Chapter 115: [Arc 3] Chapter 28: Mechanical Terror

*BANG!* *BOOM!* *FZZZT!*

Just stop already!

*CRASH!*

Phew, there goes another spider-bot down. 

As we ran through the labyrinthic Area 4, we kept on encountering more and more of those "spider-bots", as we decided to call them. Not that it's "easy" to run away while dodging beams of light that can burn through even the toughest of armors. Luckily, they're not that fast, and it's still possible to use [Blink] to escape, so it's not impossible...

Oh, and those critters have some sort of barrier that blocks my electric attacks. They seem to be able to cancel all forms of energy attacks. Some of the ninja-grunts can use the Darkness attribute, which is the opposite of light and electricity, but the barriers block even that! Even my phantasmal swords were erased when they touched that barrier! What gives!?

They're not invincible though. As Alf demonstrated, physical attacks like his hammers made out of solidified shadows manage to pass through the barrier. Same with the walls of ice. And Revi's new Swamp-skills are extremely useful against the spider-bots. One of those [Bog Holes] is enough to down one of the spider-bots, the vines can easily hold them down and make them aim at their allies. Plus, that wall of swamp-mud is a lot more durable against those lasers than we expected!

We haven't lost any members, thanks to the medicines that Revi had been keeping in her Mirror Storage, but we are slowly getting cornered here.

I pierced a spider-bot that had appeared from an opening in the Dungeon wall with a [Crystal Spear], crushing it before it could ambush us. The skill is something I took to gain a weapon that could be used against these guys, seeing that energy-based skills are useless here. I had hoped that the crystal could reflect the lasers, but the first spear that I used for the experiment got its tip melted into crystal-goop.

"Damn these things! How many of them are there!?" - Mira

"Don't waste your breath! Just focus on getting to a wider area!" - Kaizo

Tch, true, we won't be able to fight back if these guys keep on coming out of every hole in the wall, but wouldn't an open area enable them to fire at us however they please?

Even so, we don't exactly have any other choice. We kept on running, sometimes almost getting grazed by the beams, but we managed to reach the large "cactus-door" room. 

"Men! To your positions!" - Kaizo

And the ninjas stopped fleeing and started to attack the spider-bots. The geezer, however, placed his hands on the ground, which made his shadow grow in size... o-ho? This is impressive. A rampart of shadows. The spider-bots' attacks got absorbed into the shadows and then sent back at them from another shadow. Redirection instead of blocking. Good call.

Thanks to the shadow-rampart, it became drastically easier to defend against the spider-bots. Most of the kills were by the ninja-geezer's redirection-attacks, but it was easy to farm kills thanks to the spider-bots' fragile armor. Since only physical attacks work on them, I could only use the new [Crystal Spear] skill. It wasn't that bad, thanks to [Throwing]. 

Alf on the other hand is making real havoc. The spider-bots got crushed by large falling walls of ice that appear from the roof. Brutal. And the few spider-bots that decided to launch a frontal attack gets smashed by his halberd, creating a perfect defensive line when combined with the shadow-rampart... Just my guess, but I bet that he's planning on getting his own version of this skill.

Even Revi is making a killin'! Magic blasts from the [Death Magic] literally kill the barriers of the spider-bots, along with the bots themselves. She is also using magic from [Ghost Magic] to fling the debris onto the bots that managed to evade the first blasts. The strategy is giving her the highest kill-count! And believe me, that is saying something.

After all, the amount of spider-bots seems to be close to infinity! I obtained two levels despite being the one with the lowest amount of kills, and both Alf mentioned that he had obtained [Inorganic Slaughterer] from this assault alone! Same with Revi, even if that comes as no surprise. 

Despite that, after a while, the number of enemy reinforcements started to dwindle, and before long...

"Finished!" - Ninja grunt A

"W-we're saved..." - Ninja grunt B

While keeping their guard, the ninja grunts let out a sigh of relief as the final spider-bot stopped functioning. About damn time...

