A/N: This entire floor's a chunky one, can't wait to see how this all pans out before my brain melts. Review Time.
To Chapter 66 Guest: I'm really happy you've liked my expansion onto SAO, the Intermissions, while tedious, I feel gives more life to the missed floors a bit, some with small key points for future events. As for our group, I'm not the best drawer and tend to trace things so I can tweak an image for a better visual for myself, but you'll happy to know Nagi's has been added, he's like a combination of Tanjiro and Yuuki, mainly that gentle face with Yuuki's hairstyle just shorter. Daora's is... well, instead of boar its wolf, Artorias is the exception as well as Mito for obvious reasons.
[Nagi]: I think it's cool I have traits of both of them for my appearance, I've got my own character but with clear inspirations
[Artorias]: All original baby!
[Mito]: *shrug* Can't complain with my appearance
[Daora]: Just wait until I undergo my final transformation, hahaha!
Enjoy.
|Sword Art Online, Floor 50, City of Algade|
|Jan. 16th, 10:02|
After being supplied with upgrades to their gear, Nagi and his guild got straight to work the next day, Artorias would handle taking charge in investigating the main questline for the floor that'll lead to the Floor Boss, and potentially, the Field Boss prior to it. This gave Argo the time to focus solely on their own lead, Bevel and her 'Brilliant Breakthrough #100' quest.
Suffice to say, Argo and Nagi were taken by surprise when the Doctor provided them with insight into her current focus, the journal of an inventor from before the Great Separation, Dr. Bolt Vortex. In completing the journal, Bevel's 100th Breakthrough would be the completion of Bolt's blueprint located in the back of the journal, but without the missing pages, she couldn't begin to fathom how to best progress.
"-and so you see, there must still be parts for his final great invention in that golem factory!" Bevel exclaimed with a burning desire in her eyes, slamming a fist to her desk. "We'll find them and complete his work at last!"
Nagi gave a little clap of encouragement while Argo eyed the book with a craving for what's inside. "Mind if I take a peek at ol' Bolt's notes, DoC?"
Bevel straightened herself out, wearing a feverish smile as she adjusted her glasses. "Heh, normally I'd keep these private, but I can't say no to my dear assistants," Then she pinched two fingers close together. "Just a little peek, alright?"
Instantly, Argo drew the book over and quickly opened it with a wonderous excitement Nagi hadn't seen on her in a while, she was desperate for intel she'd jump at the chance. He leaned to the side, chin resting on her shoulder to read with her as her whiskers twitched. "Boss intel, weak points, the whole lot could be just watin' for-" Her earlier excitement became stumped, both leaning closer to the pages. "Hero, that'S..."
A sketch of a golem with bulky limbs and a dark colouration with faded lighter lines to act as veins, the structure was all-too familiar to the pair. "It's Fuscus the Vacant Colossus...!"
Argo turned to the next few pages to another image. "This page too, I remember this onE!"
A more humanoid-shaped golem with better flexibility than most of the bruisers in the golem-class. "The Azure Fighter from Floor 20..." The pair turned more pages to discover what else aligned with that of the bosses they've encountered in the past, this inventor... he was the creator of most of the notable bosses the Frontrunners have faced.
Though I did find a key to the future, it is more painful than I expected to have to seal away my final model while still unfinished. Yes, I was the one who decided to work tirelessly to complete it, but that does not stop me from feeling these regrets. How ironic that my being unable to complete it prevented it from being disassembled. Though sealed and confined, it has been saved.
I have worked on many a model, but this is my final magical apparatus. I was right to approach it as such from the very start. Still... I feel conflicted that it will unexpectedly end that way. In any case, this is the end. Therefore, I will name it-
"The pages are missing, guess it wasn't going to be that easy," Nagi surmised with a small smile when Argo sunk in her chair.
"Figures, well, better than havin' no directioN!" She didn't seem too deterred from this goal. "Ready to go spelunkiN'?"
