[Arc 5] Chapter 1-16: Thunder Tournament: Underhanded Strategy

During the middle of the fourth match:

In front of the Treasure Tower entrance stood two Crystal Golems guarding the sealed entrance with bored expressions.

"The fight has lasted long," said one of the guards.

"It's the doubles match now." - 2nd guard

"That doesn't mean the match should be double as long." - 1st guard

Just like that, the two guards quarreled with each other, completely not noticing that a black sphere that rolled past their feet and into the tower...completely unaffected by the lighting barrier produced by the Spirit Lord.

"Huh? Hey, who goes-GYAAAAH!!" - 1st guard

"GYAAAAH!!" - 2nd guard

The intruder that came chasing after the sphere was a different story. The black goop known as "Wiggly" by some people assaulted the two guards and threw them to the ground. Due to how everyone was preoccupied with the martial arts battle between Oily the Gel and Akai the Oni, the assault went unnoticed by everyone...except for one person and one animal.

After defeating the guards, Wiggly started to force itself past the barrier and into the tower. This brute force approach, along with the Spirit Lord's lack of concentration toward the barrier, resulted in the lightning wall disintegrating completely, leaving the tower open for anyone to enter.

"...time to get to work." - ???

"*Squeak*!" - ???

---

Mira's PoV:

"[Swarm Bat]!!" - Shiro

With a loud shout, Shiro transformed herself into a group of small bats. Hey, that's the cliché vampire ability that Alf doesn't have~. 

But let's postpone the bullying of the vegetarian vampire for now and focus on the match. Thanks to the transformation, Shiro managed to escape the ridiculous amount of [Steel Arrows] that the werewolf showered her with. 

"Why you little, bratty bat! ...hey! Get off me!" - Henry Gardenolf

And without missing a beat, Shiro started to swarm the werewolf. How surreal seeing a werewolf being attacked by a swarm of bats..., or maybe not? Vampires and werewolves are infamous for being hostile to each other. 

The werewolf swung his unsheeted katana around in an attempt to ward off the Shiro-swarm, but he only missed. The slashes did cut through the whole stage to the point where Mikazuchi had to flee from it. I waaaaant that thing...

Shiro finally returned to her normal shape behind the werewolf and stabbed him with a dagger made from her blood while also biting him in the neck. 

*Clang!*

"Clang"? Why is there a metallic sound coming from the werewolf? 

A closer look made me realize that the werewolf's fur had taken a dark grey color scheme. Is that another Steel-type skill? And one that increases the defense-power of his fur from the looks of it. Poor Shiro's holding her mouth while rolling in pain.

The werewolf tried to attack Shiro as she experienced what is probably the worst toothache of her life, but our resident vampire threw the blood dagger at the werewolf's face. While in the air, the dagger lost its shape and turned into regular blood. Said blood was splattered all over the werewolf's face, blinding him and making him miss Shiro by just a few centimeters. I can see from here that Shiro turned pale from the near-death experience, but keep it up! Never give up!!

*KA-BOOOOOM!*

...on the other hand, give up. 

"Wh-what is going on!? The Treasure Tower exploded!?" - Mikazuchi

As the Spirit Lord said, it's the Treasure Tower that got blasted. Didn't she say she would be as silent as a mouse? That stupid Zaria...

---

The day before the Thunder Tournament (after chapter 9):

*Snap*

Whatever the case, it seems that it wasn't the only creature in this forest who wants a fight with me today. Fine by me. I need some stress relief after all this madness lately. Come at me!

"IIIIKK! Lower your sword, Mira!" - Zaria

"...what, it's just you? Welcome to the world of freedom." - Mira

I was greeted by Zaria who should have been trapped behind the lightning barrier since yesterday. Knowing her, it's not a surprise that she managed to escape. I'm not gonna say I was a little surprised just now. 

"Ehe~..., wait! Mira, I wasn't trapped in the barrier at all!" - Zaria

"Then where were you?" - Mira

"You see, right before that zappy-barrier suddenly appeared, I was rudely awoken by a meteorite that came from out of nowhere, but I guess that's normal for meteorites? Anyway, the meteor strike was the worst alarm clock I've experienced. It blew my light body into the forest. The good part of it is that I escaped being trapped with Rald and the others, I guess?" - Zaria

Oh, that's right. Zaria is a Bat-type Therianthrope. Her body's lighter than what it appears to be. And she's visually a light-weighter from the start. 