"Mira… are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Revi in a hushed voice.

"The one who sicked these things on us?" - Mira

"Yes... you think-" - Revi

"No, I don't think it was that guy. That 'Black Baron' fellow wouldn't be satisfied with just one sort of Machinerz." - Mira

Like me, Revi had seen the similarities between these spider-bots and the Machinerz that had protected the abandoned theater in Tir na Nog.

The difference is the level of originality, I guess? The ones in Tir na Nog had many different variants, despite them seeming to have been made out of trash due to a lack of materials, but these spider-bots, despite having a Forge's worth of metal to use, are all of the same, mass-produced kind. 

And honestly, even if I say that these bots make me think of that guy, they seem to be lacking that guy's... "personal touch", or something like that. Like some copycat decided to use the Baron's style of making Machinerz. Having witnessed Flint's Automatas and the Forge's owns, the difference between the creators is even clearer.

"Not that we have any duty to figure these things out. The top priority is to get out with these plants-" - Mira

*CRASH!!*

Right as I declared that we should aim for the surface, a large chunk of metal emerged, no, broke through the Dungeon floor, creating a large hole to the next level. Unfortunately, that hole was right beside me and Revi, and the rest of the floor cracked up alongside it. 

We're faaaaaaalliiiiiing!!!

---

Meanwhile, in the realm of the Ultimate Gods, Nibiru:

"And what is that thing?" asked Alvatria as she pointed at the mechanical monstrosity on the screen showing the final underground floor of the Chaos Forge. The same monstrosity that had broken the roof of the Dungeon floor made several adventures fall to the last floor. 

"More importantly, why is that thing having the same mechanical knowledge as the Black Baron?" said Order. She was more interested in how that monstrosity had created the spider-shaped Machinerz than anything.

"Hm-hm-hm. You wanna know-*Smack!*-!? Okay, okay! I'll say it! That thing's the amalgam of ALL EIGHT fire djinn-Automatas that's normally used as the Bosses of the event in the Chaos Forge!" answered Chaos after having been hit in the head by the fourth god present in the meeting room.

"...All eight? All those C-ranked Automatas?" - Order

"Stop trying to fool us. You would need some nucleus to keep them combined for that." - Alvatria

"And that's exactly what I did!" said Chaos with a voice filled with pride as he produced the status page for the monstrosity.

SP: 892/910 STR: 900 VIT: 950 MAG: 400 RES: 900 SPD: 450 DEX: 300 INT: 97 LUC: 77

"...Envy? As in the skill [Envy]?" - Order

"That's the one. Man, who would have thought that having one of those skills for centuries would produce a new ego that's completely based on the skill itself and not the owner! Since it couldn't take over the girl's body like how the Seven Sin-skills normally does, tainting the owner's personality with the sin they represent, I managed to snatch that ego from the Extra Skill and used it to produce this masterpiece of a boss!" - Chaos

Chaos spread his hand towards the screen that still showed the living machine that looked like a large snake with a length of over 10 meters that has several sets of crocodile-like limbs, its head being that of a crocodile as well, plus various pipes on its back that spewed smoke.

"I see. If it's [Envy], there is no wonder how it could copy the Black Baron's abilities... even if it could not do the same with his talent." - Order

"...The machine is not its real body, right? It's just connected to that patchwork-body to give it those ridiculous stats." - Alvatria

Chaos flinched from that comment before looking away with a pale face.

Bingo. Removing that "ego" must have been the reason why the corrosion of that dragon-girl's mind by [Envy] stopped. Not that it's going to help her here.

Alvatria thought so as she looked at the two females that had fallen onto one of the bridges above the lake of melted metal that was the final floor of the Chaos Forge.

"Wasn't your goal to take revenge against Alvatria's Champion? Why aiming at her friends? That is not your usual style." - Order

"...That thing's jealous on its 'original' for having a living body." - Chaos

Ahh, now I see...