"Right behind you," Nagi quickly picked up NightSky, handing Bolt's Journal back to Bevel to proceed with the story, and hopefully, uncover the mystery of the Quarter Floor Boss.
|Floor 50, Magical Gem Quarry, Magic Arsenal|
|Jan. 16th, 10:20|
The entrance to the golem factory was pretty substantial, being the ruins dug into the basalt wall. The entrance was made up of cubic walls with bright purple runes inscribed to the dark stone, heading inside to either the left or right of the back wall lead down a stairwell into the main chambers and hallways, come overgrown with roots and other flora. The ground was coated in moss with strange, sickly yellow crystals growing in certain spots. The whole facility was so damaged that chasms had to be crossed by roots and trees forming makeshift bridges.
Avoiding the mobs that roamed the chambers, thankfully, they were docile or focused on players that were drawing aggro, Argo and Nagi slipped by to the first open chamber where the purple runes appeared again. Within the long room sat a dozen or so cubic glass pods housing golems in a suspended animation, a seal crackling over the glass. Bevel was already here, fiddling away with one of the containment units with fascination.
"Want us to help, Doctor?" Nagi asked after arriving.
She didn't turn to them, still flicking through notes while she scribbled something down hastily. "How noble of you, my assistants! But no, you have an important job to do! And that's protecting the Innovative Archmage Inventrix!" She waved her pen high then went back to work, adjusting her glassing with a knowing grin. "Speaking of which..."
On que, a siren blared within their instance, and at the back of the chamber emerged several Graphite Golems at level 80, five over Nagi like everything else on this floor. Some even burst from their containment, glass and purple liquid spilling out onto the ground. They appeared to made from the very materials of the dungeon, dark-grey stone bodies that sat just over six-foot with club arms hung by their feet with dark purple runes etched into their bodies, a cubic head similar in appearance to a tiki head.
"Ya could've warned us their was a failsafE," Argo raised her brow back at the Doctor who didn't seem phased in the slightest.
"There you are, ancient guardians! So you see me as a grave robber, do you? They're powerful enemies, I'm counting on you, assistants!" And she quickly went back to her studies... just a little further away this time.
"Argo, ready?" Drawing NightSky, the dark blade refracting white at its edge. To his left, a pair of thick, amber claws were drawn from under the Rat's cloak, grinning devilishly at their lumbering competition.
"Like ya had to asK," She chimed in, waiting for the first golem to draw up its arms for a smash attack.
Whirlwind Blade struck through its arm first, the secondary spin slicing diagonally from the shoulder down, leaving it reeling from the water's splash as Argo lunged, plunging both claws through the head, tearing it off to bring the golem down while two more surrounded Nagi. He swung his blade to his hip, evading their horizontal spinning strikes, water erupting along the length of NightSky with a flaming particle effect. "Fourth Art-" A blinding score of deep blue created a rising riptide through four golems at once, burning their HP down to the red as the winding motion had Nagi skid on his heels across from the brutes. "-Conflagration!"
Argo didn't need a signal, diving off the second golem, leaving six scores through its back to bring it down, launching her at those brutalized by Nagi's powerful slashes. Her form left amber streaks behind her, twirling elegantly overhead to evade their punches, carving downward like a sawblade with Frenzy, landing as their polygons billowed through her cloak. Then she dove onto her back, rolling to her toes to dive away from a golems continuous sweeps of the ground.
One straight jab locked with both her claws intersected, gritting her teeth. "SwitcH!" Pushing the club arm up, she kicked off its torso to slash under the limb, leaving the A.I confused momentarily to Nagi's downward two-handed slam that split through the middle of the elemental, spraying a wave of water in two arcs beside him.
Nagi felt one more stalk behind him, but he didn't hesitate, feeling Argo's body brush past his, skewering her claws through its head, utilizing Acute Vault to pull herself overhead and behind the brute. Its head lacked a neck and spun on hinges connected to the cheeks, meaning it couldn't properly coordinate its arms to strike Nagi, giving him the perfect opportunity to swivel around, drawing back NightSky as a droplet effect rippled outward from the golem's head, Ripple Thrust skewering it as the piercing damage from them combined brought it down, shattering.
