chapter03 · 076-ep76
Episode 73: The Second Solo Killer
"........................"
Despite being in the middle of her live commentary stream, Mitsuki sat there utterly drained, staring blankly ahead.
She had been screaming herself hoarse with panic just moments earlier, and the recoil left her barely able to think.
Karin ojou-sama had fallen under a hypnosis bat's spell and been in terrible danger.
Karin ojou-sama would be fine. She'd definitely make it through.
Mitsuki believed that with her head, but hypnosis was an extremely powerful status condition. Sound-induced hypnosis that couldn't be dodged and could be reapplied over and over meant certain death for a solo explorer. As the monsters closed in on Karin with murderous attacks, Mitsuki had broken her keyboard while screaming at the screen.
But in the end, all that worry had been for nothing.
Karin had dispelled the hypnosis herself as though it were nothing, then obliterated the hypnotic sound with her absurdly loud voice. She was still charging through floor 2 of the deep layers as if simply shouting solved everything.
【I saw this insane post on social media saying a streamer accused of shady stuff was conquering the deep layers by giving a deafening recital... Wait, that's LITERALLY what she's doing!?】
【New viewer's confused lmao】
【It's like when the Bo○obo text leaks were so unbelievable everyone thought the leaker was insane lol】
【Deafening recital (no microphone)】
【She's an upgraded Ja○an!】
【Mitsuki-sama's completely forgotten she's supposed to be doing commentary and is just sitting there stunned lmao】
【She forgot about the commentary pretty much from the start...】
【Well, I reacted exactly like Mitsuki-sama, so I can't laugh at her, desu no】
【Can't blame her. I was sure that was checkmate and bracing for a death on stream】
【For once I totally relate to Mitsuki-sama's reaction!】
【The moment Mitsuki-sama stopped screaming, Karin ojou-sama picked up the baton with her noise-pollution recital lmao!】
【A medley of noise pollution by ojou-samas lol】
The viewers seemed as relieved by Karin's advance as Mitsuki. The earlier screaming and pessimism had vanished entirely. Both streams filled with peaceful comments from people dumbfounded by Karin's outrageous solution to hypnosis, newcomers drawn in by news spreading at breakneck speed, and those who sympathized with Mitsuki's reaction.
Mitsuki watched the comments for a while before finally breathing a sigh of relief, as if reality had only just sunk in.
"Haah... I'm so glad Karin ojou-sama's safe... Still..."
Perhaps she was still dazed, because she spoke the thought that came to mind without filtering it.
"It was practically like it didn't affect her, but... hypnosis does work on Karin ojou-sama... Huh."
【Reported】
【I've reported you】
【Reported, desu wa】
【Anti-Dungeon Division, MOVE OUT!!!】
【Honoka-sama, this one right here】
【Best friend, this one right here】
【So Honoka-sama's first job at the Anti-Dungeon Division is arresting Mitsuki-chan】
【Mitsuki-chan was the enemy within all along lmao】
【Knew she was a Black Tiger assassin!】
【Mitsuki-chan, you've disappointed me. I'm quitting the Kagerou fandom】
"Wha—!? Huh!? W-wait, no! You've got it wrong!"
The torrent of reports sent Mitsuki into a panic.
What a misunderstanding!
What a false accusation!
"I'm only worried that some scoundrel might abuse an attack that could potentially work on that flawless ojou-sama! If the need arises, I must humbly protect her! That's all I meant! Why are you turning it into something indecent!?"
【Your usual behavior (for the last few days), probably】
【Honestly, the last few hours alone have given us that impression】
【Nobody mentioned abusing her in an indecent way!】
【Mitsuki-sama definitely pictured it a little】
【It was the tone of her voice. She meant that】
【Now THIS is a suspicious streamer】
【There's another suspicious ojou-sama streamer lmao】
【Come to think of it, a lot of people said they related to Mitsuki-sama's reaction...】
【Oh, more suspects?】
【You've got it wrong!】
【The collateral damage!】
【The only one with indecent thoughts is Mitsuki-sama—or should I say Dark Princess-sama!】
【They sold Mitsuki-chan out in seconds lmao】
【My Side Effect isn't whispering anything... but I'll keep an eye on her just in case】
【Side Effect bro, if it's not whispering anything, you're literally just accusing her for no reason!】
¥10,000
I know I'm preaching to the choir, but although the word 'hypnosis' sounds like it could make your dreams come true, it's really just confusion magic! You can't give someone convenient commands, and there's a huge chance the ojou-sama would mistake the caster for a monster and kill them! So please don't ever try it, Mitsuki-sama!
