09. The Raid is Seriously Fucked Up
09. The Raid is Seriously Fucked Up
"Hera... please, grant me strength...!"
A flame bloomed at the tip of the arrow.
Hera's blessing. The purifying flame that erases the profane.
Every time an arrow lodged in the Champion's body, the acrid smell of burning filled the air, leaving wounds all across its form.
"Tssss.... my hands hurt like hell...!"
In contrast, Chrono had no way to channel purifying flames or anything of the sort.
All he could do was manipulate time and deceive the laws of the world.
Bang! Bang!!
"Grrrrghk!"
He altered it so that a distance requiring one second to reach was covered in half a second.
His physical strength wasn't normally enough to easily control the recoil, and now that recoil had doubled.
He gripped the gun tightly with both hands, enduring and using it, but the fact remained that nonexistent strength didn't suddenly appear.
"Guoo... ooo! Ooooooh...!!!"
The one silver lining in this misfortune was that it was proving somewhat effective.
"Where do you think you're looking, you punk! Ugh—kup, cough...!"
Even that was a technique impossible to perform if Mars wasn't holding the front line, so she had to buy time for him somehow.
So, in front of the boss room, knowing full well it probably wouldn't work, he had earnestly pleaded with her, but...
"....Blood? Y-you son of a bitch, for real!!"
"Groooooh!!!"
Mars, with her reason already flown out the window it seemed, had ended up in a proper blood-spattering brawl with the Champion.
If she only hid her body behind the greatsword and simply endured, they could win. But apparently unable to accept her situation, she was burning through her already bottomed-out stamina even faster.
A repetition of consecutive attacks on the Champion, then staggering under the Champion's attacks.
Her stamina was already utterly depleted, so her attacks lacked any real force. It could practically be seen as a close fight where they were taking all the losses.
Somehow, Yuno and Chrono were shoring up the insufficient damage, making the situation flow similarly to a game of chicken.
Somehow, if only she would endure just a little longer, they could win...!
"———Kehuk...?!"
Mars was kicked by the Champion and sent flying.
She tried to muster her strength, attempting to stand again somehow, but her body, already wrecked, could no longer obey her will.
Ultimately, she only lay on the floor, panting weakly.
".......Guuuuu...!"
"....Fuck."
The Champion smiled as it looked at Chrono's party.
The worst possible situation had arrived.
...
..
.
"....What do we do now, Chrono..?"
Yuno asked, staring at him blankly.
Don't ask me. I'm feeling just as troubled right now.
'First, we need someone to hold out.'
Telling Yuno to step up and endure would just result in her taking one hit and dying instantly.
No, actually, even that would be fine.
If Yuno died and he collapsed too, they wouldn't actually die since this was a tutorial dungeon anyway.
So, lightly giving up and surrendering to a clean death wouldn't be a bad option either, but...
"......Ah."
Come to think of it, there was a separate CG for losing to the tutorial boss.
That was probably the CG where you get forcibly violated by the Goblin Champion, wasn't it?
He remembered it was right when the clothes were torn and you were about to be pounced on, the teachers would barge in and rescue you.
A thorough teaching aid showing that, in the worst-case scenario, a situation like this could happen.
True to its word, it let you know they weren't just making empty threats—losing in a dungeon later would let you see a CG of getting fucked like a dog.
"Damn it."
But that was that, and this was this.
If he lost here, he would have to witness with his own two eyes as Mars, collapsed behind him, and Yuno, trembling like a leaf, were perfectly driven right to the brink of complete violation.
It was something of an annual event in NTR Academy, sure—but just thinking about managing the bad status that followed made his gut churn.
Since it didn't go all the way to the main broadcast, it could be cared for within a week, but would the Protagonist actually do that?
'A guy who abandons even the main heroine right now?'
Probably not.
He felt like he roughly knew what the Protagonist was thinking.
Yuno was a late-bloomer character who took a long time to raise, and Mars was uncontrollable the moment she ran wild.
On the other hand, Minerva was a paladin-class all-rounder capable of healing, dealing damage, and tanking, and Merk's utility alone was top-tier among top-tiers.
No matter how you looked at it, the latter duo was more appealing than the former.
Of course, the positions would switch later on, but at least right now, the latter was far better.
