Manowa

◎ Floating Island Orusorei, Ruins of Angelite City

「Kazane, one went that way.」

「Roger!!」

At Jinrai"s words, Kazane charged recklessly with her『Boost』Skill and kicked the Living Armor with her right leg. The Living Armor blocked with its sword. The impact caused a number of cracks in the sword, but it wasn"t destroyed yet. However, Kazane"s attack didn"t end there.

Kazane once again launched forward by kicking off empty s.p.a.ce with her『Air Jump』Skill and attacked the Living Armor, and it was sent flying by the subsequent kick from her left leg. Its helmet flew off, and the light from the Astral Body inside leaked from the armor.

「I"m not done yet!」

But Kazane"s attack still wasn"t finished. A Material Shield was created behind the blown-away Living Armor, sending it flying forward this time when it bounced off, and she used Fire Boost with her Tonfa to finish it off by destroying its torso.

The Living Armor Kazane was confronting had a body made of steel, but Kazane"s Tonfa was made from the Black Rock Dragon"s horn, which was so abnormally hard that many blacksmiths had given up on processing it. Combined with Kazane"s『Monkey"s Strong Arm』Skill, it was no wonder that the Living Armor"s torso was split right in half.

Morphia was staring open-mouthed, and Jinrai said「Don"t play around so much.」Kazane was excessively conscious of the power increasing combo of her『Kick Devil』Skill, and he felt like she only focused on continuing her combos. Jinrai thought it was better to defeat enemies with one blow when it was possible, but that also meant that Jinrai trusted in her skill enough for that to be something he could think. He also understood that she needed to get accustomed to using her combos in battle, so Jinrai didn"t needlessly open his mouth, and his gaze turned to his disciples.

He reflexively groaned when he saw the endless stream of Living Armors lining up to confront his disciples. Jinrai and the others had started receiving this warm welcome the moment they arrived at Angelite City.

A considerable number of Living Armors were crowded together in the surrounding area. They were appearing one after another from the main streets and alleyways. Jinrai thought that opponents with hard armor like these would certainly be tough for the Birdmen, who mainly used bows and arrows, but they were a perfect opponent for Lyle and the others.

「Though be that as it may, there"s a large number. Are they diminishing?」

Even though he said that, Jinrai simply wanted to partic.i.p.ate in the battle himself. Yuuko-nee, who was with him, said「Nyaa.」Yuuko-nee also wanted to go wild.

After that, the battle ended in only 10 minutes. Kazane gained the Skill『Living Armor』in this battle. It was a Skill that turned armor and weapons into Living Armor, and its strength depended on the rank of the target equipment. Kazane started trembling as she looked at the description of the『Living Armor』Skill.

(Wouldn"t this be amazing with the Dairokuten Devil King armor?)

The Devil King series hadn"t been processed yet. Because of that, it seemed it wasn"t recognized as armor, so it couldn"t be operated with her『Living Armor』Skill, but the Dairokuten Devil King equipment would definitely become powerful war potential if she used her Skill on it. By the way, it seemed that Kazane could only make one Living Armor at the present time. Perhaps that would increase when the level went up?

Then she experimented with Black Flame equipment and confirmed that she could make a Living Armor with it. When she tried comparing it with Tatsuyoshi-kun Dragoon, it was superior in swordsmanship ability, but Dragoon had considerably higher physical strength, so Dragoon was the winner.

By the way, Dragoon"s combat strategy had changed to follow the example of the Berserk Ogre; it now used kamikaze attacks that completely ignored defense, and it had been far more than adequately active against the Living Armors. It seemed that Lyle and the Crystal Tower Shield equipped Tatsuyoshi-kun Normal had also become used to their combination.

Also, Emily was one of the conspicuously active partic.i.p.ants this time.

Morphia had watched the White Party"s special training that morning, so he knew their strength, and judging that they wouldn"t have any problems even if he didn"t partic.i.p.ate, he instructed Emily instead. Morphia had only intended to give her a light lecture on how to control Dragon Spirit and load arrows with it, but even with that degree, Emily"s arrows became more powerful.

From the start, Morphia was the village"s foremost instructor of Dragon Bow archery. He was skilled at teaching, but Morphia being a great teacher couldn"t be said to be the reason Emily drastically improved.

That power was the power the Dragon Wing Bow possessed in the first place.

Even though Emily"s original teacher Maberit was an excellent Sorcery Bow user, she wasn"t specialized in Dragon Bows. Therefore, her not noticing the height of that potential was something that couldn"t be helped, and Morphia said Emily"s growth this time was nothing more than her becoming able to output the ability she already possessed. In a dejected tone, he continued by telling her that the improvement from his teachings would come after this.

By the way, Yumika was first place in number defeated this time as well. This woman was high spec but plain, so she didn"t stand out. And Yumika was currently level 39. She would soon become level 40. Even now, Yumika was worried about what she would do for her Superiorization at that time, but the choice could be postponed even after the options appeared as long as she didn"t press one of the b.u.t.tons. Yumika was thinking that it wouldn"t be too late to worry about it later.

Before the over 40 Living Armor wreckages, Kazane and the others decided they would only gather their Ghost Nuclei. The ruined armor was made of steel, but even though there was a large amount, they wouldn"t sell for a significant sum, and more importantly, they couldn"t be liquidated on this floating island in the first place.

There were several villages other than Forn Village on this floating island, but they were basically self-sufficient beyond some bartering, so money didn"t circulate.

