Mob Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni
Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #123
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Translator(s) note: Apologies for the delay, got swamped a bit...
Episode 123: The
Longest Day of My Life (7)
"Impossible...!"
Resurrection?! The Guild's records didn't mention anything
like that!
It only stated that Phase 3 would end once Urashima
Taro was defeated...!
"Guh, one more time! Attack!"
Again, I ordered the
Rakshasas.
Just
like before, at the cost of several sacrifices, we once again defeated Urashima
Taro together.
...But,
"To gang up and bully a turtle, what despicable wretches you
are. I'll teach you a lesson."
"Seriously...?"
I frowned, facing Urashima Taro who had resurrected as
if it were the most natural thing in the world.
There's no mistake. This guy is immortal. He must be
the type to have some external weakness hidden somewhere. Unless we exploit it,
he'll just keep resurrecting endlessly.
What is it? How do we dispel this guy's immortal
state?
Then,
a weak, limp sea turtle caught my eye.
"...The turtle, huh?"
Our roles in this scenario are the children bullying
the turtle.
In that case, if we kill the turtle here, Urashima
Taro won't be able to go to Ryugu-jo, and the story will completely fall apart!
Responding to my murderous intent, Eliza, Suzuka, and
the Celtic
Trinity Deities pierced the sea turtle's shell with their respective
weapons.
The sea turtle let out a faint death cry, a gasp
seemed to escape, and it breathed its last.
...How's that?!
"YOU BASTAAARDS!!!"
Urashima
Taro's expression contorted into one of fury, and a jet-black aura enveloped
his body. The oppressive aura he emitted also surged up a level... no, several
levels!
"Not
content with merely bullying an innocent turtle, you even took its life! What
atrocity! I will show no more mercy!"
"Kuh...!"
It didn't work! If anything, we had pulled the trigger and
powered him up.
Urashima Taro moved in front of me in an instant.
His
super speed was such that even when viewed through the cards' five senses, it
seemed like teleportation.
『Th-This
is bad...!』
Faced with imminent death, my thought speed
accelerated beyond its limits.
Even
though I became able to follow the smooth movement of Urashima Taro's karate chop
with my eyes, neither I nor my cards could move a muscle, as if we had turned
to stone.
As
time flowed so slowly it felt like it would take a day to move a single
fingertip, the hand chop was about to pierce my chest――――when a translucent
barrier blocked it.
Insurance Magic1.
A beat later, I understood that the Insurance Magic
imbued in the Adventurers' Club badge had saved me.
However,
the crisis had not yet passed.
Urashima Taro, whose hand chop had been repelled, swung his
arm down in a return strike, intending to cleave my body in
two from the head... but that arm was gruesomely snapped.
"Nuh!?"
Taken aback by the bizarre outcome, Urashima Taro
shouted in bewilderment and took a step back.
What blocked his second direct attack was a diamond
film that had appeared to envelop my body.
The Vouivre's [A Broken Mirror Will Never Shine Again]
skill, which reflected any attack once. While the monster was in human form, it
can even be lent out in the form of a pendant.
I had borrowed it from Myra.
Originally, it was prepared for the fight against the
Pied Piper of Hamelin, but it unexpectedly came in handy here.
Despite being injured by the unexpected counterattack,
Urashima Taro didn't hold back and went for a third direct attack.
The first time was the Insurance Magic. The second
time was the Vouivre's skill. There was no third. The enemy understood that
well.
Urashima Taro swung his undamaged left arm down
towards my head.
Just then, at the very last moment... a truly
hair's-breadth timing, Eliza slid in.
She intercepted the hammer-like downward swing from
above with the Dáinsleif in her hand――――
『Gah!?』
And then, the sword was smashed to pieces, along with
her head.
『Eliza!?』
The Full Synchronization directly conveyed her severe
damage to me.
Clearly a fatal wound. However, thanks to the Golden Apple from the Hesperides2 and her vampire
vitality, she barely avoided being Lost.
Casting a recovery spell now might still...!
――――However.
『Kh.....! 』
Faster than Renge could use [Rain of Amrita], Urashima
Taro's roundhouse kick landed. Eliza's headless body was sent flying like a
fallen leaf.
At the same time, the sound of a card being Lost
echoed from my chest pocket.
Eliza is... !? You've gotta be kidding me!? She had equipped
Dress, and Full Synchronization was active too! And that was not even a special
move, just a normal attack...!
But her
sacrifice wasn't in vain, and I wouldn't let it be!
In the brief time she bought, Yuki carried my body backward with Shukuji3, and the
Rakshasas caught up to Urashima Taro.
Against
the attacking Rakshasas,
Urashima Taro's mighty fist roared, shattering the head of one of them with a
single blow, and with his backhanded strike, effortlessly snapping the neck of another.
