Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 333, Section 80: The Shield of Great Britain (Happy National Day)

"The moon is in position."

Uesugi nimbly landed on a rooftop, took a few deep breaths to calm his rapid breathing, gazed in the direction of the giant in the distance, carefully took out the Mercy Crystal, and sent a private message to Nobita to confirm.

"Muramasa Taki is in position."

Not far away, on the edge of the rooftop of a building that had been cut in half, Taki stood against the wind.

She plunged the Firebreaker into the concrete beside her with a clang, steadying herself with one hand on the hilt of the knife, while the other hand lay open, the crystal resting quietly in her palm.

"Yui, get ready."

"The Chosen One has arrived at the designated location!"

"Hayato's in position. I'm definitely the fastest besides Ludu, right?"

Just as the last player's confirmation signal arrived, the giant in the distance, a fusion of flesh, metal, and centuries of resentment, raised its mountain-like foot and took its first step toward Westminster.

Steam was constantly pumped out of his body, and with each of his movements, the contraction and tension of his muscle fibers could be clearly seen.

With its terrifying height of over two hundred meters, it wouldn't take more than twenty steps to walk from the ruins of the British Museum to the heart of Westminster. The earth-shaking footsteps grew louder as they approached, each step feeling like it was pounding on everyone's hearts, giving them time, at most a few minutes.

There was absolutely no need for them to wait until the giant was right in front of them before activating the crystal's protective power; that would be too risky.

If it takes any extra time, it would be a waste of the nine years of their lives they each sacrificed.

Not to mention the intense weakness that comes with expending these years, which greatly reduces their combat effectiveness, making them the kind of people even holy spring water can hardly revive in a short time.

"We can't wait any longer, let's begin."

Nobi sent a private message, and then crushed the Mercy Crystal in his hand first.

The crystal, which had accumulated nine years of the player's lifespan, was transparent with a hint of golden light. When Nobita crushed it with force, he did not feel the hardness he expected. Instead, it felt like he was crushing a piece of solidified light. There was almost no tactile sensation. As if responding to his inner thoughts, it began to crack on its own.

Golden light emanated from the spreading cracks.

Crackling sound.
A clear and pleasant cracking sound rang out. Instead of falling to the ground as pieces, the crystal disintegrated into countless luminous particles, which, as if possessing life, slowly detached from the player's palm and floated in mid-air.

These light particles began to rotate and converge rapidly, and the golden light at the center, like the ignited core of a star, increased in brightness exponentially.

The intense light even stung the players' eyes, and the energy fluctuations caused the surrounding air to distort and tremble.

At the instant when energy accumulates to a certain critical point—

Om-!
There was no deafening explosion, only a deep and magnificent wave of energy sweeping in all directions.

Immediately afterwards, a golden beam of light, solidified as if it were a tangible object, shot into the sky from in front of Nobita like a holy sword piercing through the darkness.

The beam of light tore through the rain curtain and crashed into the low-hanging dark clouds.

The immense energy instantly tore a huge circular gap in the dense clouds, as if a giant skylight had been opened in the sky.

The first golden beam of light rising in the darkness of Westminster was like a signal. Almost without pause, the second, third, and ninth beams of light erupted in quick succession within two seconds.

Centered around Westminster Palace, they are arranged in a regular pattern, like nine fences of light, firmly guarding the core area.

The space inside the pillar of light was illuminated as bright as day, filling it with a sacred sense of ritual.

An even more breathtaking sight appeared above the clouds, pierced by beams of light.

Surrounded by nine pillars of light, the dark clouds quickly dissipated, and the light wove and condensed, forming a radiant phantom that rapidly took shape. In the blink of an eye, a giant knight phantom appeared before everyone's eyes.

The knight was fully armored, exuding an ancient and benevolent aura.

He held no sword, but tightly gripped a massive shield comparable to a mountain, the design of which was intimately familiar to every Briton.

That is the coat of arms shield of the United Kingdom, with the shield clearly divided into four parts, symbolizing England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland respectively.

Behind the knight's phantom, the phantoms of a pure white, holy unicorn and a majestic, golden-maned lion simultaneously materialized, standing on the void and emitting silent roars, guarding the knight's left and right.

"God bless Britain! God bless Britain!"

Any Englishman who still held onto hope could no longer contain his excitement upon seeing this scene and would open his arms and roar.

