Chapter 263: Btog 263 How To Transcend The Sound Barrier
Chapter 263: Btog 263 How To Transcend The Sound Barrier
That is the so-called wall of sound.
It is a huge wall that cannot be avoided on Earth, created by the resistance of the “atmosphere” that fills the world.
But in this world, there’s no such wall. I realized this when Melty threw out a spinning kick while wearing a [Magic Suit].
My eyes right now are so sharp that I can see even rifle bullets clearly. It has an incredible ability to see any detail of movement of moving objects, and I feel like there is nothing that I can’t see. My vision is wide and far, and able to capture every small detail. That’s why I can accurately tell how fast an object is moving within my field of vision.
At that time, Melty was moving at speeds that exceeded the speed of sound using her agi stat alone. Since Melty’s agility status was unknown and she was wearing magical armor that enhanced her speed, it’s not surprising that she could do that.
There were two reasons why I was able to react. One was that I knew where Melty was going to move based on her posture and line of sight before she began to move. The other was because I had already noticed the lag between Melty’s movement and attack during the previous [Fire].
It’s allowing me to guard before Melty moved, and I was able to defend just in time because of that slight lag.
The fact that I was able to dissipate the force is a different matter. I had told Melty this. It’s just a simple application of martial arts.
It’s difficult to dissipate the force of something heavy like a truck or train, but it’s not that difficult to simply change the flow of power.
I’ll tell you more about this later, probably by showing you all how it works next time.
Let’s get back to the topic, when an object tries to move using a speed that exceeds the speed of sound, it will always collide with the resistance of the atmosphere.
If you try to do that with a human body in the real world, death is inevitable. If you shoot a human body at the speed of sound, the only outcome is a disaster.
The body will be stripped by the friction of the air and will break apart due to the resistance; thus, it will result in a very, very messy splatter.
That is the existence of the first speed barrier, called the “wall of sound” or “wall of supersonic speed.
But even though it is called a wall, it is possible to overcome it by designing a proper strength and form to overcome it. For example, fighter jets can move at speeds measured in mach units, which are units of supersonic speed.
Therefore, I could accept if Melty, who should have had an exceptionally high defense value, moved at supersonic speeds without taking any damage.
What I cannot understand is her whole movement was done in complete silence and without any turbulence in the air.
If you think about it, it’s understandable that when you forcefully break through a “wall” made of wood, water, ice, concrete, or iron, the shock will naturally occur, and the wall will be scattered everywhere, right?
It’s like when I hit Health-kun as hard as I could, and it turned into a mess.
Oh, right? my punch probably exceeded the speed of sound at that time.
But of course, I can withstand it. It was just a punch, and my body is sturdy.
But the principle of The atmosphere is the same.
If you break the atmosphere at the speed of sound, the shock and shock waves will affect the surroundings in the form of a sonic boom. You’ve probably heard of this theory, right?
Then again, it depends on the size. A gun bullet won’t make a sound that would surprise you, but a human-sized object would. Even if it doesn’t reach the level of a sonic boom, there should be an incredible roar.
But Melty’s movement did not have that.
She was moving quietly and quickly, and that alone is unnatural from a real-world physics standpoint.
…from a real-world physics standpoint, that is. In other words, this means that in this WLO, there exist physics laws that are different from our world.
So there you have it. It is how it works in this world.
Well, how should I say this… I mean… I get it. Since this is a world of fantasy and magic, it cannot be helped if it misses out on some real-world physics laws.
Well, I just want you to know that there are these assumptions. I didn’t bother to talk about it earlier, so there were quite a few comments and criticisms about this in chat.
But for Melty and the others, this is their common law of physics; if I talk about how the laws are different in their world, it might cause confusion instead.
That’s why I want to tell this only to everyone who is watching the stream.
I’m not saying you can’t talk to the NPCs about it, but they don’t know this, so they will look at you strangely.
*
“Ah… I’m beatt…”
“Sukuna-chan, are you okay?”
“I feel… Not good…”
“Right, but you seem to be in better shape than I thought. I’ll get you some water!”
In the end, I won the match against Melty.
