Yes, if there's a risk of Follow Through winning, please ping me as well. I wish I'd been summoned prior to Hold the Line's victory rather than returning to see metaphorical fires as far as the horizon.
we all took our eye off the ball. i leave to grade papers for one day and things fall apart...

Anyway, I don't have time for much analysis to pad my tactics with more wordcount, but I want to repeat that our allies can contribute meaningfully to victory if the Alpha Strike manages to prevent/delay Procyon's Shroud immediately piercing the Walls of Myth.

Short version:
  • Letrizia uses Pressure & the Walls have +ISH pressure
  • Versch could eat the walls
  • Gisena can draw on the walls
  • Adorie's bloodline could manifest
  • Aeira
  • Aobaru might have administrator privileges for security systems

Long Version:

  1. The Walls themselves seem to use ++ISH Pressure in their construction (citation below) so it could be reasonable for Letrizia to treat the Walls of Myth as ammo for her Sharpbright spells.
  2. The Walls were a source of Myth sufficient to infuse enough mundane platinum to skip to the 7th Sign. Verschlengorge is wearing a suit of Mythic Platinum Armor, so his innate ability to heal by devouring things might now recognize the Walls as a valid source of vitamins.
    • With Ring of Blood shenanigans Versch could still be relevant to the fight, even if his remaining damage puts him at an overwhelming disadvantage during a 1v1.
  3. The Walls are connected to either the Arcanists runes or to the Well of Myth. Gisena's mastery over the runes might mean that the Walls can act as a massive resonating chamber or focusing device for her spells.
  4. We put a lot of work into cultivating the relationship with Adorie, and her Mirellyian bloodline "should awaken in times of dire need" (citation below).
    • Hunger's default combat strategy of applying Bloodcasting buffs to every ally in range might reduce the threshhold for this effect to proc
    • Similarly, Aobaru's True Vigorflame elevates Adorie's constitution along the ISH, which could arguably include her blood
  5. Much less likelyto get another stab at [] A Chosen Purpose, but Aobaru might get some kind of true-protagonist unlock if there are automated defenses for the Voyaging Realm
    • I'd expect this to be Arete expensive in order to be even slightly relevant at Armament-tier combat levels.
  6. I haven't been able to think of anything for Aeira to do at her current power level.
    • Sorry Aeira.
I think I posted some of these before, but I didn't want them to get lost in the shuffle. Here are the quotes cited above:

Walls of Myth:
They arrived at last at the Walls of Myth which encircled their destination realm. The Walls seemed a nigh-impassible barrier: semi-translucent battlements reaching limitlessly skywards and spanning to the horizon, their wavering distortion-surface thick with runes of golden azure. Raw magic, sheer conceptual weight seeped from the surface of the walls, a heady denseness of reality that stultified mind and spirit, Pressure more comprehensive than even that of Astral Rank.

Adorie's Bloodline:
*The power of the Mirellyian bloodline is immense, but she's received little training in how to tap into it, her parents having been slaughtered while she was very small. In theory, it should awaken during times of dire need...
*Her EFB is really strong. Just saying.
 
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Also, we still have that phantom pick from Augustine fight. If we spent it on Echo, we would have unlocked Tenfold Echo.

I'm not sure how relevant Tenfold Echo would be, but every little bit counts.
 
[X] Seize the Day

Oh, nice, treachery is back on the menu.

If we lose an arm here, how much Arete would it cost to grab a Strategist replacement?
 
  1. I haven't been able to think of anything for Aeira to do at her current power level.
    • Sorry Aeira.

She has that Stealth Buff that scales to our power level, which should hopefully make our chances of ambushing the Armanent a lot better. Probably also a good idea to keep her near Versch and Letrizea as possible to make them harder to find, or at least target.
 
[x]Seize the Day

Age and Treachery right? Might as well give the safest option a boost.

I had a momentary thought that the pilot is Catherine, but then Letrizia has a full dossier on Procyon, so guess not.
 
various thoughts about Arete:
where does the phrase 'Arete mining' even come from? If I were to guess at the enytmnmollogy, I'd say [people being salty is thread participation]->[people being salty generated arete at some point]->[some people tries to increase salt for arete]->[salt increasing]->[salt mining]->[salt mining is mining]->[the end product is Arete]->[Arete mining], but does anyone know?
What even Is Arete? it seems to mean 'Excellence', or in english and literally, 'a sharp mountain ridge' (probably not the second one : P), but what is it in-character? is it a part of the Progression system with experience and picks? I'd assume not, since it can be spent on things like 'get Haeliel to help us', something I'd imagine would be beyond the capabilities of the base progression-types system-unless it was some transcendental uber-resource which maintains its value even at her level, which we were paying her with, but then it would affect action and not emotion. it can't represent hunters mental resources or energy,for the same reason... It seems like it can be spent on any kind of 'be amazing at something' by anyone, Or on getting better upgrades from battles, the first of which meshes with the name, but the second... not so much? (and of course 'get haeliel to help us' wasn't even something Hunger did so it doesn't really fit under either.)
How is Arete pronounced? 'Are-tee'? 'Ah-reh-teh'? 'Ah-reh-t'? Are-ait? It might sound like a stupid question since you never say it out loud, but the... mental pronounciation, I guess?... kind of affects the connotations it seems to have, to me, like Are-tee sounds more like an actual resource while ah-reh-teh and ah-reh-t sound more metaphysical/abstract in nature (and are-ait 'sounds' like it's the wrong pronouncation, even thought I don't really have a clue).

generate lots of Arete once we get to the Pillars of Creation by conjuring loads of mountain ridges, then absorb them to upgrade everything.


She has that Stealth Buff that scales to our power level, which should hopefully make our chances of ambushing the Armanent a lot better. Probably also a good idea to keep her near Versch and Letrizea as possible to make them harder to find, or at least target.
isn't the plan for ambushing it "teleport right to it mid-swing"? unless our teleportation accuracy is off, the only way concealment would help the first blow is if the Armament doesn't have pain sensors, since we'd be cutting into its... something... as soon as we're There.
(this isn't to say that a Stealth Buff isn't potentially useful; making it harder for your opponent to read your moves and aim is still a good thing. I just don't think it'd be overly applicable to the ambushing part.)
 
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isn't the plan for ambushing it "teleport right to it mid-swing"? unless our teleportation accuracy is off, the only way concealment would help the first blow is if the Armament doesn't have pain sensors, since we'd be cutting into its... something... as soon as we're There.

Considering Refinement of Quickness was also mentioned as being used to do so, I suspect that their's some concerns that even in the middle of a teleportation it might be able to react fast enough to do something to us at full might if it does notice us. Besides, even if not, being sneaking is definitely that's going to be able to help in a battle of attrition.
 
[x]Seize the Day

Age and Treachery right? Might as well give the safest option a boost.

