ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 527 Part 1
ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 527: An Orchestra Just For You PART 9 Part 1
「Oh? Back already? So, does that mean that you managed to win, Sanraku-san?」
「No. I. Got. Utterly. Destroyed. Again.」
「Oh, I-I see…… Does that mean that this opponent is so strong? Even for someone as strong as you?」
「Yeah, you can say that again. Not to mention that this time around I was fighting against the Great Red Devourer, Kutanid of the Abyss and Siegwurm, the Heavenly Emperor in a row before facing that last boss.」
「You make it sound as if it was no big deal, but this sounds like a nightmare incarnate in reality, you know that!?」
「No, not really? Those guys are not all that hard once you get to know them. Heck, I would even go to say that they might actually be a kind of pushovers.」
「Huh!? Do you even realize what you are saying right now, Sanraku-san!?」
No, look, I really mean it. Everything else that comes before the fourth boss is not all that much of a problem here. The real problem is the fourth boss, which is the exact copy of the player that undergoes this challenge. However, I may not be all that good at this battle at the current moment, but I do believe that with enough practice I am going to gradually improve.
The question here is: is this improving going to be enough to allow me to defeat the other “me” at some point?
No, but I must say, that last action of the other “me” this time around was pretty astonishing, or should I even say impressive here? Who would have thought that with a huge shield like that you could force your opponent into a momentary stun upon a successful block? And not only that, but once that happened it wasted little to no time in order to follow that action and make full use of it. …… This thing may only be my copy, but so far it has been showing such aggressiveness in terms of both defense and offense that it was actually kind of scary sometimes.
However, even though my options against an enemy like that seem to be fairly limited here, it’s not like I am completely without chances or opportunities for a counterattack. And I am slowly starting to see more and more of them.
「True phases, huh……?」
「A-are you talking about those things again!? Like those one hundred-legged worms!? Or perhaps those nasty spiders!? No! Thank! You! Good sir! I don’t want to have to do anything with those things ever again if I could help it!」
「Hey, hey, now, Emul…… Please stop running away from reality like that! That’s really unbecoming of a proud member of the Vorpal Bunny race! What happened to that Vorpal Soul of yours that you are always so proud of? …… But well, we might actually want to give the Centipedes or Spiders a go some time later in the future, so it would be best if you were actually prepared for that. So that you won’t be taken completely by surprise and faint on the spot.」
Certainly enough, even though my level is currently sitting on a three digit number, this does not mean that it has reached its upper limit. So in a sense, there was still room for growth within me. Or could it be that in cases of bosses like that it would have been better if you were actually able to bring your level down so that your copy would also become weaker as well……? No, I guess that such a thing is only within the realm of theory, and it is not something that relates to my current situation. So no need to actually lose my time or my head deliberating about it.
Of course, if I am going to raise my level, my skills will also grow in power but it will also mean that my copy is going to become even more of a pain in the ass to deal with. And it is something that I would like to avoid doing if I could actually help it. However, the more I try to think about it, the more apparent it becomes to me –––––– with a boss like that it is pretty much impossible to try and optimize your build or your gear against it.
If I am ever going to be increasing something right about now, it should not be my basic specification, but rather my personal skills with various weapons and tools that are available to me at the current moment. To put it in another words, it’s much better to have a small handgun that you can use to the very limit of its abilities rather than having a rocket launcher that packs quite a punch but that you are going to keep missing with because you have little to no experience with that thing. And I vaguely start to remember that in the past I may have already fought a battle like that, but where and when……? Oh well, for now it would be in my best interest to actually try and perfect my ability to perform this boss rush mode without actually receiving any sort of damage, so that I can take my other “me” while being in tip-top condition. And in order to do that I need to just go out there and experiment with the tools that are available to me! Who knows? Maybe I will even discover some sort of a new skill combination or a combo attack that previously managed to elude me? You never know with things like that!
「There are still many things about this boss that I do not know or that I did not manage to confirm for sure, but…… Yeah, it is exactly like me. You could say that it is my mirror image. A true monster that specializes mostly in close quarters combat, but it also has means and tools that allow it to respond to a battle at the middle and long distance. The way in which it controls the magic it was given is also spot on. No matter how you look at it, it is a perfect warrior. One that would surely deserved to be called someone’s trump card if it was serving under some lord or a commander.」
「Was that you actually praising the enemy? Or was that a really roundabout and twisted way of actually praising yourself? Which is it, Sanraku-san?」
「Don’t get your panties in a twist, Emul. What I’m doing here is only analyzing the enemy that lies in front of me. Just like my own, his skills are specialized in mobility, so catching up to it with regular actions seems nigh impossible of a thing to do…… And I am sure that some of those actions would surely earn this thing the title of “Maximum Speed Holder”. Or wait……? Is it even possible for the enemy to receive a title in the first place? Because I get a feeling that it would be really stupid if such a thing was possible in the first place.」
「Conclusion: In other words, Master’s pride seems to be off the charts here.」
Well, I’m sorry if analyzing the enemy that is based on me is making me sound boastful. What are you going to do about it, huh? Sue me? But I can say one thing for sure: even if its basic specifications may be higher than my own, it is still a copy of mine. So it’s not like I’m going to be completely outclassed here. I still have a chance to fight back. So there is no way I’m going to give up.
But with all that being said, I really need to start thinking about some ways in which to mount the counterattack. Without that I’m pretty much screwed in here. The AI governing this enemy is a really nasty one. Not only does it copy everything about the player who is opposing it, but it apparently gives it a complete master of those skills and weapons from the get-go. However, such a thing should not come without a liability. Or to put it differently, there has to be at least some sort of a drawback.
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