chapter03 · 079-ep79
Episode 76: A Savior
【Huh!? What is that equipment!?】
【What's going on!?】
【Did none of those explosions hit her!?】
【Is she surrounded by wind!?】
【The ojou-sama's floating!?】
【The flames cleared and suddenly the ojou-sama's transformed in new gear!?】
【Is this an anime!?】
【Don't get me all excited!?】
【Karin ojou-sama, what IS that equipment!?】
The ojou-sama who'd dodged every attack had vanished into a sea of explosions. Just when it looked as though her stream might broadcast her death, she emerged unharmed, blowing the flames away. Viewers fell into confusion for the umpteenth time. Black armor reinforced her dress, and a gale like a compressed storm surrounded her. They could hardly believe their eyes; was this some mass hallucination born of their desperate wish to escape reality?
But Karin, wrapped in wind, reassured them firmly.
"I'm sorry for worrying you all. But fear not."
"From here on, it will be one-sided."
"GIGOGOGOGOGOGOH!!"
DOGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!
Perhaps <Gigant Fortress> took her declaration as a provocation. Or perhaps it felt some incomprehensible fear on seeing the insect it thought it had crushed still alive. With a cry like creaking metal, the gigantic monster unleashed an immense barrage. A rain of shells and explosions filled the hall, as dense as before or denser still, and descended upon Karin again.
"Demonic Dragon Armor: Storm Style!"
FWOO—DASH!
Wind surged the instant she called its name. No—Karin herself became a gust of wind. Neither the viewers' eyes nor the high-speed barrage could keep up. She left everything behind and soared high into the air in an instant. And at that same speed, she flew freely in every direction!
【WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?】
【THE OJOU-SAMA'S FLYING!?】
【Is she a human missile!?】
【Even the floating camera filming from above can't follow her!?】
【Is that blurry purple streak the ojou-sama!?】
DODODODOGOOOOOON!!
Countless shots tore through the air trying to pursue and surround her. But Karin flew through the tiniest gaps as if gravity had released its hold on her. Not one of the deadly projectiles touched her.
"Demonic Dragon Armor: Storm Style. I made it for today! It controls wind, which also increases my mobility, desu wa! And naturally, I can use the wind to keep my dress from tearing when I move at high speeds!"
Karin explained her new equipment like a proper streamer while racing through the air and confounding the barrage. It was a top-class magical item recreating an ability far outside the range of human experience. Wind manipulation demanded exquisitely precise mana control; its full power couldn't be mastered overnight.
【SO FAST!?】
【Is she a fighter jet!?】
【She's just a line darting through the air now!?】
【Skyfish ojou-sama, desu waaaaa!?】
【Is she faster than the enemy's shots!?】
【This ojou-sama's seriously flying off the rails! Literally!】
【I can't understand anything anymore, desu wa!?】
But Karin controlled it perfectly. She flew through the three-dimensional battlefield, which would have overwhelmed an earthbound human's senses, weaving between the bullets. Her detection, body control and command of the mana in her body had been honed to absurd levels in pursuit of streams where she evaded everything Elegantly. With those outstanding fundamentals, adapting to gear tailored for her was almost effortless.
And the benefits of that precise control over the storm went beyond mobility.
"GIGOGOGOGOOOOH!!"
As if losing patience, the fortress fired another vicious storm of magic bullets. The powerful homing shots formed a tighter net than before. Even in armor designed for mobility, fully focused on evasion, it was difficult to avoid them all by setting off collisions with other projectiles. An inescapable encirclement—
"Not very Elegant, but Demonic Dragon Armor: Storm Style—power up, desu waaaaa!"
DOGOOOOOOOOOOOOH!
The wind armor blew away the entire approaching storm of homing bullets. A wall of gales blocked the projectiles, and even the chain of explosions couldn't hurt Karin. They couldn't even get within several meters of her before being repelled.
An absolute defense of storm winds. It was the very power of a boss monster Karin had once defeated.
