Chapter 211: It's over, I just got confessed to by Lip!!!
"Alright alright, hello everyone on the livestream~ There's nothing special today, we're mostly just chatting."
On the livestream screen, Ethan was sitting comfortably on the ground, looking cheerful.
"Look, this place is Digital Ocean, even if you can't swim you can still breathe, and you can even see schools of digital fish."
Ethan changed the camera angle, pointing it toward the whale skeleton.
"Everyone look, this is the skeleton of a big whale, pretty impressive, right? Stuff like this must be pretty rare to see, huh? Hold on, I'll turn the camera so you guys can see the giant turtle over there too…"
Before he could stand up, the screen was flooded with control comments:
["Host-kun, stop messing around, you're blocking my view of Tamamo dancing!"]
["Exactly! I want to see Tamamo dance, who the hell wants to look at whale bones!"]
["Hurry up, shift left a bit! Higher up! Host, don't make us donate and beg!!"]
At this moment, right behind Ethan, Tamamo-no-Mae was dancing a ritual dance, drenched in sweat.
"This is my realm, the land of the gods. Water flows in the bountiful lands of Nakatsu."
Brilliant light from the Water, the sky, and the sunlight swirled around Tamamo.
"The land fills the void with water and flows to Takamagahara, flows to Yomi, as the Sun shines through the watery heavens."
Countless torii appeared around her, streams of data turning into blazing red souls completely absorbed by the mirror.
That mirror could temporarily unleash the Divine Treasure known as Weight Stone of Tamamo – a divine treasure so powerful it was said to be able to resurrect the dead. But currently, it was striving to convert the massive amount of collected electronic data into information, then distribute it to all the Servants present.
"I will light the Toyoashihara Mizuho no Kuni. I will spin the endless cycle. This is the Nine-Fold Amaterasu…!"
Tamamo-no-Mae then raised both hands high, channeling all her power into the mirror.
"Eightfold Blessings of Amaterasu on the Weight Stone under the Sunlit Watery Heavens!!!"
With the release of the Noble Phantasm, a stream of energy continuously flowed into the bodies of everyone present.
As the Master, Ethan also seemed to feel his Servants gradually becoming stronger.
Tamamo wiped the sweat from her forehead, then noticed Ethan's eyes following her.
"…I… I'm not slacking off…"
Then she began preparing to enter the next round of the ritual dance.
Luckily, Tamamo's ritual dance wasn't like that brief Noble Phantasm — the full ritual performance had to last up to twenty minutes or even more.
Otherwise, it really would feel like brainwashing the viewers.
["Streamer-kun, what's with all the banging over there, is there construction going on?"]
"Ah, over there huh."
Seeing a viewer ask, Ethan turned the camera a bit to the side.
"Mash, say hi to everyone."
Immediately, Mash's face appeared in the frame.
"Hello everyone, I'm Mash. Thank you all for always supporting Senpai! Really, thank you so much!!!"
At that moment, Mash was leaning on her shield, so she could only bow her head in greeting.
["Awawa~, Mashu-chan is still the best!"]
["I really love cute Kouhai types like Mashu-chan!!!"]
["Host shut up! Let Mashu-chan livestream a bit more!"]
["Mashu-chan! You're still the best! Keep doing your best to save the world!!!"]
...
"Ahem!"
Ethan lightly coughed.
"Mash is still holding back the 'malicious programs' right now, so please don't distract her anymore."
"Mama!!!"
Suddenly, a small figure ran over and hugged Ethan.
"Mama look, we wiped out all the enemies again just now ~~~"
Little Jack looked very proud.
"Come on, praise us, praise us~~~"
"Umu, Jack is the best!"
Ethan patted Little Jack's head.
"Ehehe~ I got praised!!!"
Little Jack's beaming smile was also captured by the camera.
["Oooh~ Damn that guy! Let go of that loli girl!!"]
["Little Jack, be careful, don't let bad people follow you, okay."]
