Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 252: The Final Charge

"Nobi, Nobi!"

"Wake up!"

Like a drowning person suddenly pulled out of the water, Nobi Tomoyo opened his eyes.

As far as the eye could see, there was still complete darkness.

Immediately, a lantern emitting a soft green light appeared before him, illuminating the witcher's face.

"Geralt?" Nobita struggled to his feet, his voice hoarse and dry, filled with confusion.

"You're finally awake. I thought you were knocked unconscious by your own armor," Geralt said with a sigh of relief, making a lighthearted joke.

Nobita shook his groggy head to clear his mind.

Where is this place?

Yes, he remembered.

They had just dealt with the tentacles extending from Ashiya Doman's main body when Mount Fuji collapsed, the entire mountain split open, and they plunged into the abyss.
What was that memory just now? It was clearly not a dream, nor did it belong to him; it should belong to Ashiya Dōman's memory.
What are his memories of his master's tragic death in pursuit of immortality? And who is that mysterious headless, winged man?
"I think I saw Ashiya Doman." Nobita found the Hero's Sword next to him, stood up, and quickly checked his body.

Aside from the immense physical exhaustion and muscle soreness from continuous summoning and battles, as well as the lingering mental shock in his mind, he seemed to have no serious injuries.

He then briefly recounted to Geralt how he had become entangled in that terrifying memory.

Geralt frowned, and after listening, he pondered, "That monster's spirit has probably been completely corrupted by power. What you encountered were likely fragments of his shattered memories. And this is the core area of ​​his power, which is why he can affect you through these fragments of memories. This is not a good sign; it means that his madness has already eroded this space."

“But the most urgent task is to find the others and combine our forces.” Geralt swept his lantern around. “I sensed the presence of a unicorn; it’s not far from us. Follow me.”

The two walked among the rugged rocks, the surroundings eerily silent, as if all living things had been swallowed up by the collapse.

Fortunately, they soon found a unicorn who was also looking for Nobita.

Its body remained snow-white, seemingly spotless, radiating a holy halo under the green light of the lantern. Although the light from its golden horn was slightly dim, it could still dispel the approaching chilling evil energy.

With it by their side, the two felt a little more at ease.

"As for the others, Geralt, do you have a way to continue searching?" Nobita patted the unicorn's head and asked Geralt.

Geralt shook his head: "They didn't leave any trace, and I didn't have much contact with them. It's difficult, if..."

The unicorn hissed twice, gesturing for them to mount.

"Do you know where they are?" Nobita asked.

The unicorn nodded affirmatively.

The two immediately mounted their horse, which skillfully navigated the complex passages. Before long, they found Hayato wandering around like a headless fly in a relatively open area.

His blazing motorcycle was clearly engulfed in flames, and its headlights darted haphazardly across the front, like a signal transmitter.

While driving, he also frantically tried to call for his teammates via private messages.

"Over here!" Nobita shouted.

Hayato slammed on the brakes upon hearing the noise, his face beaming with excitement: "President! I'm so glad you're all alright, this place is like a maze!"

After reuniting, they continued their exploration.

The temperature in the passage began to rise sharply, and dark red lava seeped from the cracks in the surrounding rock walls.

More and more, grotesque lava monsters began to crawl out of these wounds, trying to intercept them.

Despite their valiant efforts, the monsters could only cause them some trouble and couldn't stop them from continuing their advance.

Finally, in an area where lava had spewed into rivers, they heard the sounds of fierce fighting and the roars of monsters.

Ethan Reno, covered in blood, was riding on the back of a slightly disheveled white tiger, desperately trying to fend off the attacks of more than a dozen lava monsters, facing a perilous situation.

Without saying much, everyone immediately joined the battle.

With a combined attack, the besieged monsters were quickly eliminated.

Renault and the white tiger were able to catch their breath. The white tiger licked its wounds and let out a low growl.

Reno took the opportunity to replenish some blood energy through the monsters, and his wounds healed faster under the stimulation of the blood energy.

"Luckily you arrived in time. Now, should we try to find a way out?" Renault asked, trying to distract them.

"Have you seen the demonic mist?" Nobita looked around.

Renault shook his head: "After White Tiger and I landed, we came here and have been running ever since, but we've been surrounded here and haven't encountered anyone else."

The unicorn beeped twice, its golden horn pointing towards a cave entrance deep inside.

Nobita understood, so they carefully bypassed the scorching lava river, passed through the cave entrance, and finally stepped onto a relatively dry, black rock platform.

Around this rock platform is a boiling lava pool with a diameter of tens of meters.

Above the lava pool, a black mist, also tens of meters high, was clashing with a being suspended above the magma.

The thing was not a complete biological form. It had wings made of dark red energy on its back, but its main body was shaped like a human little finger that shimmered with a warm, jade-like light.

At the "top" of the little finger, radiating blood vessels, like a rising sun flag, connect to the surrounding lava and rock walls.

This jade-like finger throbbed slightly, radiating a powerful vitality.

This is probably the true essence of Ashiya Dōman.

