Out of nowhere, Miu found herself inside a dark place. Hadn't Amethely brought light to the chamber, she'd likely stumbled on something or walked into one of the stone pillars.
As if the situation hadn't been bizarre enough, enormous mechanical insects straight out of a sci-fi movie swarmed them by the hundreds or thousands.
—Buzz-buzz-buzz…
She shuddered at the sight—it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she shook like a leaf, or was she more like a deer frozen before headlights?
Either way, she had to move. And with Pure Feather's Edge in her hand, she braced herself for combat.
You can do it, Miu! Luna-chi and Ame-shi are here as well…
With that said… A mecha bug shot something akin to artillery, only for Amethely to cleave the projectile in half.
—Wrrrrrrrrrm!
The metallic projectile that had been cleaved into two passed at roughly Mach 8. And after the initial strike, the insects followed up with missiles and a rain of gold illuminating the dark chamber. Yet, neither bullet nor explosion managed to pierce through Amethely's [Prism Sanctum], a transparent barrier that scatters rainbow light upon impact.
—Krr-BOOOM!
"E-Eeek?!" Startled, a cry escaped Miu's lips.
Hadn't it been for Amethely's barrier, she would've been blown away, shredded by the machine guns, and ruptured her eardrums from the explosions.
At this point, I'm just baggage…
Anyone could tell that this was way above her station. And even if Amethely hadn't stepped, Luna would've. She was already in front of her with the sword drawn, ready to cut up any and all projectiles.
"Are you hurt anywhere, Miu?" Luna glanced back, examining her for a brief moment. And, without waiting for a reply, she softly smiled and called out to Amethely. "Amethely, leave this to me."
"Got it!" Amethely replied warmly and fell back beside Miu.
Hearing her reply, Luna became reassured. This whole situation presumably happened because of her, and she'd dragged both Amethely and Miu into it, meaning it was her mess to fix.
However, that wasn't the only reason she told Amethely to leave it to her.
She knew what she could handle, and this wasn't arrogance—because she was not a fool.
In her eyes, they were slightly unconventional bugs capable of firing projectiles she could easily evade. If anything, she wanted Amethely to save her strength if the worst were to come.
In a blink of an eye, the Moon Fracture sparked with dark and silver lightning. Even if she had to strain herself, she would eventually recover; thus, it was better to deal with the threat as fast as possible.
—THOMB!
Instantly, Luna vanished, leaving an afterimage where she stood, and the chamber became engulfed in bright silver light. Dark lightning bolts with a silver outline tore through the swarm in mere seconds.
"…"
The only thing Miu saw were chains of lightning constantly rupturing the air like branches. The whole swarm had been cleaved to pieces; their metal remains rained down, exuding a scorching orange from where they'd been cut.
In just 4 seconds, Luna returned. Her eyes were closed, and a few seconds later, the echo of the swarm finally colliding with the surface rang throughout the chamber.
"…"
Seeing Luna's state, Amethely bit her lip. Blood was running down her nose and closed eyes; her usually smooth, pale white skin had turned lightly tanned and dry, with a subtle scent of burnt flesh.
Normally, Luna knew her limits when it came to enhancement magic, and this was just a simple case of her destructive ability far surpassing her durability, even with powerful body reinforcement and mana armor. So when her mana armor eventually failed for just a brief microsecond, it left her in this state.
But all things considered, Luna wasn't fatally injured.
"Are you in pain? Any place where it hurts?" Amethely asked, her concerned her quivered as she looked her up, down, side to side.
Sensing her worry, Luna shook her head.
"I'm fine; it's just some surface damage. My eyes are a bit strained, but they'll recover from some light healing."
"Nn, got it." Amethely nodded. "It might sting a little. Bear with it, okay?"
"Mm."
Thus, Amethely gently cupped Luna's face, beginning the healing process.
And when Luna opened her moon-silver eyes, everything was still a haze. Regardless, the warmth of Amethely's hand on her face was pleasant, and there was no pain or any kind of strain.
As expected of a renowned healer… Luna thought.
"May I be of help?" Miu asked reluctantly while fidgeting, feeling useless as she had nothing to do.
Amethely flashed her a kind smile. "Yes, please."
Then, something soft pressed against Luna's back, followed by arms enveloping her around the abdomen—it was Miu.
It's warm… Luna thought as she began to relax, until—
Kh…!? Argh…?!
