Chapter 289
Chapter 289 Strongest Sage, Heads to Site
Ancient monsters are incomparably stronger than present ones .
Similar monsters probably exist in the deepest parts of dungeons even now, but those types won"t go above ground .
Human civilizations will collapse in a few months time if we leave those monsters alone .
Even though we would probably survive, coexisting with civilizations is imperative if we want to efficiently raise our forces .
We"ve a great need to remove the threat of [Broken Star] .
And I need to get close to it in order to accomplish that .
"G-great outbreak of Disaster cla.s.s monsters . . . Mathi-kun, can you win?"
"I can manage somehow if it"s 1-on-1, but jumping straight into the middle of a great outbreak is out of question . . . Though that"s exactly what we need to do now . "
I"m really not eager to but that"s the best option we have .
The more time pa.s.ses, the more monsters will emerge around [Broken Star], making it harder to deal with .
"Right in the middle!?"
"Got to get close to the [Broken Star] if we want to destroy it . . . But Ruli and Alma, you two can stay somewhere farther apart . It"s impossible for you . "
"Ah, Mathi-kun and Iris-san are going then . . . "
Ruli said in both disappointed and relieved tones .
I asked Iris while listening to her .
"Iris and I will jump right into the center of the swarm . . . Iris, you"ll have to temporarily transform back into your dragon form, is that fine with you?"
Iris has had her magic circuits ruined due to the meltdowns of ancient civilizations" [Magic Fusion Reactors], turning back into dragon consumes a lot out of her .
I"ve been keeping her from turning back to dragon for when the time calls for it . . . And now is exactly [that time] .
" . . . Will about an hour do?"
"That"s good enough . "
The girls rendezvoused with me as we were discussing .
No need to use comm magic anymore .
"How"s your mana and condition looking?"
"All fine!"
"We only fought a bit in the end after all!"
"I can turn back to dragon anytime!"
The girls replied so .
I"d have liked to let them rest for a day at least before bringing them to a danger zone, but the situation doesn"t afford us that .
I"d prefer to settle the problem when we still have time .
"Okay . Then let"s go to where the [Broken Star] is right away . "
"Go . . . How?"
"There"s a tunnel that goes straight to [Broken Star] . "
I walk inside the research facilities .
After walking a bit, Tunnel No . 3 comes into view .
"We"ll arrive at [Broken Star] if we get on this . "
I point at a magic freight car parked in the tunnel entrance .
[Broken Star]"s location is too far to go on foot .
"This looks . . . like a very complex machine, can you even operate it?"
Ruli pointed at the driver"s seat while getting on board the freight car .
So many meters, b.u.t.tons etc . are installed there .
Moreover, these b.u.t.tons and levers aren"t labeled .
Anmorr brothers probably thought that it"d be fine so long as they alone could operate these .
"Yeah . I"ll just randomly hit some of these stuff . "
It could prove challenging if our goal were to ride comfortably, but if it"s just for going from point a to b, then all"s good as long as it can accelerate and decelerate .
I could hazard a guess by looking at the magic device"s structure, next I"ll just figure it out as we move .
"Randomly . . . "
"It"ll be fine, just gotta get down to it . I mean, all it needs to do is move forward right . "
After making sure that everyone was on board, I pushed a lever that seemed to be for accelerating .
Then, mana flew into the engine--only for an instant before stopping .
There must be some sort of procedure to start this thing up .
As the starting up process of magic tools is what consumes the most mana, there"s usually a certain procedure you must follow with a highly efficient magic tool .
But when I try to force mana into the part where mana was about to flow earlier . . .
"See, it"s moving . "
"D-did you just force your mana into the magic tool . . . ?"
"Yeah . There"s probably a formal procedure for it, but doing this is way faster . . . However, I advice against mimicking what I did . "
Forcing mana to activate a magic tool is convenient, but one wrong step and it could end up destroying itself or going up in an explosion .
This method is not suited for anyone who is not familiar with inner structures of magic tools nor lacks experience in dealing with out of control magic tools .
I"m sure Ruli can manage something like this once she"s learned a bit more about magic tools and started dipping her toes into creations of more complex magic tools .