What power! But, with this...!
Due to the Rakshasas' [Mutual Destruction] skill, blood
erupted from Urashima Taro's head and neck――――
"Wha—!?"
The
next moment, I doubted my eyes.
Urashima
Taro's half-shattered head rapidly healed as if in reverse playback.
Automatic Regeneration... no, the wound on his neck
isn't healing. This is—!
『An [Absorption Attack]?!』
This is bad, bad, bad...!
The Rakshasas' [Mutual Destruction] skill, which
returned the damage dealt, and the [Absorption Attack],
which recovered health equal
to the damage dealt, have fatally bad
compatibility. The valuable [Mutual
Destruction]s
would be almost nullified!
What do I do...? Maybe Mea's male-specific attack...?
No, that's no good. If I try to summon a new card here, I'll be dealt with
first! Should
I stack defense and recovery magic on the Rakshasas to somehow avoid their instant death while
also increasing the damage from their [Mutual Destruction]? Maybe if a certain
amount of damage accumulates, I can have them all use [Mutual Destruction]
simultaneously and deplete Urashima Taro's life force...!
If we can't
finish him off completely, I'll be in a huge pinch once the Rakshasas
are gone, but is there any other way...? No, wait! That's it!
『Athena! We're using Aegis!』
Though
I called out to her like that, there was no response from Athena.
Looking to my side, I saw her looking pale and
trembling uncontrollably before Urashima Taro.
Kuh......! The [Cowardice]
skill!
I grabbed her shoulder and pleaded,
『Please, Athena! You don't have to fight! You just need to activate Aegis!』
『Uu...! I
understand! I do understand that, but...』
Even
though Athena braced her great shield with trembling hands, Aegis did not
activate.
Even though her [Juvenile]
skill had been lifted and her skills became usable, the fear from her
[Cowardice] skill had been hindering her skill activation during combat.
......
Athena, can't do it. A negative skill as potent as [Cowardice] isn’t something
that can be overcome with willpower or persuasion alone.
There's
no choice. It's risky, but the only option is the Rakshasas' simultaneous
[Mutual Destruction] strategy...!
Just as I steeled myself for
that,
『Oi you, Athena! Damn it! You
dare mess around at a time like this?!』
Renge's furious roar echoed
through the Link.
While casting auxiliary magic
on the Rakshasas, she barked,
『You're the one who kept
saying, "What will become of Ai if you give up here!" weren't
you?! Utamaro stood up properly!』
Gasping, Athena's eyes
widened.
『That's right, Ai...! My Pallas4...』
『If you're going to act like a
goddess, at least take responsibility for your own words! Show some guts!』
『Ugh...! Silence, commoner!
You've been looking down on me from the start, acting all high and mighty! To
whom do you think you're speaking?!』
Athena glared fiercely back at
Renge.
All traces of fear had
vanished from her expression, and her trembling had completely stopped.
At the same time, Athena’s
card at my chest emitted light.
I knew what had happened even
without looking.
I grinned and used a Vampire
card to revive Eliza, ready for the next step.
Athena raised her great shield
to the heavens and proclaimed valiantly,
"My
name is Athena! Guardian deity of the city, and guide of heroes! Behold the
power of my Aegis!"
A mystical light enveloped
Renge and the others, along with the Rakshasas.
That light, somehow warm and
courage-instilling, was Athena's blessing of Absolute Defense.
Urashima Taro, in response to
our change, swung his fist as if to say, 'What do I care?'――――
"What?!"
*Wham!* His fist was strongly
repelled.
The Rakshasa that was hit was,
as expected, unharmed. On the other hand, the part of Urashima Taro's hand that
touched the light had faintly turned to stone.
Athena's Aegis, in addition to
Absolute Defense, also countered with a petrification curse.
Like
this, no matter if he is an Irregular Encounter, he's helpless.
He was attacked unilaterally,
and counterattacks returned in the form of progressing petrification.
As the petrification
progressed, Urashima Taro's movements also slowed down, and finally, the
Rakshasas' attacks began to reach his body.
Of course, the other cards
weren't just standing around either.
By layering petrification
magic along with attack magic, they further accelerated the petrification's
progression.
Eventually, when his body was
completely petrified, the Rakshasas shattered him into pieces, causing Urashima
Taro to vanish.
And then――――
"To
gang up and bully a turtle, what despicable wretches you are. I'll teach you a
lesson."
"...No
good, huh?"
Seeing Urashima Taro revive as
naturally as breathing, I couldn't help but feel disheartened.
I had a little bit of hope
there... but it seemed defeating him in his powered-up state was pointless
after all.
