"I cannot do this!!" - Revi
My hunch is strong these days.
"This man's handwriting is too horrible!!" - Revi
But THIS being the reason for the warning signals from my hunch was not something I could ever expect.
After we escaped from the undead guards who had been attracted by the electrical explosion I did on the guesthouse that the Black Baron had remade into his sweatshop (for himself) factory, we laid out the plans I had snatched from the Baron before the big bang and looked over our choices.
Unfortunately, we're coming no way further in our investigation. The Baron must have practiced making his handwriting impossible to read as a measurement against industrial espionage. Either that or he left his writer-type Machinerz back home. I'm 99.999% sure he has one.
Oh, and regarding "Machinerz", according to Bloom and the Kigal-Note, they seem to be "items that have advanced so much that they can be considered a living being". They're different from "real" mechanical creatures such as the rumored "Automatas" as the latter are "mechanical creatures" instead of being "mechanical items that are trying to replicate living creatures" like the former. Honestly, the explanation went over my head, and it's not that important now either, so I'll focus on the here and now.
The Baron's plans seem to be a red hearing. I can't expect anything good from them. There are some blueprints of the castle, with an exceptional focus on that artificial lake in the middle of the island. It seems to be important for the undead princess, or so the Black Baron believed. He's got way more data on the lake than the rest of the castle.
"...At this rate, it's better to just leave the princess to Filyn's troops." - Garami
"Mhm." - Revi
The one who should have the biggest reason and eagerness to defeat the queen simply nodded to my cowardly decision. Can't blame her. The second most common information that the Baron has gathered is about the princess. And if just half of this stuff is true, then the princess is one real monster. Probably C-rank or higher. At least, she is stronger than the Dracoliches from the Church District.
Not to forget she's a princess. She's bound to have some "royal guard" or something at her command. The Baron's notes mention some figures like that. I hope Mira's group won't do something as stupid as going for that boss fight. Well, two-thirds of their group have more than enough common sense to spare. I'm counting on you two, Alf and Noire.
"Filyn's group is probably starving after something challenging, so they should take care of that. Meanwhile, how do you say we do some sabotage?" - Garami
"Meaning?" - Iron
"This lake, it's bugging me. We don't know what it's for, but nothing prevents it from being a trump card for the princess. What if she can use that mucky water as a form of power boost?" - Garami
"I do not think so..., b-but it's not a nice thought..." - Revi
"Affirmative. If Lady Garami is right, then that amount of 'materials' for such an increase of strength would be devastating." - Iron
Yeah. This artificial lake has enough liquid in it to flood the whole island if it is forced out of the hole that acts as the lake... Crap. Just that alone makes the lake equal to a self-destruct switch for this island. If the princess's reputation is just half right even, then it's almost guaranteed that she'd do such a stunt in case she ever got defeated.
"If we're all agreeing that bitch of a princess would try such a stunt, then nobody's disagreeing on the vote of going to send that lake back to where it came from?" - Garami
"Affirmative." - Iron
"Mhm!" - Revi
I'll keep quiet about the possibility of flooding. It might just be my crazy imagination at work...
---
"So this is what a water park looks like behind the scenes." - Garami
"Water park? Lady Garami, are we not heading for the artificial lake's control room?" - Iron
"Yeah, ignore that. I was talking to myself." - Garami
From what we could decipher from the Baron's note, we discovered the secret entrance leading to the brain of this whole dark lake operation that Princess Tir na Nog has going on. These underground tunnels are so damp my clothes are starting to feel heavy, not to mention filled with pipes that it made me ask the question from before. Or maybe I should have used a plumbing station as my analogy? Yeah, that would have been better.
These pipes don't seem to be connected to the lake though. It's normal water dripping out from them, not that black goo I saw from the gardens. The castle is probably using some other pipelines for that job but used a plumbing system that the island already used to get the project "Black and Scary Lake" going. Maybe they're purifying water from Lake Velantas for their common water problems?
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And when did that man of metal start calling me "Lady"? I know I'm the boss, but "Lady" isn't something I'd describe myself as.
Well, all my questions, except the last one, will be answered when we arrive at the control room..., and here we are. That wasn't so difficult. I opened the heavy door and walked..., looked into the control system room before closing the door, rubbing my eyes, opening it again to take another look before finally and slowly closing the door one last time.
"Yup, we're not doing this." - Garami
"Whyyy!?" - Revi
"Is there something guarding the controls, Lady Garami?" - Iron
"A giant Dracolich." - Garami
"........." - Revi & Iron
Don't look at me like that! I'm already busy doubting my own two eyeballs, even if I'm wearing this blindfold, so I don't need your help with that! That ****ing princess! She had one more Dracolich extra in reserve!!
"Master, that thing behind the door is not a Dracolich, but a bunch of junk that has gathered into the shape of one." - Bloom
Eh? For real? I opened up the door and looked again. Oh, now I see it. Yup, a bunch of junk alright. And it's looking at me rudely. Ah, am I the one who's rudely opening and closing your door? Sorry.
*CRASH!!*
GYAAA!! I said I'm sorry!!
