chapter03 · 084-ep84

Episode 81: Go, Go!

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The Black Tiger executives gathered at Okutama to watch Karin Yamada's solo deep-layer conquest were utterly speechless. She'd entered the inhuman hell of the abyssal layers alone. Deep-layer bosses appeared there one after another like ordinary monsters. And an insane ojou-sama mowed them all down single-handedly. Their jaws hung open at a scene beyond anything they'd imagined.

Black Tiger's information war had looked likely to fail after she conquered the deep layers. With a stream this ridiculous, victory was impossible. Indeed, it was no longer merely a matter of information manipulation. They had finally realized they'd picked a fight with a true monster who could affect international affairs—someone they should never have challenged. The blood drained from every face.

Yet one man shouted wildly in the hellish atmosphere of the Okutama base.

"GO, GO, GO, ABYSSAL BOSS! GET THAT CRAZY OJOU-SAMAAAA!"

It was Kuroi, driven out of his mind by Karin entering the abyss. Until a moment earlier he'd been frozen like the other executives. But ever since she began fighting the abyssal boss, he'd been frothing at the mouth cheering for the monster. When the Humanoid achieved the feat of cutting several strands of her hair, his enthusiasm exceeded all limits. Eyes bloodshot like a man who'd bet every yen he owned on one horse to win, he clung to the screen.

"YOU CAN DO IT, YOU CAN DO IT! THERE! GET HER! FINISH THAT MONSTER BEFORE SHE DOES ANYTHING ELSE! IF ONLY SHE'S GONE, WE STILL HAVE A CHANCE... GO, ABYSSAL BOSS!"

So what if she'd erased the staging allegations with an incredible stream? If she died, it ended there. Karin Yamada might be a bottomless monster and might apparently have beaten this boss once before, but surely a creature that wielded otherworldly spatial magic could win! It had managed to hit her, hadn't it?

"Th-that's right... If Karin Yamada falls here, we still have a future... G-gooooo!"

"YOU CAN DO IT! YOU'VE GOT HER ON THE ROPES!"

"She said she killed one before, but then why'd it hit her? You must be a special specimen! You can do it! Press the attack!"

Kuroi's hoarse cries rekindled hope in the other executives. The abyssal boss's brave assault on the 'monster' Karin Yamada washed away the base's despair. Black Tiger's leaders felt a unity like never before. It could win. This boss would answer their prayers. As if it heard them, the Humanoid unleashed its hidden trump card on screen.

"OOOOOOAAAAAH!"

"YESSSSS! GO, GO, GO!"

Space-boring blasts, magic bullets and dungeon-wall blocks Karin had fired earlier—all struck from every direction, leaving almost no gap. The executives jumped up and screamed like they'd just seen the winning goal in a World Cup final.

But...

"Phew! That really was close, desu wa!"

"...Huh?"

"Demonic Dragon Armor: Storm Style, Lightning Style—simultaneous deployment."

"...Ah."

"Demonic Dragon Armor: Swift Wind and Thunder."

"Waa... ah..."

Inhuman mana swelled around the exuberant Karin Yamada. Kuroi's intuition would not stop sounding its alarm. A weak, animal-like whimper escaped his lips.

　　　　　　〇

【OOOOOOOOOOH!?】

【Karin ojou-sama's alive, and now she's transforming AGAIN!?】

【My brain and emotions can't keep up anymore!? (for the umpteenth time)】

【Both Demonic Dragon Armors at once!?】

【She's using Storm Style and Lightning Style together!?】

【Karin ojou-sama: 'Boys like this sort of thing, don't they?'】

【Wait, did she dodge THAT attack!? How!?】

【Didn't the ojou-sama just teleport too!?】

【What was that thunder-like noise!?】

Chat fell into confusion yet again. The Humanoid, a boss of the abyssal layers that wielded vicious spatial magic, had seemed to catch Karin in its all-direction assault. Then she'd dodged like a bolt of lightning, appeared on camera again and filled the room with tremendous mana.

"I'm sorry for worrying you all! But fear not. Even if I am relying on magical equipment, everything from here on will be perfectly Elegant!"

She spoke proudly, clad in both black <Demonic Dragon Armor: Storm Style> and lightning-clad <Demonic Dragon Armor: Lightning Style>.

"OOOOOAAAAAH!"