I had a momentary thought that the pilot is Catherine, but then Letrizia has a full dossier on Procyon, so guess not.

It's an option that uses social combat, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the safest from a survival perspective!
 
but the Curse isn't going to step in and make sure the Armament chases us immediately without harming Nilfel if we leave,
Why wouldn't the Armament do so? It's here to kill Letrezia, not raze Nilfel, it even said in The Curtain Rises that's exactly what it would have done if we ran away in a way visible to Republic forces.
The Spare The Innocent reads more like "apocryphal procs of the type 'X bad thing happens to nilfel' won't happen" then "no matter what shenanigans an Apocryphal Proc is causing, Nilfel will not be harmed."
I was not saying that Apocryphal procs can not harm Nilfel.
If it was the second, and we just stood on the streets of nilfel forever, it would require a very specific type of foe to arrive without warning and transport us out of nilfel with no property damage, then begin the fight; or else we could avoid the proc by sitting in a box which nilfel owns and is magically immune to the effects of apocryphal procs as such.
I was saying that running away from Nilfel would not place it in danger from the Apocryphal proc so I do not see how this is relevant. Please do not make strawman arguments.
I haven't been able to think of anything for Aeira to do at her current power level.
  • Sorry Aeira.
Having Shadowcord deflect attention away from Hunger should end up making openings that wouldn't otherwise exist to get some Artful Thorns in.
but what is it in-character?
Beyond points, the Arete equivalent from EFB, were described as willpower, inguenity and sheer force of destiny.
 
Considering Refinement of Quickness was also mentioned as being used to do so, I suspect that their's some concerns that even in the middle of a teleportation it might be able to react fast enough to do something to us at full might if it does notice us. Besides, even if not, being sneaking is definitely that's going to be able to help in a battle of attrition.
I think that might just be part of the process for Artful Thorn? when Hunger was using Artful Thorn on the Rotbeast- a huge, lumbering, very Not-reacting monster, recall- he used a tiny bit of Refinement of Quickness before/during each usage of Cut Through in order to use Artful Thorn. It clearly wasn't necessary for actually Hitting, so... that's what I'd gathered from that scene.
And this arguably isn't a valid point since Armaments take physics as suggestions and all that, but I'm not sure how it would be physically possible for the Armament to notice us before the strike lands; if we teleport as close as possible to the Armament mid-strike, then at T=0 our sword is in physical contact with the Armament and moving at a speed of 'our fastest sword swing' and the Armament, since we weren't here at T-=0.0000000000000(...)1, is motionless or possibly even moving towards our sword. For us to not hit, the Armaments targeted portion needs to, by T=0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000001- Yes, precisely that long, that's how long a Planck Instant is- have seen us (light can't move that fast), noticed us, understood us, and be already moving directly away from the sword strike at a speed at least as fast as our fastest sword swing, or the sword has just hit it. And if the Armament is moving that fast it can straight up ignore anything we can do to it because our strongest blow exerts less force then it does with a casual dodge. It wouldn't even know to dodge the strike, since we don't have the Plenary brand and it, being of human make, wouldn't know about the Praxis + artful thorn, so it would have to be a casual dodge.

for the last bit, your post was very unfortunately timed as, within the same minute, I had editted my post mention I did still believe stealth buffs could be useful in the battle of attrition part.

Why wouldn't the Armament do so? It's here to kill Letrezia, not raze Nilfel, it even said in The Curtain Rises that's exactly what it would have done if we ran away in a way visible to Republic forces.
Well, apparently their people like looting mages a lot, and it doesn't get instant knowledge Letrezia is gone either, so it'd keep going for a few hours before they realize we're gone unless we're in sight; and if we're in sight when we teleport, they don't know where we went for the few hours so they might as well attack Nilfel- not raze it necessarily but steal its magics and people, sure- in case it was short-term teleportation.
I was saying that running away from Nilfel would not place it in danger from the Apocryphal proc so I do not see how this is relevant. Please do not make strawman arguments.
My apologies, I genuinely misunderstood your point.
 
Nilfel was not at risk from the rebublic, the Apocryphal mitigation that we had gotten from Adorie means that they wouldn't be at risk from this Apocryphal proc.

The Apocryphal cannot target Nilfel directly but that doesn't mean Nilfel can't be harmed by the collateral damage of Hunger's own Apocryphal procs.


It's an abstraction of all the factors that make Hunger not a scrub.
 
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I think that might just be part of the process for Artful Thorn? when Hunger was using Artful Thorn on the Rotbeast- a huge, lumbering, very Not-reacting monster, recall- he used a tiny bit of Refinement of Quickness before/during each usage of Cut Through in order to use Artful Thorn. It clearly wasn't necessary for actually Hitting, so... that's what I'd gathered from that scene.

Oh, I had forgotten that little bit. Maybe it is supposed to be a instant hit.

And this arguably isn't a valid point since Armaments take physics as suggestions and all that,

I mostly assume armanents have as much need to obey physical limitations as the stage 15 cultivators from Rihaku's previous quest that they were stated to be able to beat, I.E., none.
 
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If I recall correctly, even Hunger is at the level where he can make some alterations to the functions of physics in the area influenced by his Rank so a doubt an Armament, especially when their Shroud is up, would even pretend to give a fuck.
 
My apologies, I genuinely misunderstood your point.
I still don't understand the point. With Procyon on their doorstep, Nilfel is absolutely in danger from this Apocryphal proc.

Having Shadowcord deflect attention away from Hunger should end up making openings that wouldn't otherwise exist to get some Artful Thorns in.
I was trying to suggest things that our party could be working on while Hunger draws aggro from Procyon in a direct 1v1 slugfest. Armor of Midnight gives infinite protection against harm that cannot destroy the whole universe, and +1000 PROT otherwise. (That's relevant in case the Shroud redefines 'Universe' within its radius.) The effect of non-damaging hostile conditions mitigated almost as much. This means that Procyon will have to work pretty hard to outright defeat Hunger during the next 8 hours.

One way Procyon could work around the Armor of Midnight would be targeting our allies. If it kills Adorie, our Praxis extension is rescinded. (Also, our investment in Nilfel is burned.) If it kills Gisena, our hope for a big-brain lateral solution via Nullity / Artifice / Truth goes away. (Also, the thread would riot.) If it kills Letrizia & Versch... that's a loss because aside from Hunger there's nobody else that has a chance of standing up to Procyon.

Aobaru and Aeira are meant to be hiding inside the city, which makes it harder for them to contribute during the battle. Aeira is likely to get mulched if she is on the front lines trying to reapply stealth buffs. If she could hide inside Versch's cockpit, that would increase her odds of getting injured but might also increase Versch's evasion chances.

Aobaru could probably survive combat with the Republic prototypes but his death is a serious problem for obvious reasons. Also, it's not clear what unique contribution he could make on the front lines of battle after he's already applied the True Vigorflame buff to everybody.
 
