Original subtitles

It is the present day.

Fully-immersive games, in which the users wear VR headsets

to play as fully-realized denizens of a fictional world...

are dominating the gaming world.

The pinnacle of these VR games,

boasting over 30 million players worldwide,

is known as a god-tier game.

Its name...

is Shangri-La Frontier!

However...

After suffering a severe in-game setback,

Sunraku is not currently playing SLF,

but a robot action game

about customizing and fighting in "Nephilim" that fall from the sky,

Nephilim Hollow!

No sign of him using his boosters to escape.

Wait, that Nephilim—

Rust, get out of there!

It's over.

The Lion Catches a Rabbit With Its Full Strength; the Crab Catches a Phoenix With a Pizza Cutter

What the...?!

Crimson Twinewing's arm...

How'd it get up there?!

Aw, thought that'd do the job, but you dodged it.

Mold! What did he do?!

How did Fiddler Crab get close to me?

He should've been on the ground!

I should've been able to track his movements!

The booster animations were a fake-out.

A fake-out?

I confirmed it when he dropped his active camouflage.

He swapped his leg parts for anti-grav legs!

Anti-Grav Legs

He swapped them?

Dummy legs!

Yes.

Dummy Legs

The new Nephilim type that got added two weeks ago...

Rocket Legs

It's got a special function that lets you equip two different leg sets

Anti-Grav Legs

and swap between them.

But it drains EN like nobody's business,

and having two leg sets at once adds weight and lowers mobility.

Nobody's used it for PvP yet because the drawbacks are so severe.

I've never actually faced one before.

Sorry, Rust.

I should've caught on when I saw the unfamiliar leg parts.

No, even with anti-grav legs, he should've kicked up

a dust cloud with a jump that high.

There!

Better luck next time, Fiddler Crab!

Which means that, while dodging my attacks, he swapped his leg set

and timed his jump the moment of the missiles' impact

to get close to Crimson Twinewing without a visible dust cloud.

Rust?

Of course, Sunraku's the only guy who could pull it off.

Pull what off?

Looks like the secret's out.

So, what now... Crimson Twinewing?

He can only run active camouflage for so long.

He'll have to go visible to recharge eventually!

You can camp out above the anti-grav legs' maximum altitude until then!

Rust?

Rust, what are you...

Not gonna run the cheap strat, huh?

Yeah, figured you'd be above that.

Give me your best shot.

I'll take you on.

But...

Don't underestimate me, Sunraku.

Don't you get the wrong idea either, Rust.

Fiddler Crab's hunt has only just started!

Rust... You're going to fight him head-on?!

Hey! Sunraku's definitely gonna win this, right?

Yeah! Go, go!

We wanna see Rust's new Nephilim ASAP!

One mistake and you're done for, Sunraku.

Your tricks won't work on me.

I don't need to watch your trails in the dust.

Your active camouflage will drop the moment you enter your attack animation.

That moment is all that I need!

His pincer!

She got him!

A counterattack utilizing your asymmetrical booster situation...

Nice one.

But I got what I wanted.

Let me show you my ace in the hole...

Rust, it's a capture net!

If that's your ace in the hole,

you definitely underestimated me, Sunraku!

This is gonna be the clincher!

Sunraku...

Fiddler Crab's ace in the hole is an all-or-nothing deal.

Which means it's gotta hit just right.

The trouble with fighting Rust is her unpredictable high-speed maneuvering.

She can use the boosters on her shoulders to change trajectory on a dime.

So if you can destroy those,

she can only dodge in obvious ways using the main booster on her back.

In other words...

I can make sure she dodges in the way that I want!

I called my guy here Fiddler Crab, but I've actually got a second pincer...

Remodler Circular Saw

Get to it, Pizza Cutter Wing!

Pizza Cutter Wing

Sunraku!

A heavy build and a light build...

I think you can guess which one wins when they both strike each other.

Winner: Fiddler Crab!

Fiddler Crab

H-He freaking did it!

Damn, Sunraku! He actually beat Rust!

That fight was incredible!

Now we'll get to see Rust's new Nephilim!

Fiddler Crab

A Bookmaker, active camouflage and dummy legs...

A capture net followed by a circular saw from the back...

Information overload for a few minutes' worth of fight.

Awesome! This feels great!

I feel like I'm chugging a whole jug of victory wine!

I'm the freaking king!

Well, Rust?

You like my plan to drown your guy in info dumps

and force you into a one-on-one?!

I acknowledge that Crimson Twinewing lost...

But this isn't over!

Our record is one win, one loss, one draw!

We haven't actually settled this!

Next time—

Ah, sorry, but I've got what I wanted here.

I wanna get back to my main game.

Main game?

Wait! You didn't come back to main NH?!

You're not gonna ghost us again, are you?!

I probably won't log in for a while.

I'm sure I'll drop in now and then.

Hey, are you serious, Sunraku?

You really livened up the place!

Look at how excited the playerbase has been by your return!

If you keep logging in, I'm sure things will get even more fun...

I get it, but...

I don't like this.

I said I don't like it!

You'd better log in tomorrow! The day after, too!

Man, calm down!

I just came here to blow off steam 'cause I can't use my cool robots in SLF!

Robots in SLF?

Oh, crap!

So you're maining SLF now?

No, forget that! Forget I said anything!

SLF, eh?

I played Shangri-La Frontier once myself.

But I never found any playable robots.

I knew there had to be some!

Sunraku. Let's trade.

