Chapter 17
THE BATTLE with the Machina Guardian was over—or so everyone thought.
Suddenly, the wreckage collapsed, and something crawled out from within. Tension filled the chamber. Everyone, including Christina, readied themselves.
It looked to be some kind of machine. However, it was no Mechanized Wanderer or Protector. It was a simple doll, with no weapons nor armor. There was an even more striking difference: the doll had a moving face, though it was incomplete.
Its eyes widened, and it looked all around. After a moment,its mouth slowly opened. “THe BlAcK MOOn RIseS, anD DaRknEss encroAchEs. ThOSE wHo Have dEFeATEd my sUpREME GuaRdIAN and oVeRcOmE This tRiAl, You aRe wOrTHy oF iNhERITINg oUr PoWEr. TAke This anD mAKE REaDy FoR the bATTLE wITh thE cOMInGinVADER.” Its voice sounded like it was coming out of a broken speaker.
Once the doll finished speaking, it held out a square plate of metal. Christina, who happened to be in front of it, hesitated and looked to Mira for help.
Alfina repeated the doll’s words: “The black moon rises, and darkness encroaches. Those who have defeated my supreme Guardian and overcome this trial, you are worthy of inheriting our power. Take this and make ready for the battle with the coming invader.”
While this never-before-seen event surprised Mira, her interest was largely piqued by the part about “inheriting our power.” “Black moon,” “darkness,” “invader”—it was unclear what these words meant, but no doubt there would be hints on the metal plate in the doll’s hand.
Suleiman could certainly figure it out, so Mira ordered Christina to accept the plate—cautiously, just in case. “If those words are true, then I presume the plate is safe.”
Terrified, Christina slowly reached out her hand and accepted the metal plate from the doll. “Um, thaaanks…”
Its job done, the doll instantly collapsed into a heap of scraps. The accompanying sound of metal crashing on metal made Christina jump up and nearly drop the plate. “Whoa! That scared me so much!”
She managed to catch the plate and tried to play it off as if she hadn’t been surprised. She couldn’t let herself look pathetic while all eyes were on her.
Unfortunately, it was far too late. When Christina turned to deliver the plate to Mira, she spotted Alfina up ahead. “Ack!” she cried.
Alfina’s eyes told her one thing: If that was enough to surprise you, it’s proof that you need more training.
Sensing Alfina’s anger, the other sisters gazed at Christina sympathetically. Christina had dealt the Machina Guardian a spectacular finisher, but no glory—only special training—awaited her upon their return.
***
After thanking everyone for their efforts and dismissing her army, Mira flipped the metal plate over several times with great interest. “Hrmm. I haven’t the faintest idea what this could be.”
Soul Howl peeked in from the side and surveyed the plate. “Those look more like figures than characters. I’ve never seen that either. Wonder what it all means.”
The plate was black. It wasn’t as heavy as it looked; rather, it was surprisingly light. The surface was covered entirely in symbols.
“It almost…looks like some kind of blueprint,” Mira muttered to herself in realization.
According to the doll, this was the key to some power. When it said “our power,” had it meant the people who’d built the Ancient Underground City?
“There are scholars back at the castle, yeah? Leave it all to them. Anyway, I’ve got work to do.” Soul Howl had already lost interest. Or rather, he had something more important to focus on. He released his castle golem and quickly headed to the chamber beyond.
“Hrmm… Fair enough.” The plate didn’t make much sense at all to Mira, so worrying more over it wouldn’t help her understand it. Deciding to simply leave it to Solomon, she focused on the most important matter at hand. Running over to the Machina Guardian’s remains, she confirmed with Soul Howl, “By the way, you really mean to leave me all the loot, right? I won’t have you telling me to hand it over later!” Hopefully, he would keep the promise he’d made yesterday.
“I won’t, I won’t. Take it all.” Soul Howl chuckled at her desperation and walked right past, totally unbothered.
“Heh heh! I shall!” Mira muttered happily as she saw him off. Then she finally began rummaging for the Machina Guardian’s drops. The boss was large, however, as were its remains—large and heavy.
Mira suddenly wished Eizenfald could pitch in. “I should’ve asked for help before dismissing him…” Since this was her first time digging through a pile of remains for drops, though, she chastised herself for forgetting and left it at that.
This pile wasn’t something a single person could handle, so she summoned a team of workers.
[Evocation: Guardian Ash]
[Evocation: Garm]
[Evocation: Rotz Elephas]
Powerful beings appeared from magic circles and lined up in front of Mira: the gray bear, Guardian Ash; three-meter-long Garm; and the even more imposing white elephant, Rotz Elephas.
“Rotz, it’s been a while. Happy to see you’re well.” Mira looked up at its giant figure, over seven meters high, and touched its long trunk. Rotz Elephas wrapped its trunk around her and made a soft sound in greeting.
