arc2 · 121-ch121

Chapter 121: The Second Livestream ②

Right from the start, after defeating a tough enemy and gaining momentum, the members of Kokushi Musou pushed forward steadily. Though, come to think of it, the first room had an A-rank monster, but ever since then it's been nothing but B to B+ monsters showing up.

In short, that room was a trial room for those who've passed the 30th floor, huh. I don't know whose intention it was, but it's a pretty nasty design.

"Hold up a sec. Got a nasty pair here. It's a Possession Phantom and Wonder Armor combo."

Kokushi Musou had been making steady progress defeating monsters, but when Nishikyo-san peeked into the room at the end of the corridor, he unusually stopped everyone from entering. The monsters in this room must be that dangerous.

"That's a troublesome combo. Let's come up with a plan."

Hearing that, Shinonome-san also had everyone fall back and started a strategy meeting. Apparently, this Possession Phantom is a monster that excels at possessing its opponents. It's a fairly high rank at B+, and if they let their guard down, even members of Kokushi Musou could be controlled.

However, what's even more troublesome is when it possesses the Wonder Armor that appears alongside it. By taking over the Wonder Armor—which is strong against both physical and magical attacks—it compensates for its own weakness of low defense. On top of that, since the two entities act with separate thoughts, it's hard to predict when magic will come flying at you.

So while individually they're a B+ and B-rank combo, when these two come together, they transform into an A-rank-level monster.

What's more, this room seems to have two pairs of that combo. We'll have to face this with a solid plan.

"A Possession Phantom and Wonder Armor combo!? This will be valuable footage! Please, by all means, make sure to capture the moment the Possession Phantom possesses on camera!"

The researchers, apparently not sensing Kokushi Musou's tension, just keep relaying their own requests. Unfortunately for them, their voices aren't reaching Kokushi Musou, though.

Well, if dungeon and monster research progresses, it'll benefit explorers too, so I'll cooperate. Still, it'd be nice if they could phrase things in a way that gets us a bit more motivated... but that's probably asking too much.

For now, let's set aside the old men who don't really understand what's happening on the ground. I need to make sure I properly understand the plan Shinonome-san and the others came up with.

"First, I'd like SS-san to use Flashlight. It might be able to delay the Possession Phantom's possession. If it works, I'll deal damage to the Phantom with Stone Lance before it can possess.

Soraku and Ryuga, I want you to follow up on whichever one I target. If possible, I'd appreciate it if you can finish off the Phantom. During that time, SS-san will keep the Wonder Armor in check, and I'll handle the other one since I expect it will have finished possessing by then."

Hmm hmm, looks like I have quite a role to play this time. I can't send Asahi into a battle of this level, so I'll at least do my best supporting with Hayate.

If both end up completing their possession, the plan is for Shinonome-san and Hayate to handle one while Nishikyo-san and Kitora-san take down the other. In that case, we'd have to brace ourselves for a drawn-out battle.

With the plan decided, it was finally time to enter the room. Since I'm going first, I'm a bit nervous. To help me focus, I'll quietly mute the old men's audio.

"Alright, here we go."

After giving Shinonome-san the signal, I quietly sent Hayate in. When the nearby Possession Phantom was a short distance away from the Wonder Armor, I used Flashlight.

"Gyaaaaaah!"

Just before, I'd signaled the timing of the Flashlight to Shinonome-san using Asahi's light, so he had already finished his incantation.

"Stone Lance!"

As luck would have it, the Possession Phantom's body was frozen stiff from the intense light. Shinonome-san's Stone Lance came crashing down on it.

Bash!

A third of the Possession Phantom's body was blown away by the powerful magic.

"We're goin' all at once!"

"You don't have to tell me."

Nishikyo-san and Kitora-san, who had leaped into the room, reached the Possession Phantom in the blink of an eye and attacked it relentlessly with their silver weapons.

As instructed, I moved Hayate in front of the Wonder Armor and dodged its attacks as best I could. Since it was a B-rank with a power-focused stat build, I was somehow able to narrowly avoid its strikes.

Meanwhile, Shinonome-san was using Stone Bullet and Earth Wall to pin down the possessed Wonder Armor—which was now glowing a dark red—and keep it in place. But it didn't look like that would hold for long.

"Phantom's done for!"

"We'll take the Wonder Armor. SS-san, go support Gaia."

【You defeated the Possession Phantom】

The plan had worked—Nishikyo-san and Kitora-san had managed to finish off the Possession Phantom before it could complete its possession. The two of them immediately switched targets to the Wonder Armor I'd been stalling, and following Kitora-san's instructions, I headed to support Shinonome-san.

The Wonder Armor that had completed its possession had transformed into A-rank. Tricks didn't seem like they'd work on this thing, so I resolved to send Hayate on suicide charges with no expectation of survival. Sometimes I'd act as a decoy and get cut down, other times I'd rush in to throw it off balance when the timing was right, and I even tried using Flashlight as a blinding attack, though it wasn't very effective.

"Wooooon"

The possessed Wonder Armor wasn't just taking hits silently either. It batted back Shinonome-san's Stone Bullets with the greatsword it wielded, and shattered the Earth Wall with a single swing. Kannami-san healed Shinonome-san's injuries from the debris one after another. Kannami-san was giving it everything she had, too.

Fierce dark magic was also flying at them from the possessing Possession Phantom. Shinonome-san withstood it by blocking with magic, rolling on the ground to evade, and sometimes having me intercept with Hayate—managing to weather the onslaught by any means possible.

Naturally, if Hayate took a hit from dark magic, it was annihilated in one blow. And when I sent it in to buy time for Shinonome-san to cast his next spell, it would get cut down without dealing any damage at all. Even so, by resummoning Hayate over and over, our coordinated efforts somehow managed to keep it pinned down.

"All right, you really held out!"

"It's okay now."

And then, at long last, the moment we'd been waiting for arrived. Nishikyo-san and Kitora-san had finished off the Wonder Armor and rushed over to help.

Sensing this was the decisive moment, Nishikyo-san and Kitora-san used their skills without holding back, cornering the possessed Wonder Armor. Even so, the possessed Wonder Armor resisted fiercely, but Nishikyo-san pierced its chest, Kitora-san smashed its head off, and at last it became a motionless corpse.

"Hah... hah... finally... took it down."

"Aaaahhh, I'm beat!"

"Phew, that was quite a tough opponent."

"I'm exhausted."

Shinonome-san looked up at the ceiling, Nishikyo-san sat down right where he was. Kitora-san wiped his sweat, and Kannami-san leaned against the wall and let out a relieved sigh. Man, that was a real fierce battle. I'd been operating Hayate with intense focus, so I'm pretty worn out too.

Oh, right, I had the audio muted. Better unmute it.

"Whoa! They did it!"

"That was magnificent!"

"Just as Arihara-kun said, this is a victory for the Kokushi Musou and SS combination! Gahahahaha!"

Since it was a delayed stream, the big shots' delighted reactions came through a bit late.

"SS-kun, could you show us the drop items? Also, I'd like to take a look at the walls in that room—would that be possible?"

Well, the first part of their comments doesn't really matter, but I should cooperate with the filming request at the end.

"Understood."

I replied to the Dungeon Agency through my PC, then used Hayate and Asahi to film the drop items and the room's walls, ceiling, floor, and so on. I hope this ends up being useful for something.

While I was filming, the Kokushi Musou members seemed to have caught their breath, picked up the drop items, and moved on ahead. After finishing the filming, I followed after them.