Chapter 47
Wakamo, buried in the swamp by a single blow from the Swamp Rock Spirit, struggles her way back out.
Pirate and Ichigo had already scattered and were running.
Ichigo froze the ground to create footholds, then slid along them to make use of her momentum, loading a slingshot and firing pills wildly to cause chain explosions.
The Swamp Rock Spirit was a rock spirit made of mud originating from the swamp. All they had to do was bring down its main body.
Pirate also slid across the ice, transformed her entire body into ice, and slammed her palm down on the path Ichigo had created.
"[Elemental Transformation]! [Dual Transformation]! [Shape Substitution]!"
A mountain of ice suddenly erupted, and as it caught the incoming mud punch, Ichigo was launched upward by the recoil and scattered all kinds of potions.
Immediately afterward, she spun the slingshot, loaded a hook, and fired it to move toward the wall, hanging safely from it as an explosion went off.
"Hyaa!"
-That's incredible.
-I saw this in science class.
-It's time for a fun volcano experiment.
Not baking soda and vinegar....
After mixing all sorts of poisons and detonating them at once, dazzling fireworks burst above the mud giant's head.
It transformed into all sorts of substances, with lava pouring down, ice erupting, and snow falling across the floor, while the burst of steam heated everything fiercely─and sharp, steel-spike-like protrusions jutted out from various parts of its body.
Yet the Swamp Rock Spirit continued moving as though nothing were wrong, despite an active volcano erupting above its head.
"[Forced Mutation]!"
Pirate dove beneath it and lightly tapped its leg with her hand. From the point of contact, a stark-white area spread, and the leg turned into a mass of ice as though it had been swallowed by the ice Ichigo had spread out.
"Oryaat─!!"
Pirate changed her other hand into metal and smashed down with all her strength, brutally shattering one of its legs and throwing off its balance.
Wakamo, who had escaped the swamp, poured Mana into the Kusanagi Sword and sent a slash flying that was meant to cut straight through it.
Taking her stance, she drew a single sword stroke downward, carving a straight line across the swamp, and the giant's body soon split in half and tilted.
The shorter side slid down as its leg collapsed, but.
Even that began regenerating as it absorbed the mud around it.
"Gooooo─"
The echo from a cavern reverberated through its gaping mouth, spreading ominously.
"[The Swamp Rock Spirit is a monster that regenerates when mud is present. Normally, the amount of mud should be limited─]"
"Ah, Manager. Thank you."
So in this situation, with mud springing up endlessly, that meant they could not kill it?
Even when she looked up, darkness filled the sky, with no way to tell where the mud was pouring from.
On top of that, if they dragged things out, the mud─no, the swamp─would keep rising and slow their movements. And even if that did not happen, the spirit would grow larger by absorbing it, which was a problem in its own right.
"I suppose I have no choice."
White flames bloomed from Wakamo's shoulders.
Soon, they spread down both arms, and the blazing white fire lit up the darkness as it burned hot and fiercely.
Pirate caught Ichigo as she leaped down after realizing what Wakamo intended and withdrew with her.
The Swamp Rock Spirit, its gaze fixed on Wakamo as she burned through an enormous amount of Mana, raised its fist high.
Wakamo took her stance against the attack as it transformed into the shape of a hammer, filled with the intent to crush her.
She even used [VTuber Asset] to create an arrow, wrapping it in white flames and hiding it from sight─
"Fuga"
-It's coming, it's coming!!
-"Let's have a firepower contest."
-Now that things are finally getting exciting, shall we show them?
-Only the Fox God could satisfy the believers' expectations.
-It's coming, the strongest Shaman of the Heian period's spellcraft..!!
-The Battle of Dan-no-ura did take place during the Heian period, so that's accurate.
-Ahㅋㅋㅋ So it was historically accurateㅋㅋㅋ
[Stats]
Mana: 624,171 -> 524,143.
[Additional Stats: 35]
"Kamino"
The white-flame arrow shot from Wakamo's fingertips was fired in a crude manner that was practically closer to being launched than shot.
Ichigo hurled a potion that could increase its firepower with all her strength toward the trajectory of the flame that had flown through the trick of [Mana Manipulation]. Meanwhile, Pirate raised the mud and created a barrier.
The incoming arrow collided with the Rock Spirit─and then a dazzling light burst forth, filling the viewers' screens with white.
White flames spread in every direction along with a surging shockwave.