Upon closer inspection, the
sea turtle had also revived in the same manner.
Seeing that, the cards also cursed,
"Tch!
Don't f*cking come back to life! It was going so smoothly, we should have been
able to defeat him for good!"
"Honestly,
it was supposed to be my grand awakening scene, yet... What an inconsiderate
enemy. Just like Suzuka."
"Can
you stop slandering me so casually?"
Perhaps because they had more
leeway thanks to Absolute Defense, the cards exchanged witty remarks. I plopped
down on the beach, sitting cross-legged, ignoring them.
Suddenly, I noticed golden
hair swaying at the edge of my vision, and when I looked up, Eliza had come to
sit next to me.
『Eliza, that was your second
Lost. Are you okay?』
『Yes, Master. There is no
problem. I apologize for my carelessness.』
『No, you did nothing wrong. You
saved my life. Thank you.』
Having expressed my gratitude
to Eliza...
“......Huuuuuu...”
I exhaled deeply.
At any rate, this gave me a
minute, albeit only a minute, to think.
While [Aegis Protection], the Absolute
Defense, had no limit on its uses, it did have a ten-minute cooldown per
activation.
By any means, I had to uncover
the secret to Urashima Taro's revival within this one minute before Aegis's
effect wore off.
First,
let's organize the information.
There's
no doubt that this Urashima Taro will continue to appear endlessly unless certain
conditions are met.
Considering
that the sea turtle also revived, it must have been a gimmick that reset the
story to a certain point... specifically, at the beginning of the scene where
the bratty kids were bullying the turtle.
Defeating
Urashima Taro rewinds the scene probably because it contradicts the story's narrative,
but it’s troublesome that I don't know where the landmines are buried, like
Urashima Taro powering up if the sea turtle is killed.
For this type of enemy, the
theory was to try various methods through trial and error to find the release
conditions, and yet... with this, trying various methods became terrifying.
Hmmm...
what to do? Being punished by Urashima Taro as a brat is probably just a
straightforward death, so that’s out of the question.
What
if we, conversely, help the turtle? ...But since the scene already started with
bullying, that's pointless.
Apologizing
for bullying the turtle...? That's a possibility, but considering the
troublesome nature of Irregular Encounters, it probably wouldn't be that
simple. At worst, the story’s progress could even result in us being sent back
to Phase 2.
I was stumped. I truly
couldn't find an answer.
Why
did the Guild’s records only say 'Once you defeat Urashima Taro, it's over'?
It's probably related to some Riddle Skill, but there should at least be a hint
that doesn't change the difficulty level――――no, wait.
A jolt, something like an
electric current, ran through my mind.
That's
right. Why didn't the Guild's records have detailed information about Phase 3?
For Phase 1, the location of
the Tamatebako wasn't written, but it contained the rate of aging and other
details.
In the following Phase 2, the
details about Otohime's temptation, her attack methods in combat form, and how
damage dealt in human form would affect the hate generation and breath attack
power in combat form were all meticulously written.
They had no problem writing
that much.
Then why, in this Phase 3, was
it only written as 'Once you defeat Urashima Taro, it's over'?
It's
because writing anything more would have been bad.
On the other hand, there was
no lie in the information that was written itself.
'Once
you defeat Urashima Taro, it's over'. If this was the biggest hint they could
write...
In
other words, the Urashima Taro we need to defeat is――――!
『Everyone, follow me!』
Saying only that, I leaped
onto Yuki's back.
Our destination was the house
where the Tamatebako had been in Phase 1.
There's
no definite proof. But if there is a 'real' Urashima Taro, that's the only
place he could be...!
————Sure enough, I won the
bet.
Before us, who had kicked down
the house door and rushed inside, was the figure of an old man slumped before
an empty Tamatebako.
A man so withered that he
looked like a moving mummy, as if that's what would happen if one continued to
age without dying for hundreds of years.
...So
that's how it was after all.
The 'Urashima Taro' we had
been fighting until just now—no, even Phase 1 and Phase 2—were all just dreams
that this Urashima Taro had been seeing inside the empty Tamatebako.
That's
the full picture of the Irregular Encounter Urashima Taro...!
『Yuki!』
Her werewolf-form right arm was
swung, cleaving the aged Urashima Taro's body in two.
It felt like snapping a twig.
The utter lack of resistance
was so startling that I began to harbor the doubt, ‘Or was this one a dummy
too?’
Just then, the younger
Urashima Taro whom Renge and the others had been holding back outside the
house, vanished.
At the same time, the
surrounding scenery warped, and before we knew it, we were back in the ruins of
Phase 1.
This
is...
As I looked around,
"You
will, lose everything..."
The upper half of Urashima
Taro's body, lying on the ground, suddenly spoke.
