Chapter 695: Echo Upon the Mirror's Surface, Roar From the Skyscrapers - Part 13

Choosing the distance-specialized "Hikinami" wasn't for some random reason. "Sunraku," sent flying violently with the added acceleration of the spin, wouldn't be able to escape the skyscraper domain created by Saina even if he used a mid-air jump!! You fool! What did you think I was bouncing around pointlessly for? It was all to peel you away from the theater domain!!

"Now, run for your life, run, run, ruuuun!!"

Passed down directly by the idiot who spouted stupid shit like "three magazines are better than three meals a day"! Single-shot Assault leading shot!!

STING's third warhead, the "Wedge Warhead"!! Heavier than a needle, faster than a spear. In other words, using it exactly like a single-fire assault rifle!!

Though I can't do incomprehensible things like a certain idiot who says, "As long as you can perfectly grasp the range, any single-fire weapon is a sniper rifle"!!

Ka-chunk! Ka-chunk! Every time I pulled the trigger, it made a sound like a nail gun as 10-centimeter warheads flew through the air toward "Sunraku." No one knows the attack patterns "I" struggle with better than me; if your calves are relentlessly targeted, it's pretty damn hard to counter with a weapon. Fufufu-haha, even Benkei would cry so much he'd get dehydrated!!

『…………』

"What is this, clay pigeon shooting!? It's not a competition if you're actively getting in the way to take the hits, Orchestra!!"

Calling it tear-jerking cover fire would be one thing, but a violin flew out from the theater domain at high speed and got pierced by the Wedge warhead. Followed by cymbals, cellos, double basses, double basses, double basses...... no, you're just getting lazy towards the end!!

Well, I get it. The truth is, you can't really execute that wide a variety of movements while sprinting through the air. You can spare some focus for UI operations right in the middle of a mid-air jump or the moment you step, but trying to prepare your next move while evading attacks in mid-air just like you would on the ground...... unexpectedly results in mistakes.

No matter how much of a Superior Upgrade he is, if he's a copy of a player, he can't be omnipotent. Even CPUs make mistakes; the only thing that doesn't make mistakes is a TAS.

In other words, the more "Sunraku" gets cornered, the more Orchestra has no choice but to increase the frequency of its plot-armor interventions...... And against a half-assed performance, it stands no chance against our Diva. Because we've got the perfectly reproduced super-galactic idol who received Andrew's absolute seal of approval!!

"Come on, come on, come on! Field control rate is over eighty percent!! Are you fine with us just winning like this!?"

Aligning the sights...... sure, a double bass has a huge surface area, but its launch speed is correspondingly slow! Right there. Gauge MAX! Now is the time to show off Wisdom's...... the Legacy Weapon manufactured by Leviathan, and its final bullet!!

"【Overload MechanismExceed Charge】!!"

Not just STING, but all Legacy Weapons craftable by defeating the Wisdom Guard are uniformly classified as the Super ExhaustReject type. It's a suicide-ignoring ultimate move that intentionally refuses to vent the excess heat accumulated over a set period of usage, charging it into a specific mechanism instead, and unleashing it once it reaches maximum capacity...!!

"Official Designation, Excessive Magical Heat Pressurized WarheadMagibyte Overheat!!"

Common name: Super ExhaustReject! A reckless brute-force technique that converts thermal energy into Information Mass, compresses it digitally, and redeploys it to fire a bullet of purely compressed heat!! Wheeeew! The word "self-preservation" doesn't exist for the Reject typeeeeee!!

"Fire!!!"

A flash of light, followed by a shockwave that pushed me backward even as I braced myself.

By its very nature, the compressed heat that advanced while expanding incinerated the air in front of it just with its aftereffects, rushing toward "Sunraku" who was just about to land.

A double bass? A trombone? It doesn't matter; even if you raise your VIT a bit, you'll still die from the aftershocks! Or rather, just die from the aftershocks already!!

My exact copy, the guardian of the final movement, the StrongerSuperior Upgrade "Sunraku" was trying to take some sort of action, but it was already too late. I knew his skills were on cooldown, and even if he tried to escape using Overflow, he'd get caught in the blast. There was no time to change equipment, and Inventoria Escape had a lag of a few seconds before teleportation, so he couldn't get away.