The white elephant, Rotz Elephas, was a sacred beast that protected Paradise, a holy place for animals, deep in a forest on the Ark continent. Once upon a time, when Paradise had fallen into the hands of evil, Mira worked to restore it to its former glory. To repay her goodwill, Rotz Elephas had made a contract with her.
That was quite a long time ago, but Rotz Elephas seemed not to have forgotten that debt.
“Now, I’d like your help with these remains here…” Facing the defeated Machina Guardian, Mira asked the three to help sort the scraps.
***
“Thank you all for your work. Your strength never ceases to amaze. Ah, what a big help you are!”
The task was a little rough, but under twenty minutes later, they’d divided and sorted the giant Machina Guardian’s remains. Going any further would risk damaging the drops Mira wanted, so she’d have to do this manually from this point on. Fortunately, the boss’s plating had been removed, so human hands could pull the rest apart.
After thanking her summons profusely, Mira dismissed them and finally dove into the pile of treasure.
“Of course, I must begin with that one!” She decided on the first item to search for and fished through the remains of the boss’s torso. Throwing useless scraps of metal and extraneous parts aside, she eventually found the shining red object. “Ooh… There it is. It’s really there!” She raised the red jewel, as big as a human head, aloft.
That crystal was the core of the Machina Guardian’s ultimate attack, Ancient Ray. It was called the Eye of Apollo. Neither Mira nor any of the other Nine Wise Men had ever seen it in person; it was extremely rare, even among legendary-class drops. Only three top players had ever obtained it: the King of Atlantis and two Nirvana Empire generals.
Mira now held the rare item in her own two hands. “Could it be? The legendary Eye of Apollo?! Hrmm… What shall I do with it?!”
The crystal was classified as a material. Atlantis’s engineers had proposed many uses for it, including as gear, a magical item, or even a weapon. Of course, however it was used, it was sure to work tremendously well. Mira didn’t possess a single item that incorporated a material better than the Eye of Apollo. It was sure to power her up like never before. How could she not be excited?
“We’ve only just started!” Mira gingerly placed the Eye of Apollo into her Item Box, then dug for the next material. Her greedy eyes wouldn’t overlook a single treasure; she’d already stored all the information on the Machina Guardian’s drops in her mind.
First, she found the Aegis Plate, a metal plate that protected the boss’s power source. It was hard and moreover had overwhelming resistance to most attributes. Shields made with Aegis Plate counted among the most powerful paladin gear. Most paladins would die to have such a piece of equipment, but alas, Solomon had abandoned his own such shield entirely.
After that, Mira excavated the Anti-Material Crystal Engine that the Aegis Plate protected. Like a small black box, it couldn’t be opened, giving no glimpse of what was inside.
In fact, it was very literally a black box—all people knew about it was that it used ancient crystal technology, so there was no way to employ it as a power source. Players instead combined it with explosives to use for attacks. It was a popular strategic weapon, its blast as powerful as the combined might of all Nine Wise Men.
Finding more and more loot, Mira now checked the head of the Machina Guardian, where the brain would have been. Removing the cranium cover and spotting the many spherical crystals packed inside, she squealed with joy. “Ooh! Goodness, look how many are in there!”
These were Neuron Crystals. On top of being usable materials for magical items, they worked extremely well with mage gear. Mira had even used them in equipment that she’d given Cleos for the sake of restoring summoning’s reputation.
Neuron Crystals dropped often enough that players usually got at least one when they defeated the Machina Guardian, but now a handful lay before Mira.
“Goodness, five?! What a stroke of luck!”
She took all the Neuron Crystals before fidgeting with another part of the Machina Guardian’s cranium. She then removed what might be considered one of the Guardian’s “eyes.” It was a plate of transparent glass, unscathed despite the fierce battle. About fifty centimeters in diameter and one centimeter thick, this was actually a metal item called Clear Materite Alloy Plate. It made a high-pitched metallic noise when Mira knocked on it.
“How mysterious it is…”
Amazed at how this fantasy setting allowed for transparent metal, Mira took both eyes, successfully recovering two Clear Materite Alloy Plates.
Next, she took the convex lens that served as the main part of the Guardian’s eye. It was as big as her palm, and although players almost never used it as a lens, it reflected light extremely well. Its fantastic material, Ethemite, could be used in magical weapons and the like.
Mira took the other lens too. “Meh heh heh… Even today, these cost over a billion ducats. What a delicious trove of treasure!”
She still had four more unique drops to find, so she continued to search the remains for them. She gathered the New Link Magic Conduit, which was a conductive wire connecting the boss’s head and torso, and the Carbonized Materite Plating used at the bottom of the torso. Those were followed by the High-Frequency Ignition Crystal used as the detonator for the explosion that followed Rampage, and the Reflective Prism from within the laser machine gun barrel.
With that, Mira had a complete set of all ten unique Machina Guardian drops.
“I collected every single drop from a large-scale raid boss… Ha! It’ll be hard to wipe this smug grin off my face.” She snickered at the set.
