Zzz...I can eat much more...zzz...
*BANG!*
"Hello, Garami~!" - Regina
Zz-wha-what!?
*Dunk!*
Ouch!
"I’ve arrived~!" - Regina
Damn, can’t a demon get so well-deserved sleep after chasing a thieving doll for 14 hours!?
"Get dressed and co on already! The eting’s waiting just for you." - Regina
Urgh... It feels like having a hangover... why’s the fire-woman here? Did I oversleep?
---
"Then, the [Tir na Nog clearing operation] eting can now begin." - Noire
"Stop there for a mont." - Garami
"Sothing wrong? Still not woken up?" - Regina
"That part’s alright already. What I want to say, is: WHY’S REGINA HERE ALREADY!?" - Garami
Turns out I’ve only slept for 8 hours after dragging myself back to the Safe Area where the rest were waiting. And now, the whole place’s littered with combatants in black clothes, not that different from what Alf and the fallen angel used to wear. Not to ntion the fire-woman herself.
"I ran." - Regina
Say what?
"...General Regina ran through the tunnel on Sea Tree Island in half an hour and easily caught up with the combatant-group General Armveil had sent out beforehand with provisions and weapons." - Noire
Oh, okay... NOT! Half an hour? Seriously?
The eting went on despite my confusion. After sorting out all our information to this point, the main point was how to attack the castle that should host the Dungeon Core, but...
"Ain’t it just to go and smash the place to bits?" - Regina
Said the fire-woman, and to be honest, with her in charge, that’s a suggestion not too crazy to work.
"By all ans do so. Rember to take these three with you." I added, pointing to the fallen angel, Alf, and Iron.
"Wait, !?" - Alf/Noire
"...Roger." - Iron
"It’s fine with you!?" - Alf/Noire
What can I say? They need the experience, rather, the EXP.
"While you guys do that, I’ll take Mira and a few combatants with to the second place of interest," I said, pointing at the map laid out on the table.
The place I’m talking about is the one where the controller of that wooden puppet should be... or at least was when I stopped the puppet.
"Revenge, ey?" asked Regina, already being told of the event.
"That too, but there are at least so non-Dungeon fellows here after us. The living bombs that worked alongside the undeads yesterday’s definitive proof." - Garami
Dungeons can’t create Machinerz after all. Maybe so kinda factory-type Dungeon could, but I doubt it’s possible for an undead capital. There’s also the fact the bomb-bots look awfully similar to the ball-bots I t on the Water-Knot’s third floor. If that’s a fact, then this is a more personal showdown than first expected.
"Then you can go and crush the tin cans then. I’ll be making undead-barbeque at the castle~!" - Regina
"Just don’t eat any of it. And make sure not to burn sothing that looks useful or valuable." - Garami
"Roger~." - Regina
"Ehm... our opinion..." - Noire
Don’t care~. Let’s go~!
---
"Noire was crying, you know?" - Mira
"Probably still crying, but I’ll swallow my tears and swing the whip of love." - Garami
"What ’love’? You’re just too lazy to do the work yourself." - Mira
La~la~laaaa. Can’t hear you~.
Mira didn’t seem too keen on continuing the conversation either and looked at the potential hideout of the potential mustache-owning Machinerz maker.
"Still, to make a theater a Safe Area..." - Mira
"Maybe they wanted the invaders to take a break and see a show?" - Garami
We’re currently outside one of the most famous theaters in Tir na Nog, the Silver Key Theater. It’s a bigass theater that’s build in a Roman style, kinda like the Colosseum, just more... theatric.
According to rwell, who has evacuated the city along with the other undeads with so combatants as escorts, this place used to be the favorite place of the first king. That’s why he allowed it to be built as close to the castle as possible, not even half a kiloter away from it. The close distance allows us to do this two-pronged strategy without canceling the party with Iron and the other two, so good job your majesty. It’s the only one though...
"We’re charging in when Regina starts making noise at the castle, so be ready." - Garami
"Yes, ma’am!!"
The three parties’ worth of combatants that I had dragged with answered energetically...
