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 some well-deserved sleep after chasing a thieving doll for 14 hours!?

"Get dressed and come on already! The meeting'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] meeting can now begin." - Noire

"Stop there for a moment." - Garami

"Something 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 mention 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 meeting 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 means do so. Remember to take these three with you." I added, pointing to the fallen angel, Alf, and Iron.

"Wait, me!?" - 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 me 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 some 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 some 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 met 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 something 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 Merwell, who has evacuated the city along with the other undeads with some 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 kilometer 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 me answered energetically...

Aren't they too okay with someone like me 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 mention that you've got a rumor in town about slaughtering gigantic monsters for fun, and within the members of the organization, a rumor about doing the same 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 something about getting knocked unconscious for an indefinite amount of time, 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... Elementalist? 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 requirements...

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 me!! From the castle? Then those guys have started.

"Alright, men. It's showtime! Go and make it memorable!" - 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 me, but if we're talking about busting the horror-o-meter, then you're an even greater contender here, Corpse Dragon! Or, is it one? It's much smaller, probably just a few centimeters higher than me if it's standing on its hind legs. And it's clothed in something that looks like a dress made into a robe. And for some reason, it's not "melting" like the one we saw by the church, and its eyeballs are replaced with eerie, green flames.

The two of us froze for a moment 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 something 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 metal!?" 

"Gya-ha-ha-ha!! What's wrong? Are you 'short-circuited' for any means 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 me...

"Move aside, you slowpokes!" - Mira

My patience had reached its limits! The weaklings opened a path for me to the enemies, which was divided into two in a moment 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 movements. 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-awesome..."

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 time, including the Machinerz who had tried to sneak up upon them.

"Get your head into the game already. The next one's going to be lethal." - Mira

"Y-yes ma'am!!" 

Hmm, sacrificing my magic capabilities could be troublesome. 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 me. 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 me, I created a replica-sword through Airgetlám and started to slash through the Machinerz that had... started to...tch. They're completely focused on me 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, metallic arms, and sometimes, even shovels, is starting to tear on my mind. 

The combatants did a good job, but reinforcements for the Machinerz kept on coming from the second floor. 

No other way then. 

I backstepped to create some distance from the ten Machinerz that were my latest "customers" and started to activate a new skill of mine. Hope this works...

A golden magic circle appeared in front of me as I activated the new skill. Small red and blue spheres emerged from the circle and floated around the air around me. 

The Machinerz, thinking that my move had failed, charged at me 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 named 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 home about either. It's so common knowledge that, apparently, even the Machinerz in front of me knows about it, as they're simply guarding themselves with their arms. 

Not waiting for them, I released the Art. A pale-white slash came 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 performed was thanks to the new Elementalist class which lets me summon nearby G-rank spirits named Elementals. Then I can ask these Elementals for assistance with whatever moves I'm using, like now. 

The downside is that no Elementals means no power-up. And it's solely decided by the number of Elementals that are willing to help. 

...Am I perhaps popular with Elementals? 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 reinforcement 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 movements on the third floor!"

The combatants that had gone upstairs to scout came back with this report.

"That must be Garami. What's she doing?" - Mira

"Well... we think... she's shooting on something?"

...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 time and speak already!" - Mira

"I-it seems that General Garami is chasing after something that is rolling across the third floor with unbelievable high speed!"

"...What did you say she was chasing?" - Mira

"Something 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 game 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 moment 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 me. 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 armed to the teeth with traps!? The damn lizard has been setting off traps that only target me for... more than ten times already! It had even stopped up and looked at me 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 me down and fled again with a wail.

The dragon's been throwing traps upon traps towards me ever since, but it only ended up improving my trap-detecting- and escaping abilities. I've been slacking on those departments, 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 some kinda racing game... 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 time, I didn't use the mass-produced Gloom Bullets, but the more expensive (time-wise) Darkness Burst bullets, created from the Darkness spell of the same name...

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 troublesome... 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 formed 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 me~." - Garami

My praising must have gone to her. Can't blame her, since I would have done the same.

After all, she is me. 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 some 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 time 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 aimed 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 me back then at my room in the inn. She only had a copy of the Revolver and the Thaumaturgy Ring equipped on her for some 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 me, there were three problems with this clone:

1. She lacked any skills related to MP and SP. Rather, both status values had disappeared from her status page completely. Same for classes and titles.
2. 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.
3. The clone lacked a mind of its own, forcing me to control two bodies at the same time.

The last obstacle was the most troublesome one, but I managed to clear it thanks to having enough Skill Points to evolve [Parallel Proccessing] into [Parallel Mind]. The skill gives me an extra "mental me".

Basically, before I was a damn good multi-tasker (still am), but now, there are several "me"s who can perform their own task. And I get one new extra "me" for each skill level! There are some safeties installed into this skill, such as one will not obtain more "extra minds" if one's not capable of staying mentally 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 came 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 some 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 time 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 me 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 some secret room, but one thing at a time. So, shall we have a fun interrogation time, right~?