Bab 26: Contract with the fiend
Staff Member: Well then, everyone, we'll start the emergency war council. Please take a seat!
Then each one took a seat from random places and stood silent, waiting for the Staff Members to speak, and it seems that Mitsurugi noticed him, and seemed he wanted to ask something.
Staff Member: All right, I'll brief everyone on the current situation! Um… First, is there anyone who needs me to explain what the Mobile Fortress Destroyer is?
Several adventurers included Alex raised their hands.
Staff Member: The Mobile Fortress Destroyer is a gigantic golem, built by the magically advanced nation Norse, to fight against the Demon King's army. Using their national budget and depleting their vaults, they constructed a colossal spider-shaped golem the size of a small castle.
Because it utilizes large quantities of magic metals, it's far lighter than it looks, and can move faster than a horse.
Worth mentioning is its enormous body and attack speed. Even a large-sized monster would be turned into mush if it got stepped on by its eight agile legs. The torso uses the fruit of Norse's accumulated technology to project a large magic barrier over it at all times. That means magic attacks are pointless.
Spells are ineffective, so we can only attack physically… We'll be squashed if we get near, so, we can only use ranged attacks like arrows and catapults.. But the golem is crafted from magic metals, arrows would just bounce off. As for siege catapults, it would be hard to use them with the speed of the mobile fortress.
To guard against aerial attacks from monsters, mid-sized golems are situated on the body of the Destroyer. Those use small ballistae to shoot down objects flying towards the mobile fortress. In addition, combat golems are also garrisoned on top of the torso.
Alex: '...Whoa.'
Staff Member: The reason the Mobile Fortress Destroyer went out of control was because the director in charge of developing it occupied the mobile fortress. That researcher is still issuing orders from the heart of the golem till this very day…
With its incredible speed and all terrain capability, there are no places on this continent which hasn't been rampaged by it. As it does not discriminate between men or monsters, the rampaging mobile fortress is known as the Destroyer.
Whenever the Destroyer draws near, the official procedure of the guild is to abandon the town, wait for the Destroyer to pass through, and rebuild the town. It's being treated as a natural catastrophe.
Right now, the Destroyer is towards the northwest of this town, heading straight for us… All right everyone, please give your suggestions!
Adventurer 1: ...Excuse me, what happened to the magically advanced nation Norse? A country capable of creating that thing should be able to build something to fight against it, right? And they might know the weakness of the mobile fortress too…
Staff Member: It perished. When the Destroyer went berserk, it was the first country to fall.
Adventurer 2: To deal with that thing, we should dig a giant trap near the town…
Staff Member: It has been attempted before. A certain place gathered a lot of "Elemental Masters", summoning the spirits of the earth to dig a big hole, and the Destroyer fell in successfully. Everything was going as planned until this moment…
But the Destroyer was highly mobile and jumped right out of the hole. Their plan included throwing down boulders to seal the hole, but they couldn't execute that in time.
Adventurer 3: How did the Demon King's army handle the Destroyer? Is the Demon King's castle safe from its rampage? How did they protect themselves from the Destroyer's attack? They should be troubled too
Staff Member: Their castle has a powerful magic barrier around it; the scale is beyond that of humans. Right now, the Demon King's castle seems unharmed, so they have no plans on taking down the Destroyer. They aren't concerned with wild monsters getting trampled.
Alex: I can summon demonic weapons and send them flying against it at high speed, the magic barrier should block spells, but my swords could pass the barrier.
Staff Member: We can use that plan, but Destroyer is hard, so I doubt that you can take it down alone.
Alex: Yeah… I guess you're right…
Suddenly, Alex remembered a thing and asked Aqua.
Alex: Hey Aqua. Wiz said that with your power you could break through even with 2 or 3 generals maintaining the barrier, right? In that case, the Destroyer's barrier should be easier to break.
Aqua: Right, she did say that. But I never tried it before so there's no guarantee that I can really break the barrier.
It seems that their conversation was heard because the staff member yelled.
Staff Member: There's a way to break the barrier?! The Destroyer's barrier?
These words made Aqua and Alex the focus of the adventurers.
Alex: She said that there's no guarantee.
Staff Member: Anyway, could you please give it a try? If it works, we can attack with magic…! Ah, but low-level spells are useless against that mobile fortress. All the adventurers in this town are novices, our mages are lacking in firepower…
At this moment, an adventurer pointed out.
Adventurer 1: Don't we have someone with amazing firepower? The one with a screw loose.
Once he said that, the guild became rowdy.
Adventurers: That's right, the one that's wrong in the head…! / We have that screwy girl…!
Megumin: Hey, stop. If you're referring to me, then use my name, all right? If not, I'll prove right here how wrong my brain is.
Seeing Megumin stand up with her staff in hand, all the adventurers averted their eyes.
