"Flint, I'm here! Where is...the trouble...?" - Zaria

Hmm? What is going on here? All I can see is a bunch of broken stuff spread everywhere. Did the battle with those two "knights" cause this much destruction? It surpasses all the damages I've (accidentally) done to the various yakuza families combined! Just barely! 

And in the middle of the mess was a space cleared of garbage. Flint, the Black Baron (I think? He's dressed all black, so...), and a trio of moving dolls(?) stood in the middle. Rather, aren't they the same machines that messed with my head during that stupid tournament over the Treasure Tower in Luxuria?! Wait... never mind. The trio of robots is made from a completely different design than that brainwashing steam generator thing. 

"Heeey, Flint! Whatcha doing?" - Zaria

"Idiot! Don't come closer!" - Flint

"Huh?" - Zaria

Before Flint answered, I had already jumped into the clearing...and dropped down flat on the ground as I felt like that one time when that bloodstained yakuza boss chased me across half the town while swinging a massive katana made out of blood and guts. *Brr*...

And it seems that experience paid off! A large saw-wheel-like thing swung past right above me. Had I not taken to the ground, my worth would have been cut in half! Along with my body!

Akai did one of those "dynamic entries" and drop-kicked the thing, the one the saw wheel was attached to, out of the way. It looked like a mechanical gorilla walking on four limbs, with extra arms attached to its shoulders. The saw wheel is one of a pair, each attached to one of the extra arms. And the giant mecha-primate looks like...

"AH! Steampunk junk!" - Zaria

"Who's invention are you calling 'junk'!?" - ???

...The machine spoke!? Wait, that's not too weird. I can overhear those Black Baron-produced ones making a ruckus in the background. Two of them seem to be fleeing with their boss, leaving behind one who looks like a dude in silver armor. One of his arms and half his torso are missing though. If he weren't a robot, I'd put him alongside Iron on my "top 10 toughest guys in the world" list! Even if Iron too isn't what you could call a "living" being...

"Zaria, that is the Inventor Lord! He's got the Treasure from the Tower here!" - Flint

"The Inventor Lord is a robot!?" - Zaria

"No! He is riding it! Look at the robot's back!" - Flint

The robot's back? ...Oh, now I see him. There is something like a glass dome there. Inside it, I can see a grumpy shorty, a Dwarf from the looks of it, controlling the gorilla. 

"What?! Sneaking behind people and stealing treasures is NOT cool, dude! Neither is messing with people's heads in the middle of the mountains!" - Zaria

"I second that!" shouted Shiro as she jumped at the mecha-jerk in his mecha-suit. Two blood blades (ugh, now I'm remembering that yakuza boss again) in her hands were swung toward the steampunk gorilla...but the blood blades disappeared even before she got close to the hunk of junk.

"Why-?! *Punch*-guh!?" - Shiro 

SHIROOOOO!! Getting blasted into the sky from a right hook isn't helping!

"Mountains? Aah, right. The Chaos Church did request those things from me before I left Solomar. Sorry, bat girl, but that blame isn't on me. Unlike what's going to happen next..." - Inventor Lord

"Unlikely!" shouted Akai, who had used Shiro's failed attempt of an attack as a cover to allow her to get in close to the steampunk junk gorilla. Get her, girl! Smash him to scrap!

Akai's right fist, clad in an aura of ki, went for the kill! *Smash* says the mechasuit! ...Why did it say *clang* there? Where is my *smash*!? I demand a *smash*!!

"Gue-hahaha! Did a fly land on my prototype Sevens-Soldier?" - Inventor Lord

Despite my heartfelt and innocent wishes for destruction, Akai's attack did hardly any damage. She couldn't even scratch the paint! The Oni jumped backward to escape the robot's long arms, but the Inventor Lord-dude seemed keener on gloating than punching. Maybe he vented all his punching urges on Shiro?

"My ki...it disappeared. Why?" - Akai

She tried to keep her demeanor calm and controlled, but I could see her trying, and failing, to prevent her tears from falling. That metal does look tough...

