"The odds of winning are incredibly high, and the prizes are fantastic too..."
In the boss room of the Cave Ice Worm, the group huddled together, watching Vane perform a ritual for the treasure chest.
"Speaking of which, have you all felt it too?"
Gregor looked to the side, Vera nodded.
"The buff from defeating the Cave Ice Worm? I remember it was [Full of Energy] given after a flawless clear."
[Full of Energy: Increases armor regeneration and grants an Ice Shield.]
"I don't really feel anything, probably because I've already acquired the Ice Shield talent."
Despite feeling uncomfortable with the bosses causing trouble in the shadows, Gorth pretended to be relaxed and said:
"However, this fills another gap in our strength. If we could obtain the Explosive Shield, it would be even more perfect."
"Take it slow, there's always a way."
Gregor offered comfort as usual; he had naturally noticed Gorth's discomfort, but he didn't have any good solutions.
The only option is to end the battle as quickly as possible on the next level...
"Pay it to me!"
With a desperate, all-or-nothing attitude, Vane opened the treasure chest, but judging from his frozen posture, the result was probably not very good.
"Looks like there's no red?"
"Indeed, there isn't..."
Vane sighed and picked up a staff from the treasure chest.
"It's the Staff of Illusion, which is quite a good weapon."
[Staff of Illusion, Orange Weapon: When used, it summons a phantom identical to the user to attack in conjunction with the user.]
"It's much better than I expected."
Gregor stepped forward, took the weapon, and used it. A life-sized phantom of a Beheaded was generated from the side.
"Can it be controlled?"
Vane waved in front of the phantom, Gregor tried to control it.
"It's not working well. Although it can be controlled, it's more like an AI that follows instructions."
"That's pretty good!" Vane's face lit up with joy.
"The Phantom even comes with its own weapon, boss, why don't you try using its skills?"
Gregor was startled by this, and with a mental command, the Beheaded immediately used Spartan Kick Vane.
He raised his titanium blade to block, Vane his eyes lit up as he looked at the distance he was forced back.
"Can you really use skills!?"
"Don't be too happy yet, it's quite taxing."
Gregor felt the energy disappearing from his body. The phantom hadn't consumed much, but it had a limit to how much it could hold.
"An illusion is ultimately just an illusion; it can only hold a limited amount of energy, and its existence and the number of times it can be used are both limited."
"Then why not try to let him be self-sufficient?"
Vane took out a piece of Magic Crystal Ore, and the phantom crushed it. The fluorescent magic slowly dissipated, but it was not absorbed by the phantom.
"Is that not allowed...?"
Vane lowered his head, his demonic mind activating. (Never mind that, Vampires are still demons.)
As the saying goes, the wise seek strength within themselves.
Since external connections are blocked, what about self-sufficiency?
"Boss, give me the staff."
"Give."
Taking the staff, Vane summoned his own phantom, while the Beheaded's phantom vanished simultaneously.
It seems they cannot coexist...
After memorizing the information again, Vane attempted to have his phantom use [Immortal Body].
Launch an attack, absorb and transform.
Gregor and the others understood his meaning and quietly awaited the outcome.
"... It's feasible, but the efficiency of Immortal Body isn't enough," Vane said regretfully.
"My Immortal Body still needs external attacks to gain energy. It can sustain me in battle, but it requires maintenance in daily life."
After saying that, Vane's regretful expression changed.
"But if it's you, boss, then there's absolutely no problem!"
"Paladin -form elemental body coupled with a self-sufficient [Energy Shield], and a phantom that experiences no pain and completely obeys commands..."
"First, summon the phantom and use the skill. By triggering an energy chain cycle through external attacks, you can obtain an ever-expanding phantom Flame Demon."
"Unfazed by pain, it follows instructions. Although some human-machine interaction might cause attack errors, its wide attack range perfectly compensates for them."
"Even if there's a possibility of it going berserk later, the phantom can be cleared by summoning it again."
