[Arc 5] Chapter 2-14: Gorge of Conspiracies
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"STOOOP THIIIIS THIIIING!!" - Breaker

"Sorry. I broke the brakes." - Scarecrow

"THAT ISN'T WHAT I WISHED TO HEAAAAAR!!" - Breaker

Seriously. Just why is that Baron-person having these two on his team?

I fired a pair of arrows, aiming at the machine's wheels, forcing it to stop and crash into the ground. The two robots were flung into the sky, and right into Blaze's arms as she caught them. 

"W-we are saved?" - Breaker

"Yay! Banzai!" - Scarecrow

"You better not be counting your chickens just yet," said Blaze as she lowered the two onto the ground before starting to stare down the machine army rushing toward her. 

"Noire, support me...isn't something I should count on, right?" - Blaze

"No worries. This will only take a moment..." I replied to Blaze as I stared down the two wretched nemeses of mine...

"Noire...? Hey, Indigo, isn't that Violet no matter how you look at her?" - Bleu

"Correct, sister Bleu. It seems that she is working under a cover. Let us play along." - Indigo

Those two girls..., despite working for one of the Demon King's 12 Generals, they are still dressed in those white, custom-made combat uniforms of theirs.

And I REALLY, UNDOUBTEDLY hate to admit it, but it looks good on them..., which just causes me to hate it all the more! What is up with those blessed bodies of theirs!? Aren't they worse than before I left Patientia? Even Mira isn't that slutty-looking, and they still manage to look angelic despite that! Grrrrr...!

"Sister Bleu, I think Violet has yet to learn how to keep her anger in check," said that snobby Indigo as she played with her waist-long hair of the same color as the one she is named after.

"Indigo, you should not say that so the person in question can hear you. It is rude," replied that boorish Bleu.

Why, JUST WHY is this tomboy so much more of a "woman" than me!? The feminine-looking Indigo, who was nicknamed "the Royal Lady" back on Patienta, I can slightly forgive (actually, not at all), but that short-haired tomboy to end all tomboys? NEVER! And the way they are clinging to each other, don't tell me-!

"I am far better than you, Indigo! And Bleu, you are no better at keeping your voice down than her!" - Noire

"Wow. Violet, was it not your eyes that were supposed to be the greatest among us siblings? When did you obtain the greatest ears as well?" - Indigo

"Shut it and stand down! This will not be like back in the days when you wanted to 'educate' me!" - Noire

I looked at the two's weapons, a pair of handguns for Indigo and a large shotgun for Bleu alongside a rough saber. Such brutish weapons, far from the elegance of my-.

"NOIRE! WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG!?" shouted Blaze as she was fending off the army of robotic doppelgangers.

"BE QUIET! I am venting 10-plus-something years' worth of complaints that I couldn't tell these two!" - Noire

"WHO CARES!? JUST BEAT THEM ALREADY!!" - Blaze

"I agree with the Princess. Alas..." - Bleu

"Yes, sister Bleu," said Indigo as the two aimed their weapons at me. "At this rate, we will be the ones who will lose."

These two...? Hmm?? HMMMM??? 

"Please excuse us, Violet. No, was it Noire now? We do not have the time, nor the energy, to frolic with you. Not when an enemy much worse than the Demon King or the Fae King is still on the loose." - Bleu

"Wait, hold on! What did you-!" - Noire

"Gun Arts: Flashshot!!" - Bleu & Indigo

"Tch! Bow Arts: Parry Arrow!" - Noire

The two "sisters" of mine fired a glowing bullet from their respective weapons, so I hurriedly fired an arrow to intercept the attacks with my own. When the three projectiles collided, a gigantic flash of light was created from our three attacks. They got me! No, they did not! I can still detect them if they try to attack thanks to [Trouble Revelation]! Now, come at me with whatever you have! 

......

............They fled. 

When the light died, all that was left was me, Blaze, a field of scrap metal around her, and the two "originals" that we are saving from the army of counterfeits.