Nobita slowly withdrew his gaze from the giant knight phantom in the sky and turned his attention to the giant ripper who was slowly and steadily approaching.

Above the Ripper, a long health bar appeared before Nobita's eyes.

The Ripper's Jealousy

Sixty percent

The health bar wasn't full; a significant portion of it was empty.

This is the valuable result of the players' intervention and disruption during the previous six rounds of the ceremony.

At this moment, the two sacred beasts made of pure golden light guarding the phantom of the shield-bearing knight suddenly moved as if they had received a command.

The unicorn let out a clear and long cry, its four hooves touching the ground, and its body radiated a holy light that purified everything.

The lion let out a deafening roar, its golden mane burning like flames, displaying the majesty of the king of beasts.

Although they are only a few tens of meters tall and still look small compared to giants that are over two hundred meters tall, they show no sign of fear.

Two golden beams of light moved with lightning speed, instantly bridging the distance to the Ripper, like two full moons trailing their tails, and crashing headlong into the giant Ripper!

Boom boom!

Although the light was not a physical object, it still produced a loud bang upon impact. Accompanied by a violent explosion of energy, the golden light and the dark red flesh on the giant's body rapidly deformed, bursting out with dazzling light.

The unicorn's spiral horn pierced deep into the giant's knee, the holy light scorching flesh and machinery with a sizzling sound.

The lion became even more ferocious, pouncing directly on the giant's waist and abdomen, tearing at the back of the neck with its claws and gnawing with its fangs, each attack sending up large amounts of energy debris and bloody gore.

Perhaps due to elemental advantage, the two light beasts did indeed have a clear upper hand at the start of the battle.

They darted and weaved around the relatively slow-moving giant, leaving behind streaks of golden wounds, blood and oil flowing freely, and steam completely dispersing around them.

The Ripper remained silent, his enormous hand striking repeatedly, but each strike missed its mark, leaving only muffled sonic booms in the air.

"effective!"

Hayato, watching from afar, couldn't help but clench his fist, wishing he could join the battle. However, the Ripper Giant was, after all, a terrifying being forged from centuries of resentment and extraordinary rituals. After the initial surprise, the eerie blue light in its eye sockets suddenly sharpened, slowly discerning the two luminous beasts' attack methods and weaknesses.

It suddenly gave up its futile attempt to catch the lion's pounce with one arm, tearing open the dark red muscle to reveal the metal skeleton underneath.

But at the same time, its other hand, the one tightly gripping the dagger, seemed to have anticipated this.
The target is the unicorn, which is attempting to launch another surprise attack from the side.

This thrust was swift, accurate, and ruthless!
With a single slash, the unicorn's body, made of golden light, was sliced ​​open from neck to abdomen.

The unicorn suddenly seemed to lose most of its strength, its invisible body passing through the buildings and rolling a few times on the ground.

Dark red lines eroded outwards from the wound slashed by the dagger, and the holy radiance quickly dimmed. The unicorn struggled to its feet, letting out a mournful cry. Its enormous body of light shattered like broken glass, turning into countless drifting golden specks that formed a reverse flow of golden rain, slowly dissipating into the gloomy sky of London.

The death of its companion enraged the lion. It abandoned all tactics and agility, descending into utter rage.

Its golden body shone brightly, like a star. It pounced on the giant with all its might, tearing and clawing wildly in the most primal way, as if trying to perish together with its enemy.

The battle entered a brutal close-quarters combat phase, with golden light and dark red energy colliding wildly, and the earth trembling with every movement of the giant.

In Nobita's eyes, he could see the Ripper's health bar slowly decreasing, but very slightly.

"Knight, trade request." Ikeda suddenly sent a private message, the message was brief.

The next moment, an icon of a shriveled, hard, and even somewhat deformed black bread appeared on the trading interface.

"This is...?" Nobita was taken aback, and after a half-second pause, he remembered, "The black bread from the Ripper?" he asked hesitantly.

"Hmm, this fell out of a historical illusion, it's definitely useful to the Ripper. Perhaps... it can cause him some kind of harm at a crucial moment."

Ikeda quickly explained that this was the most likely possibility at the moment.

Nobi sized up the unremarkable black bread, unsure of what to do. He wanted to discuss it with Ikeda, but the other party remained silent and unresponsive after completing the prize transaction.

