【BOG Commentary】It's a Festival!! / Kanon's Miscalculation

I switched the stream from the standby screen. After checking my throat a little, I turned on the microphone.

"Hello, everyone! This is Emotional Potaku. BOG, the time has finally come. It's raid battle time!"

・Helloooo!

・Wakotsu!

・Hello! Can't wait for the raid!

"Anyway, there might still be some people who don't know the details, so let's take a look at the announcement from the developers!"

I brought up the SNS page I'd already prepared on the stream.

【BOG Official Announcement】

Standing in your way are six Kannon statues.

A mysterious power spreads outward from the heart of the city, and eventually, Salvation Kanon's recreation of the world will begin...!

Starting with the next update, 『EXTRA CHAPTER: The Salvation Arc — Final Battle』 will begin.

This time, it will be a raid battle event.

Work together with fellow Anchors to defeat the required number of bosses!

Defeat bosses to obtain luxurious rewards. We look forward to your participation!

Event Period: 2034/12/29–2035/1/5
Participation Requirement: Clear the latest episode

"Man, events like this really get me excited when you can participate in them in real time. I've been following the story after the fact until now, so I'm really looking forward to finally experiencing the latest episode as it happens."

・It's festival time!

・Huh, Potaku-san is a proper Anchor now too. [arms folded from the back row]

・I'm speedrunning the story right now

"BOG has had raid battle events a few times before, and they've apparently been pretty generous with the rewards. So I'm expecting good things this time too."

・Raids are great

・Poor Flying Whale... got killed infinitely for those rewards...

"Based on the story, it looks like we're going to fight Kanon-chan. This is our first time properly fighting a Bluffer, right? Personally, I think that's an important distinction here. Until now, defeating the enemy usually solved everything, but Kanon-chan is an ordinary human being. I think the reason this story is called an 'EXTRA CHAPTER,' meaning a side chapter, is because this situation is an exception to that pattern."

・True

・Potaku-san is talking super fast again...

・Devs, hurry up and implement Kanon

・Yeah, it breaks away from the whole "Humanity vs. the Invasion of Fiction" setup we've had until now

"Well, enough chatting. Let's jump in and participate! Here we gooo!"

・WOOOOOO!

・YEEEEAAAAAH!

・Welcome to the ugly competition for limited resources...

I tapped the event banner showing Kanon with her hands clasped and her eyes wide open.

There were six different types of Kanon in this event.

The original, the "Thousand-Armed Kannon," could only be challenged after clearing the raid battles, so there were five available to fight right now.

Having one person handle six raid battles at once... the "Omnipresence" ability really was ridiculously convenient.

Each boss had a different weakness, and the rewards were different too.

Incidentally, the Kanons fought in the raids were clones, so they immediately revived after being defeated. They were ridiculously strong.

Once all the players depleted the gauge representing Kanon's remaining lives, the event would be cleared and the story would progress.

Since the event had only just begun, the gauge had barely moved.

"This time, we're going after the third Kanon-chan, the 'Cintamani Cakra Kannon.' From what I've looked up, this one seems to have the best drops, so..."

I set up the team more or less the way I usually did and headed into battle.

The enemy appeared in a close-up. Towering before us was a Kannon statue holding a distinctive chakram. It was seated in the posture known as hankashiyui, with one leg folded, and its emotionless eyes stared straight at us.

Standing in front of it was Kanon, dressed in Buddhist robes.

As the battle began, I immediately spoke in surprise.

"Oh, it's a unique BGM! Nice! Would you call this Indian-style? I guess that's because of the Buddhist motif? Personally, I think Kanon's ideology is actually closer to Japanese Kamakura Buddhism, especially Jōdo Shinshū, but──"

Even as I chatted away, I launched an attack.

Bridal Raika-chan's bullets struck their target.

And a counterattack immediately came flying back.

『Salvation.』

It was a throwing attack using the Dharma Wheel──in other words, a chakram.

It struck Raika and dealt a decent amount of damage, but the protagonist immediately healed her.

"All right, follow-up attack!"

Hadzuki, who had been waiting in the back, rushed straight toward Kanon and unleashed a slash.

『Kuh... salvation... still...』

With a dying cry, Kanon's clone dispersed like mist and vanished on the spot.

"I kind of feel guilty about this... Are we really supposed to be killing her?"

・I know what you mean

・She even makes a genuinely painful death sound

・Check the rewards

"Huh!? These drops are insane! Are we really allowed to get this much? ...WHOOOAA, I need to run this stage even more!"

・And there goes the sudden change of heart

・Human compassion?

・This is what happens when humans become blinded by greed... We need to save them...

For the moment, I put the finer details of the story aside and decided to grind the raid battles as relentlessly as possible.