It seems like our poor thread is overflowing with unfortunate things, like excessive sodium chloride, an overwhelming fear of death, and unfortunate arguments.

Therefore, in order to keep our sanity, I propose we all take a step back and relax in another world, where a fellow Cursebearer is doing much better off than Hunger because his build was literally created by God and then min-maxed to hell with so many redundancies to avoid "The Death," that anything short of the Demon King or his Generals will be insufficient to murder him effectively.

I am of course referring to Cursebearer Satō Kazuma, our brilliant hero; known in another timeline as the Billionaire Adventurer and "That Bastard!"

That's right, baby... Welcome to yet another episode of...

Ko~No~Me~Na~!

In this episode, Aqua pukes rainbows, Kazuma is a vindictive bastard, and Subaru contemplates suicide twice. So nothing has changed. Enjoy!

Wordcount: 3350
Rihaku-42342 said:
Measure the Pleasure

Since the raid on the Demon Outpost was in only two hours, Kazuma decided to tentatively register his party's willingness to participate.

Luna seemed rather pleased with that, remarking that his progress was outstanding - to fight against the Demon King's Army directly in less than a week since his initial appearance, and to reach Level 14 in that time was unprecedented.

He found Subaru and a tear-stained Aqua in the courtyard of the Guild Hall. Aqua was seated on a bench next to one of the small fountains in the spot furthest away from the training grounds, and Subaru appeared to be consoling her, knelt next to her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, easy, easy... I'm sure that she didn't mean that," Subaru cooed.

"What happened?" Kazuma asked, walking up to them with a sense of urgency.

"K-Kazuma!" Aqua cried out, looking up at him. Her eyeballs were reddened and lubricated, and her face was covered in the black stains of wet, drooping eyeliner; she'd been crying for a while now.

However, Kazuma didn't simply fall into immediate sympathy for that face.

There was a slur to her words, and a sway to her movements - Kazuma recognized the stench of alcohol a moment later as he drew in a breath. A disdain for her weakness filled him. "T-They all ganged up on me, and d-did things!" That disdain left instantly.

"A-Aqua..." Kazuma whispered with eyes slowly widening, as he took in the information.

"S-Six little girls ganged up on me, a-and they made fun of me, a-and drew on my face with a marker, Kazuma!"

His concern passed into the void as it should have. Kazuma closed his eyes and looked down in miserable comprehension. "Of course. How could I have been so stupid - you're pretty enough you'd never have to apply cosmetics."

Kazuma's comment went over her clumsy head. Aqua didn't react, aside from tilting her head to the side in puzzlement; Kazuma prudently chose not to explain.

Subaru rubbed his face, while Kazuma explained the details of their new task. The moment he mentioned they'd be fighting the Demon King's army, Aqua suddenly lit up with a newfound, brilliant zest, as if finding determination in the opposition of the Demon King.

His casual remark about the size of the reward might've had something to do with that eagerness, but Kazuma preferred to think good thoughts.

The longer Kazuma was forced to work with the goddess, the more irritated he became, but that irritation was offset by the equivalent realization that it could have been him, instead of her. It was much better to care for her and make sure she didn't get into trouble, rather than have to shoulder the weight of the Affliction of Misfortune on his own.

At least their hardship would never be too great. With Kazuma's spare life and Subaru's thousands, there wasn't much to fear so long as they stuck together.

The party decided to split there. Kazuma went out in order to stock up on a couple of emergency potions and items that could be useful, while Subaru looked for some appropriate weapons and armor for himself - he'd be expected to contribute directly here, and while useful, his Yin Magic wouldn't suffice on its own against the Demon King's men. He'd need something for physical fighting as well.

Aqua remained in the Guild Hall, drinking spiritedly unbeknownst to either of her partners. She was meant to gather information on the types of surprises the demons were known for pulling in the middle of the field, but Aqua was Aqua and cheap booze was cheap booze.

An hour later, their party went to participate in the raid gathering. It was taking place in a rather desolate meeting chamber within the Guild Hall, on the upper floor.

There were at least six other parties in participation. Kazuma recognized two of them as Dust's and Mitsurugi's. Kazuma chose not to greet them with anything more than a polite nod as he entered, although Kyouya looked back and observed the traces of Aqua's puffy face with a frown that bordered on disdain for existence. He didn't seem to notice she was more drunk than sad.

Regardless, the hero-knight he didn't have a chance to approach and make a brash complaint as their Guild-assigned coordinator entered the room a moment later, swinging the doors open wide and moving with bold confidence that betrayed true veterancy.

He was a caucasian man in his forties or fifties with short-cropped black hair nearing total baldness. His face was daubed in countless scars, some of them from blades and others from beastlike claws, and he wore a black eyepatch with the Adventurer Guild's emblem in the place of his left eye. He seemed to be some kind of Fighter or Warrior, perhaps even a Knight, as he wore an entire suit of full-plate in magenta-tinted glassy plates that oozed strong magic. The sword in his scabbard and his shield didn't seem to be even a quarter as poignant in comparison, but all of his equipment was clearly of sublime quality.

"Good afternoon, I'm Nastor!" the coordinator shouted, and the room became quiet in direct response to his appearance. Even the high-level Mitsurugi was amazed at the sight of the man. "We'll begin in a moment. Firstly, I'd like to assess your Adventurer Cards, and then-"

The man stopped when Aqua burped as loudly as a sputtering car engine that failed to work. Every person in the room stared at her. She was lying with her head down on the table, face touching wood, and both arms wrapped around her head as cushioning.

Kazuma felt a distinct need to facepalm. Mitsurugi was staring at her with sympathy, rather than disgust or blatant disinterest the others shared.

Nastor eyed her for a very long moment, then cast his gaze at Kazuma and somehow recognized him as the leader of their errant trio. His stare was assessing, but didn't linger for much longer than a second before he asked, "Is she drunk?"

"She is," Kazuma confirmed with an ounce of hurtful shame, preferring to get that fact out of the way. "Aqua... She'll be able to recover fast, she has a fast metabolism because of her statistics. If we give her an hour-"

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine!" Aqua unhelpfully added as she tilted her face sideways to show the big, dumb grin plastered on her face. The goddess waved a dismissive hand at Nastor in the same way that royalty dismissed servants who were done bringing the entrée to the table. "Keep talking, Nasty, I'm listening."

She burped again, before slumping against the table and mumbling something about terrible service.

The room was dreadfully silent for a good, whole five seconds. Kazuma felt a clenching in his heart, and a tightening in his veins. The desire to grab Aqua by the head and smack her into the table was overwhelming, but he narrowly suppressed his anger.

"I won't take someone drunk on the raid," Nastor said in a voice that brokered no argument. Kazuma felt a thrilling flare of anger directed at Aqua but maintained steady eye contact with the coordinator. "Either get her a potion to sober her up, or leave her behind. Or don't participate - I don't think you'd do too well without a priest at ready."

