Chapter 246
The robot was the one to start the battle. It fired bolts from the repeating crossbow on its left hand in a machine-gun-like stream while leaping backward. Perhaps it was just testing the waters.
"I'll block it! Magic Formation, Stone Wall."
I created five Stone Walls in front of me, and the bolts stabbed into them with a satisfying clatter. Their speed was too great for my reflexes to dodge, but perhaps they lacked power, because they hadn't even pierced the walls. If I properly deployed defensive magic, there'd be no proble...
BOOOOOM!
"Whoa! It exploded!"
"It seems some of the bolts are grenade-like explosive ones."
I stand corrected. Some of the bolts exploded, and a single blast scattered three Stone Walls into pieces. They seemed to be considerably more powerful than I had expected.
Tch, this is troublesome. This hall has nothing that can serve as cover, so it can fire freely. Even if we set up obstacles to hide behind, they'd be destroyed immediately.
"I hate to put Cal through this, but with Eiji absent, it can't be helped. Sorry, but can you act as everyone's shield?"
"Gwooh!"
Cal spread his wings, bristled his scales, and charged the robot as if to say, Leave it to me. I used 【Enchantment】 to thoroughly raise his defense.
The explosions might have been a form of 【Explosive Magic】, but Cal's 【Ruin Dragon Scales】 had high resistance to elemental attacks from the start. Trusting that resistance, we would have him hold the front line while Mikero kept him healthy with healing.
The robot began firing at its large target, Cal. The non-explosive bolts were deflected by his hard scales, while the explosive ones could do no more than stagger him with their impact. Cal fearlessly charged forward, closing the distance.
"I have to do my best too~!"
"I'll stop its movements!"
While Cal moved ahead and took all the attacks, Toji attacked from diagonally behind the robot on its right, while Iris's tentacles closed in on its legs to entangle them. At least one of the attacks was bound to land. The timing was perfect.
"Kweeeen"
"Ghk... Not bad."
"It has concealed weapons in its legs!"
However, the robot used a movement that ignored its joints to swing its right arm in a wide arc, completely blocking Toji's sword. At the same time, a chainsaw-like blade emerged from its leg and severed the tentacles Iris had sent to entangle it. The movement was deeply unsettling, but perhaps this was the robot's true strength.
Toji, having been intercepted, twisted their body in midair like a cat and landed. Iris's tentacles were already regenerating, so they had no trouble continuing the battle. At least we had learned that our opponent would not be easy to deal with.
"【Black Gleam Evil Eye】, 【Evil Eye of Purification】."
"Magic Formation, Spell Adjustment, Thunder Arrow."
Even so, our offensive did not stop. The beams fired from Mikero's eyes and my magic struck the robot directly, as it was unable to defend against them. The damage was negligible, so it was probably highly resistant to elemental attacks.
However, the parts of the robot's armor that had taken direct hits were definitely warped. Our attacks were working. In that case, would 【Void Magic】 be the most effective way to attack it?
"Gwooh!"
While the robot was leaping backward after being hit by our magic, Cal pounced on it and pinned it down. I thought Cal's claws would tear through its armor, but the armor was so sturdy that they did not even sink into it. Not only that, the robot was enduring Cal's attack head-on!
If it had been bipedal, it might have fallen backward, but the robot braced itself with all four legs. It made a grinding, creaking sound and seemed to be gradually getting pushed back, so Cal must have had the advantage in pure strength. More importantly, we had stopped its movements. Now was the time to attack all at once!
"Kweeeen"
"Gaa!? Gaaaaaaaaah!!!"
Just as we were about to launch a coordinated attack, the robot deployed the weapons mounted on both shoulders. A vile-colored mist sprayed from its right shoulder, while a laser shot from its left.
Cal seemed to be suffering, but he fired a barrage of 【Dragon Magic】 light bullets from his mouth in anger. Fired from point-blank range, the bullets assaulted the robot and caused a violent explosion.
Fssh! Fssh!
The robot shot wire-like objects from its back and embedded them in the ceiling of the hall, then reeled itself upward and escaped. Its surface armor was warped and partially melted, leaving it in a wretched state. Cal was also lying limp, perhaps because the poison had robbed him of his strength.
"I'll heal you!"
"Please do! Let's go, Iris! Wool!"
"Y-yes!"
"Meeeeh~"
Mikero immediately began treating Cal, while those of us capable of ranged attacks assaulted the robot clinging to the ceiling. Its right arm still moved in that bizarrely flexible way and blocked most of our magic and thrown weapons, but it could not withstand attacks from three people, and several of them struck directly.
"I'm here too, you know!"
Meanwhile, Toji ran up the wall and cut the wire holding the robot in place. Deprived of its support, the robot fell freely, but it landed on all four legs as if nothing had happened. It looked battered already, but it still seemed capable of moving.
The robot aimed its repeating crossbow at Cal and began firing again. I hurriedly deployed magic to protect Cal and Mikero, but it would not last long. Finish the treatment quickly!
"How about this—Mrrrreeeh~!"
Apparently Wool had a plan, because he began bleating in a voice unlike his usual one. His normal cry put us in a peaceful mood, but this was different. It was the worst kind of noise, making me feel as if something were scratching around inside my head through my ears.
