Chapter 671: That Very Existence is Radiance
Right now, I feel like a soaked, ragged mop. Regardless of anything else, my body is heavy; it's a sense of fatigue like concrete has been poured from between my eyebrows straight into my frontal lobe. This often happens when I keep my tension cranked up non-stop without taking a break, but I'm still just not used to it.
"Ugogogo......"
But I'm not foolish enough to just lie down right here; after all, there's a mountain of treasure right in front of me!!
"Imperial Majesty...... you truly were a Formidable Foe......!!"
The timing of destroying the "Holy Sword" on its tail, the choice to ready a shield instead of a sword at the very end—if even one of those had been off, I would have been the one exposing my corpse to the world......
The time-limited berserk mode, the abandonment of the advantage of its freely moving sword-claws—now that I've won, I can properly evaluate how excellent the monster design is for making it look impossible to beat while actually making the latter half easier.
Because if I had lost to that, I would have absolutely branded it a "Shitty Monster." No, actually, that last move was kind of trash; stop with the frame-perfect instant-death gimmicks.
"Heh, hehehehehe......"
A solo subjugation, a solo subjugation! Strictly speaking, it wasn't a solo run since Saina was here, but the item drop rate in this game scales based on the "number of players." In other words, if you ignore EXP efficiency, a fifteen-person party consisting of a single player dragging along fourteen NPCs is the most efficient setup for item drops.
"Thank you, Luck stat......"
Among the drop items, there was a brilliantly shining jewel that stood out above the rest. If it were a normal Golden Scorpion, it would be a jewel radiating a brilliance like pure gold itself, but it seemed the Imperial Majesty's core—its heart—was a bit different.
Hmm, hmm, "Radiant Core of Imperial Gold," huh...... Perhaps reflecting the lore that it devours the Crystal Crown, there were night-colored jewels and pitch-black crystals—materials clearly other than gold—mixed together like a puzzle to form a single "orb." It wouldn't look out of place even if it were displayed in a museum.
Muhoho, Imperial Majesty...... it seems you've hoarded quite a bit. Splitting the assets sounds like a pain in the ass, so I'll be monopolizing all of this; rest in peace knowing I'll put it to good use.
However, it seemed the ghost of the "Golden Age" had no intention of letting a revolutionary like me return alive.
"Warning: Movement detected among the surrounding Crystal Scorpions."
"I can see that just by looking, Saina...... Yeah, but you got sliced cleanly off."
"Operating in this condition will be difficult."
Back then, the "Golden Age" fired three ultra-high-speed light beams...... The very first shot was a low-altitude flash meant to sever my legs. I had evaded it with a jump, but it seemed Saina, who was behind me, hadn't been so lucky...... When everything was settled and I turned around, there was Saina, severed from the knees down and eating dirt.
Fortunately, since she fell from that first shot, the second shot aimed at her moving body passed right over her, so maybe you could call it a blessing in disguise...... Regardless, combat in this state would be impossible.
If I equipped her with tactical armor like before, she might be able to move, but what difference would being able to walk make in this situation? The number of legs didn't matter; whether you're an octopus or a Daruma, it's game over once you're swallowed by a tsunami.
"Well, whatever, we can just evacuate into Inventoria."
"Response: That is impossible."
"Why's that?"
Whoa there, brothers, calm down; there's no need to slowly tighten the encirclement like that, right?
"Because the basic functions of the Storage Key Inventoria are installed directly into the body of the Second Humanity upon equipping it, they remain operational even if the Inventoria itself is lost due to dismemberment. However, regarding the Enter Travel system, the calculation and coordinate-related......"
"Too long, keep it brief."
"The Inventoria unit itself will be reconstructed the moment the respawn system triggers, but because the unit is currently in a temporary state of loss, this unit and Contractor cannot be teleported into the storage space."
"Hmm......"
The scorpions' behavior of slowly, slowly tightening their encirclement was something I had never experienced before. Their sheer willpower to absolutely kill us was staggering; isn't this a pretty nasty death trap...... or is there some way to break through? Yeah, I have no idea.
That being said, if we can't escape, I need to do something about Saina. I'm fine—even if I get turned into mincemeat, I'll just wake up at the Eighthold save point in less than a minute.
Now then, what should I do? No, actually, the "answer" is already in my hands. It just comes down to whether I do it or not...... that's all there is to it.
"Haa, I'll just have to trust that it's worth its weight in gold."
"───Contractor, that is..."
"Don't sweat it. I had an open slot anyway, so I was kind of just forcing something into it."
We can't teleport because Inventoria is gone from my left arm? As long as I can take items in and out, there's no problem. I removed the Trainol Centipede Doll from my accessory slot to open up space and equipped a different accessory in its place.
......That's right, a second Inventoria.
"This looks like I'm wearing a watch on both arms; it's kind of making me laugh."
Equipping two infinities—in other words, wouldn't that make me a man who has surpassed infinity itself? While delivering a light chop to Saina, who was staring blankly at my right wrist, I stood up and glared at our surroundings.
Sorry, brothers, but I've already collected every last piece of the Emperor's corpse right down to the tips of its claws so I can put it to good use. Just, like, imagine a blurry portrait of the deceased floating up in the sky and pay your respects that way.
"What's wrong, Saina? Don't tell me you can't evacuate into this Inventoria either......"
"......Negative, it is possible. However, to equip a second one just for this purpose..."
"Shut up. I'll get all my regretting done later, so just hurry up and evacuate for now."
"......Acknowledged: Offering maximum gratitude for Contractor's actions."
It wasn't really something to be thanked for, though...... Calling her property sounds bad, but the life of an NPC I had grinded a decent amount of affection for was simply heavier than an Inventoria. That was all there was to it.
"Now then, sorry to keep you waiting, brothers."
Oh, wow, I didn't think they'd close in this much. Is this about the size of a sumo ring? What kind of emotion is driving them to surround me like this? Murderous intent? It's so quiet it's actually scary.
That being said, if I try to move even slightly, the Crystal Scorpions clack their claws together with a sharp *clack-clack*...... Are they really intending not to let me leave alive? It's like they're asking, "Any last words?"
Then I'll answer them like this.
"A wounded beast is the most terrifying thing of all......!!"
Fuhahaha! I'll show you, you ignorant masses! The power of the Exordinary Skill "Imperial Gold Era" that I obtained by defeating your Emperor!!!
It's the skill of the scorpion that manipulated that shining sword and light; it must be an offensive skill perfectly suited for matching a thousand warriors───
・Imperial Gold Era
Upon activation, the system references the number of members in the caster's party at the time of casting, as well as the "number of players, monsters, and NPCs contributing to the battle" (excluding the caster) while the effect is active. The lower that number is, the more the caster's stats increase.
Ah, it's that kind of skill? Whoa there, hold on a sec, brothers. It's a lot harder to use than I thought, so let me just regroup for a bit...... Ah, no good?
Author's Afterword
An Exordinary Skill that embodies the very pride of an Emperor who possessed robust subjects, yet fought entirely alone.
In short, the larger the party you form and the more you act independently, the higher your stats increase.
To put it even more simply, if you do the whole "Leave this to me and go on ahead!" trope, you get super-buffed.
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