Chapter 210: Just What Is in "That" Place of Lip's?
Passionlip in front of them suddenly charged straight ahead!
"Perfect timing, before I tear that bitch to pieces, I'll use you as the appetizer!!"
Draco instantly transformed her right arm into a dragon's, gathered magical energy, and unleashed a blazing red blast!
"Whoosh——————!!!"
A crimson beam shot out from Draco's dragon arm, striking the target!
But even that attack didn't trigger any defensive reaction from the opponent—there wasn't even a scratch left behind.
Seeing this, Berserker Jack immediately hurled her sharp scalpel forward.
Just like with Draco's attack, Passionlip didn't bother to dodge—in fact, she accelerated her charge.
The moment the sharp blade touched her, it was compressed and snapped into a speck as tiny as dust.
It was clear that when Elizabeth had attacked earlier, the opponent was still using some form of defense.
"You guys are way too low level, stop resisting pointlessly! Just leave everything here to Lancer!!!"
Tohsaka Rin quickly grabbed Ethan's arm and prepared to retreat.
"Got it. I am the highest-level member of the team after all, so of course this kind of thing is my job."
Right after, Elizabeth launched another sonic wave attack!
"Laaaaaaa————————!!!"
The shrill soundwave surged forward at high speed once again! Passionlip, with her restraining mask, immediately brought up her massive claws to compress the attack.
"Run now!!!"
Taking advantage of the moment, Tohsaka Rin pulled Ethan along and started fleeing.
However, in this unfamiliar environment of the Digital Ocean, it was impossible to distinguish direction.
"Didn't you get the map Matou Shinji gave us?"
Tohsaka Rin quickly reminded Ethan.
"Hurry up and use it!"
There was no time to confirm whether Shinji's map was reliable or not—Ethan immediately activated his wristband and switched to map display mode.
Following the directions on the map:
There was only one path available in their current location.
It was the straight road ahead, followed by a fork.
To the left lay a vast, open space with no detailed data—it seemed Matou Shinji hadn't fully explored that area.
However, the narrow path to the right of the fork continued onward and connected to at least two more corridors.
"Everyone move forward, then turn right at the fork!!!"
Ethan issued the command decisively.
Loud crashing sounds echoed from behind.
"BAM——————!!!"
On the path, anything touched by those massive golden claws was instantly crushed and compressed into small blocks.
Though the Servants by Ethan's side were clearly unwilling to retreat, after entering the Digital Ocean, their capabilities had been severely weakened.
Put bluntly, they couldn't even break through the enemy's defenses.
It had to be admitted—the only viable tactic right now was to avoid Passionlip's razor-sharp claws and reassess from there.
Under the map's guidance, Ethan and the others quickly reached the fork.
"This way, go right!!"
"Roger!!"
Mash immediately raised her shield to clear the path and turned right.
Suddenly, something jumped down from above?!
"BOOM————————!!"
Those massive golden claws suddenly appeared right in front of them.
Passionlip, still under the control of the restraining mask, had suddenly appeared on the right-hand path. She turned her head and swung those massive golden claws.
"CLANG!!"
The road behind her was instantly compressed into tiny cubic blocks.
"Sorry... if I don't stop you... Mother will scold me again..."
With that, she began advancing directly toward them.
"...!!!"
Ethan immediately turned to look behind—Elizabeth had also caught up from the rear.
"Goddammit, she actually destroyed the entire area behind us! What kind of bullshit is this—wrecking the whole map like that, this is outright cheating, that's totally unfair!!!"
Even their retreat path was completely cut off?
The situation had become dire, and Ethan had no choice but to make the call for everyone to escape to the left area.
"Everyone, take shelter over there for now!"
They could only head inside first—then figure out what to do next.
Bubbles continuously rose around them. The digital fish that had been swimming leisurely now scattered in terror as Ethan's group rushed in.
Following the path on the left, Ethan's group pushed forward, and just before Passionlip caught up, they managed to enter the area behind.
However, their brief moment of relief was instantly crushed by the scene before their eyes.
