[Arc 3] Epilogue: After the Work, Finally a Rest…

"Hmm, this is impossible. I have no experience with 'firearms', nor do I think someone experienced with this kind of stuff could do something about it. It's simply too broken to be used for anything." - Flint

"...Tch. Was afraid of that." - Garami

It's three days since the battle with the Darkness Dragon, and we're back at Damavand. We said our farewells for now to the ninjas after promising to meet them on the ship to Wakoku, and Revi gave the moss to the noble friend of Filyn, meaning we had no more business with the Forge, so we went home early.

Someone had stolen all the possible rewards for the Event, so everyone, except the adventurers who had plans to train in the Forge from the start, had also left early, making this year's Event a flop. Whoops, I guess?

And now, three days after the battle, my body's finally recovered to the point where I won't fall due to my own body's weight. Being so weak is damn depressing... better than having Waning though, so I survived. I regret being so hot-headed back then. I should have assassinated that rotten lizard rather than facing him head-on...

With my body feeling okay now, I decided to ask Flint if the Thaumaturgy Revolver, which had met its end during the battle against the Darkness Dragon, could be repaired. The answer was a merciless "no". Figures. Even Armveil said that a weapon that's been used for Sacrifice Weapon is gonna be unrepairable and unusable even as a material. Still, can you blame me for trying?

"Then I'm gonna leave. This place is too hot." - Garami

"Okay. I think the temperature's just lovely though." - Flint

That's because you're a Fire Lizardman, even if your appearance has not changed at all. The idea of moving his workshop from the previous bamboo-forest Dungeon to the top of the volcano was a good idea though, especially since we could redesign the volcano now thanks to the new Dungeon-type and Sub-Attribute that I had gotten for some strange reason. Not that I'm gonna complain about getting those.

"Yeah, yeah. By the way, you're coming to the party?" - Garami

"No way I can. It's going to take some time to sort through all those strange weapons that Mira brought back. Not to mention all those dragon materials you brought with you. Why did a trip to harvest some moss end up with you guys coming back with all that anyway?" - Flint

"Believe me, I'm the one who wanna know that. And it's not like you guys haven't been exposed to troubles." - Garami

While we were away, the Dungeon had been under a pincer attack by a group of Deathsand Scorpions and a swarm of Bomb Ants. It's thanks to Onyx's leadership, plus Lily's and Noire's surprisingly strong contributions on the battlefield that prevented us from losing a Territory, according to the reports.

"I'm too busy with the meteorite to even consider stuff like that. Even Noire had to give up, despite only being my assistant." - Flint

She's a Goldsmith, not a Blacksmith. It's a normal reaction to give up on something that even a real smith has trouble with.

I said my farewells to Flint and... jumped outta the "window" used for the forge's air ventilation. While in the air, I used [Storm Compression] to alter the winds underneath my feet and "kicked" it to slow my fall.

This one's pretty useful. Controlling winds to use it for multiple purposes. This may become a favorite that surpasses both [Aura of Darkness] and [Chaotic Concurrence].

I "walked" through the air until I reached the ruined buildings of the Damavand-Core Territory, the former werewolf-Dungeon and currently the main Dungeon of Damavand. After settling down on a decent spot, I started to take out the Dungeon Menu:

The sickness-like feeling of the Sacrifice Weapon-debuff stopped me from doing anything lately, so I've delayed the decision of which stats to upgrade with the small pile of DP that's amassed, but the problem of choosing which stat is not an issue. 

There we go~. I decided to improve both Facility and Treasures to obtain more FP-generating Facilities, which can be used for many more Bosses and traps. Importantly, I wanna add more monster lines to improve the selection of Bosses I can obtain, even if they appear from a gacha. Plus, high-ranking Bosses cost way more FP than the C-rankers I can already summon. And the cost doesn't go up even if those monsters evolve, so it's better to start with them at rank C and train them up.