Megumin: Ughh… Anyway, even with my explosion spell, I might not be able to finish it off in one shot…
Alex could also use the Evolved Shadow Spears of Nulgath, but they are still weaker than Megumin's explosion, if he had got Armageddon…
Just then, someone opened the door.
Wiz: Sorry I'm late…! I'm the owner of the magic item shop, Wiz. Technically, I'm an adventurer, please let me help too…
Adventurers: It's the shop owner! / The impoverished owner is here! / Shop owner, thank you for taking care of me in my dreams! / The shop owner is here! We'll win! We'll definitely win!
Huh? Was she that popular?
Alex asked Dust.
Alex: Why is Wiz so famous? And don't call her an impoverished owner all right? That's so pitiful. Is her business really that bad?
Dust: Don't you know? Wiz was originally a famous mage. She was a renowned powerful Archmage, disappearing for some time after retirement before suddenly showing up in this town to set up shop.
Wiz's business isn't good because most of the adventurers in this town are novices who can't afford the expensive magic items in her shop. She would have better business if her shop was in the capital.
We don't need to fight powerful enemies, so we have no use for pricey potions and magic items. Everyone drops by the shop just to see the beautiful shop owner, but nobody really buys anything.
Alex: Oh…
Wiz: Hello everyone, I'm the shop owner of Wiz's Magic Item Shop, please take care of me… I'm the shop owner, please visit my shop. My shop is still in the red…!
Staff Member: Shop owner of Wiz's Magic Item Ship, it's been a while! On behalf of all the staff in the guild, I welcome you! This way please!
Then the staff member placed Wiz in a table somewhere in the middle, and then he spoke.
Staff Member: With the shop owner here, let's continue our strategy meeting! Since she just arrived, I'll summarize the current situation…
First, the Archpriest Aqua will dispel the Destroyer's barrier. Next the screw-Megumin will cast the explosion spell at the Destroyer while Alex will attack with his floating weapons. That's the plan so far.
After hearing this, Wiz placed her finger near her mouth and thought for a moment.
Wiz: ...It would be better to target the legs with the explosion spell. The Destroyer has four legs attached to its body on either side, so Megumin and I will take one side each, is that okay? If we take out the legs of the mobile fortress, it'll be easier to handle…
Alex: I can also create explosive spears, their power isn't enough to match Megumin's power, but I can cast them 10 of them at time, but I can't surpass 70 spears because of my mana capacity.
Staff Member: Well then, the plan is to attack the legs with Explosion after the barrier is dismissed.
In the event the legs aren't destroyed, all the vanguard adventurers, please equip weapons such as war hammers and remain on standby around the path the Destroyer will be taking. Be prepared to attack the legs and take them out.
The researcher who made the Destroyer is probably still in the fortress, s he might make a move too. To counter that, the guild has prepared arrows with ropes tied to them for the archers to use. Everyone with light armour, please be ready to invade the fortress!
Alex, you will act as a support in both the phase 2 and phase 3.
Everyone nodded and prepared to attack, while they were going towards their assigned area, Mitsurugi reached Alex.
Mitsurugi: Hey Alex, I have a favor to ask. Can you lend me a sword of yours? I will pay for it.
Alex was a bit surprised from the request but he explained.
Alex: Sorry but I need to use all 10 of my weapon slots to assist the others, but… If we make a contract, I can give you a sword…
Mitsurugi: Contract?
Alex: Yeah, my special job permits me to make contracts.
He snapped his fingers and all the demonic weapons except for the Evolved Shadow Spear of Nulgath appeared and floated beside Alex. Meanwhile, his hand started to glow for "Contract".
Then the Darkblood Nulgath Blade, the Bloodletter of Nulgath and the Phoenix Blade of Nulgath floated in front of Mitsurugi.
Alex: [I can give you one of these three weapons if you give me 5 Skill Points.]
Then the Shadow Spear of Nulgath, the Oblivion Blade of Nulgath and the Champion Blade of Nulgath floated in front of him.
Alex: [I can give you one of these three weapons if you give me 10 Skill Points.]
And for last, the Overfiend Blade of Nulgath and the Combat Soulreaper of Nulgath floated in front of Mitsurugi.
Alex: [I can give you one of these two weapons if you give me 20 Skill Points.] Talk now if there is something you don't like.
Mitsurugi: Pay you with skill points?! We are on verge of being destroyed!
Alex: No, we aren't, because I know we can win with or without you, anyway, even the Phoenix Blade of Nulgath is at the same level of your Magic Sword Gram, it is appropriate that I will be paid in Skill Points.
Mitsurugi: Tch… Then I'll take the orange one…
Alex: Nn… The name of the weapon is Oblivion Blade of Nulgath, it is a durable and strong sword which surpasses Gram, it isn't light like the Champion Blade of Nulgath, but I think you can wield it... [Contract].
Alex extended his glowing hand forward, which Mitsurugi held. The latter felt something drained out from him and looked at his adventurer's card. He had 13 Skill Points, but now he had only 3 of them, meanwhile Alex reached 27.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone