Chapter 94: The Inflexible Gatekeeper

Oikatzo: "There are plenty of things I want to say and plenty I want to hit, but if you've got last words, I'll hear them out for now."

Pencilgon: "If you're having trouble coming up with any, leave it to me. I'll make sure you let out a truly spectacular dying scream."

Both of them are smiling. It's the kind of polished smile that, befitting people whose jobs require showing their faces to others, even an amateur like me can tell is expertly crafted. And yet, they've got my shoulders and arms locked up tight... locked up with a grip that makes absolutely sure I won't get away. In that state, I'm genuinely racking my brain about what to do. For now, I'll go with the standard routine to buy some time...

Sunraku: "H-How did you two find this place...!"

Pencilgon: "Sunraku-kun, you shoved some items into Inventoria, didn't you? We'll make you spill the trick behind how you got your hands on such a massive haul of Crystal Scorpion materials later. But those monsters only spawn at Crystal Nest Cliff, you see."

Sunraku: "So that's where you picked up my trail... I've been careless..."

Pencilgon: "After that, it was just sending emails to get a direction lock, plus a hunch that since you're always two steps ahead of predictions, you'd probably already be this far in. But well, the decisive factor was..."

Where Pencilgon points, there's Emul, apparently still unable to fully grasp the situation. She's looking back and forth between me and the others in a fluster.

Emul: "Sh-Showing them the way because they're Sunraku-san's acquaintances... was that bad... wa?"

Sunraku: "Ah... Emul, remember this. These two will turn on you depending on the situation, so you basically have to stay on guard against them as potential enemies."

Oikatzo: "Hahaha, aren't we close friends, scapegoat?"

Pencilgon: "That's right. To me, both of you are precious pawns... I mean, precious friends!"

Did you hear that, Emul? The way these two scumbags operate is basically use-and-dispose. They're like a sword where the handle's also a blade—sharper than a razor, these two.

Sunraku: "Well, putting the farce aside, there's a high probability that the item we need to satisfy the conditions for reactor repair is down below. So for now, Oikatzo, go bungee jump for us."

Pencilgon: "Right then, shall we jump on down, Katzo-kun?"

Oikatzo: "Ah, damn it, I got targeted!"

On the battlefield, the one who neglects hate management dies first. Our conversations are always killer passes.

Oikatzo: "Well, whatever..."

That's one thing, this is another. Having heard my reason for being here, Oikatzo secures a rope to the rubble and, with nimble movements, jumps down into the hole stretching beyond the elevator doors. The sound of the rope sliding through fades away, and a short while later, Oikatzo scrambles back up in a hurry.

Pencilgon: "Was something down there?"

Oikatzo: "A sleek robot that kinda felt like Wethermon."

Silence.

Sunraku: "No, no, there's no way it's on that level. That guy alone locks you into at least thirty minutes of time, you know?"

Oikatzo: "It's probably not on Wethermon's level, but it was a golem that was very aggressively advertising itself as a high-mobility type. It was guarding the door."

So the so-called gatekeeper monster wasn't that matryoshka thing from earlier—it was this one. From Oikatzo's account, I take in the layout of the underground space and the gatekeeper's position, thinking through how we should handle it.

Oikatzo: "More importantly, what's the deal with that black rabbit and the cat in boots?"

Arameese: "Well asked! I am the Master of the Sw—"

Sunraku: "A blacksmith tied to a Unique, and a Master of the Sword you couldn’t get even if a hand came reaching out of your throat and started signaling for them, Oikatzo-kun."

I'll just say that the expression I had on my face at that moment, and the expression Oikatzo had on his, were the kind that sent Pencilgon into fits of laughter.

Sunraku: "Anyway, nothing's going to start until we get down there and take out that so-called high-mobility robot. Let's go."

Since disbanding and reforming the party would be a pain, I add the two of them to the animal party led by me, forming a mixed party of three people and three animals.

Oikatzo: "I've seen plenty of parties with NPCs added in, but this is my first time in a party where half of them are animals."

Pencilgon: "Must be nice... Uniques, must be nice..."

Sunraku: "Stop trying to shove me down the hole as if it's the most natural thing in the world."

We descend the rope for a good ten-plus seconds. If we'd just jumped straight down, we'd almost certainly be dead. When I—equipped with Animal Reactive Armor—land on the floor of this underground space, I'm surprised that the brightness is secured despite being underground.

Sunraku: "This is incredible... is this facility still alive?"

Pencilgon: "It's suddenly gotten very sci-fi, hasn't it?"

Oikatzo: "Says the person who's gotten her hands on powered armor and transforming robots. What are you saying at this point?"

After me, Pencilgon descends into the underground space, then Oikatzo. It's probably not electricity. I don't know what the power source is, but a straight corridor stretches out, illuminated with a light output equal to electric lights that modern civilization—not the Divine Era—could never hope to replicate. And at the very end of it, before a door that clearly separates some kind of facility from the corridor, there it was.

Sunraku: "Straight-line fields are awarded the honor of being garbage fields no matter the era... Arameese, can you reach that far?"

