World Collision - The Tenth: The Rice Cake That Never Falls

Dindinaron's tentacle monster—named Dandan on a complete whim—thrust out one of its massive arms ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and seized Yogur-tosoth in a crushing grip.

The stat gap was roughly two and a half times. Worse, Yogur-tosoth had never been built for pure combat. The enemy had dumped everything into offensive power, durability, and mystery. When it vomited a torrent of potent acid from its maw, Yogur-tosoth answered with a storm of magic and thrashed wildly to break free.

That was all it could do. The far larger tentacle beast tore chunks of Yogur-tosoth's flesh away, slammed the commander into the ground, then attacked with dozens of legs at once—ripping through bubbles and eyeballs in a relentless barrage.

I couldn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sit back any longer. Wafflach-Nacha, whose stats were vastly inferior, sprinted along the spider threads it had woven across the sky and sank its fangs into the monster's back.

Even after being pumped full of giant-monster-grade venom, the beast didn't flinch. I'd tuned its stamina, defense, resistances, and continuous recovery nearly to the absolute limit—because it was never allowed to fall. Its offensive power was calibrated just high enough to eventually kill Shuc-rimmurath in a war of attrition.

Dandan simply grabbed one of Wafflach-Nacha's legs and ripped it off with raw brute strength. It hurled the commander to the ground, charged again, climbed on top, and stomped down repeatedly.

Wafflach-Nacha was a city-destroying titan in its own right, yet it was utterly powerless before Dandan.

At this rate Wafflach-Nacha would die. Nyaltartep, who had been calmly tending its plants back at the main base, activated the instant-transmission function of World Shaping and materialized in the enemy world in the blink of an eye. Its split avatars joined it, weaving defensive mystery to block the monstrous destruction Dandan was unleashing.

But Dandan had been created from the start to crush every single Dessert Legion commander. It was an extreme all-or-nothing strategy—knowing it would lose a prolonged war, it aimed only to eliminate the enemy commanders and secure victory.

Nyaltartep had never been an aggressive creation. All it could do was desperately parry Dandan's attacks.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

After a brief stalemate Shuc-rimmurath charged in with its countless offspring, but their attacks were negligible. Yogur-tosoth staggered back into the air and hurled magical storms, yet none of it mattered.

This was the overwhelming difference a 2.5-times stat gap created.

It might be an odd comparison, but how many forty-kilogram middle-schoolers would it take to beat a hundred-kilogram muscular giant with nothing but bare fists?

Obviously three wouldn't even be worth discussing. Even if they felt no fear whatsoever, you'd need at least ten or so to surround the giant from every direction and pin all its limbs before any real chance of victory appeared.

Arrogance trait—fully activated. Yogur-tosoth ordered the other three commanders to support it, then began preparing a massive spell from the rear.

Naturally, Dandan wasn't going to stand by and watch. Even after sacrificing an entire civilization, its core traits remained unchanged. Dandan never made mistakes.

With superior intelligence, senses, and the flood of information granted by divine divinity, it processed everything in an instant and chose the optimal move.

If it killed Yogur-tosoth, nothing here would threaten it anymore.

So that one died first.

Nyaltartep screamed, frantically layering protective and disruptive spells to stop the beast. Shuc-rimmurath and Wafflach-Nacha tried to ram it with their bodies, but Dandan moved like a seasoned martial artist—dodging gracefully before closing the distance to Yogur-tosoth in a single breath.

BAAAAAAAANG!

A full-power tentacle whip smashed into Yogur-tosoth's face. The impact was so devastating that its internal organs were pulped. Yogurt-colored blood sprayed everywhere.

Yet arrogance apparently had its merits. Even while coughing up blood, Yogur-tosoth finished its spell and unleashed it straight at Dandan.

The secret magic struck true. One of Dandan's entire arms was blown clean off.

But that was all. The species it was modeled after could regenerate from that much damage. The giant monster rapidly restored the lost limb, then lunged at Yogur-tosoth and began drinking its yogurt-colored blood to replenish nutrients at frightening speed.

Nyaltartep's urgent cry made me feel a little wronged. The creature burned an absurd amount of energy with every movement, so I was busy having it guzzle nectar to recharge.

Besides, the fight hadn't even lasted that long. Ten minutes at most? If they couldn't wait through a single ten-minute merienda, the rest of the legion commanders were simply too incompetent.

"Done. Energy charge complete."

The distance from the Nectar Well to the enemy base was vast, but that didn't matter.

I tore the entire terrain free and hurled it in front of the dimensional rift. The Fourth Legion Commander kicked off the ground and charged. In an instant it crossed the enemy world and arrived before Dandan, who was busy pummeling my commanders into paste.

"!"

Before the monster could react, a projectile fired from its hand and smashed straight into Dandan's face.

CRAAAAAASH!

The giant tentacle beast flew backward and tumbled across the ground. Dandan looked up in utter confusion at the unidentified orb that had struck it.

A bizarre silhouette. Humanoid in shape, yet its features mixed toad and monkey. An elastic, elongated neck coiled like a spring between its head and torso.

It spoke in a perfectly clear, dignified voice.

Surprisingly, it referred to the Dessert Legion commanders as family and proudly stepped forward.

Both Dandan and Dindinaron, who had been supporting from the rear, let out low groans at the overwhelming presence radiating from the newcomer.

The purpose behind this creation was simple.

Yogur-tosoth excelled at destruction and massacre but struggled with proper duels against strong foes. Shuc-rimmurath was essentially a sturdy ecosystem-restoration unit—a healer. Nyaltartep was strictly non-combat.

