Chapter 416: Operation: 'Patricide.”

Chapter 416: Operation: “Patricide.”

Alright.

That was quick!

Grimnirs answer was swift, but his reasoning came out even faster. Maagneil deserves the worst after everything he did to our hold, our hold king, our clan, and your brother, Darlion. Not to mention the bladdarg he put the people I was responsible for through. Honor-less skorr.

Since when do you care about Darlion? Broggart asked, looking confused. Grimnir did mention their relationship was terrible since Maagneils younger son was always jealous of his older brother and his cousin.

Your brother is a joke of a dwarf, but he didnt deserve getting beaten up by his own father. The person he wanted approval from the most You didnt see in what state he was left behind after Maagneil fled. Everything is his fault, and I have a grudge to settle with him.

I didnt have much to say about the dynamic in their family, but I did know I didnt like Maagneil. He not only endangered my friends but also tried to arrest me when I wasnt at fault for any of the stuff he tried to twist around and blame me for. Daichi did cause trouble, to be fair, but the way they reacted to everything was beyond warranted.

He tried to flee from getting arrested by the Ankoran King for all the crimes he committed, and now he was related to a pretty huge scandal. I wasnt an expert in terms of crimes and punishments, but I knew this was big. Big enough that an execution was impossible to avoid.

Im helping. As expected, King Fugnarus did not hesitate, similar to Grimnir. But who is this employer of Maagneil? How did they find out that the Earth Emperor was dormant all this time? Not even the council of wisewomen knew about this, and this employer does? Informant? An insider?

Probably a historian of some sort, Broggart answered, but even he looked unsure. I have not met this person before. Valto has been prudent when it comes to their information, revealing nothing more than they need a dragon killer able to kill even rank SS.

Impossible, Neill chimed in. Any anti-dragon tools able to kill a rank S dragon easily have been lost to time. Didnt the dwarves themselves dismantle that, uuuuh, what was it called again?

Castle Fatalisa from the Demon War, I answered, still remembering the copied version inside Elyondas dungeon.

Snapping her fingers, Sis patted my back, thanking me for the info. Saori, too, gave me a thumbs up as she told me she was proud I was digilent enough to remember a historical moment, but immediately told me she was disappointed I left that out when we caught up last time. Honestly, this woman

Snapping her fingers, Neill continued, What she said. Also, Father might be old, but thinking that somebody could just create something with the power to pierce his scales is nonsense. Even that rank S Galg wouldnt stand even the smallest chance, even if Father didnt even try to fight back. I never saw him truly fight, but Ive seen him scare even the rank S dragons on Miononbolax with his presence alone.

I would like to say youre overestimating your father, but that would be my artisan pride speaking, dragon princess Broggart snorted, almost sounding sarcastic about it. No, I dont think its possible, even if its my design. But thats why were using an earth elemental emperors creation to fuel things. When a power source is strong enough for the ambition to become true, then nothing is impossible!

He sounds excited for something meant to kill my race.

What is it, Broggi? Spit it out already, Grimnir urged him, causing the artificer to bring us into his workshop where he sprawled some blueprints out on the table.

I looked at it, identifying something like a body? In addition, there was a drill and something looking like a gun arm? To be honest, the schematics were terribly drawn, far messier than what Grimnir and Ellaine could do. Still, it was clear enough that I recognized a

Is that a tank?! Or a driller machine? Tatsuya spat out, eyes widened like a goldfish as he took a closer look. Right, right! This gun arm looks like a long barrel for a missile or mana bullet. The drill, I dont know, can you do something when you come in closer? I mean, this body looks so close to a tank, it cant be anything else!

We all looked at Broggart, while Grimnir asked if this was influenced by one of the designs of the Revolution Queen.

He nodded, but also frowned at the same time. Well, I dont know about this tank thing. Cuoso, you should know by now that, back when we delved into Goddesss Chihiros workshop, I took a gander at more than just the gun design. I picked up the video recorder, I looked over some of her notes, and I also remembered reading a blueprint she called The Romance of a Dying Woman (Unfulfilled). Thats the concept I drew on for valto, as her notes mentioned it being the ultimate weapon to pierce the sky.