We had not taken damage or been afflicted with a status ailment, but the sound was so unpleasant that we instinctively tried to cover our ears. Unlike Toji, Iris, Mikero, and I had no parts corresponding to ears and could only endure it.
Krikik!
However, enduring the noise seemed to have been worth it. Immediately after Wool began bleating, cracks appeared in the robot's armor. When I asked Wool later what he had done, he explained that it was one of the Skills he had learned when he became a Demon Bard, his current Job.
He had gained the ability to attack directly with the bleats from his mouths. Until now, Wool had mainly provided support and used magic whenever he found an opening, but from now on, he could support us with one of his two mouths while attacking with the other. It was wonderful that the range of things he could do had expanded.
Returning to the matter at hand, Wool's attack had cracked the robot's armor, and Toji brought their curved sword down on it. Perhaps something had malfunctioned, because the robot's reaction was delayed and it could not block with its right arm.
The robot's armor had originally been hard enough to deflect Cal's claws. However, it had suffered severe damage from the repeated attacks, and its opponent was Toji, whose dexterity was among the best in our clan. On top of that, after finishing their vocal attack, Wool had resumed singing a song that raised his stats. In that case, there was only one thing to do.
"Right here! Twin Flash Dance!"
"I'll collect it!"
Using a Weapon Art, Toji swept their twin blades along the cracks in the robot's armor. Part of the armor peeled away, and Iris quickly extended a tentacle to retrieve it. Even if the robot could regenerate itself, repairing the damage would take time now.
There seemed to be cloth attached behind the surface armor, but Toji's slash cut through that as well. I had expected to find mechanical circuits inside, but my prediction was wrong.
"What is this?"
"Metal... maybe?"
Inside the armor was a substance that gleamed with a metallic luster yet trembled like jelly. It slid out of the destroyed section and fell to the ground, and at the same time, the robot collapsed with a raucous clatter, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Could the robot's true body be this metallic, Slime-like entity...?
"Come to think of it, did you use 【Appraisal】? I can't because I don't have the Skill."
"Ah! I forgot!"
"I-I did too!"
Of all things, I had forgotten to use 【Appraisal】, which I normally performed first! Apparently Iris had done the same. Our excitement at encountering such a cool robot that moved so nimbly had caused us to lose our composure.
I appraised the metallic Slime trembling fearfully on the ground. The result displayed was astonishing.
――――――――――
Name: Da Low Ya
Race: Metallica Lv42
Job: Pilot Lv2
Skill: 【Vitality Enhancement】
【Strength Enhancement】
【Dexterity Enhancement】
【Swordsmanship】
【Archery】
【Artillery】
【Armor Arts】
【Mining】
【Piloting】
【Transformation】
【Rapid Healing】
【Physical Resistance】
【Magic Resistance】
【Slow】
――――――――――
"M-Metallica...!?"
It was a shocking revelation. The robot we had been fighting all this time was the Metallica we had been searching for. If only I had used 【Appraisal】 at the beginning, could we have avoided the battle? If so, this had been entirely my mistake.
I let out a deep sigh and put away my weapon. Then I took the handprint from my pocket, walked up to the curled-up Metallica, and showed the handprint to them.
"You're a Metallica, aren't you? I'm Izamu. I came to this mountain to meet your people. I want you to look at this."
"...? ...!"
The Metallica, now a silver hemisphere, began trembling again when they saw the handprint. Then they transformed into the roughly one-meter-tall humanoid with three-head-tall proportions I had heard about. The Metallica approached on short legs and examined the handprint with a face devoid of features or parts.
"I know this. A picture of an outsider."
"Yes. It was given to me by the Nadeus clan."
"...! You understand words!?"
The Metallica cried out in surprise in a beautiful, boy-soprano-like voice. I was astonished by the voice, so unexpected from their appearance, but I nodded. The Metallica looked up at me and tugged on the hem of my robe.
"You understand words! Amazing! People from outside don't understand words."
"Is this... the effect of 【Linguistics】?"
"It must be. We can understand words, but the Scars can't. That's the only explanation."
As with the other humanoid Races, I had assumed they could naturally use human language. But that was not the case. Because they could not understand spoken language, they had been unable to converse with the Nadeus clan, which was probably why they were said to be taciturn.
The Metallica before me, Da Low Ya, must have been overjoyed to finally converse with another Race, because they hopped up and down in delight. Their name alone gave no indication of whether they were male or female, but their comical movements were undeniably adorable.
"Your robot... no, your armor? I'm sorry for breaking it. If you're injured, we'll treat you."
"No problem. Da and the others heal quickly. Tactical Shell is consumable. It broke, but no problem. Have replacements."
Da said this as if it were nothing. The Metallica used its own name as its first-person pronoun, and that robot-like armor was apparently called a Tactical Shell. The use of the first person might vary between individuals, but if the entire Race did this, it was an adorable culture.
Apparently, Tactical Shells were expendable equipment with plenty of replacements, so losing one was no great concern. Da, wearing the Tactical Shell, had been strong enough to fight Cal evenly. And that was despite Da's level being under 50. Could the Metallica actually possess overwhelmingly powerful military strength on this continent?
"Are outside people looking for Da and the others?"
"Y-yes. That's right."
"Then come. You outsiders understand words. Everyone welcome!"
While I trembled at the Metallica's military might, Da began walking off energetically. We exchanged glances and followed Da for the time being.