The Humanoid roared at her—she'd dodged its surprise attack, and her mana now far surpassed what it had seen before. Shimmer! It launched another encircling bombardment with its spatial magic as if her escape had been a fluke. Bullets and wall fragments it had apparently saved came too, producing a nearly gapless attack from every direction.

"Useless, desu wa!"

CRAAAAACK!

Karin dodged it completely with thunderous speed again.

"Demonic Dragon Armor: Swift Wind and Thunder. When Storm Style and Lightning Style are deployed together, their mana mingles and creates a synergistic effect. In other words—"

The wind surrounding her swelled extraordinarily, and the lightning across her body shone brighter.

"Swift Wind and Thunder explosively strengthens both armors' magical effects!"

CRAAAAACK!

The intensified wind aided her mobility; the electricity stimulated her body even more. With both enhancements, she left the spatial bombardment behind and raced across the boss room trailing lightning.

"OOOOOOAAAAAH!"

The Humanoid fired at her again and again, but missed. In fact, unlike before, it couldn't even track her. With her extraordinary detection, Karin anticipated the locations and timing of every wormhole. Now she also had the speed she'd lacked before. Surrounding her, much less hitting her, had become nearly impossible. The Humanoid's refined spatial bombardment was rendered useless.

【SERIOUSLY!?】

【Those two kinds of gear had a hidden synergy!?】

【I can't see Karin ojou-sama at ALL anymore!?】

【How is there still no end to what this ojou-sama can do!?】

【Is her dress okay at that speed!? Is wind control protecting it too!?】

【Wait, that name's actually cool again!?】

¥50,000　@motimotimotimoti

I helped name this one too! It's written 'Swift Wind and Thunder' but pronounced 'Kazenari'!

¥50,000　@motimotimotimoti

Though I had no idea it was equipment THIS absurd...

【Tamago-sensei!】

【The ojou-sama's abyssal charge froze Tamago-sensei's support illustrations, but she's back!】

【Author-supervised gear names again lol!】

【She was told the general idea but not what it could actually do...】

【Either way, that gear is nuts!】

【She's reading and dodging that cheating attack perfectly!】

【Can she do it? Is she really going to beat an abyssal boss!?】

【Even if she dodges it, how does she hurt it!?】

【That bastard boss is basically covered head to toe in item boxes that swallow anything!?】

【And it can teleport!?】

【No matter how fast you move, how do you counter teleportation!?】

Cheers and worries appeared side by side. She could avoid the attacks, but how could she inflict damage? Her opponent had two cheating defenses: teleportation and a spatial barrier that swallowed anything it touched.

Yet Karin quickly overcame one of them.

"You're so desperate to finish me off that you've grown careless about teleporting!"

She closed the distance at Swift Wind and Thunder's speed. DOGOOOOON! Her fist struck the translucent body as if nothing stood in its way. The Humanoid shrieked.

【Eh!?】

【Huh!?】

【She PUNCHED IT!?!?!】

【How can she just hit it!?】

【Why'd she punch something that erases whatever touches it without hesitating!?】

【What happened!?】

【That boss still has its subspace armor, right!?】

【HOW!?】

"It's easy once you know the trick!"

Karin shouted as she chased the Humanoid, sent flying out of the boss room and far across the hills, scraping dungeon walls as it went.

"Yes, it wears armor that severs space—or something?—all over its body, swallowing and erasing anything. But the armor isn't perfect. You can't see it with your eyes, but if you concentrate your detection skills very hard, you can spot gaps! They're tiny, but attacks get through them! In that respect it's easier to punch barehanded than the lightning lion or Storm Dragon, desu wa!"

【Is that so!?】

【Seriously!?】

【'E A S I E R T O P U N C H B A R E H A N D E D T H A N A S T O R M D R A G O N'】

【Even if that's true, why punch it BAREHANDED!?】

【Miss that gap and you lose an arm!?】

【My Side Effect's just barely whispering... I checked the clip and there does seem to be a tiny gap...? But it moves a lot. Unless you strike really fast, it'll swallow your arm...!?】

【Side Effect bro!】

【She's casually risking her life again!】

【Why not use a sword!?】

"Ah, I did use a weapon at first... but I realized my bare hands were easier to control precisely..."