So I made one. Using a god fragment obtained while exploring unclaimed territory, I mixed in countless rice cakes, sugar lumps, jellies, and gums, then molded the result.

A pure combat specialist created with a single purpose: to defeat the enemy's strongest creation in one-on-one combat.

A duel and confrontation expert designed under the assumption that, with the support of the other Dessert Legion commanders, it could at least hold its own against even Yeondan-u—the strongest and most vicious entity I had ever created.

"Fourth Legion Commander of the Dessert Legion! A superorganism that has never once lain on the ground since the moment of its birth! The greatest masterpiece of the Dessert Legion, bearer of an undefeated legend!"

"Um, Lord Biin? The whole 'never lain on the ground' and 'undefeated legend' thing is just because it was born five minutes ago, isn't it? And honestly, this introduction feels way too self-indulgent."

Who cares? I like this one a lot. This game has players from every dimension anyway. No one here will recognize the reference, so copyright can go screw itself.

"Chaltteoggua!!!"

Extremely polarized stats. Individual level twelve, yet Authority and Magic Power were only seven and eight. That was because it had learned only a single mystery—the one needed to beat opponents immune to physical attacks.

Everything else had been poured into physical ability. Its Combat score alone was double Yogur-tosoth's, and its Technique was high enough to give it dominance against similarly sized enemies in most situations.

The giant tentacle beast that had been knocked down by the long-range rice-cake projectile staggered back to its feet. But Chaltteoggua had already kicked off the ground and closed the distance.

Compared to the other sluggish commanders, Chaltteoggua moved at blinding speed.

It created an extra arm from its own body, inflated it, and slammed both fists forward in a devastating strike.

"Vivid Rice Cake!!!!"

"Excuse me?"

CRAAAAAASH!

The terrifying impact sent the tentacle beast spinning through the air. Its frame didn't look particularly heavy, yet a single solid blow had sent it flying.

Even so, the enemy was no pushover. While still airborne it stretched out its tentacles, trying to seize Chaltteoggua. The intent was clear—if it caught even one limb, it would strangle the commander to death.

Useless. The tentacles simply passed through Chaltteoggua's body as if it had no substance, like trying to grab mist.

"?!"

Yet while the enemy's attacks slipped through like water, Chaltteoggua's fists landed with heavy, solid thuds—relentless and unstoppable.

The tentacle beast kept attacking, aiming for the head, chest, stomach, even the groin, but every strike simply passed through.

"???"

When it attacked, its tentacles went straight through. When it was attacked, the blows felt like solid rock.

It wasn't that the body lacked substance. The body was clearly real. It could indeed shift parts of itself into fluid ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠form.

But fundamentally, Chaltteoggua was simply reshaping its body with perfect efficiency to dodge. With Supernatural Instinct granting senses sharp enough to glimpse the future, such movement was possible.

"Hey. Lord Biin. Who exactly are you explaining this to right now?"

The enemy tentacle monster seemed to realize it had made a mistake.

Deciding that physical attacks were useless, it switched to mystery. It gathered power and unleashed a massive spray of acid strong enough to melt Shuc-rimmurath or Yogur-tosoth on direct contact.

There was no dodging this. When such a huge volume of liquid came flying, evasion was meaningless. Nor was Chaltteoggua significantly tougher than Shuc-rimmurath.

But such details were trivial. Chaltteoggua compressed its soft, elastic body into a hard, angular shape and simply charged straight through the acid.

It then fired a barrage of arms it had split into dozens of segments. The shockwaves scattered the acid in every direction. With astonishing agility it dodged the flying droplets and reached the tentacle beast's face with minimal damage.

Unlike Shuc-rimmurath, who simply tanked hits, or Yogur-tosoth, who relied on barriers, this one understood martial arts. When your entire purpose is to defeat any opponent one-on-one, your technique cannot be sloppy.

The greatest resource invested in Chaltteoggua's creation hadn't been biological material. It had been time—time spent learning advanced martial arts from sugar lumps above the narrative tier and accumulating real combat experience.

And now that an opening had been created, the fight was over. Chaltteoggua inflated its arm and drove it into the tentacle beast's torso like a lariat.

It spun its fluid body in mid-air, whirling repeatedly before slamming the monster down into the ground with tremendous force.

"Here it is! True • Sever • Rice Cake!!!"

"What the hell have you been saying this whole time?!"

To think I could watch my own creation perform a real-life, ultra-high-quality version of that technique… I could die happy now…!

"Wait, where did the Demon King who races toward destruction no matter the cost go? I genuinely cannot tell what part of this you're getting emotional about."

Regardless, Chaltteoggua had turned the enemy monster into literal minced meat using pure martial arts.

The opposing giant had fairly balanced stats and was certainly strong, but it stood no chance against Chaltteoggua, who had gone all-in on combat ability to an extreme degree.

If it was going to charge in so recklessly, it should have dumped every single point into combat power. Then the entire Dessert Legion would have needed to swarm it together to stand a chance.

Even in this situation it had still been thinking about the 'next' battle. How naïve. Its challenge against me had probably stemmed from the same shallow thinking.

It probably wanted to defeat me, receive even greater investment afterward, and accomplish something grand. There had been flashes of brilliant, bold decision-making, but…

In the end, it hadn't gone fully insane.

"Was that a pun?"

"Pretty much."

Nothing feels better than spending an entire collision thoroughly beating the crap out of the enemy.

The enemy's giant monster was being pounded into ground meat by Chaltteoggua. Meanwhile Nyaltartep was healing Yogur-tosoth, and the other defensive titans back at the enemy's main island would soon be shredded by fully charged destruction magic.

The battle was truly over.