Vane raised his Staff of Illusion high; the regret of not getting a red weapon earlier had long since vanished.
"A controlled, living nuclear bomb! No... even more powerful than that!"
I named it --
"The Burning Heaven Divine Armament?" Gorth replied instinctively.
Seeing the looks the three of them were giving him, Gorth quickly waved his hand:
"I just thought the name was suitable; I really didn't intend to use it."
"... Why are all your ideas so dangerous?"
Vera felt a little embarrassed, suddenly realizing that her thoughts differed somewhat from those of her brothers.
"Shouldn't the first thought be endless energy? Why did it immediately turn to weapons? Besides, those are completely different things, aren't they?"
"Don't get excited, don't get excited. I already said it's just an idea," Vane said with a grin, trying to smooth things over.
"Consider it a trump card in your insurance plan. You can do without weapons, but you can't be without them."
Gorth nodded, quickly proving that it really was just a subconscious association.
"Second brother, you know me. I spend half of my game time playing Stardew Valley. How could I have such dangerous thoughts?"
"And what about the other half?"
Gorth: "..."
Seeing Gorth's embarrassed expression, Vera's expression softened:
"I just thought... there's no need to be so tense; excessive militarism is not a good thing."
Gorth nodded in agreement, Gregor, seeing this, also spoke up for him:
"Don't worry too much about it; we can certainly use this energy in the right place."
"For example... Demons? I think that's its name?"
Gregor gesturing for everyone to walk towards the portal, explaining his thoughts:
"The Magic Stone is one thing, but we can't neglect the Star Gate either; we'll have to face the problem of Demons sooner or later."
"... Too."
Vera also considered this concern; the Demons Vane mentioned sounded quite troublesome.
The strange ability itself is secondary; the sheer number of worlds it encompasses is the most troublesome aspect.
If the Demons must be completely eradicated before the Star Gate can be activated, how long will that take?
"Perhaps we can look at it from a different angle; there's no need to wipe out all the Demons," Gregor suggested another hypothesis.
"The Magic Stone has the power to stabilize the balance of the world, so could we use this power to stabilize the space of Terra?"
"The key is the coordinates of the Demons..."
Vane scratched his head, somewhat sighing.
"Things involving memes are troublesome; just knowing they exist is enough to provide coordinates."
"Then all we need to do is block the [door] to the world, so they can't get in."
Gorth proposed another solution.
Since we can't eliminate it, isolation might be a viable option.
"So the key point is still the Magic Stone... but does that thing really have that effect?"
Vera was skeptical.
They already have one Magic Stone and have tried various methods, but so far they haven't been able to figure out what its function is.
"There probably are some, after all, all sorts of monsters and demons have come out since the Magic Stone was lost."
Amidst the conversation, the figures of the group disappeared into the vortex.
When visibility returned, the first thing to be felt, even before the light, was the salty, fishy smell of the sea breeze.
"This is... Oil Island?"
The light suddenly came on, and the oppressive, enclosed space of the Dungeon transformed into a vast expanse of sea.
"There is no sky... just like the volcanoes back then."
Gorth drove the Bosses out of the shadows and looked around.
Like an endless black sea, a void of sky.
The enclosed room environment has been transformed into a series of steel islands situated in the sea.
"The Dungeon is starting to look less and less like Dungeon."
Gregor sighed, his vague guess becoming clearer and clearer.
The Behemoth nearby made a commotion; the resurrected Cave Ice Worms were now tightly entangled with two giant crabs, gnawing on the minerals on their bodies.
"... What is he doing?"
"They say it requires minerals to restore its shape," Gorth said, translating with Ten Percent Off.
"However, it seems there's some personal grudge involved."
Before the two giant crabs could fully erupt, Vera stopped the Cave Ice Worms and made them take on the responsibility of clearing the way.
The Ice Worm, having grown to a hundred meters in size by feeding on high-level minerals, unleashed its extreme cold breath under Vera's command.
A cold wind swept by, and the ice on the sea surface melted.
