conquista Doll's mouth completely naturally.
"No..................!!"
Undeniable terror. The fear that in just a few seconds, what used to be Elma=317 would be pulverized, ground up alongside shards of crystal, and erased from this world......... More than anything, the dread of the "end" froze the doll's body.
When faced with death, beings with intellect take one of two actions: struggle or freeze. Saina was the latter.
And so, the massive surging wave of crystals did not swal—"Yeah, stop right there,"—low the tiny doll.
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"Yo, Saina. You're making a great face. I took a screenshot, wanna see it later?"
A single flash of a whirlwind—accelerated by Multiple Circular Motion and mid-air walking, then boosted even further by the power of the storm—severed the commander's bloated receiver. Looking at Saina, who had slumped to the ground with an incredibly human-like expression on her face, I casually spoke to her as if nothing had happened.
"I never agreed to 70% of this being completely unexpected situations.........!!"
Author's Afterword
By the way, the exact moment he separated from Saina, he instantly used the Levin Trigger: Hazard to neutralize the Honor Guard entity he was in charge of, then ran toward Saina with explosive shuttle-run speed, arriving like a boomerang by simultaneously using the mid-air trajectory of Multiple Circular Motion + Vestige of the Raging Storm Emperor · Extreme.
He want to cherish the uniqueness of a protagonist whose combat style is basically turning himself into the projectile weapon.
・Kanako, Nyukki, Nasuna, Soyoyo.
A four-person party that charged into the Crystal Nest Cliff with absolutely no relation to anything, completely separate from the players who tried to tag along with Sunraku. They charged in with the reckless courage of the ignorant, and predictably got turned into a ball game, resulting in about two of them being hit for home runs, but they experienced the rare event of coincidentally being saved by a robot girl in an idol outfit.
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