【She blew away all those cheating magic bullets!?】
【What even IS that thing!?】
【W-wait, could this be...】
【Ojou-sama!? I recognize that defense!?】
【That wind barrier...】
【Hold on, don't tell me she made that armor from Storm Dragon materials!?】
【From the Storm Dragon she killed in the Shibuya battle!?】
【But it didn't seem to drop anything then, and the rules wouldn't let them hand the materials straight to the killer anyway!?】
【The Storm Dragon this time didn't drop materials either. So why's she wearing what looks like Storm Dragon equipment? (voice shaking)】
【Wait wait wait, don't tell me...!?】
【We had our suspicions, but that sixteen-year-old was going into the deep layers BEFORE she announced the world-record challenge!?】
"Let's finish this in one gooooo!"
Having shown off the equipment, Karin accelerated. She slipped through tiny gaps in the barrage and closed on the fortress, pulling her enormous dungeon-wall hammer out directly above the mountainous creature. Then—WHIRRRRRRRRR!
She spun at tremendous speed over <Gigant Fortress>, propelled by her storm. The wind increased her rotation faster and faster while shielding her from the incoming fire. She combined centrifugal force, gravity and her own strength.
"Do excuse meeeeeee!"
DOGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!
"GIGOOOOOOOOOOOOH!?"
The gigantic hammer struck the fortress's shell as she fell spinning. Its shell caved in and its massive legs buckled under the impact. The shockwave scattered the barrage and made the whole hall groan; even the reinforced floating camera, far from Karin, briefly lost picture stability.
【AAAAAAAAAH!?】
【Wait】
【She's literally breaking a mountain!?】
【What IS this anymore!?】
【This is a kaiju battle that makes the other bosses look tame!?】
"G-gogogogoooooh!"
Still, <Gigant Fortress> did not fall. Its durability was commensurate with its monstrous size. Despite its badly dented shell, it kept fighting, aiming its guns back at the intruder overhead. Karin would have to take flight again to repeat her strike. It would shoot her down with main guns capable of penetrating even the storm.
But instead of taking flight again, Karin changed equipment.
"Setsuna-sama used magical gear of this kind too, but only later in the story. It's not very Elegant for someone who still has so much training to do to rely on it... Yet today's priority is clearing the deep layers safely! So I shall use every means at my disposal!"
The black armor returned to her item box. As she landed on <Gigant Fortress>'s shell, gold enveloped her.
CRACKLE!
Golden armor wreathing her dress in violet lightning replaced <Demonic Dragon Armor: Storm Style>. It was the last of the three magical weapons she'd made for today.
"Demonic Dragon Armor: Lightning Style!"
The sister equipment to Storm Style had been made from a demonic dragon with powers similar to those of Okutama's floor 3 lightning lion.
"As you can see, this armor controls lightning! I can't cloak myself in too strong a current or I'd electrocute myself... But its true value lies in activating my body through electrical stimulation! And in the lightning it can deliver to an enemy with each blow!"
WHUMP!
She raised the massive hammer even more easily than before.
"HUUUUP!"
DOGOOOOOOOOON!
<Lightning Style> increased Karin's explosive strength, giving her hammer blow full power without any run-up. <Gigant Fortress>'s enormous body rocked; many gun ports sticking out of its shell shattered. And at the same time—CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE!
"G-GIIIIIIIIH!?"
As promised, a powerful electric current surged through the huge monster via her gauntlet and hammer. Mechanical cannons across a broad area exploded, smoking and catching fire. More explosions followed.
"GIIIIIIIIH!"
Its enormous size kept one electrical blow from destroying every gun. The fortress sprouted new barrels to aim at Karin, refusing to lose.
"HYAAAAAAAAAH!"
"GIIIIIIIIH!?"
Karin's lightning-clad attacks didn't stop. She brought the full force of her stimulated body to bear, breaking its shell like a powerful miner digging through a mountain. Lightning disrupted the coordination of its guns, and explosions and fires chained endlessly. The giant monster no longer knew what to do about the one tiny creature rampaging across it.