Nobita suddenly remembered that Geralt had said that when facing the real Ripper, he could summon him for free.

He immediately summoned Geralt.

The portal cracked open, revealing a bright, shining light.

Geralt, dressed in casual clothes and carrying a bottle of liquor, strolled leisurely through the portal.

"Wow, this thing is huge!"

Geralt tilted his head back and took a swig of wine, gazing at the giants fighting in the distance, then looking up at the phantom of the knight above, marveling at the sight.

"Geralt, take a look at this thing. Is there anything unusual about it?"

Nobita had no time to waste and quickly showed him the black bread.

“There’s a certain quality left on it, as if it’s been stripped away through some kind of ritual. Didn’t you have a crystal before? It feels a bit similar to that crystal.”

Geralt frowned, studied the document for a moment, and then gave his opinion.

Nobita fell into thought. Was it related to the Mercy Crystal? He recalled a historical scene where, according to the description, the Ripper attempted suicide by plunging that particular dagger into his chest to end his life. Given the Ripper's emphasis on this piece of black bread, it wouldn't be surprising to place it in his chest.

For this reason, what strange reaction occurred when the black bread absorbed the Ripper's blood?

But now, all nine players' Mercy Crystals have been shattered, and Ikeda has been unreachable since the transaction, though he still has Mercy Crystals left.
His gaze turned to the battlefield, where a slightly different golden light descended from the sky, landing between the giant and the lion locked in combat.

That's the big island.

He entered at the crucial moment, deflecting the dagger the Ripper was about to stab at the lion.

clang!
The energy shockwave from the clash of metal and stone spread out in a ring, sending all the surrounding dust flying.

Oshima grunted and flew backward, barely landing with a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, but he had ultimately shielded the lion from this fatal blow.

At this moment, the Lion of Light was so transparent that it was almost impossible to see clearly. The form formed by the golden light also appeared tattered and incomplete.

It awkwardly evaded the Ripper's attack range, glanced at the small figure on the island, and nodded slightly.

The next moment, the lion roared to the sky one last time, and its entire body completely disintegrated in the sound waves, turning into a thick, spinning golden tornado.

As if possessing its own consciousness, the tornado roared towards the island, eventually merging into his clenched right fist, transforming into a miniature lion's head, poised to strike.

Oshima felt as if he were holding a miniature sun, and his aura surged accordingly.

For the first time, the Giant Ripper showed obvious fear. His deep blue eyes were fixed on Oshima's radiant fist, and he spoke with disgust: "This kind of...hypocritical emotion...is truly nauseating."

Oshima slowly raised his head, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes resolute, and replied clearly, "A vermin in the gutter will naturally hate the sunlight. Your hatred proves precisely the necessity of the existence of light!"

"Give me—all in!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly exerted force with his calves, causing the ground to crack! He transformed into a golden arrow that tore through the sky, shooting towards the giant at an almost imperceptible speed!

Feng feng feng!
A golden ray of light, traveling at a speed beyond the limits of vision, refracted and darted back and forth across the giant's massive body.

Each flash was accompanied by a violent explosion somewhere in the giant's body. A hole was blasted in its chest, its arm joints were shattered, and golden light burst forth from its spine.

Nobita could clearly see the health bar above the giant ripper's head dropping segment by segment.

Having witnessed Oshima's methods, Nobi didn't think this attack would completely defeat the Ripper, and with such a fierce attack, he would soon have to retreat.

Oshima has the ability to erupt as fiercely as he can retreat just as quickly.

After much deliberation, I decided that Iwasaki was the only one who could handle the black bread.

He hasn't shown up yet, which is in line with his character. He should be above the clouds, searching for the Ripper's weakness in the current battle.

Just as Nobita had predicted, Iwasaki was indeed above the clouds in the sky.

He was observing, observing the Ripper's fighting patterns and whether he possessed any special abilities.

He glanced at the private messages and put the black bread and the Mercy Crystal he had traded with Nobi together.

The two then merged together, and Iwasaki had a feeling that he could bring out the effect of the black bread simply by using the inherent ability of the activation node crystal.

Seeing that Oshima was starting to tire and slowing down, Iwasaki put away the crystal and swallowed two small longevity pills.

"Overdraft, for thirty years."

(End of this chapter)