Aren’t they too okay with soone like leading them? I know myself the best, so I know I’m not the most charismatic demon out there.
I asked Mira about her thoughts about the situation, and:
"Garami, you’re keeping 20 people including yourself hidden only by connecting them to a flimsy thread. Oneself is one thing, but keeping several others hidden? That’s a feat not many can reproduce." - Mira
Really? I just did so to prevent us from getting into unnecessary fights with the remaining undeads.
"Not to ntion that you’ve got a rumor in town about slaughtering gigantic monsters for fun, and within the mbers of the organization, a rumor about doing the sa to people." - Mira
"When did such a rumor start to spread!?" - Garami
"Point is, they’re following you both from awe and fear, not due to charisma." - Mira
"Ehm, you’re ignoring my question..." - Garami
I didn’t get an answer from Mira, but I can guess the reason why those rumors started. I’ve not been exactly successful in keeping a low profile.
"Fine, let’s keep it at that. On another matter, didn’t you say you reached Lv.40 yesterday?" - Garami
"Yes, just before the party was disbanded after you left for that thief. I didn’t evolve. You said sothing about getting knocked unconscious for an indefinite amount of ti, so I didn’t. Got any advice?" - Mira
I need to see them before I can say so. I received her ID card, which also shown what evolutions you can take when you reach the level cap. What a handy little piece of... Elentalist? A new Sub Class? When did she get that?
Oh, the evolutions, right. Ehm, Mira can evolve to... Glow Sprite, Brawl Glow Sprite, Trick Glow Sprite, and Lesser Luminous Sprite. Let’s double-Identify the evolution options themselves, as the card doesn’t tell the evolution requirents...
Glow Sprite... is the normal evolution option for Light Sprites... or any sprites with the Light Technique User title. Brawl and Trick’s evolution paths focus on stats, with Brawl being STR and VIT, and Trick’s SPD and DEX. You need a status value of 500 for both stats combined... so there’s probably a magician-type sprite out there as well.
Finally, we have Lesser Luminous Sprite, which requires only the Light Technique Master title. Feels like a preview for the C-rank Light Sprites. Overall, it’s equal to the specialized versions, so a jack-of-all?
I gave all the info to Mira. It’s up to her to chose which one she wanna take-
*Ka-BOOOM!!*
That scared !! From the castle? Then those guys have started.
"Alright, n. It’s showti! Go and make it morable!" - Garami
"YES MA’AM!"
The combatants removed the "stealth-thread" and charged into the theater like the herd of uncivilized apes they were. Just kiddin’, you’re the best.
"I’ll be going too then. Try to find the mastermind before we get annihilated." - Mira
And with that, Mira followed the other combatants into the theater. I’ll be taking a different route.
Through a thread, I reached one of the windows on the third floor of the theater, covered it with threads affected with [Silence], and busted myself into the building. The threads prevented any sound to be heard from the shattered window. A perfect entry.
...If there’s no one in the corridor I entered into.
The "creature" looked terrified at , but if we’re talking about busting the horror-o-ter, then you’re an even greater contender here, Corpse Dragon! Or, is it one? It’s much smaller, probably just a few centiters higher than if it’s standing on its hind legs. And it’s clothed in sothing that looks like a dress made into a robe. And for so reason, it’s not "lting" like the one we saw by the church, and its eyeballs are replaced with eerie, green flas.
The two of us froze for a mont or two before one of us got restarted.
As I saw the Corpse Dragon(?) started to move, I drew the Thaumaturgy Revolver, but I didn’t have the chance to use it. ’Cause the Corpse Dragon(?) had already turned tail and fled. By curling up and roll away. And it’s fast!?
...What just happened here? I was expecting the Black Baron or sothing here, but a chibi-Corpse Dragon?
---
Mira’s PoV:
"Move, move! Get those rust buckets!"
Garami’s predictions strike true again. The Silver Key Theater "Safe Area" turned out to be the den of a group of Machinerz. Since they’re not part of the Dungeon per see, combat’s allowed between our two groups. However...
"Wa-ha-ha-ha! Too soft! Are you guys really made of tal!?"