And that, conversely, meant the Protagonist would wash his hands of caring for the main heroines whose mental states had been shattered.
'A situation just ripe for getting NTR'd....'
Oh Protagonist. Do you not know that the end of a min-maxer is ultimately NTR?
He couldn't tell if the guy had learned absolutely nothing after regressing, or if he had learned things so vaguely that his brain marrow exploded.
Anyway, the only important point now was one thing.
Fwoooong..... Kugugugugung!!
"....Groo?"
"This actually works."
Defeating the Champion.
He took a potion from his pouch and tossed it to Yuno.
"Here, feed this to Mars. That one's probably gone berserk, she won't even notice if someone disappears. I'll try to draw aggro... so go!"
"....I'm counting on you!"
Yuno hurriedly ran toward Mars.
Mars had already undergone berserk once, but her characteristic aggression hadn't disappeared.
She was only lying prone right now because she lacked stamina. It was clear that if only her stamina was restored, she would rampage again.
'Somehow, if we can just buy time, it'll work.'
The Champion's eyes briefly flicked toward Yuno, but not missing that opening, he planted a bullet right into the Champion's face.
Bang!
"....Groo, oooh...!"
"Pissed off? Me too."
The Champion swung the club in its hand.
He held his dagger toward where the club was flying and stopped time, space and all, for the dagger.
Thwump!
"Guoo...! Groooo!"
The attack was blocked, unable to advance.
Thwump! Thump! Thwuummmmp! Kwajijijik...!
"Grooooooh!!!"
A barrage of consecutive strikes followed.
But seeing him not flinch one bit, the Goblin Champion screamed and swung its club even more fiercely.
Frankly, for him, only the speed had gotten slightly faster; nothing else had changed.
Bang!
'Look at that time shrinking.'
The time limit that had barely increased to 30 seconds...
Time he hadn't used for even a single second after entering the dungeon had already shrunk by over 10 seconds.
From the time consumed on bullets to the time used stopping the dagger...
Amidst time melting away like slowly dissolving ice cream, the Goblin Champion, enraged that its attacks were completely useless, raised both hands and came down to smash him.
"Guoo! Groo! Ooooooh!!"
"Shiiiit... seriously..!"
He stopped time. He stopped space.
As such, he took no damage whatsoever, but the most crucial element—'time'—was being erased.
18 seconds... 15 seconds... 13 seconds, 9 seconds.
"This is fucked, seriously..."
When the hell is she getting up?
He used one more second to escape the Champion's attack range and turned his eyes toward Yuno.
"Kup.... kehup...! Ma-rs...!"
"I'll kill you I'll kill you I'll kill you I'll kill you I'll kill you I'll kill you I'll kill you I'll kill you I'll kill you I'll kill you I'll kill you——"
"——Oi, you fucking bastardddddd!!!"
We barely woke her up, and she's pulling this team-killing bullshit!?
'It's over.'
It was over. He'd made a mistake.
He had treated Mars too much like the Mars from the game.
Right now was literally the tutorial. The bond ranks were probably all close to 0.
No matter how boisterously Mars pretended to be close, that level was still near that of a stranger.
If it had happened after the story progressed a bit and their bond ranks were slightly established—and if Yuno, who had good compatibility, handled it—he figured at least friend-or-foe identification would be possible.
But it wasn't even a fraction of a fraction of that. Mars immediately initiated team-killing.
If things continued this way, the only thing left would be a penalty factor for mutually team-killing each other in the boss room and losing.
"A method... what method...!"
"Groooooh!!"
"Ah!"
Hold on, strategy time!
A person is thinking here, and suddenly attacking from behind is——
"——Don't you touch that bastard!!"
"Grook...?!!"
"Huh...?"
Mars suddenly barged in toward this side.
She closed the distance in a single bound and sunk her greatsword into the Champion's shoulder.
This time, with the Champion caught off guard, the blade plunged in cleanly.
Before he could even grasp the situation, Mars swung her greatsword at the Champion in quick succession.
"Die! Die! Fuck! I said die!"
"Guoo..... Oooooh!!"
Mars swung her greatsword, her entire body smeared with blood.
Likewise, the Champion swung its club, blood gushing from its shoulder.