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"Th... why? Why are there so many Bluffers on the front lines?"

Kanon's face was filled with confusion.

Even though she had already reached a state close to enlightenment, she couldn't help but openly display her emotions when confronted with a situation she hadn't anticipated.

Of course, she had been prepared for resistance against her salvation.

Those whom she could not interfere with through 『Pure Land of This World』──the Bluffers and Anchors──were opponents she would have to deal with herself.

But there were simply far too many of them.

Now that the "Fiction Countermeasures Committee" had effectively ceased to function, Kanon had assumed Fantasia High School would be incapable of organized action.

Scattered resistance would be easily driven away by her clones.

Yet the Bluffers who actually opposed her began fighting with remarkable unity.

Kanon didn't understand.

She had no idea what was driving them.

"I still have plenty of power left, but..."

With her newly acquired ability to be "Omnipresent," replenishing her clones was easy.

The three remaining clones were still engaged in fierce battles against the Bluffers. Yet even the Bluffers fighting Kanon's endlessly reviving clones were beginning to show signs of exhaustion.

However, there was a limit to the power Kanon could use. After absorbing the "Invasion of Fiction" that bore the name of a god, Kanon had gained an amount of energy far beyond what an ordinary Bluffer should possess, but even that energy was finite.

After this, she had the enormous task of spreading 『Pure Land of This World』 across the entire world. She couldn't afford to exhaust herself here.

"Perhaps my analysis is still insufficient."

Kanon switched her focus and shared the vision of her clones.

She observed the battle.

The statue of Fukūkenjaku Kannon. Kanon standing behind it was currently engaged in combat with the Fox Squad.

"Illusion Style──Headlong Charge!"

Hadzuki glided forward and thrust her sword. It collided with the palm extended by the Kannon statue, sending sparks flying.

"Kh...!"

Hadzuki groaned as the clash became a contest of strength.

The Kannon statue blocked the sword strike, then immediately swung up its other palm.

"Blade, deploy!"

Hibari flew in from behind Hadzuki and intercepted the other palm.

"O blazing inferno that consumes all, pierce my enemy!"

Along with Victoria's resounding chant, a torrent of flames was unleashed.

Seeing the Kannon statue engulfed in flames, Kanon made a new decision.

"Reincarnation."

Kanon clasped her hands together, and the Kannon statue disappeared from where it stood.

Then, a lotus flower appeared behind them, and the Kannon statue emerged once again from atop the flower.

"Tch, this really never ends."

Raika clicked her tongue and reloaded her handgun. No matter how many times they defeated the Kannon statue, it simply came back.

Just like before, a single action from Kanon was enough for a new one to appear.

And Kanon herself, the true source of the Kannon statues, could revive after being defeated as well.

The Kanon who had vanished like mist would simply reappear again from somewhere moments later.

"Raika, should we change tactics?"

"No. This is fine. We'll drain Kanon's resources and carve a path to her main body. We've already confirmed that once we completely deplete her resources, they stop reviving. Let's push through this together."

The Eleven-Headed Kannon statue and Cintamani Cakra Kannon had already stopped reviving.

That was the result of everyone working together and defeating them over and over again.

"All right. We're almost there."

"...I see. So you really are the ones who will stand in my way."

As Kanon murmured to herself, Raika's face came to mind.

──She had disliked her from the very beginning.

That deliberately conspicuous surname, "Usobuki." Her attitude of casually lying without hesitation. And yet, somehow, she possessed a strange charisma that made the people around her like her.

Before the battle against the Calamity God, Kanon had once asked Shota about her.

"The members of the Fox Squad really do have such a strong bond. What exactly is it that connects all of you?"

"They were already close before I joined them. I guess it might be because of all the things Raika did for them back then."

According to him, the Fox Squad had originally been built by Usobuki Raika herself.

Kanon had found that extremely surprising.

"Are you saying that her qualities as a leader are what drew everyone to her?"

"Ah, yeah. I don't think that's wrong. ...But that's not all. Raika isn't some perfect superhuman. Sometimes she's weirdly irresponsible too."

Then why? Why were they bound together by such a strong bond?

Kanon desperately wanted to know the reason.

"It's a little different from charisma. She's smart, dependable, and strong. ──But sometimes, she looks incredibly fragile. I think that strange asymmetry in Raika is what drew everyone to her."

"...I don't think I quite understand."

To Kanon, who believed that anyone who led others had to be strong and noble above all else, those words were completely unacceptable.

"Maybe you and Kanon do things differently. ...But I think you're a leader who has the kind of charm that draws people in too."

"............Thank you."

The reason Kanon couldn't honestly accept those words was because she had already failed.

But Shota's straightforward eyes as he looked at her remained etched in her memory.