02x14 - Embracing Your Ambitions in the Light: Part 4

[bunniefuu]

Embrace the Lamplight of Ambition, Part 4

Sunraku-san.

I can activate my Ultimate after I land five
hits each with Apocalypse and Catastrophe.

But there's one more thing...

One more thing?

In order to use it,
I need to recite a long chant.

A chant?

And I have to hit Lycagon immediately
after the chant is finished.

So even after you meet the conditions,
there's another hurdle to clear?

It's a frustrating skill in many ways.

But the power in the end will be worth it.

Gotcha.

Think I've got a few ideas for all that.

But if we give it our all
and it's still not enough...

Let's rerun the area with a smile!

Yes!

A leader in the field of fully-immersive
VR games boasting over

30 million players worldwide,

the so-called god-tier game,
Shangri-La Frontier,

Seven Colossi

contains a class of unique monsters
known as the Seven Colossi.

One of these Seven Colossi
is Lycagon the Nightslayer.

I'm a little different than
the last time you faced me!

I'll show you the power of level 99!

Apocalypse!

The conditions are met.

I am the holder of chaos.

I am in heaven, soaring to
the firmament's pinnacle...

Rei-shi's spell has a long activation time.

And the caster's totally
exposed in the meantime.

I've gotta keep Rei-shi
safe no matter what...

All right, it's cl*max time.

Come try me, pup!

The moon!

Because I put Suzaku on standby...

But it's only been a few minutes!

The worst timing possible...

You never stop mocking me,
do you, Goddess of RNG?!

RNG

Be careful, Akitsuakane!

An invisible double is gonna
attack from the darkness!

The only way to dodge is to listen for
the sound it makes when it appears!

No, that won't be enough...

If we run away, she's gonna
turn aggro onto Rei-shi...

And if Rei-shi gets beaten,
we'll lose our only way to win!

Sunraku-san?

Which means...

If we can't negate Lycagon's
shadow clones themselves,

we're gonna lose this.

Invisible clones that blend
in with the darkness?

I am in hell, plunging to the abyss's nadir...

Hizutome-kun... is it all right
for me to just keep chanting?

Wouldn't it be better to call it off
so we can focus on dodging together?

Keep up your chant, Psyger-0-san!

Leave the invisible clones to us!

Indeed!

Got it!

Leaving this to you, Akitsuakane!

I am in hell, plunging to the abyss's nadir...

I do hear it...

A low sound scraping across the ground...

If it blends in with the darkness,
then if I just light it up...

Hagakushi Secret Art...

Hidden Technique!

Ryu-Ibuki!

Ryu-Ibuki

Ryu-Ibuki, or Dragon's Breath,

is one of the randomly determined "hidden
techniques" that can be acquired

in the training quest needed
to learn the "Ninja" job.

It is a secret ninja art that imitates

"the breath of a dragon vividly
recalled by the wielder."

However, as Akitsuakane has only
been playing the game for one month,

she has only encountered one dragon.

The power of the Ryu-Ibuki
that Akitsuakane learned

Siegwurm the Sky Ruler

is a mere replica, as far from the Sky
Ruler's flame as the earth is from heaven...

But...

'Tis light enough for me!

The eyes of my heart have seen you!

Behold, Night Emperor...

My Bamboo Lightning!

Bamboo Lightning

W-We got through it!

Great job, Ceecrue-san!

You did it!

If I know its direction,
I can solidify it even further!

Ah, but to think the Night Emperor's
weakness would be light itself...

You nailed that better than I
could've imagined, Akitsuakane!

Sunraku-san, hurry!

This twin-faced demon now stretches its
hand further, seeking greater extremes...

It's our turn next...

I will finish this!

Great foe who treads before
me on my path of conquest...

The incantation takes a few more seconds.

Until then...

Hold out, Hizutome-kun!

I need no guide; this way is mine alone...

I'm the one you're fighting here!

Non-Standard Tactical Avian [Suzaku]

Sunraku-san!

Sunraku-san, Sunraku-san!

Chill, Emul.

The preparations for my "Ultimate"
are all in place now.

Now, drive deep, Gilta Brill!

Show this dog what you were made for!

Here we go... crystal b*ll*ts, activate!

Growing-up!

Emul! Right foreleg!

Righty-o!

Mana Shaker!

Nice one! We did some damage!

A direct hit!

Now, get to it!

Time for your last job, Suzaku!

Marking point.

Marking Point

Activating Incinerating Slasher.

Incinerating Slasher

Activating

Drive in!

Great effort, Suzaku!

Energy Reserves

Take a nice rest.

Emul, you get back too.

It's time for my Ultimate.

Sunraku-san?!

The right-hand Gilta Brill has the power to
charge up mana through exposure to moonlight.

That mana's necessary to generate
the left-hand's crystal b*ll*ts.

But there's one other way to use it.

It's a system that releases all your charged
mana and converts it into damage...

Exceed Charge!

Exceed Charge

Exceed Charge

One use of it takes 168 hours to recharge from.

That means I can only use it once a week.