Arameese: "If I reduce the power, it should reach. However, finishing it in a single blow would be impossible."

Sunraku: "No, hitting it is enough. We'll buy time while you close the distance and we beat it down together."

We don't know when it might start moving, so we quickly discuss the plan and put together an improvised team combo. Then, the moment Arameese unleashes that slashing wave of his—the one with absurdly fast time from activation to impact—I, with Emul riding on my head and loaded up on buffs, burst forward at the same time.

Arameese: "Hahaha! Go, go, go!"

Emul: "Pyaaaaaaah!!"

Two lifeform reactions closing in fast: me and Emul. And in response to that... the humanoid golem—jet-black body, equipped with four arms—activates. Its upper two arms are raised forward, and an energy shield deploys. Just as Arameese said, the slashing wave, its power reduced for the sake of range, collides with the barrier and is neutralized. But that was a decoy. Using the slashing wave as cover, I dive into range and activate Fatal Blade Art: Water Mirror Moon — Third Maneuver. Slashed across its back, the Four-Armed Golem turns around with a swiftness that betrays no sign of its age.

Sunraku: "Emul."

Emul: "Hai na!"

At this timing, Emul separates. Leaving Emul directly in front of the Four-Armed Golem, I run toward the wall. I've experienced this kind of narrow straight-line stage plenty of times. A laser thicker than the actual width of the area fills the corridor... or while I'm struggling with the confined space, the enemy casually ignores polygon collision and sweeps at me with its tail... or the path is simply blocked by the enemy's sheer bulk and I get sandwiched... Ah, I'm starting to get pissed off.

Sunraku: "Wall-running is an essential skill!"

I activate Six-Fold Jump. I leap to the wall, and the moment my feet touch it, I activate Ricochet Step. The true value of this skill—"the higher the skill level, the more you can ricochet off walls and ceilings like a bouncing bullet"—has yet to be fully realized, but for getting behind something, a single ricochet is more than enough.

Matching the timing of me planting my foot on the wall and leaping, Emul launches an attack on the Four-Armed Golem. Its hate had been set to neutral by Water Mirror Moon, and it turns to target Emul...

Sunraku: "Whoa!?"

The instant I get behind it, all four arms simultaneously aim their palms at me and lock on. I see—its top priority is eliminating anyone who approaches the door! The Four-Armed Golem's palms—each twice the size of a human's—have some kind of small reactor embedded in them. From those palms, lasers are fired. Fortunately, every single one of them is a straightforward shot aimed directly at where I am, so dodging itself is easy. If they had been the type that fires where I'm about to dodge to, damage would have been unavoidable.

Sunraku: "That said... me alone versus the other five—which one should you be prioritizing?"

Pencilgon: "All or Nothing!"

Tearing through the air, a golden spear—launched by consuming all of Pencilgon's stamina—passes over Emul's head and drives into the Four-Armed Golem's abdomen.

Oikatzo: "Yellow, green, dual-mix: Fist Ki, Young Grass Rush... Point Striker!"

Wreathed in a young-grass-green effect, Oikatzo readies his fist and closes in on the butt of the spear. A left jab to mark, and then the right blow hammers home. The fact that it takes time and effort means it can output firepower to match. The Four-Armed Golem tries to turn its arms toward Oikatzo, the immediate threat before it...

Pencilgon: "Now then, I wonder what kind of mechanism this door has... You know the saying: if you chase two rabbits, you'll catch neither?"

The Four-Armed Golem, whose reason for existence is to protect the door, redirects its hate toward me as I press my hand flat against the door. Then Oikatzo's fist slams into the spear's butt. The impact shoves the Four-Armed Golem toward the door.

Bilac: "Move it, you two—the man and the woman."

Pencilgon: "Oops, she's figured out our genders."

Bilac: "Titan... Blast!"

As a finishing blow, the shock of the hammer is driven in. The golden spearhead, finally piercing through the Four-Armed Golem's sturdy body, chews through the back armor and continues straight toward me, right behind it... wait, hold on—

Sunraku: "That was damn close!"

Bilac: "Mm, sorry 'bout that, bird-person."

Pencilgon: "I was going to laugh and call you roast chicken if it had gone right through you."

Sunraku: "Who the hell could eat a negima skewer with a metal green onion stuck through it?!"

Emul: "Bufuu! Pfft, hehehe... Metal negima... hehehe..."

A clean hit from friendly fire, of all things. I glare half-lidded at Pencilgon, who's turned her face away trying to stifle her laughter, and kick the back of the golem's knee as it begins to short-circuit. In a braced stance, sure, but with its abdomen pierced, it seems it can't even hope for proper judgment. The Four-Armed Golem tips forward easily, dropping to one knee and scattering sparks. And with its head now lowered to just the right height, Arameese's next attack—this time unleashed without any reduction in power—slams directly into the Four-Armed Golem's face. Like an ice pick shattering ice, the honed-to-the-limit blow sends cracks running through the Four-Armed Golem's entire body.

Arameese: "Indeed, I am the Master of the Sword! Wild Wind!"

Sunraku: "Ah, skip that part."

Arameese: "Eeeh!?"

It's just so long, every single time.