The three other gods understood the situation after hearing Chaos's comment.

"Too bad that you'll not get your petty revenge then~. Don't forget that reward you have to give her after this~." - Alvatria

"Hmph. I don't go back on my promises. If she can survive facing my secret ace, that is." - Chaos

The four gods then proceeded to watch the battle against the two owners of [Envy].

---

Mira's PoV:

HOOOT! What is this place!? It's too hot!

Despite the sudden drop from the second floor, I managed to grab Revi and land on what appears to be a bridge... no, it is one! One over a huge sea of flames... maybe not? A lake? And "flames? In any case, falling off this place is NOT a good idea! Getting a burn is the least of our problems!

Speaking of problems, we got one right here! A huge crocodile-like creature with multiple limbs and a damn long body that looks more fitting on a snake. Despite all that, its whole body is made of machines. It even got pipes that spews out smoke.

It's keeping itself above the burning lake by holding on to the many, massive pipes that fill the airspace of this floor, alongside eight different bridges that point to a large building in the middle of the room.

I used only half a second to judge the creature's appearance before starting to run to the center of the lake. Who wouldn't!? That thing's big enough to eat us in one bite! Plus, it's after us. 

*BANG!*

Knew it! Those front-arms are extendable! It used those to crush the floor... or, the roof of this floor! It's blocking the exit on this bridge, so our only hope is the ones on the other bridges!

This floor must normally be divided into eight sections, but the walls have been broken down, most likely by this huge guy. Each bridge must be the path the challengers of one of the eight Dungeon bosses normally would have taken. I can't see the appearance of the bosses though. Did that crocodile defeat them all? Then there's no way we'll be able to defeat it in a fair fight!

"Magic! Slow it down!" - Mira

"Y-yes!" - Revi

I gave a hasty order to Revi as I carried her over my shoulders. She started to fire various [Ghost Magic] spells while trying to restrain the monster with the Swamp skills. As expected, it didn't do much against that giant, but even a millisecond is precious here. 

"F-fire incoming!" - Revi 

"I know. Don't stop firing!" - Mira

The crocodile-monster fired several orbs of molten metal at us from smaller pipes all over its body. A stroke of luck for us is that the beast doesn't seem to have the idea of trying to cut off our path with them. It's single-mindedly aiming at my back. Is it an idiot? Or just inexperienced in battles? In any case...? Huh? What? Don't tell me-!?

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"Revi! Use [Envy] on that thing!" - Mira

"Huh? Okay... I can't! It won't activate!" - Revi

Damn, so it wasn't just my Airgetlám, but her [Envy] as well. An Extra Skill-sealing effect? Aw, come on..., whoa! Too close! More fireballs... and they wielded the entrances on the other bridges. Greeeaaat. Time for plan B. The "Beatdown" plan. Just one question to myself: how?

*CRASH!*

Great, there's the cavalry! You have to love the Migrant who introduced that idea.

Alf and the ninjas had seen what was going on and jumped on top of the Croco-snake's body. And after that, it's wack-a-croc' time. Alf's better at crushing stuff than people, which makes him a better man for this job than me, who has her best move sealed-up. 

The Croco-snake started to trash around, so I fled the scene. It's not that I don't plan to join the party, Extra Skill or not, but Revi isn't the most athletic girl, so I need to place her somewhere safe. The building in the middle of the room looks promising. Despite all the walls and the roof being destroyed by that Croco-snake, only the bridges plus that building seems to have survived the monster's attacks with only a few scratches.

"Stay here and keep your head down. Don't want to see it flying. *Brr*." - Mira

"Okay... but... what are you planning to do?" - Revi

"...Going in with swords raised?" - Mira

"...You do know that thing has the same barrier as the smaller crawlers." - Revi

Tch, that's a problem. Even the local spirits refused to help me out here. They're completely rooting for the local team... or they're too scared to stand up against that croc.