It's a real ace-in-the-hole
last-ditch maneuver...

But...

the fact that the damage goes up relative
to the amount of mana you stored

makes it a trump card that
blows away all the negatives!

Don't like the moon, huh?

I'll beat the moon into you!

Prepare to eat all the moonlight mana

I've been building up
through this whole fight!

Exceed Charge, Reject!

Exceed Charge,

Reject!

Exceed Charge [Reject]

Exceed Charge [Reject]

Payback for that last night!

Chug it down!

There's one major weak point to the
Exceed Charge Reject other than its recast time.

Okay, here comes the recoil...

Sunraku

Endure

In exchange for the massive
attack power it unleashes,

the caster takes hefty recoil damage too!

Sunraku-san!

Sunraku-san!

Thanks to my Endure skill, I managed to
survive the insta-k*ll that'd usually cause...

But... unless I can avoid a collision...

It's gonna be curtains for me either way!

Escape to the Inventoria?

No, can't do that...

That won't cancel out my inertia!

I'll just crash into something and die there!

Never thought the recoil
would be quite this bad...

Damn it! Am I gonna have to bow
out at the cl*max like this?!

Magic Chain!

Y-You guys!

Thank goodness! You survived!

You're saved!

'Twas a close call indeed.

Thanks a ton, guys.

I almost missed Rei-shi's big moment!

Now, we've set the table
for you all nice, Rei-shi!

Show us your ultimate firepower!

Now, my strike shall shatter
all that hinders me.

I am Satanael in heaven.

I am Satan in hell.

The skill has serious trigger conditions.

Sometimes the battle ends
before I even fire it off.

I used to think it was completely impractical.

Behold the chaos wrought by
these two united faces...

But I don't anymore!

It just needed this moment
that the others made for me...

To defeat the Night Emperor!

Declare an end to all beginnings...

Armageddon.

Armageddon

Th-This is... Rei-shi's "Ultimate"?!

A-Amazing!

Armageddon... that's one hell of a move!

I-It worked!

You did it, Psyger-0-san!

Nothing could survive a direct hit from—

You're kidding me!

N-No...

Even that... wasn't enough?

Rei-shi!

Emul, got a Mana Shaker?!

N-Not quite yet!

Sunraku-san?

What's it doing? Moving through shadows?!

No... it's not that.

Lycagon's body is... breaking down?

Sunraku-san! Look at that!

Wh-What was that?

For a moment, Lycagon's face...

It's as if it was smiling!

Title
Shadow Wolf Revealer
acquired.

Special Status
Guiding Light
acquired.

Bonus Unique Scenario
Light of Courage Banishing the Dark
Begin now?
No Yes

Combat rewards!

That means we really did win!

R-Right...

But these aren't the results of beating Lycagon.

And what was with that face
in the darkness back there?

Title
Shadow Wolf Revealer
acquired.

Shadow Wolf...

Yeah, okay. I get it now.

What does it mean?

I think the Lycagon we
thought was the "real form"

was just a "shadow wolf" that Lycagon created...

In other words, another clone.

Zounds!

The real one was watching some
distance away from the "real form,"

or maybe having a little fun
with her remote-control toy...

That can't be true!

Are you saying we beat a fake?

Damn it!

That stupid pup loves her freaking
mind games, doesn't she?!

But that's just fine, isn't it?

Even if it was only a double or a fake,

no one's ever beaten that version
of Lycagon before, but...

Hizutome-kun and...

...all of us together cooperated to defeat it.

For me...

That was more than enough fun!

Huh? Did I just see something?

Anyway, Rei-shi's got a point.

I'm so glad I got to go on an
adventure with Hizutome-kun!

And just getting to see that freakin' cool
"Armageddon" was worth going all-out for!

It really was amazing!

Title
Shadow Wolf Revealer
acquired.

Even if it was just a shadow or
a double, a win's still a win!

Which means I got my revenge
on Lycagon's stupid face!

Yes, you've done it!

Hooray!

H-Hooray!

Okay! Saving a visit to the
real one for another day,

let's check out our rewards!

Sunraku-san, the mark Lycagon gave
you is looking quite strange!

What's goin' on?!

Hey, I know this...

Lycagon's Mark [Curse]
Equipment cannot be equipped to the body part afflicted with Lycagon's Mark.
Monsters of lower level than the afflicted character will flee.
Conversations with NPCs will be affected by the presence of Lycagon's Mark.
The afflicted body part gains resistance to magic effects.
The curse can be removed through the prayers of a Saint or the defeat of the curse's caster.

Even if it was just a shadow
that gave me the Mark,

it was still Lycagon!

The fact that I beat it
means the Mark goes away!

I didn't even need to ask SLF idol,
that Saint lady, for help!

Which means I'll finally be able
to escape the half-naked life!

Might as well give my freak-boy
design a proper sendoff!

Staring Bird Mask
equipped.

We've come so far together,
I almost hate to lose the guy!

You were aware of your freakishness, then?

Okay, bring it!

Let this Mark that's plagued
me all my days be lifted!

What the—