The Cave Ice Worm into the ground, lifted the four people up, and carried them towards another island.
The King Snow Ape continued to stabilize the ice surface, and the Behemoth followed in a grand migration.
Vera lowered her hand and gently stroked the ice surface on the body of the Cave Ice Worm.
"It's all oil... Is there any life left in this sea area?"
"Forget about life, I didn't even see those mechanical pirates." Vane raised his hand to look around.
"We haven't seen any of the surrounding islands either. Where have all the monsters on this level gone?"
"Mechanical pirates? Were those guys actually machines?"
Gorth was surprised; he had initially thought those were people wearing armor.
"Of course not, I remember this map has a backstory..."
This place was once a peaceful and prosperous archipelago. Its abundant energy resources attracted pirates who occupied it and transformed the Daichi.
However, with the loss of the Magic Stone, the world's defenses weakened, and the UFOs invaded, setting their sights on the energy resources here.
When war broke out, pirates, who were previously regarded as invaders, became the vanguard in resisting the invasion.
But war is cruel...
The pirates alone were no match for the UFOs. After their defeat, they were transformed into machines to mine and guard the island for the UFOs.
"So what about the guards?" Gorth pointed to the surrounding Iron Islands.
The dilapidated buildings and the crisscrossing network of massive pipes reveal traces of a past civilization, but now they should be called ruins.
"Such a vast sea area, are we really going to have to search it all up piece by piece?"
"There's no need for that."
Vera raised her hand to signal the Cave Ice Worm to stop, and the migrating procession halted. She then raised her staff high.
Upon seeing this, Vane's eyes widened.
You wouldn't be thinking of...
"Ah, that's right, I just wanted to tell them proactively..."
Rumble--
High in the void, burning meteorites crashed toward the sea.
"We're here."
Boom--!
High temperatures, impact, giant waves.
The Calamity Stone lives up to its name, for the disaster it brings is nothing short of devastating.
Vera raised her sword and cleaved through the cascading waves, then ordered the Cave Ice Worms to reinforce the ice surface once more.
The two pathetic land crabs huddled together, enduring the mockery of the King Snow Ape.
"... Next time you do this, please let me know in advance."
Gorth carefully removed the wet eye bags and gently wiped them clean.
Nodding, Vera took the eye patch and dried it with a flame.
"You seem to care so much... Was it a gift from that girl?"
The two people who were tidying their clothes nearby both pricked up their ears, only to receive a calm acknowledgment from Gorth.
"Yes, a very important gift."
Seeing how serious he was, the others stopped teasing him, and Vera became even more careful with the flames.
"If that's the case, then other people must have given you a lot of gifts too, right?"
"A gift... I guess it counts."
Remembering the various "offerings" the forest dwellers had given him, Gorth nodded.
"I originally planned to build a shelf at home to display them, but there are too many kinds, so they're all just in the shadows."
"In the shadows? Did you categorize them?"
"Classification?"
Hearing Gorth's questioning tone, Vera asked in surprise:
"No categorization? Aren't you afraid of ruining the gifts when you put the bosses into the shadows?"
"..."
A brief silence fell over the air, Gorth immediately bent down to clean up the items.
As if sensing something, the flames on Gregor's head flickered slightly.
He patted Gorth on the shoulder.
"Let's clean it later, they're here."
"Who..."
Ugh--
Before Gorth could ask any more questions, a deep, penetrating hum announced the arrival of the enemy.
(Recommended playback: Steel Wavebreakers Never Sink)
The black sea surface trembled with the sound waves, rippling with fine waves.
Vane took flight, gazed into the distance, and whistled in amazement.
"This is truly... quite a spectacle!"
Horizon.
At first, they were just tiny black dots, but as the buzzing sound became sharper, those black dots expanded rapidly.
The massive black spear pierced through the mist, sharp and menacing like the snout of a shark.
From the horizon where the sea meets the sky, countless steel warships began to rise.
Ugh--!
The humming sounded again, the primal breath of the steel Beast Herd.