My internal apologies didn't seem to reach the junk dragon as it crunched the door (ALONG WITH THE WALL!!) in its attempt to assault us. Our knight in shining armor didn't allow that though. Iron greeted the dragon with his shield, like a picture taken out of a fantasy book. A knight versus an evil dragon! Too bad the dragon's STR is enough to send the knight crashing into the wall.
"IRON!!?" - Revi
"...I'll be...back..." - Iron
Where did he learn about that!? No, the junk dragon first, straight-man acts later.
"Bloom, options," I demanded as I evaded the dragon's claws, kicked Revi out of the dragon's AoR (Area of Rampage), and also prepared some webs in the hope that they would slow the dragon a little. They didn't. Webs...
"Hmm, this seems to be different from a ghostly dragon that possesses items. I think it is a...token. No, necromancy that uses junk?" - Bloom
"Necromancy? For something this big!?" - Garami
I thought Necromancy was all about "using the lingering powers that remain in corpses to animate golem-like entities"! That's what the textbooks said! Whoa-, that was close! Eat some Zahhak, shitface!
...That worked wonders. The junk dragon looks like it would be screaming in pain after it got hit by my darkness dragon's attack. Not to mention it was blown into the next week, or at least into the next corridor. Was Zahhak always that powerful?
"Oh? Master, I think this dragon is a token." - Bloom
"Token... Right, like you." - Garami
"I am not! Tokens are mindless drones created through skills that one can command through Leadership-type skills. I am an artificial intelligence who is given a body with a skill. There is a big difference there!!" - Bloom
Yup. A drone can't be this irritating even if it was designed for it. Necromancy-created undead are different from tokens, as the latter are like a fireball generated from a skill while the former is like the clothes I make with my Crafting skill. The practical difference is that my guys can be developed and customized. Tokens are just mooks.
"In that case, why's this guy still 'alive'? Tokens are supposed to disappear unless the summoner is commanding them and feeding them MP." - Garami
Another reason why necromancy is the best. No need for passive payments. Yay~.
"I am glad that Master is making use of your studies, but I think someone has made a technological breakthrough. I can detect 'something' inside the dragon that acts as an energy pack for it, so to say." - Bloom
Wouldn't that be a "magical" breakthrough instead of a technological one? Also, the dragon's gotten itself together after the Zahhak attack and is coming charging at us.
"If it's relying on a battery, all we need to do is get it to stop working. Revi, you're up!" - Garami
After barking out my orders, I slipped past the dragon's legs to evade its charge. That beast is so big that it takes up most of the passageway. Doing a naughty dodge is the only way to stay alive! Or be smashed into the wall like Iron, or even better, stay out of the corridor that crash-course dragon is in like Revi is.
Using the Nightmare Dagger, I slashed at the behind of the dragon's legs as I passed through it, but the dagger's stabby-stabby effect refused to work. Probably because I slashed instead of stabbed it. That's a loophole I wish didn't exist. But I didn't even have a nanosecond to spare for some honest sulking before I had to roll away to dodge the dragon's tail trying to slam me to paste.
The junk dragon is 100% aiming its aggro at me, as it turns around to face this poor helpless demon instead of trying to aim for Revi or the KO-ed Iron. I can't say this guy's taste is bad, but it's still annoying having to play the vanguard against this giant.
Hmm? Why are you opening your mouth like that? Ah, I see. A dragon breath. WHY IS THIS ****ING PIECE OF JUNK ALLOWED SUCH A RULE-BREAKING ATTACK!? And crap, [Danger Sense] is showing the whole passageway in red.
There's nowhere to run or hide, nor do I have any defense against that!! Wait, I do! The strongest defense of all: a strong attack!!
The junk dragon's charge had broken some of the waterpipes, causing the whole floor to get drenched. Not caring about the extensive MP cost, I activated [Liquid Control] to send a strong blast of water aimed at the dragon's jaw. The impact caused the dragon's mouth to close, which by extension made the dragon breath it was charging up to explode in its mouth.
"...It is sealed now!" - Revi
Huh, really? I looked over the dragon with [Identification]..., she's right. I couldn't even see that she did it. So that Seven Sin skill she has seals skills and effects and you won't even notice it unless your perception skills are top-tiers of the top-tier list? ...[Envy], what a terrifying skill.
"Round 2. Leave it to me." - Iron
And someone is back up. Great, I was feeling done with playing the hero. I'll leave that to the knight in shining armor. But before I go, take another Zahhak!!
Getting hit twice by a skill dubbed the "Dragon Slayer" has caused the junk dragon to look more undead than ever before. Its status page is sort of weird, but I can see via [Identification] that its status values have dropped low enough for Iron to defeat it on his own. Let's humor the old knight a little.
"Okay, you got it. But I'll have Revi throw in some support." - Garami
"Appreciated." - Iron
"Leave it to me!" - Revi
Oho~, it seems like the two undead (one former) are irking for the title of "dragon slayer". Let them have their fun. After 2 Zahhaks and having its "energy core/battery"-thingy sealed by another Extra Skill, that junk dragon's not going to last long anyway.
In the meantime, let's see what I can do about that lake. And maybe take a break. Even with the shortcut to the library, we have been fighting random undead mobs that we encountered on our way between the rooms. All the fighting, plus the heavy lifting I did with the dragon, has left me exhausted...
Damn, I so need a proper vacation after this.