The Idol's Flame burned as fiercely as the Mana it had consumed, swallowing the Rock Spirit's enormous body in flames.
As with the Elven Sage, the rock giant burned as it was devoured by the flames, staggering as though it would soon collapse and die if left alone, but.
That was wrong.
"Boss!!"
Along with Ichigo's desperate shout, an enormous mud hammer came crashing down over Wakamo's head.
Wakamo quickly withdrew, but a wave of mud surged up from where it struck the ground, blocking her vision.
Its arm absorbed that wave of mud, grew enormous, and struck Wakamo floating in the air, slamming her into the wall in the distance with a single blow.
-What? It didn't die even after taking that?!
-Its upper body evaporated, and it still got hit?
Was its main body moving freely inside the mud? The Swamp Rock Spirit was still alive even though the center of its upper body had vanished.
The two arms with only their shoulders remaining moved without issue and prepared to attack Wakamo again.
Wakamo leaped over the swinging mass of mud, then watched as the Rock Spirit absorbed a large amount of mud all at once, restored itself, and regenerated.
She also saw the mud continuing to pour down from above, making gurgling sounds as it filled the ground beneath her feet.
"Hngh─ Ichigo. Do you have any freezing potions left?"
"....Yeah! Should I use them?!"
"Not yet. When I give the signal, trap it inside an ice wall."
"Yeah!"
Wakamo planted the [Kusanagi Sword] into the ground and took a deep breath.
She had never tried it before─but had not everything been possible as long as she had Mana?
"──I am going to consume an excessive amount of Mana, though."
She had experimented with it repeatedly while moving supplies.
Wasn't it possible to produce a career-high miracle that surpassed what she had practiced during actual combat?
"If you're going to fight using an advantage provided by the environment, then we will answer domain with domain."
Along with the sound of mud being sucked away entirely, something appeared behind Wakamo─something invisible to the viewers.
A reckless ultimate attack cast with a let-it-all-hang-out attitude!
"I shall invite you into my paradise beyond the world."
Ichigo threw freezing potions to create walls of ice and block the waves of mud before they could spread to the house.
She forcibly dragged the Swamp Rock Spirit into Wakamo's [My Worlds], which had a spacious yard.
A beautiful landscape of blue skies and green fields stretching endlessly into the distance.
The viewers marveled as the floor truly transformed into a paradise in an instant.
Having lost the advantage of producing infinite mud, the Rock Spirit curled itself into a ball and rolled toward Wakamo.
[Stats]
Mana: 524,143 -> 201,903
[Additional Stats: 35]
'That consumed more than I expected...!'
She had known that she could enlarge the portal and move it, but doing so was extremely taxing.
However, once she had dragged it here, Wakamo held an overwhelming advantage.
This place was still inside a floor, after all!
"All right─now you won't be able to use that impressive regeneration ability!!"
There was still a lot of it─it was still huge─and it was still intimidating!!
But Wakamo sneered because she was confident.
She had not specifically told Ichigo to trap it in an ice wall without leaving any gaps for no reason.
Once Pirate had reinforced it as well, Wakamo drew up her Mana.
The electricity in this area─and even the 『water supply』─was supplied by Wakamo's Mana.
As Mana flowed out at an incredible rate, the ground beneath Wakamo's feet began to swell.
"The waters of Salsu surge and ripple through the blue void!!"
-The Battle of Salsu has begun!
-This much water jutsu with no water around...!
-A yuri VTuber group of three girls can make it happen.
-Is all of this from polar bear tears...?
As she recited a line from Anjuhwigo meaning [The Salsu River surges and ripples through the empty sky], a pillar of water rose, and the water began to surge upward at tremendous speed.
Wakamo could breathe underwater, while the mud was being washed off the Rock Spirit by the water.
It was immediately obvious which side was at a disadvantage.
"Now!!!"
"Don't blame me if I freeze everything at once, Boss."
Frosty breath puffed from Pirate's mouth.
Following her lower body, which had turned to ice, all the water Wakamo had released froze solid.
Soon, a single shadow loomed over the head of the mud giant, which had instantly begun to resemble something that could be called an ice spirit.
Ichigo created an ice wall and used the recoil to climb atop it, then leaped toward the spirit's core, where the mud was gathering, and grabbed a metal plate from her belt.
A sword took shape in her hand through an Alchemy skill.
"Hyaaap─!!"
