No. 18's Future

Having finished off the Harpy Priests, we joined up with Jigoro and the others, who were fighting Nkerfour on the ground.

"We're done over here, everyone!"

"Tch, I was slower this time."

Jigoro twisted his face in frustration. Apparently, he had been determined to defeat an overwhelmingly superior opponent before we did. Come on, there was no way that was going to happen.

"Ghnngh, you useless idiots! But my clan still has plenty of members! Ggyooooooooooooo!!!"

After glaring at me, Nkerfour looked up and let out a war cry. He must have been summoning all the Harpies in the ruined city. It certainly seemed like an effective tactic, but unfortunately for him, it was pointless.

"W-what is the meaning of this?! Why aren't they answering my call?!"

"Would you like me to tell you why, Nkerfour-dono?"

"What did you say?"

"The reason is... I wiped them all out with my magic! Star Magic Circle, activate: Holy Ray!"

Along with my reply, I attacked using 【Holy Magic】. It wasn't an element he was particularly weak to, but that also meant he didn't have resistance to it. I could expect the spell to deal its full damage if it hit.

"Guh...! M-my entire clan is dead? Don't be ridiculous! Do you have any idea how long it took me to gather so many of them?!"

"It pains me that you don't believe me. Perhaps my personal virtue is lacking? Star Magic Circle, activate: Black Thread."

"Don't give me that! Storm!"

Nkerfour swept away my Black Thread with his wings and retaliated with magic. Whoa, I couldn't afford to be hit by Storm while flying. It would probably feel like being tossed into a washing machine!

"And are you sure you should be looking only at me?"

"Looking away? You must be awfully confident!"

"Perhaps you need to be punished?"

"You're wide open!"

While I distracted him, Jigoro, Genjuro, and Ruby took the opportunity to hack at his legs. Damage effects flew everywhere, and the HP bar beside his marker decreased. Good, good! As expected, overwhelming any opponent with superior numbers was effective against anyone!

"Gah...! You miserable earthworms! Don't get carried away!!!"

Though Nkerfour was surrounded on all sides and from above, he let out an enraged roar and swung both wings, sending feathers boasting the hardness of steel flying at us. He was probably using the 【Launch】 Skill, just like the Tarasque had with its spines.

"Whoa! That one grazed me!"

"They do seem faster than that turtle, so it can't be helped."

"Grrrrrrrr..."

However, we hadn't defeated the Tarasque for nothing. Jigoro and Genjuro suffered only grazes and dodged most of the feathers, while Cal batted every one of them away with his prized scales. Me? I had already hurriedly hidden behind Cal.

"Th-that was close!"

"It feels prickly..."

Ruby and Iris hadn't fought the Tarasque, but Ruby instinctively raised her defense with a Skill and endured the attack, while Iris stopped the feathers with her thick cellular walls.

Ruby's surface had been scraped, and Iris was covered in feathers sticking out of her body like a bed of nails, but neither of them seemed to have taken much damage. Naturally, Eighteen, who had been behind Iris, was completely unharmed. You can thank her for that!

"You blocked my arrow-feathers?!"

"I've experienced a similar attack before. Shall we resume pummeling you, then?"

Normally, he must have intended to use that wide-area attack to injure several of us and create an opportunity to turn the fight around. But things don't always go as planned. We had made it through all sorts of deadly situations. There was no way a half-hearted area attack would frighten us now!

"Ora ora ora ora!"

"Oh? I'm starting to understand the knack for cutting the feathers!"

"Grandpa, were you playing around doing that?!"

Jigoro and the others resumed attacking his legs and abdomen, while Iris and I supported them. Nkerfour's level was high, but frankly, he was weaker than the Tarasque. He was inferior in both toughness and power. If he wanted to give us trouble after we'd defeated an even stronger opponent with fewer people, at lower levels, and before we had evolved, he'd have to do something truly outrageous, like shoot beams from his eyes!

"Gyeh-gyaaaah...! You miserable insects!!!"

Unable to withstand Jigoro and the others' fierce assault, Nkerfour flapped his wings and tried to take off into the sky. Hey, hey, was that really a good idea? Why were you taking your time like that?

"Grrroooooar!!!"

Just as he lifted his huge body and escaped Jigoro and the others' grasp, Cal came diving down from behind. He somersaulted in midair and slammed his tail into Nkerfour's back. As Cal's body had grown, the tip of his tail had become sharper as well, so it struck Nkerfour's back hard and sliced deeply into it.

"Gyaaaaaah?!"

