Chapter 112
Chapter 112
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: Anyway, Make Them
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Actually, Magnetism isn't fundamentally weak.
The developers had no reason to spend time creating a tree that's blatantly inferior from the start.
Under the assumption of quietly taking sustained damage, its total damage output was similar to Incinerate—or even higher.
The problem was that no boss in the original game would stand there like an idiot and just burn.
But what if that sustained damage could be detonated all at once?
Luna stacks Magnetism on the boss.
Then throws a reactive bomb at the stacked boss.
If Ellyor's bomb reacts to Luna's Magnetism and explodes...
Boom! Kaboom!
It would cover Luna's lacking burst damage.
And that's not all. It would also apply all sorts of handy debuffs that the Incinerate tree lacked.
'Isn't that Sadie?'
Adding Ellyor would reform a full four-person party, meeting the conditions for ''Climax''.
Of course, Adelin could probably clear a dungeon solo on her own.
But there was no guarantee that bishops wouldn't interfere like they did in the Undead Dungeon.
No one but Ellyor could make reactive bombs, so bringing him to the Demon Dungeon as insurance seemed far more advantageous.
The issue was that Enedor's wrath was a given.
But was that any of my business?
I'd already gotten a decent weapon from him.
From the moment it became clear he couldn't craft my final weapon, there was no need to keep relying on him while making excuses.
I had no intention of just pocketing the sword and shutting up, but there was zero reason to prioritize Enedor's feelings over boosting the party's strength.
'I'll propose it tomorrow.'
⁎⁎⁎
The next morning.
I passed through streets filled with clinking sounds and arrived at the workshop right on time at 7 a.m., as promised.
Of course not. Instead, I spun around and flung open the door to Ellyor's lab.
Ellyor was still asleep, covered by the blanket Adelin had draped over him yesterday.
"Rise and shine!"
"Sorry!"
At my shout, Ellyor scrambled upright.
He finally seemed to come to his senses, looking around frantically.
"H-Haribal...? Morning...? What? What time is it?"
He noticed it was morning from the sunlight leaking through the window.
I strode toward the wide-eyed Ellyor.
And then...
Thwack!
"Urk!"
I kneed him in the shin.
Ellyor clutched his leg, groaning in pain.
"What the hell was that first thing in the morning?!"
"Ellyor Work."
"Did I do something wrong yesterday?!"
"Ellyor Work!"
When I sternly called his name repeatedly with a straight face, he finally straightened up.
"Wh-what...?"
His voice was meek, full of apprehension—the same attitude I'd seen countless times at the academy.
That morning, I'd already told Adelin and Luna about the bomb-Magnetism combo I'd thought of last night.
Adelin, the orthodox swordswoman, seemed unimpressed, but Luna was different.
She'd asked me over and over, her face more shocked than mine: 'Really...? Is something like that even possible...?'
It must've been a use she hadn't even imagined.
Anyway, I'd successfully gotten both of them to approve adding Ellyor to the party if we challenged the Demon Dungeon.
That was why I'd skipped the workshop and come straight here—to make the proposal.
Of course, I planned to propose it.
But that didn't mean I intended to bend over backward for him.
Everyone has their own personality.
For example, treating Cecilia like a friend worked best.
Mine needed consistent mental care—what they called petting and stroking.
Alicia, surprisingly, preferred blatant teasing jokes.
So what about Ellyor?
When he mistook me for Alicia's lackey, he'd whipped up the Alicia Machine at my request.
An item that didn't appear until much later in the original game.
The same went for expanding the communication network around Naveil. He'd done it because I borrowed Alicia's name and said 'do it'.
Thanks to that, we could now even call people in Naveil from the Ronwood Plains.
That was a feature unlocked only in the final chapter.
Seeing that insane execution speed, I'd realized Ellyor was the type who followed orders without question.
So I decided to give them.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—I had nearly a decade of military life under my belt, so I was more confident in this than anyone.
I just had to mimic what my superiors had done.
"From now on, you're going to produce bombs with the functions I describe."
"Produce them right off the bat? Do you have any idea how much time it takes to make even one new bomb?!"
I'd been mulling it over on the way here.
How to best utilize Ellyor if we brought him into the dungeon.
His current specs were barely enough for the Undead Dungeon.
The Demon Dungeon was out of the question. From here on, specialized roles became crucial.
Ellyor's strength was his high floor.
His weakness was his low ceiling.
Without fixing that, he'd just be a bomb shuttle or dead weight in the dungeon.
But hearing the clinking sounds made a trick possible only in this real-world version of the game pop into my head.
If Aren's Arts was Extreme Divine Sword and Cecilia's was Lotus Sword Style, what was Ellyor's?
'XX Bomb Toss'. The effect changed based on the bomb type slotted in.
In other words, Ellyor's bombs themselves counted as Arts.
In the original, he unlocked Arts by getting inspirations during level-ups and developing bombs one by one.
