chapter04 · 116-ep116
Episode 113: Lore Reveals and Ominous Movements
Setsuna Kiryuuin, one of Dungeon Alive's most popular characters.
Her fights followed a powerful style: while wearing a dress, she 'Elegantly' and perfectly evaded every enemy attack, then smashed everything apart with her fists. In the story's latter half she did clad herself in powerful magical armament, but her fundamental way of fighting remained consistent, in both manga and anime.
Therefore—
"Setsuna-sama also has an aikido-style combat method for deflecting attacks, desu no!?"
—to Karin, who had watched Dungeon Alive repeatedly on streaming sites, the brief note in the fanbook was entirely new information.
Karin already knew Setsuna-sama's Elegant bearing had been shaped through many different lessons, and the story mentioned that several martial arts were among them.
But the anime contained no apparent depiction of a deflection-based combat style, so the revelation had come completely out of nowhere to Karin.
【Oh yeah, that detail existed, didn't it】
【Even with how much ojou-sama loves Setsuna-sama, there was information she didn't know, desu no!?】
【Oh, right, ojou-sama is basically anime-only, so she never had the opportunity to encounter information like this...】
【Well, plenty of fans who own the fanbook miss this one too】
【Actually, I'm only learning it for the first time after all these years, desu wa!?】
【In the story, Setsuna-sama really is just Dodge! Fist! Smash!...】
【Fanbook information doesn't get discussed much on forums and the like either】
【Only a small proportion of fans own and read all the fanbooks + there's a custom against spoiling that kind of information for people who don't own them, desu wa ne...】
【To begin with, ojou-sama doesn't seem like she trawls discussion boards much】
While Karin stood stunned, the comment section filled with voices saying it was perfectly understandable she hadn't known.
And then—
¥10,000 @motimotimotimoti
Come to think of it, the main story barely touched on that Since the opportunity has arisen, I'll add some details. Setsuna-sama's foundational combat style also incorporates the body mechanics of aikido and Chinese martial arts. Apart from mana and skills, they allow her to efficiently generate force and improve her evasion—that's part of her character setting
¥10,000 motimotimotimoti
As for her deflection-based combat style, it's a skill Setsuna-sama learned so she could Elegantly handle situations where dodging an attack too powerful to smash with her fists would cause it to strike someone else. However, such situations didn't occur often in the story, and given her strength, she could generally smash the attacks with her fists anyway, so I never had a chance to show it in the main story
¥10,000 motimotimotimoti
There is at least one scene reflecting that detail. It was omitted from the anime, but in panel three on page nine of chapter 130, volume 15 of the original manga, Setsuna-sama deflects her opponent's attack while countering
"Mochimochi Tamago-sensei!? I-is that story for real, desu no!? And you went so far as to donate such a large amount just to... Wait, it is true, desu wa!?"
Terrified by the original author's unexpected red-superchat explanation, Karin hurriedly checked volume fifteen of the manga... and found a scene that did indeed resemble the description, making her cry out.
Karin was not the only one stunned.
【R-real-time commentary from the original author, desu waaaaa!?】
【Checked it, and there seriously is a panel where she looks like she's redirecting the attack!?】
【It's so subtle I never noticed despite reading it again and again, desu wa!?】
【Whoa, this behind-the-scenes detail is seriously real!?】
【Um, Tamago-sensei, isn't it terrifying that not only the chapter number but the page AND panel number came out instantly!?】
【How many years do you think it's been since the serialization ended...?】
【Weekly manga artists are scaaary】
【No, this is probably just Tamago-sensei being abnormal...】
【The original author who prioritized interpreting Setsuna-sama correctly and encouraged Karin ojou-sama, even at the risk of worldwide chaos】
【Well, if someone who loves their own work this much meets an abnormal Setsuna-sama lover like Karin ojou-sama, of course they'll ignore persistent antis and keep drawing support illustrations, desu wa】
【Um, Sensei!? I knew about the deflection combat style and such, but even I had never heard that explanation, desu wa yo!?】
【Does this mean there are still many stories and hidden settings, not only for Setsuna-sama!?】
【What is this, BLEACH!?】
【Me, a fanbook owner who was smugly watching ojou-sama discover new information, suddenly making the exact same face as Karin ojou-sama when facts I don't know appear】
【Tamago-sensei!? Please release Fanbook 3 immediately, desu no!?】
¥10,000 @motimotimotimoti
That said, Karin ojou-sama's fighting style is Setsuna-sama's incarnate, so reproducing even those details without knowing them is all the more impressive!