"So the barrier appeared before I could get back to Rald and the rest, cutting me and Tinkletop off from the rest. I planned on staying near the barrier in case you or Blot came to investigate the barrier. I had the confidence that I could stay hidden from that old yakuza Yashinezu if he returned. But you'd never guess what! That blasted Wiggly managed to force itself out from the barrier!" - Zaria

"That guy's tougher than he appears." - Mira

"Yes! And it was after me for the whole day until it suddenly stopped and went after you! So please, let's hunt him down once and for all!" - Zaria

"...or, we can use him." - Mira

"Huh? What did you say? Please don't say what I fear you're saying!" - Zaria

"Sorry, Zaria. But that blasted culprit of the barrier at the Demonic Sea building's the same girl who has occupied the Treasure Tower. With a barrier and everything at the entrance." - Mira

"NOOOO!! I don't want to be a living sacrifice!!" - Zaria

"You're really against that guy." - Mira

"OF COURSE I am! That guy's the source of my traumas from the past!" - Zaria

"Then it's fine as long as you don't fight him?" - Mira

"...what's your aim here?" - Zaria

"Maybe you have heard about the special magitite stone that Flint had trouble with making a weapon from?" - Mira

"Not at all. What the heck's a magitite?" - Zaria

"HUH?! ...it's..., you know..., a special rock that can store mana in it... Flint couldn't make anything out of it since it's too unstable, so he decided to at least make a bomb out of it..." - Mira

"A mana bomb? How's that supposed to work?" - Zaria

"That black blob stopped going after you because I was nearby. It's just a guess, but I think that guy is predating on large mana sources." - Mira

"Th-that's a scary thought. Oh, so we're using the bomb to blow up the Wiggly?" - Zaria

"Focus on the barrier, but if you can trick the goop to enter it before the blast, that would be the best. Two birds with one bomb. And the goop's forceful entrance may weaken the barrier enough to let the bomb finish the job." - Mira

The barrier I saw at the tower did look too solid for the bomb alone to work. 

"...you're not trying to say that..." - Zaria

"Yes, I am. During this Thunder-whatever thing, Zaria! You need to lure that black goop into the tower, then blow the entrance and that monster up with the magitite bomb!" - Mira

"EEEEEHHH!?" - Zaria

---

Back to the present, Zaria's PoV:

*KA-BOOOOM!*

The bomb was way louder than I expected. People are going to gather her at any second. Let's get this over with before people start gathering from the arena.

I hurried into the tower and saw Wiggly...turned Piece-ly. He's gone splatter all over the round room that acts as the entrance to the tower. 

...did I do it? Did I finally get myself rid of that horrible Wiggly? ...*sniff*. This may be the happiest day since the day I reunited with Mira...

*Ba-bump*

HIIIIII!! Wh-wh-wh-what was that!?

One of the "flesh" pieces that were in a relative whole piece..., why did I call them that!? Now I'm even more freaked out! A-anyway, this flesh piece...it's pulsating. Don't tell me this is Wiggly's heart or something...

IIIIK! The other "parts" of Wiggly are being drawn toward the "heart"! Even if it's not his heart, this thing is too dangerous to be left alone! I-i-i-i-i-it's d-d-d-definitely not because I'm scared! N-n-n-n-not at all!

I created a [Wind Needle], enveloped it with [Razor Wind]'s and [Rust Arrow]'s effects, and threw the needle with all the force I could muster. It punctured the heart, stopping its beating, as well as the movement of the other Wiggly pieces. D-did that do it...?

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

Your level has increased. You have gone from Lv.24 to Lv.26.

You have earned a total of 0.8 Skill Points.

Due to Guildmaster Garami Blackwood's Blessing: "Champion of Alvatria", an additional 0.8 Skill Points were earned.

Karma Value has slightly increased.

Acquired title: [Zombie Slayer]

Acquired skill: [Vitality Increase (Small) Lv.1].

[Vitality Increase (Small) Lv.1] has been integrated into [Vitality Increase (Small) Lv.Max].

Acquired title: [Undead Slayer]

Acquired skill: [Mana Increase (Small) Lv.1].

[Mana Increase (Small) Lv.1] has been integrated into [Mana Increase (Small) Lv.Max].

F-finally! Finally! After all these years of being harassed by that blasted slime ball! *Sniff*, I'm not crying...I'm not crying! ...just a little...

Okay, I'm a little calmer now. To think that Wiggly gave so much EXP. And he was a zombie...

