Battle at the Oasis (4)

When I headed over to Jigoro and the others, I found them fighting far more steadily than expected. Eiji deflected attacks at the rear, while Jigoro and Toji dealt damage. Oh, all three of them had adapted amazingly well. They're quite reliable.

"Hmph!"

"Tch, how boring..."

"It's nice and easy."

Oh? They seem to have plenty of leeway... Does that mean they've gotten used to it? No, that's not it. Jigoro looks vaguely displeased. Something must have happened.

"You look dissatisfied, Jigoro?"

"Brother? You bet! It may look impressive, but this thing's nothing but a big wooden dummy!"

"...Explain that a little more clearly."

"Nnngh! Um, how should I put it...?"

"Seeing is believing. Watch."

Toji pointed the tip of her sword at the tail. After winding up as if to strike and remaining still for about two seconds, the tail's tip stabbed toward us at high speed.

"Right here!"

Eiji precisely knocked it away with his shield. Oh! Amazing! He'd completely figured out the timing for deflecting it!

"Next... a sweep from the right. Jump and dodge it."

"Huh? How can you possibly know that...?"

Even as I wondered about it, I followed Toji's instructions and flew into the air. Sure enough, the tail swept through exactly as she'd said! All three of them even attacked as they passed by. Had they figured out the distance too!? Could Eiji and Toji perhaps possess player skills on par with Jigoro's...!?

"I can tell. Its attack frequency is low, and its patterns consist of only three types: thrusts, sweeping attacks, and poison sprays."

"And its trajectory is fixed, too. Its windups are big, so it's easy to time them. That means I can land counters to my heart's content, like just now. The poison would be dangerous if it hit us, but it lands in the same places every time... There are no feints or delays, so I've already gotten used to it!"

As he spoke, Eiji used his shield to knock away the tail. Did he mean that it was so predictable that it was an easy win? Even so, fixed attack patterns were unusual for a recent game.

In FSW and modern games generally, the game world could be called an artificial alternate world, while the NPCs could likewise be considered its inhabitants. Not to mention those capable of communication rivaling humans—even minor enemies like Goblins supposedly had fairly complex thought routines. Their attack patterns naturally became more varied as a result.

The difficulty had certainly increased, but in exchange, players could move their avatars with their own bodies, as though the avatars were their own, rather than controlling them with a controller. In relative terms, then, the difficulty could be said not to have changed.

For that reason, having only three attack patterns and moving solely according to fixed forms was extremely unusual—and easy. The fact that we had it surrounded alongside the Bigdaleio army, while it was focused on a veteran like His Majesty Salmaan, was probably what made it manageable. Even so, it was strange that a Race called High Lord offered so little resistance. Had it never grown accustomed to fighting multiple opponents...? It was convenient for us, so I wasn't about to complain.

"Then, just for a little while. Can I take Jigoro with me?"

"Sure. But why?"

"I've found what seems to be a weak spot. Probably inside the exoskeleton..."

"Take me, brother."

Jigoro cut in eagerly. Neither Iris nor I had the strength to destroy the hard exoskeleton. Cal's 【Dragon Breath】 might be able to do it, but a misstep could inflict a fatal wound. To expose the weak point without killing it, Jigoro's fists were just right.

Jigoro wasn't eager because he wanted to win, however. He probably hoped that its attack patterns would increase as its health fell, making it a more formidable opponent. I can see right through you.

"If that's the case, off you go."

"Attacking the weak point may be essential to defeating it, after all."

Toji and Eiji sent us off without hesitation because they had plenty of leeway. It was probably the other side of their confidence. In that case, I wouldn't hold back—I would take Jigoro with me.

"Then let's go!"

"Yes!"

"You got it!"

The three of us rose into the air to destroy the weak point.

◆◇◆◇◆◇

With Jigoro clinging to Iris's tentacles, we flew above the Thornshell Scorpion High Lord. As usual, I continued intermittently inflicting status ailments with 【Curse Arts】 and 【Dark Arts】.

For some reason, phantom pain and hallucinations from 【Dark Arts】 seemed more effective than those from 【Curse Arts】. However, the same spell was less likely to work repeatedly, so I was naturally forced to use a variety of spells. At times like this, I was grateful for the sheer number of tricks in my repertoire.

"So? Where's this weak spot, brother?"

"On a scorpion's cephalothorax, near the boundary with its abdomen. There should be a small lump there, right?"

"Oh... that one."

I nodded when I saw what Jigoro was pointing at. It was a small lump on the Thornshell Scorpion High Lord's cephalothorax. It had been extremely afraid of attacks landing there. Small was relative, of course—it was fairly large, about the size of a basketball. It simply didn't stand out because the thing it was attached to was enormous.

"My job is smashing that thing, right? Leave it to me!"

"I'm counting on you, brother! Cal!"

We steeled ourselves and closed in rapidly from above. Perhaps it had realized that we were targeting its weak point, because it intercepted us with both of the tails it had been using against the Bigdaleio army. The lengths it was willing to go to protect the lump showed how important it was to shatter it. We were absolutely going to destroy it! Jigoro was, at least!

"Astral Magic Array, Holy Shield!"

I deployed the Holy Shield that had been incredibly useful since the scouting stage of this battle. It blocked the attack, though it shattered in a single hit. Eiji and the others made it sound easy, but honestly, figuring out the windups for the tail attacks was far too difficult for me. And with two tails, trying to dodge every attack wasn't realistic.

