Chapter 830: December 17th: The Battle Does Not End

◇

"Wow, jackpot."

As Arthur Pencilgon watched, the Dead Crater Lake of Rise and Fall continued to unfold its joke-like spectacle. Observing from Thirdrema as the massive baby's head perfectly entered the crater......... she confirmed that OiKatzo (though not just him) had accomplished it.

"Man, pulling off wildly unhinged stunts feels like Sunraku-kun's patent, but at the end of the day, Katzo-kun usually manages to succeed even when you throw impossible demands at him........."

Subjugating the Smoldering Great Crimson Wings...... no, strictly speaking, defeating the Raid Monster before the New King Faction was what was absolutely essential for the "plan" Pencilgon had drawn up.

『Red, sleeping, swaying, red, awakening, playing, red, red, falling...... the red eyes without eyelids close, and fall asleep at the bottom of the red earth. However, be wary, for sleep is...... accompanied by an awakening.』

『Monster Surprise AttackRaid...... SubjugatedCleared!』

『Subjugation Target: Smoldering Great Crimson Wings』

『Raid Battle has ended.』

『Participants: Players affiliated with the Thirdrema Faction』

『Next Raid Commences: 719:59:43......』

"720 hours...... So roughly about a month later? I wonder if it'll be on that scale again? Well, whatever, right now I need to focus on what's in front of me...... right then."

While gazing at the colossal red baby's torso collapsing in the distance as it spewed magma like blood from the cross-section of its neck, Knock-Knock, Pencilgon lightly tapped the Inventoria integrated into her arm—just like the two others she had once defeated Wethermon with had done. As if taking that as a signal, a window appeared, which she smoothly operated......... selecting a certain item and pressing enter.

〜〜〜〜♪、〜〜〜〜♪

A light melody played repeatedly. It sounded exactly like a phone ringing...... and sure enough, that was exactly what it was.

<<H-Hello......>>

"Ah, good work Katzo-kun〜. How're you holding up?"

<<Haha, other than getting a phone call while I'm right in the middle of risking my life doing some parachute-less skydiving, I'm doing great.>>

"Heh~, what a disaster. Rest in peace, rest in peace."

<<I'm not dead, and you're the culprit you know!?>>

She was calling precisely because he was far away and she couldn't tell what was going on; whatever happened on his end wasn't her responsibility. Though he shouldn't have been able to see Pencilgon shamelessly pressing her hands together in prayer, OiKatzo's voice echoing from the Inventoria was brimming with rage, as if to say he knew she was probably chanting a Buddhist prayer right now.

<<Ah geez, that was seriously so exhausting......... wrestling with a shop curtain would've been more productive.>>

"By the way, Katzo-kun."

<<Maaan, that was a true fierce battle. I don't want to do that again for a while, well then I'll be off───>>

Towards OiKatzo, who sounded genuinely exhausted............ Pencilgon, with the casualness of asking someone to pick up something from the convenience store, simply said this:

"Then could you go subjugate the Tormenting Great Green Edge? Starting now."

<<............Are you being serious right now?>>

For OiKatzo, this wasn't the first time he was hearing this. Even before challenging the Smoldering Great Crimson Wings, he had been told this was part of the "plan". However, having somehow managed to defeat an overly robust Raid Monster like the Smoldering Great Crimson Wings, being immediately hit with the impossible demand to take on an entity of the same tier back-to-back prompted him to return a question colored with clear rejection.

"Well, Sunraku-kun isn't coming, y'know?"

<<What the hell is that guy actually doing? You were able to contact him, right?>>

"Seems like Sunraku-kun is dealing with his own messes regarding Unique Monster stuff over there."

<<............Well whatever. So, are you seriously saying this? Starting now? It was an insanely long battle and totally exhausting, are you factoring that in? It was such a massive struggle that if you wrote it down it would turn into a full-length epic novel, you know? Can't it wait until tomorrow? Or rather, does it have to be me?>>

"It has to be right now, Katzo-kun. And to add to that, it has to be you. Nnfufu......... I need to make them regret trying to pull a blitzkrieg tactic on me, of all people."

Recalling the scene from the first day in her mind's eye. The faction of the Streamer Frontline that had closed in right up to Thirdrema's gates under the lead of the streamer Payabusa. Looking solely at the results, they had succeeded in intercepting them, but............ having the initiative taken in a scheme, losing the advantage, and above all......... having been brilliantly outsmarted in the one area she absolutely hated being beaten in was more infuriating to Pencilgon than anything else.

"If they're gonna pick a fight with meeeee, I need to pack the entire cost into a bag, tie it up with mizuhiki cord, slap a noshi tag on it, and pay them back with a full-power swing.........!"

