Alright, I had one major concern.
Specifically, the Jester problem on the Zork side.
Think about it: "feeding on despair" was essentially an ability to drag the gag space-time I’d painstakingly constructed back into the cold light of reality, wasn't it?
To begin with, the Zork had numbers, they were a centralized swarm like ants or bees, they had no concept of human rights, and they possessed zero attachment to life. Humanity, forced into a permanent "challenge run," didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of winning.
That was where I came in, intervening with a foul move akin to a memory editor.
And the enemy's job was to revert everything back to that original, hellish world.
Which meant that as long as I didn't let them feel despair, everything would be fine.
In other words, as long as I stayed out in front, our losses would be kept to a minimum.
Though that came with the heavy disclaimer that I had to stay alive.
Well now, the game of territory control was in full swing.
We were currently on floating pedestals... but thinking about it calmly, relying on just one gun was inefficient.
I snatched up a discarded weapon from the pedestal Eddie's squad had been using.
Then I took my own, brandishing a light machine gun in each hand.
Dual Light Machine Guns. I’d always wanted to try this.
"Guhahahaha!!!"
"He's... a moron... That moron actually did it! The Idiot Lord actually pulled that stunt in the middle of a life-or-death battle!"
My comrades looked on, completely appalled.
However, as soon as the crabs saw me spraying lead with my light machine guns, they came swarming toward me.
It was exactly like the effect of those flashy helmets from the Warring States period. In modern warfare, you'd just get sniped, but against the crabs, it was remarkably effective.
Besides, I had my Wild Instinct! And it was screaming!
I twisted my frame, forcing a sudden change in direction just as a plasma cannon blast from a crab streaked past my side.
"Ahahahaha! Over here! Come on! Try and catch me!"
I danced through the void with the grace of someone frolicking through a meadow. I made for an excellent decoy.
The mindless crabs ignored the other soldiers and rushed toward me. Their formation thinned and lengthened as they abandoned the game of territory control just to chase me down.
"Net Missile launch! Melissa, Ren! Support him!"
"Roger!"
Following Kevin's lead, Melissa and Ren moved in to provide cover. Both fired their rifles from a distance.
Melissa's machine didn't actually have a rifle equipped, so she’d borrowed one from a teammate. She was arguably the worst shot among our group, but compared to the rest of the army, she was still elite.
Ren and Melissa successfully began pinning the crabs down.
"Nina-chan! Are you ready?"
"I'm all set~"
Eh?
Wait, what?
Ready for what? I hadn't heard anything about this!
The lead crab was snagged by a Net Missile. With the front line jammed, the movement of the long, thin column of crabs ground to a halt.
"Launching the Monopole Cannon~"
Hold on, hey!
I'm standing right in front of them!
A total-extermination beam, similar to a Wave Motion Cannon, erupted from Wifey's battleship.
I fled, practically in tears.
"Iskandarrrrrrrr!!!"
I was desperate. I flew for my life.
The Death Blaster was a terrifying weapon, but this was something else entirely. They’d actually diverted an ultra-rare substance for use in a weapon!
Beam negation and similar defenses were rendered utterly meaningless. The output was simply moronic. This wasn't just a battleship's main gun; it was a planet-destroyer class bombardment, and it slammed directly into the crabs.
(I successfully evaded with the most genuine, absolute effort of my entire life.)
What do you think you're doing?!
Any concern for cost-effectiveness had been thrown out the window. This was a strike that completely ignored the concept of a war economy.
It was an act of pure violence that seemed to scream: "War is about hitting the enemy with wads of cash!"
Yes, the enemy had the advantage in numbers. Their base combat power was also higher than ours. However, when it came to total material production capacity, we were the ones who reigned supreme.
After all, humans were creatures specialized in production technology. The moment we developed bipedal movement and hands for labor, that was our destiny!
There was no way a crab could ever mimic that!
The crabs reflexively tried to fire their plasma cannons back. Perhaps they were programmed to react that way. There was no intelligence behind it.
Thinking that these crabs were creatures based on human genes made my stomach turn.
The Monopole Cannon swallowed the swarm whole; even the crabs that managed to fire back were detonated one after another. Those explosions triggered chain reactions, creating a massive, violent shockwave.
I was tossed around by the impact, but I managed to stabilize my posture. Thank god this was outer space! If I’d been on the ground, the pressure wave alone would have killed me!
"Idiot's survival confirmed!"
"The idiot's still kicking!"
"Idiot Lord! I am glad you are safe!"
How strange... when exactly did my code name become "Idiot"? Even Raven was calling me Idiot Lord at the end there.
I mean, the ones at fault were Nina-san—or rather, Wifey, who was the supreme commander of this operation, right?
"Lord Groom, are you alive?"
"I'm alive—!"
"Forgive me for keeping it a secret! It was a truly top-secret weapon! I believed that the Lord Groom would surely create an opportunity for us! It will take some time to charge the next shot, so please endure!"
Well, if she put it that way, I didn't have much choice. There was still a possibility that Zork agents were lurking among our ranks, after all.
But I seriously almost died. I nearly left Wifey a widow...
Still, it showed that even if I took actions that leaned toward being an idiot, Wifey would properly compensate for them. That kind of coordination was only possible because we had multiple minds working together. The Zork Mother, on the other hand, had to handle everything by herself.
In other words, it was our strategic victory! Fwahaha! I win!
...Or so I thought. The second wave arrived almost immediately.
And yet, something was off.
There were... multiple Massacre Nights...?
"They copied the Massacre Night?"
"Zooming in. Leo... look at this."
The enemy machines appeared on the main monitor.
"What the... are those rocks?"
"I think they're probably crab shells."
Oh no... does this mean they grew Massacre Nights out of crabs?!
Furthermore, the Massacre Night copies were equipped with weapons that looked exactly like the chainsaws I used to favor.
"Ah... Leo... I think the Zork were really terrified of you. After all, your image is basically a guy who fights with whatever tools happen to be lying around..."
Hey now, is the next enemy me?!
"Eddie! Melissa! It’s time for some chanbara!"
"You got it, Captain!♪"
Melissa gave a cheerful reply. Eddie, however, remained silent. He was probably still fuming about my reckless stunt on the front lines.