A massive whale skeleton nearly filled the entire space. Broken pieces were piled up on the ground, forming a mountain of white bones that completely blocked their path forward.
Another dead end?!
Ethan instinctively clenched his fist.
"BOOM————————!!!"
A loud noise erupted from behind—Passionlip had caught up.
"Shit, what the hell is Matou Shinji trying to pull?! Don't tell me that bastard set us up on purpose!!"Tohsaka Rin clutched her head in frustration.
Ethan stared at the mountain-sized whale bones before him, mind racing at full speed. Passionlip was almost upon them—they had to think of something now!
"Mash!!!"
Ethan immediately issued a command to Mash.
"Deploy your Noble Phantasm right at the junction!!"
"Roger!!!"
Responding to Ethan's call, Mash raised her shield and began activating her Noble Phantasm!
"True Name, Pseudo Register."
"Noble Phantasm, deploy! Lord Chaldeas!!!"
A silver radiance burst from Mash's shield—a shimmering barrier of light spread across the entire passage, blocking the path.
Whether Mash could withstand Passionlip at her current low level was uncertain.
Sensing the light barrier, Passionlip reached forward with her massive claws, compressing everything she could touch.
The instant one of her sharp claws made contact with the shield of light, a portion was immediately crushed into a single glowing point.
However, due to her overwhelming force, even the passage in front of her was destroyed by her own claws.
The path, already narrow, had now been compressed into a tight corridor. Because of her enormous claws, Passionlip was unable to pass through.
"I… I messed it up again..."
The unexpected turn of events left Passionlip at a loss for what to do.
Fortunately, Mash's Noble Phantasm was only a magical construct.
In the end, it was a structure formed from mana. As long as there was enough magical energy, the light shield could continue to block the entrance.
With her vision obscured by the restraining device, Passionlip relied entirely on sensation, which left her thoroughly confused.
At least for now, the opponent's actions had been temporarily halted.
"Could it be… already broken…? This is bad… If it stays like this… Mother will scold me again..."
Just as Ethan thought Passionlip would remain idle for a while, she suddenly sat down halfway.
"To avoid being punished by Mother… there's only this method left…"
She began to sway her body, dragging the massive upper portion along. As she moved, countless black cubes fell from inside.
"————————?!"
Ethan stared in stunned silence at the sight before him.
He knew BB stored damaged, compressed data in there, but he never expected it could actually be retrieved?!
"Cough cough… Ethan, you know with girls… the bigger, the better, right?"
Tohsaka Rin suddenly blushed, crossed her arms, and whispered to Ethan.
"Hey, is this really the time to be saying that?!"
Ethan immediately retorted.
The best way to handle that kind of question—was not to answer at all.
"Hmph! Anyway, I know you're into those useless chunks of excess fat!!!"
Tohsaka Rin refused to let it go and directly slapped a label on Ethan.
But right now, all of Ethan's attention was focused on the blocks of data falling out from the majestic canyon of Passionlip.
After hitting the floor of the labyrinth, the scrap data began to slowly unfold, transforming into a swarm of chaotic malicious programs.
"Even if it's just junk data… to track those people down… it might be just right…"
Very quickly, one of the cubes unfolded into a black hound, which had caught the scent of Ethan's group.
"GRROOOAAAAARRRR!!"
It immediately charged through the narrow corridor, lunging straight at Mash!
"Ugh…"
Upon impact with the shield, Mash let out a strained groan, but she resolutely held firm—determined not to let Ethan and the others fall into danger.
"Something like that dares to attack me?!"
Draco instantly swung her dragonized arm, the razor-sharp dragon claws piercing straight through the black hound's body.
The black hound didn't even have time to let out a cry before it dropped motionless on the spot.
"Slash slash——————!!!"
Little Jack and Berserker Jack, in perfect unison, used their daggers to shred the body of a black mechanical soldier in a flash.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth thrust her spear through a flickering orb of light.
But it wasn't long before another swarm of malicious programs surged toward them from ahead!!!