Both took a moment to breathe again, then, lightly rapped one of their knuckles together, quickly taking notice of Bevel still working tirelessly from a distance. "Doctor, are you okay!?" Nagi waved to upon their approach.
She turned with a look of keen satisfaction. "Ah yes, I am quite all right. Forget about that, you did a wonderful job protecting me, my dear assistants,"
"All in a day's worK," Argo shrugged nonchalantly.
"Strange, they've never attacked this fiercely in the past, but all of a sudden they became like this. That is why I had the two of you come with me," Bevel explained, frowning deeply. "More and more golems that sleep by the wall are waking too, it's as if they are going on high alert." Then she began to pace, the young couple's eyes following her slowly side-to-side. "That, or there is something they're afraid of, but how could that be? They're cutting edge weapons, then and now. What could scare them?"
"It couldn't be us, there's others down here too..." Nagi murmured too, in reality, it very well could be due to them participating in the questline, however, as seen with the likes of the Elf War and Divine Sakura campaigns, SAO wasn't limited to simple enemy encounters.
Bevel then shook her hand, "Irrelevant, the danger is behind us, now, I'd like you two to aid in my excavation. Bring anything of note straight to me, I'm counting on you, my assistants! Help me unleash my brilliant breakthrough!"
"Back on the clock, HerO," This came with a slap to Nagi's back, getting him to move sharply as Argo giggled a bit.
"Aye-Aye, boss," Winking, the two quickly divided up the work to search for anything related to Bolt's Journal.
The area was teeming with mysteries of the past. Strange obelisks of yellow and purple crystals perched on the top, some had suspended platforms for floating crystals of various states of purification. If the name didn't give it away, they were mana crystals, another nod to the limited examples of magic existing within Aincrad. The Abyss that they've been fighting with Shirayuki was another example of magic lingering within the world's story. This was just another form to discover.
After a solid ten minutes of checking every nook and cranny, the pair returned their findings to the doctor. "We've managed to dig up a couple notes from this rundown bunkeR," Argo held out the parchment they had uncovered, Bevel's eyes lighting up under her glasses.
"Ah, bravo, my assistants!" She took the notes, setting them down on the ground with the journal for them to kneel down and inspect with her. "...incredible! These are all Bolt Note fragments! You must be expert excavators!"
The praise made Nagi smile sheepishly, "One of our friends is the best treasure hunter we know, so I guess we picked up a thing or two from her," Argo nodded in agreement with a hum.
Bevel seemed to find that intriguing. "I see, I'd like to speak with them one day, but for now, let us... hm, yes, placing a page here, and... of course!" Her audible gasp drew their eyes down as she turned the book slightly for them all to read. "Now it all makes sense! We've restored a long-missing section, dear assistants!"
"Nailed iT," Argo high-fived Nagi, the broker picking up the book. "Lemme seE..."
The people of this land value their local faith and treasure their old traditions. Normally, they'd never interact with someone like me. But the world of man is a strange place. They've asked me to build a cutting-edge golem, and for their faith, at that! They hone their martial arts and hold bouts in tribute to their gods, the winner becoming their god-chosen leader.
From their own assumptions, this seemed to line up with the people seen on Floor 20.
The young man who contacted me is one such warrior. He says the people want an opponent for shows of power before the final bout. I was surprised. A machine to act as a prelude to a fight devoted to the gods! But their merging of technology and faith is admirable. I'll be providing them with a golem using technology from a series completed over the course of ten cycles of improvement.
The Blueite Golem, named for both its brilliance and colour. One powered by a shining blue crystal housed within it. Of course, the crystal is not always blue now, a result of many improvement cycles the technology has seen since. As a show of respect for the new possibilities they've shown me, I will give this golem a crystal that rivals even Zero... my first ever Blueite Golem and a prototype for what was to come.
