Broken carrots rolled slowly across the floor, landing with a muffled, sullen thud-thud sound.
Streaks of black mist, resembling silk threads, emerged from the fibers of the vivid orange vegetables, gradually winding around Alain.
Tightly entangling, the previously intact carrots began to shift. In everyone's eyes, it started with a single carrot sprout acting clumsily, turning entirely into liquid, then evaporating from liquid into gas, drifting towards the ceiling.
Then the second, the third, the fourth... Within a few short seconds, everyone located the black mist rising from all seventeen carrot sprouts. Layer upon layer, they gathered in the center of the ceiling like stacking dark clouds.
"Th-this aura looks really unusual..."
Cute Mita was a little scared, secretly hiding her carrot behind her back.
A mass of thick mist brushed past Mila's hair, as if whispering a soft groan to her. The girl couldn't help but cast her gaze toward the tachi displayed on the bookshelf.
Knowing they might not be of much help, Prankster Mita and Tiny Mita hid to the side early on to avoid burdening Alain.
"Player, fight!" Tiny Mita's bright text flashed.
Prankster Mita's cheering was not to be outdone.
"That's right, do your best! After you win, I-I... I'll kiss you."
"Eh? Can't you kiss me normally?" Alain was actually somewhat disappointed.
The short-haired girl blushed and pondered for two seconds, her nervousness vanishing.
"S-Sure!"
Watching the black mist on the ceiling gradually tighten, Alain realized the Modified Entity was coming.
He glanced at Prankster Mita. "Alright... then for the future where we can kiss."
He looked at Cool Mita. "For the sake of seeing your 'cool' side again."
Then, he looked at the puzzled Cute Mita. "And to be your manager, as well as..."
Finally, his gaze landed on Mila.
"What? If you have something to say, say it. Don't drag it out."
The bespectacled girl's eyes ostentatiously read: I really want to hear it, say it quickly.
"For the sake of justifiably bullying you in our small home in reality."
"You're annoying! You're already bullying me!!!" Mila didn't get angry; instead, she smiled, her steps chic and elegant as she strode towards the tachi in the corner.
Alain naturally didn't notice this; he was focused intently on the dense mist gradually solidifying... transforming from liquid to gas, then fusing into a state that was nearly liquid again.
Finally, the black sphere—burning with a pale inner light—appeared before Alain's eyes.
The viscous liquid state shifted into a rotten, mud-like semi-solid form. The pitch-black sphere flickered, and the code on its surface appeared as slowly spiraling rings—
The next moment, a flash erupted.
"!!!"
Everyone in the room was horrified to see patch after patch of black circles appearing on the floor beneath their feet.
"Watch out—don't step on them!" Alain hurriedly shouted a warning.
Everyone orderly moved to the table, the sofa, and even the cabinets to avoid the honeycomb of circular bodies.
Seeing that they were safe, Alain sighed in relief.
He silently sized up the old friend in front of him, one he had killed not long ago, and gripped the greatsword in his hand tightly.
To be honest, the situation was already slightly beyond his control.
If the Modified Entity he faced before was just big enough to swallow an adult male, then the black sphere now was far beyond that... it was roughly the same size as the complete black sphere in Monika's dreamwalking world.
If he had to describe it, the black sphere before him was the size of a sedan.
At that time, Alain had relied on two disabled gauntlets and the cooperation of Crazy Mita to instantly kill the black sphere.
Based on the current situation... it was questionable whether his damage combined with Crazy Mita's had been that overwhelming against the black sphere. After all, once the attack hit the large black sphere, that guy fell apart within a second, leaving not a trace behind.
But the problem was... exactly how much was Alain's own damage?
Assuming the large black sphere's health was 1, and the combined damage of Alain and Crazy Mita at that time surely exceeded 1.
Then, did Alain's own damage contribution reach 1? Or did Crazy Mita account for the majority of the damage?
Staring at the solidified sphere, the unforeseen situation didn't mess up his footing. Alain took a deep breath.
Just do it—and get it over with!
He gripped the greatsword, his gaze suddenly sharpening.
Using the tabletop for leverage, he leaped into mid-air. He aimed at the black sphere, intending to test the waters first—
Whoosh!
The blue greatsword traced a crescent arc in the air, its sharp edge slashing against the surface of the black sphere, creating a deformed gash.
Sizzle!
He landed steadily on the ground. Before he could even steady his stance, he looked at the black sphere again—the small gash caused by the surface impact was sprouting silken mucus.
The mucus threads entangled with one another... recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, the wound no longer existed.
Based on the feel of the attack, his strike against this mass generated ~0.1 damage. Yet the enemy could recover from that in an instant.
At this point, Alain could deduce two possibilities:
The first: His full-force outburst should be able to slightly exceed the large black sphere's health of "1," reaching 1.01. Just enough to defeat this python-like entity.
The second... and the worst-case scenario. His full-force strike does not exceed 1, but is stuck at a value like 0.99 or 0.98. If that's the case, then it's very bad.
The black sphere taking his full strike would lose blood, but who knows to what extent it would recover in the blink of an eye.
Assuming the interval after his full strike is two seconds, and the large black sphere can recover 0.4 or even 0.5 health... That isn't something Alain's flat damage of 0.1 can match. Before long, it would likely recover to a complete full health—State 1.
However...
Even so, Alain, clutching the greatsword, still activated the Failed Works Gauntlet's outburst without stopping.
A sensation of intense power filled his entire body, making Alain's meridians swell; even the black sphere looked like a little lamb to him now.
Everyone could vaguely hear a "rumbling" tremor and simultaneously focused their eyes on Alain.
Among them, Mila's feeling was particularly strong. Alain seemed to have become a little different.
"The Emperor Engine?"
Amidst Mila's words, he immediately manipulated the greatsword, putting everything into a single strike—
Boom!
The greatsword, glowing with blue light, whipped up gust after gust of hurricane-force wind, blowing the curtains until they rustled loudly. Half-opened books flipped their pages rapidly, and even the tiles on the floor were overturned.
The girls held their skirts down tightly, watching in shock at the upheaval Alain caused.
Things have come to this, I can only gamble on this one shot—Alain thought as he swung the sword. Whether he defeated the large black sphere in one hit or not... He had to do it to find out.
In his peripheral vision were the girls cheering him on with all their might. Even if he failed, he still had their trust as his shield to fall back on.
So, he had no way back... and no need to look back.
___
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