[Arc 5] Chapter 2-10: The New Straight Man Act
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"Ultimate Fire Dragon-chan attack!!" - ???

The shadowed figure released a massive fireball from her hands as she robot army, who returned fire with a barrage of steam bullets. This will be nasty. Time to aim for the sky!

The two attacks collided and created an extreme amount of heat as the fireball blew up. It was correct of me to flee. Not to mention that it seems I have gotten away from the robot army's detection range. 

If that is the case, then I am out of here. There are no gains for me to earn staying here with these psychopaths. Softly...

*CRASH!*

Ah, the world hates me. In front of me, three Raouls are blocking my path...

Hold on. THREE Raouls!?

*Clank, clank, clank, clank...*

And now there is a small army of Orimarus..., actually, a small army of empty armors of different origins wielding matching weaponry that emits a cursed aura. 

"Those undead scraps were mass-produced!?" - Noire

Ugh, I hate mass-produced goods! ...And I should not have shouted that out. The robotic army has noticed me again. And the undead scrap army, spearheaded by the Raoul trio, is also glaring at me.

"...I come in peace? Long live the mass-produced scrap?" - Noire

"*ROAAAAR*!!" - Raoul A, B, & C

That didn't work! What was I thinking? Of course, it wouldn't!

"HEY! DON'T IGNORE ME!!" - ???

Wha-!? The pea-brained pyromaniac threw another fireball, and this time, it was so close to me that it made my hair feels like it was taking fire! 

But it worked out well. Excellent, even. Because two of the three Raouls turned into a molten mess thanks to that attack. 

...? I do not think the fireball was THAT powerful. Or, at least not the fireball's heat alone could do this. Maybe she is using a secondary skill to enhance the flames' attack power against metal or something along those lines?

"BWA-HAHAHAHA! Taste the infernal crimson flames of this......, this anonymous busty beauty dragon!" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

"That is too much of a joke that I can't laugh at it!" - Noire

In my irritation, I smacked the cliff-shaped girl with a sadder excuse for a body line than me..., I mean, than that of a child(!) on her head with my hand...and hurt it in the process. *Sniff*, ANOTHER blockhead right after I separated from Gran and Lunatic? My luck is lower than the depths of this Gorge. 

She looks taller than me, but I cannot see her face because of the cloak she is wearing. A pair of red, dragon-like horns stuck out from the hood, while red dragon wings and a similar tail peeked out from her back.

Besides that, her figure looks different from a human's. I can see she is wearing high-quality clothes, so she must be a noble or the child of a wealthy merchant. Something along those lines.

One does not need to be a genius to see that she is also either a Dragonoid like Revi or..., no. No way. That firepower could only belong to a proper dragon. One that can transform into a human. And if you add those ridiculous flames, then this girl can only be a well-bred daughter of a draconic noble. 

"Huh, who are you?" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

"The Flugel being attacked by those creatures! Don't tell me you released those attacks without knowing I was there?!" - Noire

"Oh, uh..., of course, I knew! And hey, aren't you one of Rouge, Jaune, and the other Angel Rainbow's little-" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

"Do NOT place me in the same category as any of those ridiculous, childish, and overly embarrassing people!" - Noire

"O-okay, okay! I hear you!" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

Did I come out too strong there? I hate it being considered related to those mindless fools, but if my cover got blown right now, I would be no better than what they are...almost.

"...*Grr*?" - Raoul C

"Sorry! We completely forgot about you!" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

...We did. And the self-proclaimed beauty did not waste any time throwing another super-heated-, hot, hot-!

"HOT!" - Noire

"Hmm? You said something?" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

The (true and tested) psychopath didn't notice the mistake she did when she created the fireball so close to someone without any Fire-related resistance skills and didn't bother to answer before she had thrown the deadly globe at the third Raoul. The scrap dragon reacted in time to evade it as if twisting the knife in my (burned) wound. 