The model that is now protecting Algade is the tenth and final model of the series; Blueite Golem the Tenth. This will be my base. By adding further safety features and miniaturizing it for human combat, I should be able to deliver what they seek. Major improvements over the years have removed any defects. Common materials can be used to repair it, aside from the crystal at its core.
Even they should be able to provide proper maintenance, but even if they cannot, its self-repair may suffice on its own. Even if magical technology is lost to the ages once I leave, it may be able to continue being operational even without maintenance. I hope they will use it properly. It is my sincere wish that this will be a fruitful endeavor for both my golem and for these people.
"This entry just keeps going..." Nagi murmured, sitting quietly after for Argo to continue her reading.
It seems I'd grown to like these people before I'd even realized it. A grateful people, they returned my show of secret knowledge in kind. They opened to me their secret tomes for each of their martial arts. The esoteric techniques they contained must all be closely guarded. These are a kind of technology themselves, a stimulating new field to me. I shall teach my golems such techniques as soon as I return.
"Uh, Argo? Is that a red flag?" The idea of him sharing his ideas with these people was unexpected but also amazing to hear how the two cultures intertwined, but something about Bolt teaching his golems more and more new things left a bad feeling in his stomach.
"CrimsoN," Argo clicked her tongue, setting the book down flat. "One problem, can't make heads or tails of what's nexT,"
Bevel seemed to struggle also, ruffling her unkept hair. "Hrm, I don't understand what comes next...! The blueprint's written in some mysterious language! Some ancient unknown tongue, perhaps...!?"
Nagi placed his hand on her shoulder. "We'll figure it out later, but we still have one other document, so let's study this first," This seemed to put her at ease for the moment, fixing her glasses again.
"Y-yes, indeed!" Then her brow furrowed. "Hm...? What kind of ancient document is this...? It doesn't seem to be a fragment of the notebook..."
"Let's see?" Bevel held it out for Nagi who picked up the page to read it out loud, but in the back of his head, he slowly came to realize what this document entailed.
|Start Time: 10:00|
|Mission Annihilation|
|Target: Blueite Golem the Tenth|
|Step 1: Activate Plan A simultaneously with mission start. Use golem battalion wave attack to guide target to location before commencing Step 2.|
|Step 2: Commence golem battalion wave attack in attempt to damage target from all sides and cause magic to be radiated from its core. Begin all-out attack after excessive arm-based mana use and resulting crash confirmed. Mission complete once target is disabled. If mission ends with disablement or destruction, immediately switch to Plan B. Magic mine unit will begin attack.|
|Expected Result: Cessation or degradation of target core as well as burial of target due to foundation collapse. Golems will continue containment activities during Plan B, limiting target abilities until swift human retreat from bomb site is completed.|
"This is... a mission briefing, or a relay of an operation from back when this place wasn't just left abandoned," Nagi realized based on the layout of the page, sure, his knowledge was based solely in video games and other media, but all of them shared a similar quality of a command chain briefing other relay points with commands from a higher officer. "Does that mean there was an all-our war before the Great Separation?"
"Hang on a sec, have an idea on what'll get us answers about this other pagE," Argo tapped her finger to the other language present. "Think about it, Nagi, who here in Aincrad would've had long runnin' history that predates Aincrad and speaks another languagE?"
He mouthed a few words to himself, Bevel at a loss for where Argo was going with this. Argo then tapped her own ears, and Nagi's eyes lit up. "...Doctor Bevel!" She jumped a bit at Nagi's look of excitement. "I know where we can go to decipher this page!"
"Hm, y-yes, what is it then?" Bevel inquired, now invested in this idea as she rubbed her chin.
"It'll all depend on one factor, can ya use the gates people use to travel between the floorS?" Argo asked, and the doctor made an 'oh' sound.
