chapter05 · 149-ep149
Episode 142: Abyssal Floor 2
"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!"
In a dimly lit room, the restrained Yoko Inukai's roaring laughter echoed.
And what was she laughing at so hard...? At the end of her gaze, on the LCD screen, was Karin Yamada's insane abyssal conquest stream.
Quite the change from before, when as the invasion force's Japan representative she had been nursing stomach pains over Karin's chaos.
Freed of her various responsibilities by her fall from power within the organization, Yoko doubled over at the sight of Karin breaking unscathed through difficulty after difficulty—the 'writhing dungeon walls,' the 'abyssal underwater area,' and more.
Partly it was that Karin Yamada's strength was so absurd that laughing was all she could do... but the funniest thing of all was Shinobu Nekoyashiki, frozen stiff as Karin's conquest was rubbed in her face.
"Hey, how does it feel right now!? How does it feel that your plan to make her stream 'Elegently' to wear her down for a guaranteed kill is failing COMPLETELY!? How does it feel that the large-scale operation you launched right after getting giddy over the branch-chief seat you stole from me isn't going to plan!? Tell me! Because I'm having a BLAST watching this stream!?"
She showered taunts on her hateful former subordinate—the one who had driven her from power by concealing an otherworldly invention.
Nekoyashiki glared daggers at Yoko—
"...You certainly seem to be enjoying yourself. Since when did you join the Karin Party, I wonder?"
she said in a low voice, thick with sarcasm.
But contrary to Yoko's hopes—that was the entirety of Nekoyashiki's reaction.
Without so much as kicking the cage holding Yoko, she quietly rose from her seat.
"Oh? Where are you going? Running away? Taking your eyes off Karin Yamada's stream won't change reality, you know?"
"...Startup preparations for 'that.' The adjustments were already thorough, but as you say, Karin Yamada is no ordinary opponent. It has the performance to crush her even if she arrives without a scratch... but in case she reaches the dungeon's deepest point, I am simply moving early. Belt and suspenders."
Nekoyashiki didn't stir at the added taunts.
"Also, I will continue watching this ridiculous stream even while making preparations. Having Karin Yamada stream was not solely to accelerate her attrition. It was also to probe her hand. Let the abyss's monsters draw out as many of Karin Yamada's 'trump cards' as they please. However much lighter her exhaustion than projected, this step only raises our odds."
Without raising her voice at Yoko's childish provocation, Nekoyashiki finished quietly and vanished into the back room, compact terminal in hand.
Watching her back, Yoko—wiping away the excessive mockery she'd worn until moments ago—clicked her tongue.
"She's come full circle back to calm, has she. When she's like that, I can't count on Nekoyashiki fumbling either. Then if we want even a slightly better chance of mutual destruction, I'd want Karin Yamada to go through WITHOUT revealing equipment she hasn't shown yet..."
But that would probably be asking too much, Yoko thought, knitting her brows.
"The abyss's real threats start here. However much of a monster that lunatic brat is, keeping her Elegant conquest going while hoarding her trump cards has to be a tall order."
And so, in a decidedly twisted form, she had somehow come to voice something like support for Karin—Yoko Inukai turned her eyes back to the ojou-sama's stream, bound for abyssal floor 2.
〇
—And while something was truly beginning to move behind the scenes—
【At last, abyssal floor 2, desu wa...!】
【The Okutama incident only went to abyssal floor 1—streamed abyssal floor 2 is seriously world-first territory...】
【That abyss-charge stream is fully treated as 'an incident' now—lmao】
【I mean, that WAS nothing short of an incident...】
【An incident—or the footage of a disaster in human shape, is the feeling...!】
【Even for Ojou-sama, streamed abyssal floor 2 is uncharted territory, yet here I am not really on the edge of my seat, desu wa...】
【Ojou-sama casually heading down in her dress is insane, but after watching that underwater fight, something in me just feels like it'll all work out...】
【What is this... my excitement is slightly beating out my worry, desu wa...?】
【I was watching in serious anxiety until just now, but... could it be that laughing while watching this collapse-prevention stream is actually the correct way...?】
【W-well, counterterrorism-wise that viewing attitude does seem correct...】
【Why does 'a minor's anti-terror solo abyssal conquest'—literally nothing but heart-risk factors—feel like riding a giant sturdy ship!?】
【This ojou-sama isn't a sturdy ship, she's a continent...】
【Unshakable ♂】
【Keep it up just like this, Ojou-sama, if you please!】
Having one-sidedly hunted down abyssal floor 1 in THAT manner, Karin was heading for abyssal floor 2 with her usual light stride—and despite being mid-way through the unprecedented act of streaming a descent to abyssal floor 2 in a dress, the comments maintained a relatively peaceful atmosphere.