Tamago-sensei offered that reassurance in closing.
Karin too prided herself on being able to partially reproduce Setsuna-sama's fighting style rather ideally up through the lower layers.
But just as seeing Mitsuki's beautiful swordplay had made her think, "Perhaps I can acquire more Elegant bearing!" there was still abundant room for improvement in her combat. And unavoidable though it was, the fact she had entirely overlooked one of the elements composing Setsuna-sama's fighting style was tremendously significant.
Fortunately, as Tamago-sensei had vouched, she seemed to have unknowingly reproduced parts of it already... But regardless, as someone who aspired to be an ojou-sama explorer like Setsuna-sama, Karin could not tolerate lacking such a foundational element.
Just as Mitsuki's sword instruction had shown her bodily techniques she had never known, those martial arts likely contained hints leading toward Setsuna-sama's Elegant style—a method allowing her to fight at full power without causing pointless destruction around her. Most importantly, after Setsuna-sama had personally encouraged her, remaining so inadequate was unacceptable.
Therefore, once Karin learned the new information, there was only one action she could take.
"To think Setsuna-sama's combat held such a secret... How could this be, desu no!? I must incorporate it immediately...!"
That said, there was almost no information about Setsuna-sama's unknown fighting style.
Ideally, Karin wanted to reproduce it through self-teaching as she had everything until now, but a single manga panel simply contained too little information. Nor was it realistic to independently seek out from zero techniques that martial artists had accumulated and polished over centuries.
In that case—
"If only there were someone versed in those kinds of martial arts..."
Just like when Mitsuki-sama taught me her beautiful swordplay... The instant Karin murmured this—
¥10,000 @Mitsuki Shijou
Karin ojou-sama I no a trustworthy dojo through my family's connections for exactly that kind of thing so would you like to cum with me I'm a sword specialist but Karin ojou-sama is so perfect I'm about to die and I'd just been thinking I want to bring in other systems and grow moar too love love love ojou-sama whether you actually pay tuition and study there or not how about at least a trial lesson first I want Karin ojou-sama's autograph all over my body
【Hey, what the hell is this superchat!!】
【Mitsuki-sama was SO FAAAAST!】
【The superchat flew in before Karin ojou-sama even finished speaking????????】
【Mitsuki-sama rushing in at light speed is seriously Lmao】
【She's way too hard for this opportunity】
【So this is a level-900+ explorer's typing speed...】
【There ARE suspicions that people posting lightning-fast comments mid-stream are all high-level explorers...】
【Is a level-900+ explorer safe hitting a keyboard hard enough to produce this many typos?】
【You can feel her absolute determination to invite ojou-sama before anyone else, typos be damned】
【Forget typos, what even IS this!?】
【Hey, Mitsuki-sama, your predictive text is showing!】
【Just what does this woman normally type...?】
【Could she be one of the infamous perverts who regularly appear on Karin ojou-sama fan threads?】
【The tragic present of Mitsuki-sama's computer or phone predictive text, taught all sorts of strange phrases】
【Anyone remember that Mitsuki-sama was a serious, pure, venerable warrior-family ojou-sama until just recently? No one!??】
【This is a broadcast incident!】
【Lmao at the all-new deranged-superchat format】
¥1,000 @Honoka Kamishiro
Ah, I'm coming too... tell me the date later, please
【That high-speed deranged message got Honoka-sama mobilized instantly too. Truly Lmao】
【W-with this, we can at least feel safe, desu wa ne】
"Ohh!? Mitsuki-sama!? Is that true, desu no!? Although if you are sharing the information, there was no need to send such a large superchat...!? Even Honoka-sama sent one!? I-in any case, I am terribly grateful you told me so quickly, desu wa! Let us all go together, desu no!"