"In that case, let's use something here then." - Mira

"From here... whoooaaa..." - Revi

The inside of the building looked like a combined armory-and-treasury. Stacks upon stacks of weapons were placed all over as if it's some fancy museum for... experimental weapons of... I don't know? This stuff looks so freaky that I can't tell their ups and downs.

"Is this the prizes that people normally are rewarded with from the events?" - Revi

"Probably, or they're the prototypes for the real stuff. But they can be the droppings of that Croco-snake for all I care, as long as they have the firepower to beat that thing!" - Mira

I started to grab whatever weapon I could get my hands on... after disarming the alarms that they were fitted with. Not a problem, compared to the traps in Damavand. I even took the Thief class when I heard that we were going to this Dungeon. I mean, Thief and Treasure Hunter are almost the same, so maybe they'll turn into some amazing Thief-class. Alf did that with Spearsman and Crusher, so why can't I do it as well?

"W-who steals weapons from a Dungeon that fast...?" asks Revi in confusion over my speed of ridding the treasures of their traps and alarms. Experience, young dragon-girl, experience. I've lived a childhood where thievery was the only way of obtaining grub, so I had to be good at it or else...

Five minutes and a dozen shelves of weapons later, and I finally had to admit it: none of this trash is worth the trouble! They got no metal-rusting abilities, there are no super-explosive ammo, nor any magic sealing-thingamajiggy! Just wasted time and scrap-weapons! Ugh, I hate wasting time! I should steal the balls of whoever...

That... could work.

"Revi, how long do you need to chant for the biggest and baddest Death spell you can cook up?" - Mira

"Ehm... three minutes if I want something that deals lots of literal damage, five if I want to use one with a high rate of instant death effect, but with weaker power." - Revi

"Then charge up for that insta-death one." - Mira

"W-wait! That spell is extremely flashy! The monster outside must be as stupid as a rock if it didn't act upon seeing the magic formula being charged up!" - Revi

"Then I'll just get its attention. And give me those," I said, stuffing my Item Bag Pockets with the more durable items we had found before running outside.

There, I could see that Alf and the ninjas... having things pretty much under control. Though, only at the level of not being killed. The Croco-snake kept on trying to shake Alf and the ninjas off its back, but they kept on attacking it, so a wrong move could send even the monster down into the lake of molten metal, so it couldn't do any drastic maneuvers such as rolling around. The attacks could tip it off-balance after all.

Despite the men's valiant effort, the Croco-snake's still without a scratch, but most of the openings that shoot melted iron's been sealed by huge chunks of solid ice... and is it just me, or have the scorching forge turned... chilly? Now that's something. 

"Alf! What have you done this time?" - Mira

"Don't look at me like I'm Garami!" - Alf

Ouch. No respect for the boss. Got to agree, it was bad on my part there.

"And it's [Fortress of Frost]! All freezing abilities increase depending on the amount of heat!" - Alf

Wow, that's useful in this place. Not enough to put this thing on ice though. That's where I come in. I used the pipes and jumped over to the next bridge.

"Hey, big guy! Over here!" I shouted while making use of [Coercion] to drag the snake's attention away from the building. 

As it came over to me with its mouth open, ready to take a bite out of me, I dodged to the side. Then, with the Croco-snake stumbling around... and Alf and the gang holding on for their dear lives, I used my secret ace-in-the-hole: [Steal]!

*Crank*

A large... something-mechanical appeared in my hand as the light of the item-transporting [Steal] took it away from the Croco-snake and delivered it to me. Normally, my luck would be terrible at this kind of thing, but with that guy literally being made of items, and as Flint always says, your machines can't run without every part doing its job right. 

*Crash!*

Not that the parts still running will let me do it! What was that?! One of those "rocket punches" that armored Machinerz used during the Civil War? 

I looked as the Croco-snake returned its front-most right paw to its arm thanks to the cable connecting them. This got to be the same design as the armor-Machinerz. It looks more like a cheap knock-off compared to that guy though. 