【WHAT has been going on all this time!?】
【I heard Karin ojou-sama got hit and died, rushed here, and now there's a live-action movie with a five-quadrillion-yen CGI budget playing!?】
【WHAT IS THIS!?】
【I thought the ojou-sama died and seconds later she's beating the other guy down one-sidedly. My emotions can't keep up!?】
【An endless sale on magical gear I've never seen before!?】
【What IS this ojou-sama!?】
【M-my brain's about to explode, but GO GET IT!?】
【BEAT IT DOWNNNN!】
【Wait, what's with her equipment names!?】
【They're too sensible! They sound just like Dungeon Alive names!?】
【The ojou-sama couldn't have named them! Who did!?】
¥50,000 @motimotimotimoti
I had the honor of helping name her new equipment ahead of time!
【Huh!? Mochimochi Tamago-sensei!?】
【Wait, seriously!?】
【The original author supervised it lmao!】
【The creator of the anime she adores named her custom gear? I'm as jealous as I was of the illustration!!!】
【Tamago-sensei is our savior, desu waaaa!】
【Freedom from hellishly terrible names!】
【Finally we can praise the ojou-sama's insane equipment without reservation!】
【Please name the rest of her gear too! Before Karin ojou-sama does! Hurry!】
【You guys have no mercy lmao】
¥10,000
Um, by the way, what was Karin ojou-sama going to call the armors?
¥50,000 @motimotimotimoti
...Elegant Dresses 'Whoosh-Whoosh' and 'Rumble-Rumble.'
【What? (menacingly)】
【We can only thank Tamago-sensei for stopping the ojou-sama's rampage (dead serious)】
【Do you have an upset stomach?】
【Hey, smear agents! Forget the fake allegations and go after the ojou-sama's catastrophic naming sense, please!】
【No, then a lot of the Karin Party would defect】
¥50,000 @Mitsuki
What are you all talking about!? Tamago-sensei's names are lovely, but Karin ojou-sama's adorably hopeless naming sense is the best too!!!!
【Mitsuki-sama! You were dead again a minute ago!】
【Mitsuki-sama's trying to defend her and shooting the ojou-sama in the back lmao】
【Samurai Girl, you're not supposed to shoot people in the back!】
【She gave up her samurai family name, so it's fine!】
【M-Mitsuki-chan says it because she respects Karin ojou-sama...】
【That's disrespect, not respect】
Chat grew chaotic and confused at Karin's outrageous battle. Perhaps many were too dumbfounded to speak: despite her concurrency, the comments moved disturbingly slowly. Even so, plenty filled the screen.
Meanwhile—
"HYAAAAAH!"
"GIGOOOOOOH!"
Karin destroyed most of the giant crab's shell. Its gun turrets were bent, countless barrels smoked, and its shattered shell was less than half its former volume. It no longer resembled an armed fortress.
The fight was decided. Or so everyone believed.
"GIIIIIIIIIIIIH!"
The battered <Gigant Fortress> gave a cry unlike any before. Mana swelled rapidly inside its body, raging as if it were about to burst from within. It was about to self-destruct spectacularly, taking its remaining heavy weapons with it.
Yet even that—
"Ah, of course. A fortress-type monster would have a final trick like that. But now that I've broken this much of your shell—your weak point is within my reach."
Karin drew <Mongolian Desu-Worm>, violet lightning coursing over her. She had sensed the enormous monster's last struggle immediately. Her stimulated body gripped the sword's hilt—and she cut through space itself.
Silently.
The extended slash sliced through the core hidden deep within <Gigant Fortress>'s shell. A self-destruction that should have forced her to flee was effortlessly stopped. With an earthquake-like rumble, the gigantic monster sank and fell.
"Hmm. Yes, good."
As the viewers fell silent, holding their breath, Karin watched its huge body intently.
"Floor 4 boss defeated, desu wa!"
She had completely defeated <Gigant Fortress>, the floor 4 boss of Okutama Valley Dungeon. At that moment, an unprecedented official record was established: a minor had conquered the deep layers of a high-difficulty dungeon solo.
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Thank you for reporting typos, desu no!
There are so many comments that I can't reply to them all, but I'm quietly fixing the errors!