It wasn't hatred. The simple fact that they had preempted her, that they had engaged in one-upping her, brought a visible vein popping to Pencilgon's forehead. When a fight is sold to you, you buy it while beating them over the head with a Blunt Weapon Stuffed with the PaymentBlackjack. That was what you called "manners."

"I wonder what kind of faces they'll make when the oh-so-delicious spotlight gets snatched away by the enemy faction first, and on top of that, the things they could have taken get encroached upon......! I'm really looking forward to watching the archives, aren't you?"

<<Do people often tell you you have a terrible personality?>>

"I've been told 'you have a pretty face' continuously since I was three, I'd say."

<<Then we really need to start telling you more. You have a terrible personality, Pencilgon.>>

"Y・o・u probably cheaped out on your weapons against a type like the Smoldering Great Crimson Wings where hitting it is just a loss anyway, right? Then if you don't use the good stuff where you can actually bash away to your heart's content, it'd just be a waste of treasure, you know."

<<Mgh,>>

It was a bullseye. Being taunted about not being able to trigger Unique Scenarios on his own, and while it was a fact that OiKatzo hadn't triggered any, it wasn't as if he was completely disconnected from Unique content. To begin with, it was his own fault for desperately trying to trigger an "undiscovered" Unique Scenario just to compete with Sunraku and Pencilgon.

If so, then for instance, yes, content where discovery and acquisition themselves aren't tied to a Unique Scenario...... where number of attempts and information advantage are what truly matter, like Champion's Weapons.

"Well, besides, you don't absolutely have to defeat it. What's important is the fact that the faction that defeated the Smoldering Great Crimson Wings is immediately launching a blitz attack against the Great Green Edge."

<<Either way, it doesn't change the fact that this is gonna be brutal...... I mean, setting aside Rust and her group, can't you send the others over here for backup?>>

"You mean Zero-chan and Akitsu Akane-chan? Those two are on the absolute front lines of the city-capturing turf war serving as both a diversion and actual gain. Kyogoku-chan is completely unreachable, and Sunraku-kun is just like I said earlier."

Her loyal pawns, the RPA, were also running around making preparations for various behind-the-scenes maneuvers and the decisive battle in Thirdrema. Implicitly told that he was basically the only pawn she could move freely, OiKatzo fell silent...... and eventually, let out a long sigh of resignation.

<<Haaaah............ You won't complain if I at least get to punch Sunraku and Kyogoku once each, right?>>

"Maybe I'll punch them once each too."

At the very least, in the plans drawn up before the Kingdom Turmoil began, Sunraku was a piece that could easily be called an exceptional military asset. Since he would just indiscriminately rampage around while being incredibly annoying to deal with, she had considered him a chimera piece that combines a Dragon King capable of making two moves in a single turn with the jumping abilities of a Knight.

Yet when they actually opened the lid, it was "I'm a bit busy with various Unique Monster stuff and in the middle of training so I can probably only join on the final day, sorry sorry." Letting him off with just one punch would be an act of sheer mercy.

<<.........So? How is the situation looking according to the Great Tactician Pencilgon-sama?>>

"Hmm, because we have the leak we're managing somehow for now, but the streamer fans are definitely a pain. The sheer numbers are one thing, but they've got some decent quality scattered in there too, and while we pulled Momo-chan and her group in, it's not exactly going to be a sweeping victory."

<<A leak, huh.........>>

<<The reward for the informant is riding on you too, you know?>>

<<Yeah, yeah......... well, I've already cleared things on my end, so it's fine.>>

That seemingly trivial conversation exchanged between the two was, in reality, a bombshell piece of information capable of overturning this entire war from its very roots. When would it detonate?

Or perhaps, would they dismantle that bomb and build an even more vicious weapon out of it?

Raid Monsters were ultimately just intruders. This battle was nothing more than a foolish cannibalism between humans and humans.

If so, then even the colossal kin of gods, far too massive for human hands to handle, could be rolled around in the palm of her hand. Arthur Pencilgon surveyed Thirdrema, which was boiling over with the defeat of the Smoldering Great Crimson Wings......... and floated a smile that, no matter how one looked at it, belonged to a supreme villainous mastermind.

---

Author's Afterword

Eh? Katzo's descriptions are too long, you say?

Yeah, yeah, I agree. So we'll have him go challenge an opponent that will give him an equally hard time right now.

To all the streamers, it's fine that you're engrossed in the war, but are you guys okay with not being involved in content of this massive scale? (Pencilgon with a beaming smile)