"So that's why I couldn't see anyone. They were playing this trick on me!" Vane's lips curled into a smug smile.
"Second brother, you've stirred up a pirate den!"
Vera raised her eyes, held her longsword aloft, and gathered lightning power on the blade.
"Scared?"
"Don't make such pointless jokes anymore."
Vane looked around, unaware of what lay ahead; the entire sea area they were in was now surrounded.
"A pile of junk, watch me sink them all!"
Boom!
A few rays of light began to appear on the Iron Wall formed by the warships.
Accompanying the sharp whistling sound of something tearing through the air was a barrage of steel cannons, intent on burying everyone.
"Nothing new!"
With his back split open, Vane pulled out the Breath of Death disguised as Spine.
The crimson scythe danced in a circle, its light reflecting off the shimmering lightning below.
The lightning blades and blood rings met the attack head-on, and the sky was filled with artillery fire that scattered across the ground like fireworks.
Vane stared intently at the largest warship, at the towering figure at the very front.
Oil Island map, this time the opponent is--
[Iron Pirate King Level] and [Steel Wavebreaker Battleship Fleet]
"Let's all rely on our own abilities, brothers. I'll take the lead in outputting the broadcast!"
"Roar--!"
Before the three could respond, Zekrom launched the first attack.
Roaring excitedly, with liquid flames breathing towards the sea, Zekrom charged straight towards the surface.
The calm sea transformed into a burning hell, and the young dragon weaved through the raging gunfire, turning warships into his toys.
"... like a child."
Looking at the two with disdain, Vera raised her hand to meet the attack.
A shadow fell from the dim sky; it was a cluster of falling meteorites.
Below, futile artillery fire began to retaliate.
Seeing the two of them going all out, Gorth lost all interest in cleaning up his collection.
"... Let's finish this quickly."
The shadows merged with the Black Sea, and a giant tree with blood-red veins climbed the warship, causing the steel to twist and warp.
Gregor patted the Cave Ice Worm beneath him, and the worm, understanding, led him into the sea.
The ice spikes covering his body spun like chainsaws, and the Cave Ice Worms manipulated his body, shuttling through the fleet like giant electric drills.
Warships were linked together, and Gregor wielded his twin swords, a blood-red dark light gathering in the sky.
A tower-like sword shadow fell, burying the severed warship to the bottom of the sea.
While enduring the pressure, the fleet also began to fight back.
The massive cannons on the main ship spun, the energy rings hummed as they rotated, and crimson beams of destruction shot out.
[Irate Hiss!]
Three warriors blocked the attack before the devastating beam reached its target!
Gold and Blue, the curled-up Giant Crab Twins, used their bodies to shield Gregor from the attack!
What? A third party?
"Roar--!"
With excited roars, the two giant crabs that had transformed into shields moved aside, and the pirates who had been aiming at the target finally saw the figure of the King Snow Ape.
My God! The King Snow Ape has used a Soul Fusion Technique!
He held the two crouching giant crabs in his hands, using them as his spear and shield!
What a despicable (crossed out)... powerful move!
But in his excitement, the King Snow Ape seemed to have forgotten that this was a battlefield.
In the distance behind him, another gun emplacement had already aimed at his back.
The devastating beam fired again, and the target... went astray!
Amidst the Ape King's snow-white fur, the Ancestral Bug activated its power, causing each attack that should have struck to subtly deviate from its intended target.
"Roar?"
Realizing they were being attacked, the three Behemoth angrily began to gather their strength.
A barrage of destructive bullets retaliated, meeting the incoming artillery fire in mid-air.
Explosions and flames heralded the start of the war, as elemental Behemoths clashed with steel Behemoths, showcasing the full power of both sides.
The fierce attacks from both sides raised huge plumes of smoke.
Having lost their target, the mechanical pirates briefly paused operations.
But the King Snow Ape did not sit idly by and wait for its doom.