"Stop that, Oni! That machine can negate any skills that get too close to it!" - Black Baron

"That explains why [Pain...], I mean, why my Ki-control skill failed. But I can punch cheap iron into dust even without skills." - Akai

"Sorry, musclebrain! This masterpiece of mine is made from refined Adamantite! Even an adult dragon couldn't make a scratch on it!" - Inventor Lord

Guh!? I remember hearing about that. When the patrolling samurai picked me up after my nth accidental clash with the yakuza, they joked that the captured party should have built their headquarters with that Adama-what's-it's-name. That stuff is supposed to be robust enough to survive centuries of tear and wear and still look like it was made yesterday! 

"If skills don't work, then how about weapons-!" - Artemis

Now that (idiot) tiger girl is jumping into the fray. Hey, stop revealing yourself! Gah! Is this whole party filled with idiots?! 

While my despair over the Idiot Party's lack of INT was magnificently ignored by the world, Artemis tried to punch through the glass sphere that protected the Inventor Lord. Right before her strike connected, a flash of light came from the robot gorilla. Artemis stopped her attack by jumping down to the ground (while in the air. Is she the same type of acrobat as Garami!?). It was then we noticed what had happened.

"M-MY GLOOOOVES!?" - Artemis

I think the correct name is "gauntlets", but I share her surprise. Those heavily armored metal "gloves" disappeared when our eyes were out of commission! Who could have performed that theft of the century?! ..."Theft"...? D-don't tell me...!

"Hmm, the craftsmanship of these gauntlets is not half bad...but still, primitive." - Inventor Lord

GAAAHH!! The Inventor Lord had somehow got his hands on Artemis' fancy combat gauntlets! They've been teleported to inside the glass container, er, or was it called a "cockpit"? In any case...

"Seven-Soldier... Don't tell me it's referring to the Seven Sins skills...!" - Zaria

"You're smarter than you look, woman. And that is saying something when you're just a few points short of being equal to Scarecrow in a looks-stupid competition." - Black Baron

"What does that-! ...I mean, is it true?" - Zaria

While the Idiot Party was keeping the robot gorilla busy, I had taken the time to evacuate Flint, the Black Baron(?), and the three robots behind some of the debris. The silver-colored armor guy looks like he'll shut down any second now. Flint and the black-clothed guy started to tinker with something the moment we fled from the machine gorilla's sight. Typical Crafters. Can't keep their hands in check. 

"It is. That mad dwarf, he's somehow developed the technology to replicate Seven Sins and Seven Virtues skills." - Flint

"For real......" - Zaria

"Hey, Batty! Now's not the time to escape reality! Let me do that!" - Scarecrow

"WHAT!?" - Zaria

"Pthh..., Batty..." - Flint

"I heard you, you damn lizard!" - Zaria

"Anyway, erm, Batty-" - Black Baron

"You too!?" - Zaria

"Excuse me, Miss Batty, we are in the middle of trying to survive a mechanical mayhem right now-" - Breaker

"And that's not something a fellow mechanical moron is allowed to say! And don't call me Batty!" - Zaria

"SHUT UP, BATTY." - Assault

"GAH!! I didn't ask for this stereo assault!" - Zaria

"Stereo..., could that work?" - Flint

"No. That machine has perfectly replicated the weaker version of the [Humilitas Divine Guardian - Raphael]. Trying to surround it with attacks won't do any good." - Black Baron

"Hey, don't ignore me! And what's going on!? Why did that ***** Regina flee from this place if we have this robotic doomsday gorilla on our hands?!" - Zaria

"Of course, she needed to flee. That braggart Flamel needed a bodyguard to deliver the [End of Civilization]-replica potion. The infamous Dragon King of the Invidia Continent is a much greater threat than that fool of a dwarf Hammerson over there ever could be, no matter how much he tries to copy my work." - Black Baron