Pierce the sky?

The Peolyncians in our party turned to us, wondering if it might be an Earthling quote, but none of us could really tell. It sounded familiar to Tatsuya and Kyouya, but they couldnt pinpoint it in their memories. Neither could I, and Saori just shook her head, mentioning how I am just a decade older than you, not that old.

We estimated the Ankoran Queen was born sometime in the 1940s or 50s, since she had to have experienced the rock & roll era of Japan during the time it rose to prominence. Rosserto told us enough of the rocker culture of the dwarves that it just made sense. It was all still just a guess, though.

Well, regardless, my sketch skills have never been too good, compared to yours, Grimnir. Ironic, since an Inkos hands should be more deft than a Tazs. The end design is a bit more golem-like in the end, Broggart revealed before putting his schematics to the side. Anyways, cant show too much about the dragon killer since a good portion of the construction is also handled by valto after he came over here a month ago, or so. The Earth Emperor was in the other dungeon, remember? Hes been handling that part, so I dont know exactly what the energy source will look like. Probably brought along a mana path monocle to detect it, I say.The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.

He pulled out a monocle from a drawer, handling it over to Grimnir. I did remember this manatech back when the high bishop of Firwood lended me one to try out, making me realize it was an inferior version of my [Mana Eyes]. You could see pure, unmodified mana, but it wasnt as accurate or clear compared to my skill.

If what Broggart made was a manatech golem, then finding its core would be the best way to destroy it, just like all the monster golems I met in the [Menagerie of Golems]. Still, what worried me was how this golem was being advertised as a dragon killer, meaning it must have anti-dragon blood weapons. Maybe that tank barrel Tatsuya called out might be the clue here but I havent seen Peolyncians use tank shells or something similar. Even the dwarven warhammer cannons used mana blasts as projectiles.

Its the drill and an enchantment, Broggart answered my question. The employer has a special enchantment reserved for the core, and the drill itself will be coated in true and lesser dragonkin blood to break through the scales of most dragons. I can tell you this. I trust my design enough to pierce through a rank A dragons chest.

An A rank isnt just a fancy title, you know that, right, dwarf? Neill scoffed, looking displeased. I can understand if its a tool wielded by a strong rank A or S adventurer, but that dragon killer is still just a tool.

Neill didnt use any kind of armor or catalyst in her fighting style; in fact, she was technically completely naked in her dragonewt form. She used her scales to create her kimono, gauntlets, and legguards for her martial arts. Including her spell usage and dragon paths, she was entirely independent of traditional gear, relying purely on her skills, both trained and System-based.

She didnt say anything when I got my armor, but considering what Galg mentioned off-handedly when he first saw my armor in my dragon form, I did get the impression dragons had too much pride to use armor. After all, as Mom explained, our scales were our pride and joy. Strong scales able to ward off any attacks was like a medal of honor and something to be proud of. Pride before survival, you could say.

Well, at least your sister seems to be smart enough, Broggart remarked as he checked out my armor, showing a wide smile as he gave Grimnirs a thumbs up. Ill always notice that signature handiwork of yours. Glad you figured out how to make that rhythilic. Hehe, made one for this here lass too, huh?

He was talking about Ellaines exoarmor, causing Grimnir to let out a loud laugh. Seeing him so proud, Broggart clapped his shoulder and gestured to Ellaine to come closer.

Good. I need some workers now, okay? Seeing as ya are intending to kill my valto, I better help out. Manaethala gathered you all here for that plan, and Im telling you here that he can be trusted. Valto got Goddess Chihiros workshop as hostage.

Broggart explained Maagneils employer managed to put a bomb or something similar in Chihiros hidden home on floor 15, and was using this as a threat to coerce the drake to work with them. Now, considering he was the dungeon master, why wasnt Manethala doing something about it? It should be easy, after all.

However, before I could pose that question, Broggart pulled Grimnir and Ellaine away to work with him on improving the blasthammer. He was especially curious what improvements the latter two had done on it, so he bade the rest of us rest and wait outside. The workshop wasnt large enough when they got working.

