Chapter 88: Chapter 68: Momentary Thoughts Part 15 Part 2

A loud and heavy sound of a strike resonates in the air. But it wasn’t myself being pushed against the ground. It also wasn’t the equipment of either Katsu or Pencilgton, for it all must have had real high durability, so there was no way it would break so easily.

But if that was so, then where was the sound originating from? Then the ground shook again. So the source of those tremors must have also been the cause of those sounds.

「………」

「No, it can’t be…… There’s no way it would be defeated that easily.」

Gravekeeper fell on his knees. At first glance it looked like an ideal chance to lay waste on him, but on the other hand it was that kind of behavior that you needed to watch out for the most.

Supporting my theory Pencilgton, who apparently finished adjusting the sales, stood up.

「Here it comes, you two…… From here on out things are about to get really dangerous……」

To his words Katsu seemed to be especially confused, since he was bound to the “KIRIN” all this time and was slightly out of the loop, but apparently the horse also stopped its movements in sync with its master. They were both immobile for the moment, but…… The tension was so high in here right now that it was almost unbearable.

「When I used to come here with other members of the Ashura-kai, this is as far as we’ve managed to go. For the sake of convenience I call this its Third phase. …… We were all annihilated by the Gravekeeper in a single moment.」

「So in other words, from here on out it is all uncharted waters for us, huh?」

But at least we all know what to expect right from the get-go as the opening move.

First stage was the Gravekeeper fighting alone.

The Second stage is where “KIRIN” joins in, and you have to fight both of them at the same time.

And then there’s the Third phase, in which the Gravekeeper starts with the destructive Area of Effect attack, which could be compared to a suicide attack.

「You said that there was some kind of a secret to this fight, is that right!?」

According to Pencilgton’s words, that one time they were all wiped out the impact of the attack was so huge that even the Gravekeeper’s armor got all cracked up and destroyed. At one of our strategy meetings, Pencilgton actually told us that he was brewing some sort of a secret strategy for that attack, so that we could all survive it and carry on.

But with my current defenses there was a part of me that was still worried that even with that secret countermeasure it wouldn’t be enough for me to survive this.

「Katsu-kun! Be extra careful from now on! There’s a possibility that there may be some changes to its movements!」

「Roger that……!」

Katsu, who was in a really tight spot right now, used that brief moment of respite to chug down a health potion as fast as he possibly could. He also made sure that the rope tied around the “KIRIN” was still holding on tight.

「From here on out it is a battle that we have never seen or experienced before.」

「Going it blind is the basic principle of all games, so no problem from me!」

「Good, good……!」

Says Pencilgton while taking something out of his inventory. …… Potions? Then he opens the lid and starts approaching the Gravekeeper with them. His every step was full of conviction and strength, without even the slightest bit of hesitation or fear.

「Honestly, if that doesn’t work out, then I don’t know what I am supposed to do……」

「Oi!」

At the same time as I was about to voice my protest, the Gravekeeper’s armor, which should have boasted a tremendous amount of defense, started to crack, and Pencilgton threw the bottle right against those newly formed cracks.

The jar hits the Gravekeeper with a sharp sound of glass being broken. Then, his whole form started to shine as it was wet.

As if on some sort of a cue, the Gravekeeper tried to pierce Pencilgton with his hand shaped in a spear-head shape,

「ooooooooooOOOOOOOOO…… GHH! GHAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!」

But his motion was forcibly interrupted, and there were clouds of white smoke coming out from inside the cracked armor of the Gravekeeper, apparently dealing damage to him.

「Fuck yeah! Jackpot!」

「What the fuck did you do to him!?」

As I asked for some explanation of what just happened, my body was getting itself ready for the next phase of the fight.

「In this game, the knowledge about the game world and its settings are the key to victory. See, I always thought that the Gravekeeper was in fact a human warrior that was mechanized via means of the technology of the Ancients. 」

I mean, yeah. ? Thinking about it like that, he was most probably just like that, a cyborg or a sentient power armor. Especially after hearing what Setsuna-san –– the “Ancient” herself –– has told us.

「If it was really like that, then it would fit perfectly with what Sanraku told us about him being “Undead”. By becoming mechanized, he would basically become unable to die via natural means. …… That is what I think.」

Just then, Pencilgton took out his personal arms…… a weapon that he felt the most comfortable with using.

「The thing I covered him with just now is the “Holy Water” created by one of the strongest Saints this world had ever known. …… It was rather expensive and I had to pull a lot of strings to get it, but it is really potent and effective against the Undead of various types.」

Holy Water of the Saint…… No, I think that there’s something more to this than simply that explanation. If it was only doing damage to the enemies, it wouldn’t be this hard to obtain and be this expensive.

「I understand where you’re coming from, but this is this and that is that.」

「It’s almost like the top model, you know?」

「Or like a flower, where the most beautiful ones become like that at the expense of leeching the life force from others…… But enough about that! Now should be the best moment to strike!」

Apparently the Holy Water was able to do some nice damage, but in and of itself it wouldn’t be able to deal the finishing blow. But the damage had already been done…… as a confirmation, beams of blue flame-like energy shot out from Gravekeeper’s wounds, like gushes of blood from the cracks in the armor.

Parts of its armor perishing away and falling off, the figure that was hidden beneath it all slowly raises up. Before he looked like a mechanical warrior ridden with cybernetics, but right about now he was closer to a ghost or a wraith covered in blue flames. Seeing him like that, Pencilgton looked all pumped up and ready to fight. …… Umm, yeah, but maybe before that, take a look to the side?

「Ah, what is it now? I want to fight the Gravekeeper right now, but I guess I can go and save Katsu before doing that.」

「Eh? Sure thing, we can do that, but…… Why?」

Hey, don’t make such a face…… Let’s just get on with it.

「The victory conditions are almost certainly time based right now. We can assume for now that maybe thirty minutes is the limit.」

I point to the side and we look there. As it turns out, “KIRIN” also shed its armor together with the Gravekeeper, and poor Katsu was now looking at the deformed and headless beast in puzzlement. But then it started to move towards the Gravekeeper, doing something while it’s at it.

「They may be weakened right now, but the differences in levels still stays. It would be impossible for us to take them all on our own.」

We could see the “KIRIN” combine its body with that of the Gravekeeper, and we were completely speechless for a moment there.

In other words, the three of us were now facing both of the opponents combined, while we literally knew nothing about their stats or abilities or attack patterns. But instead of falling into chaos, Pencilgton was right on it with a strategy, telling us what to do and how to behave.

「Well, I knew that there was a centaur-like form to them, but I swear that there was also something else about the third phase……」

He says while staring at the opponent bitterly. I guess our roles still stay the same, but for now we probably wouldn’t have to worry about being focused all that much.

「…… Sanraku-kun? Do you think you could assist me for the time being?」

「…… Leave that to me.」