"You can't escape now. Remote activation of Star Magic Circle, spell adjustment, Thorn Whip!"

The thorns that emerged from the magic circle had been enlarged by the spell adjustment, and they wrapped around Nkerfour's entire body like snakes. His feathers were as hard as metal, so the thorns couldn't wound him. However, the vines had wrapped around his joints and made it difficult for him to exert his strength. As a result, he could no longer fly, and he could barely even stand. A huge opportunity had arrived.

"I keep thinking this, but magic sure is convenient."

"No, Jigoro. I watched Shi-chan and a mage player doing a commentary stream the other day, and they used magic completely differently from Izamu. Our leader is just especially skilled at using it."

"Is that so?"

"It is. He's definitely better than a commentator reputed to be highly skilled, at least."

"You two can stop chatting now. More importantly, we should finish him before he tears himself free... right?"

Jigoro and Ruby were conversing quietly, but we couldn't afford to let this opportunity slip away. Nkerfour might be sprawled helplessly on the ground now, but he was a boss monster. He surely had enough strength to tear the vines apart by brute force. We needed to finish him off while we had the chance.

"W-wait! Wait! I can't die here! I can't!"

"All right, everyone! Finish him!"

"Gyaaaahhhhhhhhhhh?!"

We completely ignored his pleas for mercy and pummeled him. Scythes, fists, kicks, swords, daggers, hatchets, wooden mallets, fangs, and claws relentlessly chewed away at Nkerfour's HP. Hmm, his HP was almost gone. I thought he might have a second form, but apparently not.

"Is this the fate of someone who once brought us to our knees? At this point, I almost feel sorry for him. How strange."

Eighteen stepped forward from behind Iris while murmuring that. Though I say so myself, what we were doing now was basically surrounding him and beating him as a group. It was only natural that he looked pitiful.

"Izamu-sama. After all the trouble you have gone to for me, may I ask you to grant one impertinent request?"

"A request?"

"Would you permit me to deliver the finishing blow?"

Oh? Oh my, oh my, oh my? This is getting interesting, isn't it? Eighteen's true identity was that of an Android, a type of magical artifact. However, our conversations had made it clear that she possessed a pseudo-personality, or an AI very close to one.

It wasn't difficult to imagine a human in her situation developing feelings of resentment. On top of that, she had been mercilessly worked by the very person she hated for a long time. Perhaps dark, stagnant emotions had been swirling beneath Eighteen's archaic smile.

"I have no objection. What about everyone else?"

"Sure, whatever. There's not much fun left in it for me anyway."

"Same as Jigoro."

"I don't care either way."

"Then it's settled! Go ahead and do it, Eighteen-san!"

"We have everyone's consent. Now..."

There was no reason for all of us to insist on delivering the finishing blow. If she wanted to do it, we might as well let her.

"Ghnnn! You traitorous piece of junk! You should have stayed broken!"

"I have never regretted my malfunctioning visual system more deeply than I do now. If it were functioning properly, I could have watched a defeated dog crawling on the ground."

"Y-you bastard!"

"At the same time, however, I have never been more grateful that my auditory system is functioning normally. Thanks to it, I can hear the defeated dog's howling loud and clear."

Oof... that's brutal! If someone said something like that to me to my face, I'd be unbelievably furious. Oh, Nkerfour was opening and closing his mouth, his face bright red.

"I have many things I would like to say, but we cannot afford to spend too much time on this. Now, please die."

Eighteen pressed the muzzle of her machine gun against Nkerfour's forehead. She must have been planning to blow a hole through his head.

"Gwooooooh! I'll take you with me if it's the last thing I do!"

With a series of cracking sounds, Nkerfour forcibly tore his right wing free from the thorns. Judging from the sound, he had dislocated a joint, and he might even have broken a bone.

Even so, perhaps realizing that he could no longer escape, Nkerfour summoned the last of his strength and chose to drag Eighteen down with him. Was he refusing to beg for his life because his pride got in the way?

"I won't allow that. Activate: Holy Shield."

Prepared for a desperate struggle like this, I protected Eighteen with a spell I had left waiting for activation. Nkerfour's final attack was blocked by the shining shield I, an immortal, had created. He stared at me in a daze. Hey, don't look at me so much. You're making me blush.

"Then, goodbye."

On the rooftop of the ruined city, a gunshot announcing the end of the battle rang out.

◆◇◆◇◆◇

――――――――――

You won the battle.

You defeated the Field Boss, Harpy Chief—individual name 'Nkerfour.'