I won, but I died from the mysterious magic that Melty released.
No, I should say that Melty killed me. But it’s still true that Melty didn’t show me all of her cards.
After I died, I respawned in Melty’s castle, just like I saw it before the fight. Rein-san came running to me right away.
She rolled me over like a slug on a huge bed and took care of me without hesitation.
“Ugh… I was too reckless…”
“Yes, you are. Here is water. Drink it slowly when you can.”
“Thank you… very much…”
To be honest, I didn’t feel like drinking anything, so I just put it on the table nearby.
As I was lying down without any meaning, it seemed that Melty and Kohaku had arrived at the castle.
“It seems that you are still in a bit of confusion, but I guess that’s to be expected after all that madness.”
Melty sits on top of me on the bed, saying this in a disgusted tone.
“Why are you riding me…”
“Because you annoy me. Honestly, I felt like I was get manipulated into it.”
Melty snorts and exhales heavily but doesn’t seem angry.
By the way, could you please stop hitting my butt!? My HP is already reduced to a critical level!
“Even so, it felt painful, I couldn’t tell much from my point of view, but did I cause an SP underflow?”
“There’s no such thing as an SP underflow, or to be exact, I’ve never seen one. Anyway, be grateful that I killed you on the spot.”
“That was truly reckless, Sukuna… I don’t have any words…”
SP underflow. In other words, a negative value for SP beyond what is considered “zero.”
Due to the excessively “fast” behavior, the decrease in SP was delayed, and the SP should have been depleted long ago, but even so, I still managed to force out some actions, resulting in backlash so intense that it even made me feel pain.
Thanks to Melty’s instant kill, my SP has recovered, but I am still suffering from the after-effects. This is the result of pushing too hard and doing too much.
A suicide attack that almost warranted another forced logout. Even so, my body seems to be sturdy enough to withstand it. I feel like my tolerance for reckless behavior has increased dramatically in recent days.
“Did you use your second sonic maneuver right after it barely recovered after the SP had been depleted? If you do something like that after an SP underflow, you would normally break. I may be the one you fight, but please take care of yourself more. Just because you can endure something doesn’t mean it’s okay to do it recklessly.”
“Yessh… I’ll reflect on it.”
“What’s with that answer? I wonder why many oni clan members always neglect themselves.”
“umm, I think it’s because the oni god has that kind of personality.”
Since both me and Kohaku are more or less like that, we had no choice but to avert our eyes from Melty’s accusations.
I have a problem where I have to use [Ravenous Wolf] for my maximum firepower in combat. And it goes without saying if I try to obtain a benefit, I naturally have to pay for it.
So I must bear that anguish if it was a cost that fell on me. I believe that was what Melty trying to say.
“It looks like you’ve gained some energy, so let’s review what happened. First of all, Sukuna, the last fighting style you showed… I have to say it was impressive. The consecutive attacks using that accel burst. Almost without any hints, how did you manage to come up with that idea?”
“No, you showed me hints. I saw it at a glance. Melty, you weren’t using your agility status at all.”
Melty and Kohaku, both of whom have the world’s strongest class of intelligence and physical strength.
Even though they were at the level of sparring, there was a sense of discomfort that could only be felt by those who fought them directly.
Especially Melty. It is true that she is good at fighting with magic, but when it comes to individual battles, her high-speed movement and magic, which she showed at the beginning, was clearly a stronger strategy to face simple physical attacks.
However, she didn’t even continue with consecutive attacks or use her speed in battle.
The direct attack using magic later was also the same. She only showed it, and after, it was all grand magic.
Of course, that was enough to make my resolve to fight seriously, but as far as I’m concerned, if she keeps using high-speed movement, the fight difficulty will be much higher.
Honestly, no matter how powerful magic’s power is, it’s harder to be pushed down by the status difference in a simple battle.
Melty should not be unaware of this.
No matter how good my eyes are or how outstanding my reflexes are, or how skilled I am in martial arts, if she shoots a wide-range magic from a difficult-to-respond direction, the game will be over in an instant.
Then what was the reason she did not? Is it For fun? That might be true.
