Side: Grangron

"Ouch...my head. What happened?" - Grangron

"In prison, Gran." - Shen

"You have been asleep for more than a day, Gran." - Sei

"Boy, do I sleep... PRISON!?" - Grangron

"Thank you for your predicable delayed response." - Shen

"No probs. But how did we end up here? Really, HOW did we end up here?" - Grangron

"When the unidentified-whatever-it-was destroyed the ground we were standing on, we landed in an underground river that flushed us through the gorge. Before long, we were saved by a pair of Flugel girls." - Shen

"Wow. What good girls!" - Grangron

"Then they locked us in here. Even took all our equipment." - Sei

"Wow. What bad girls." - Grangron

"Exactly. The crazy spider is in a slump in the other cell from having her weapons confiscated." - Shen

"*Sad spider-noises*." - Lunatic

"So that's what it was. Why didn't we fight back?! The enemy was only two girls!" - Grangron

"Because we were all drenched in water, the girls had an army with them, and you were in a half-drowned state because you never bothered to learn how to swim." - Shen

"Oh, right. My bad." - Grangron

"Apology accepted. I don't think you would have made any difference." - Shen

"Why so?" - Grangron

"The angels..., they were commanding the 'not-robots'." - Sei

"The what now?" - Grangron

"The creatures that the dragons presume are robotic in origin. They are not wrong..., but not completely right either." - Shen

"Huh?" - Grangron

"It is complicated." - Sei

"Oh, I got it! And who is that guy over there?" - Grangron

"*Angrish mumbling noises*." - ???

"The...source of the complications." - Shen

"I HEARD THAT!" - ???

"Hmm, and we can't bust ourselves out?" - Grangron

"No. We have to wait patiently for Noire to come with a rescue team." - Shen

"Then we're in good hands! I can see her storming to our rescue even as we speak!" - Grangron

---

5 days before the release of the Invidia Overlord.

Noire's PoV:

"*Yawn*, ...where am I?" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

"In confinement." - Noire

"Oh, that explains the ropes..., WHY?!" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

"Because I do not want to die because of some fool!" - Noire

"That sounds reasonable." - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

"...YOU are the fool in question." - Noire

"HEY! ...But, that's reasonable as well. Damn..." - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

The idiot of a dragon girl hang her head in depression as she sat bound to the rock pillar in the cave we found yesterday to set up camp in. Thank god I kept a set of anti-dragon ropes on me, just in case something would happen in this dragon kingdom, but this girl is causing me too many headaches...

"But, Violet? Why am I-?" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

"Do. Not. Call. Me. By. That. Name." - Noire

"O-okay..., sheesh. And to think Mr. Arc called you his 'young genius daughter'..." - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

"And don't mention that man!! ...Wait. Did you say 'genius'?" - Noire

"Yes, I did. Why?" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

"...No, nothing. It must be a different person then. No, it has to be." - Noire

"...? Are you not Violet Arc Ciel, the youngest of Regning Arc Ciel's seven children?" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

And there goes my hope out the window.

"FINE! I hate to admit it, but I am that bastard's daughter! Now, do you have any other requests before you take that secret to the grave?" - Noire

"Wait-wait-wait-STOOOP!! Why the sudden bloodlust?!" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

"Why wouldn't I be ashamed to be called the daughter of the idiot that was responsible for the Disaster of Chaos being released on the world? I barely escaped with my life from that...disaster!" - Noire

Back when I lived on the Patientia continent, that idiot of a father was completely obsessed with the idea of "transformation heroes". Then, one of his idiotic "villain" friends got the idiotic idea of creating a "combination creature" to beat my father in the race of a "combination robot" or whatever. Just retelling this story feels so idiotic that I feel like an idiot. 

I even advised my father that he should stop playing games and make peace with the idiotic "villain", but my father was too drunk on the idea of being a "hero", so the other idiot initiated those mad plans of his and unleashed Tres Clades, the Disaster of Chaos, onto our home world!

During the confusion, and a little because my older siblings always got the spotlight, I am forced to admit, I snuck onboard a floatship heading off the continent and arrived on Invidia.

Thankfully, I met Filyn just when the "allowance" I had taken with me from our mansion had run out, so I did my best flattering her so she would not fire me. Who knows what dangers there are trying to obtain a place to work in a literal country of demons?

"That would indeed leave some mental scars," said the dragon girl after I had vented myself empty those many years' worth of pent-up frustration for my foolish family. 

"I never said that! Now-" - Noire

It is time to say your prayers, was what I was about to tell the dragon girl, but her next words made me freeze up.

"No wonder Mr. Ciel has placed a bounty to bring his favorite daughter home, safe and sound." - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

"It is time to...wat?" - Noire

"What?" - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

"Did you say 'favorite' just now?" - Noire

"Yeah, I did." - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

"...The same guy that skipped out of 10 of my theater performances, and was responsible for that an additional 3 of them were canceled, when I was a child, actually said I was his 'favorite'?" - Noire

"I'm sure of it. It was the day when Mr. Ciel kicked those old clan lords' butts after they kept on pestering my dad to lower their taxes and rather take from the subordinate clans. Ah, good days." - (Self-proclaimed) anonymous busty beauty dragon

......She does realize that she just busted herself there, right?