Looking at the two of them, who had somehow fallen into a separate world of their own making, he hurriedly took aim.
'Is this it? Is this the angle to finish it?'
The time left was——about 5 seconds.
He focused his attention once more on the battlefield unfolding before him.
Bang!
"Krugh... uwooooh!"
4.5 seconds.
A bullet lodged in the right shoulder.
The Champion turned its eyes toward him, but was forced to raise its hands to receive Mars's attacks.
Bang! Bang!
"Kruuuuugh...!!"
3.5 seconds.
Two rounds into the exposed side.
The bullets that clearly burrowed deep churned up the internal organs fiercely.
Blood burst from the Champion's mouth. A feeling that the end was now close at hand.
Bang!
"Gruk..... Grooooooh!!"
"Euht——?!!"
Now seemingly determined to take at least one person with it, the Champion ignored the bullets and brought its club crashing down toward Mars.
Even though she had chugged a potion, Mars was still cutting it close.
Her movements had become slower than expected, and just at the perilous brink...
Thwuummp!
"Where do you think you're going, bastard! Mars!"
"! Heuup... Yeah, you son of a bitch!"
2 seconds.
He stopped the dagger's time and blocked the Champion's attack.
Mars's greatsword followed.
The blade slashed across the abdomen, cutting the leather hide, but couldn't penetrate further inside.
Sure enough, she lacked strength. Mars clicked her tongue softly.
"Grr.... Oooo! Uooooooh!!!!"
The Champion counterattacked.
It clenched its empty left hand into a fist and slammed it into Mars's abdomen.
It was already too late to block. Immediately, he raised his gun and squeezed off two rounds into the Champion's torso.
"Kuhuck! Kuugh.... goog.... guuuuu...!!"
Its body staggered.
A premonition that the end was nearly here.
He gripped the gun with both hands and aimed at the Champion.
"If this doesn't work... look here, you fucking trash game, never again."
He used one second, stretching it endlessly close to zero.
The trigger pulled toward the Champion.
Following that, the bullets howled as if erupting from his hand.
———Kwaaaaaaang!!!
"Grrk... Aaaaaaak...!!"
Hold onto the gun? Control the recoil?
No. Impossible. How do you block a sonic boom going off right in front of your eyes?
Recoil and everything else, the gun escaped his grasp. And since he had already experienced it once, he ducked low and threw the gun toward the sky.
".....Gruk...."
"Hii! Hi! Hiiii...!"
Thud. The Champion fell to its knees.
A large hole was punched through the Champion's chest. The light in its eyes began to gradually fade.
'...What a relief.'
Honestly, he hadn't been confident he would hit.
It was a skill where he couldn't even control the gun's recoil; could he possibly aim well?
What's more, if he missed, he would be the only one forced to retire. So he conserved his shots as much as possible, firing only at the most certain moment.
The time currently remaining was 0 seconds.
He couldn't do anything beyond this even if he wanted to.
Just as he was relieved by the fact that the job was done and exhaled...
"....Did we finish it?"
"Ah."
This fuckin' empty-headed berserker bitch.
...No, thinking about it, right.
If they had cleared the dungeon, the mission completion message should have appeared, but...
'Why——isn't the mission success notification popping up?'
A chill ran down his spine.
Simultaneously, he flinched and looked straight ahead——
"Grooooooh!!!"
"Hiiiiiiik?!!!"
——It was the Goblin Champion, mouth wide open, hurtling its body toward him.
A situation where his body simply wouldn't move anymore to dodge.
Ultimately, with the goblin's mouth slowly approaching, realizing that goblin oral structures were damned awful...
Pshoot!
".......Huh?"
An arrow pierced cleanly through the Goblin Champion's forehead.
Only then, alongside the window stating the quest was cleared, Yuno approached him from behind and said:
"With this... it's a dungeon clear, right?"
"Wow......."
Yuno smiled brightly, clutching her bow.
At that pure smile showing the dignity of both the main heroine and the true heroine...
"I love you, Yuno-jjang."
"Huh? Eh? Ehhh...??"
"A little. Sincerely."
".....Eeeeeeh??!"
He was completely moe'd to death.
"Eurk."
"...Chrono? Chrono! Get a hold of yourself!!"
No, well, maybe he just passed out.