Chapter 870: December 20th: Light, Therefore Fast. Fast, Therefore Light.
Author's Preface
I've finally subjugated a deadline that was such an immense struggle I had to cry to my editor-shi twice.
『Excellent! Now strike a pose!!』
Yeah, we're not taking posing requests right now.
Ignoring Elysion Haute-Couture's nonsense, I check the fit of the Duelling-Grade Maid Outfit "Eternity." That being said, you rarely feel any discomfort from clothing fit in this game. When Ctarrnid's effect forcibly changed my gender, my equipment size didn't fit anymore, but... at least within the range that a player can control, armor size won't go against the player's intentions.
"Alright, bring it on."
"Guh... I feel like I've already lost in terms of status as a transforming magical girl...!"
"I'm a physical build, so I'm not a magical girl, though..."
The Centipede Type 8-0.5 is the easiest Legacy Weapon in my arsenal to use without any quirks... but it's also the Legacy Weapon with the most specialized performance.
When using its Overload Mechanism, it doesn't break itself along with the user, nor does its durability severely deplete from catching magic head-on. Its effect is extremely simple: constant MP consumption in exchange for a corresponding power-up and a debuff to the enemy... but truthfully, because the Centipede Type 8-0.5 dedicates 90% of its performance to that, when not using the Exceed Charge, it's genuinely just a club.
Furthermore, its Exceed Charge also isn't very compatible with "me"... or rather, it's a bad match. The player truly suited for this weapon would be a "magic class who has learned halberd skills." With the Levin Trigger: Hazard, once my HP dropped to 1, I could bypass the subsequent HP-halving penalty, but that's not the case here. Even though I can supplement it with "external" items, the effect ending as soon as my MP runs out is a terrible match for a physical build like me.
On top of that, because of this maid outfit, accessory slots are virtually unusable... While trying not to let the bitterness that my brain is tricking my taste buds into tasting show on my face, I reorganize the enemy's information once more.
Gothic Lolita chainsaw......... I'd love to criticize at them for dressed up like a single-gag act, but given the precedent of the kusarigama, it would be dangerous to judge it as a mere bluff. The fact that they went out of their way to bring it to the frontlines of a PvP event means they probably don't intend for it to be disposable, and there's no doubt they came here with the intention of winning and surviving.
Those mass-produced ones with mediocre performance that you can buy in Bahamut if you just pile up enough money have a uniform appearance. If it's a higher-ranked one like for Special Duty, it still looks uniform but has an aura of high performance...
"That's a pretty sharp-looking chainsaw. Custom-made?"
"Of course, it's sharp as a razor and raring to go!"
They answered when I asked, how easy.
Even so, a custom-made item, huh......... At worst, I might need to expect it to shoot beams.
Whoops, if I don't start soon, it won't make for good content.
"Saina!"
"Acknowledged:"
"Uwooooh I want the achievement of being killed by Saina-chan—"
Gunshots. I feel like there was someone whose life platinum trophy was quite a hassle to achieve, but it seems one of the requirements just got filled, so that's great. Next, I want him to go get the achievement for bungee jumping without a lifeline.
Gyaririririri! Akasha's chainsaw raised its driving sound. Originating from the Divine Age civilization that once fought for humanity's survival, there's no way it was honestly meant for logging timber. Rather, it should be considered meant for severing the limbs of enemies as thick as massive trees...
"Just testing the waters!"
However, Akasha's first move was different from that kind of rough, dynamic image.
Thrusting the chainsaw into the ground, its rotary motion dug up and shattered stones or dirt, violently launching them at me like bullets.
The principle is the same as kicking the ground with your toe to send dirt flying forward, but the output is incomparable to doing it with a human body. Whether it's some kind of skill or not, the dirt and gravel flying towards me like buckshot clearly possess a light that would shave away an enemy's health.
"Tch...!"
I can't dodge this with just one or two steps. It's an opening strike that thoroughly understands the pain of hitting paper-thin armor. I evade by drawing a semicircle with Multiple Circular Motion. But I've shown off this skill a bit too much.
"There you are!"
"Tch..."
In a game, gender and physique are almost completely unreliable information. Everything is determined by status parameters, so a delicate girl might smash a boulder, and it's entirely common for a 2-meter giant to have rock-bottom stats across the board within 10 minutes of starting the game.
In other words, it's a waste of time to expect the physical strength swinging that chainsaw to be weak just because the arms look slender.
Against me, who had moved along the circumference with Akasha as the center point to get behind them, Akasha spun themselves like a top and slammed the chainsaw into me... with one hand.
