"Aww, I wanted to take that fabulous snake skin with me..." - Noire

We had to leave the snake's corpse behind as we hurried after the Inventor Lord deeper into the Gorge. He was too big to fit on Gugalanna's back without having to toss away some of the treasures we have spent days gathering, something I was not going to accept. But even so, what a waste...

"Noire, we got another barricade right in front-" - Blaze

*CRASH!*

"Hmm? Did you say something?" - Noire

"Never mind!" - Blaze

It felt as if Gugalanna hit something as he ran through the rocky landscape with us four on his back, but it should not be that important. Even the thin tin can, Scarecrow, who was knocked out after trying to absorb that lightning blast, isn't knocked off. Good boy. 

"Now, take a left, then a right...he's straight ahead!" - Breaker

"That sure is a handy skill. Are you calculating the dwarf's movements based on the information you have on him?" - Blaze

"What? How would that be more helpful than just placing a tracker on him?" - Breaker

So ordinary! I understand his point, as using too many accessories can create a fashion disaster, but should he not have anything more...high-tech? It works, so I will not complain, but like Blaze, I must have an incredibly unsatisfied look on my fave right now.

After taking the two turns that Breaker told me of, Gugalanna entered a tunnel that was going further down into the depths of the mountain. 

"Mmh... I do not like these environments." - Noire

"Are you claustrophobic? ...For some reason, I'm getting the chills now too." - Blaze

"Ladies? I am sorry to say this...but I lost the tracker's signal." - Breaker

That isn't good. Are we heading for a trap here? 

We had Gugalanna carefully walk through the tunnel until we reached the area where the signal was lost. And some of us understood the reason why almost immediately. We had entered an underground area filled with grim-looking black waters.

It's a Demonic Sea. For some reason, there is a huge gap dividing several islands in a straight line, almost as if someone had cut the land itself with a huge knife. Another curiosity is that the water levels are extremely low. It feels like I am visiting Velantas again when the "great drought" brought by the Water Disaster was going on. 

And on the horizon, we could see a large construct sticking out from the ground. There is no doubt about it. That must be the Treasure Tower of Metal, the one whose representative is the very same Inventor Lord we have been chasing.

---

"This...is sick and wrong!" - Blaze

The black dwarf was nowhere to be found in the area near the tunnel's exit, so we voted for traveling to the Tower for now. On the way, Blaze had her first encounter with real Curse Creatures..., and it took much out of her. 

"Curse Creatures are the embodiment of grudges, spite, and other negative emotions. You would have to more than a few loose nuts if you did not find them horrifying." - Breaker

The wheel machine tried to calm Blaze down, and while it pains me to say it..., I am grateful for that. It is difficult to maneuver Gugalanna on the right path to the tower, as much of the islands we can travel across looks extremely brittle. One wrong move, and the ground Gugalanna stands on could collapse and force him into the Demonic Seawater. 

Losing Gugalanna at this point would be fatal. It seems there is a restriction on how many times a day I can call upon him, and right now, I am limited to just once per day. Leaving behind all the treasure we have with us is one thing, but our lives may be in jeopardy if we allow him to take an early leave. 

I say "may" because there are way fewer Curse Creatures here compared to the Demonic Sea on the Luxuria continent. Did the Inventor Lord use all of this water for his Cyborg army? If so, I am either in awe or horrified of the Loitan army's ability to handle all of them. 

As we got closer to the Tower, I noticed some lights flashing over there. Not the kind made from lanterns or bonfires. This was the light of a fierce battle. 

I asked Gugalanna to hurry up, and we arrived loudly at the large island the Tower was placed on. The surrounding islands had various facilities that seemed to be workshops for mechanical constructs. The Inventor Lord's, no doubt. 

Our great and gigantic entrance caused everyone on the battlefield to pause their conflict as they stared at my majestic bull. While they are too busy gawking at Gugalanna, let us see who is fighting who. Other than the copycat machines, the strange dolls, the Orimaru/Raoul copies, and the earth monsters. It's like a small war happening here. 

