"Now, Dannae!" I shouted as I reappeared in front of them with a throng of Automatons at my heels
At first, when I told Dannae to try the power of that prototype Particle Cannon, I naturally volunteered to help her demonstrate its power.
At the moment, the five women watched how nimbly I moved and how easily I could take care of the Automatons without getting any scratch.
Elise and Reinys already saw how I fought earlier so they're not that surprised anymore, but for the three women, they had varying reactions.
Avelin, as always, took it as if it's a matter of fact. She once again excitedly jumped as she watched me dodge each and every attack of the Automatons.
Whenever I would kick one and that Automaton would take a few seconds to stand up, Avelin would cheer like a fangirl to her favorite idol.
Despite remembering things from our past, she's still the same adorable and innocent Avelin. No matter what, she would always be like this and I love that about her.
If I remember correctly, there was that one time when someone tried to trick her because of her innocence. Little did they know that when she found out someone tricked her, she would be like that Transformation Skill of hers, a Demon who would be feared by anyone. That kind of gap in her personality was truly precious and adorable.
Furthermore, whenever she's with me, she would always be the adorable Avelin who loved to be pampered.
As for Noelle, the girl was staring intently at me while holding her staff tightly as if she's too worried that something could possibly happen to me. At any moment, she was prepared to activate a Spell, a Skill or a Blessing to save me. And all of that while having an awed expression as if she's watching her older brother show off in front of her.
Ever since that first adventure I had with them, the girl was never against my inclusion in Yuko's Party. She even commended me that time after that first battle.
She's a truly kindhearted girl and someone you would want to take care of.
I was aware that she's most likely developing affection towards me or she already did. However, without us seriously talking about it, we were treating each other as close siblings with me as her older brother even though she's physically older than me.
That kiss we shared during that time when she completed her Mortal Pathway was her failure to control herself from the happiness of reaching it. According to her, at least.
As for Dannae, the girl was occupied in recharging the prototype weapon, she's sweatily concentrating herself as she watched how the surrounding Source Energy was being gathered into one of the Energy Containers.
From the gaseous nature of the Source Energy, it was being condensed into a liquified nature. However, it's not like the Spirit Ocean Droplet that was condensed to the extreme. It's a step below that.
As soon as the Energy Container became filled and a digital indicator at the side of the gun which read '0' turned to '1', Dannae hurriedly aimed the gun at the gathered Automatons, with me in the middle of them.
Following that, I could feel Dannae's own Source Energy wildly burst out of her as her Amplification ability was fully utilized to enhance the Particle Cannon.
"Get out of there, Daisuke!" She shouted, worry also filling her face.
She's afraid that I would be hurt, how cute.
Even after I told her that I could retreat at any moment, she's still like this.
Following her words, I lifted my hand and a thin film of pure Earth Energy gathered on top of me.
Like a blanket that was floating down from above, the film of Earth Energy draped over the surrounding Bronze and Silver Automatons.
As soon as they were touched by it, every Automaton stopped in place as mechanical ticking sounds immediately filled the area.
The thin film of Energy like a blanket was only made possible because of my Energy Control. Its function was to block the signal of the Processing Unit, hence the reason why the Automatons all stopped frozen.
It would disappear soon though that's why before Dannae fired her the Particle Cannon, I already used a number of Movement Skills to get away from that encirclement.
In a blink of their eyes, I reappeared next to her and whispered. "Fire."
"Ghhhwaa?!" Surprised at my voice, Dannae hurriedly turned her head. And when she saw that I was the culprit for surprising her, she bit onto my ears before turning her head back in front.
Her arms were already steady. Before the thin blanket of Source Energy faded away, Dannae pulled the trigger of her prototype Particle Cannon.
Psssssst! BOOM!
Like a laser beam streaking across from its muzzle towards the place she was aiming at, all six of us watched as the Amplified Particle Cannon hit the frozen group of Automatons.
"W-what… the Bronze Automatons were almost broken."
Dannae muttered under her breath as she watched the aftermath of her attack.
Not even Reinys and Elise's combined flames could destroy an Automaton. However, that Amplified Particle Cannon showed the Bronze Automatons who were near the center of that impact had their limbs cracked or totally mangled. Moreover, that group of over 15 Automatons was all disabled.
"Isn't that a cheat weapon?" Reinys commented, a hint of frustration in her voice.
"It appears so." Elise followed up.
"Oh! Sister Dannae is so strong!" Avelin was excitedly rejoicing as she went over to the disabled Automatons.
"That's amazing, Dannae." And Noelle complimented her.
"Un. What do you feel?" I asked the girl who was still speechless at what she witnessed.
Compared to the gun of her father that she's always continuously amplifying and the other guns from the World of Meta, that Particle Cannon was obviously leagues ahead of it.
"Can I really have this weapon? It's too strong, Daisuke. Moreover, I only used the Burst Amplification. What will even happen if the Stacked Amplification is used? Add to that, some of my other skills as well…"
"Then you'll become our weapon of mass destruction. However, that still has its flaws, am I right?"
Upon hearing that question, Dannae turned somewhat gloomy as she timidly nodded her head. "Its durability isn't high. I think it can only be fired 20 times if I added Burst. 40 if I didn't and naturally, if I use Stack or some other skills to Amplify its attack power, the durability will take a massive hit."
That's right. I was already aware of that when I held it in my hand. It's a prototype after all. That's to be expected.
We now had its blueprint so… we could just have someone recreate or improve it… And most likely, that Eccentric would be able to help again. If we could find her, of course.
"Then it's up to you when and where to utilize that. In any case, we'll find a way to erase that flaw or improve that weapon altogether." I patted her head and her little feelers danced happily again.
After wrapping things up at that part, we resumed to our destination. The Armor Peripherals Storage Building.
With the five women now working together, it became as smooth as taking a stroll in the park even without me moving.
There were also times when the four women would do the same thing as I did, kite a few Automatons for Dannae to disable, be it using the prototype Particle Cannon or the other weapons in her arsenal.
On our way, we encountered two more carts that were being escorted by the Gold Automatons. And although it was a bit hard for them, the five women managed to defeat them while I picked the carts clean.
They're transporting the same ores so instead of two, we now have raw materials enough to create six extraordinary weapons for my Companions.
Twenty minutes later, we arrived in a skyscraper-like building guarded heavily by Automatons.
The Armor Peripherals Storage Building.
It's a storage building, no doubt it's more important than the ore we were plundering from those Gold Automaton escorts.
Looks like we'll have a haul inside. The whole place was illuminated with light and there's a lot of activity inside.
But at the same time as having a great haul, we had to face more tough opponents inside.
"Un. There should be a Crystal Automaton inside, are you all ready?" I turned to the five women lined up at my side who all wore determined and excited expressions, especially Reinys who was already anticipating the procurement of her cape.