Chapter 728: Those Who Catch Their Breath, Yet the Color of Their Sighs Differ
Author's Preface
The winning prize for the Alba RTA.
"...Phew."
It was a BBS that made perfect sense as to why Envy was included in the Seven Deadly Sins. Honestly, I reported him the moment he started picking a fight and completely ignored him after, so I don't care about that part, but the real problem is the sinner smeared in Lust, which is way more troublesome than Envy.
That bastard is probably the type who doesn't even do it on purpose, but just naturally calls individuals out in global chat completely unironically... If I had stuck around any longer, she definitely would have tried to strike up a conversation on the Knight BBS.
"Umm... Sunraku, -kun."
"Ah, what's up? I relayed everything I needed to as your proxy, so there are no problems."
"No, but... um, you were having some awful words thrown at you, so..."
"Rei-shi, reporting them once is much more peaceful and quicker than arguing back once."
The only people you're allowed to punch are the ones picking a fight right in front of you; those guys you can punch without holding back. The reason being, when dealing with the kind of idiots who do that sort of thing, trying to settle it with words means it'll never be resolved for all eternity. If it's through a screen, it's better to just think of it as animal noises.
Posting on a BBS is, essentially, no different from screaming your own "animal noises" as well... Takeda-shi also used to say you should ignore them moderately and take them in moderately.
Well, Takeda-shi has a low boiling point so he gets into flame wars immediately, though.
"Well then, now that our business is done, shall we challenge the Genesis-related walkthrough, Rei-shi?"
Since Emul isn't here anyway, I can't Fast Travel. It's a hassle, but I can just come back here someday and bring Emul along. In that case, rather than just grabbing the Golden Magma and heading straight back, taking the opportunity to poke around the mysteries of the Genesis related stuff isn't a bad idea.
"Hm?"
I just noticed, that armored horse has a name hovering over it. Did Rei-shi name it while I was messing around on the BBS? Let's see...
"Scarlet-Deerhair Tatenashi... Hikage?"
"It's Hikage Tatenashi... um. It has a beautiful scarlet mane, and if you look closely, you can see deerhair through the gaps in the armor, so... uh, um, well, is it... a bit too pretentious?"
"No, I think it sounds cool."
I don't know what Tatenashi means, though. Good for you, you didn't become horse sashimi... If Rei-shi hadn't triggered the Moon-Chasing Dragoon unique scenario, you probably would have dropped as a carapace, mane, and horsemeat by now. Wahaha.
"Varururururh!"
"Hogunh!?"
"Sunraku-kun!? N-No! Tatenashi!!"
"Ogogogogogo!!"
Don't bite don't bite don't bite don't bite don't bite my head!! Even though you're a tamed monster, why are you so aggressive toward me!! I mean, your fangs are sinking in and grinding down my health... Fangs?
"I'mdyingI'mdyingI'mdyingI'mdying!!"
This damn horse beast is a carnivore!!!!!!
◇
General of the Lost Remains "Loss of Beautiful Memories".
The absolute dead end of what used to be the furthest extremity of ruin. A headless knight who permanently lost his own head along with his beautiful memories. An amalgamation of grudges where even the delusion of trying to fill the space where a head that no longer exists anywhere used to be, by using the black flames spewing from the base of his neck to form the face of a grieving person, had completely vanished.
Against this grotesque beast-knight—whose very form as "a knight and a mount that once existed" had collapsed completely, merging into a unified centaur-like centaur monstrosity—five shadows went on the offensive.
"Ooooooooooh!!"
A shield in the right hand, and a shield in the left. That is to say, there was a man catching the charge of "Lost Memory" through a double-shield assault. This massively built man, perfectly embodying the role of a tank like no other, caught the greatsword swung by "Lost Memory" (which had also transformed into a terrifyingly massive and heavy ultra-greatsword upon mutating into an Exordinary) with both of his greatshields.
Though the man was pushed backward, scraping roughly across the canyon earth, the ultra-greatsword of "Lost Memory" failed to shatter the impregnable twin walls and was deflected, causing the monster to flinch.