【Someone fix this ojou-sama!】

【Bring me a giant bandage! One big enough to wrap around her head!】

【Dungeon Alive gave her grace but took away her common sense...】

【Equivalent exchange, huh...】

【Wait, she admits she fought one before!】

【If you're going to cover it up, do it properly!】

【W-well, let's set aside Karin ojou-sama's insanity for now. She can win!】

【Go! Follow it up!】

Outside the boss room, beneath the blue sky over the hills, Karin raced toward the Humanoid with her fist clenched.

But—

"O-OOOOOOAAAAAH!"

The Humanoid roared and scattered mana. An abyssal boss's body was tough: though Karin's fist had inflicted terrible damage, it used spatial magic to vanish. Then pop-pop-pop-pop-pop! It teleported repeatedly, more frequently and over a much wider area than before. Perhaps its magic had a limited range, since it didn't flee into the distance, but the pace and distance made it impossible to catch up.

"OOOOOOAAAAAH!"

It continued its encircling bombardment while teleporting, apparently hoping to outlast Karin, who must be consuming enormous mana in Swift Wind and Thunder.

【AAAAH! Right, it can TELEPORT!】

【That's so dirty!】

【King of bullshit monsters!?】

【Fight properly, coward!】

【Well, I understand why it doesn't want to face Karin ojou-sama head-on...】

【How annoying!】

"Unfortunately for you, I've already learned to detect your spatial magic!"

Karin turned her eyes toward empty air—a faint distortion as mana began to move. The coordinates where the Humanoid would teleport next!

Several instants before it appeared, she was already running. GNN—DOGON!

Storm Style's vastly increased wind output, Lightning Style's heightened reflexes, and her various physical enhancement skills all combined. She struck the ground so hard that the dungeon wall beneath the soil cracked, driving herself forward at full speed with wind protecting her dress.

"!?"

"HYAAAAH!"

The Humanoid appeared before her. In a split second she picked out a gap in its spatial armor—DOGOOOOON! CRACKLE!

"OGOOOOOOH!?"

Wind and electrical stimulation magnified the punch to its limit. Her earlier strike, held back to make good footage, paled in comparison. Worse for the Humanoid, a powerful current accompanied her fist, sending it screaming through the air.

【WHAAAAAT!?】

【The abyssal boss appeared right in front of her so she could punch it!?】

【Does it WANT to get beaten down too????】

【Ordinary people can't follow this! Mitsuki-sama's reduced to making weird noises, so can a deep-layer explorer explain!?】

【It happened too fast, but didn't the ojou-sama move FIRST????】

【Future sight!?】

【She read where it would teleport!?】

【Reading its destination is wild, and so is Swift Wind and Thunder closing that distance in a blink!?】

【How is she keeping up with teleportation WITHOUT teleporting!?!?!】

"O-ooooh!"

The battered Humanoid tried to teleport again, but its tremendous injuries and the current numbing its body made delicate spatial magic impossible. The same was true of the spatial armor it had worn almost automatically.

"At last, that troublesome protection's gone."

"Oh!?"

Karin caught up with it in midair as it continued flying from her punch and grabbed its leg.

"If you want to teleport so badly—I'll help you, desu waaaaa!"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOH!?"

She spun violently in the air, the enhanced wind of Swift Wind and Thunder accelerating her faster and faster. As if waiting for her floating camera to catch up, she called out, "Well then—good day to you!"

"O-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!?"

FWIP—DOGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!

The wind-driven spin, stimulated muscles, physical enhancement skills and gravity all joined in a superhuman throw. The five-meter-tall monster struck the ground at nearly teleportation speed. The abyssal layers shook—no exaggeration.

【AAAAAAAAH!?】

【I don't know WHAT'S happening anymore!?】

【What did the ojou-sama just DO!?】

【What kind of vicious technique was that!?】

【She blew the hills away!?】

【Is she really about to solo an abyssal boss...!?】

The impact reverberated through floor 1 of the abyssal layers, throwing up enough dust to suggest a huge bomb had gone off. Karin's wind cleared it almost immediately.

"Ah... gah..."

At the center of a massive crater, the Humanoid had been pulverized beyond recognition. Only its head was barely intact.

"Phew. That was a little troublesome, but all's well that ends well. I even managed an Elegant joke, and the boss is safely defeated, desu wa!"

Karin confirmed that the Humanoid's fragments had died after its final murmur. Posts on chat, forums and social media briefly stopped altogether as the rare abyssal boss's remains were absorbed into the exposed dungeon wall—leaving two drops at the crater's center.