"I wo—............"

───Someone was making an incredibly frustrated face.

It wasn't "Sunraku". His entire face was hidden by the monitor, so at most, you could only read subtle emotional shifts by whether his eyes were wide open or closed, and I don't recall those eyes ever showing anything resembling emotion, so it wasn't "Sunraku".

In a world where ninety percent had already been painted over by skyscrapers, in the deepest depths of the remaining ten percent of the theater, the one making a frustrated face was the "Diva"...... Elise Jitterdoll. I see; her pawn, "Sunraku," was already in checkmate. Even if she wanted to intervene with plot armor, it was an AoE attack, and it wouldn't make it in time to counter it...... but that's strange. That's really strange.

Orchestra's objective is to pose a question. Whether one accepts it or not is one thing, but feeling frustrated is far too bizarre.

And above all else...

Elise Jitterdoll was not looking this way.

"Who is... no, wait, huh? Don't tell me............"

The "Diva" was looking behind herself, at another shadow tapping her shoulder.

Looking back, I saw Saina, eyes wide open, having stopped her singing. There was no need to ask why she stopped, and seeing Saina paradoxically led me to the answer.

『…………』

Because of the distance, I couldn't clearly make out her expression. But the distinctly altered atmosphere gave me a clear conviction for some reason: "She must have smiled."

A woman. Yes, a woman. Neither reprimanding the "Diva" nor blaming her. Just standing still, appearing as if she were preaching something.........

Are you serious, are you serious, are you actually serious right now!? You're telling me there's another phase after getting this far!?

The scorching light unleashed by STING swallowed "Sunraku," and the heatwave pressed on toward the Divas beyond him.

And then, the "Diva's" figure vanished, and stepping forward in her place was.........

『───The night breeze brushing my cheek. Smiling at the moon I looked up at while looking away, I accelerate.』

Peeeeel.

As easily as flipping a piece of paper laid on the floor, the asphalt road was peeled off the ground.

"Hah."

The peeled-up asphalt acted as a shield, completely protecting someone from the heatwave. Fissures ran through the theater, and it shattered into smithereens like glass.

The fact that the heatwave was blocked meant that the tiny remaining fraction of the theater had been blown to dust by some other factor.

Did Orchestra admit defeat? No, that wasn't it. The proof was that the skyscrapers Saina had built were being eroded...!!

The asphalt... no, the "road" groaning and writhing as it crushed the buildings was surreal, horrifying, and more action-packed than anything else. It reminded me of the dragon-serpents commanded by Goldunine.

The woman who, using the shattered ten percent of the world as capital, instantly reverted the world back to a 5:5Even state was...

"Hey, what do we do now, Saina? The original has taken the stage."

"Elma Sakishima......!!"

『Faster than anyone, overtaking even the wind. That's right, someday I'll be... a Highway Star!!』

Wearing the dress the "DivaElise" had been wearing just moments ago, rather than an idol's outfit.

Unlike the bare-handed "Diva," she held something possessing a highly unrealistic design but distinctly shaped like a guitar.

And above all, the moment the woman with a face identical to Saina's belted out a singing voice that could only be described as rock 'n' roll...

『…………』

By whatever mechanism, a single human figure had relocated near Elma Sakishima. I couldn't tell if my earlier fierce assault had been effective or not. But...

"...Now that's more like it."

To a degree that was almost hateful, "MeSunraku" would stand back up as many times as it took.

Author's Afterword

Andrew-kun's Returned Sternenblume Solo Track Review

"Elma Sakishima. With a quiet demeanor and a voice like a clear, unpolluted stream, no matter how upbeat and catchy the song, she never breaks her somewhat cool and refreshing atmosphere... but when it comes specifically to 'Highway Star,' it shines with a unique brilliance in its unorthodoxy among her solo tracks. Setting aside the fact that she wrote and composed it herself, the very fact that she plays the guitar and sings along to her own accompaniment sets it apart from the rest, if you'll excuse me for saying so. And she sings—in a rock tune—with a voice filled with a yearning for things that do not exist on Bahamut, a common theme in lyrics written by Elma. This track should truly be called the song of Elma Sakishima's soul. Of course, that by no means implies there's any compromise in her other songs (omitted below)."