Increasing Movement gives me the ability to teleport to a subordinate inside the Dungeon, something that will become useful once we start conquering Dungeons outside of the Invidia continent.

I'll ignore the monsters unlocked for now. With the added Volcano-type and Magma attribute, the selection of monsters has increased even further. I'll stick to the guys I already have for now... or should I place certain species in each Dungeon? I'll contemplate on this later.

For now, let's look at what Facility: C has given me. First, is the additional Personal Dungeon-type. Meaning I can add one of the options I didn't choose back when I obtained the Forgotten Realm Dungeon-type. Wait, there are no new additions? Maybe I need to do some more radical changes...

In that case, let's go with that "Flooded Lake of Sorrows"-type for now. As a reward for Noire who acted like a one-woman army against the ants and scorpions. 

The other stuff Facility: C gives me is... a Hub-Area? Oh, it means you can turn part of a floor into one huge non-aggression area. Pretty nice. If we do that, we can place inns and stuff for adventurers to relax in while they try to challenge the Dungeons. It'll be kinda like a honey trap for those guys... some casinos and brothels may give us some customers that way too. Let's hope Onyx has some ideas there.

Let's make the upper half of Damavand-North into that. That place was gonna be something like that anyway. 

The other stuff is... improvements to the FP I get from Safe Areas? Nice~. And I can place more of those item-vendors as well. Huh, even a restaurant-type is possible!? Just one per Dungeon, and it's a non-aggression area like the Hub-floor... let's add those as well. They give nice FP.

I can also place rivers (of both water and magma) on any of the floors for free. Not unlimited length and numbers, of course. And many other attribute-related Facilities shares this bonus. Nice~.

The traps have improved considerably, and reaching rank C allows me to place some traps related to the Dungeon's attribute. Pitfalls that's filled with either water or magma, more Dark Mines, Flash Bombs from the Light Sub-Attribute, and more. Even the traps that require FP have turned even nastier than before. Can't wait to place these, gue-he-he-he...

From Treasure: C, I can now decide where those Golden monsters will spawn, plus limiting their range of operation. If I use this correctly, I can use them to lure in more adventurers...

The other stuff from that stat is the Epic Treasure Chest, which gives 20 FP for each, but you gotta store an Epic-rarity item inside... these are going into the Treasure Chambers on the final floor of each Dungeon. Other than that is an improved Spring of Recovery that gives more FP.

Then there are all the various goods I can buy, but we've started producing our own food, and Flint's taking care of our metal equipment, so we're not in such dire need of this.

But these Facilities here really caught my eye. Special facilities that are only unlocked thanks to Facility: C and Treasure: C.

One of them is, thanks to the Water attribute, apparently, is a Fishing Pond. It even comes with fishes that are automatically refilled once the number of fish is reduced to a certain number. You can charge the Pond with CP beforehand and it will use those to refill the fish. The fish in question... is rather questionable though. Darkwater Fish? Skeleton Fish? ...Let's say those are the duds.

Then there is the Hot Springs that you can add a special item-vendor for various hot spring-related items, such as eggs and bottles of milk.

Then there is... a water theme park!? Let's make the first floor of Damavand-Lake into something like that. Just have to remember not to turn it into that "Lake of Sorrow"-type. Too depressing...

Others are... a brothel!? A casino!? For having Demons + Light attribute!? ...Yup, it can be placed in the Hub-Area. Good. 

And all these come with their own non-aggression effect! I'm so gonna abuse this ~.

Better start deciding on real themes for every Dungeon from now on, including the monsters that appear and what kinda Facilities I should place there.

"Master Garami, there you are." 

That voice's Onyx... not. It's one of his undead that he uses to look around this and the other Dungeons.

"The party is soon to begin. Please start preparing yourself." 

And with that, the undead was dismissed. To do it from this distance... wait, it's already that time!? 