"Gya-ha-ha-ha!! What’s wrong? Are you ’short-circuited’ for any ans to strike back?"
"Get back here! You walking iron ingot! I’ll get 50 sols for you!!"
The combatants are stomping the Machinerz so easily that it’s getting to their heads. Damn you, Garami. Not only do you get to take the general’s head, you even threw the responsibility of watching over these overgrown kids to ...
"Move aside, you slowpokes!" - Mira
My patience had reached its limits! The weaklings opened a path for to the enemies, which was divided into two in a mont thanks to my trusty partner.
"F-Fast!?"
"I couldn’t even see her move..."
Why’re they so amazed by such a simple move? Get used to [Blink] and anyone can perform such high-speed movents. Hmm, maybe that Trick-evolution would be good then...
"M-miss! Behind you!"
I swung my trusty partner, Tyrant Fang, at the larger, battle-designed Machinerz’s side and used [Lightforce Shield] the split-second before I hit. The force of the combined swing the impact of the force shield sent the Machinerz flying into the wall in more pieces than just two. More power from Brawl could also be nice...
"A-aweso..."
I turned around and threw a Photon Sphere, the advanced spell variant of [Light Magic]’s beginner spell, Light Sphere, to a point behind the combatants that were standing there awestruck. The sphere of light exploded and dealt Light attribute damage to the poor idiots that didn’t escape in ti, including the Machinerz who had tried to sneak up upon them.
"Get your head into the ga already. The next one’s going to be lethal." - Mira
"Y-yes ma’am!!"
Hmm, sacrificing my magic capabilities could be troubleso. Then, the Luminus evolution... damn, I shouldn’t have asked Garami about that. Those choices’ stuck in my mind.
I shrugged off those distracting ideas from my mind and solely decided to focus on the enemies in front of . A warrior needs to be able to focus only on the enemy in front of them while also watching out for attacks on the side. It may sound contradictory, but this is a stone-set truth that veteran warriors keep to their hearts. Looking over the battlefield is an action only tacticians and leaders should have to deal with. We warriors only need to fulfill our duty and preserve the front line.
I steadily cut down machine after machine, until...
*Clang!*
Damn, those piles of rusts have the nerve to kick away my partner!? After kicking away the small-fry Machinerz that had ganged up on , I created a replica-sword through Airgetlám and started to slash through the Machinerz that had... started to...tch. They’re completely focused on now!
"Strike them in the back!"
"Don’t let the commander fall!"
The combatants had also noticed the change in the flow of the Machinerz and started to attack their defenseless backs.
I kept on holding my ground while escaping the constant attacks. There are not that many combat-orientated models here, so it’s not that difficult... is what I believed in the beginning, but the sheer amount of drills, tallic arms, and sotis, even shovels, is starting to tear on my mind.
The combatants did a good job, but reinforcents for the Machinerz kept on coming from the second floor.
No other way then.
I backstepped to create so distance from the ten Machinerz that were my latest "custors" and started to activate a new skill of mine. Hope this works...
A golden magic circle appeared in front of as I activated the new skill. Small red and blue spheres erged from the circle and floated around the air around .
The Machinerz, thinking that my move had failed, charged at again as their vigilance to the magic circle faded. Using the second skill I had recently obtained, I ordered the spheres to converge at the one-handed phantom-sword I had created, covering it in red-and-blue lights.
"Get back!" - Mira
I gave a short warning to the combatants who were still fighting and made a stance with the phantom sword. The stance for using an all-known Sword Art nad Distance Sword.
If I have to describe it plainly, it’s a flying slash. Nothing more, nothing less. The attack power’s nothing to write ho about either. It’s so common knowledge that, apparently, even the Machinerz in front of knows about it, as they’re simply guarding themselves with their arms.
Not waiting for them, I released the Art. A pale-white slash ca flying at them... for then being engulfed in a torrent of water and fire. The enhanced flying slash broke through all the Machinerz who hadn’t prepared themselves for such a large move.
...Wasn’t that a little too much? I had expected the force to increase, but this much?