The voice sounded hollow, as
if the wind had blown through a hollow tree trunk.
I reflexively turned my head
in the direction of the voice, and my eyes met his sunken sockets.
"You,
too, have been captivated by the non-humans, haven't you...?"
To my silence, the aged
Urashima Taro spoke as if pleading,
"The
perception of those non-humans is too different from humans. "
"…………………………………………"
"Even
if it's a blessing to them... for humans, it is..."
"————Even
so, I won’t have any regrets."
Before I knew it, I had said
that.
Even though conversing with an
Irregular Encounter would only create an opening...
For some reason, I couldn't
bring myself to see this man as a stranger, and I had ended up replying like
that.
Just then, Renge and the
others entered the ruins.
Seeing me surrounded by the
cards, Urashima Taro faintly smiled... or I thought I saw that.
"To
be young, eh? Very well. Take it..."
With these words, Urashima
Taro pointed at the Tamatebako... and this time, he completely vanished.
At the same time, the
surrounding scenery melted away—and in the blink of an eye, I was standing on a
concrete road.
Amidst a feeling that
everything might have been an illusion, Urashima Taro's magic stone and the
Tamatebako were definitely there before my eyes.
『Master! Enemy!』
The instant I picked them up,
Yuki sensed the presence of an approaching enemy and sharply issued a warning.
It was, a vengeful spirit clad
in tattered rags, its face twisted in hatred and pain ―――― a C-rank monster, a
Wraith.
Suzuka stood in the path of
the vengeful spirit, which was charging straight towards me, and slashed it crosswise
with the two swords in her hands.
Before the Sanmyō no Tsurugi,
imbued with the power of exorcism, the Wraith let out a death throe shriek and
vanished.
With a soft thud, a card fell
to the ground.
While Eliza picked it up, I
scanned our surroundings.
"Monsters
of this rank already..."
Black smoke billowed from all
over the city, accompanied by the roars of beasts echoing from every direction.
All buildings within sight
were destroyed to varying degrees, and on the cracked asphalt ground were
fresh, reddish-black bloodstains...
"Kuh...!
Let's go..."
Feeling as though I heard
human screams mixed with the beasts' roars, I climbed onto Myra's back, who had
transformed into a Wyvern, as if fleeing.
While
Myra's transformation time still lasts, I have to get to Ai.
I flew, looking straight ahead
so as not to catch sight of 'people I might be able to save'.
.
All the while, I could feel
the phantom sensation of countless hands clinging to my back...
And so, we finally reached the
endpoint of the line of light.
"This
is..."
It was a familiar Dungeon
Mart.
While the surrounding area was
ravaged by the monster attacks, it stood there, completely unscathed. I could
never forget it.
It was the first dungeon we
had first delved into, and the same one where we had once fought that clown.
"Why,
here...?"
It
couldn't be that he appeared by taking over the boss of this place... could it?
It's
unlikely he'd bother possessing the body of some weakling for a festival.
He
must have only entered this place later, and he definitely took over the body
of a C-rank dungeon boss.
Which
means...
————This meant we now had to
fight an A-rank equivalent
Irregular Encounter with only two summoning slots.
[Tips]
Urashima Taro Part 3
Phase 3 of Urashima Taro
involves battling Urashima Taro in his youth.
This is a recreation of the
scene where Urashima Taro saves the turtle from the bratty kids, and the
adventurers cast as the bratty kids have no chance of winning from the start.
Even if you defeat Urashima
Taro, the scene will reset
to the beginning, trapping you in an endless fight.
To break this, you must solve
a Riddle Skill,
similar to Phase 1, by finding the real
Urashima Taro.
The location of the real
Urashima Taro changes depending on the adventurers' knowledge; If they know
nothing, he's in the house where the Tamatebako was found in Phase 1, but if
they do know beforehand, he'll be relocated
elsewhere.
Each time you guess the wrong
location for the real one, the younger Urashima Taro's stats will gradually power up,
reaching up to ten times
his original strength at the maximum.
Note that killing the turtle
is strictly forbidden, as it will instantly boost him to his maximum enhanced
state.
***
Notes:
1 An advanced auxiliary magic. It puts up a protective shield to prevent a direct attack on the master once.↩
2 The Golden Apple grants [Knowledge of Survival]: Allows the card to escape Lost with a small amount of life force left after sustaining near-death damage ↩
3 Reminder: A technique of contracting space ↩
4 The myth said that Athena once had a friend named Pallas, who was a sea nymph and a warrior. Athena accidentally killed her and later adopted the name as her epithet. One interpretation of the name suggests that it's derived from "παλλακίς," meaning 'youth' or 'young woman'.↩
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