She groaned inwardly. Pain began to return, and along with it, the ache of healing coursed through her body and almost brought her to tears. Amethely was only doing a light heal to get her going, but Miu took it a step further, trying to wholly heal her back to health.
By the time she fully regained her senses again, she found Miu hugging her from behind, her eyes moist. Feeling begrudgingly refreshed, Luna loosened Miu's embrace to turn around and hug her back.
—Plop…
"…"
Due to Luna's height, her face landed straight into two soft pillows she herself didn't have.
It is what it is; she sighed a slightly melancholic sigh on the inside.
—If I don't have it, I'll just enjoy it.
"Thanks for the comfy pillow hug," Luna said, her voice monotone, yet her expression showed contentment.
"Huye?!" Miu squealed, turning slightly pink from Luna's teasing.
Witnessing the warm scene of two close friends, Amethely stepped back.
Indeed, Miu is quite talented in healing magic. She bypassed Luna's resistances efficiently and healed the strain completely. Although… It did seem painful, considering how Luna flinched… I should give her some pointers if she were to ask for advice.
Thinking something along those lines, Amethely closed her eyes. Her mana pulsed outwards and echoed back to her. However…
'The pillars…' Amethely murmured to herself. 'This is going to be difficult…' She heaved a sigh.
Luna, who turned serious again, caught on to what Amethely was doing and fell into contemplation as well. Meanwhile, Miu stayed quiet so as not to disturb them.
From what she could tell, Amethely was trying to map out the area, but since there seemed to be no end to the pillars, the noise likely became too much, leaving her confused.
"…"
Just like that, the three girls stood in silence.
"Um… Should we head toward where the bugs came from?" Miu suggested sheepishly.
Both Amethely and Luna glanced at each other. Amethely beamed into a smile while a soft chuckle escaped Luna's lips. Miu might not know this herself, but her very presence eased the tension.
"Nn! Let's!"
"Sounds good."
But then, Amethely rummaged through her void ring and took out a nutrient pill. Luna made a face as if to say, 'Please don't be what I think it is…' and, 'Of course she has that; she's a saint…'
"Luna, open wide."
"…"
Staring blankly at it, Luna resigned herself to just taking it, thus closing her eyes. She let Amethely feed her the bitter pill, trying to remain expressionless.
"…"
Awaawaa?! —How utterly adorable! No wonder Al sometimes treats Luna like a cherished younger sister.
Squealing on the inside, the saint remained calm and elegant.
…
..
Meanwhile, before Alum's wakeful state, Monochrome had awoken instead.
"So… Are you like, some kind of alter ego?" Sarah asked, amused by the turns of events.
"No. I am a separate entity," Monochrome replied, disinterested. His eyes wandered as if to look for more clues. "It matters not. Alum will wake up eventually, as I am incapable of seizing control during his wakefulness."
The others looked at him, their eyes filled with confusion; even Aetlise looked dumbfounded.
Did he call me Liss? So… is he really Al? But… he said he's different and that he's Monochrome… I'm confused. Master, did you have to nerf my intelligence and firepower this much? Well… I guess I'm a smart snake turned human and not some kind of god-ending weapon anymore, but still… it would've been nice to be a little smarter…
Then suddenly.
"After compiling Alum's memories, I have found a plausible solution to the trial. Either solve the rune formula spanning across the tower's spine or kill the tower guardian."
"Okay, I mean, sure," a researcher joined the conversation. "The tower has an immortal centipede as its protector, but how do we even wake it up? If we go all the way up to wake it up, we might as well try to solve the runes to avoid a fight—"
Then, another researcher cut him off.
"That's also not very realistic. We don't even know where the tower ends, and if we go by the legends, it supposedly reaches the divine celestial realm—that's in outer space close to the sun!"
"…" Monochrome pondered over their words for a moment.
The celestial realm was a real place located close to the sun. Rather than a planet, it was a cluster of asteroids connected, forming a holy land under a divine barrier.
"Oh, I got an idea," Sarah suddenly interrupted the heated debate. "If it acts like other guardians I've encountered, wouldn't it come crawling if we damage the structure?"
""...""
Everyone was left speechless. The answer might've been that easy all along. But since it was such a crude method, they didn't want to voice their opinion on it.
"Even so. Who can actually damage the tower?" Turen inquired.