["…Huh? Shouldn't it be the bad people who need to be careful instead?"]
...
Ethan chose not to look at the comments anymore, and lowered his head to ask Little Jack:
"But, is everything okay over there?"
"It's okay! We handed it over to that uncle who can turn into a scary-looking form."
Little Jack answered seriously.
"Uncle who can turn into a scary-looking form?"
Ethan looked ahead and discovered a large number of malicious programs battling a horde of demons.
Those demons were all extremely powerful, and they even seemed to be increasing in number.
Even the mechanical soldiers that were fighting with Elizabeth got their heads smashed effortlessly by the demons.
"Hey hey hey! Isn't this my stage?! If there are too many extras, it'll affect the performance quality of my show!!!"
"Apologies, apologies."
Suddenly, a demon transformed into a British-style gentleman and bowed to Elizabeth.
"Perhaps it's because it's been a long time since I last felt the joy of battle, so I got a little carried away."
"Hmph, this is my stage. Don't think that just because you gained a few levels you can act so confident."
Elizabeth said angrily.
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM————————!!!"
Suddenly, a red flash streaked right past them, striking a group of malicious programs behind.
"Looks like our teammate over there is getting a bit impatient too, almost blew up a few of my clones."
Berserker Jack said with a smile.
Draco's arm had undergone dragonification; she was checking to see how much of her strength had recovered.
Seeing that the battlefield on the other side had been completely suppressed, Ethan knew that his strategy had finally taken effect.
"I didn't expect you to come up with this method, are you a demon?"
Tohsaka Rin crossed her arms and spoke discontentedly.
"…No, the demons are over there, aren't they?"
"Tohsaka, have you never played an RPG game?"
Ethan tried to explain.
"Only idiots play games. My time is precious, there's no way I'd waste it on something like that."
Tohsaka Rin said with disdain toward Ethan.
"Don't tell me you're just like Matou Shinji, addicted to those time-wasting games? I'm genuinely curious, what could you possibly have learned from such meaningless stuff."
"In RPG games, you usually need to level up quickly."
Ethan explained while gesturing with his hands.
"So players will look for the most efficient method in terms of time, experience, and difficulty – what's called the cost-efficiency ratio – to level up."
"And then?"
"If there's a way to make monsters spawn infinitely while still receiving exp, then that becomes the best place to farm levels."
Ethan pointed toward the malicious programs that kept appearing.
Passionlip, for some reason, was terrified of something, and insisted on wiping out Ethan's group in a single sweep.
She kept pulling out malicious programs from a "giant ravine," intending to drown everyone on this side with them.
But that very act created an opportunity for Ethan.
Mash would control the rate of infiltration of the malicious programs.
And the malicious programs that were defeated would ultimately be converted by Tamamo-no-Mae into mana energy for recovery, while also being transformed into exp to level up the whole team.
Repeated over and over, this finally created a complete "level farming model."
Although Chaldea and Sakura couldn't directly measure the level stats of the Servants, farming to this extent made it obvious – even Tamamo-no-Mae, originally a support, was now capable of directly fighting Passionlip.
"You're actually applying game mechanics here?!"
Tohsaka Rin looked at Ethan in astonishment.
"But the result is good, isn't it? As long as this place doesn't collapse and Passionlip keeps using this tactic to attack us, then clearing this Labyrinth will become extremely simple."
"You're a terrifying person…"
Tohsaka Rin looked at Ethan, and took a step back.
"…I don't want to become an enemy of someone like you."
"I don't wish to be your enemy either, Tohsaka."
Ethan looked toward the other side of the shield that Mash was holding up; the number of malicious programs infiltrating seemed to be decreasing.
Could it be that Passionlip… or BB… had realized something???
"Haa… haa…"
Passionlip lay sprawled on the ground, seemingly exhausted from constantly pouring out corrupted data.
"Must… must stop them… or else… Mother will scold me again…"
She tried to stand up once more, raising her brilliant golden claws to destroy the entire area ahead.