We were in the air, too. I couldn't assume the pattern would be the same as when we were on the ground. Without having observed its aerial attack motions, there was no way I could handle a tail attack moving at an incredible speed on my first attempt!

So I aimed to force our way through by relying on Holy Shield. My mana was rapidly draining, but that couldn't be helped. It was only natural when I was pushing myself this hard. Cal was taking an evasive route, but dodging the attacks themselves was difficult, and Holy Shield after Holy Shield continued to shatter. Damn, this was cutting it awfully close...!

'Giiiaaaahhh!?'

"To let your guard down in my presence... You've underestimated me."

Just as I was thinking that, the Thornshell Scorpion High Lord let out a scream. Looking down, I saw that His Majesty Salmaan had deeply slashed the area near its mouth. It must have been too preoccupied with keeping us away.

Even so, it had neglected the threat that had been greatest only moments ago. That showed just how desperately it wanted to keep us away from that lump. No matter what, we had to destroy it!

"Now! All troops, focus your attacks on its legs!"

"Oooooooooh!"

"Go! Izamu and the others!"

His Majesty Salmaan wasn't the only one fighting below us. The Bigdaleio army concentrated its attacks on the legs, bringing the monster to a halt. Now that the tails were no longer keeping them occupied, their unleashed assault was ferocious. They tore the Thornshell Scorpion High Lord's legs to pieces in an instant, as if venting all their pent-up frustration.

Prince Jahal cheered us on while fighting as well. After being given this much support, it would be unforgivable to fail! We closed in all at once and dropped Jigoro.

"Well then, I'm off~"

Jigoro fell without the slightest sign of tension and landed atop the Thornshell Scorpion High Lord. He bent his knees softly and touched down without a sound. Even a gymnast would have been amazed by the movement.

"Astral Magic Array, Spell Adjustment, Paralysis! Iris!"

"Yes!"

I used 【Curse Arts】, while Iris repeatedly hurled her stock of paralysis-inducing throwing items, intending to use them all up. It was bound to thrash around like it had when Prince Jahal was involved, right? Naturally, we had to stop it from moving so that Jigoro could work as easily as possible!

"【Beastification】, 【Avatar of Flame and Lightning】, 【Armor-Breaking Fist】, 【Demonic God's Iron Body】!"

Meanwhile, Jigoro freely used even his 'Secret Technique' and stacked buff after buff onto himself. Golden phosphorescence poured from the tattoo-like patterns covering his body as a result of 【Beastification】, while 【Avatar of Flame and Lightning】 wrapped him in golden flames and lightning. 【Armor-Breaking Fist】 imbued his gauntlets with the power to shatter exoskeletons without fail, while 【Demonic God's Iron Body】 granted him strength like that of a demonic god. The punch he was about to unleash would undoubtedly have the greatest firepower he could produce.

"Shatter, damn you! Stone-Shattering Mighty Fist!"

He even used a martial skill he normally disliked, hammering his fist into the target. Even if he could perform movements that made perfect sense without any system assistance, it was a fact that martial skills increased the actual force of an attack. And the one he'd used delivered the heaviest blow of them all.

''Giiiiiiiiiiaaaahhh!!?''

The instant the blow landed, the Thornshell Scorpion High Lord's health dropped by a solid chunk. So it really had been a weak point. The monster began thrashing wildly while letting out its loudest scream of the day.

But something was strange. It was definitely taking damage, but not nearly as much as I'd expected. Was its health simply greater than I had assumed? Or was that not actually a vital point...?

"Huh? What the hell is this?"

Jigoro had thrust his arm in up to the elbow and was wriggling it around while saying something. He seemed to have found something.

'Gik!? Giiiiiiiiiiiii!!!'

The Thornshell Scorpion High Lord, meanwhile, put on its most violent display of the day. It violently heaved its entire body up and down, trying to throw Jigoro off as if the wounds inflicted by His Majesty Salmaan and the Bigdaleio army didn't exist.

It had been violent when Prince Jahal was involved, too, but this felt different somehow. Its desperation was on an entirely different level. If its reaction to Prince Jahal had been like swatting at a mosquito or fly that had landed on its face, then with Jigoro inside it, it seemed to feel as if it had been bitten by a snake or something and was in mortal danger.

'Giiiiiiiiiiiiii!'

"Gah! Damn it... Gaaah!?"

Even Jigoro was blown away by the sheer violence of its thrashing. Unable to move in midair, he was struck from the side by a tail and slammed into the ground, bouncing several times like a rubber ball. H-Hey! Was he alive!?

"That hurt! You shaved off some of my health!"

...His health was down to ten percent, but he was perfectly fine. I'd worried for nothing. I later learned that he'd punched the tail at the instant of impact to cancel out the damage, then survived by using a breakfall. You really are a monster, as always.

However, 【Demonic God's Iron Body】 had the disadvantage of constantly draining health, so its effect had already worn off. He would've died in about ten seconds if he'd kept it active, so that was only natural. I immediately used 【Soul Arts】 to heal him, while Jigoro retreated and drank a healing potion.

"Izamu! Look at that!"

"Hm?"

Iris pointed with a tentacle at the place Jigoro had smashed. What lay there was a cephalothorax with its exoskeleton shattered... No, wait! Something long and slender was growing out of it! Was that...

"A Sand Worm...?"

I found myself involuntarily muttering the name of a monster I recognized.