"Moyapan, keep your body curled just like that! I'm using you as a stepping stone!!"
"Oi, Liberty, seriously!?"
The one throwing a sharp, yet high-pitched voice at the dual-shield-wielding man was a man with a terrifyingly average... so-called mob face, which is rare in a game world where avatars tend to be more or less attractive.
While raising a voice of shock, the man braced his body, resigning himself to being stepped on. Stepping firmly on his back, the man holding a ceremonially decorated sword in his left hand surged upward───leaping all the way to a height of about three meters off the ground, where the head (or rather, the flames corresponding to it) of the unified centaur-abomination "Lost Memory" was, bringing himself eye-to-eye with it.
"【Advita Carcelaqua】!!"
The Ritual Spirit Sword, which only the Mystic Sword is permitted to wield, manifested the magic it had memorized into the world.
Upon activation, it continuously drained 10 MP per second, and during that time, it bound the enemy in a prison of water spheres. The reason he unleashed this high-risk, high-return magic was because this battle had already reached its final stages. By pushing through without holding anything back, the Mystic Sword demonstrated its true worth proportional to the effort invested.
Suddenly restrained by the water spheres around its upper body—which barely retained a humanoid shape—"Lost Memory" began to thrash about in an attempt to shake off the clinging water, perhaps due to some lingering reflex from its life. However, right then, the Ritual Spirit Sword's strike, accompanied by a piercing skill, exploded into it, forcing "Lost Memory" to flinch heavily.
"───Leave the finishing blow to me."
"Eh, JUMP!? If you were gonna jump too, you should've said so fir..."
"You little!?"
And here, an accident occurred.
A man clad in pitch-black armor attempted to dash up into the air right after the Mystic Sword man, but there was a slight lag before Moyapan could hear his muttered declaration of delivering the finishing blow. Because of this, Moyapan had already broken his stepping-stone posture, causing the dual-wielder who placed his foot on Moyapan's shoulder to twist his ankle in a nasty direction with a crunch... and at that exact moment, his jump skill activated.
"Gwooh!?"
"Did he die!?"
"Not yeeeeeet!!"
In response to his magnificent self-destruction, the dual-wielder let out an overly dramatic shout, stomping on the empty air to correct his posture. Raising a divinely shining golden sword and a contrasting, ominously pitch-black sword, he spun himself like a top and slashed down at "Lost Memory"!!
"Hmph... Chouten Style 'Tornado'...!"
"That original technique of yours has trash damage multipliers, so can you stop using it at times like this?"
"No, no... but, isn't it cool?"
"Even if you try to look cool with a knockoff Holy Sword and a flashy Magic Sword..."
"The enemy is still alive, you know...!?"
""Ouch!""
While the dual-wielder had completely solidified a roleplay that balanced light and darkness, this side featured a female warrior with an overall snow-themed motif who smacked the heads of both JUMP—who had started striking cool poses—and Liberty, before leaping forward.
Gripping a kodachi in a reverse grip, she dashed forward low to the ground while harboring the light of a skill, aiming for the leg joints of the horse half of the centaur monstrosity, and drove in the dagger skill "Prop Slash."
The left front leg of "Lost Memory" buckled sharply, but a horse has four legs including the front and back, giving it far superior balance to a human. However, being fully aware of that much, the snow female warrior flipped the kodachi in her hand... meaning, gripping it in a standard grip, and let a different light slide across the silver blade than before.
"I'll create an opening, all-out attack."
"Yeah! JUMP, stop acting like a decoration and go help Yuki!!"
"Leave the finishing blow to meee!"
"...Sorry, but I can't yield on that."
The kodachi gripped by the snow female warrior became clad in lightning. It was not a dagger skill. The "kodachi" weapon type halves damage multipliers, but in exchange, it allows the user to wield both dagger skills and katana skills.
Therefore, what was unleashed from the kodachi was the katana skill "Nerve Severing." Landing it on the target's limbs temporarily induces paralysis; it's a skill where the additional effect is the true payload, rather than the raw power.
Having its left front leg's balance broken by "Prop Slash" and its left hind leg paralyzed by "Nerve Severing," even its four legs couldn't withstand it, and "Lost Memory" tipped over.
