2
“Squeesqueesqueek!”
“Hisssss!”
The giant Sand King makes oddly cute mewling noises, while Rose bares her fangs to intimidate it.
Having had part of my power armor torn open by the Sand King, I decide I’ve done enough as a decoy. I’m hanging out next to Alice.
“Sorry, Alice. Rose wouldn’t have to face off alone against it if I could’ve bought a few more minutes…”
“There’s nothing to do about that. You did well enough.”
I use my downtime to observe the battle.
Thanks to my perfect performance as a decoy, the Sand King’s covered in injuries. It’s squeaking as Rose keeps it restrained.
Even though bullets and harpoons didn’t work, the attacks with R-Buzzsaws definitely did damage.
Does that mean the only plan we’ve got is a suicide charge of Combat Agents with R-Buzzsaws?
…Just then, Rose strikes a weird pose and sucks in a deep breath.
“Drown in my hellfire! Sleep for eternity! Crimson Breaaaath!”
“Squee! Squeesqueee!”
Although the Sand King’s getting bathed in flame, it doesn’t seem to be taking any damage. I guess it does have some fire resistance after all.
Turning its back to Rose, it flicks up dirt with its claw.
“Bwah! Ack! I got dirt in my mouth…!”
As Rose is blanketed by dirt, letting out a cry as she defends her face…
“Squee!”
“Guuuh!”
…she gets sent flying by one of the Sand King’s flailing limbs.
Catching Rose in midair, I roll to kill our momentum.
Fortunately, it didn’t pierce her with a claw, and I don’t see any wounds on her.
“I’m sorry, but my body hurts too much to move. This is frustrating…”
“Rest here a bit. Like me, you did well. Good job… As for the rest of you, try harder! Fight at least as hard as Rose and I did!”
“Yes, yes, Six. You fought hard.”
I guess the Sand King really does have sharp senses, because it keeps attacking in the direction it hears the slightest noise coming from, so until the demons finish evacuating, we’ve been yelling back and forth to draw its attention.
The Combat Agents scurrying around the Sand King start yelling at us.
“Hey, Alice, stop babying Six! He didn’t even last ten seconds as a decoy. All he did was get hit and then run away!”
“Oh, shut up! Then you be the decoy! I’m special to Alice. My efforts and results are things only Alice understands. Ain’t that right, partner?”
“It’s because you do what I say when I give you a little encouragement. There, there. Well done. I have something else I need you to take care of.”
Alice then lightly pats my head.
For some reason, I have a bad feeling about this.
Just as I’m contemplating making my escape before anything happens…
“We’ve finished evacuating the demons! I apologize for the delay! I’ll be lending my assistance now!”
In a situation where the Combat Agents are staying back because of claws that can easily tear through power armor, Viper dashes over, heaving labored breaths.
Feeling their masculinity threatened by the incredibly powerful women before them, my colleagues close the distance with the Sand King.
With the evacuation of the demons complete, Alice issues an order to an agent with good sniping skills.
“Try shooting a cutting round into the Sand King.”
The agent unslings his rifle and, as instructed, loads a cutting round designed for slashing ropes from long distance.
He fires at the Sand King, but a moment later, the shot gets deflected off the seemingly impenetrable hide without leaving a scratch, then rebounds back to the agent who fired it, grazing his head.
“So R-Buzzsaws work, but it doesn’t look like it’s particularly vulnerable to cutting attacks…”
“Hey, Alice, that almost took my head off! Show a little more concern for our lives, please!”
As Mr. Expendable whines, Alice looks up.
“I think I’m on to something. Six, go punch the Sand King.”
The android, whom I previously thought of as a genius, is turning out to be just as useless as her creator.
“As a surgically enhanced human, my punch is strong, sure, but it won’t do anything against an enemy that big. Besides, getting close to a giant, pissed-off mole is just asking for death.”
I shake my head and shrug my shoulders, but Alice just makes a shooing gesture at me.
“Forget all that and get to it already. If you keep refusing, I’ll use my command authority.”
“You tyrant! After I get a hit in, I’m booking it!”
I look to the Sand King after filing my last complaint with Alice.