"Kazuma," Subaru whispered quietly in a tone that drew the boy's attention. Subaru didn't say anything else, and he didn't have to. The implication there was obvious - an unspoken question.

Kazuma shook his head. That wouldn't be necessary; Subaru nodded back and stepped away.

The Cursebearer got a fierce idea right then; one that was sure to educate Aqua and cure her of her affliction at the same time. The boy smiled widely as he looked at Nastor and said, "I'll take care of our rambling Archpriest. We'll be back in a moment; my comrade is going to keep our Cards handy in the meantime."

Nastor offered a single nod, before turning in order to converse with the first of the parties.

Kazuma handed his Adventurer Card over to Subaru, and - forcing Aqua to stand up by pulling on her arm, against her childish protestations - managed to search one of her pockets for her own, then handed it to Subaru as well despite her whining. He pulled Aqua out of the room, then led her to the bathroom in the middle of the floor. When they reached it, the Goddess was barely able to stand on her own. That was fine. He moved her gently so that her back was leaning against the wall, legs positioned stiffly enough that she was propped up stably against it.

Aqua's eyes looked glazed over, as Kazuma's shadow descended on her.

"Hm?" She appeared to regain some mild awareness. "Kazuma, where did all the people go?"

"Hey, Aqua, can you breathe underwater?"

She struck a dumb grin. "Of course I can! It's not very pleasant, but I'm the Water Go-gmhpmghfgh-" Aqua couldn't finish her boast, because Kazuma practically slammed his palm on top of her mouth and clasped it in such a way as to make it impossible for her to close her own mouth.

With eyes that were starting to widen in the dawning fear, Aqua mumbled, "Whfht arhwh ouu ouing?"

"This is for your own good," Kazuma said, before casting a low-intensity Hydrostream. In less than a second, Aqua's entire mouth was full of water, and she was forced to swallow on instinct as she was unable to spit out the volume. He cast again, then again; relentless, and forced the Goddess to keep drinking.

Swiftly, one gallon of water consumed became two gallons, and two became three. Kazuma stopped there, pulling back and letting the Goddess rasp and cough for breath. She managed to take a single step forward, then stumbled and clutched her stomach.

"I- I don't feel so good," she managed to say, no longer even half as drunk.

"That's generally what happens when people experience water intoxication," Kazuma surmised, stepping back in preparation for the avalanche.

"What's water intoxi-" Before Aqua could finish, her stomach gurgled, her throat spasmed uncontrollably, and her mouth yawned open as she released an entire waterfall of prismatic, glittery rainbow liquid that swiftly formed an expanding splatter on the floor. Its more watery parts moved further, an opalescent sheen dominating their translucence nonetheless.

Godly vomit was kaleidoscopic. Interesting.

Aqua breathed in, through her nose and mouth, then looked up at Kazuma with shock. "W-what did you do to me?"

He shrugged. "I made the observation that, despite being a Water Goddess, your body mostly behaves the same as a human's in reaction to liquids entering it. You purify liquids your skin touches, but not ones you drink. Aside from a handful of esoterica that apply situationally, you're basically human," Kazuma explained at length.

Aqua stumbled again, one hand clutching her stomach, the other holding onto a sink for stability. The pool of rainbow underneath her caused her to slide. Her throat seized violently, but she managed to hold in the fountain of barf for the moment.

"So, water intoxication. It's this neat thing where you vomit up all of your stored liquids-"

As if on cue, Aqua hit the floor with her knees and started to do what appeared to be the worship of other deities, but was actually just more throwing up.

"-because your brain, correctly, detects an abundance and chooses to get rid of it in the most direct way possible," Kazuma spoke without interruption while Aqua continued to retch and heave, the pool of rainbow spreading until it almost reached Kazuma's boots. He gently stomped one foot, the base weave of magic unfolding and vanishing a large diameter of the liquid around him from existence.

"It will be very unpleasant for the duration, but you can heal yourself afterward, so there'll be no permanent injury. If that can't happen because you fall unconscious, I'll heal you, and if that doesn't work, then none of this happened because Subaru will have killed himself to stop me. More importantly, you'll be ready for work."

"This-" Aqua breathed in, sounding like she was on the verge of throwing up again. Her eyes glistened for a moment, and her breaths were turning into shudders. "This is t-torture."

Kazuma's eyebrow twitched. He was about to counter that working together with her was 'torture,' but in a way, he'd brought this on himself.

"Don't be such a baby," he said instead. Kazuma walked up to her, rainbow stomach fluids parting around him like the Red Sea.

He knelt next to the goddess, and gently scooped her hair, and held it up so she didn't get more vomit on it. He used his spare hand to pat her on the back. "You'll suffer through it for a while, we'll do a mission, and get paid."

"I-I hate you. I'll never forgive you," Aqua ground out through grit teeth, like a rabid dog. She dry heaved for a moment.

Kazuma, fortunately, expected those words and had a counter. "Shhh. I'm here, I'm here. I'll buy you some high-quality alcohol after we're done, and cook you dinner."

That was enough. Aqua's face softened in regret of her own words. Then, she grit her teeth again, as if realizing he was playing her. Kazuma suppressed the urge to laugh, while Aqua painstakingly ground out the words, "I forgive you, but I fucking hate you. You really are Kazutrash." She followed that up with another series of vomits.

Kazuma grinned smugly.

---

Through exceptional intelligence and social manipulation (as well as fate,) Kazuma managed to avoid a relationship down with Aqua. Truly, he is the Kazutrash: a cunning beast that takes advantage of innocent goddesses...

The last winners were Skirmish Operation, False Impressions, and Direct Slumber. Due to Rihaku's comments and Kazuma's willingness to do so - especially before a major battle such as this - Kazuma decided to also acquire Advanced Magic.

Advanced Magic is the third and final domain of the Card System's magical classification levels. It operates with effects that have either vast consequences and results or highly conceptual and esoteric natures. An example spell would be Inferno, which creates a large blaze that incinerates the area even at low upgrade levels. Advanced Magic is going to be immensely useful in the coming battle - it offers spells that are relevant to fighting enemies who are vastly superior or large groups of lesser foes!

After reading through the party's Adventurer Cards, Nastor offered this rating:

Support: 10/10 (Aqua's repertoire of restoration spells is very impressive; to have the spell Resurrect below Level 40 even as an Archpriest is virtually unheard of.)
Combat: 8/10 (Kazuma is more than capable of holding the battle line on his own; his statistics make him the equivalent of an above-average frontline combatant and his magical potential as an Arch Mage gives him a plethora of other options.)
Diversion: 8/10 (While not as impressive as his teammate's abilities, Nastor says he'd never heard of Yin Magic, and guessed it must be a foreign art. Nonetheless, the Demon King's army won't have anything to counter Subaru's spells. Kazuma also has Illusion on top of that.)
Utility: 10/10 (Kazuma has Teleport, Illusion, and Counterspell. Aqua has access to so many miscellanea that you suspect Nastor suspects she might not be human or faking her level. This is perhaps strengthened by the fact some of her abilities have "God" or "Sacred Highness" in the name.)