Ehm, let’s go over this to be sure: The move I just perford was thanks to the new Elentalist class which lets summon nearby G-rank spirits nad Elentals. Then I can ask these Elentals for assistance with whatever moves I’m using, like now.
The downside is that no Elentals ans no power-up. And it’s solely decided by the number of Elentals that are willing to help.
...Am I perhaps popular with Elentals? Why?
"Commander Aureola! We’ve finished with the enemies on this floor!"
"Ah, good work. Have half the group map and explore the rest of this floor while the remaining half takes a look at the second floor. Don’t fall for any traps." - Mira
"Yes, ma’am!"
Maybe we’ve emptied several floors of enemies, I thought as I looked at the sorry aftermath of the Machinerzs. There were lots of reinforcent from the second floor after all. Our side had taken close to no losses, and the few injured have already been healed by the supporters that had stayed outside during the fight.
"Commander Aureola! There are movents on the third floor!"
The combatants that had gone upstairs to scout ca back with this report.
"That must be Garami. What’s she doing?" - Mira
"Well... we think... she’s shooting on sothing?"
...Okay, I know Garami hates wasting bullets with that little toy of hers, but why’re these guys finding that so weird?
"Anything else?" - Mira
"Yes... perhaps..."
"Stop wasting any more ti and speak already!" - Mira
"I-it seems that General Garami is chasing after sothing that is rolling across the third floor with unbelievable high speed!"
"...What did you say she was chasing?" - Mira
"Sothing that is rolling across the third floor with unbelievable high speed, ma’am!"
...Garami, what is it that you’re chasing?
---
Garami’s PoV:
"Get back here already!!" - Garami
I kept on blasting at the rolling dragon of death with the Thaumaturgy Revolver. Damn, haven’t I only been chasing stuff since I arrived here?
I’m not sure how long this ga of tag’s been going on, but more than half-done with the third-floor mapping. The theater’s made in a circle shape, not that different from the Colosseum I compared it with before entering. I haven’t had the opportunity to see the stages or the seats yet. The rolling reptile’s staying in the corridor without taking detours. It’s probably wanting to sneak away through a secret path the mont I lose its tail.
*Clack!*
Grr, again!?
I saw red lines coming out from the walls thanks to the [Intuition] skill and moved my body so it stayed clear from them. Not long after the lines had appeared, several arrows flew out from holes in the wall, flowing the red lines. Since I had already prepared myself, none of them hit . There were a few that were dangerously close, but I used the Revolver to reflect them with a parry.
What kinda idiot architect makes a theater ard to the teeth with traps!? The damn lizard has been setting off traps that only target for... more than ten tis already! It had even stopped up and looked at with glee in its eyes when I was caught by the first trap... only to almost losing its jaw when it saw the trap barely slowed down and fled again with a wail.
The dragon’s been throwing traps upon traps towards ever since, but it only ended up improving my trap-detecting- and escaping abilities. I’ve been slacking on those departnts, so I’m honestly a little happy being able to train myself like this, but I’m currently on a mission. Stay and accept your fate already, you damn dragon!!
The chase kept on, and now we’re starting to get closer to the point where I entered the theater, completing the circle that made the theater.
The dragon must be starting to get desperate. The traps don’t get replaced just cause we’ve finished one round like so kinda racing ga... hey! That’s no good!
The dragon must have been more desperate than I first thought, as it started to roll for the stairs leading to the second floor. Does it have more traps there? Even so, going to the second floor’s a no-go!
The combatants should have reached that floor by now, so having that dragon go down there and act like a teenager that’s just gotten their driving license ain’t the best idea for anyone.
I fired a few shots towards the stair to make the dragon follow my plans. And this ti, I didn’t use the mass-produced Gloom Bullets, but the more expensive (ti-wise) Darkness Burst bullets, created from the Darkness spell of the sa na...
Yeah, shouldn’t have used Darkness Bullet. The whole staircase got blown up. Can’t use that one indoors anymore, nope.
It did its intended purpose and scared the dragon away from the staircase though. Rather, didn’t the sudden fright make it speed up? That’s troubleso... or not. The plan worked without a problem.