Karin immediately accepted the proposal from the lightning-fast-superchatting Mitsuki.
Plans were settled at once for Karin to incorporate Setsuna-sama's newly discovered fighting style, which had come to light during the stream celebrating her superchat deposit.
Meanwhile—
【H-huh? Wait a moment, please?】
【Tamago-sensei's lore explanation and Mitsuki-sama's freak behavior distracted me, but doesn't this mean...】
【H-hey, could Karin ojou-sama possibly grow even stronger...?】
【Did our superchats... give the monster an opportunity to awaken even further...?】
【No, that's not—we didn't mean...】
【We only wanted ojou-sama to eat her fill of delicious food...】
【The Dungeon Alive official fanbook: Pandora's box】
【There's a second one of these Pandora's boxes...】
【Tamago-sensei, I'm sorry I asked for Fanbook 3 moments ago, but could we put that on hold!?】
The viewers trembled at the thought they might have encouraged Karin's further growth.
They continued warmly watching Karin excitedly unbox her Dungeon Alive merchandise, but the stream proceeded with an underlying atmosphere of "Wait, isn't this dangerous?"
※
"Karin Yamadaaaaaaaaa! Please, just disappeeeeeeeear!"
The top floor of an office tower in a prime Tokyo location.
Sitting in the presidential office chair, Yoko Inukai, the invasion sabotage force's Japan representative, continued clutching her head.
No matter how hard she thought, she could not devise a good way to eliminate the impossible monster Karin Yamada.
Even the portion of Karin's abnormal combat power shown in her abyssal conquest and battle with the Dungeon Queen was extraordinary.
What's more, she seemed to raise her level with every stream, and in the one just now, she had even shown signs of trying to acquire new combat techniques.
Her drive for improvement was extreme.
Perhaps because she confused fiction and reality, she had no arrogance either.
There was not even any telling what equipment she kept hidden. No matter how one considered it, direct elimination using Yoko's current body was impossible.
If Karin's streaming itself had been the problem, information warfare like Black Tiger's would have been an option.
But for Yoko Inukai and her faction, the very fact that Karin reigned over Japan with exceptional fighting power—and had further joined forces with the Dungeon Queen, another exceptional force—was itself the problem. Given that monster's personality, if a 'massive' incident occurred in Japan, there was an extremely high chance she would literally come flying, stream or no stream.
If they were to launch an information operation at all, perhaps they could drive a wedge between Karin Yamada and Sharifa Nefertiti... but they had somehow already grown far too close for that to seem easy.
As a preliminary attempt, Yoko had repeatedly used untraceable methods to post about how problematic Sharifa's actions had been and how she was unworthy of Karin's friendship. But—
【Lmao, the extremist Karin x Mitsuki faction is going wild】
【Please stop making baseless accusations! This is the work of Karin x Honoka extremists, is it not?】
【Haaah. Such cheap words could never disrupt the unity of the Karin x Sharie faction. Their bond is eternal】
【To begin with, Sharie-sama is a fourteen-year-old resident of Japan, so she hasn't done anything illegal (deadpan)】
【The mainstream Ojou-sama x Best friend-chan faction looks down from the mountaintop at the minor ships fighting for second place】
【Don't take the ship-war bait, Ace! Come back!】
—and other such incomprehensible treatment had forced her to retreat. The only response she sometimes received was approval in African languages saying, "Tell them more!" It had no effect whatsoever.
Perhaps a more intensive information campaign could accomplish something... but ever since Black Tiger's false-accusation incident, baseless allegations and anti-like posts about Karin tended to be dismissed. The authorities were also on high alert for malicious information operations of that kind.
Thus Karin and the Dungeon Queen's relationship did not seem vulnerable to a sloppy wedge operation, and other indirect means were highly likely to do nothing but provoke them.