Legends described the spiraling tower as indestructible, but if that were true, it would still exist. Yet, it has completely vanished, and scholars found only a remnant of what they think was its base on the eastern continent of Vishtrom.
"…"
Everyone turned to look at Aetlise.
"Sure thing," she shrugged.
..
While everyone evacuated and prepared for the upcoming fight, Monochrome had gone somewhere silent. He stared into the sky—moments later, a void emerged.
A tall, lean figure stepped out; his eyes were deep red, and his waist-length hair was dark like the void itself.
"I'm sorry to say, lad, I can't make a deal with you," the figure said; his voice was calm, yet the silence surrounding them made the voice all the more sinister.
"Why is that?"
"Hmph." The man scoffed. "This world doesn't recognize you as an existing entity, so a contract is out of the question. Though… I must say, I'm quite unfortunate," he added, followed by maniacal laughter.
"…"
Monochrome stood in silence, observing and analyzing the figure. If he pushed to the absolute limit in Alum's current state—no, even with a full core. The probability of winning against Hilos was… incalculable.
"Had it been 'that' Sinister…" Hilos' expression darkened in a playful way. "Then… it would at least be entertaining to see him rampage and ravage everything on sight." He then coldly stared at Monochrome. "You, on the other hand… your appearance is disgusting—reminding me of that Dues Machina."
"…"
To the world, time seemed to slow down for a split second as Monochrome began sorting through Alum's archived memories related to this world. He reasoned the probability of Hilos referring to Alester was high, but the answer was inconclusive.
"I do not know who that Deus Machina is."
"Tsk… It went by the name Alester, Ashen Lord—Mechanical Overlord, whatever you want to call it," Hilos snorted as he replied.
"Alester, I see." Monochrome nodded. "I remind you of him?"
"Yes, I detest blue eyes and white hair, nothing personal, kid." Hilos shrugged. "Anyways, I can't make a contract with you. This loophole won't work, and you can't burden the causality that'll be placed upon the brat."
"…"
Hilos sighed.
"What a pain. Now that you're awake, the brat's mental barriers surged in power, and there's no gap. What strange powers, truly."
—If it's telepathy, then I'll allow it.
—Tsk… Creepy bastard, it's only fun when I do it, Hilos retorted.
—I'll think of a way to make your end work. Alum will wake up soon now that your influence has significantly diminished.
—Hmph. Good; otherwise, you're all dead, mmh-hahaha-HAHAHAHAHA!
"…"
—Bzzt…
Just like that, the void rift and Hilos vanished.
..
Returning to camp, Monochrome witnessed an absurd scene. Everyone was inside a barrier while Aetlise was outside, her blade drawn.
It was a simple design; the guard was the shape of a diamond, the hilt was smooth silver, just like the double-edged blade.
And when Emerine saw Monochrome, she gestured for him to come inside the barrier. And with everyone there, the preparations were done.
Aetlise coated her sword in a silver-gray flame. It wasn't something out of the ordinary, considering the color of elemental magic took after the wielder's mana. But…
The researchers who had delved deep into myth froze in place.
"Could…" Ethym muttered to himself. "Could that be pure entropic fire?"
—TING!
In one clean sweep, a line of silver-gray flames engulfed a part of the tower, the flames then burned burning out just as fast as they appeared, leaving parts of the tower missing.
—Brrrrrrhhhh.
Seconds later, the whole domain began to shake; the head of a centipede and its long, scorching legs began their descent.
And in that moment, Monochrome's hair had turned pitch black, and his sapphire blue eyes became a pair of cold gold.
"…"
Confused for a moment, Alum assessed the situation. During that time, when Aetlise saw Monochrome turn into Alum, she rushed over.
Her heart pounded in excitement. Because now, she could be by his side again after all these years. She was finally able to meet the boy she loved again. At that time, she was small, weak, and unable to protect him. But it was different this time. She jumped into his arms.
—Friend! Liss has missed you so, so much!
"Al! It's me, Liss!" The small coral snake-turned girl beamed; her smile was almost too adorable.
Seeing his small snake friend in her eyes, Alum's confused expression melted, and he returned her embrace. He ignored the painfully judgmental stares from his future in-laws and comrades; after all, he could always explain later.
"I'm glad to reunite with you too, Liss. But…" He turned toward the descending giant. "Let's deal with that thing first; you're a reliable S-Rank, right?"