"......YOUR WORK!?" - Flint & Zaria

"Whoops." - Black Baron

"Boss, that just now was a Scarecrow-level act of stupidity." - Breaker

"HEY! I can be more 'stupidity' than that!" - Scarecrow

"Fine, I stand corrected. But please, Miss Batty and Mr. Flint, do not misunderstand. The Baron did not give his technological secrets to Hammerson by choice. We just want to go home." - Breaker

"And when we get there, I'm going to install mute buttons on all three of you!" - Black Baron

"Whaaaat!? Me too!?" - Scarecrow

"THAT DID NOT COME AS A SURPRISE." - Assault

"...Okay, I have too many questions right now, so first... Who is this 'Hammerson' guy you are talking about!?" - Zaria

"It's the Inventor Lord." - Flint

"Oh, now that makes sense. In that case, how do we defeat that gorilla? And don't call me 'Miss Batty' either!" - Zaria

"If I knew. Honestly, calling that thing a menace is too kind. Its replicated [Humility] skill negates any skills if you get too close to it, and the replicated [Greed] skill takes away whatever items we have that can destroy it." - Flint

"And as the icing on the cake, it's made out of enhanced Adamantite alloy, so even non-skill-based long-range attacks won't do much." - Black Baron

"It at least makes it easy to understand why a power-hungry egomaniac as Hammerson decided to work underneath the Champion of Fire." - Breaker

"Yeah! I bet he's too stupid to make those replicas without ADN from the real users or something." - Scarecrow

"Mmm..., you mean 'DNA', my old friend." - Breaker

DNA from the real users... That must be why the copies of these two were trying to get a blood sample from Blot! But didn't Blot steal that back along with some other vial? Then the Inventor Lord must have sent some other goons to collect a new sample. The Demonic Seas of each continent are supposed to be connected, and the copycats emerged from one of the entrances to the Luxuria Demonic Sea.

Maybe we should count ourselves lucky he did not send even more robotic troops. It would be difficult even for Blot to not let a drop of blood spill if he had to take care of those machines alongside all the other chaos we experienced at the Mystic Mountains. 

"IN SHORT, WE NEED A SPECIFIC ITEM TO DEFEAT THE INVENTOR LORD." - Assault

"An item?" - Zaria

"You don't need a combat-specialized supercomputer like this guy to understand the deal. Skills are negated and equipment gets stolen. Then the only way to defeat that machine is through a bomb." - Black Baron

"A bomb!?" - Zaria

"You saw what happened to the gauntlets belonging to that cat girl. If we can trick the Inventor Lord into thinking the bomb is a power-up item, he might use replica [Greed] to steal the item and transport it to inside the machine gorilla's cockpit." - Flint

Oh, that's clever. And devious! This can't be Flint's brainchild, so is it this Black Baron-like guy's idea? His deviousness levels are at the same level as Garami!! ...Which means he must be the real deal. Garami mentioned once that the Black Baron was supposed to be the Champion of Darkness, but he declined, so Garami was allowed to get that honor instead. If they are equally nasty in their plans, no wonder they both qualified for that Champion role. 

"Okay, leave the bomb-throwing to me then! I have experience tricking people into taking stuff that's not good for them." - Zaria

"What sort of experience is that?" - Flint

Experience with scheming people. But my lips are sealed regarding that subject. I didn't even know I was tricking people with that "pyramid scheme" con...

"None of that matters! I don't have the materials to prepare a bomb with enough firepower to defeat that braggart!" - Black Baron

"Oh, come on! I was getting my throwing arm ready!" - Zaria

"Then you can try to gather some materials! Even some simple gunpowder would be a blessing at this point!" - Black Baron

Ugh, that's easier said than done. If there was anything explosive in the garbage around us, then they'd go boom a long time ago. And all I have on me is Rattletop and...nothing! Kuh, is this my punishment for being too stingy about equipment and consumables and rather relying on my skills? Now I am starting to understand Mira's obsession with good gear.

I still have my Item Bag on me, but all that's in there are...the souvenirs I bought for everyone in the Guild from Wakoku's port town the day before the Floatships could set off. And there is nothing...?

Or maybe...there is something?

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