Nastor's overall rating for Kazuma's party is: Superb.

There are no major weaknesses since all team members can serve as impromptu tanks with Aqua's blessings and DPS due to combat training or statistics (yes, even Subaru; he did kendo and his physical stats are vastly superior to Kazuma's before the Accursed contract. This is a Subaru who has relative years of experience on top of that.)

As if that weren't enough, everyone is a magic caster of some kind, with either unique, rare, or overwhelmingly powerful spells to offer!

Frankly, he says, you seem woefully over-qualified for this mission... if only he knew Aqua is an utter incompetent, you're cursed to suffer from incessant misfortune, and Subaru lost a majority of his powers some time ago.

Regardless, Nastor's suggested role for Kazuma's party is: Spearhead. This means you'll fight side-by-side with Mitsubushi Kyouya and his party.

There's something else on Kazuma's mind: Nastor strikes him as suspicious, as the man didn't seem to even cringe or frown at Kazuma once despite the Brand of the Wretched. Even the likes of good-natured Wiz are subject to the Brand.

Either he is incredibly professional and can ignore such distractions, or the Brand recognizes Nastor as, "Powerful," therefore enabling Factional Mitigation's effects. It's not something Kazuma believes he'll need to investigate right away, but it'll be good to keep in mind - other than being a warrior, Nastor didn't reveal much about his abilities.

Make a choice on your combat role:

[ ] Agree - Become one of the main spearheads.
*Theoretically, the highest risk of death.
*But you don't really have to worry about that, do you? Your build is death-proof!
*Unless, of course, you somehow encounter an opponent who can apply a quantum timelock to prevent Subaru's Return by Death from doing anything from your relative timeline, which'd lead to Subaru's relative death.
As well as an opponent who can kill a person beyond all possibility of resurrection.
*But honestly, what are the odds of that?
*Easy glory and riches.

[ ] Disagree - Propose a different role, instead.
*What role, and why?
*Suspicious about Nastor, aren't you?
*Yeah, I'd be too.
*This dude wears armor from magenta glass.
*Magenta glass.
*Kazuma thinks that "Magenta Glass" would be a cool name for a Stand.

Furthermore, there has been moderate discussion on Discord and some of the users aided in beta-reading this chapter. Select an omake reward!

[ ] Power Injection - Every member of Retinue including Kazuma receives an infusion of 200 EXP as an automated boon of Progression. This is a weak option currently - if you let it stir and purchase it as an omake reward far in the future, it'll have accrued much more potential EXP by then!

[ ] Concurrency - The next boss opponent Kazuma's party encounters, whomever they should be, is fated to be Tired when meeting them. If the opponent can't be Tired, they lose 5% of their stats for five minutes instead. The party receives +10% EXP for defeating the next boss opponent.

[ ] Miss the Girl - The Goddess feels that, even if Kazuma is so cruel, it's kind of cute he's trying so hard to be productive. Also, his food is really good. ++Aqua relationship, +Aqua productivity, +Aqua happiness.

[ ] Death's Boomerang - +10% progress to the next Return by Death improvement, restore 1/10th of a random Authority. +Witch's Smell on Subaru, +Subaru relationship.

[ ] The Fellowship - A nondescript improvement to the Ring of Rebellion; minor but immediately useful. +Aqua relationship, +Subaru relationship.

[ ] Red Dawn II - The efficiency of Unstructured Magic mana conversion rate is increased by 5%.

Measure the Pleasure

Since the raid on the Demon Outpost was in only two hours, Kazuma decided to tentatively register his party's willingness to participate.

Luna seemed rather pleased with that, remarking that his progress was outstanding - to fight against the Demon King's Army directly in less than a week since his initial appearance, and to reach Level 14 in that time was unprecedented.

He found Subaru and a tear-stained Aqua in the courtyard of the Guild Hall. Aqua was seated on a bench next to one of the small fountains in the spot furthest away from the training grounds, and Subaru appeared to be consoling her, knelt next to her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, easy, easy... I'm sure that she didn't mean that," Subaru cooed.

"What happened?" Kazuma asked, walking up to them with a sense of urgency.

"K-Kazuma!" Aqua cried out, looking up at him. Her eyeballs were reddened and lubricated, and her face was covered in the black stains of wet, drooping eyeliner; she'd been crying for a while now.

However, Kazuma didn't simply fall into immediate sympathy for that face.

There was a slur to her words, and a sway to her movements - Kazuma recognized the stench of alcohol a moment later as he drew in a breath. A disdain for her weakness filled him. "T-They all ganged up on me, and d-did things!" That disdain left instantly.

"A-Aqua..." Kazuma whispered with eyes slowly widening, as he took in the information.

"S-Six little girls ganged up on me, a-and they made fun of me, a-and drew on my face with a marker, Kazuma!"

His concern passed into the void as it should have. Kazuma closed his eyes and looked down in miserable comprehension. "Of course. How could I have been so stupid - you're pretty enough you'd never have to apply cosmetics."

Kazuma's comment went over her clumsy head. Aqua didn't react, aside from tilting her head to the side in puzzlement; Kazuma prudently chose not to explain.

Subaru rubbed his face, while Kazuma explained the details of their new task. The moment he mentioned they'd be fighting the Demon King's army, Aqua suddenly lit up with a newfound, brilliant zest, as if finding determination in the opposition of the Demon King.

His casual remark about the size of the reward might've had something to do with that eagerness, but Kazuma preferred to think good thoughts.

The longer Kazuma was forced to work with the goddess, the more irritated he became, but that irritation was offset by the equivalent realization that it could have been him, instead of her. It was much better to care for her and make sure she didn't get into trouble, rather than have to shoulder the weight of the Affliction of Misfortune on his own.

At least their hardship would never be too great. With Kazuma's spare life and Subaru's thousands, there wasn't much to fear so long as they stuck together.

The party decided to split there. Kazuma went out in order to stock up on a couple of emergency potions and items that could be useful, while Subaru looked for some appropriate weapons and armor for himself - he'd be expected to contribute directly here, and while useful, his Yin Magic wouldn't suffice on its own against the Demon King's men. He'd need something for physical fighting as well.

Aqua remained in the Guild Hall, drinking spiritedly unbeknownst to either of her partners. She was meant to gather information on the types of surprises the demons were known for pulling in the middle of the field, but Aqua was Aqua and cheap booze was cheap booze.