"Can you not be more careful!? Are you here to help those ghosts kill me!?" - Noire

"Whoops. Sorry~." - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

*Smack!*

I give her the first of what I'd hoped to be many hits to her head (while ignoring the pain in my hand), but Raoul C flew towards us with such a speed that there was no time. I created and threw a [Divine Grenade] attack on the beast while diving towards the walls, just barely escaping with my life. And the idiot...

"Wow, you are fast. Both of you! So cool!" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

...The idiot is living up to her name.

Her admiration quickly went over as she wrapped her arms with flames and flew after Raoul C. Is she a real combat idiot on top of everything else? 

The dragon girl started to throw punches that sent burning shock waves after Raoul C, with considerable power in each punch. One of the towers connected to the Demonic Sea had its top part blown off. Is she going to be alright with all that...MP or whatever she is using as fuel for those flames?

But I cannot keep on gawking at her all the time. The army of Orimaru-counterfeits has started to climb up the walls. Some of them possess bows, but it seems like they cannot shoot directly up in the sky, or maybe they know their aim is too weak for trying to snipe me.

And in a (rare) stroke of luck, the Orimarus seemed to be in the way of the robotic army that could shoot those steam bullets. Seeing as they could not reach me, the robotic army went after the dragon girl instead.

But this means I am not out of the woods just yet. I cannot allow the Orimarus to get too high up so their weapons can reach me.

I released magic arrows and physical arrows in a blur, using the Bow Combat Art "Mystic Barrage" to send magical afterimages of the arrows to compensate for this unfair all-against-me scenario. 

Directly aiming at the armored ghosts do nothing. Their bodies can give Iron a run for his money. In that case, let us try creating a rock slide.

I released several jewel-decorated arrows I had spent my allowance on to create on the rock walls. The spell recorded in the gems ignited upon impact. Part of the wall turned unstable and started to collapse on top of the Orimaru clones who were busy trying to climb up. Nice. Let us keep this going-..., *sigh*.

"Coming through!" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

[Trouble Revelation] has already warned me, but it seems even an idiot can still learn something. 

I dodged the flaming ball of half-molten metal, most likely Raoul C, and saw it as it crashed like a meteorite into the Orimaru army down below. Why did I even bother to take out those exploding magic arrows? That was one big waste of gems, effort, and money.

The "Raoul meteor" crushed most of the Orimaru copies. Around 70% of them, I'd guess. The remaining forces are probably regrouping with the robotic army...

They are not. Quite the opposite. It looks like they are retreating. This cannot be good. I started to search for the source of the bad feeling in my stomach, the same feeling I always get whenever Filyn wanted to "take me out for a trip" to the various hellscapes in Solomar's wildlands...

I hate my gut feeling.

"Bwa-hahaha! Relax, fair angel maiden! This anonymous-" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

"But now we have several Atlach-Nachas coming towards this location now because of the loud mess you made when you defeated the Raouls." - Noire

I gave the dragon girl the news straight as it was, which caused her to finally be quiet. Rather, she froze with a stupid expression on her face. 

"A-Atla-, those giant spiders?!" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

"So you do know about them. And before you ask, I can see at least 4 of them." - Noire

"T-time for a tactical retreat!" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

"No can do. Look." - Noire

I pointed toward the various possible escape paths we could have used to flee, but they are all blocked. By the robotic army and the remains of the Orimaru clones. 

"I'll send them to the trash-heap-!" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

"There is no time. Can you try to delay those giants somehow?" - Noire

I flew down to one of the towers that were still standing and took position on top of it, where I started to write golden runes on the broken "floor".

"You want me to fight those beasts!? Even someone as dangerous and beautiful as me will be killed in a matter of seconds!" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

"Seconds are all I need to aim. Just make sure they cannot dodge my attack, and that they are properly lined up." - Noire

"O-okay. I could do that much..." - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

The previous hot-headed idiot seems to have cooled down from the reality of our situation. That is good. It will make her a great puppet to delay those giants.

The path the Atlach-Nachas are taking is a cramped canyon, at least for them. They can only travel in a direct line, which means a powerful enough attack can hit them all if it is powerful enough to penetrate each separate Nacha. 

