Chapter 866: December 20th: Tradition and Revolution
To tell the truth, or rather, it's obvious just by looking at them... but Tradition, and naturally Revolution which is the same weapon type, do not have any mechanisms installed to fire "bullets". Or rather, to begin with, they aren't guns, but swords with triggers attached; that is their true identity.
So, are these triggers just for decoration? No, absolutely not. "Not being a gun" and "not being able to shoot" are not necessarily synonymous. This trigger definitely activates the phenomenon of shooting.
"Wild barrage!!"
The moment I pulled the trigger with a click, Tradition's blade emitted a dazzling light. It was the brilliance of the crystal used as its material... and simultaneously, none other than the brilliance of the "power" residing within it.
"Rainbow-Light Slashing Flash."
"Wha.........!?"
I didn't swing the sword, I only pointed the tip......... however, the flash fired from Tradition's brilliantly glowing blade etched the damage effect of a cutting wound into Setsugekka's torso with power exactly like a slashing attack. Me actively calling out the skill name was just for the hype.
"The skill hit detection is seven slashing attacks... Six rounds remaining."
The conclusion Imron reached was extremely simple.
In short, if you pull the trigger, something just needs to be forcefully launched forward, whether that's a bullet, a beam, or "a peeled-off layer of the blade as thin as a single sheet of skin that retains a skill's hit detection."
And what made that possible was the crystal material that grows via magical energy; how should I put this, I don't mean it in a foolish way, but the clear-headed rationality that made it achievable makes it genuinely hard to believe this is an evolution from the person who made that idiotically massive greatsword.
"Guoah!"
"Come on, come on, what's wrong!"
Even if it became a bullet blade instead of a bullet, the power of the skill imbued within it was not compromised. Rainbow-Light Slashing Flash increases the number of slashes with every hit, which means the burden of defense forced upon the pitiful victim increases with every single strike.
There are battlefields where you can't win if you stop to carefully aim every shot. If you don't have the guts to carve a reticle into your eyeball, you have no choice but to heighten your ability to hit. The Bakumatsu Quick Draw is a technique that shaves away all useless action between the intent to fire and the execution to the absolute limit, so if you feel 'this will hit, right?', you pull the trigger before confirming it!
The peeled-off bullet blade itself is nothing more than paper-thin crystal, possessing only the hardness of stiff aluminum foil or ice formed over a puddle. At the very least, it's difficult to inflict direct damage to the physical body of Setsugekka, who has taken some kind of defensive measure. In short, despite its appearance, it actually doesn't deal as much damage as one would say.
However, the knockback from the detonating Rainbow-Light Slashing Flash is a different story, with the impact generated by the increasing number of slashes becoming more unbearable as their count rises.
"Oh cr—"
Although Setsugekka's exposed torso and arms seem to be reinforced by some kind of accessory, in the end it is just a human body, and humans have discarded many things, primarily in terms of physical capabilities, in exchange for dexterity and intelligence. Therefore, due to the detonation of the bullet blade that hit his left wrist, I forgot whether it was Points Deducted or Panama, but Setsugekka's hand couldn't withstand the impact, and he let go of his katana. [*1]
Catching that in the corner of my vision, I do not pay any mind to it. "Confirmation" and "interruption" do not exist in the Bakumatsu Quick Draw. You shoot first, and after you finish shooting, you act based on the results.
The gunfighters of Bakumatsu who discarded their katanas wouldn't pick them back up until they ran out of ammo; if anything, they'd just start bludgeoning you with the gun. That level of resolve is the secret to obtaining permission for divine punishment from the heavens...
With five rounds remaining, since Tradition & Revolution technically belong to the sword category, the only things that can be loaded into the bullet blades are skills usable with a sword, and they are subject to the time and usage limits possessed by those skills.
Since the number of hits increases the more it connects, shouldn't I shoot carefully? That is exactly why I spray and pray.
"Oraoraoraaaa!!"
Three shots in a single breath. One shot missed, but two projectiles sent the other katana flying and caused a storm of slashing cherry blossoms to burst on Setsugekka's right wrist. Two rounds left!!
Thrusting the muzzle at Setsugekka, I put strength into the finger resting on the trigger. If he retreats, I close in and shoot; if he dodges, I chase and shoot; if he approaches, I pull back and shoot. I don't know how much health Setsugekka has left, but at the very least, it would be difficult for him to aim for a comeback from here.
"............"
"............"
That is precisely why I don't shoot. For just five seconds, I give Setsugekka a chance.
"Total loss, you know?"
".................."
I tightened the force of the finger resting on the trigger. The brilliant rainbow light dwelling in the blade emitted a vicious radiance───
"I'm........."
"You're?"
"I yield............! I surrender........."
If I defeat the very first one outright, the ones following might chicken out, so sorry, but an honorable death is confiscated. I absolutely must make it widely known that "if you surrender right at the very edge, the damage will be kept to a minimum." At worst, challengers might stop appearing, and this could devolve into a mere talk show.
Surrendering out of reluctance to lose his equipment seemed to be highly humiliating for Setsugekka, and as he bit his lower lip and hung his head, I lowered Tradition and Revolution, which I had been pointing at him.
"Good game."
"I will not forget this humiliation...!"
"You're the one who chose it, you know... Ah, I'll be taking the 'Sword' of Participation, just in case. It's a Musashibo Benkei kind of thing, you know."
"Guh..."
Imron gets money for the number of swords bought, and I get my hands on fairly well-performing swords made by Imron equal to the number of swords I hunt down... hmm, it's what you call a win-win relationship. Although there's a huge crowd of suckers packed tightly between the win and the win.
"Now then........."
Sometimes survival is treated "worse" than death. While watching Setsugekka, for whom right now was probably exactly that, pick up his katanas and leave, I tossed the 'Sword' of Participation I had confiscated from him to Saina on the deck of Brunbas and gave a short, succinct command.
"Next."
Author's Afterword
December 16th, Volume 11 of the manga adaptation of Shangri-La Frontier goes on sale.
The cover features a relatively high-tension Rust. Perhaps witnessing a Tactical Mech promoted better blood circulation. Usually, her tension looks like her blood runs much colder. The booklet still features the mysterious Arcanum-ojisan; honestly, he's not that important, but if I explain him, a bunch of fairly important lore drops out, so he's in this weird position where I'm constantly wondering when the right time to reveal it is.
Before I knew it, another year in real life is almost up, and the story hasn't even reached Christmas yet. Isn't reality moving too fast? Time is probably accelerating, considering it feels like October but the date says December. It's a bug, definitely a bug.
And so, the turbulent year of 2022 for ShanFro, with various announcements and happenings, is almost at an end. Before welcoming 2023, how about taking Volume 11 as your year-end companion? The Ctarrnid Arc and GGC Arc drawn by the great mage Fuji-sensei are seriously """insane""".
Translator's Notes
- [1] Genten / Panama: Sunraku is making a nonsensical pun based on the sword names. Setsugekka called out "Batsuten! Hanamaru!" ("Batsuten" sounds like "penalty/wrong," while "Hanamaru" means "flower circle/excellent mark"). Sunraku is jokingly confusing "Batsuten" (Penalty) with "Genten" (Points Deducted) and "Hanamaru" with "Panama" because they sound vaguely similar when shouted in chaos.
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