But couldn't he just use the Arts if he knew the blueprints, without waiting for levels?
"Healing Bomb. Freezing Bomb. Sticky Bomb. Chain Explosion Bomb..."
Arts unlocked at levels 18, 27, 36, and 45 for Ellyor.
That's right. In this world, Ellyor was the only playable character who could pull high-level Arts early through crafting alone, skipping the leveling.
I listed every explosive-type bomb Ellyor learned up to level 99 in the original.
"...Hold on! You think that's even possible? How do you implement gravity with a bomb?!"
"That's for you to figure out. Want me to contact Her Highness if you can't?"
"Th-this...!!"
But there was one problem.
Most characters learned their Ultimate at level 50.
Ellyor's level 50 Art wasn't a bomb.
'This is actually the key...'
It was hard to explain in words.
Unlike bombs, it was something that didn't exist in this world yet.
"One more at the end."
"...What bomb now?!"
I struggled to translate the concept in my head into this world's language.
"Not a bomb. It's not even something you throw."
"Not thrown? Then what is it?"
"Something like a flying vehicle... a machine bird or a magic-powered automaton."
I gestured wildly in the air to explain.
The concept of a 'drone'.
Ellyor's Ultimate Art was drone summoning.
A legendary Art where some players complained to the devs in a mid-industrial fantasy about 'drones?', only to get 'Then is a magic gun okay?' in response.
Because of this oddly out-of-place Art, plenty of players hated Ellyor.
The drone he summoned acted like a summon that followed enemies, throwing bombs or supporting allies.
The main body wasn't idle either, so the power effectively doubled.
It also allowed bomb throws from much farther away, vastly expanding strategic options.
And considering Raphael's case, treating the drone as a summon might even bypass turn limits.
Drone Summon would become an essential core Art for us.
By the time I spat out the nonexistent term 'remote-controlled magic bomb carrier'...
"...Haribal."
"What."
"...Did you hit your head or something before coming to the academy?"
Ellyor started treating me like a madman.
"I can't make that."
But I felt wronged too.
You made it just fine in the original.
"Anyway, make them."
I added to Ellyor, who was shaking his head and backing away.
"Ellyor. Do you know why we came to Grabner?"
"...To get new weapons..."
"Then why did I bring Instructor and Luna along instead of coming alone?"
I picked up the magic gun on the workbench.
"We're planning to tackle the fourth abyss of the Evil God soon."
"What? W-wait... The Evil God's abyss?! You mean the one in the abandoned mine, right?! No way!"
"You know my track record, don't you?"
I aimed at the ceiling visible beyond the window.
"Doesn't that pillar look kinda ugly?"
Click.
Just to be safe, I pulled the trigger, but it seemed locked—I couldn't fire it.
But it was enough to convey my intent.
Ellyor gulped.
He couldn't possibly miss what my action meant.
"B-but even so... Isn't it too early...? We should attack after gathering full strength..."
"Full strength?"
I tilted my head.
"The Empire's Greatest Sword and the Grace Family's genius pyromancer. And me. What could be more than enough? Plus..."
Now it was time for the carrot.
I placed the magic gun in Ellyor's hand.
Then stared him in the eye and said,
"You, the greatest craftsman in Luidel."
"......!"
His shoulders twitched.
"The bombs you showed yesterday were impressive, no doubt. But let me correct that. They probably won't work."
When I explained the magic barriers to him, his eyes darkened with gloom.
As he opened his mouth, I cut him off.
"Not alone, though."
"......What?"
"If you can make the bombs I described. And complete that remote... thing."
"......"
"Then tackling the Evil God's Dungeon with us isn't just a dream."
I handed him an invitation that would fulfill his long-held wish.
Of course, he'd have to produce those bombs first to earn it.
After a long silence, Ellyor murmured softly.
"...Give me time to think."
"As much as you need. But decide within three days."
Ellyor's eyes were now fixed on the magic gun in his hand.
The exact same glint as right before completing the Alicia Machine. That was enough.
I left the lab without waiting for more.
Adelin and Luna, waiting at the entrance, joined me.
"So, think Ellyor will come?"
"Who knows. Hard to say right now."
I looked up at Grabner's sky.
Ellyor couldn't conquer a dungeon alone.
But with us, he could.
"He'll come, right?"
A son who saw the Evil God as his mother's killer wouldn't kick away a chance like this.
"Good."
Adelin grinned and stretched.
"Then we should do our jobs."
Luna and I nodded.
Truth be told, we'd been so focused on conquering that we'd forgotten our identities.
My squad was a scouting team, at most. Same for Luna. Adelin was even the scouting team's instructor.
Our main mission was reconnaissance, not dungeon clears.
"Let's go check out what the Evil God's fourth abyss looks like."
In that sense, today we were finally doing proper recon around the Demon Dungeon.
The full assault would start three days from now, after Ellyor decided.
With each step, the horizon's ceiling drew nearer.