The only interaction with outside was Forn Village"s mayor"s interactions with Hyvern"s upper echelons and visitors, so to liquidate their materials, they would first have to descend to the surface and go to an Adventurers Guild in a city. It was extremely troublesome.

Anyhow, the battle was over, and when the Ghost Nuclei collection was finished, Kazane and the others once again looked out over Angelite City.

「Mmm, it"s splendidly ruined, right?」

「It truly has been an extremely long time since people have lived here.」

Kazane and Tiara said as they looked at the weathered city and felt melancholic. Angelite City was made of stone, so the shape remained, but 700 years had already pa.s.sed. The signs that people had lived here had faded a long time ago.

「Our ancestors have stopped by many times. There"s probably nothing valuable left.」

Morphia said, but Kazane being Kazane, she wanted to check anyway.

「First of all, shall we check the weapon shop?」

In accordance with Kazane"s words, the party headed to the building in the east side of the city that looked like a weapon shop. Living Armors appeared on the way, but since there were only 5, Emily and Morphia took them down from a distance with their bows this time.

「It"s going well, huh.」

Emily nodded obediently to Kazane"s impressed words.

「Yeah, this bow was such a great thing. Amazing, this is amazing.」

It seemed she was in higher spirits than ever before. She"d had a sense of discomfort with the Dragon Wing Bow, but it could now be handled as if the gears had finally meshed. Emily hadn"t seen the light so far, so it seemed that joy was enhanced even further.

And after two more battles against Living Armors, Kazane and the others arrived at the ruins of a weapons shop. While humming fufufu, Kazane went around to the back of the building, searched the floor of the firewood storage area, and found a hidden door.

She turned to her companions with a smug smile and went inside, but unfortunately, nothing remained.

「Well, it seems they had plenty of time to run away, so they would have taken everything important.」

Kazane had teary eyes. Morphia said「This is exactly what would be expected」to try and more or less comfort her, but Kazane"s vexed expression wasn"t healed. She never expected she would feel so sad after entering a completely empty hidden warehouse with such a triumphant expression.

And Naoki was the only one looking at Kazane"s vexed face with a content expression. Naoki also loved his older sister"s troubled face.

After that, Kazane and the others moved away from the weapons shop and perfunctorily routed the monsters they encountered, but there were no particular new discoveries.

「Well, this is just how exploring in reality goes, isn"t it?」

Yumika said. But then, Yumika was in suspense about her own matter as she stared at her Status Window, saying「A little more? It will probably appear soon.」She should become level 40 after a bit more. She was one step before Superiorization.

Then Kazane said「From now on is the real thing」as she took out the Artifact『Infinite Key』. She immediately let the Infinite Key dangle as she held the chain.

She wasn"t expecting to find anything interesting in this city from the start. If it feels like she was thinking (Just a smidgin? Won"t there be just a little bit?), it"s in your imagination.

In any case, it was true that it was the start of the real thing. She would use Infinite Key dowsing to find the Magic Life Stone. That was the trump card Kazane would use to liberate Angelite City.

Name: Yuihama Kazane

Occupation: Summoning Fighter

t.i.tle: Ogre Killer, Dragon Slayer, High Beast Summoner, Rea King

Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Two Handed Sword『Black Fang』, Draghorn Tonfa x2, Dragonscale Breastplate, Drake Gauntlets, Silver Sheep Clothes, Sylphyn Skirt, Plasma Pants, Dragon Eating Ogre King"s Greaves, Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, Heroic Spirit Summoning Ring, Circlet of Wisdom, Aim Bracelet, Magic Acc.u.mulator, White Magic Acc.u.mulator, Rainbow Necklace, Rainbow Dragon Ring

Level : 36

Health: 145

Magic Power: 304+420

Strength: 67+20

Agility: 71+14

Endurance: 38

Wisdom : 72

Dexterity : 47

Spell : 『Fly』『Torch』『Fire』『Heal』『Firestorm』『Healer Ray』『High Heal』『Golden Dusk「Dragon Exclusive」』『Mirror Shield』

Skill : 『Kick Devil』『Warrior"s Memory: Lv2』『Night Vision』『Crushing Blow』『Dog"s Sense of Smell: Lv2』『Golem Maker: Lv3』『Rush』『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』『Healing Principle: Fourth Chapter』『Air Jump: Lv2』『Killing Leg: Lv3』『Fear Voice』『Invisible』『Tiger Eye』『Wall Walking』『Intuition』『Cheat Death』『Nimble』『Charge』『Material Shield: Lv2』『Information Link: Lv2』『Optical Camouflage』『High Dash』『Bloodsucking Blade』『Dragonization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Regenerate』『Soul Breaking Blade』『Stealthy Hand Placement』『Thunder Chariot: Lv2』『St.u.r.dier Teeth: Lv2「Dragon」』『Crystallization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Devil King"s Intimidation』『Stone Minotaur: Lv2』『Mega Beam: Lv2』『s.p.a.ce Expansion』『Pseudo-Silver Creation』『Poison Claw』『Fireball「Dragon」』『Cuticle「Dragon」』『Arms Creation: Black Flame』『Ingredient Connoisseur』『Dragon Pheromone「Dragon」』『Boost』『Monkey"s Strong Arm』『Two-sword Style』『b.o.o.bies Plus』『Living Armor』

Yumika:「Dowsing after a long absence.」

Kazane:「I want to excavate a hot spring soon.」

Yumika:「No, as might be expected, there wouldn"t be one on a floating island, right?」