I must have been a little too emotional just now. To think I failed to notice these guys. 

(Tinkletop, if you would.) - Zaria

(*Squ-squeak*!) - Tinkletop

"And who are you guys?" I asked as I looked over my shoulder toward the uninvited guests. Not that I am any better in that regard.

"For someone who is about to lose your home, you sure are curious about the state of others, Voyager."

Huh? What did he call me? And I've already lost my house to the debt collectors. And shouldn't it be something among the lines of "losing my life"? Why "house"?

I shelved my confusion for now and took another look at the attackers. There are no golems. Meaning it's not likely they are working for the "ridiculous lightning bitch" that Mira talked about. Not that I can dismiss the probability that they are mercenaries hired by her. We don't even know if golems are the only creatures to follow the Spirit Lord. 

Worst of all, they are armed to the teeth. The strange thing is that some of them have stuff that looks obviously like high-tier stuff. It's maybe up to notch with Garami's equipment, if not better! The guy talking to me, for example, has a two-handed sword on his back that looks like it's worth more than all the valuables that I once owned in my life. Mira would love one of those.

The strangest thing is that most of the fanciest stuff these guys have seems to be sealed. They have paper tags and chains on them, similar to those forbidden shrines that were sealed away by Onmyoji. So...are these guys not "worthy" of their equipment, so they forcefully sealed the item to a degree so they could equip them anyway? Yeah, it looks like that?

And where did these guys come from? They are of various races, but I'd say that demons and beastkin are the most common ones, but none of them seems to be from Luxuria. If anything-

"Now, you got some final words before we send you to the great god?" 

Quite the religious guys, aren't you? And it seems like the "observation time" is over. Well, I got a good look at them, and I have a good guess of their home country now. 

"Hmm, maybe this? Hope you have insulated underwear." - Zaria

"What?"

Before the intruders could do anything else, Tinkletop struck them with a heavy lightning spell that stunned them all. But there are more bad guys at the entrance. Shit... Let's escape into the tower. 

Tinkletop jumped onto my shoulder as we exited the circular room that acted as the entrance room of the tower and handed me something he'd taken from the attackers. It looks like an amulet of some kind. Like a yin-yang symbol, except that the two halves seem to have been broken off and inversed so they point at the opposite side than normal...

Isn't this the same symbol that was used in the Demonic Sea-related building!? 

"Did any other of those guys have something like this?" I asked Tinkletop after finishing barricading the door with whatever I could find. Tinkletop nodded a lot in response to my question. 

"Everyone? Did everyone have this?" - Zaria

"*Squeak*!!" - Tinkletop

Seriously? But is there any organization with this kind of emblem?

"*Grrrrr*..."

...I did NOT hear a nasty growling, did I? Please let it be my imagination. And Tinkletop! Stop shaking like that! It's just some auditory illusions! Relax! Illusions can't hurt us! I hope...

Steadily, I started to look up towards where I heard what I REALLY hoped was an illusion. ...there are no hopes or dreams in this world.

At the top of the tower was something that looked like a hybrid between a gigantic dragon and a jellyfish, with scales that looked like a western knight's armor. And it's glaring at me. With the same eyes as Lily's during dinner time. ...Mira? Help me...

---

Kigal-Note/Items/Consumables: Magitite Bomb (Customized)

Further Information:

A special type of bomb constructed by using a magitite crystal and the natural energies from the inside of a volcano. 

These kinds of magitite bombs have the power to burn away almost anything when they go off, yet they are extremely difficult to create due to how volatile the crystals can be before being processed into bombs.

It does not help that only unstable crystals are normally used for the creation of these bombs. Magitite crystals are already rare enough as it is, while stable crystals have a value that could allow a farmer's family to stay fed for a whole year if it was sold. This makes the idea of using stable crystals as components for bombs a foolish idea that is being looked down on. 

As for the bombs, they need extreme careful refining to be turned into usable bombs that would not blow up in the user's face. Only pro refiners such as Goldsmiths in cooperation with people who have experience with destructive items and volcanic energies can create this particular bomb. Working alone on this beast will result in one less fool in the world. And probably a few buildings. 

While the finished bomb packs less of a punch compared to the unstable version, any crafter with a working head would say the former is the better alternative. They do not suddenly start draining mana from the person carrying it for the first, nor do they blow up before the user has the chance to throw the item. But in the end, this item is too rare to see common usage in a battle.

Zaria's comment: So the bomb is a collaborated work between Flint and Noire?