"While I have never traversed the magic left behind to venture to and from the other floors, I have no doubts I can do so - ah, I see, so your plan requires us to venture to a place that may decipher this text?" She slowly caught on, clapping her hands. "Excellent work today, my assistants! Let us venture down to the floors below, lead on!"
Gathering their things, Nagi smirked at Argo from the side. "You sure figured it out faster than me; well, guess that's a dumb observation, you're pretty sharp,"
"Nyahaha, you're a real sweet-talker todaY! Just leave all the puzzle solvin' to lil ol' mE!" Argo grinned toothily, leaning into Nagi's side along the way giddily but she didn't care in the slightest.
|Floor 9, Snowflake Forest, Dark Elf Capital Lyusula|
|Jan. 16th, 11:15|
Upon their arrival to the colder floor, an arctic wind blew past the trio as they stepped away from the exclusive teleport obelisk for those that sided with the Dark Elves during the Elf War Campaign. The city of Lyusula was breath-taking with the dark clouds overhead. The black lampposts lighting the streets with tall buildings surrounding the main courtyard nearest the main gatehouse bridge entrance.
To their right, towering over every other structure was the impressive castle, their banners blowing atop spires with banners hung from the walls, the rooftops dark purple with pale white walls. Both Night Elves, and even Forest Elves roamed the streets, after beginning to make peaceful relations after the Fallen Elves sowing the seeds of ruin between the two, things were slowly turning around for them.
It didn't take them long to approach through its own private land, passing by statues of large swords toward a grand staircase that led to the main entrance through an impressively large archway. Two Dark Elves took note of their approach, Bevel in a completely different world as she studied the architecture in vivid detail. "Halt, who-" The right guard paused, narrowing his eyes a moment, then he relaxed. "Ah, you are Sir Nagi, and Ms Argo, correct? Our apologizes, do see yourselves in,"
"Thank you, tell me, is Kizmel able to see us?" Nagi asked for them as Argo watched Bevel curiously.
"We can have her notified of your arrival; what business do you seek with our Captain?" The left guard inquired.
"We're conducing an investigation but need her help in solving one aspect of it for us," He didn't want to confuse the guards with details on the floors and whatnot.
"Very well, come in, I will inform the Captain," The right guard gestured for them to enter, the three bowing politely.
Once inside, they were shown to a small seating room with a maid offering them tea while they wait. Not long after, the door opened to reveal an old friend. "Nagi, Argo, It's been a while, I'm glad to see you are both in good health."
Kizmel is a dark skinned Dark Elf, with pointy ears, lilac hair and violet eyes. Kizmel wore a dark cloak, black and purple coloured light armor under her cloak of a similar colour, and a black silk under suit underneath those. Despite her imposing sight, she made the stretch to reach them, and then brought both into a bone-crushing hug against her breastplate with a smile.
"N-nice to see y-you too, Kizmel - s-still the iron-bear hug my spine remembers," Nagi wheezed as he and Argo gasped, flopping back from her embrace as she sat down on the seat opposite them.
"I was so happy to hear you came and ran right over, but do you need me for something? I'm more than happy if you're only here to chat, though," Kizmel asked, so Nagi gestured for Argo to explain the details.
After giving Kizmel the rundown of their findings, she wore a slightly serious look. "Hm... I understand, could you go ahead and show me this notebook, in that case?"
"Of course, Doctor, could you show her the Bolt Note... Doctor? Is... everything okay...?" Nagi found his flow cut off when they saw her muttering over her notes, looking around the room, even to the trio speaking on such good terms.
"Oh dear... how revolutionary... oh my goodness...! A-A-A t-truly revolutionary experience...!" Bevel gushed over it all. "The world of humans is truly boundless!"
"She's been at this for about fifteen minutes and countin', think we've overloaded her algorithm with the shift in environmentS," The broker had never seen this interaction before, it wasn't often two integral NPCs met like this so the system might be having a meltdown trying to configure it correctly.