【Nobody who preaches like that has such dirty thoughts lmao】
"Ah! More importantly!"
Mitsuki looked away from a chat that seemed determined to twist anything she said and raised her voice.
"Karin ojou-sama has already reached the far end of floor 2! It's time for the boss!"
【That topic change is so blatant lmao】
【Yeah, but fair enough!?】
【That was FAST!?】
【Isn't Karin ojou-sama way too fast!?】
【No time to keep making stupid dirty jokes!】
【Normally a top clan party would probably spend ages dealing with the other monsters while countering the hypnosis bats on this floor...】
【Her charging recital wiped out every bat, though...】
【Is she a walking area-of-effect weapon?】
【She's clearing so fast I keep thinking this must be the middle layers, not the deep layers】
【Breaking through floor 2 of the deep layers with a musical-theater-volume stream is far too Elegant!?】
"Oh, I've already reached the boss room, desu wa! Being hypnotized right at the start was a bit of a mess, but all in all, this was an easy floor!"
Karin announced her arrival and finally stopped shouting.
【I-it's finally over, Karin ojou-sama's recital conquest...!】
【She really shut down a deep-layer hypnosis monster with nothing but her voice, desu wa!?】
【Um... Could Karin ojou-sama kill people at karaoke...?】
【Please don't. The karaoke place would explode】
【The soundproof panels would shatter】
【Karaoke place: 'Don't come here'】
【Karaoke place: 'You're banned'】
【How is Karin ojou-sama's voice not even hoarse after all that screaming...!?】
【Tea power, obviously (source: trust me)】
【Remember how Kagerou got out of the hospital early? High-level explorers have better natural healing as well as toughness】
【At her level, her throat might recover as fast as she damages it】
Countless comments flowed on Karin's channel as well as Mitsuki's in response to her declaration that she'd cleared floor 2. Mitsuki's suspected hypnosis abuse was swept aside almost instantly.
【The floor 2 deep-layer boss... What kind of monster will it be?】
【An ojou-sama who two-shot a Storm Dragon can handle any monster, desu wa!】
【The ojou-sama brute-forced hypnosis. Nothing can scare her, desu no!】
【Let's beat up the floor 2 boss too, desu wa~!】
【Don't let your guard down! Remember, even that Storm Dragon was only the floor 1 boss!】
【I hear Storm Dragons are normally the final boss of the deep layers...】
【A monster that'd be the final boss anywhere else guarding floor 1? High-difficulty dungeons are insane...】
【Let's see which is crazier: it or Karin ojou-sama!】
【Isn't the winner already obvious?】
【Either way, after the all-star cast of monsters we've seen, she seriously can't let her guard down...!】
Even after Karin's outrageous defeats of deep-layer creatures, tension settled over chat. She still couldn't afford to be careless.
"Well then, let's challenge the floor 2 boss!"
In contrast to the commenters, Karin pushed open the heavy door as casually as if she were entering a café and stepped into a vast hall. At once—
"""OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!"""
Terrible beastly cries echoed together and shook the dungeon.
【!?】
【Whoa, what's that? A three-headed wolf!?】
【It's a gigantic monster dog, desu wa!?】
【Wait, is that a cerberus!?】
【Ugh, one of the most annoying tough bosses! ...Wait, isn't it a lower-layer boss?】
【Why's a lower-layer boss guarding the deep layers?】
The deep-layer boss's imposing presence and booming cries overwhelmed chat. But confusion mingled with their reactions: as several comments pointed out, the giant three-headed wolf was a boss found in the lower layers.
A cerberus.
Alongside the <Venom Jelly>, it was considered one of the strongest bosses in the lower layers. Its physical abilities were formidable, and its multiple heads left it with no blind spots. The infernal flames spewed from those three mouths could melt all but the best armor in moments and reduce an explorer to charcoal.
Worst of all, unless you severed all three heads at nearly the same time, it would regenerate without end.
"Cerberus... It's a powerful boss nicknamed the Solo Killer because its immortality requires you to sever its heads simultaneously. But as so many of you are pointing out, it's a lower-layer boss. Why is it here...?"
Mitsuki gave a serious explanation, then tilted her head. But these were the deep layers of a high-difficulty dungeon. She watched intently, certain this could not possibly be an ordinary cerberus.
"""Grrrrrrrrrr!"""
The giant, unnatural wolf confronting Karin blurred.
And then—
"GRAAAAAAAH!"
"GRUAAAAAAH!"
"GOAAAAAAH!"
Its body split into three, leaving three giant wolves in the boss room.
【Huh!?】
【Eh!?】
【What!?】
【It split!?】
"I see. So that's your approach."
"""GRUOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!"""