"Hea...vy...!"
I ready the Centipede Type 8-0.5 and catch the incoming rotating blade of the chainsaw. My weapon was made by a Divine Craftsman, so it won't just snap easily, but the clash with a chainsaw swung with immense kinetic energy powered by centrifugal force and their own STR would have simply pushed me back if I hadn't instantly braced the Centipede Type 8-0.5 with my foot as if kicking it.
I barely managed to catch the initial strike, which contained the most kinetic energy, but the true terror of the chainsaw weapon type lies in its overwhelming continuous damage. The "spinning" motion of the chainsaw itself, in addition to the "swinging" motion, violently shaves away the Centipede Type 8-0.5's durability. But since we're creating an equilibrium by pushing forward against each other, stepping back means the opponent's weapon will advance.
"Tch!"
"What?"
Then I just have to deflect it.
Breaking the equilibrium of pushing against the horizontal swing of the chainsaw with the Centipede Type 8-0.5 held vertically in a cross shape, I tilt the Centipede Type 8-0.5, sliding the vertical side underneath the chainsaw.
If I keep gripping it like this, my fingers might get sliced off by the chainsaw, so while holding it with one hand, I shoulder the Centipede Type 8-0.5 to create an "uphill slope" for the chainsaw's blade to run along, and dive forward!
The mutual pushing match instantly shifts into a relationship of an "uphill slope" and a "climbing blade."
While grinding violently against the Centipede Type 8-0.5, and due to the structure of creating a slope supported by my hand and shoulder, the chainsaw grazes just barely over my head. Having forced Akasha to swing the chainsaw almost completely at empty air, I slip around to their defenseless back and swing the Centipede Type 8-0.5 through.
"I'm quite familiar with that outfit too......... since it's my precious main armor."
R.I.P. basically cannot be destroyed. It melts if you splash a recovery potion on it, but generally, whether you slash it, hit it, or pierce it, you take damage, but the clothes themselves are not destroyed. If I only write this much, it seems like there'd be no need to use "Eternity," but... that armor has plenty of weaknesses of its own.
"For example, the fact that you actually get a debuff to your stats while equipping it! And the fact that the inherited armor parameters only apply to the clothed parts!"
In other words, the exposed bare skin receives no benefit from the armor, and it's soft skin with a downward correction to its stats to boot!!
A normal mourning dress has a veil that covers the face......... but isn't that R.I.P. a rare one?
"Since it's a Gothic Lolita outfit, your face is completely exposed, isn't it!"
In a normal R.I.P., no matter how thin the veil is, it exhibits durability on par with an iron helmet in order to inherit the performance of the equipment destroyed upon activation... but the Gothic Lolita lacks that.
Therefore, the tip of the Centipede Type 8-0.5—the part where the blade deploys when its hidden functions are unlocked—sank into Akasha's face... right into the side of their cheek.
"Bugh!? S-Seriously, this guy has no mercy........."
"An avatar's face has no value beyond individual identification and aesthetic appreciation!"
Does your STR increase based on your facial features? Of course it doesn't.
"Cruel!... But, it was just as I thought, Tsuchinoko-san...!"
"Hmph."
That should have been a clean hit, but Akasha's movements don't stop. They spin around with enough momentum to push aside the tip of the Centipede Type 8-0.5 buried in their cheek, swinging the roaring, gyarun-gyarun chainsaw. A locked-blades struggle isn't very desirable, so I backstep to gain distance. Perhaps it's not the equipment but the player's own VIT that is high; they might have some sort of accessory or skill that mitigates damage to bare skin like Setsugekka.
Still, since I landed a hit with quite a bit of momentum, it couldn't have been zero damage. Yet despite that, Akasha's expression somehow looked triumphant.
"You use a wide variety of weapons, and just like your 'Fastest' title, your mobility is outstanding. But......... you actually don't have that many attack skills! At the very least, you don't have any spear-type skills... am I wrong?"
"That's an interesting, peculiar theory."
............They saw right through me, huh.
Author's Afterword
・Chainsaw (Divine Age)
A weapon repurposed to chop off the limbs of enemies as thick as... massive trees.
It's a hand-held weapon, but since it uses the same Mana Drive Engine as Tactical Mechs, it stops working if its external energy unit runs dry.
That being said, as long as it's not dragged into an exceptionally prolonged battle in PvP, it's generally not an issue. Against monsters? Bring energy units by the dozen!
It has a hidden weakness: "The softer the opponent, the stronger it is, but the harder the opponent, the weaker it is." In short, it's because it relies on super-multi-hits of minor damage.........
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