The dragon had picked up so much speed that it had been caught by the spiderweb trap that had been placed in the middle of the corridor. The dragon got wrapped up in many threads that ford a net and hung the poor reptile up in the air.
Alright, I caught a Corpse Dragon(?)!
As I celebrated, I watched as the creator of this trap exit from the shadows of the corner...
---
???’s PoV:
"Great work there." - ???
"E-he-he~. Such a thing’s easy for ~." - Garami
My praising must have gone to her. Can’t bla her, since I would have done the sa.
After all, she is . Or, my copy was generated from the Chaotic Concurrence bullet, to be precise.
Said bullet had finally been completed during the period after returning to Velantas after having captured Avido. And boy was I surprised when I Identified its effects. To create a copy of whatever it struck without inflicting any damage...
Normally, I would have tested it out on so items like a chair, but since this bullet takes 18 days to be made, and the Identification result specifically went into telling that non-living items would expire after a ti period that would have used up all the aether of the original object. Not sure what the consumption rates are here, but it’s essentially: the more aether, the longer the cloned object would stay.
Therefore, I swallowed my fears and aid them at my foot. I had Healing Magic and all that, but it was still damn scary...
The result? One heck of a nice lady stood in front of back then at my room in the inn. She only had a copy of the Revolver and the Thaumaturgy Ring equipped on her for so reason, and the Ring could only retrieve bullets stored in either of the rings.
Except for the lack of clothing, which was taken care of by Waylin who made several non-ability copies of the Dark Weaver set for , there were three problems with this clone:
She lacked any skills related to MP and SP. Rather, both status values had disappeared from her status page completely. Sa for classes and titles.
Since she didn’t have the Evil Eye skill, it’s damn easy to notice the difference between us, as long as you look for the light-blue markings around my left eye.
The clone lacked a mind of its own, forcing to control two bodies at the sa ti.
The last obstacle was the most troubleso one, but I managed to clear it thanks to having enough Skill Points to evolve [Parallel Proccessing] into [Parallel Mind]. The skill gives an extra "ntal ".
Basically, before I was a damn good multi-tasker (still am), but now, there are several ""s who can perform their own task. And I get one new extra "" for each skill level! There are so safeties installed into this skill, such as one will not obtain more "extra minds" if one’s not capable of staying ntally healthy due to the freeloaders.
So, Parallel Mind #1 got the job of commanding the clone body. We then had the clone dressed up in the counterfeit Dark Weaver set with the hood covering the face so that people wouldn’t notice the difference between our faces. Then ca the question of how to keep this a secret. Even Waylin didn’t know about this, since I had only ordered the clothes without explaining the situation.
The answer was to abuse the lack of MP. Specifically, we dumped the clone body into the shadow world through [Shadow Dive]. It takes MP to open a "door" to that place, but inside, it’s the shadow world itself that "attacks" the MP of whoever’s in there. So, what happens if you don’t have anything at all? You can stay there for as long as you want. That’s a loophole alright! I tried with objects and stuff after discovering this, but they must have had so sort of MP, cause they were thrown out after a while.
So, I had the clone stay in sleep mode thanks to the newly evolved [Slumber] skill all this ti until I needed her, such as having her chase after the dragon and lure it back here to the trap I had made.
"Well, I’ll stay ’down there’ for now then." - Garami (clone)
"Please do. You’re an ace I wanna keep hidden." - Garami (original)
"I know, I know~." - Garami (clone)
And with that, the clone jumped into the entrance to the shadow world, leaving behind with the captured Corpse Dragon... if it’s alright to call it that.
There was no one else on this third floor, and the fourth floor’s just a large number of rehearsal rooms and storages according to the Skeleton Assassin’s reports.
From the sound of it, there are only robots down below, so strange or not, this dragon’s the one with the highest probability for being the user of black-cloth and by extension, the one who tried to steal the Kigal-Note yesterday.
The true culprit may have fled the building, or they are staying hidden in so secret room, but one thing at a ti. So, shall we have a fun interrogation ti, right~?
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