He should have conjured a giant ice ball in his hand to retaliate, but seeing the two cursing crabs, the Ape King had a new idea.
The two crouching giant crabs embraced each other, forming a huge, flawless sphere.
With an excited roar, the Ape King lifted the cursing Gemini Crab and hurled it at the fleet.
On the other side of the battlefield, Vane continued his attack, but the results seemed somewhat futile.
The rain of blood-red blades fell, but they only caused ripples when they struck the golden shield.
With a super shield that provides 80% damage reduction, it is practically a wall of despair unless a special bomb is used to break through it.
At least for now, Vane is having a very hard time shaving.
The Iron Pirate King Level raised one hand, and crimson light condensed on the mechanical cannon muzzle.
A sharp, piercing shriek followed Vane's figure as he swayed through the sky.
Every now and then, the chain on the other hand would anticipate Vane's position and try to hook him away.
"Do you need help?"
In the distance, Vera and the others had almost finished clearing their own fleet.
Taking a deep breath, Vane refused:
"I can do it myself!"
Lowering his head, his bio-material blood-red eyes met the cold, mechanical blood-red window, and Vane suddenly let out a sigh.
"This move was originally meant for the boss..."
With wings flapping, Vane soared into the sky, his arms outstretched in a cross shape.
As the team's mood-maker, even compared to that terrifying survivability, Vane's damage output is actually not low.
But with Gregor and others setting such a high bar, this force seemed somewhat insignificant.
So, has Vane, who is responsible for developing a lot of the team's creative ideas, modified his skills?
The answer is yes.
[Otherworldly Vortex]
On the left hand, black gravity began to gather.
[Immortal Body]
In his right hand, crimson energy transformed into a repulsive force.
The Immortal Body absorbs damage and releases a wide shockwave at the end.
If it were a normal procedure, Vane should indeed have done that.
A black sphere of gravity, a blood-red sphere of repulsion.
As Vane's hands came together inward, the two slowly merged into one.
Two diametrically opposed forces were roughly kneaded together, the resulting energy tearing at Vane's body, yet being absorbed by his Immortal Body and transformed back into a repulsive force.
Smack
With a hollow sound, the black gravity sphere swallowed the crimson repulsive force.
The gravitational pull of the Otherworldly Vortex intensified, while the repulsive force within, constantly amplified by the Immortal Body, launched a frenzied counterattack.
Compression...
Compression!
Compression!!
Veins bulged on Vane's arm as he forcefully pressed the destructive singularity into his palm.
"Ah... at a time like this, I really should apologize to that white-haired teacher who loves sweets."
Sound could not escape from the distorted force field, yet Vane continued to mutter to himself.
"A rather reckless move, but it looks a bit different from what I expected."
His hands trembled even more violently, and tangible crimson ripples continuously seeped from the gaps. Vane gritted his teeth and said:
"Even though it's a pirated copy... I don't think it'll be that bad."
The destructive beam struck, hitting Vane squarely in the body.
Like a bird shot down, Vane fell to the ground following the force of gravity.
Raising the chain hook, the Iron Pirate King Level aimed at Vane and launched the grappling hook.
At this moment, Vane, who was falling, finally let go of his arms.
Its wings spread, halting its descent, but the sphere that had detached from its palm remained attached.
With perfect timing, the King-class pirate successfully hit the sphere, pulling it back with him as the chain retracted.
"Hey... have you ever seen a nova explode?"
The Iron Pirate King Level raised its head. Vane flew high in the sky, and in the dim light, only Wayne's increasingly gleaming blood-red eyes could be seen.
The pulled-back black sphere began to shrink, turning into a violently trembling black dot.
"Actually, I've never seen it before, but that doesn't stop me from naming it."
The cacophony of the battlefield vanished instantly, as an ever-expanding black membrane swallowed the sea.
Click--
In a world that seemed to stand still, a glimmer of crimson light shone from a crack in the black dot.
Vane raised the corners of his mouth and snapped his fingers lightly.
I named it...
[Supernova]
Boom--!