"Hiro!" Nobita called out to Iwasaki. Although it was just a name, Nobita knew that Iwasaki should know what he wanted to know. "I suspect the weakness lies in those connecting blood vessels, but you can't kill them all!"

Iwasaki struggled to break through the swords conjured by his jade fingers, severing several blood vessels, but these vessels quickly reattached themselves, not missing a single second.

"Eternal, immortal, eternal."

The core emitted waves of chaotic, overlapping sounds, like the murmured roars of a million souls, sometimes sharp, sometimes low, like weeping and lamenting.

"Heaven, the underworld, none can fall; I am immortal!"

With a sharp cry, the surrounding rock walls suddenly cracked open.

Countless thick tentacles, made of lava and filthy flesh, with twisted heads or claws at their tips, tore through the rock wall and frantically stabbed at Nobita and the others who had just arrived.

Beneath the rock wall, all around are bizarre, moving flesh and blood; this is Ashiya Doman's body.

"Watch out!" Geralt's brow furrowed as he issued a warning.

This scene felt strangely familiar; I had a similar experience inside the giant before.

The battle erupted instantly. Faced with the massive number of tentacles coming from all directions, they could only fight individually, resulting in utter chaos.

Hayato used the speed of his motorcycle to dash left and right, attempting to attack the core directly, but he was entangled by several small tentacles that suddenly emerged at the same time, and then a huge tentacle lashed him hard.

The motorcycle spun out and crashed heavily into the rock wall with Hayato in it. Hayato coughed up blood, and the vehicle turned back into a small motorcycle, almost losing its fighting ability.

As Geralt dodged the sweeping attack of another tentacle, he glimpsed a lava fireball hurtling straight toward Nobita's back.

Without hesitation, he cast the Quen sign, adding a temporary shield before lunging forward and pushing Nobi away. However, his left shoulder was grazed by a fireball, instantly charring his leather armor and leaving it a bloody mess.

The Witcher grunted and staggered backward.

Renault was quick-witted; just as a tentacle attacked, he was grazed on the arm. He screamed and fell to the ground. The wound looked quite deep and was bleeding, but his eyes flickered as he secretly manipulated the blood to flow out faster, deliberately making himself look like he was seriously injured and unable to hold on. He then retreated to a corner to watch the battle.

In an instant, many people were injured, leaving only Nobi, Unicorn, and the struggling Iwasaki Kurogiri on the main battlefield, greatly increasing the pressure.

Fortunately, Geralt and the White Tiger still had the ability to fight, and could barely protect themselves and the other two.

The core, surrounded by countless tentacles, was so close yet seemed like an insurmountable chasm, impossible to cross.

"Eternity. Haha, Dao Manxiaoche, did you see that? This is the core of the babbling." The babbling became even more frantic.

boom!
A black figure, moving with ghostly speed, plummeted down from the shadows above without warning.

Without the slightest hesitation, she aimed directly at the core inlaid with the jade finger.

"Execution protocol: Highest priority target elimination. Unable to resolve by conventional means, activate self-destruct procedure."

2B's body landed on the jade finger, the longsword was inserted, and before the opponent could react, a beam of light directly engulfed it, like a supernova about to explode.

boom--! ! !
A deafening explosion erupted at the core.

The pure destructive energy clashed violently with the scorching dark red energy, triggering an even more intense energy storm.

The core emitted a shrill, distorted scream, and the light from the jade finger flickered violently. The surrounding dark red energy was clearly shattered and became chaotic.

"Knight!" Kosuke Iwasaki shouted.

The dense black mist spread out like an octopus, instantly enveloping the unstable core and some of its tentacles.

The mage's hand appeared and disappeared in the black mist, clamping down on the newly ruptured jade finger wound, spreading it open to prevent it from healing.

"Roar--!"

Seizing this fleeting opportunity, the battered white tiger roared to the sky, gathering its last bit of magic power in its mouth, transforming it into an incredibly thick, pure white beam of destructive energy that slammed into the core wound that was bound.

The core trembled violently once again!

"Destruction. The world will cease to exist!" Ashiya Dōman's voice trailed off.

"Nobita, catch!" Geralt, enduring the excruciating pain, pulled out an antique-looking small bottle from his pocket, containing a viscous, honey-like golden liquid.

Without hesitation, he poured the entire bottle of liquid onto his silver sword, and the blade instantly burst forth with a holy radiance as brilliant as the sun.

Geralt mustered all his strength and hurled the silver sword at Nobita.

Nobita caught it with one hand, and with the other, he gripped his Hero's Sword tightly.

"Go!" Nobita roared.

The unicorn understood immediately, letting out a clear, long cry. Its golden horn shone brightly, dispelling the numerous tentacles that came from all around trying to stop it.

Its four hooves pounded the air, as if stepping on invisible stairs, carrying Nobi, transforming into a platinum meteor, charging towards the jade finger suppressed by the black mist, like a true knight, charging forward without hesitation.

The two swords, along with Nobi and the unicorn, pierced half of the body into the writhing, struggling wound.

thump.

A heartbeat.

"."

The dark red wings behind Yu Zhi dripped blood little by little, transforming into white wings.

Then, a white light completely engulfed everything.

(End of this chapter)