Chapter 94: Four Saint Beast Artifacts +2, Weapon Chips +2
The Tower of Druaga's high-level items were all essentially this: highly specialized and highly powerful in equal measure. The Dragon-Slaying Spear could one-hit kill dragon-type units, and in exchange it shattered after a single use and did nothing against anything else.
Put another way: if Seiryu had given himself any other name, or simply hadn't decorated his entire body with dragon motifs, the Dragon-Slaying Spear might never have classified him as a dragon-type unit at all.
Getting the item was also extremely tedious. Not difficult, just tedious. The Tower of Druaga had sixty stages, and the Dragon-Slaying Spear was obtained on Floor 57, with a chain of prerequisite conditions spread across the lower floors. Which meant that getting it again would require climbing the whole thing from scratch.
That said: beyond Seiryu, were there actually any other dragon-type units in the Hunter world? The only thing Ross could think of was the thin-legged creature that didn't quite look like a proper dragon that Ging Freecss had apparently been riding at some point.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going!"
At Hiei's sharp warning, the heavily burned figure who had been carefully edging toward the exit froze in place, then turned back to face them in slow, reluctant increments, confronting the invaders who were, apparently, even more frightening than Seiryu had been.
In the original story at this plot point, Byakko had been killed by Seiryu personally, executed under the banner of cleaning house, treated as no companion and simply terminated on the spot. The act had even managed to trigger some small portion of Hiei's limited supply of empathy.
In this timeline, Byakko hadn't died. And the one who had declared his execution was now dead himself, in every possible sense of the phrase, slightly ahead of schedule.
From the moment Byakko entered the story, he had put on an extremely impressive... display. Ability was present, make no mistake, but the display was even more substantial than the ability. In certain respects he had actually performed worse than Genbu. At least Genbu had managed to injure Kurama. Byakko had been on the receiving end from beginning to end without exception.
But looking at the fact that this large white cat, the instant his Split-body Demon Beasts were destroyed, abandoned every shred of dignity and ran on all fours without a second's hesitation, the creature was considerably more adaptable than he appeared.
Case in point: facing a situation where escape was no longer available, the severely injured Byakko was already throwing himself into rapid full-force kowtows.
"Please, in your great mercy! Just spare my worthless life!!!"
The Byakko's sudden begging made Hiei stumble backward several steps, mouth twitching.
Shameless demons existed in fair numbers, but one this open and unapologetic about it was actually fairly unusual.
If Byakko could hear Hiei's thoughts he would have had things to say. Compared to this tiger's actual life, what was face worth, exactly? Just get through this crisis. These human invaders and demon traitors, I'll deal with every last one of them.
"What do we do? Still kill him?"
"Kind of hard to bring myself to do it..."
Honestly, when the begging reached this level, even two delinquents with a meaningful amount of basic decency in their makeup genuinely found it difficult to make a move.
Right at that moment, Ross's voice cut through.
"Byakko, is farmed human really that much worse to eat than wild human?"
"Disgusting! Absolutely disgusting! For something like us, it's like being forced to eat nothing but soy products every day. Nutrition is technically adequate, but eat it long enough and it's revolting. It just fills your stomach, it doesn't—"
Triggered at some fundamental level by his prolonged dietary situation, Byakko launched into the outburst immediately. Most of his irritability had come specifically from being confined to only those farmed humans, people who had the exterior form of humans but none of the wildness or genuine fear. He hadn't finished speaking before he suddenly covered his own mouth.
He had said the wrong thing.
The next second, Byakko felt a sharp pain at his neck. His field of vision began rotating forward, 360 degrees.
"As expected. Once a demon has had the real thing, they can't go back."
Byakko's extraordinary vitality meant that his severed head, now on the floor, retained just enough vision for one last image: Ross, holding the Hero's Sword, seen upside down.
Ross hadn't done it out of particular righteousness. He confirmed Byakko had been eating people and acted.
Unlike the original story's Byakko, who was executed by Seiryu at the same plot point, Ross beheading Byakko didn't produce any negative reaction from the others. The two delinquents were visibly a little puzzled. They didn't understand why Ross had suddenly moved.
"What Ross asked just now was a probe. This Byakko was eating humans. Probably quite a few."
Kurama, attentive as ever, took care of the explanation.
That settled it.
Without pausing for a moment, the Navigation Arrow, which had just finished its extraction on Seiryu's corpse, rushed over to Byakko with evident enthusiasm.
As expected: two more small cauldrons appeared in Ross's hands, one pale blue-green, one white. Seiryu's Sacred Artifact and Byakko's Sacred Artifact. Three of the Four Saint Beast Artifacts collected. The fourth was not going to be skipped.
And two more Weapon Chips.
From Seiryu: the pale blue Weapon Chip: Freeze Cannon. From Byakko: the pure white Weapon Chip: Vibration Cannon.
The one worth discussing specifically was the Vibration Cannon.
[Weapon Chip: Vibration Cannon. Mega Buster derivative attachment. Source: City of the Four Saint Beasts Primal Secret Realm BOSS, Byakko.
When equipped, the Mega Buster's attack mode changes from Nen Blasts to Vibration Rounds. Vibration Rounds force the target into resonance on contact, ultimately reducing them to dust. Vibration Rounds have wave-cancellation priority when fired against other energy projectiles in mid-flight. Vibration Rounds will affect certain wave-type propagation effects. Current Nen conversion rate: 2 units = 1 Vibration Round.]
Although he never got the chance to demonstrate it, Byakko had actually been a fairly rare type of demon. He could generate a unique high-frequency vibration molecule inside his own body. Mixed into a Nen blast and fired, it became his Tiger's Roar Destruction Wave, an attack that could reduce anything it hit to dust with ease.
That was also the main reason his roar could trigger resonance so effortlessly.
If Ross had tried to receive a Tiger's Roar Destruction Wave the same way he received Yusuke's Spirit Gun, the better outcome would have been permanently losing both arms. The worse outcome would have been turned to vapor.
All academic now. Byakko's vibration molecule generation had become part of the Mega Buster. It would become one of the techniques Ross would eventually be known for.
"Genbu, Byakko, Seiryu... what's the last one called again?"
Yusuke, academically challenged as ever, was counting on his fingers.
"Suzaku."
Kurama, a walking reference, answered.
At the same time, at the very top of the City of the Four Saint Beasts.
Watching through a crystal ball as the invaders killed three of the Four Saint Beasts without apparent difficulty, the sole remaining Saint Beast showed not a trace of panic. He stroked the strangely shaped flute in his hand and stayed silent for a long moment before speaking.
"Mureike."
"I am here, Lord Suzaku."
A bird-type demon that could speak landed on the stone steps beside him.
"The score in the treasury. Bring it to me. Now."
"The score!? My lord, you can't be serious!?"
The bird-type demon looked genuinely alarmed, wings flapping.
"Ah, the score. These invaders have earned it. Go, quickly."
"Yes, my lord!"
Watching his familiar leave, Suzaku's face carried a kind of resolve that had no business being on a villain BOSS. It suited him anyway.
At that moment, Ross's group had already reached the topmost floor. The distance between them and Suzaku's central tower chamber, Suzaku's Domain, was down to five hundred meters in a straight line.
***
30+advance chapters at patreon.com/Eatinpieces