An hour later, their party went to participate in the raid gathering. It was taking place in a rather desolate meeting chamber within the Guild Hall, on the upper floor.

There were at least six other parties in participation. Kazuma recognized two of them as Dust's and Mitsurugi's. Kazuma chose not to greet them with anything more than a polite nod as he entered, although Kyouya looked back and observed the traces of Aqua's puffy face with a frown that bordered on disdain for existence. He didn't seem to notice she was more drunk than sad.

Regardless, the hero-knight he didn't have a chance to approach and make a brash complaint as their Guild-assigned coordinator entered the room a moment later, swinging the doors open wide and moving with bold confidence that betrayed true veterancy.

He was a caucasian man in his forties or fifties with short-cropped black hair nearing total baldness. His face was daubed in countless scars, some of them from blades and others from beastlike claws, and he wore a black eyepatch with the Adventurer Guild's emblem in the place of his left eye. He seemed to be some kind of Fighter or Warrior, perhaps even a Knight, as he wore an entire suit of full-plate in magenta-tinted glassy plates that oozed strong magic. The sword in his scabbard and his shield didn't seem to be even a quarter as poignant in comparison, but all of his equipment was clearly of sublime quality.

"Good afternoon, I'm Nastor!" the coordinator shouted, and the room became quiet in direct response to his appearance. Even the high-level Mitsurugi was amazed at the sight of the man. "We'll begin in a moment. Firstly, I'd like to assess your Adventurer Cards, and then-"

The man stopped when Aqua burped as loudly as a sputtering car engine that failed to work. Every person in the room stared at her. She was lying with her head down on the table, face touching wood, and both arms wrapped around her head as cushioning.

Kazuma felt a distinct need to facepalm. Mitsurugi was staring at her with sympathy, rather than disgust or blatant disinterest the others shared.

Nastor eyed her for a very long moment, then cast his gaze at Kazuma and somehow recognized him as the leader of their errant trio. His stare was assessing, but didn't linger for much longer than a second before he asked, "Is she drunk?"

"She is," Kazuma confirmed with an ounce of hurtful shame, preferring to get that fact out of the way. "Aqua... She'll be able to recover fast, she has a fast metabolism because of her statistics. If we give her an hour-"

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine!" Aqua unhelpfully added as she tilted her face sideways to show the big, dumb grin plastered on her face. The goddess waved a dismissive hand at Nastor in the same way that royalty dismissed servants who were done bringing the entrée to the table. "Keep talking, Nasty, I'm listening."

She burped again, before slumping against the table and mumbling something about terrible service.

The room was dreadfully silent for a good, whole five seconds. Kazuma felt a clenching in his heart, and a tightening in his veins. The desire to grab Aqua by the head and smack her into the table was overwhelming, but he narrowly suppressed his anger.

"I won't take someone drunk on the raid," Nastor said in a voice that brokered no argument. Kazuma felt a thrilling flare of anger directed at Aqua but maintained steady eye contact with the coordinator. "Either get her a potion to sober her up, or leave her behind. Or don't participate - I don't think you'd do too well without a priest at ready."

"Kazuma," Subaru whispered quietly in a tone that drew the boy's attention. Subaru didn't say anything else, and he didn't have to. The implication there was obvious - an unspoken question.

Kazuma shook his head. That wouldn't be necessary; Subaru nodded back and stepped away.

The Cursebearer got a fierce idea right then; one that was sure to educate Aqua and cure her of her affliction at the same time. The boy smiled widely as he looked at Nastor and said, "I'll take care of our rambling Archpriest. We'll be back in a moment; my comrade is going to keep our Cards handy in the meantime."

Nastor offered a single nod, before turning in order to converse with the first of the parties.

Kazuma handed his Adventurer Card over to Subaru, and - forcing Aqua to stand up by pulling on her arm, against her childish protestations - managed to search one of her pockets for her own, then handed it to Subaru as well despite her whining. He pulled Aqua out of the room, then led her to the bathroom in the middle of the floor. When they reached it, the Goddess was barely able to stand on her own. That was fine. He moved her gently so that her back was leaning against the wall, legs positioned stiffly enough that she was propped up stably against it.

Aqua's eyes looked glazed over, as Kazuma's shadow descended on her.

"Hm?" She appeared to regain some mild awareness. "Kazuma, where did all the people go?"

"Hey, Aqua, can you breathe underwater?"

She struck a dumb grin. "Of course I can! It's not very pleasant, but I'm the Water Go-gmhpmghfgh-" Aqua couldn't finish her boast, because Kazuma practically slammed his palm on top of her mouth and clasped it in such a way as to make it impossible for her to close her own mouth.

With eyes that were starting to widen in the dawning fear, Aqua mumbled, "Whfht arhwh ouu ouing?"

"This is for your own good," Kazuma said, before casting a low-intensity Hydrostream. In less than a second, Aqua's entire mouth was full of water, and she was forced to swallow on instinct as she was unable to spit out the volume. He cast again, then again; relentless, and forced the Goddess to keep drinking.

Swiftly, one gallon of water consumed became two gallons, and two became three. Kazuma stopped there, pulling back and letting the Goddess rasp and cough for breath. She managed to take a single step forward, then stumbled and clutched her stomach.

"I- I don't feel so good," she managed to say, no longer even half as drunk.

"That's generally what happens when people experience water intoxication," Kazuma surmised, stepping back in preparation for the avalanche.

"What's water intoxi-" Before Aqua could finish, her stomach gurgled, her throat spasmed uncontrollably, and her mouth yawned open as she released an entire waterfall of prismatic, glittery rainbow liquid that swiftly formed an expanding splatter on the floor. Its more watery parts moved further, an opalescent sheen dominating their translucence nonetheless.

Godly vomit was kaleidoscopic. Interesting.

Aqua breathed in, through her nose and mouth, then looked up at Kazuma with shock. "W-what did you do to me?"

He shrugged. "I made the observation that, despite being a Water Goddess, your body mostly behaves the same as a human's in reaction to liquids entering it. You purify liquids your skin touches, but not ones you drink. Aside from a handful of esoterica that apply situationally, you're basically human," Kazuma explained at length.

Aqua stumbled again, one hand clutching her stomach, the other holding onto a sink for stability. The pool of rainbow underneath her caused her to slide. Her throat seized violently, but she managed to hold in the fountain of barf for the moment.

"So, water intoxication. It's this neat thing where you vomit up all of your stored liquids-"

As if on cue, Aqua hit the floor with her knees and started to do what appeared to be the worship of other deities, but was actually just more throwing up.

"-because your brain, correctly, detects an abundance and chooses to get rid of it in the most direct way possible," Kazuma spoke without interruption while Aqua continued to retch and heave, the pool of rainbow spreading until it almost reached Kazuma's boots. He gently stomped one foot, the base weave of magic unfolding and vanishing a large diameter of the liquid around him from existence.