And while it is quite costly again, I know a method of doing just that. 

After finishing writing the last rune, I retrieved a bundle of gold from my Item Bags and placed them on the ground in front of me, right beside my Thaumaturgy Bow. I then activated a skill I had only taken because my skill rebuild allowed me.

"[Golden Ballista]." - Noire

The skill affected the gold, melting it before reforming itself into a golden-colored ballista that is using the Thaumaturgy Bow as its core.

Seeing the dragon girl fight made me remember Garami's bitching about how ridiculous the Darkness Dragon she had fought was, despite the "overgrown lizard", as she referred him to, being well into his golden age, even for a dragon.

And while it pains me to admit..., I have to follow Garami's example in this situation. 

The runes of increased attacks reacted to the Thaumaturgy Bow which was gathering power for its "full force final attack", a function that sacrifices the bow and all its self-created arrows for a single, incredibly powerful attack.

And I, unlike Garami, am a girl more willing to prepare arrows of my own while keeping these "Thaumaturgy arrows" in reserve, so I have a high stock of them even after the latest shoot-outs I have been forced to participate in after entering the Gorge.

While I was preparing, the Atlach-Nachas had gotten closer to my location, but no sound of battle could be heard. That girl, did she escape? But when I turned my attention to the beasts, I saw them stuck in one location. A lot of..., is that gold? Their feet have sunk into some golden-colored sand, or maybe it is mud?

Anyway, this golden material is preventing them from moving any further. I will not comment on how wasteful it looks, but I'll take it if it holds.

The Atlach-Nachas were struggling to get their feet free, but it seems that they have not noticed my preparations. The robotic armies are in complete defense mode up at the other entrances. And I cannot see if more reinforcements arriving from behind the Atlach-Nachas.

This is my chance. The runes have enhanced the ballista to the point where I believe it will not withstand any more magical reinforcing, but it should be enough. 

"Flee!" - Noire

I shouted to the dragon girl just in case before I released the ballista. What looked like a golden comet was released from the ballista as it broke down into many pieces, the Bow and the gold alike. What a waste. 

The Atlach-Nacha in the front looked at the magical blast with what could probably be a face of disbelief right until the attack struck it..., and continued onward to the other gigantic spiders who were right behind it. A loud sound of destroyed metal was heard as the beasts were torn apart...

"Metal?" - Noire

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

Your level has increased by 12. You have reached Lv.42.

You have obtained a total of 9.6 Skill Points.

Due to Guild Master: Garami Blackwood's "Champion of Alvatria", an additional 9.6 Skill Points have been awarded.

Acquire title: [Inorganic Slayer]

Through [Inorganic Slayer], acquired the skill: [Stamina Increase (Small) Lv.1].

Skill: [Stamina Increase (Small) Lv.1] has been integrated into skill: [Stamina Increase Lv.7].

Title: [Inorganic Slayer] has advanced into the title: [Inorganic Slaughterer].

Through [Inorganic Slaughterer], acquired the skill: [Stamina Increase Lv.1].

Skill: [Stamina Increase Lv.1] has been integrated into skill: [Stamina Increase Lv.7].

Acquire title: [Machine Slayer]

Through [Machine Slayer], acquired the skill: [Vitality Increase (Small) Lv.1].

Skill: [Vitality Increase (Small) Lv.1] has been integrated into skill: [Vitality Increase Lv.4].

Title: [Machine Slayer] has advanced into the title: [Machine Slaughterer].

Through [Machine Slaughterer], acquired the skill: [Vitality Increase Lv.1].

Skill: [Vitality Increase Lv.1] has been integrated into skill: [Vitality Increase Lv.4].

Acquire title: [One Shot, One Kill]

Through [One Shot, One Kill], acquired skills: [Killing Snipe Lv.1] & [Sky Eye Lv.1].

Skill: [Sky Eye Lv.1] has been integrated into skill: [Sky Eye Lv.5].

...Wait. Were those robotic Atlach-Nachas?! What is going on with this Gorge!?

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Kigal-Note chapter:

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