'System!'
Ethan called out to the system immediately.
'I want to gacha!!!'
[Beep beep...Detected that this is Digital Ocean, a virtual world. Gacha rolls are restricted by the local administrator. Please prioritize acquiring administrative privileges.]
[Forced summoning may result in calling forth Heroic Spirits previously rejected in this area. Danger level of action: (High). Host, please confirm before proceeding.]
So he could only summon Servants who had already failed here?
Ethan quickly regained his composure.
Indeed, things in the Digital Ocean were somewhat different. Even if he summoned someone, they definitely wouldn't appear at max level—Mooncell would suppress their power.
His problem wasn't the lack of Servants, but rather their low levels.
"If this were a normal situation, I could use these guys to level up. But in this state, we'll just run out of mana and die!!!"
Seeing the flood of malicious programs pouring in, sweat began to bead on Tohsaka Rin's forehead.
Wait a minute…
Leveling up?!
Ethan suddenly thought of something and spoke into his communication band.
"Sakura, can you hear me?"
"I hear you, Senpai. We're currently trying to calculate a possible escape route… But it might be necessary to break through the enemy's encirclement…"
Sakura's voice sounded tense.
"That's not it. I mean—can we grow stronger by defeating these malicious programs?"
Ethan clearly cared deeply about this question.
"If it's digital lifeforms, then yes, it's possible to absorb their programs to level up. But Senpai, the Servants you brought aren't summoned by MoonCell…"
Sakura seemed to realize something and paused briefly.
"But if it's a Spiritron Body summoned by MoonCell, and if it possesses the Territory Creation skill, then it can convert data into information and redistribute it to your Servants."
"Territory Creation?"
Elizabeth, Mash, Little Jack, Berserker Jack, Draco.
None of them had that skill.
Wait… there was still one person!!!
Ethan turned his head toward Tamamo-no-Mae.
"Mikon?"
Tamamo-no-Mae was startled by Ethan's sudden gaze.
"Didn't you say you wanted to form a contract with me?"
"What? You want my power now? But going up against that monster is just suicide! Stop! Even though I really, really want to form a contract, I don't want to die! Stop! Stop!!!"
Tamamo-no-Mae crossed her arms in a dramatic "NO" pose, even her tail drooping.
"You don't have to fight. Just support us from the rear."
"Sup… support???"
Tamamo-no-Mae looked puzzled by the word Ethan just used.
"Long story short, after we form the contract, you won't need to battle. Just turn the surrounding area into your Territory and handle converting the programs into data. Can you do that?"
Ethan laid out his plan clearly.
"…That's all?"
Tamamo-no-Mae hesitantly asked again.
"That's all."
"No need to fight that Alterego?"
"No need."
"In that case…"
At last, Tamamo-no-Mae had no more reason to hesitate. She gave a slight nod and agreed to Ethan's plan.
Once confirmed, she extended her slender hand toward Ethan.
[Beep beep...Nearby Servant preparing to form a contract.]
[Initiating contract: Caster——Tamamo-no-Mae.]
A magical light flared from the Command Spell on the back of Ethan's hand. Moments later, the contract with Tamamo-no-Mae was complete.
"Mash, you keep holding the line. Slow down the advance of the malicious programs."
"Roger!!!"
Ethan immediately began executing his strategy.
"Everyone else—wipe out the malicious programs trying to break through! Don't leave a single one!"
"Hmph, as if I'd ever let them go unpunished!"
Draco tore through the enemies ahead with her dragon claws.
"If it's Mama's order, then we have to fight even harder!!!"
"Oh? This looks kind of fun. In that case, allow me to observe a little."
Little Jack and Berserker Jack took turns attacking, tangling with the malicious programs in a chaotic melee.
"Hey hey! I'm the one with the highest rank! I'm the Senpai here!!!"
Elizabeth, thoroughly displeased, dove into battle.
"Ethan, what exactly are you trying to do?"
Tohsaka Rin asked, confused, turning to Ethan.
"Farm mobs, obviously. What else?"