"It will be very unpleasant for the duration, but you can heal yourself afterward, so there'll be no permanent injury. If that can't happen because you fall unconscious, I'll heal you, and if that doesn't work, then none of this happened because Subaru will have killed himself to stop me. More importantly, you'll be ready for work."

"This-" Aqua breathed in, sounding like she was on the verge of throwing up again. Her eyes glistened for a moment, and her breaths were turning into shudders. "This is t-torture."

Kazuma's eyebrow twitched. He was about to counter that working together with her was 'torture,' but in a way, he'd brought this on himself.

"Don't be such a baby," he said instead. Kazuma walked up to her, rainbow stomach fluids parting around him like the Red Sea.

He knelt next to the goddess, and gently scooped her hair, and held it up so she didn't get more vomit on it. He used his spare hand to pat her on the back. "You'll suffer through it for a while, we'll do a mission, and get paid."

"I-I hate you. I'll never forgive you," Aqua ground out through grit teeth, like a rabid dog. She dry heaved for a moment.

Kazuma, fortunately, expected those words and had a counter. "Shhh. I'm here, I'm here. I'll buy you some high-quality alcohol after we're done, and cook you dinner."

That was enough. Aqua's face softened in regret of her own words. Then, she grit her teeth again, as if realizing he was playing her. Kazuma suppressed the urge to laugh, while Aqua painstakingly ground out the words, "I forgive you, but I fucking hate you. You really are Kazutrash." She followed that up with another series of vomits.

Kazuma grinned smugly.

---

Through exceptional intelligence and social manipulation (as well as fate,) Kazuma managed to avoid a relationship down with Aqua. Truly, he is the Kazutrash: a cunning beast that takes advantage of innocent goddesses...

The last winners were Skirmish Operation, False Impressions, and Direct Slumber. Due to Rihaku's comments and Kazuma's willingness to do so - especially before a major battle such as this - Kazuma decided to also acquire Advanced Magic.

Advanced Magic is the third and final domain of the Card System's magical classification levels. It operates with effects that have either vast consequences and results or highly conceptual and esoteric natures. An example spell would be Inferno, which creates a large blaze that incinerates the area even at low upgrade levels. Advanced Magic is going to be immensely useful in the coming battle - it offers spells that are relevant to fighting enemies who are vastly superior or large groups of lesser foes!

After reading through the party's Adventurer Cards, Nastor offered this rating:

Support: 10/10 (Aqua's repertoire of restoration spells is very impressive; to have the spell Resurrect below Level 40 even as an Archpriest is virtually unheard of.)
Combat: 8/10 (Kazuma is more than capable of holding the battle line on his own; his statistics make him the equivalent of an above-average frontline combatant and his magical potential as an Arch Mage gives him a plethora of other options.)
Diversion: 8/10 (While not as impressive as his teammate's abilities, Nastor says he'd never heard of Yin Magic, and guessed it must be a foreign art. Nonetheless, the Demon King's army won't have anything to counter Subaru's spells. Kazuma also has Illusion on top of that.)
Utility: 10/10 (Kazuma has Teleport, Illusion, and Counterspell. Aqua has access to so many miscellanea that you suspect Nastor suspects she might not be human or faking her level. This is perhaps strengthened by the fact some of her abilities have "God" or "Sacred Highness" in the name.)

Nastor's overall rating for Kazuma's party is: Superb.

There are no major weaknesses since all team members can serve as impromptu tanks with Aqua's blessings and DPS due to combat training or statistics (yes, even Subaru; he did kendo and his physical stats are vastly superior to Kazuma's before the Accursed contract. This is a Subaru who has relative years of experience on top of that.)

As if that weren't enough, everyone is a magic caster of some kind, with either unique, rare, or overwhelmingly powerful spells to offer!

Frankly, he says, you seem woefully over-qualified for this mission... if only he knew Aqua is an utter incompetent, you're cursed to suffer from incessant misfortune, and Subaru lost a majority of his powers some time ago.

Regardless, Nastor's suggested role for Kazuma's party is: Spearhead. This means you'll fight side-by-side with Mitsubushi Kyouya and his party.

There's something else on Kazuma's mind: Nastor strikes him as suspicious, as the man didn't seem to even cringe or frown at Kazuma once despite the Brand of the Wretched. Even the likes of good-natured Wiz are subject to the Brand.

Either he is incredibly professional and can ignore such distractions, or the Brand recognizes Nastor as, "Powerful," therefore enabling Factional Mitigation's effects. It's not something Kazuma believes he'll need to investigate right away, but it'll be good to keep in mind - other than being a warrior, Nastor didn't reveal much about his abilities.

Make a choice on your combat role:

[ ] Agree - Become one of the main spearheads.
*Theoretically, the highest risk of death.
*But you don't really have to worry about that, do you? Your build is death-proof!
*Unless, of course, you somehow encounter an opponent who can apply a quantum timelock to prevent Subaru's Return by Death from doing anything from your relative timeline, which'd lead to Subaru's relative death.
*As well as an opponent who can kill a person beyond all possibility of resurrection.
*But honestly, what are the odds of that?
*Easy glory and riches.

[ ] Disagree - Propose a different role, instead.
*What role, and why?
*Suspicious about Nastor, aren't you?
*Yeah, I'd be too.
*This dude wears armor from magenta glass.
*Magenta glass.
*Kazuma thinks that "Magenta Glass" would be a cool name for a Stand.

Furthermore, there has been moderate discussion on Discord and some of the users aided in beta-reading this chapter. Select an omake reward!

[ ] Power Injection - Every member of Retinue including Kazuma receives an infusion of 200 EXP as an automated boon of Progression. This is a weak option currently - if you let it stir and purchase it as an omake reward far in the future, it'll have accrued much more potential EXP by then!

[ ] Concurrency - The next boss opponent Kazuma's party encounters, whomever they should be, is fated to be Tired when meeting them. If the opponent can't be Tired, they lose 5% of their stats for five minutes instead. The party receives +10% EXP for defeating the next boss opponent.

[ ] Miss the Girl - The Goddess feels that, even if Kazuma is so cruel, it's kind of cute he's trying so hard to be productive. Also, his food is really good. ++Aqua relationship, +Aqua productivity, +Aqua happiness.

[ ] Death's Boomerang - +10% progress to the next Return by Death improvement, restore 1/10th of a random Authority. +Witch's Smell on Subaru, +Subaru relationship.

[ ] The Fellowship - A nondescript improvement to the Ring of Rebellion; minor but immediately useful. +Aqua relationship, +Subaru relationship.

[ ] Red Dawn II - The efficiency of Unstructured Magic mana conversion rate is increased by 5%.
 
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I am of course referring to Cursebearer Satō Kazuma, our brilliant hero; known in another timeline as the Billionaire Adventurer and "That Bastard!"

