ShangriLa Frontier ~ Shitty Games Hunter Challenges Godly Game ~

It was decided that the distance required for us to be able to avoid this monster’s attacks would need to increase substantially ever since it showed us that it is capable of a medium range defensive actions like the one with a bamboo spears from just now.

One you manage to destroy the armored plating on some parts of the Attacking Bear’s body, you create a zone from which a bamboo spear can now strike towards you at so great of a speed that you won’t be able to avoid it or to do anything about it. Too be honest, part of me wanted to check out if we destroy all of the bear’s armor and cause bamboo spears to appear from every place possible, would the bear will still be able to move around. But then that plan and strategy went to hell when I saw that one of the spears basically snapped in the place where the bamboo was growing out of the bear’s body and fell to the ground. So it seems that it can only stretch out to some extent before becoming ejected from its body. Ahh, talk about wasting perfectly good bamboo just because you can do it…… If only there was some way in which that wasted bamboo could be used, that would have been perfect here.

「Sanraku-san! Watch out! The Swimming Mines! The Swimming Mones are approaching us once more!」

「Already!? Isn’t that, like, way too fast!?」

No, but there is an even more pressing matter that needs to be addressed here right now: why there were no explosions to be heard? Where did they go? Does that mean that the Swimming Mines got the other players? Is that why they were moving in on our location right now? I would like to believe that this was not the case and that this other group was still alive out there somewhere, and that it was only the fact that our battle with the Attacking Bear that was so loud an noisy that it basically diverted the attention of the Swimming Mines and drove them towards out group.

However, the problem is still the fact that we basically have a horde of suicide bombers ell lizards converging on our position, and converging fast. Now, it is for that exact reason that we have set up a rear guard, to prevent those pesky pests from interfering with our business, but it would be really foolish of us to actually think that they would be able to kill of every single last one of those Swimming Mines. It’s only a common sense that some of them are going to get through their safety net and reach here. So this means that us front liners need to be aware of the Swimming Mines’ threat at all times and be ready to react accordingly once they appear.

「Boy, it surely looks to me that we need to toughen ourselves up a little bit in here if we are ever going to hope to overcome this sudden crisis! And just for that very purpose! ……”Firing Up”!!!」

Alright, you huge bear! You have already displayed your trump card to me once! So it’s only natural that I am not going to ever fall for the same trick the second time! So this time around before engaging I shot a crystal pillar from the ground in order to avoid the bamboo spear that was extending from the bear’s hip and trying to reach me. Normally it would be pretty much impossible to lift a thing like this up from below, but with this…… Here!!!

「“Growing Up”!!!」

The vibrating crystal bullet sprouts from below the ground and rapidly grows into a crystal pillar, right around the area where the Attacking Bear’s hind legs were located……And the crystal pillar managed to obstruct one of its hind legs at the exact moment when the bear lounged forward and wanted to break into a mad rush again.

In other words, even if you are walking on four legs, which obviously helps your body to maintain the much needed balance, if you scoop one of those legs that were preparing to rush at someone, you will naturally fall down without a second of delay. I’m really sorry, but that’s just how physics work. …… And the way this thing played out right now was that the Attacking Bear just fell towards the ground and slid forward, presenting its vulnerable head and neck right in front of Rei-san, who was preparing herself to bring her whip down with a mighty overhead swing.

「Haaaahhh!!!」

An iron whip is struck against the Attacking Bear’s body, exactly in a place where its neck was being exposed from underneath the broken armor plating, creating a nice fissure at this Rei-san could aim. I am pretty sure that this one swing at this uncovered weak point managed to deal more damage than three Sanrakus combined would have been able to inflict on their own, and the only reason why the bear’s head was still intact and it not popped off from its neck was because of that helmet-like exoskeleton that was keeping it together. Or perhaps it was only because its neck was so god damned strong that it managed to stay largely intact. It’s either of those two, if you were to ask me for opinion.

But still, even though its head did not fall from its neck does not mean that there was not some serious damage being done here. Because there was the loud and unpleasant sound of sinews and muscle fibers being cut and torn apart, its neck was squeaking, and its bones were making a sound as though they were all shattering into tiny little pieces or were just about to crack from all the force of that blow just now. Personally, I would never want to find out just how painful receiving an attack like that to your neck could be.

But this is all good in here. Because at the current moment the only kind of emotion that is driving the Attacking Bear is that of simple and primordial rage. Sure, the Dominator Grizzly might be strong and really sturdy, but at the current moment almost all of its armor is practically gone and only the bear parts remain. In this state, its rage and aggro were solely focused on Rei-san and myself, and it was going to kill us no matter what, even if it meant obtaining tunnel vision and ignoring everything else in its immediate surroundings.

But I’m not crazy enough to just stay within its range and let that monster do as it pleases. So I just back away to safety for the time being. Rei-san also used her newly found nimbleness flexibility of her female avatar to basically dodge, slide and maneuver her way around the bear, effectively evading all of its attacks.

「Hey, so I know that this may sound rich coming from me of all people, but…… Where are our reinforcements? Do we have anyone who would be willing to back us up?」

「Ask and you shall receive! I have arrived!」

「Uwah! So I guess we really do have reinforcements, huh?」