But that’s not a reason not to use it at all.
Melty probably isn’t good at close combat in the first place. Because the way she moves her body isn’t like a martial artist.
Thus, the answer I arrived at after observing Melty throughout the battle is she didn’t want to fight at an uncontrollable speed. Well, of course, for her, there is no need to engage in close combat in the first place.
“You both can’t move at the speed of sound unless you have a clear starting point and destination, am I right?”
“You’re really paying attention, aren’t you? Yeah, you’re right… the ‘denizens of this world’ can’t handle that speed range. My brain can’t handle it no matter what I do.”
I wondered if the inhabitants of this world have “brains,” and I meant it in physical terms. After all, there is the word “cyberbrain”, and even if the contents are the same, I think the medium is not.
In fact, if you shake the brain of a monster, it will be stunned, and there is no mistake that a similar setting has been made. That’s why to control super speed, you need some kind of preparation.
We have the ability to raise our status to the speed of sound, but on the other hand, everything else is insufficient. Eyes, brains, reaction speed, etc.
As your Agility gets higher, you will need a reaction speed to match it.
Every simple movement, sword swinging speed, shield guard stance, bow charging, everything will get affected.
But people’s ability to control their own bodies becomes more difficult as speed increases.
For example, if a child suddenly leaped out from around the corner a meter away, you might have been able to dodge it if you were only traveling at walking speed, but it would be tough to avoid if you were running at full speed, right?
Because the information collected is substantially limited when traveling at fast speeds due to the flow of the scenery, it is common for your brain to be late in detecting the threat.
And if you are moving at high speed, the time to reach the object will also be shorter, so even if you can see it, the time available for judgment will be reduced.
And most importantly, even if you could choose a correct course of action, it is meaningless if you cannot execute it.
If we go even further, there still many more elements involved, but at the root of it all is that there are at least three abilities are necessary to operate a body that moves at supersonic speed.
The first is the ability to capture moving scenery with dynamic vision.
The second is the ability to quickly judge the situation that has been captured.
The third is the ability to immediately judge the situation based on that info and apply it to one’s reaction speed.
“Melty has the physical strength to reach supersonic speeds, but she lacks everything else.”
“Correct. On the contrary, Sukuna, you possess all of them. Is it because you are a traveler from a different world?”
“No, I don’t think so. I’m just special.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Regardless of power or sense, there are no creatures in the real world that have the ability to match me in processing input and output.
In baseball, for example, hitting only a 160 km/h ball for a home run is enough to be a top player; therefore, it is evident that not everyone can observe supersonic speeds with their eyes.
“You being able to see, grasp, and react at super speeds is the reason why only you could rampage in supersonic realm. It is definitely the strongest tactic in one-on-one melee combat and can be called a finished product. But there are a few things I don’t understand.”
Melty said that, and she clapped her hands together.
Then, the footage of the previous battle rose up in the air like a hologram.
When I asked what it was, it turned out to be projection magic. It was a bit easier to see from a third-person perspective than from a subjective point of view.
“In order to simply reach supersonic speeds with Agility alone, roughly 10,000 agility is required. To raise your agility base value of about 330 to that level, a buff multiplier of about 30 times is necessary, but no matter how you stack your skills, it won’t extend that far. The closing ceremony buff is 5 times, the [Moroha no Mai] is +0.5 times, and even if you add the maximum multiplier of the [Ravenous Wolf] wolf and [Shadow Wolf], it’s only 2.25 times. Even if you include item and equipment buffs, it’s only about 20 times. Can you explain how you filled this blank?”
“Yes, there are a few things I need to explain about that… but I think the most important clue is Arthur’s [Flash]?\'”
“Arthur…Arthur, the [Sword Saint]?”
I thought I needed to explain, but Melty seemed to know about Arthur, so I was relieved.
To be honest, I don’t know how much status is actually needed to move at supersonic speeds.
From my maximum speed at that time, I just happened to reach the supersonic range by utilizing all the necessary elements at that time.
The most useful move was the secret technique of Arthur’s Kenjo-Tsurugi style [Flash], which she showed me twice.