I'll tell you the unique scenario for the unique monster...

Ctarnidd of the Abyss, in exchange for info on those robots.

Ctarnidd...

Okay, we're all alone.

Not sure why you thought we needed to move...

There might be other SLF players around.

Unique monster info is precious, y'know?

I know that much.

Shall we commence negotiations, then?

Sure.

The conditions of the trade are info on the unique scenario

connected to Ctarnidd of the Abyss

for information on the player-controlled robots in SLF.

Are we in agreement?

The Professor of that lore clan said...

Ctarnidd of the Abyss.

An octopus-like unique monster that appears in the oceans.

No player has actually seen it.

Information about it comes only from stupefied NPCs.

Rust knows a unique scenario connected to it?

What?

Nah, just never expected to hear about unique monsters in a totally different game.

You're saying you don't believe me?

We've gotten quite far in SLF, you know.

Nah, it's not that.

But the unique scenarios connected to unique monsters

tend to be awfully complicated.

I can't reveal what I know until I've got an idea of how helpful your info really is.

So we need to share first?

You're being very cautious.

The sci-fi gear and robots I talked about don't just belong to me, see?

I share ownership with two other people.

So I can't share squat with you unless they agree to it.

And if I screw up, there's no telling what they'll do to me.

And whether or not they agree depends on what kind of info I offer.

Is that it?

Precisely!

All right. Mold?

Got it.

In the fifteenth city, Fifticia, you can take a unique scenario

"Find the Abyss's Disciples."

In it, "Great Pirate" Stude tells you to "find the ghost ship"—

Mold, was it?

You can relax a little.

O-Oh, right... sure.

I'll do that, then.

We took this scenario in Fifticia..

When we did, he told us about the ghost ship,

the Crying Innsman.

According to Stude, the ghost ship sacrifices the people it captures

to the "Master of the Abyss."

Master of the Abyss...

And you didn't clear the scenario?

Yeah, we only took it.

That's about the time Rust decided to quit since we couldn't find any robots.

Well? Does the information seem useful?

It's lacking a real clincher.

Scenarios directly connected to a unique monster

Bonus Unique Scenario Vorpal Epic When the souls of the Divinity are shaken, a rabbit shall tell an epic tale. Rec. Level: 80

are usually called "Bonus" unique scenarios.

"Bonus"?

But that Abyss's Disciples scenario of yours might lead to a bonus one.

You're saying it's not enough by itself?

By the same token, if we clear Abyss's Disciples,

and generate a Bonus Unique Scenario,

it could be a serious bargaining chip.

Yeah.

This might be my chance to go after a Bonus Unique Scenario other than Vorpal Epic!

Consider me on board.

I'll help you with your ghost ship unique scenario.

We'd really appreciate that!

Where should we meet up?

It would be most efficient to meet in Fifticia, I'm—

Sunraku.

You're really... not coming back?

Rust.

You kept using Crimson Twinewing because you said

you'd keep using the same machine until you lost, right?

Our record is one loss, one win, and one draw,

but Crimson Twinewing did lose.

That's because—

It's time to make a new Nephilim.

And once that new Nephilim is finished...

I'll log back in again!

Sunraku...

Let's get right to it, then.

That's my new Nephilim, Ashen Antimony!

Ashen Antimony

How do you already have a new build?!

We've been working on it behind the scenes. Couldn't help ourselves...

Damn it!

Where the hell did those guys go?

Damn it. He's not really gonna ghost us, is he?

I was pretty sure they flew off into this area...

Behind the scenes, my ass!

Hey, look at that!

What's that Nephilim? Never seen it before...

But isn't that Sunraku's machine it's facing?

Hey, you're right!

Could it be... Rust?

Rust's new Nephilim?!

The right side's specialized for melee,

and the left side for ranged...

Sheesh. I just said that to be polite.

but if you drop a beast like that in front of me...

I've gotta find a way to beat it, don't I?!

Still, Fiddler Crab's shown its hand, so I'm at a pretty big disadvantage.

It's a one-trick pony, y'know?

Want to give up your spot to one of those guys down there, then?

Hey, call everyone! They're gonna miss it!

Seriously! It's Rust's new machine!

Get in here!

No, it's Cityscape B!

They're about to shift in!

Rust!

Yeah, those guys really wanna see you fight

in a machine other than Crimson Twinewing...

Okay, let's make a clean break with a bang.

Rust has challenged you.

Transporting to spectator lobby.

Rust! Rust! Rust! Rust!

Ashen Antimony

Fiddler Crab

Fiddler Crab versus Ashen Antimony!

Duel start!

Here we go!

I'll be back to beat you next time! Just you wait!

Sheesh...

What a fun bunch of folks.

Palace of Rabituza

What fine weather...

It's been many days now.

Sunraku-san has been gone for so long...

Emul, I have found you.

Big Bro Ceecrue!

Ceecrue

Emul, I am pleased to see you in good health.

It's simply been too long!

Might I pose a question?

I've not seen our father in some time.

Know you his present whereabouts?

No, I'm afraid I don't!

You don't, eh?

Do you have some business with him?

I've found a human worthily acknowledged by Siegwurm, the Golden Dragon King.

A pioneer as strong and brave as Sunraku-san?!

Indeed, of the truest of mettle!

It was my hope that I might introduce them to our father...

But, ah, come this way!

Meet my sister, Emul!

Ah, yes! Ceecrue-san!

It's a pleasure to meet you, Emul-san!

I'm Akitsuakane!

Akitsuakane