Large-scale raid boss drops were extremely rare items sought by top players. People often fought over loot distribution, making the drops difficult and even dangerous to handle.
Considering the drop-rate mechanic that had existed back in the game, obtaining a drop wasn’t as easy as simply defeating the raid boss. It was impossible—unthinkable!—in the old days for all the drops to be obtained at once. Of course, that had come with the risk of dying in the process.
Regardless, Mira had overcome that risk. She gazed at the Machina Guardian’s scattered remains, wondering whether she’d left anything behind. She was a bit frugal when it came to this.
“The problem is processing them…”
The materials she’d obtained were exceedingly rare, beyond the skill of any but the most masterful artisans. Could Alcait’s artisans handle them? Even if they could, could they bring out the materials’ maximum potential? Some materials would need to go through several artisans’ hands to draw out their true value. She couldn’t take full advantage of this bountiful harvest without first finding several masters of their craft.
I see a long road ahead…
This would require much effort, but if she stuck to it, she would obtain valuables beyond her wildest dreams. Mira grinned as she fantasized about that moment, scanning for missed materials all the while.
“Hm…?” It was then that she diligently spotted something of a different color buried amid the wreckage. Wondering whether she’d missed it, she rushed over, uncovered the object, and picked it up. “A book…? No, some sort of diary?”
It was a booklet about the size of an average notebook. Or, more precisely, it was like a booklet.
It had deteriorated so much, it was hard to tell whether that was its original shape. Only a portion of its surface was left intact. Other parts were charred black. As Mira picked it up, it unsurprisingly crumbled; all that remained was the small unburned portion.
Why was this inside the Machina Guardian’s remains…? Whoever did it belong to, anyway? Wondering if it was some new Machina Guardian item drop, Mira scrutinized the remains.
The first page alone, she realized, was still barely intact. The paper had deteriorated badly over the years, to the point that it seemed like just touching it might disintegrate it. Furthermore, parts were scratched off. Even in that state, however, some characters were readable.
Plan■■arth, Japan Branch■■■■■year■62 CE■■■■■.
As planned■■■■sea coordinat■■■■at this point■■■■■■underground■■■■■■begun unified■■■■■■■■planned compl■■■■■■rth time■■■■■.
However■■■■■■observed on surface■■■■■■■■req■■re more time.
After the facility is complete■■■■will begin. If all■■■■well■■■■■■truly■■■■■■■■■■pray for■■■■■■prepare■■■■second.
At this ti■■■■■■no need to■■■■■■■■■■as such■■■■peers■■■■■■watch for developments■■■■■■.
As for■■■■■■plan to us■■■■same method■■■■■■recovered■■mp■■■■shelter and protect the■■■■.
After reading that, Mira stood dumbfounded. There was a distant look in her eyes. She couldn’t contain her surprise, not just at the contents but at the fact that they were written in Japanese.
Mira had studied this world’s language so she could read and write in order to research spells. She occasionally ran into things that she couldn’t read, but former players could also simply Inspect text to understand it.
All this world’s writing, even in ancient ruins and documents, was in a common language. However, especially old materials used what was called “ancient writing.” Nobody since had used it, and no amount of investigating it yielded meaning. Only some history nerds deciphered it as a hobby.
This world was full of history, and on this large a scale, Japanese was essentially a foreign language. Still, it existed here of all places, in sparse parts of the very end of the Ancient Underground City.
Could this sheet of paper be part of that mystery?
I feel as though I stumbled upon something incredible… What is this? A developer’s diary? There must be meaning behind its existence… But there’s simply too much that I don’t understand.
Not only was the paper written in Japanese, it included the very word “Japan”—very evidently referring to modern Japan, at that. What did it mean for such a thing to be here? Mira repeated what she could read of it aloud, then asked the Spirit King and Martel if they understood.
“What an interesting find,” replied the Spirit King. “Unfortunately, I have no idea what that is. This place existed long before I myself was born into this world. Even I don’t know the details of what it was or why it was built. Delightful, isn’t it?”
Not even the Spirit King’s wealth of knowledge broached this city’s mysteries. That was why it so piqued his interest; he enjoyed finding things he knew nothing about.
Martel didn’t know either. “Sorry, honey. It’s a mystery to me too. It might relate to something from before we were born.” If the document had existed before then, exactly how old was this Ancient Underground City? Mysteries never ceased.
“Hrmm, I see,” Mira replied. “Then I’ll put this on hold and take it home to be investigated. But first…”
Perhaps Soul Howl would know something. He’d traveled all over the continent for the Holy Grail’s sake, after all.
Mira realized it was taking him quite a while to return. “As I recall, he was searching for a Chalk Orb fragment here. Hrmm…maybe that takes time to retrieve.”
Creating a Holy Grail required a piece from the Chalk Orb, an energy source that powered the entire Ancient Underground City. Soul Howl only needed a fragment… But, come to think of it, how did one obtain that?
Having finished collecting her spoils, Mira headed curiously toward the next chamber.
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