It wasn't as though direct elimination methods didn't exist at all, but...
"That one's research has been stalled for some time... there's no telling when that can be reactivated... and transferring bodies has all sorts of conditions..."
Some methods that came to mind had no prospect of becoming usable, while others were far too risky. She simply could not arrive at a good answer.
Yoko Inukai remained clutching her head and was about to reach for the stomach medicine she'd begun taking recently when—
Bzzt.
A device received a message.
It was an ultra-specialized device that reproduced a magic-based telepathic system rather than using radio waves, making eavesdropping impossible.
"What...!?"
Yoko Inukai could not believe the string of text displayed on the device, which only the invasion-preparation force's uppermost ranks could use.
Sent through the federation of unit leaders responsible for invasion operations in countries called dungeon-advanced powers, the message read:
"It has been decided that assassins will be sent under the scenario that underground organizations in various regions, backed by rogue states, have jointly placed an enormous bounty on Karin Yamada's head. A handpicked selection of scoundrels whose talents we awakened and whose confidence we inflated slightly should begin moving. Select an underground organization capable of assisting their activities within Japan and report it to us."
Scoundrels whose talents had been awakened without even their own awareness.
The invasion-preparation forces would guide the destabilizing elements they had quietly modified to weaken each nation with an enormous reward and pit them against Karin Yamada through circuitous methods beyond the reach of investigation.
In short, it was an order informing her that the executives working and infiltrating in every country would act in place of Yoko Inukai, who had failed to develop any meaningful countermeasure no matter how much time passed.
"No, no, no! They can't possibly win! That'll only put her more on guard, so don't stick your noses into things!"
Yoko Inukai shouted at the order.
If the rogue-state underground organizations were being manipulated, no proper investigation would occur in the first place, so suspicion was unlikely to point toward them as the assassination's orchestrators... but she seriously wished they would stop.
They were too far away to understand Karin Yamada's strength... or rather, perhaps they were thinking that if the pawns they'd planted achieved a miraculous victory, they might steal the position of Japan representative from Yoko, while if they failed and made Karin Yamada more vigilant, Yoko would be made to bear responsibility, so they might as well try. It was unbelievably bothersome. A perfect example of meritocracy harming the organization as a whole.
"............No, but... assassins they believe might have a chance even in this situation, huh..."
Some time after receiving the message—
Yoko Inukai let out that quiet murmur, exhaling slightly as though calming herself.
Assassination was an entirely different field from straightforward combat.
One might even say it specialized in killing superior opponents one could never defeat head-on.
At the extreme, the world of assassination was one in which an eight-year-old child could kill a martial arts world champion.
Moreover, just as not all the executives in every country knew the powers of Black Tiger's Kuroi, whose talents Yoko had secretly awakened, Yoko did not possess complete information about the abilities of every piece of trash empowered by the other executives.
They had organized an assassination operation on this scale and even sent her a message overflowing with confidence. While perhaps none were country-toppling, there might be an assassin with some special unique skill tailored to killing stronger targets. If so, eliminating Karin Yamada might not be an empty dream. Probably. Surely. She hoped.
Besides, with every executive other than her acting in concert, Yoko Inukai could not stop this momentum alone. And it remained true that they had to do something about Karin Yamada before all else. Now that many countries had been cowed into total silence by Karin and Sharie joining forces, there was almost no chance the monster Yamada would be removed while they merely sat and prayed. If they did nothing, ruin was all that awaited them. And the more time passed, the stronger Karin Yamada would become.
In that case—
"S-something work oooooout!"
If I find them a vile domestic organization capable of assisting the assassination and fund most of this bounty, I should at least preserve my standing!
Shouting like someone betting her entire fortune on a horse, Yoko Inukai half-desperately replied that she would cooperate with the operation.
――――――――――――――――――――――
To confess, Yoko Inukai-sama's scream of "What am I supposed to DO about that monster!?" is also the author's scream. (Karin ojou-sama is so strong that the enemy organization can't maintain any confidence. Villains should act like villains and laugh fearlessly more often, desu wa ne.)