All three wolves attacked Karin at once as she calmly observed them.
【They're FAST!?】
【Wolves over five meters tall moving too fast for an overhead camera to catch!?】
【They're way faster than any lower-layer cerberus!?】
【The fights before were crazy fast too, but with three enormous wolves in the melee, my brain, eyes, and the camera's frame rate can't keep up with ANYTHING, desu no!?】
【Karin ojou-sama's handling this fight just fine!?】
【Wait. A cerberus that splits... Don't tell me!?】
"First, I ought to test their vitality."
Karin seemed to have thought of the same possibility as some of her viewers.
"Hup!"
DOGOGON!!!
In one flowing motion, she drew a rugged, superheavy magical pile bunker from her item box and equipped it. She dodged with such precision it seemed as if she could see the future, reading the enemy's movements perfectly. Then she used the momentum of an Elegant midair spin and a mighty blow capable of easily slaughtering a Storm Dragon to smash one wolf's head.
She ran straight toward a second wolf to crush its head as well, but—
"GRUOOOOOOOOOOH!"
The headless wolf was regenerating its head at an astonishing speed, and before it had even finished, it lunged at her like a zombie!
"Just as I thought."
Karin stowed the pile bunker and switched to Gatling guns, her voice full of certainty.
"Like a normal cerberus, it seems I must sever or destroy all their heads at once to defeat them."
【WHAAAAAAAAAAT!?】
【You've gotta be kidding me!?】
【What a bullshit game!】
【This is impossible!】
【Cerberus, you were bad enough in the lower layers! If you're going to be powered up THIS much in the deep layers, please just vanish and leave your drops behind!】
【Explorer bro sounds like he's had a rough time with cerberuses lmao】
【Hold on, that's cheating!】
As chat erupted in screams over the deep-layer boss's insane trait, Karin tried her next move.
"Then let's test this. Fire away, desu wa!"
DOGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA!
A storm of magic bullets filled the boss room. An overwhelming barrage bore down on the heads of all three wolves, including the one whose head had already grown back and another keeping a strangely long distance from Karin.
But in the next instant—
"WAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!"
The distant wolf howled. Karin's bullets visibly shrank, then—DOGOGOGOGOGON!
They struck all three wolves at once, but far from blowing their heads away, the bullets barely dealt any damage.
【!?】
【Huh!?】
【The Elegatling guns aren't working!?】
【Wait, that looks like...!?】
【Didn't the bullets just get smaller!?】
"GRAAAAAAAH!"
The next roar came from the cerberus keeping a moderate distance from her. It returned fire with the flames of hell, a condensed breath attack so hot it might as well have been a heat ray.
SHUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
It was not as powerful as the artillery-specialist Dragon Cannon, but the ray traveled at a tremendous speed, melted the dungeon wall as a matter of course, and swept toward Karin without letting up.
"GRUAAAAAAH!"
Meanwhile, the wolf constantly on Karin's heels charged in to fight at close quarters without fear of friendly fire. All three kept their distance from each other, coordinating masterfully to attack her without giving her an opening.
"This is...!?"
Mitsuki stared hard at the high-speed battle and spoke in a strained voice.
"The fighting is so fast that I'm not sure I can see every detail, but... it seems there's cerberus A, which excels at close combat; cerberus B, which excels at long-range bombardment; and cerberus C, whose howl probably weakens explorers' magical attacks...! They keep their distance so their heads can't be destroyed simultaneously, neutralize ranged magic, and slowly hunt their prey to death...!"
【Seriously...?】
【It's not just an upgraded cerberus. It's a hundred times more obnoxious!?】
【It's so ridiculously unfair that even with Mitsuki-chan explaining it, my brain refuses to understand!?】
【Huh? Isn't this impossible?】
【I thought Karin ojou-sama's speed might give her a chance... But their heads regenerate too fast, they're keeping their distance, and they can fight without their heads! What IS this!?】
【If your head gets crushed, at least have the decency to stay still till it grows back, desu wa!?】
【Hey, how's Karin ojou-sama supposed to handle this!?】
【Cerberus... Please just die... Creatures like you should never have been born... Trash like you existing is driving me insane...】
【You seriously can't beat this thing solo, can you!?】
"Hmm. I see. So that's how you work. I could crush the one weakening my magic first, but it looks as though they can probably swap abilities. In that case—"
While chat cursed the cerberuses or gave up hope, Karin sped up. She raced all over the boss room, punching each wolf repeatedly.
FWIP! DOGAGAGAGAGAGAN!
But of course, her fists couldn't finish them off. Each tremendous blow inflicted serious damage on a deep-layer boss, only for it to regenerate at once.