With an adorable battle cry so cute it was disarming, she brought down the steel greatsword and split the core in two.
"Phew.. phew...."
It was a feat made possible because she had drunk two potions from the [Body Enhancement] line purchased from the Association.
Apparently suffering severe recoil as well, Ichigo collapsed and panted, her face completely drained of color.
Wakamo moved the portal again, expelled all the mud and ice walls outside, and closed it.
-Boss, you knew how to use Domain Expansion too???
-What on earth was that place earlier?
-Wait, she knew water jutsu, but she can't swim?
-Captain's "Ice Age"ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-As expected of a Navy admiral!! I always believed in you!!
-Why isn't anyone praising our Ichigo?
-Ah, your Zangetsu.. I saw it clearly..
-Has she still not reached Shikai...?
-You guys are only strict with Ichigo.
-League of Legends is to blame for destroying its support players.
[The Incheon Tower Floor 29 has fulfilled its Platinum conditions and is now open to all humanity!!]
[Calculating rewards for the Tower Platinum clear]
"...Huh? It only gave me stats..?"
"Me too... Gr-r...?"
"What?"
Wakamo transferred five points as usual for the moment, but the rewards for the other two had suddenly dropped as well.
Well, fifteen stat points was at least equivalent to five floors of the Tower, so it was not a bad reward.... Perhaps there were no skills to teach them on the lower floors...?
Then what about me?
Why is the Tower only strict with me──!!!!
"Will you two be all right until the next floor?"
"Fine."
"I'll recover once we climb, so no problem! Ossu!"
A Climber's ascent normally could not be this grueling.
At least, not until Floor 30!!
Wakamo worried that the believers, excited by her dazzling performance once again today, would set the community ablaze. Thinking of her friends spewing fire and fighting over Ichigo's performance made her head ache.
Ichigo's original song would be coming out soon, too...!!
'Let's conquer up to Floor 30 first and think about it...'
The three of them headed toward the final cooperative floor of the lower levels.
This time, an expansive field unlike anything they had encountered before welcomed them.
It was so vast that they could even see a mountain range in the far distance.
[You are climbing the Incheon Tower Floor 30 world]
-A trial befitting powerful Climbers will be imposed.
-Join forces and overcome it together.
-
[Super Elite Boss Monster]
Defeat it!
[Platinum Completion Conditions]
-[Lesser Titan] (0/1)
-Defeat it within the time limit of 1 minute (0:01)
'....Super?'
Not just an Elite Monster, then an Elite Boss Monster above that, and above even that, a legendary Super Elite Boss Monster said to appear once every thousand years!!! It wasn't something like that, was it....??
It was a grade of monster even the Climber Association had never seen.
"Does anyone know about a Lesser Titan?"
-The Floor 60 boss of Greece, yeah.
"Thank you very much, believer."
"This is only Floor 30!!!!"
"Eue."
The ground began to tremble.
And then the mountain began to move.
No, it only felt that way because it was so close.
A giant so enormous that it reached the distant sky.
It was about the size of an apartment building... perhaps eighteen stories...? Calculating its height, it had to be around 50 meters tall.
-A Colossal Titan....?
-No way... that wall is 50 meters tall!!
-Wow, send Greece's worst fucking bastards to Korea.
-Still, these bastards are decent enough to only be huge, yeah.
-If we keep dealing damage, we might be able to do it somehow?
-I will exterminate them... every last one of them...!!
Even Wakamo stood a respectable two meters tall, but compared to the Lesser Titan, which was around 50 meters tall, she looked like nothing more than a cute hamster.
It was so overwhelmingly huge that she felt helpless, even numb, at a loss for what to do.
They said Lesser Titans were simply large, but there had to be a limit. It was way too big......
Ichigo took careful aim and fired a potion. It struck after tracing a parabola, but it did not seem to do anything in particular.
-What exploded?
-There's nothing Hyeji can do about it....
-Ichigo, you're a blockhead.
-What a comical situation this is....
-Are you insane..? Alchemists are a low-firepower class. Just support them...
-Don't say such harsh things to Ichigo!! We're friends!!!
-At this point, she has no choice but to use Getsuga Tensho...
-The Great Hollow belongs under the jurisdiction of the Royal Special Forces!!
"Sseuup...."
It was not simply a matter of wondering, 'They are only giving us one minute to defeat that thing?'
The correct interpretation was that the Tower had raised the hurdle because it believed this group had the potential to defeat it within one minute.
