ShangriLa Frontier ~ Shitty Games Hunter Challenges Godly Game ~

This here has been a long, long, VERY long corridor. And I have already lost count just how long I have been running through it.

Now, when it comes to infiltrating the enemy’s stronghold, there is one quirk in particular that comes with it: that you can observe the ongoing battle outside of the spaceship from your enemy’s point of view. And honestly, it really puts some things into perspective here. Or at the very least that’s how I feel about it. Seeing your allies struggle to survive and doing their best to win and all that other stuff.

「Ooohhh……」

Just now, there was a short and very bright flash of light somewhere on the Mercenary’s side of the battlefield, and before long there was a barrage of laser fire cutting through the void of space, seeking out its target on this side of the battlefield. And surely, it finally managed to reach its mark, hitting one of the Terraton—Class ships on this side of the field, causing the giant mass of steel to almost snap in half as it scattered about fires and lightning of explosions, only to then slowly starting to disappear without making a single sound. However, it’s not that the sunk Terratonn-Class ships was going to accept death without doing anything. Before the laser barrage turned it into a pile of scrap and dust, it fired a missile barrage of its own, and those missiles flew forward, seeking its designated target as well. As for the object of this pre-death counterattack…… was that perhaps aimed at the second ship of the fleet? Yes, I think that’s what this was all about. There was a loud smashing sound that you could hear even through the cold void of space.

Honestly, this whole scene playing out right before of my eyes felt pretty much like the end of the world. However, it was way too bloody and way too filled with gunfire and flashes of explosion to match that decadent vision that some religions out there are trying to portrait.

「…… Yeah, but no matter how you try to look at it, it’s just plain old weird. What the hell is going on?」

Ever since I have come here onto this ship, I have managed to get this far and I was yet to encounter any enemy NPCs. Normally I would not question that matter, but this here was a final battle, so this situation was making a red alarm signal ring inside of my head one after another. I get it that there are no battle-oriented NPCs following behind me, but for them to be not present before me? Because all this time, the only thing that I can see in front of my eyes is the see-through glass floor without a single guard manning their station. No enemy is following behind me, no enemy is laying in ambush in front of me…… could it be that they are inviting me right into their command center? This whole thing is really starting to reek of a setup. But no, no way. There’s just no way that’s what’s going on here. It would be way too much of a hassle. I mean, wouldn’t it be easier for them to just rig the whole corridor with mines and tripwires and blow this whole segment up to Kingdom Come?

So I was proceeding forward while thoughts like that kept on creeping their way inside of my mind one after another. But it was not all that long after that when at least the reason why I was not being followed became obviously clear.

* * *

「…… So in other words, Captain Wolf is still somewhere out there, but he’s basically stuck? And he chose to make us believe he is gone so he wouldn’t slow us down?」

「Yes, for you see…… It’s a little bit embarrassing to admit, but my leg happened to get hurt really bad…… So yeah. I was stuck in one place and now I have only one battle drone left that managed to survive beside me. But honestly…… I don’t really think that I am going to survive in here long enough to see the end of this fight. And certainly I won’t be able to rejoin you guys anytime soon. And even if I did, I would only slow you all down.」

It was none other than Python who happened to reveal the truth to me shortly after I started to wonder why there are no enemies in here and if this is perhaps al la trap set around luring me further in and then dealing with me in one swift move. She happened to learn about it herself when she was trying to catch up to Rhino and I after she was left with only one battle drone herself, one that could be called a Thin Machogmaine, only because calling it a genuine Machogamine would have been a real stretch here. It was then that she came upon Wolf in his predicament.

But I see, I get it now. So, it would seem that I have to hurry up with this thing, right?

「So, does that mean that it would be better for me to get to work and go towards the command center as soon as possible? Is that what’s going on here? Because that’s the vibe I am getting right now.」

「Yeah, you’re thinking is spot on here. It would be really great if you could do that and end this conflict as soon as humanly possible. Because honestly…… Yeah, we really won’t be able to last in here all that long. Not under those set of dire circumstances. And trust me, if there is any chance, ANY chance at all for us to avoid being shot down and killed, we would like to place our bets on that option.」

At this point in time, more than half of the last day has already passed. And at this point in time it’s worth noting that both “Hotel Rikumogami” and “Pearl Circle”, two ships which which suffered great damage as a result of Queen’s Throne making that suicide self-destruction act, were forced to fall back from the battle and that they would most probably be unable to return to it in time. And apparently this was all part of the strategy that the Mercenary was aiming at when he sent us to get rid of Deerhorn. Now as to briefly brush on the origins of this entire war, it simply originated from what you would call a conflict of interests between the Mercenary and the G Cup Breast Meat. In an extremely huge nutshell. And even if some of their interests would be gained by winning, or could be obtained simply by forming their respective coalitions, as long as one of them was not dead here, there conflict would just rage on and on and on.