"""GRUAAAAAAH!"""
If anything, the furious wolves attacked even harder. They never broke their formation or let Karin close the distances between them. No opening for a counterattack appeared. Instead, their fiercer assault brought more nerve-racking moments. It looked as though Karin's pointless provocation had only put her at a disadvantage.
【Karin ojou-sama, what are you doing!?】
【Is she just lashing out!?】
【It's Karin ojou-sama, she's gotta have a plan!?】
【But isn't this just wasting her strength!?】
【Maybe her only chance is to disrupt their coordination...?】
【Even the ojou-sama can't solo a boss this ridiculous. It weakens magic too, so you'd need multiple close-combat specialists】
【Shouldn't she retreat instead of dragging this out!?】
【I've got it! Modify the Elegatling guns with materials from that dragon-head cannon! If they had that kind of power, they could overcome the weakening!】
Those reactions to Karin's actions were only natural.
Then, in the next instant—
"—There you are."
Ching.
A small, clear sound rang out. Karin had leaped into the air, drawn Famous Sword Mongolian Desu-Worm from her item box, executed a sword draw and finished it before anyone could perceive the movement. The faint sound of her sword settling into its sheath meant she had already slain her enemies.
Just as a few viewers were about to type, 'What was that noise?'—
"""G—!?"""
All three cerberuses, lined up for a split second through Karin's manipulation of their movements, had their necks severed at once. Their heads fell to the floor.
【Huh?】
【Eh?】
【Huh?】
Silence.
The boss room had fallen quiet as if the battle had never happened. Chat was speechless too. But after the motionless corpses of the headless deep-layer cerberuses remained on screen for ten seconds, that silence exploded.
【Wait, what the HELL just happened!?】
【THE OBNOXIOUS BOSS IS DEAD!?】
【Wait, seriously, what!? What did you do, Karin ojou-sama!?】
【She's got Mongolian at her waist now... Did she cut them!?】
【The cerberuses were so far apart! How did all their necks get severed at once!?】
【It's not 'Is your internet being shitty again?' Karin ojou-sama! Everyone's frozen because we don't know what happened!】
【Wait, is this really not fake footage!?】
【How did you do it, desu no!?】
"Th-this... judging from where their bodies are... she cut them down with Mongolian Desu-Worm in the instant they formed a straight line...!? In the middle of that ultra-fast melee, she guided and anticipated their movements...!?"
Mitsuki had been just as stunned as the viewers. She spoke as though providing commentary—or perhaps just trying to make sense of what had happened herself.
Karin seemed to confirm and expand on her explanation.
"It happens when I cut monsters through dungeon walls too: Mongolian Desu-Worm-chan is so sharp that if I draw it using the form Mitsuki-sama taught me, the slash reaches far beyond the blade. Like a flying slash? Something of that sort, desu wa! But I can only send the slash forward, of course. So I provoked the cerberuses to direct their movements, anticipated the moment they'd line up, and cut them all down!"
【...?】
【................?】
【????????????????????】
【(Ahh! That's the sound of my brain refusing to comprehend!!)】
【Please speak Japanese instead of ojou-sama language...】
【Um... wait... You seriously pulled that off on purpose in a fight that fast...?】
【Y-you're serious...?】
【I smugly posted that solo was impossible, and now my heart's pounding with embarrassment and terror】
【Solo Killer (ojou-samas exempt)】
【An ojou-sama is worth a hundred million fighters, so technically she's not solo! (hallucinating and confused)】
【This ojou-sama is just too ridiculous lmao】
【I suspected it, but isn't Desu-Worm-chan completely broken...?】
【Um... there's no way Desu-Worm-chan's made from lower-layer materials, right...?】
As chat stood stunned, many viewers outright horrified, Karin turned to the camera and continued.
"But I could never have ended the fight so quickly without the idea to make a sword. So it was meeting Mitsuki-sama that made this victory possible! Mitsuki-sama! Thank you so very much, desu no!"
"Ugh!?"
Karin smiled and waved. That surprise, long-range, one-hit kill made Mitsuki clutch her heart in agony. She made an indescribable sound and was knocked out all over again.
Black Tiger's current loss in information assets: ¥2 billion.
Time until Mitsuki reboots: ten minutes.
―――――――――――――――――――――
And with that, the print edition of Ojou-sama Buzz goes on sale today, desu wa!
It's selling at incredible speed thanks to all your support, desu no!
If you enjoyed it, I'd be delighted if you could support the series with the stars below or a follow from the → menu. A higher ranking will help more people discover the ojou-sama's exploits and the book! I'll be updating again tomorrow, desu no!