She had, after all, traversed the underwater area of the abyss—the underwater stage hated by all explorers—damage-free via outrageous conquest. What's more, she had improvised water-control magic gear from an aquatic abyssal boss's materials on the spot, demonstrating the adaptability to handle whatever environment blocked her path going forward.
With Karin's advance meeting no enemies, it was no wonder comments with something of a peacetime mood were growing in number.
¥10,000 @motimotimotimoti
Apologies for writing during your conquest, Karin ojou-sama.
Presumptuous of me, but the water-manipulating armor you have just crafted appears to belong to the same lineage as the equipment you once let me name. If you would be so kind, might I have the honor of naming another... something like "Demonic Dragon Armor: Reverse Wave"...!
【Tamago-sensei!?】
【And here I thought you wouldn't be commenting today!】
【She moved before that outrageous gear could join the Demonic Dragon Armor series under some weird name!?】
【A little irregular, but SO cool, desu wa!】
【Saved】
【Seriously saved】
【Thank goodness for Tamago-sensei, truly, desu wa... Things could have gone so wrong that the Demonic Dragon Armor series wouldn't be 'Storm Style,' 'Lightning Style,' 'Reverse Wave'—it'd be 'Whoosh-Whoosh,' 'Rumble-Rumble,' 'Sloshy-Sloshy'...】
【↑ It's leaking, it's leaking!】
【Thinking there's a parallel world where the Demonic Dragon Armor series got called the Upset-Stomach series makes me so grateful Tamago-sensei stepped in, desu no】
"Hyeh!? Tamago-sensei!? A-and on top of another such generous superchat, you would grace it with a name again...!? I hadn't managed to tell you, but together with the support illustration before the stream, I truly thank you, desu wa...! This equipment shall go by Reverse Wave, desu no...!"
Since Karin was still descending the passage between floors, even Mochimochi Tamago-sensei, silent until now, showed up in the comments.
And furthermore—
"Oh, I have reached floor 2. ...Hmm, this floor 2 is like the deep layers were—an ordinary rocky cavern labyrinth. I was hoping to try out Reverse Wave right away, but perhaps it will not get its turn."
【Oh, so floor 2 is just a sprawling cavern like the deep layers】
【A cavern I've seen more often than my parents' faces】
【The comforting feel of my childhood home】
【↑ Feeling reassured by the sight of deep layers means your ojou-sama-brainification is progressing. Please purify yourself with Mitsuki-sama's sane commentary videos】
【I was braced for whatever ridiculous stage came next, so the difficulty dropping a little is a relief, desu no...!】
【Just a plain cavern... GG, we won】
【The abyss is nothing to get careless about, I'm sure... but an ojou-sama who musou'd underwater can totally do this, definitely!】
【No, no, everyone! Yes, Karin ojou-sama is insanely strong, but this IS a first-seen abyssal floor 2, I say!?】
【Carelessness is forbidden, desu wa!】
【No telling what'll show up... please be careful, Ojou-sama!】
Many had probably been bracing for whatever unreasonableness would strike next.
The share calling for vigilance remained larger, of course, but comments of relief at the familiar dungeon-like cavern scenery flowed by in great numbers.
Amid all that, Karin—who had stowed Reverse Wave for the moment and now wore only Storm Style—said "Then let us press onward, desu wa!" and advanced, dress swishing as always—
"...Something is here, desu wa."
Barely after starting into floor 2, Karin stopped as if sensing a presence.
What then appeared from down the passage was—a squat, plump, round beast of some sort.
"KYUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!"
【What is this thing!?】
【It's a huge-ass armadillo, desu no!?】
【It's kinda cute, desu wa!?】
【No claws or fangs though... is this really a monster, desu no...?】
The comment section showed a hint of confusion at the monster that had appeared.
The thing blocking Karin's path certainly had presence, standing about three meters tall... but that was all. It lacked the terrible claws and fangs of the monsters before it, and—naturally, being an armadillo—it was round all over, almost plush-suit-like in atmosphere.
But as a matter of course—the mana it wore was unmistakably beyond the norm, and—
"Now then, what sort of monster-sama might you be, desu no?"
The instant Karin asked, without a shred of letup in her guard—
"KYUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!"