"So, Ms. Loitan, what did my father, *brr*, really say?" - Noire

"Exactly what I meant. Mr. Ciel, as opposed to his boys, never seemed to be all for the 'fun and colorful' stuff, but he's always there to keep my dad's back..., and what did you call me!?" - "Ms. Loitan"

"You know what I said, Ms. Flammete Cadmus Loitan. Princess of the Loitan dragon kingdom. ...And the girl who got clobbered by Flint's failed experiment." - Noire

I mean, if aristocrats like the old clan lords are asking her father for a favor, then that person can only be the king himself. And I already studied most of the majesties in this country to prevent any royal incidents.  

"Why did you have to bring up exactly that?! I lost a tooth that day!" - Flammete Cadmus Loitan

"Tough luck. And you're still sneaking out from your home to go on adventurers." - Noire

"I could say the same about you!" - Flammete Cadmus Loitan

Ugh! My heart... It hurts like a thousand worlds of pain and fashion disasters...

"Also, call me Blaze. All my friends do that." - Blaze

"Do all your friends tie you up to be left behind in a cave filled with killer robots?" - Noire

"The robots are new, but yeah." - Blaze

......This girl needs some better friends.

"Also, why am I being tied up to this rock again?" - Blaze

"Don't you remember last night?" - Noire

"Hmm, it is coming to me..., was it when I asked what was for dinner?" - Blaze

"No." - Noire

"The time when I asked if you had any shampoo on you?" - Blaze

"No. That one was a completely natural question." - Noire

"Hmm, this is a tough one..." - Blaze

"Oh, for crying out loud! It was the part of you suggesting we should storm the robots' secret lair!" - Noire

"Now I get it! ...No, I don't get it. Why am I getting the bondage treatment because I want to dish out some justice sandwiches?" - Blaze

"More like being turned into pretty girls-sandwiches. Didn't you see those giant robot spiders that almost killed us!?" - Noire

"You mean those you busted, sister? Boom!" - Blaze

"Don't you 'sister' or 'boom' me. And that was thanks to sacrificing my Thaumaturgy Bow!" - Noire

"Can't you make a new one?" - Blaze

"It is a System-given reward for defeating a Wild Hunt Lord. Of course, I can't make a new one! Mostly because it is not an item that is possible to be created, since it is the product of logic-bending godly powers. Or else I could have done it." - Noire

"Is that for real? Wow, you are amazing!" - Blaze

"...Y-you at least have some sense in your head." - Noire

"I get that a lot." - Blaze

"...Girl, you seriously need better friends." - Noire

"I do? But Violet-" - Blaze

"It. Is. NOIRE. My father's lame idea of naming us after our colors in some other world's language is something my fashion sense does NOT tolerate." - Noire

"Wow, I never picked Mr. Ciel to be lazy with names. And hey! You're not violet-colored!" - Blaze

"It's known as 'purple' in father's 'trivia about other worlds' book." - Noire

To demonstrate, I turned off the "disguise amulet", the sole item I took from home and still have on me, and showed my real face. There is not much of a difference though. Only that my hair returned from being silver to its natural purple color.

Thinking about it, I have been in this item's debt for a long time. Like the time it allowed me to escape Garami's cruel and unusual punishment. Those beach bitches didn't notice that I had slipped it on one of them and had her take my place as a scapegoat. ...Now that I think about it, those girls must have sand in their heads for falling for that trick. Even the one I used as a scapegoat, even if I did drug her slightly...

"Sweet! I want one!" - Blaze

"You're not getting one. This is the masterpiece of my ancestor. Besides, the numbers of these items are far from 'many'." - Noire

"Tch! It would be so easy sneaking out from the palace if I had one." - Blaze

......Oh no. I am at the same level as this idiot.

"And can we stop digressing? I'll say it again: I will not join you in what can only be seen as a complete suicide mission." - Noire

"What if we reduce the difficulty from 'completely' to 'non-suicidal'?" - Blaze

"...? What is that supposed to mean? I thought the city of Loitan did not have the resources to send in people into the Gorge." - Noire

While we were admitted at the entrance gate to the Gorge, I overheard some of the soldiers there speaking of this. That the safety of the civilians was the number one objective, so they cannot afford to send their troops down here until the forces outside the country returns.

"...I don't get it. Why are you talking about the army now?" - Blaze

"Your plan is going on communicating with them somehow...right?" - Noire

"Nope. Sharing the glory is a pain." - Blaze

That's...something I can relate to, even if it pains me to admit it. But there is a limit to everything. We cannot hope to fight off those robots...robots?

"Back to my story, there's a secret passageway that will give us not only...? Violet, can you hear me?" - Blaze

"IT. IS. NOIRE." - Noire

"Hiii!! Sorry, sorry, please excuse this frail little lizard!!" - Blaze

"If you feel any remorse, stop acting in a fashion that would make people take me for some fear-inducing monster! Anyhow, do you have an idea of how many enemies there are on the robots' side? As in, non-robotic and non-ghostly ones." - Noire

"Just four." - Blaze

"That was a fast reply." - Noire

"It's because I found their hideout. Two of them are recently-hired goons though." - Blaze

Meaning there are only 2 people who could command those ghosts and robots...

