Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?

Elf Village Battle ?

Chapter Elf Village Battle ?

Author’s note: Potimas’s perspective

I’m using the Type ?. But to say that I had no doubts about that decision, would be incorrect. The Type ? is an anti-Gyuriedistodiez specialised battle weapon. To put it plainly, it doesn’t have a good affinity with Ariel. I don’t know whether or not it can be used in this magecraft jamming field, but she has Gluttony. The Type ? has a colossal amount of internal energy. However, it’s not infinite. If a battle continued on long enough it would run out, and if there is external interference then it’s natural that it would run out faster. Gluttony is likely capable of absorbing even that internal energy. Naturally, I have not been able to analyse every single skill. Even though I have the magecraft jamming field, I’m not able to relax.

Without doubt, the Type ? cannot be defeated by Ariel, no matter how poor affinity it has. The Type ?’s combat abilities are, when converted to theoretical System status values, a physical offensive ability of 150,000, a physical defensive ability of 100,000 and a speed of 150,000. Due to the use of Appraisal obstruction from Ruler authority, Ariel’s status values haven’t been accurately determined, but it shouldn’t be possible for them to exceed 100,000. In which case, she can be overcome with the gap in simple physical ability alone. And in practice, Ariel is being nicely dealt with by the Type ?.

?HAAAAH!?

Through the monitor, Ariel yells while unleashing her fist. But, the Type ? leisurely evades. In a counter-attack, it strikes at Ariel’s body with its arm. It’s no ordinary arm either. The Type ?’s arm rotates like a drill, and part of Ariel’s body is ripped off. With a part of her body turned into a bloody mess, Ariel’s small body becomes even more lightweight. With about half her abdomen having disappeared, Ariel takes some distance without hesitation.

When it comes to fighting with a god, after considering what could be the most efficient form of attack, the result was this drill. With a slash attack, the cut portions only need to be reconnected. With a bludgeon attack, the broken portions only need to be restored. With a piercing attack, the damaged region is too narrow in the first place. Against a monster that can completely regenerate from being smashed to smithereens in an instant, using such physical attacks doesn’t have that much meaning. Particularly since that requires having enough destructive power to be able to smash the body to smithereens in the first place. However, such excessive destructive power is a waste of energy.

Whether it’s an attack or a defense, it consumes energy. If an attack consumes 100 points of energy, then to defend against that the defending side must likewise also consume 100 points of energy. If the original strength of the materials is included in the calculation, then such a simple scheme doesn’t really work though. In any case, the more the opponent increases their offensive power, the more energy will be used for defense in proportion to that. However, that changes beyond a certain point. There’s a point beyond which it becomes more economical to receive the damage and heal the wound, rather than defend against it. If you think about it, it’s obvious. We’re talking about a monster that can revive even from having its body blown to smithereens. In other words, there’s enough energy kept in stock within the body such that being blown to smithereens isn’t a problem. For the sake of argument, if the amount of energy required to revive from being blown to smithereens is 10,000 points, in the case that 10,001 or more points of energy are used in attack, rather than dumbly spending 10,001 points of energy to defend against that it would save 1 point of energy to revive from it instead. In turn, it means that in order to make the opponent on defence use up 10,000 points of energy, the one on the attacking side spent 10,001 of energy. Which means that despite making an attack, more energy was actually expended instead.

Due to such a phenomenon occurring, expending too much energy in an attack against a god is a poor plan. It is preferable to use a low cost means of attack that still forces the opponent to spend energy. On that point, the drill is a wonderfully efficient method of attack. It’s possible to adjust the energy consumption to meet the opponent’s defensive power, and on top of that, if the defense can be penetrated then it’s possible to cause a major injury. The larger the wound that can be created, the larger the energy required to restore it. Although the results might seem meagre against a god who can even revive from being blown to smithereens, as the costs pile up they become massive. “Low cost, low return”. However, the return is guaranteed to be larger.

In addition, Ariel is not a god. With this setting that was prepared to take on a god, for a mortal like Ariel, no matter how good an affinity she has with the Type ?, it’s ultimately hopeless. The only thing I’m concerned about, is the possibility of wasting the Type ?’s internal energy. After gathering so much precious energy, it would be galling if more than the expected amount of energy was consumed in fighting Ariel. But, like I said to Ariel, I consider her to be a worthy opponent. Enough that I decided that it’s worth playing my strongest card against her as a tribute.

?Potimas-sama. How do you wish to proceed with the counter attack outside??

?I’ll leave it to you.?

Which is why, when my subordinate transmitted a request for instructions, I left it all to them. I have no intention to take my eyes off of Ariel, displayed on this monitor. It’s fine to leave the minor matters outside to my subordinates. At most, the only ones that are a cause for concern are the Queen Taratekt and the one called Shiro. Considering that both of them together could not possibly match Ariel, there is no need for me to deal with them personally. For now, I want to concentrate on seeing the last moments of my ancient enemy with my own eyes.

Ariel puts a hand over the lost part of her abdomen, and is breathing heavily. Just by breathing in the air that’s laden with carbon dioxide, her physical condition will worsen though. Because of the magecraft jamming field, even the possibility of healing an injury is doubtful. Naturally. That’s the reason for the magecraft jamming. That’s the reason for the carbon dioxide. Using the magecraft jamming to put a limit on the combat abilities and recovery abilities of a god, and using carbon dioxide to force them to gradually waste energy, and finally to accelerate that using the Type ?. In order to kill a god, I thoroughly prepared this battle formation despite not being a god. Not being a god, it is impossible for Ariel to defeat it.

?AHHHH!?

Once again, the Type ? attacked Ariel. The drill pierced Ariel’s chest, opening a large hole. However, Ariel was prepared to take that attack in order to grab the Type ? with her left hand, and constrain it.

?I caught… you.?

Until that point, the Type ?’s speed had made sport of Ariel’s attacks, and she hadn’t connected even once. In order to land a strike on the Type ?, Ariel purposely took an attack from the Type ? huh. Ariel’s right hand is clasped tightly. She unleashes a powerful right straight. Caught by her left hand, the Type ? wasn’t able to evade. The blow made with all her might lands on the Type ?. Her fist drives into the head section of the Type ?, which explodes like a balloon despite being metal. Continuing further, the impact was transmitted through the body, and the Type ?’s entire body was scattered as if it had detonated.

?How’d you like that huh.?

Ariel smiles as if in triumph. That’s in spite of the large holes that have been opened in her abdomen and chest, which would be fatal to a living being. However, it’s unfortunate for her.

?It’s unfortunate, but I wouldn’t think it’s over yet.?

In front of Ariel’s eyes, the smashed up body of the Type ? begins to revive. Without even taking a second, the body returns to the uninjured state that it had until just now. If a god can do it, then there’s no reason why a being with a similar amount of energy invested cannot. All the more so because unlike a living being, the Type ? is a simple lump of metal. It’s merely being remote controlled by magecraft. The complex structure of a living being versus a simple lump of metal. Naturally, the former requires a greater amount of energy to revive. Efficiently force the opponent to consume energy, resulting in a smaller loss for us. Keep making the same investment over a long period. That’s the essence of the Type ?.

?The second round is getting started.?

Together with those words, the Type ? rushes towards Ariel again. It might end with the second round. She’s hardly likely to last until the final round. But then again, that final round would never be reached, since this is a hell of infinite rounds after all.