"Even if I get scolded for damaging the Labyrinth… as long as I don't get caught, it's fine…"
Passionlip was about to completely destroy the road ahead when a beam of light suddenly shot toward her!!!
Sensing danger, Passionlip instinctively raised her hand to block it.
"BOOOM!!"
This time, unexpectedly, the beam exploded before it could even compress?!
The violent explosion made Passionlip cough violently, her body was also blown backward.
"Finally… my power has recovered."
Draco remained unshaken, calmly stepping forward.
"Why… why are you doing this to me…"
"Because you're standing in the way of me and my Master."
Draco said coldly.
"But I'm just following Mother's orders… just guarding this Labyrinth…"
Passionlip used her massive arms to stand up once more.
"Why… why is everyone bullying me… why!!!"
She once again swung her giant arms, intending to destroy the path ahead.
"GROARRRRRRRR————————!!!"
Suddenly, a shockwave blasted out, pushing Passionlip back several more steps.
Behind Draco, a giant creature appeared — it was a Phantasmal Beast, Draco's familiar.
Perhaps because this was a digital space, the Phantasmal Beast from Draco's memories had been perfectly recreated.
That dragon-headed Phantasmal Beast was gathering energy in its massive mouth!
"P-please… please move aside a little!!!"
Passionlip suddenly burst out with power, charging straight toward Draco at incredible speed!
"BOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM————————!!!"
At the same time, the Phantasmal Beast also unleashed a blazing dragon breath!!!
But at the very moment the dragon breath was about to hit Passionlip, it was transformed into countless tiny cubes.
Just as Draco was about to be shredded by those brilliant golden claws, from both sides of the corridor that had been compressed by Passionlip earlier, two more Phantasmal Beasts suddenly emerged!!!
A Phantasmal Beast with an insect-like head charged straight into Passionlip's soft belly!
"Uwaa!!"
Passionlip let out a pained cry and was sent flying.
The other two Phantasmal Beasts also chased after her, immediately opening their jaws and lunging toward the fallen Passionlip!!!
"Wait!!!"
A sudden shout rang out, halting Draco's actions.
Turning around, she saw Ethan rushing over with Mash.
"So it's my Master. I've already dealt with this Alterego."
"..."
When Ethan noticed that the stream of malicious programs had suddenly stopped, he immediately understood the situation.
It really was Draco…
Though they had originally intended to "farm monsters" in order to defeat Passionlip who was blocking the path, they had farmed so much they forgot the initial purpose.
"Why… even though I… even though I just wanted to do my job… I just didn't want to be scolded by Mother again…"
Passionlip collapsed on the ground, her voice trembling as she was about to cry.
Even though her face was covered by the mask that imprisoned her, it was still clear she was crying.
"Why is everyone bullying me… why…"
"Don't worry, from now on, no one will bully you anymore."
Ethan spoke, addressing Passionlip.
"——————?!"
"BB told you to stop us here, right? But if we make it to the next floor, then you won't have to guard this Labyrinth anymore, right?"
"Even if I don't have to guard the Labyrinth anymore… but… if that happens… Mother will still scold me…"
Passionlip's voice was full of unease.
Ethan looked at her — Passionlip, who had been attacked by Draco, her arms hanging weakly from exhaustion, was still trying to stand with the last of her willpower.
Crack.
Perhaps because of the strong blow she took, the mask that had been imprisoning Passionlip's head finally broke apart.
At that moment, her eyes were finally able to see ahead.
"If you're afraid of BB scolding you, then just come with us. Even though you're the one guarding the Labyrinth, BB never said the guardian can't go along with the intruders, right?"
Ethan's words stunned Passionlip.
In front of her, Ethan was reaching out his hand — a loving invitation.
That very voice — was the one that stopped her from being bullied!!!
Passionlip's face immediately turned bright red, and she shouted loudly toward Ethan standing before her:
"I-I like you! I want to leave this place with you!!!"