Given the party has higher Support and Utility ratings than combat, they should probably disagree and take up a backline heavy support / magical artillery role. That makes more sense than to put your comparatively squishy Arch-Casters on the front lines, even if they can serve as off-tank due to high stats. They should also try to recruit Darkness as a main tank, she's the tankiest adventurer in Axel IIRC.

Concurrency is probably the safest reward, given that the party is taking the highest-risk mission of the three offered.
 
I was trying to suggest things that our party could be working on while Hunger draws aggro from Procyon in a direct 1v1 slugfest. Armor of Midnight gives infinite protection against harm that cannot destroy the whole universe, and +1000 PROT otherwise. (That's relevant in case the Shroud redefines 'Universe' within its radius.) The effect of non-damaging hostile conditions mitigated almost as much. This means that Procyon will have to work pretty hard to outright defeat Hunger during the next 8 hours.
I thought this too until I reread the description of Armor of Midnight, which says that "*Rank burn is rough, but this would allow Hunger to tank even the Curse-unique Ultimates of most Armaments without their Shrouds and even some inside their Shrouds.". It might be that any +Protection we've gotten since then makes up the difference, but if +1000 wasn't enough, the odds of another +10 tops making up the difference is... slim. It may also be that Procyon is in the 'tankable inside shroud' range, but considering the Plenary Brand, and that the plan listed is 'hit it with a thorn and then hope this weakens it enough to not paste us', it probably isn't that, and may not even be in the tankable outside shroud range.
I mostly assume armanents have as much need to obey physical limitations as the stage 15 cultivators from Rihaku's previous quest that they were stated to be able to beat, I.E., none.
True. My intention in the claim- having acknowledged it potential fallibility- was closer to that the Armament wouldn't know it was time to take-physics-as-a-suggestion with regards to reaction time +jerk motion, so unless the Armament is constantly using its Rank to keep its reaction time and jerk motion hyper-high (Is this something the Plenary brand would inform us about? probably not, it's about current state and not power level...) it would get hit to start with.
New strategy suggestion just came to mind: If the Armament dodges the first Artful Thorn/is fast enough to dodge further ones,Hunter can wait for it to try to punch him and block with the blade edge of his sword so it's the one bringing its hand at him and won't be dodging! this may or may not be a stupid idea.
 
[Kono] Disagree (Rihaku)
[Mena] Concurrency

Let me just go ahead and pull out my handy dandy rubber stamp.
 
Hm. Not strictly comfortable with those Aqua jokes, Birdsie.
As for my vote: I think Rihaku's disagreement plan fits pretty well, but does not combo well with Concurrence. As such...
[K] Disagree (Rihaku)
[K] The Fellowship
 
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[Kono] Disagree (Rihaku)
[Mena] Miss the Girl

I'm mainly voting that for the +Aqua Productivity option tbh. We dialed that up a good bit with our First Mitigation on Incompetence, but more productivity is always better, ofc.
 
I thought this too until I reread the description of Armor of Midnight, which says that "*Rank burn is rough, but this would allow Hunger to tank even the Curse-unique Ultimates of most Armaments without their Shrouds and even some inside their Shrouds.". It might be that any +Protection we've gotten since then makes up the difference, but if +1000 wasn't enough, the odds of another +10 tops making up the difference is... slim. It may also be that Procyon is in the 'tankable inside shroud' range, but considering the Plenary Brand, and that the plan listed is 'hit it with a thorn and then hope this weakens it enough to not paste us', it probably isn't that, and may not even be in the tankable outside shroud range
Just so we're on the same page, Armor of Midnight provides two kinds of defense:
  1. Protection against damage...
    • which is "effectively infinite" against harm incapable of destroying the entire universe
    • which is treated as +1000 PROT for attacks which could destroy the entire universe
  2. Protection against "Non-damaging hostile conditions and unwanted esoteric conditions"...
    • which mitigates their impact by three orders of magnitude
    • or by a degree appropriate to the effect if it had attempted to target all interplanetary space within the entire universe
      • (Whichever mitigation is greater)
We have observed some of Procyon's attacks against the Walls of Myth already. They have caused splashback of molten earth from the shockwave of metal fists against the Walls of Myth. Even without deploying the Shroud, Procyon's attacks have caused a "single hairline crack" in the Wall. This suggests that eventually the Armament will get through the Wall despite their description as having "Pressure more comprehensive than even that of Astral Rank."

We have not observed Procyon's "Curse-unique Ultimate" yet, and we do not know anything about what happens once the Shroud is deployed. The open question is whether Procyon's Ultimate is one of those that Hunger could survive with the Armor on. I don't think we can answer this right now, so we'll just be speculating...

...we can make some educated guesses, though! We know that Verschlengorge could have unleashed a wide-scale attack during the Rotbeast fight, which was a weaponization of the Decimator's Affliction. I think it is safe to guess that Procyon's Curse-unique Ultimate attack will involve weaponizing the Plenary Brand.

We know a bit about the Plenary Brand thanks to the exposition during character generation. The Plenary Brand broadcasts your power and your presence to all who perceive you, so that "your rough capabilities are made apparent to them." It announces details about your capabilities to your enemies, and foils attempts at stealth or misdirection you might attempt. Where possible, your enemies will focus on defeating you first. Also, repeated exposure for your allies can "render them comatose" while your enemies become "monomaniacally determined to end you."

We can speculate how this Curse could be weaponized. Right off the bat, having a measure of control over the Curse strikes me as a powerful psychological weapon. If a Ranklet is informed about the "rough capabilities" of a Rank 109 Armament, their mind could simply break out of awe or despair. A rapid pulse of the curse could accelerate the cumulative effects of exposure. If Adorie and every Legionnaire is monomaniacally determined to charge into close quarters combat with Procyon, then the defenses will quickly be abandoned. It disrupts tactics and battlefield control.

Note that in character generation, the Curse specifically effects those who can perceive the Cursebearer. If Procyon has a soundtrack (like the Simurgh) then all Nilfel's soldiers will be perceiving it, regardless of line of sight.

If this is the way Procyon's Curse-unique Ultimate works, then Armor of Midnight's specific phrasing seems perfectly suited to counter it. In Hitchhiker's Guide there is a torture machine that gives a universal perspective to its victim. Procyon's grand posturing would dwindle to nothing in light of the sheer size of outer space. Unfortunately, the Armor of Midnight does little to shield our allies from this vector of attack.

Alternatively, Procyon's Curse-unique Ult might be something that focuses the effect of the Plenary Brand down on a single target. This is probably the best case scenario for Hunger, whose Armor can't do anything to help his companions & allies. (RIP Indomitable Dominion, btw.)

If you have any ideas about how Procyon's curse could be weaponized, this is the time to announce them & claim bragging rights forever. (Brainstorming for weaponizing other curses might be good Arete generation, too!)
 
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