"Well... she is pretty emotionally driven," Nagi murmured into the blonde's ear. Then he awkwardly scratched his nape. "Uh, guess well just... take this for now," He slowly procured the notebook to show Kizmel. "S-sorry, she's never been this far down the floors before, and to see the Dark Elves culture must've been a bit of a culture shock,"
The Captain merely smiled thoughtfully on the matter. "I'd heard that humans are diverse, but what an eccentric one. Human society is always exceeding the limits of my knowledge. Your friend is an important visitor here, I'll have the castle servants prepare a parlor so she can rest until this fit passes,"
"Appreciated, now, think you can use that elven know-how to decipher this for uS?" Argo brought the topic back on track as Kizmel opened the journal to read its contents.
For the next twenty minutes, Kizmel murmured a few lines as she caught herself up on what they've read, asking for a few explanations to what certain words meant before she arrived on the elven writing. She studied it all in deep concentration while the pair awaited an answer, after finishing another cup of lemon tea, Kizmel pursed her lips. "At first glance, it appears to be written by ancient Lyusulans, just as you thought. The language is a bit different, but it's readable."
"Great, so what does it-" But Nagi was cut off by Kizmel's apologetic expression.
"I'm sorry... but while I can read it, I can't say I understand it. It must have to do with an incantation at the time..." She apologized to them. But this didn't deter her, smiling just as quick. "But you're in luck, the castle storyteller happens to be here today. He's lived far longer than I and it quite knowledgeable," Standing up, Kizmel handed the journal back to Nagi. "Come, I will introduce you to him now,"
"Thank you so much for this, Kizmel," The raven-brunette smiled gratefully, earning one back.
"This is but only a fraction of the debt I can repay you and your friends, Kirito and Asuna included, for all you've done for my home; I had told you all, if you were ever in need of my help, I would not hesitate to provide," Her loyalty went beyond the system itself, like with Shirayuki, Kizmel was more than just following a programming, she willingly would aid them whenever they needed her, and that had saved them from a dead-end.
Heading to one of the towers, at the top was a small library of sorts with a large table and a few chairs placed around it with an oil lamp swaying above. But the second they made it up the stairwell, a scent so familiar dug into Nagi's nostrils, followed by Kizmel's and Argo's. "I have brought the two humans, storyteller," Kizmel announced, clearing having informed him prior to this.
"A-Argo, that scent, i-is it...?" Nagi needed a second opinion to ensure his nose wasn't tricking him, but he heard the girl's stomach groan a bit.
"I-I think it is... a Hamburg SteaK!" Argo drooled a bit, rubbing her mouth quickly with her hand.
The old elf stood by a small stove placed at the back of the room, the sizzling and crackle of the steak simmering on an open stove within a frying pan drawing their infectious gazes. The older elf wore a dark purple robe, almost black with a fitting hat for a classic wizard. Rounded spectacles covered his eyes, he had long, curly greyish-white hair that ran down his back with a thick beard of nearly the same length, his yellow cursor and name were visible. 'Bouhroum, Dark Elven Anecdotist'.
"I wondered what kinds of young humans Her Majesty had approved of, but I'm already starting to like you if you're a fan of frikadelle," Bouhroum addressed, his expression vague due to his thick beard and glasses, but his scent hidden by the juicy scent of the meat was a little skeptical still. "I've no reason to be cold to heroes who served in the events related to the keys. I don't do this for everyone, but you may have some."
"I smell delicious, if you don't mind, sir," Nagi eagerly asked but kept his politeness.
"Not at all, I said you can have a bite, so join me," He storyteller encouraged, then an idea came to Nagi's mind, flicking through his menu to procure a loaf of bread he had bought from Agil's shop yesterday prior to meeting with Asuna at the Magical Gem Quarry. Thankfully, it was already sliced up as Bouhroum set the steak out to divide equally, watching as Nagi placed the four between the bread, while he didn't have any sauce, it still caught the old elf's eye. "Kya-ha-ha! What a cleaver idea, youngster!"
"Heh, now ain't that a sight I've misseD," Argo chuckled, picking up her share.