Kenjo-Tsurugi Style. It is a rare sword art style that handles two-edged Western swords, and according to an article on the internet, it was popular in Japan, where sword culture was widespread.
Arthur is said to be a genius swordsman who obtained her license at the age of 10. She is a child born with the talent of a genuine swordsman who wields sophisticated sword techniques that even I cannot imitate.
“There are three techniques in the Kenjo-Tsurugi Style that can be called secrets. One of them is the [Flash]. Because it is a technique for avenging oneself on the battlefield in the face of death, the user’s legs will be crushed in exchange. The technique is not made on the assumption of surviving the bout.”
When the topic came up during a casual conversation, Arthur laughed and said that.
Originally, it was a technique to remove the brain’s limiter in the real world and create a one-time supersonic speed using a burst of power.
The essence of Arthur’s [Flash] is the way to remove the limiter, but what I focused on was the special [posture] that receives all the [force to kick the ground] that would normally be dispersed with your feet.
Receive all the shocks with your feet and create a speed that exceeds the realm of humans in an instant. The usual focus of martial arts walking is to reduce the burden as much as possible for continuous combat, but this one is a rare case since it was a deadly self-destructive walking method.
However, in the virtual space, there is no damage to the feet instead of recoil damage, so it can be simply used as a benefit.
“If you use the [Flash] principle, you can increase your speed somewhat compared to normal movement. In addition to that, you will be able to convert about 90% of the recoil into propulsion, so all you need to do is combine the acceleration method of ‘kicking and attacking’ the ground with the assumption of self-injury like Kohaku was doing…”
“I see. And the recoil itself is nullified by the special effect [Ode to Guardian] of the rare skill [Diva’s Embrace]. What do you think, Kohaku? Can you reproduce it?”
“I won’t know without actually trying it. I am not that gifted in the martial arts myself”
Melty, without any explanation, easily recognized the combined skills. She probably saw through my skill structure with her [Heavenly Eye].
And even though Kohaku says so, [Flash] walk itself is not that difficult. A-chan said that in the real world, it is classified as a profound skill because it is impossible to remove the limiter of the brain in normal life.
In the real world, removing the limiter of the brain does not give you anything, and I think it is possible for Kohaku to master this method.
“Sukuna’s explanation is just a way to reach the speed of sound, but you didn’t make it clear how to put a break on it. Even those of us with superior status can’t control the movement because it is more difficult to stop than to go faster. I understand that Sukuna is good at changing the flow of power or dissipating the power itself and that she is skilled at this kind of “passive” technique, but there is a limit to it.”
“Ah, right, it’s all about using the recoil from hitting something to quickly decelerate. And adjusting the angle of landing is part of that too. It’s like hooking yourself to a metal pole… and actually, only the initial speed is at supersonic speeds, and by the time I land a hit, I’ve already slowed down quite a bit. After that, it’s like playing pinball. It’s just a matter of landing and jumping at the same time.”
Like when kids play tag and grab onto a pole or a fence to forcibly change direction at full speed, as long as I don’t mess up the timing, I can do it. My strength has increased by almost 20 times, after all.
“I see… well, I understand the theory, but I can’t wrap my head around it. Is this what you call the reaction speed needed to deal with supersonic speeds…?”
“We were the fools that think we could do the same if we knew how to. I wonder if we could do such crazy things if we could divide a second into smaller increments.”
“Wait, wait! Don’t you hear my explanation!?”,
After hearing my explanation, they expressed their frustration. It’s a little annoying, but it’s also true that only I can do it, so making excuses is difficult.
*
“Well, since Sukuna said she wanted to fight, I fought her, but now that I think about it, we never decided on a reward for the winner. “
Once the conversation had more or less ended, Melty suddenly brought up this topic.
Now that she mentioned it, I realized she was right… but I didn’t fight with the intention of getting a reward in the first place.
“To be honest, I didn’t think I would win… well, I technically won by the rules, but I still lost in practice.”
“Accept it. Even if you used the most powerful tactics and the most powerful firepower you could muster, you would still be unable to defeat me. However, you did win the match. That is all that is important.”
“Ugh…”
That’s right.