Once we were outside, Saoris shadow suddenly rumbled before a giant wolf appeared from it. Her appearance, especially, wasnt somebody I could ever forget.

Vidia! I called out Saoris garm mother.

[Hello, young dragoness. It is good to see you healthy. My pup has been stricken with anxiety when she heard you might have been in danger, but her worries were for naught.]

Mother! Saori turned red, snapping her head over to her. I already had my moment with her, you do not need to bring it up, again!

Hiehie. Saori being Saori.

In any case, after the two had their mother-daughter moment, we found a nice space in the mines where we sat down. It seemed I wasnt the only one with some suspicion.

With the context given to us by Broggart, the Quest made sense now. The golem was the Earth Elemental Emperor as I had suspected, and the issue was that it was currently being enslaved by Maagneil and his employer. If we solved this situation, Manethalas issue would also be solved at the same time.

Could it be, the Earth Mother intended you to enter the Event Quest all this time and, cuz I sent you into the rank B dungeon, she had to issue that Quest to you? King Fugnarus suggested with widened eyes, causing him to fall into temporary depression as he realized how he ruined the Earth Goddesss plans. By her twin-tails

That, too, made sense unfortunately for him.

In any case, with the context of everything on hand, we wanted to interrupt Broggart and ask him to lead us to Manethala, but the moment I entered the workshop, Grimnir shouted, Were working! before we got shooed back out by Ellaine, who had eyes so wide I thought she was high or something.

I-Im sorry, b-but this is a chance I cannot give up! Ive only read about his techniques up until now, but being able to see my masters talents in person is an undeniable opportunity! Im sorry!

Boom! She slammed the door shut on us. The urgency of the situation had disappeared from the minds of these three artisans.

You are like that, too, when it comes to singing, Saori teased me, causing me to groan.

As such, we decided it would be a good idea now to take a long rest. We might already have our break from before, but it seemed Neill was starting to fall asleep. I was too worried about the Tasianna and those not with us, so I decided we maybe scout the area a bit, but Broggat suddenly ran out of the workshop.

Sorry, sorry! Uh, I had forgotten to tell you this, but Manethala warned me to never go out of this area of the floor, as the rest will be the place for the last real gambit. Unless you want to risk yourselves, it would be best to stay here. Im using a special entrance the drake made for me to transition from one floor to the other. Once we are done, we can go!

The project was to ensure we could destroy the dragon killer, in case his father managed to make the thing workable before we confronted him. For that, he was trying to modify Grimnirs weapon. Unable to really tell if he was lying or not, we agreed to stay put except for Saoris shadow pack.

So, Neill went to sleep, including the boys as they felt tired after what happened with the dragonslayers. King Fugnarus wanted to stay up, too, but Saori urged him too since Saori had just arrived at full power while it was clear VifiYok wouldnt put her guard down.

When I was about to go to sleep, though, Saori called me over. I thought she wanted to catch up, but when Vidia appeared from her shadow, I had a feeling there was something else she wanted to talk with me about.

And it became clear when her wolf skull amulet turned completely black, as if she was shrouding it in her dark mana. I cast an [Air Shield] just to be safe.

[Whelpling.]

It was Belzacs cranky voice.

When you said you wanted to bring him out to see the world, I hadnt exactly thought you meant it that literally.

She shrugged at me, showing me a wry smile. Belzac is literally dead. He is an onnikai, just like Mom when she appeared before me. He just has more of a presence compared to the others. And, no, I am not planning on turning him into a shadow pack member.

[My deal with Goddess Edna does not permit me to return to life in any way. I am still just a teacher for my descendant, making sure she understands her place as Goddess Ednas Champion and that my unique]

I do not think Hestia would appreciate you going on a tangent again, Belzac. Let us keep it short, so we can all take a breather from everything, and maybe form a plan, Saori urged him in the nicest way possible.

[ So be it, Saori.] And the old cranky wolf listened to her just like last time! [It is about the demonkin, whelpling. I must remind you that you have that abominable demon of lust with you, right now. If you wish to bring the demonkin along with you, I suggest you either think of a measure to keep the secret hidden, or reveal it to her.]