Passing the four who were closing the distance to seize the opportunity, the man who had been "preparing" in the rear this entire time hoisted his weapon. The blade was heavy and thick, and more than anything, it vibrated the atmosphere as if screaming its unbearable desire to release the "power" it had been continuously accumulating for the past several minutes.
"......'Rising Surge's Splendid Strike'!!"
ZUGONN!!!! With a tremendous sound, the slammed blade severed the head flames of the fallen "Lost Memory" and crashed into its main body.
The resistance lasted only an instant; the heavy blade cleaved through the grotesque knight and advanced deep into its torso, bringing a sensation like shattering something. The only one who noticed that sensation was the man who swung the blade.
Although the other four launched their attacks in quick succession, only the man knew. That his own strike just now was the finishing blow.
"............!!"
The black flames that burned even underwater, the head flames of "Lost Memory" that wore an expression of agony, withered and vanished. At the same time, the armor crumbled away piece by piece... and finally, the hand it reached out as if seeking something also faded into nothingness.
『Monster: Unprecedented...... Resolved!』
『Subjugation Target: General of the Lost Remains "Loss of Beautiful Memories"』
『An Exordinary Monster has been defeated.』
『Title 【The Hand That Could Never Reach】 acquired.』
『Title 【Vanished Feelings】 acquired.』
『Unprecedented Secret Art "Beautiful Memory Form Loss" has been learned.』
The announcement notifying them of the defeat of an Exordinary Monster was displayed, and the players—who realized that everything had been settled before they even slammed their weapons down—stared at the man picking up the dropped items with expressions that were half sense of accomplishment, half resentment.
"Good work〜"
"Dammit, he stole the cool part...!!"
"Well, we were centering our rotation around Garu-san's single strike from the start, so obviously he had the highest chance of landing the finishing blow... Ah, crap, it's almost been half a day. Can I log off for a bit? If I don't get my fix soon my hands are gonna start shaking."
"There goes Moyapan's caffeine addiction, I don't mind though."
"I don't mind either... I need to prep for the next one."
The man wearing gray fur and a waist cloak made of fur reminiscent of clouds finished putting the gathered items into his inventory, then announced his plans as he stood up.
"The next one? On stream?"
"No, I'm heading to Tenthbert. I'm aiming to defeat Three-Headed Fierce Mimic there."
"Then how about a thirty-minute break and we meet up in Tenthbert?"
"One vote for 'yes' from Yuki."
"Conversely, I gotta ask, is anyone opposed?"
No one raised their hand at Liberty's words. They were a certain man's friends made through the game... his private group of comrades who tagged along for the behind-the-scenes grinding that he usually didn't show on stream.
"Still, this is one hell of a furious Exordinary hunting marathon. You had two of them marked, right?"
"Three. I have info on one more... I plan on doing that one on stream with the informant, you guys joining in?"
The one who shook her head at those words was Yuki, who was checking the durability of her kodachi.
"I've said for a long time that I'm bad at that kind of thing, and that hasn't changed〜"
"Yuki, for someone with a flashy show-off build, you're shy at the weirdest times."
"JUMP is built purely for showing off, why doesn't he go?"
"My new move isn't finished yet, so I'll pass for now."
"New move, really?"
Chattering away with easygoing banter, the five players headed to the nearest town to take a break.
"Still, going this hard on the preparations, what exactly are you assuming we're up against?"
"...What am I assuming, huh."
In response to the question from JUMP, who had just failed an attempt to sheathe his sword in a cool way, the man... the slenderly built man with the name "Garunose" displayed above his head, slightly curled the corners of his mouth and muttered quietly.
"I'm assuming a clash with the highest-level player."
Time marches steadily onward. And within that passing time, the preparations of those who move are also being steadily finalized───
Author's Afterword
They aren't just moving out of a desire to look cool on stream and hold grudges.
Ummm, serialization in Weekly Shōnen Magazine has just begun. By all means, everyone, please pick up a copy of the magazine featuring the ShanFro comic adaptation, which you could practically call 100% pure illustration without exaggeration.
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