There’s nothing more dangerous than a wounded wild animal.
The Sand King sniffs around before lashing out with its claws the moment it hears movement.
Eventually, it looks directly at me, and we lock eyes.
As I freeze in place, Alice yells over at me.
“You moron! There’s no point crawling toward an opponent who doesn’t rely on eyesight. Hurry and stand up!”
Distracted by Alice’s voice, the Sand King whiffs its claw attack over the top of my head.
“Whoa, that was close! Why can’t you tell me these things ahead of time?!”
As I flee back toward Alice, she gives me a look of utter disappointment.
“It’s my fault for not considering your complete lack of intelligence… Do we have anyone with the guts to go land a punch on the Sand King?!”
I don’t think there’s anyone here with a weird enough fetish that they’d happily run toward an enemy that deadly…
“I’ll go.”
After saying this in a low voice, Viper runs in.
“Vi, what are you doing?! You guys, cover her! We’ll draw the Sand King’s attention!”
As Viper quickly closes in on her target, we decide to distract it instead of trying to stop her.
“Hey! Hey, over here, you stupid mole! Look at meeee!”
“I know it won’t work, but take this! Don’t underestimate an enhanced agent’s fastball!”
“Keep taunting it! I know it won’t understand our words, but taunt it anyway! You damned mole! Your beady eyes are so adorable! Stop twitching that nose!”
Some agents jeer, and others start throwing rocks.
Seemingly annoyed by all the noise we’re making, the Sand King, now with a decent grasp of where everyone is, turns its nose toward our group…
“Demon Lord Punch!” yells Viper as she delivers a mighty kick to the Sand King.
“…Did that do it?”
“Damn, the Demon Lord Punch is awesome! Even if it’s not a punch!”
“Wow, so that’s the power of a Demon Lord! That totally wasn’t a punch, though! It was a flying kick!”
As the agents get worked up, the Sand King snaps out of its daze.
It definitely looks like it’s in pain where Viper kicked it, and as it gets up, it seems to be protecting its flank.
I guess a single “Demon Lord Punch” wasn’t enough to take it down.
But Alice knew that’d be the case, so what’s she after?
“You guys, engage it in melee combat! The Sand King’s using some mysterious energy to nullify ranged attacks. Strike it with something other than projectile weapons!” shouts Alice confidently.
“Mysterious energy”? It’s weird for her, of all people, to say something like that.
“What’s up, Alice? Are you describing things in video-game terms now, too? We’ll have to get you in character, then. First, you need to call me something like master or owner. After that, just throw in some robot noises every now and then, and you’ll be perfect.”
“…What are you talking about? This is a boss immunity. You mentioned boss monsters are sometimes immune to things like status effects, right? The Sand King is using something that greatly nullifies ranged attacks, though I’m not sure what.”
Come to think of it, Rose’s fire breath only had an effect at close range.
That means her order to go punch the Sand King was to confirm that hypothesis.
“I see. So it has the magical barrier that someone mentioned at the meeting.”
“There’s no such thing as magical barriers. It’s a mysterious energy. Remember when Tiger Man mentioned punching it seemed to work? Viper’s Demon Lord Punch and the slashes from the R-Buzzsaws are also melee attacks. Meaning…harpoons might work if they’re not thrown but stabbed into its flesh at close range.”
Alice stubbornly denies the existence of magic, but listening to our exchange, Viper picks up a discarded harpoon.
“Vi?! You’ve done enough! Vi, come back, Vi!”
As Viper charges in again, the Sand King looks frightened.
The Demon Lord Punch must have hurt a lot, because it won’t take its attention off Viper even as loud noises echo all around it.
The Sand King rears up and brings down its front legs just as Viper jumps in and drives the harpoon into its belly.
The Sand King screeches in agony, but as it moves to strike Viper, its claws just barely miss her hair.
“Everyone, request harpoons! As you can see, they’ll work if you get close!”
At Alice’s words, the mood of the agents changes.
Now that its weakness has been confirmed, it’s our time to shine.
Just as everyone’s morale rises—
“Skreeeeeeeeee!”
—the Sand King lets out a sharp, high-pitched squeal and dives into the hole from which it emerged.
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