Volume 3 Chapter 5 (2/2)
It pointed its hand toward Rorono and fired off a stone; an act quite similar to firing a gun.
Thanks to the unit in her chest that granted her thought acceleration, she had perfect grasp on what was happening. Despite that, however, she did not try to evade the stone bullet. Instead, she made use of the hardening feature within her gauntlet and deflected the projectile.
She then finally caught up with the gargoyle and thrusted her fist into the base of its wing. The gargoyle whose body was strong enough to defend even against a shot from Kuina's shotgun was wounded badly, sending the monster crashing down. The cause of such destruction was the knuckles of her gauntlet vibrating at an extremely high rate.
”This will be the finishing blow”
Rorono readied the huge gun on her back and pointed it toward the fallen gargoyle.
That gun featured the best of her gun-making skills in the form of a modified .950 caliber JDJ. Even unmodified, it was ridiculous for it to have nearly twice as much destructive power as the armored-vehicle-piercing anti-materiel rifles.
She modified the bullets by changing the powder it used to mithril powder, thus allowing magic power to be put into the bullets. Furthermore, the case of the bullets were also changed into orihalcum to make it hit even harder.
The gun that could fire off such a bullet was, of course, no ordinary gun. Using her knowledge from when she developed Kuina's and Ancient Elf's weapons, she added [Acceleration] and [Rotation] into it to make it even more powerful.
However, since the power had increased so much, its recoil proved to be too much to bear. Aiming it was hard too due to the unsteady gun barrel. But then again, wearing the [Mechanical Warmaiden] made these drawbacks manageable, if not negligible.
This gun was also different in the way that it had two gun barrels side by side. The logic for which was exceedingly simple: twice the bullets fired was equal to twice the damage.
”Goodbye”
The moment that Rorono pulled the trigger, a roar that could be mistaken for thunder resounded.
The fired off bullet traveled at a high speed and directly hit the Orihalcum Gargoyle. It then exited the monster until it hit the ground. No matter how much the Orihalcum Gargoyle could endure, it was impossible for it to endure even that.
Rorono then let out a sigh of relief.
”Fuu, this is its first actual battle but everything went well. With this, I've proven myself as one of master's [Monster of the Covenant]”
She slowly landed and cancelled [Mechanical Warmaiden]. The goal of using multiple, individual units that, although not strong by themselves, were able to function simultaneously was a success.
That said, there were still a lot of ways for it to improve.
Various issues were also confirmed in this battle. First and foremost of which was the huge consumption of magic power. The moment the [Mechanical Warmaiden] was worn, its magic power demand would constantly be at maximum.
It therefore could not be used for a long period of time. In fact, in the short time it was activated just a while ago, it had depleted 70% of its magic power reserves or the equivalent of eating one of Ancient Elf's apples. Clearly, something had to be done.
Rorono then recalled Kuina' furs in her tail which could store up magic power. She pondered whether or not to pluck some of them so that they may be used as some kind of battery. It seemed to her that only about a hundred among hundreds of thousands were used to store up magic power so it should be fine for her to use some of the rest.
”That was amazing, Rorono-chan!”
Kuina who had already taken care of the Adamantite Gargoyles embraced Rorono. She had reverted back to her usual form. The burden of her other form was great but Rorono judged that Kuina waited until the demise of the Orihalcum Gargoyle before she undid her [Transform].
”Mhm. I am one of master's [Monster of the Covenant], after all.”
Said Rorono in an awkward manner.
”More importantly, Kuina, are you alright?”
”It was a little too close for comfort. The backlash from [Transform] is making me dizzy. I can stand only due to my willpower but it seems I'll pass out pretty soon.”
”Before that even happens, we have to quickly break the crystal.”
”Yeah, let's.”
Headed by the two, the monsters of the first platoon exited the last room and finally entered the crystal room. In there was the unattractive, bipedal frog, the [Viscosity] Demon Lord Ronove.
”Co-come at me! I won't let you break my crystal!!”
Together with his now considerably fewer followers, he stood before his crystal, desperately trying to protect it.
”You're in the way”
However, Rorono pulled out her assault rifle—expertly aimed it so that she would not hit Ronove— and heartlessly shot the crystal, shattering it into tiny pieces.
”Ah, ahh! Ahh! Wah! My crystal!”
His few remaining monsters then vanished. Some Devil-type monsters survived and quickly fled. It seemed that the reason those monsters didn't vanish despite the destruction of the crystal was because they weren't Ronove's.
The ground within the dungeon then began to tremble, signaling its eventual collapse.
”My-my monsters, return them! Return my monsters!!”
Tears in his eyes, he took a swing at Rorono but she effortlessly avoided it and pinned him down instead, pressing down the muzzle of her rifle against his temple.
”Answer this: How could there have been such a strong monster in your last room?”
Rorono was no longer concerned about Ronove. What worried her instead was that gargoyle.
”I-I have no reason to tell you tha—ah! Ahhhhhh, my shoulderrrrrrrrrrr!”
Rorono wordlessly shot his left shoulder with her rifle. That opened up a hole in that shoulder and made his blood scatter all over the place.
”Answer me. If you don't, the next hole will be in your left foot. And if you still won't answer after that, I'll just kill you.”
She had to know the secret behind it. The life of her beloved father was at stake, after all. Through it all though, she maintained a calm composure.
”It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!”
Ronove's answer was only a scream. Dismayed by that, Rorono pressed the muzzle of her gun into his temple once more, grinding it harder and harder.
”You have three seconds to answer exactly what I asked, no more, no less.”
Ronove looked into her eyes and was convinced she would really kill him. He had told Zagan he would keep it an absolute secret but before such eyes, such an obligation didn't matter.
”If you promise not to kill me, I'll tell you, I'll tell you.”
”I promise.”
Upon receiving her promise, Ronove told her the truth, piece by piece.
And upon hearing it, Rorono clicked her tongue.
”This isn't good, Kuina… Oh, you passed out already…”
Due to the backlash of [Transform], Kuina lost consciousness.
After a moment, Rorono then returned to thinking. What should I do?
There was the risk that there could be a monster as strong as the Orihalcum Gargoyle within the dungeon Procell and Ancient Elf went to. But then again, there was also the risk of Avalon being attacked by such a high ranking monster.
It was bad no matter which way.
”I have no choice but believe in Elf and go back to help Wight defend.”
With such a conclusion, she began to mobilize the platoon. She carried Kuina on her back as they returned to Avalon's dungeon as fast as they could.
The key to her conclusion was simple: she could not imagine Ancient Elf ever losing.