The Croco-snake tried its hardest to use its long-range attacks, but Alf's ice stopped that idea, so the monster couldn't do anything but to attack physically. Meaning my running skills are being tried big-time here. I navigated through the pipe-jungle while stealing more and more parts from the mechanical monstrosity, slowly reducing its total combat powers, including its mobility. Some of its legs right out snapped off a few times!

Though, that thing wasn't going to take it lying down. 

As if mocking me, it started to use my Airgetlám to create... not swords, but something that looks like machine parts that could barely pass as swords and sent them flying at me. 

"Alf! Get down from there!" - Mira

To fight back, I retrieved the weapons I had gathered in my Item Bags, used the Force Shot spell from [Force Magic] on them, allowing me to send them flying with enough force to crash through the phantasmal swords and break off a good chunk of that guy's body. 

Wow. To think a combo I thought up on the spot would be that strong...

The Croco-snake started to get desperate, so it began moving around more ferociously than before without caring if it's going to fall into the melted metal or not. Good thing Alf managed to escape. He wouldn't last a second. And here's another [Steal]... HOT!

What the heck's this, a piece of burning coal... no, gold? A sun-shaped piece of gold? It's freaky hot, but now it's cooling down rapidly. More importantly, the big guy's movement's started to get jerky. Don't tell me I hit the jackpot there and got that thing's power source... right?

Seems like it. Because here the big guy comes! And it's angry!

I snatched the cooled golden sun and started to run away from the Croco-snake again. Its attacks turned even more aggressive, to the point where it feels like more of the roof's going to fall on us. 

Too bad, but your time's up. 

A dark-grey light came from the building where I'd left Revi. The source of the light was a huge, skeletal hand that moved towards the Croco-snake at an amazing speed before grabbing it by the head... and simply disappeared. Wait, that's-?

...it? Okay, so that hand's more than what it looked like... I guess? Let's go and get Revi, then let's get out of here.

---

Back in the realm of the Ultimate Gods, Nibiru:

"NOOOOO!! My secret weapon nr.2!!" - Chaos

"It's more like a secret pile of scrap now." - ???

"And you even took the reward for a special Quest to use as an energy source..." - Order

"DAMN IT ALL!!" - Chaos

"What shall we do with the Solar Ruby? Isn't that normally a unique Quest reward?" - ???

"...This time's Chaos Forge event has too many irregular variables. We will cover the Ruby as part of those." - Order

"The same as how all three of the Nightmare Voyagers obtained two Genocider titles despite that little dragon-lady being the one who killed her 'other half?" - ???

"You're forgetting that the Hunting titles work even if you work in a team? It's thanks to the monstrosity of Envy that all three of them obtained the titles." - Alvatria

"Like she said... Alvatria? What are you watching?" asked Order as she looked at Alvatria who was busy with a handheld device. 

"No, it's just that the secret weapon nr.1 is busy fighting Garami. And things look bleak." - Alvatria

"WHAT?! Switch the channels!" shouted Chaos, excited over the thought of Alvatria's Champion having a "bleak fight". What was showing on the screen was...

Description:

Thieves. Those that steal the fruit of others' living as their own way of living. As the class's name suggests, it specialized in thievery, but Thieves also are quick with their legs that allow them to run away in case they get busted while "working". The reason why the class is not given skills specialized in fleeing from the start is to reduce the probability of those who act like actual thieves getting away from the arm of the law.

Despite the negative image this class has, the Thieves that manage to keep themselves on the right side of the law are highly valued by adventurers.

Due to their nimble fingers being perfect for disarming traps and unlocking treasure chests, it is said that one cannot hope to brave a Dungeon without a Thief in the party. Their quick legs also allow combat-enabled Thieves to flee from the front line so that the vanguard can fight without having the Thieves in the way of their battles. 

Revi's comment: Huh, Thieves have a better reputation than one would think.

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