"Truly, you continue to surprise me, Nagi," Kizmel even looked at her own with wonderous hunger.
After a hearty lunch that left them all silently wanting another share, Bouhroum was more than happy to aid the two humans. "Ah, this was indeed quite tasty! In return for teaching me a new way to enjoy this dish, I wouldn't mind having a little chat with you,"
With this, Nagi handed over the book for the storyteller to do as Kizmel had done, studying only the old text they had no hope in deciphering, explaining the context for Bouhroum while he read slowly to carefully unravel the worlds and secrets, his beard tugged, clearing forming a frown. "This is quite the antique here. A blueprint for a stone doll, I've only heard the tale myself, but oh is it a grizzly one..."
That had Nagi gasp, "You've heard of it before?" Nagi's eyes met with Argo's briefly.
"The pre-Separation time was a peaceful one for the most part. We Lyusulans interacted with humans, and our technology made it to them. Long ago, I had heard of a man trying to use a kind of magical technology to create a defensive tool that suited the age. It seems he researched tools that possessed hearts and minds. Ones that could think, judge, and follow their own hearts just as people do,"
"A form of artificial intelligence," In piecing that aspect together, Nagi's face went pale, even Argo whistled as she tapped her finger off the table, realizing where this story leads.
"In a sense... his research pursued the creation of an artificial heart," Bouhroum abridged, tapping the blueprint. "The stone doll here is one result of that - this part, a Heart Core, a crystal with an artificial heart that gives life to this protector." Then, his scent grew sour as he read further. "However... as it worked through the questions it posed itself, it's heart core made a decision; humans were its enemy,"
"In the name of defending peace and defeating all those that would disrupt it, it bared its fangs at humanity itself..." He spoke with a heavy heart.
"What happens afteR?" Argo spoke solemnly, her expression no less firm as she listened.
"The people of the town came together to fight their erstwhile defender using everything they had, including other stone dolls. But it dragged on for longer than expected, its massive frame, meant for single-handedly defending the town, could take on their large numbers. It's mind allowed it to learn from battles too. It grew stronger and saw through its enemies' strategies, toying with them," Bouhroum found that last part especially bitter to speak upon.
"They launched a final, all-out attack, losing dozens of dolls. though they did not finish it off, they sealed it deep underground. Despite this victory, the wounds inflicted by the thinking technology were deep, the people grew to fear it, stopping and sealing away any traces of the Heart Core," Thus, the retelling of events came to an end with a bittersweet feeling in the players' chests.
Meanwhile, buried deep below the surface of Floor 50's Magical Gem Quarry's caved-in site, the ground rumbled slightly...
"|Self Diagnosis Activated | Repair Rate: 90% | Improvement Rate: 90% | Beginning reboot preparations | Confirming strategy|," This made the entity's body tremble and buckle, noises going off within its time-worn frame. "|Mission: Annihilation | Target: Humans | Goal: Peace|"
Then it sparked, "|Error occurred during reboot | Retrying in ten seconds | Beginning reboot preparations | Confirming strategy|," Now, it started crackling with more bugs and irregularities. "|Miss... ilation | Targ... umans | Goa... eace|,"
Again, it attempted to reconfigure itself. "|Error occurred during reboot | Retrying in ten seconds | Error occurred during reboot | Retrying in ten seconds | Mission: Annihilate, Annihilate, Annihilate, AnnihilateAnnihilateAnnihilateAnnihilateAnnihilateAnnihilate|!"
To Be Continued...
Something slowly awakens below the surface... lots of loooore for this one, nice having just Argo and Nagi as the adventuring duo for a bit, the rest will come back eventually, this whole floor's story is so... bloody... long to sit through, but I digress. We got to see Kizmel this time around! I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next chapter, Misfits!
060 - A Critical Phase
With the knowledge obtained, Bevel seeks to delve back into the Magical Arsenal for more clues to the journal. But sometimes it's better not to dig too deep...