You sound like you're suggesting the former option.

[Of course!] The amulet waved a bit as his voice rose. [Do you think this is a jest? That deserter has only one way to return to her masters laps, and that is to reveal that the archdemon of lust is still alive, and that she is under your control! It doesnt matter if Aurena were to destroy her before then. The information itself is important here. If you reveal that demons presence to her, you lose that blackmail over her. You risk that demonkin having a good reason to backstab you now!]

I couldnt really argue back, but how the hell was I supposed to hide Ellaines power? It was a logistical impossibility for Ellaine to completely hide KleaHatmas presence forever, as Aurora had the worst luck ever when it came to these issues! Murphys Law and so on, and I fully believed in it! I mean, how the hell were the dragonslayers around to kill me, huh? If I had better luck, this would have never happened.

As such, trying to follow Belzacs first suggestion was daunting, maybe actually impossible since I also knew of the way to awaken the demon from her slumber. As Belzac mentioned, she needed a stimulus to awaken from her slumber. And it was just below us with our enemy.

Maagneil had a rebellion orb.

Saori slapped her face, knowing exactly what I meant with my words. Bad memories resurfaced for her when we experienced it last in Cedaraille. Great, just great. So, not only will we have to fight him with his dragon killer but there is also the high probability that the entire dungeon will go into a frenzy with all the monsters inside turning feral.

Manethala was born in this dungeon, I added, remembering what Grimnir told me. The dungeon master loses control over the monsters inside, but what would happen to Manethala then? Hes intelligent, but what if?

This is not to mention the possibility of the puppeteer revealing themselves. Could it be a Prince of Sin?

I shrugged. Or one of their lieutenants or something similar to a Warbringer for the other sin princes. I dont know. But, back to the initial problem, how are we supposed to hide everything from VifiYok?

Saori shook her head, equally as confused as I was. Jeez, I know I signed up for this, but it already turned into a headache. Hestia, cant we just have a normal adventurer here or there? Can you just get in trouble with some random snake again, so we can have a simple issue to deal with?

You call fighting that rank A leviathan a simple issue?! It was a single snake head and it nearly one-shotted me! Here is the thing, I already got into trouble with another big serpent, and my mom had to go beat his ass up while the snake kept spawning more and more water zombies.

Right, the Elyonda siege had a leviathan as an enemy. I forgot, I apologize.

[Melloxtressa sounds like a respectable parent, young dragoness,] Vidia commented, to which I proudly exclaimed she was. Once Mom was awake again, I suggested to her for them to meet up, since they were our parents, after all. [ Daunting task.]

I guess that was a normal reaction to meeting not only an empress but a rank SS.

In the end, we decided to ask Ellaine and Grimnir for their opinion on the subject, as it concerned the entirety of Aurora. With the discussion done, I went to get some shut-eye until dinner or whatever. Once I was woken up by the smell of food, my body snapped wide awake as I saw Saori up and about, cooking food as if it was like any other day. Nostalgic.

She had the subspace portal open too, revealing Asaka was behind it, talking with Tatsuya and Kyouya. I also noticed Haruka and Daichi were there, too, so I greeted them. In addition, VifiYok showed how stunned she was when she saw what our space-time tech could do, to which I told her she was welcome to join our hotspring.

I should probably install a defensive protocol in that case. This is the first time where Im inviting a possible enemy into the subspace, huh?

I thought of the monster room core I received from our dungeon rewards, realizing I might be able to turn my subspace into an impromptu dungeon. Considering VifiYok might become an enemy, and that fact I couldnt kick former invitees out of it once they were inside, it would best if I had a plan B for the future.

There was so much I could improve on it. As long as VifiYok didnt know that you needed my permission to enter my space, she couldnt abuse it, even if she gave a [Room] rune to an informant or whatever. Only the people I allowed in may enter it.

Emergency!

But these little issues werent so urgent when Broggart and Grimnir rushed out of the door, sweaty and greasy. When they stopped before me, Broggart had to take a breather before Grimnir shouted, We have a massive problem!