'I feel like I'm losing something every time I climb a floor.'
It was like the Tower was squeezing content out of her.
She wanted to save it, but she had to use it all right away....
She had not properly practiced outside the Tower because Mana was too precious, but it should be fine.
Wakamo slowly drew the sword from its sheath and began to set the mood.
Wakamo had a presence that made people feel pressured─or rather, made them imagine they felt pressured─simply by standing there silently and radiating an intangible aura!!
Wakamo maintained the silence in an oppressive stillness that felt as though it might suffocate them, then opened her mouth.
"Bankai."
-Boss, what did you say?
-What did you just sayㅋㅋㅋ
-Is this why you brought Ichigo along?
The ground shook.
It was the same as when the giant had stood up, but.
This time, it was close─much closer than expected.
Behind Wakamo, who stood gripping the [Kusanagi Sword], something gradually took shape.
A giant far larger than Wakamo─not as large as the Lesser Titan, but seemingly around 20 meters tall.
A giant wearing the most famous vividly colored armor of the Joseon period, sturdy-looking duseokrin armor complete with a helmet and ornate exterior, with brass scales attached like fish scales and a dragon on its shoulder guard shining gold, rose in the same stance as Wakamo.
The camera tried to capture the entire sight at once but could not, so it lowered itself and filmed from a low angle, making the scene feel far more impressive.
Even the camera that had retreated as far as possible struggled to fit the giant that had appeared on-screen so the viewers could see it.
The God-General stood with its sword drawn, radiating light as though displaying its imposing presence.
"【God of Heroes, Sword-Dance Divine General, Dragon General God】"
All style, no substance.
A grandiose name cobbled together from several suitably cool words.
But that was how these things worked: the longer and more plausible the name, the cooler it looked.
To keep the VTuber stream entertaining, Wakamo felt no shame as the [Idol's Flame] bloomed along her sword.
Soon, white flames also bloomed along the blade of the Sword-Dance God General, a clone of the [Idol's Body] Wakamo had summoned.
'It consumes far less Mana! It's easy to control because it has a human form! Unlike my VTuber model, I can even empower it by pouring Mana into it...! Does damage to the clone feed back into the original?'
Wakamo appeared calm and relaxed, but her mind was busy figuring everything out.
Honestly, she had dreamed of using a prettier VTuber model, but she had chosen reality..!!
Her field of vision was split in two, and two sets of sensations coexisted simultaneously, but.
Wakamo was confident she could adapt quickly, since she was used to multitasking.
But she did not even have time to adapt "quickly"; the Sword-Dance God General, connected to Wakamo's mind as though they were one body and one soul, moved in exactly the same way.
The Titan belatedly sensed the danger and pulled out a rock to throw, but Wakamo swung the sword she had been holding from the beginning and cut it apart before it could finish forming.
'The blade manifested properly, too!'
She discovered the fatal flaw that the sword was fused to the arm, but since it was for combat anyway, she laughed it off, deciding that all that mattered was whether it cut well.
"I shall guide you to the afterlife"
She aimed the sword wrapped in blazing white flames, raised it in both hands, and drew it downward while pouring Mana into it, just like the performance she had shown before.
"Chesto─!!!"
As Pirate and Ichigo stood dumbfounded, overwhelmed by the appearance of the enormous giant, the single sword stroke swept through the air.
The Titan raised its arm to block it, but.
Pressing down on the back of the blade with one hand and forcing it down with brutal strength, the Sword-Dance God General cut through the Titan from its head down through its body and drove the tip of the sword into the ground.
The earth split with a tremendous Kwang!
Though it was a clone, the damage fed back into the original. Wakamo swallowed down the urge to vomit blood and kept up her composed demeanor as she drew the sword and returned it to its sheath.
"How dull. I cut it...."
I sometimes wonder. Why is there always one swordsman character who says things like that?
Seriously, for once there was no environmental influence, physical or magical immunity, or anything like that.
Wakamo merely offered silent prayers of gratitude that it was nothing more than a giant and waited for the alarm to appear.
[The Incheon Tower Floor 30 has fulfilled its Platinum conditions and is now open to all humanity!!]
[Calculating rewards for the Tower Platinum clear]
What reward would appear this time?
Just as she was wondering whether it would be another transfer──
"Meaning☆Unknown"
It was so absurd that she had grown used to it by now, but Wakamo still let out a hollow laugh at yet another incomprehensible reward.