• Key person #1: the black dwarf. FOUND HIM!!
• #2: a knight dressed in black armor. He has to be the one Blaze mentioned. He's covered from head to toe with armor, so I cannot see what race he is. 
• #3: Bleu and Indigo. Even in this situation, they are clinging to each other...
• #4: Grangron!? How did he end up here? 
• #5......

"GET HIM, GUGALANNA!!" - Noire

I pushed away all other irrelevant information from my brain and ordered Gugalanna to deliver a swift and merciless execution on the one man I cannot allow to walk on this earth (even if we are below it right now) for a second more!! 

Gugalanna followed my orders to a tee and jumped to do a bodyslam on that hateful sunnuvab*tch!! The robots were thrown off during the process, but no worries. I could see in the corner of my eyes Blaze's flames starting to cover the ground where the knight had been standing, so she must have jumped off already. Good, that allows me to focus on this bastard! But I should get off too now. 

"BWA-HAHAHAHA!! Why, isn't it the pitiful angel-!" - ???

*CRAAAASH!!*

Gugalanna did a good and outright impossible accomplishment by forcing that creep to shut up. The island was shaking as if an earthquake had struck it, and from the air, I could see some of the outer-most parts of the island breaking off and falling into the Demonic Sea. Whatever. Is that devil dead?

"Hmph. What I expected from a Celestial. Your lack of common sense and civility is only matched by your lack of chest and good looks, as opposed to your delightful elder sisters." - ???

"Whyyyyy yooooou! Irritation Lord!!" - Noire

I released an arrow toward the devil dressed in a dress and a large helmet, but the bastard kicked the air and escaped to higher heights. After falling to the same attitude as me, the devil himself, the Irrtation Lord, started to talk to me while keeping himself in the air by...stepping the air at high speed???

"MWA-HAHAHA! Why, isn't it the pi-" - Irritation Lord

"How lame!" - Noire

"-tiful... YOU F*CKING ANGEL!! Why is your kind always interrupting me like that? Have the word 'etiquette' really no meaning to you people?" - Irritation Lord

"I do NOT want to hear that from you out of all persons, you hypocrite!" - Noire

*BANG!*

I decided to punish the Lord with a [Divine Grenade], but he simply allowed...himself to be hit by it? Hmm?? 

The light dispersed and revealed...the Irritation Lord without a single wound on him. HOW!? My Grenade... It failed to even dirty his clothes! But something on his hand caught my eye. It was faintly glowing in the all-familiar light of an accessory item using its effects. 

"KU-HAHAHAHA! See that? When you are an archdevil of my caliber, even the hated Holy attribute is no match-!" - Irritation Lord

"Shut it! Don't act so cocky when you're relying entirely on your items!" - Noire

I pointed at the Lord's finger with the ring, causing him to hide it in a hurry. I knew it! 

"The talk about items can wait for later. After I have buried you people in the dark waters of the Demonic Sea!" - Irritation Lord

"As if! You can't bury people inside water! You need earth to do that!" - Noire

"I know that much! Gah, all the constant straight man act with the ogre and the lesbian angel 'siblings' has drained me of too much demonic energy. Why aren't there any weak-minded fools that I can siphon some negative emotions from here?" - Irritation Lord

"Because nobody wants to hang around a freaking soul parasite such as you! Shooting Star!!" - Noire

I released the strongest Bow Arts that I know of toward the devil, which he tried to nonchalantly swat away again, but to no luck. The Bow Arts may not have legendary-class powers behind it, even if it is stronger than your average Combat Arts, but the arrow I used is a different story. 

"OUCH! Who in the right of their minds fires golden arrows at people!" asked the Irritation Lord as he released a sphere of...sound? Whatever it is, I have no intention of being hit by it, so I flew away while firing new golden arrows at the devil. 