GYURURURURURURURURURURU!! DOGGGGGGGG!
As if in answer, the armadillo curled its body into a flawless sphere without a single dent—then began a ferocious spin, and its form vanished.
An instant later—DOGOGOGOGOGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
【!?】
【Hah!?】
【What, desu no!?】
【The armadillo vanished and now the dungeon walls are getting pulverized!?】
【Hey hey hey hey, what IS this!?】
【Craters are blooming all over the walls, floor, AND ceiling!?】
【The dungeon is spontaneously exploding!?】
【No, wait—!?】
【@Captain pizza: F***! That armadillo bastard's ricocheting around like a live cannonball!】
"I see, so that is how it is, desu no. The armadillo-sama bounces about at ferocious speed while spinning, tackling from every direction. Just like a superball, desu wa."
Country-toppling explorer Kirby's comment and Karin's nod overlapped.
Yes. The true identity of the dungeon-wall destruction was a bouncing armadillo.
An extremely simple ability: full-speed spinning tackles.
But in an abyss crowded with magic-ability wielders, a fighting style that poured vast mana purely into physical functions was a considerable threat in itself—
【Eh, this is seriously that armadillo's tackle!?】
【The power AND speed are way too much!?】
【Fine, it breaks dungeon walls—but no matter how much I slow the video down I can't SEE it!?】
It was as if the Dragon Cannon's wall-piercing bombardment had gained a will and relentlessly tracked its target. Viewers shuddered at the living homing shell combining speed and power. But—
"Ho ho hoi, desu wa!"
Karin, her mobility assisted by Demonic Dragon Armor: Storm Style, was of course dodging that bombardment as it repeatedly targeted her. And not merely by sensing it.
【I kept thinking Ojou-sama's movements were weird—she's DODGING the attacks!】
【Her behavior's ALWAYS weird and the armadillo's invisible, so it took me forever to notice, desu wa!?】
【Eh, no, this isn't just dodging...】
【Is it me or are Ojou-sama's eyes kinda CREEPY right now!?】
【They're ROLLING like craaaaazy!?】
【There are afterimages in her pupils—hasn't she basically got demon eyes!?】
【Eh, don't tell me she's tracking the armadillo WITH HER EYES!?】
Yes.
Karin was now catching the opponent's movement not only with her perception skills but fully with her inhuman dynamic vision. Dress flaring, she evaded the tackles—one hit would not end lightly—with minimal motion as always, dodging and dodging and perfectly dodging.
【Seriously!?】
【I thought the armadillo was insane, but Ojou-sama is several levels MORE insane, desu wa!】
【Anyway, if she's tracking its movements that perfectly, the rest is easy, desu no!】
【Elegant hunting as always, desu waaa!】
【A stable clear of abyssal floor 2 at this pace, I say!】
The comments, already leaning optimistic, naturally surged, and Karin clenched her fist to answer them.
And then—
"It seems its attack pattern is tackles alone, desu wa. Then this time, it is my turn! —Hmph!"
Dodging the armadillo charging at her, she struck from the side simultaneously, her fist catching the creature's core with tremendous speed and power.
An instant later—GAGIIN!!
"!"
As if to say the abyss was not so forgiving—the steel fists that had slaughtered countless monsters, deep-layer bosses included, were deflected with a thunderous clang by the carapace of an armadillo with no magic ability whatsoever.
―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――
I was laughing at that "Elegant Dick Fishing" move name in the comments—the next reputation-destroying finisher name after Fist F***! (And Tamago-sensei charges in, answering all those cries for help in the previous episode's comments, desu no.)
Also, maybe because I wrote "to focus on my other series" last time, I was surprised to see the page views for Banishing the Incubus and my other works jump. So since the chance presents itself, I'll just come out and say it: the series running behind is "My Strongest Masteresses Are Trying to Make Me Rise in the World and Are at Each Other's Throats Over My Training Regimen." Its comic adaptation is insanely high quality AND updates fast—it's about to catch up to the novel, so I have to hurry with the continuation, desu wa.
※It is SERIOUSLY, genuinely incredible quality—if "an isekai fantasy where the weakest boy, chosen by the strongest class of masteresses, is raised as a future husband candidate and grows strong" sounds intriguing, please check out the comic version on the MangaOne manga app, desu no! Note that the manga's title is slightly different, and the original-novel credit is "Oozora Akagi," so watch out, desu wa!
The original novel is at five volumes and the manga's collected editions only about seven, so it should be relatively easy to catch up, desu no!