"Saving" as in the present term. There are still many more machines charging in, even with the humongous amount that Blaze has already defeated, and worst of all, there are no clues as to where those two incest siblings went, nor is there any time to be looking for it due to the mentioned robot army that is charging at us with the intent to kill. 

".........I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!!" - Noire

---

It took a while, but we finally managed to defeat the robotic army. Strangely, my level never went up. It didn't do so during the Extra Trial, but I can understand that being part of the whole "trial"-thing. But that makes it stranger for the robots to do the same...

"F-f-finally..." said Blaze with a voice that was out of breath, before she collapsed onto the mountain of half-molten metal. Does that not burn her? Not even a little? Fire-type dragons are too dull when it comes to hot matters.

"Wow, thanks for that, ladies! Well, we'll be on our way." - Scarecrow

"Idiot! Don't tell them that-" - Breaker

Oh, you're not going anywhere.

I fired some arrows to block the path as the two original robots we "saved" were trying to make a silent exit..., except that the large and thin one was stupid enough to talk to us before that. Idiot indeed. 

"And what is your story here?" - Noire

"W-wait! We are not here to cause trouble!" - Breaker

"Yeah! We're just getting kidnapped, almost dismantled, and having our trademark taken from us!" - Scarecrow

"Trademark? Oh, the copies." - Noire

"That is right! Our lord, the Black Baron, was caught alongside us! They threw him into a cell while we were being experimented on!" - Breaker

"I want to say, I'll not give them their 5 stars for their treatment!" - Scarecrow

"For the last time, we were not invited to a luxury hotel, you nincompoop!" - Breaker

"EEEEEHHHH!? ...I still won't give them those stars." - Scarecrow

I am starting to feel a certain kinship with the wheel-shaped robot. He has to handle idiots all the time, just like me. Geez, what would have happened to our Guild if I had not been there to help?

"And where are the proofs that you're not working together with the mastermind behind the puppet robots from before? For all we know, your 'baron' could have worked together with those guys and prepared that armada of copycats for them." - Blaze

"UGH! W-well, there is a good reason-" - Breaker

"They are not. Those machines we destroyed are made from a completely different source." - Noire

"You can tell?" - Blaze

"Of course. I am a master craftswoman after all." - Noire

"Seriously! Give me your sign!" - Scarecrow

...These two may not be that bad after all.

"...Let's move on assuming you two are telling the truth. Then explain why the Inventor Lord, I think he's the one behind this-" - Blaze

"Inventor Lord? Are you talking about that soot-colored dwarf?" - Breaker

"Or that black knight that always threw daggers at me whenever I asked for new blankets?" - Scarecrow

Black knight? Is there someone else working with the Invention Lord other than Bleu and Indigo? There's also that "fae king" Bleu mentioned before she fled...

"Things are getting hectic in this gorge." - Blaze

"No need to state the obvious." - Noire

"......! Oh, that is right! Several agendas are running amok inside this mountain. More so than in the rest of this continent!" - Breaker

"You know something we don't?" - Noire

"Yes, now I do. And to answer your question, let me answer the one that I assume the dragon lady here wanted to ask. The reason why this 'inventor lord' person wanted to steal the technology of our lord, the Black Baron, is because he cannot produce more troops anymore." - Breaker

"What, is he empty for bad design ideas?" - Noire

"That may be the truth as well, but that is not the point in this case. The reason why this lord cannot produce more 'machine' subordinates is simple: he does not have more materials to act as their core component." - Breaker

"Their 'core component'?" - Blaze

"Correct. This core...it is water from the Demonic Sea located underneath this continent! All the machines you have fought until now have been pseudo-Curse Creatures!" - Breaker

"W-WHAAAAT?!" - Noire

Curse Creatures, are they not those horrifying beings Garami and that Zaria-girl mentioned they encountered when they were traveling through that same type of sea underneath the Luxuria continent? What is wrong with the head of that so-called 'Inventor' Lord? Isn't he just a mad scientist!?