Everyone receives special rewards and 6 SP.

Your Race level increased. You acquired 1 SP.

Your Job level increased. You acquired 1 SP.

Your tamed monster's Race level increased.

Your tamed monster's Job level increased.

【Intelligence Enhancement】 level increased.

【Mental Enhancement】 level increased.

【HP Recovery Speed Increase】 level increased.

【MP Recovery Speed Increase】 level increased.

――――――――――

After the boss battle ended, Iris and I stripped Nkerfour for loot and searched his nest for anything worthwhile. Like the other Harpies' nests, his contained a great deal of treasure, so we were feeling extremely rich.

However, the battle-loving duo of Jigoro and Genjuro seemed dissatisfied. They had apparently expected to enjoy a close, desperate fight like the one against the Tarasque, only to have that expectation betrayed. Honestly, I would prefer not to fight a powerful enemy capable of satisfying them several times in such a short period.

"We've collected all the items over here, Izamu."

"Oh, I see. I've just finished as well. There were several useful accessories, so the haul was excellent."

"Same here."

Nkerfour's nest contained a variety of interesting treasures, including rings that reduced magic damage and bracelets that increased strength. Once we combined the items Iris and I had collected, we had three S-rank (Special) items and ten R-rank (Rare) items. We could worry about dividing them later.

"I'll be able to make even better items someday!"

"I'll look forward to it. Oh, it looks like Jigoro and the others are back."

While looking forward to Iris's newly stimulated creative enthusiasm, I turned my attention to Jigoro and the others emerging from the elevator. They had gone back down to the first floor with Eighteen to retrieve a memorial stele to install on the rooftop.

"Then, please take care of this."

"Nghaaah! I-it's heavy!"

"I'd have thrown my back out in real life."

"Keep it up, you two!"

Jigoro and Genjuro were carrying a massive stone stele roughly four meters tall between them. It was made from the same special stone used for the lobby floor, said to be durable and resistant to weathering. Apparently, Eighteen had spent a long time cutting it out of the floor and processing it.

She must have worked hard to fulfill her master's final order. What a touching story. I later learned that, from the game's perspective, it was treated as a special item, so it couldn't be put into our inventory for transport. I wanted to tell them both, "Good work."

After we finished collecting the items, we burned away Nkerfour's nest and installed the memorial stele in the center of the newly cleared rooftop. That completed the quest!

"... This completes my mission. Thank you all very much."

"No, we were paid for this job. Please raise your head."

Eighteen gazed at the towering memorial stele with deep emotion before bowing her head profoundly toward us. I asked her to raise her head, but she kept it lowered for more than ten full seconds.

"Here is your reward: the access key. Please accept it."

"...Yes, I accept it."

――――――――――

Emergency Quest: 'Tombstone Skyscraper' completed!

Your rewards will be distributed.

――――――――――

Hmm, the quest seemed to have ended from the game's perspective as well. That removed any concerns we had about tomorrow.

"What are you going to do now, Eighteen?"

I had thought we would say goodbye and then return with Base Teleport, but Ruby suddenly asked what Eighteen planned to do. It was true that nothing bound her anymore. In that case, she could remain free to do as she pleased until the day she broke down.

"What... should I do now? I have never thought about it before."

"Um, then... would you like to come with us?"

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Oh?"

"Hm?"

I found myself staring at Iris, who had suddenly invited Eighteen to join us. Jigoro and Genjuro reacted similarly.

"Oh! That's a great idea! Let's do that!"

"B-but various functions are producing errors in me. I don't think I could be of any use..."

"But you can do simple tasks, right?"

"Y-yes. If they're simple and straightforward..."

The person being invited was the most surprised and flustered of all. On top of that, Iris, who had been reserved throughout our entire journey, was now aggressively urging Eighteen, which seemed to leave her even more bewildered.

"I don't know when it will be, but I'll acquire the knowledge and skills needed to repair you! I was just looking for an assistant, too, you know!?"

"Iris says so, too, so come with us! I'm sure it'll be fun!"

Faced with the persuasion of the two women, Eighteen thought it over for a while before shaking her head—vertically.

"I thought I would simply rust away here, but apparently, as an Android, I find my true reason for existing in serving my master. Very well. Until the day this unit breaks down, I shall serve you all."

What a turn of events. I had been carefully scheming to keep Eighteen at my side, only for Ruby's one remark to completely ruin my plan and effortlessly bring her into our group. We men could do nothing but stare blankly as the women celebrated noisily among themselves.