"Why did you ask?" - Blaze

"Isn't it obvious? Looking at the robots and ghosts we have fought, there is close to no doubt that they are all either tokens or some other kind of creation that is controlled by something akin to a Leadership skill." - Noire

"Where did that idea come from?" - Blaze

"I am an accessory crafter, so I am fuzzy about details. And the robots we have encountered up until now have been too alike to each other to be individuals with minds of their own. Most likely, they are mass-produced by some factory. The giant Atlach-Nacha robots from yesterday acted mostly on pre-prepared actions. If not, they would probably have tried to evade your mudslide." - Noire

"Good call! ...HUH?! You mean those guys are mass-produced?!" - Blaze

"That is my theory at the moment. Their vocal lines also sounded too similar to each other, and along with that they felt too artificial to be 'living' Automata-like beings." - Noire

"Wow. I didn't notice at all." - Blaze

"Neither did I back then. As for the ghosts, I think they act the same way. Even the undead will make sure they do not die, but the army of Orimarus tried to reach me despite how many of them were shot off the cliffs." - Noire

It makes me remember the undead hordes back in Tir na Nog. They kept on moving towards us despite our advantage. It was like they were soulless puppets. Then again, they are undead, so maybe that's not the right metaphor, but thinking back now, that Dungeon did not follow the same rules as Damavand.

Maybe it was not a "proper" Dungeon from the very beginning. That could explain why Iron and his friends be "born" there, or why Orimaru and Raoul were able to be Tamed. 

"If my assumption is correct, then the four people you have seen must not be commanding the robots or the ghosts through LP-related skills, but some sort of contraption instead. That would explain why they can have so many of them under their command." - Noire

"Ah, I hate those LP things. It makes it so difficult for us dragons to party up now!" - Blaze

"And that is a good thing. Back to the point, did you notice anything like that?" - Noire

"......Maybe? I didn't exactly look for something like that the first time, and they noticed me almost instantly, so it's not like I got a good look in the first place." - Blaze

"Then why are you saying it's 'maybe' possible then?" I asked her a little more grumpily than I wanted to. 

"Because there are huge facilities at their hideout!" - Blaze

"Yup. We have our potential winners. Destroying or searching through them could lead to our victory. But then again, we do not have the strength to do that, not to mention we are still outnumbered four-to-two..." - Noire

"No worries there. We just need to suit up with the Extra Skills!" - Blaze

"Where did that come from!?" - Noire

"Right, I didn't tell you that yet..., but can you take off these ropes now? They're scratchy, and I've yet to eat breakfast..." - Blaze

So said the dragon girl with tears in her eyes...TCH! She's cuter than me..., NO, SHE IS NOT! I refuse to be below this macho girl!! ...Giving her breakfast shouldn't be too impossible though...

"Could you? Please? It is not that much to ask such a beautiful, genius girl such as you." - Blaze

...

---

"Here it is! The doorway to solve all our problems!" - Blaze

"Hmm..." - Noire

"What's up? Gorgeous, heavenly lady Noire?" - Blaze

"Keep it coming..." - Noire

"Huh?" - Blaze

"I-I-I mean, is this the 'Trial Ground' you talked about before? It looks just like a pair of huge doors carved out from the rock wall." - Noire

I am not kidding. It feels like someone just carved the door into the wall. A huge door, with many details, and extraordinary artwork..., but still, it is just a stone carving.

"That is what these are for~," replied Blaze as she showed me a pair of coin-like items. 

"Ta-da~. These are a pair of Extra Medals that I've been finding here lately~." - Blaze

"Did you find these on your own?" - Noire

"Sure! Though I did give some to the various clan heads that have been helping me, I still got a small stash for myself. But don't tell my dad. They wanted to give them as presents to him." -Blaze

If the latest System Update is the culprit for these Medals to have appeared, then this girl must have quite the talent for discovering treasures if she found more than the bag she is showing me in such a short time.

"I convinced a Frost Hunter to tell me what they knew about these Trial Grounds, and they said that you can enter multiple people at the same time if they all use the same type of Medal at the same time." - Blaze

"Got any dupes then?" - Noire

"Hmm..., not this, neither this..., here we go! But it looks sort of strange...?" - Blaze

I took a look at it, but I cannot make heads or tails of it either. Despite it being a coin. The back sides of the pair of medals have the words "Enuma Elish" written..., but what does that mean?

"Are you sure this is safe?" - Noire

"Sure as birds can fly!" - Blaze

Has she never seen a chicken before? She did mention during the breakfast that she's already been through three Trials, and seeing as she's still alive here and now...

"Okay. Let's do this." - Noire

"As expected of the fabulous miss Noire!!" - Blaze

Hmhm~~... Strange. It feels great that there is finally someone who knows how to appreciate me, but for some reason, it feels like I am being scammed, yet not... Must be my imagination. For now, it is time to obtain the powers that is worthy of me!

---