I utilized techniques that earned Melty’s commendation as the strongest, but I still lost without being able to achieve anything. To be more specific, I attempted to do something, but it was insufficient to defeat her.
The reason for this was clear: there was a huge gap in levels between Melty and me.
Sure, our high stats played a part, but more importantly, there was a huge difference in our HP. Against an opponent with an estimated level of over 1000, that level of firepower just wasn’t enough.
“In the end, the most important things in this world are levels and stats. Sukuna has a temporary way to strengthen herself, but when you get to a high level, you will face opponents with similar buffs. And not all buffs can make up for a level difference.”
“Yeah… I guess that’s true.”
“If your basic abilities improve, you won’t need as many buffs, and the worth of buffs will rise as well. You’ll eventually be able to engage in supersonic battle without using special moves, and you won’t have to worry about SP depletion. So, overall, everything is well.”
So, in the end, it’s all about raising your level. That’s probably what Melty is trying to say.
I was able to reach the amazing world of supersonic speeds by forcibly doping myself, but it’s also true that I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the secret medicine that Kohaku gave me.
I feel like my strength has grown enough, and maybe now I’ll enter a phase where I’ll focus on improving my Agility.
“As for the reward… I think this will be the best reward for you right now. Something that’s more useful than information, right?”
“Wha… this is a skill book, isn’t it?”
“Yes, go ahead and open it.”
Melty pulled out a thick book from the shadows and threw it at me.
A skill book is an item that allows you to learn skills when you use it.
I’ve bought them in shops before, and I’ve also gotten them as drops from monster houses, so I’ve seen them a few times before.
Air Walk Skill
Category: Rare
Cool down: None
While this skill is activated, it consumes 15 SP every second.
When the user stomps on the air with a certain strength, a platform with a radius of 30 centimeters will appear. This platform can only be touched by the user of the skill, and it will disappear after three seconds of not being touched.
Activation keyword: “I dream of you, oh sky.”
Deactivation keyword: “Until we meet again, for now, let me wake up.”
This skill does not have a proficiency level.
The maximum reachable altitude varies depending on the field.
If used outside of combat, the SP consumption is multiplied by 10.
“Air Walk… a rare skill!”
“It’s a skill that creates platforms in the air. In a high-speed battle, wouldn’t it be boring to only fight on the ground?”
“Yeah! I’m so happy and grateful for this!”
Being able to create platforms in the air is radical. It’s not just useful for high-speed battles; it can also be used as an escape route against monsters that can’t jump or solve puzzles. In extreme cases, it could even be used to throw objects from a safe distance. It’s a versatile rare skill, and it might even be the most useful one I’ve gotten so far.
“It’s difficult to master that skill… but I’m sure you’ll be able to handle it easily, Sukuna. And by the look of it, you already had some visualization in your mind.”
“I’m not good at this kind of thing because I have wings. It feels unnatural to put my feet in the air.”
“That’s a problem unique to winged races.”
While I was excitedly learning the skill from the rare skill book, the two of them chatted about something else. It’s true that the skill doesn’t seem very useful for winged races.
After that, Kohaku and Melty seemed to have something else to do, and I was sent ahead of them to the Oni Village.
“Rean seems to like you, and I will eventually invite you back to the Land of Shadows again, this time with all the travelers from the other lands. After that, well, you can give my regards to Shuten.”
“Okay, I will. I don’t see her that often myself, however.”
“You will see her soon. As long as you are the Oni no Miko.”
After leaving a few meaningful words, Melty tapped the ground with the tip of her parasol.
“Code: 244542. execute.”
What is that? Maybe the activation of the [Arbitrator of Reason] will require you to know all the code.
I don’t want to think it’s all from 1 to 99999999, Anyway… I know that’s not something I would ever be able to use.
“I’ll see you later.”
“See you later, Sukuna.”
“Un—see you soon.”
We exchanged greetings, and before I knew it, I was in front of the main gate of Oni Village.
I called out to the guard, who was surprised by my sudden appearance and decided to move to a place where we could talk calmly for a while.
===*
Next time, it will be another adventure.