Chapter 751: Setting Sun, Part 5
───Was the reflection I peered at on the water's surface truly my own?
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With Shiyu-shi and Ougasei rebooting, we've somehow managed to scrape together the bare minimum form of a party battle, but... I see, this is bad.
"Gwah!"
"Kyaah!?"
"OMG..."
It's not that these two are weak. It's not that they're useless either, it's just... since both of them are the type of player who accepts a certain degree of damage to relentlessly charge forward, they have a fatally terrible matchup against Boss-dunine and her giant Nagas that dish out damage far beyond "a certain degree"!!
Dammit... A healer, I desperately want a healer. Is there any chance a passing-by Cashew Nut happens to be walking around nearby!?
"Shit... Seriously, you're way too persistent!!"
While dodging the Naga that charged at me with its mouth wide open, I slam a bullet from the Aerial PD into the snake eye that hasn't averted its gaze from me this entire time. However, the fired shot is deflected by the nictitating membrane that closed to protect the eyeball, and as if that pissed it off even more, the moving mass capable of swallowing a train whole tries to crush me under its reckless charge by adding a meandering sway to reel me in.
What the hell is with this guy, why is it just relentlessly targeting me? Regardless of whether I'm aiming for Boss-dunine or not, for some reason, this specific individual is solely out for my blood.
No, seriously, what gives, it's hard to say we're properly distributing and controlling the aggro but even so, it's focusing way too much on me... Wait, a personal grudge? Is there a specific entity solely targeting me just because Boss-dunine has her aggro directed at me!?
"Tch..."
What should I do?
Briefly shifting my gaze skyward, I continue to rack my brain on how to maneuver through this gradually cornering war situation. First of all, what exactly constitutes an S-Rank evaluation? Defeating Boss-dunine? Or the survival of the other "Goldunines"? Or perhaps only the survival of the specific individual one has contracted with?
I twist my neck to evade a poison sword flying at me from a distance like some Sword Saint, then stomp on the head of the Naga that came to bite me along with the ground itself to create some distance. If I don't do something about this guy, I won't even be able to regroup with the other party members in peace.
If this was just Boss-dunine, I could have taken the option to play rearguard while the others grab their Goldunines and run, but since the Nagas are literally blocking the way, there's nothing I can do.
"What do I do? What do I do!?"
The available choices themselves are clear, but I can't bring myself to commit to which one I should pick or how.
- I escape alone.
I see, a brilliant idea; it's the quickest method, and if anything, it'll reduce the number of other Goldunines, giving me nothing but benefits. That said, if I ultimately need a certain headcount of Goldunines to defeat Boss-dunine, this could soft-lock me, and my affinity rating with the two players will plummet past the rock-bottom limit straight into the negatives.
- Help the other Goldunines escape as much as possible.
The difficulty spiked instantly. Considering I'd simply be carrying two middle or high school girls while escaping, the difficulty is pretty much self-evident. At the very least, the players would have to move with the premise and resolve to throw their lives away...
- Defeat Boss-dunine.
Honestly... I'm pretty sure that's impossible. I haven't been clearing Unique Scenario EXs just for show. That's why I'm starting to grasp it; you can't cut corners when it comes to EX Scenarios involving Unique Monsters. There's no way this settles the score in a surprise attack event like this, so driving her off is the best-case scenario.
"........."
Just between us, right after we encountered Boss-dunine, Saina has been on standby in the sky above.
The plan was for her to provide suppressing fire from above in a "what if" worst-case scenario, but the "what if" that actually arrived was about eight times more dangerous than anticipated, so I still haven't issued any commands on what or how she should engage.
While slamming a bullet into the forehead of a Poison Maiden homing in on me with that same depressing look on her face, I instantly swap weapons and attempt my umpteenth approach on Boss-dunine.
But even with two down, there are still two Nagas remaining, and on top of that, one of them is exclusively out to kill me. I can't even regroup with the other two in peace, and ignoring that, they're busy dealing with the remaining one anyway, so we're completely divided... In that case!!
"It's time to accelerate."
Now is the time to use the skills I've been hoarding!!
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───That NPC possessed no words.
To begin with, it was not human, nor was it humanoid.
It possessed no limbs, nor did it grasp any weapons.
Within the tale of the Serpent Maidens, it was an entity defined as their "weapon."
"Sammy-chan! Sammy-chan!!"
───It was unforeseen.
To begin with, they had misunderstood.
One of the giant snakes accompanying the entity Sunraku called "Boss-dunine," the specific individual that coiled its massive body around the perimeter, acting as a barricade isolating the inside from the outside.
Everyone had mistakenly believed that its behavioral principle was "to not let those inside escape." But strictly speaking, that wasn't the correct answer. To be exact, "to brutally murder anyone attempting to escape to the outside" was that snake's true objective.
Although provisionally referred to as a Naga, the giant serpent naturally possessed a formal species name. That name was the Tear-Devouring Giant Serpent, an aggressive species equipped with the Scale Flying function, which reacted to vibrations and impacts by explosively firing its own scales like bullets.
"No, Sammy-chan... you can't...!"
They had intended to melt the ground with poison and slip through the encirclement from underground. However, in the face of the all-out vigilance of a snake-killing snake that had continuously bloated itself specifically to slaughter "Goldunines," even without reading their presence, it could track their rough location purely through vibrations.
───Life was spilling away.
The scales of a giant snake whose total length could be measured in kilometers were mass weapons that made even the word "deadly" feel like a gross understatement.
Because the targeted individual was transparent, completely concealing even their presence, they avoided a fatal wound, but their left eye and forty percent of their body had been gouged and torn apart.
"Her" stealth abilities operated through her scales and the nictitating membranes covering her eyeballs. In other words, if she received damage that stripped her scales and exposed her flesh, those parts would no longer turn transparent. For something possessing such overwhelmingly superior concealment, having that advantage stripped away was, in a way, a fatal wound worse than losing one's life.
"It's okay, it's okay, Sammy-chan... Surely, surely he'll do something about this..."
───Their eyes met.
Not with her master shedding large tears and clinging to the faintest remaining hope... but with the eyes of the Naga continuing its circular motion precisely because it was coiled around the perimeter.
"........."
"........."
The mockery towards a fool who tried to slip through its blockade with cheap tricks, and the pity towards a brethren who shared the exact same origin yet opposed it and was now on the verge of exhausting its life.
A brief crossing of gazes, but that single moment ignited a burning light within the eyes of the snake that had continuously run away... no, the snake that had continuously let its master escape.
"Sammy... chan?"
The worst possible ending was approaching. Even so, what must be done to successfully escape towards the best possible outcome?
The dying snake hesitated slightly, and then arrived at a conclusion.
───Its "mission" was to keep its master alive, and to utilize whatever was beneficial for its master.
"Hey, where are you going? Hey... Hey! Wait, Sammy-chan! No! No, no, no! Don't leave me behind! Don't leave me all alone! Don't go!!"
To let its master escape from the absolute worst ending, Sammy-chan, the kin of the Goldunine "Wimp," began to move to achieve not the ultimate, but the optimal best.
Author's Afterword
Even without limbs, you can still struggle to live.
Burn your soul to illuminate today, praying that at the very least, you might see the road continuing into tomorrow.
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