Chapter 696: Echo Upon the Mirror's Surface, Roar From the Skyscrapers - Part 14
No, wait, that's completely strange.
That was the very first thing that popped into my head. I rapidly ran through my thoughts while evading a fierce assault that was on a completely different level from before.
First of all, Orchestra...... no, the fact that the "Diva" completely swapped out was strange. A Unique Scenario, to a greater or lesser extent, always concludes with some form of "understanding." And the one needing to reach that understanding in this case wasn't the player, but the central figure of the scenario—in this case, Orchestra.
Elise, who should be the core of that, vanished with that look on her face. Meaning, she hadn't reached an understanding yet. To force me to use my brain this late into the fight, damn you......! My hype levels are about to peak over here.
But first things first, I needed to convey the most crucial information clearly in the short time I had!
"Saina! The actual original rose from her grave just to beat you! A mere doll managed to make it this far! Go completely wild and give her everything you've got!!"
".........Acknowledged. Acknowledged, Contractor. This unit will challenge you...... using this unit's own Ego."
"Bring it on!!"
Then I'll smash open my piggy bank too, it's time for a Full Burst...... let's beat the shit out of each other until we're completely broke, you knock-off bastard!!
I abandoned my previous tactic of carefully conserving weapons in hand and completely shifted into a decisive battle mode where I'd just huck them like a maniac!!
I already threw the Aspiring Blades of the Hero and the Final Blade of Aspiration's End With the Hero during the last phase...... alright, they're still nearby. But I wouldn't go retrieve them right away. I just memorized their coordinates and readied the Treasure Sword of Boundary Light.
In response, "Sunraku" had...... probably Isana Togetsu. But those are purely min-maxed for anti-monster combat, so I don't think they're very suited for PvP. No, wait, if even his items are perfectly copied, then he has that too.
This accessory—which I honestly couldn't tell was supposed to be a gear or a windmill, made using a chunk of flesh from that Agatleo-something—only lends its power to those who move forward. Then there's no reason for me to retreat either. I'll smash you down as many times as it takes, oraa!!
"Tension on double-speed!!"
Judging from the blade's color, it was still barely passing the "Night" check! Meaning Lumeridian could still launch flying slashes right now! Increase the speed from strategy formulation to execution! Drop dead! He dodged it! Here he comes, here he comes, here he comes, alright let's goooo!!
The enemy was dual-wielding, but the weight of my single strikes was superior. From the perspective of a dual-wielder fighting another dual-wielder, the most annoying thing is having damage steadily accumulated on you from just outside your reach. Therefore, I put it into practice.
Although the shapes were slightly different, the fundamental data of the weapons "Sunraku" wielded was identical to the originals I possessed. Their range, their abilities, everything. Which meant I knew the exact borderline of his weapon's reach.
On top of that, I'd capitalize on the advantage that only I possessed.
By whatever logic it operated on, he couldn't copy the Vestige of the Raging Storm Emperor・Extreme. Which meant this rotational force was the one and only spider's thread that differentiated me from this so-called Superior Upgrade! It's a thread-climbing speedrun, and I'm gonna be the fastest Kandata alive. [*1]
Pull back to defend, step forward to attack.
I had finally mastered it. A battle style seamlessly blending offense and defense utilizing the Vestige of the Raging Storm Emperor・Extreme. It was a head-on brawl where we both suffered considerable wounds, meaning Levin Trigger・Hazard was far too risky to use!!
"Who the hell do you think polished me into the player I am today......!!"
I took a step back to dodge a diagonal slash, and caught the blade swung in a reverse grip with my crimson night katana.
Turn snatched. I stepped forward to secure rotation, and using the forward-advancing spin as a non-skill-assisted maneuver, I slipped behind him and unleashed a thrust. However, "Sunraku" deftly twisted his arm behind his back and deflected the trajectory of the thrust...... Gah, what pissed me off the most was that his moves were actually pretty good reference material.
I immediately retreated two steps. Perhaps as a display of confidence, "Sunraku" slowly turned around, and we faced each other once again.
『............』
"............"
Well, this is troublesome. He's stronger than before...... no, that's not quite right. His battle style has solidified. Up until now, because Saina had barged in as an irregular element, his initial hard-counter strategy had collapsed into a half-assed fighting style. But now, while he wasn't aggressively hard-countering me, his reactions to my attacks were on a completely different level. How should I describe it...... An absurdly strong CPU. Yeah, an absurdly strong CPU. The kind that actively learns.
"Well then............... Well then,"
He's so damn strong...... no, seriously, the difficulty of the "corner him to distract the Diva" strategy has skyrocketed. His defensive capabilities are stupidly high. What the hell do I do? Punch straight through his defenses with overwhelming firepower?
The Brilliant Scorpion Gauntlets are way too situational for a single all-or-nothing strike.
The Mirror Shield of the Nether-King is practically useless, since both me and "me" are pure physical builds.
If that's the case, then it has to be Centipede Type. The nice-guy Centipede Type 8-0.5-san, which offers near-risk-free buffs, is my only option. But I haven't learned a single halberd-related skill yet...... My firepower, which was already lacking to begin with, is going to be even more lacking.
The biggest bottleneck of all was that fighting non-stop for hours on end was probably impossible. If I dragged this out too long, Elma would seize the initiative over the world, which was the main reason, but also......... real-world constraints were a thing.
"Besides........."
The secret of Orchestra still hadn't been revealed. It was certain that Orchestra housed the wills of "pre-Divine Age humanity," but if that was the case, Elise Jitterdoll's presence made no sense. Why was someone who wasn't an owner recorded inside it? Could it really be dismissed as simply "a music file was left behind"?
"No, wait."
Or perhaps......... no, is that what it is? Damn it, I really want to call the Professor right now. Elise Jitterdoll hadn't "spawned in"; she was......... Whoops. "Sunraku"-san combined his twin blades into a greatsword and suddenly accelerated...... Gulp, he's electrified.
"Tsuoooaah!!?"
D-Dangerous!!! Touching that is an instant out, isn't it? Good job dodging that, me! Good job dodging that, me! And turn snatched! I'll just have to think about the fine details in less than my spare time!!
Now is the time to unleash the secret stash donated by Library!! Even though I've already been burning through the recovery items like crazy!!
Author's Afterword
Since it learned during the previous phase of the battle that putting itself at a disadvantage gave them an edge in the turf war for the world, it switched to a highly defensive style.
Translator's Notes
- [1]: Kandata is the main character of a famous 1918 Japanese short story called The Spider's Thread (蜘蛛の糸, Kumo no Ito) by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. In the story, Kandata is a wicked thief who has been banished to Hell. However, because he once spared the life of a spider, Buddha takes pity on him and lowers a single, fragile spider's thread down into Hell. Kandata grabs the thread and begins the impossibly long climb out of Hell toward Paradise.
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