---

"Ehem, everyone, again many thanks for having survived until this day. In one week, we of the main group will set sail for the country of Wakoku. During that period, the safety of the Dungeon sits on your shoulders. However, there is no doubt in my mind that you can protect our home while we are away. Now, a toast for future conquests and continued prosperity!" - Garami

The subordinates cheered after I finished the speech (written by Onyx) and I could finally exit the balcony on the underground castle on the new ninth floor of Damavand-Core. The monsters could party it out without me present... damn that was exhausting. And a little terrifying. 

"Good work, my lady." - Onyx

"No biggie." - Garami

Yes, I don't wanna let my subordinates know that I'm a wimp, got a problem with that!?

"Then, you got the info about that festival thingy?" - Garami

"Yes. Here is a complete list of what I could gather from the books that are added to the Dungeon." - Onyx

This guy had Noire, the one I gave control over the CP while I was away, splurge on tons of books for the castle library. Not that I condemn him for that. Knowledge is power after all. 

Let's see... the Yamatai Grand Festival is held every 14 years, yadda-yadda, starts with 14 passages, blah-blah, statistically, only one out of 1,000 will survive, ouch-ouch, and the reward is...

"Yes, this is just what I wanted to know, and more so. Great work, Onyx." - Garami

"It has been my pleasure, my lady." - Onyx

This is even more info than what the Kigal-Note told me about that event. With this, the groundwork at least should be done. I mean, we got one month after landing on the continent to prepare before the festival officially starts. Good timing too. The power gap between me and the others has started to become too large for my taste. Soon I won't be able to outsource my problems to them! This heck of a festival is just what those guys need. And hey, maybe we'd get some other souvenirs from that hero(lol)'s "home continent". 

This is gonna be interesting~.

WORLD MESSAGE:

Update to the World System is now complete. 

New items added to the System include:

The ability to show a single title on the Status Page,

Replacing the ability to show every title through an ID card to allow the selected title alone to be revealed,

New titles added to the World System,

And much more~.

And something interesting whenever you want it to or not appeared!?

---

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Greydra

Kigal-Note/Monsters/Insects: Blast Ant

Description:

Blast Ants are one of the worst insects crawling on Terra Sol. They are the rank-and-file of the Blast Ant communities, led by Blast Ant Soldiers, Guards, Mages, and of course, by the Blast Ant Queen.

Blast Ants create nomadic swarms that leave their nest after the newest generation has grown up to search for their next potential nest. There, the Queen lays new eggs that hatch into Blast Ant Larves that cannibalize on each other so they can evolve into new Blast Ants as fast as possible.

The reason for this hasty egg-laying is because any nests created by Blast Ants will gradually turn explosive due to the body fluids that the Blast Ants generate, eventually turning the nest into a gigantic bomb that can destroy the whole swarm if they are not careful. Due to that, they have to constantly change their nest, so to prevent them from being blown sky-high.

Appearance:

The Blast Ant has the appearance of a regular ant with a striking-red exoskeleton and it has the same size as a full-grown horse.

The reason for the ant's huge size is said to prevent them from becoming too deadly. At the beginning of this race's creation, they were of the same size as ants as well, but their firepower was on the same level as it is today. The gods could not reduce this firepower, so they decided to make the ants bigger so it would be easier to spot them, plus improving the odds for the victims to hit the ants from afar.

Also, Blast Ants used to have wings, but their lethality was still too much, so the wings were removed as well.

Abilities:

Blast Ants have natural access to the highly dangerous Gunpowder attribute which allows them to create explosions as well. This, however, made the gods deem them too dangerous and gave them several negative traits, such as being too heavy to jump and too big and slow to take someone by surprise. 

On the other hand, the Blast Ants are capable of creating explosions simply by ramming into others, they can produce highly explosive acid, and since they are ants, they are highly capable of working with other ants. Also, they are extremely strong in fasting and traveling long distances over long time periods, which makes it easy for them to find new feeding grounds once they need to leave behind their old ones.

Alvatria's comment: Ugh, these are the worst creatures that ever got the OK-ed by that idiot Yrlanaya! *Shiver, shiver*