"...Curse? Creature? What are those?" - Blaze

"I don't know. Why don't we ask those guys if they can tell us?" - Scarecrow

"Those guys?" - Noire & Blaze & Breaker

We all turned around to see where the thin robot pointed..., and saw that he was talking about a large amount of those strange, crocodile-like earth monsters from before. 

"Come on! I'm already exhausted from fighting those robots! Can't you do something about this, Noire?" - Blaze

"Please stop asking for the impossible and get to the front line! I am just a supporter!" - Noire

I rejected Blaze's unreasonable request and took to the sky again. Luckily, none of these creatures seems capable of flight...? Over there..., a new earth monster just spawned. Straight from the ground. For some reason, I am getting a serious case of deja-vu when seeing that. But from where...?

"Don't be like that! Make some use of that power that scared off those big sis of yours!" - Blaze

What power!? I don't know why they decided to run off..., I mean, of course, they would run off when faced against someone of my caliber! ...And who am I explaining this to again!? 

Gah, there has to be something that explains those two's behavior. Something that can turn the situation around... Is this it? On my skill list, this new skill..., the reward I obtained from the Extra Trial. If I look at its effects through [Observation (Celestial)]...? Are you for real?!

"Kukukuku..., AHAHAHAHA!" - Noire

This is it! The power I am so rightfully deserving! 

"Noire? Are you alright? You still have all your marbles?" - Blaze

"Shut it and get back! I'll do exactly what you asked for. Come on out, GUGALANNA!!" - Noire

At my command, a golden-colored magic circle emerged in front of me in the air. From it, gigantic hooves emerged, trampling over the earth monster, just like stamping on bugs. Then, the rest of the creature climbed out of the magic circle. A gigantic cow made out of swirling clouds enclosed by a shell of lapis lazuli and golden gems. A true divine being. 

"Now, stamp them all down to dust and move forward in the name of your mistress, Gugalanna!" - Noire

"W-w-what is going on!?" - Breaker

"I think she went nuts with the POWER." - Scarecrow

"I think you're on to something there..." - Blaze

---

Meanwhile, at Flint's location:

"Just what is this Lord trying to accomplish!?" - Flint

I threw the opened-up corpse of a mechanical doll that I had run over and dissected to understand its components, but never before have I seen such madness. That guy is using a sphere filled with Demonic Sea water as the doll's core. Normally, you use an aether-conductive material such as crystals, not an embodiment of pure grudges!

"So that is why that fellow is so obsessed with having his creations mimic Outer Ones." - Flamel

"This isn't the time to be making poor jokes! That water is seriously bad news!" - Flint

"Oh? Do you have experience with the Demonic Seas, Flint?" - Flame

"A little, thanks to a secret project Garami made me do down in the Sea underneath Luxuria, but that's all I needed." - Flint

"Ah, experience. The true driving power behind inventions after imagination. In that case, I will put my trust in your understanding of the subject. Let us hurry on." - Flamel

We put down the broken machines and started to remove the rubble of the gigantic spider-type dolls that had blocked our path just a small while ago. Who would think that two crafters could defeat such behemoths? They could probably fend off an adult dragon in a one-on-one fight.

*CRASH!!*

Just as we were about to leave, one of the rock walls broke, and a pair of..."humanoid" appearances, and one more, came out of the dust cloud. 

"*Cough, cough, cough*, blasted! We got separated from the ogre!" - ???

Who is that? Some man clad in a black uniform, with his face covered by aviator goggles and helmet, brushed off the stone dust from his clothes. The other humanoid is..., a red-haired zombie. That must be the secret weapon Garami and the Lich-boss Onyx had prepared for the exploration group. And the "extra" person is...

"Hey, Lunatic! What are you doing here?" - Flint

"*Happy crazy-spider-noises*." - Lunatic

"Huh? Geh! You're Flamel!" - Black-clothed man

"Well, funny to see you here again, Black Baron." - Flamel

Oh, boy. This is not going to be pretty. 

---

Kigal-Note chapter:

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