I got the idea when I remembered that Garami was badly wounded by the same type of arrows by the undead horde that attacked us on that strange undead-city island. Therefore, I spent most of my time after this jerk invaded Damavand to create specially designed arrows in case I ever met him again.

Taking the Gold attribute after I couldn't use Curse anymore and enhancing it with the passive skill [Purified Gold] that grants traits of the Purification attribute, more precisely, the trait of removing any impurities from the created gold and making it much more useful for anti-demon combat, among other things, is mostly because I wanted to get my revenge on this lousy devil!

I did lose them all when I had to take the Extra Trial alongside Blaze, but luckily, we discovered more than enough gold that I transmuted into arrows before we left the Trial Ground. Now, take my month-long resentment and die, Irritation Lord!! 

"Whoa-, careful-, stop that-, HOLD IT!!" - Irritation Lord

The Lord made a loud shout at the end..., and that is when I remembered one of the attributes he specializes in is Sound. It blew away all my arrows! I have some more in my quiver, but if he releases more of those sonic booms, the losses will outpace the gains. And more importantly, my poor ears cannot take any more loud noises today! The explosion from the snake battle before was already too much!

"MWA-HAHAHAHAHA!! It seems that the no-good angel cannot even stand up to my whispering-*COUGH*-!?" - Irritation Lord

All of a sudden, blood started to come out of the Irritation Lord's helmet. What was that? Did someone sneak a hit when no one was looking? But this is the chance I was looking for! Gugalanna!

"*Cough*, may that devious Fae be suffering in my home-*CRASH*-WHOAAAAaaaa...!!" - Irritation Lord

Strike! Gugalanna's headbutt hit the Irritation Lord while he was preoccupied with cursing whoever the culprit behind his deteriorating health was. The downside is that he was sent flying to the other end of the Demonic Sea, so I cannot see whether his HP reached 0 or not. All the EXP lately has been so faulty...huh? Hey, is that thing coming towards us..., just what sort of mid-life crisis is he in right now?

*CRUNCH!*

What now?! Gugalanna..., my precious Gugalanna is being eaten by a gigantic, metallic...something! Is it some sort of dragon!? It looks like a merge between that and a mole! Hey, stop that! That beef is not for consumption! Shooting Star!!

*Ding*

No damage?! And..., not good. That last Combat Art... It consumed too much of my SP. My MP as well is running on fumes here...We have been fighting for too long without any decent breaks for too long...

"Ahahahaha! Go get that giant golden ornament, guardian! Show them the might of my Treasure Tower!" - Inventor Lord

If it is not one thing, it is another. I am starting to hate all of the Demon King's 12 generals, not just the devil that got sent flying just now specifically. So the towers have their special guardians. I vaguely remember hearing that at the mission briefing. Good timing. I was getting tired, so let's have that guy finish this fight for me.

"Gugalanna, return." - Noire

The giant body of my partner disappeared in gold dust, leaving the mole dragon to fall to the ground. Even someone without excellent eyesight such as mine could see that the Inventor Lord was grinning like a mad lad. But that mad smile swiftly changed into confusion. The same went for the rest of the battlefield, as the sound of combat went silent and was replaced by a roaring motor sound.

Flint has finally caught up with the rest of us. And he is driving something amazing! It looks like a fusion between a wagon designed for carrying large monster corpses, a Salamander, and one of those giant spider CCCs I defeated before. I suspect that is where he obtained the parts. 

The mole dragon, the "guardian" of the Treasure Tower, charged at Flint and his monster of a machine, but before its massive claws could reach the Lizardman, a snake made out of purple and crimson flames emerged from the front of the machine. Wait, pause for a second. A what came out of what?! 

But before I could comprehend what was happening, the snake bit the mole dragon's head and kept it in place. Flint's machine started to emit flames and accelerated, crashing into the metal creature and sending it flying straight into the black seawater. With Flint's machine looking no worse for wear. When did he become able to create such a killing machine?

"Now, who is the mad scientist who is messing with my homeland? Because I have a wheel tire sandwich with his name on it!" - Flint