"Why in the world would you think that we were playing rugby!?" - Breaker
"'Cause you all looked like you were having fun with throwing the remote around like that." - Scarecrow
"No, we weren't, you idiot!" - Breaker
The first one to snap out of the daze was the wheel-robot, Breaker. He must have experience with this kinda thing-is not what I should focus on! The explosives have been activated!
The bombs must be set with a timer since we're not blown sky-high already. Then I need to give these guys a slip and-!
*Dunk!* *Vrrrrr*
Before I noticed, Printerbot had transformed back into a printing press, with the addition of four wheels... a printing mobile!? Breaker and Scarecrow, as if having waited for this, jumped on top of Printerbot. Hey, they DID wait for this!
"So long, sucker!" - Scarecrow
"Don't you say anything else, or I-!" - Breaker
The figure of the bickering bots disappeared into the horizon. Man, that press is fast. And I have to run too! The closest exit of this floor... there go my dreams of a full house on the Chain Quest... *sniff*
---
The Black Baron's PoV:
"Roll my Spherebots, roll!! Ah-hahahahaha!" - Black Baron
The fast-talking diversion plan worked! As expected of me! There are some problems, such as the magician member of Percel's group having access to Ice magic and turned the floor into an ice rink, but no matter. Quantity beats quality!
...Except that the only one on my team that does give some damage to the knights and the Floor Boss is Assault. I'll have to take the Spherebots back to the drawing board.
The magicians and the thief are acting as support while the gloved knight and the spear-holder are crushing my poor Spherebots! I have to admit they've got talent in skating, but still! And that goodie two shoes Percel is busy fighting off both the Floor Boss and Assault at the same time in a three-way battle royal!
Eh? Wait... why's there nobody fighting me? Now I'm feeling lonely... not, sucker!
*Crack*
"Ha-ha! The Baron for the win." - Black Baron
Those idiots were too busy with my Machinerz to notice that I snuck off a branch of the final tree. Uh-oh. The boss glares at me now. Time go get outta this hell-hole. Where did I put my communicator...
"Hurry up! Burn that rubber!" - Scarecrow
"We wouldn't be in this situation if it was not for" - Breaker
A huge amount of noise came from the horizon. And why am I even surprised? The noise comes from Breaker and Scarecrow, riding on top of Printerbot in its vehicle mode. Those idiots! Who said they could leave their posts?
"Hey! Where are you three going?" - Black Baron
"Sir!? Well, ehm, you see..." - Breaker
"No time to talk boss! This place's gonna blow sky-high!!" - Scarecrow
Everyone present, be they monsters, humanoids, or Machinerz, stopped when they heard Scarecrow's shout. Don't tell me...
"...You little, useless, soon-to-be-placed-on-toilet-duty pieces of scraps! Did you activate the highly explosive Kaboomtonium bombs before I gave the okay-signal!?" - Black Baron
"Kaboomtonium!?" - Knights
"Oh yeah, that's illegal on every seven continents. A small mistake on my part. Please forget I said anything." - Black Baron
"No way, mister! Now I have the perfect excuse to throw you into jail..." - Percel
"Ehm, shouldn't we worry about that when we're not in the danger of being blown sky-high?" - Gauntlet-knight
The big-fisted guy's completely right. There's no time to waste here. I transformed the Hovermobile into a drive-mode, allowing it to use the four hoverdisks on the sides as wheels along with the hoverengine on the back for increased speed.
"Now hurry up, gear-brains! Your execution is delayed until we reach the exit!" - Black Baron
"Aw, but I wanna buy a souvenir..." - Scarecrow
Ignoring the idiot, I rushed up towards the Dungeon's entrance with the Machinerz in tow. The knights? Why do I need to care about them!? My own life's the most important here!
---
*-------!!!!!*
The explosion shook the nocturnal wasteland for several miles as if it was an earthquake. Even a Dungeon that is made with the power of the Chaos God himself can't withstand an explosion of over a hundred Kaboomtonium bombs at the same time.
Good thing we managed to get a few kilometers away from the Dungeon. By luck, those knights should have been taken out along with the Dungeon!
Hah! That's what you get for trying to get in my way, knights! And you too Glavras, for trying to sneak away from your debt!
"--------" - Breaker
Oops. Forgot to remove the protector headphones.
"What is it?" - Black Baron
"Sir, about that branch..." - Breaker
Oh yeah, forgot all about that one.
Chain Quest:Bug the Knot (III)
Quest giver:Ultimate Goddess of Water, Lusalki
Quest Description:
Floor 3 of the Water-Knot of Glavras contains a special breed of trees, unique to the Dungeon. They must be part of the Dungeon's machinery.
Bring back some samples of 30 of these trees. A big branch of each is enough.
Quest Content:30 samples of the trees located on Floor 3 of the Water-Knot of Glavras. 30/30
Rewards: Skill Scroll: [Water Resistance]
If having cleared the previous Quests:
Lusalki's Approved Poison Set.
Unlocks: Bug the Knot (IV)
"Ha-hahahaha! Now I'll get a [Water Resistance] Skill Scroll for every functional Spherebots that was present during the Quest! I'm gonna be rich-!" - Black Baron
"But sir, about those Spherebots-" - Breaker
"They went kablooey." - Scarecrow
Hahahahaha... huh? Wait, where's all the Spherebots? The only ones here are me, the two nincompoops, Assault, and Printerbot.
"THE LIKES OF SPHEREBOTS CAN NEVER CATCH UP TO MY SPEED." - Assault
That's because you are equipped with a jetpack!
...And the two idiots were riding Printerbot in its vehicle mode... and I was using the Hovermobile... oh damn.
The Spherebots were too slow to escape to the surface! Their only way of high-speed movement is through rolling, which was impossible because the Dungeon is underground! My plan of earning a fortune on [Water Resistance] scrolls is ruined! And it's all due to-
"Man, talk about an explosion. That must have finished off the spider." - Scarecrow
"Wait, what spider?" - Black Baron
"Huh? Oh! Yes, the spider. A spider-type demon assaulted us while we were waiting for your orders." - Breaker
"It webbed my face!" - Scarecrow
"Yes. It attacked poor Scarecrow out of nowhere. Printerbot tried to fight back, but the spider jumped on his fist and used that to creep closer-" - Breaker
"Wait a minute, you're telling me that a no-name spider demon managed to catch a ride on this guy's (pointing towards Printerbot) rocket punch?" - Black Baron
"It is difficult to believe, but yes. And it is not a 'no-name spider demon', but a Darkness attribute, named spider demon." - Breaker
... "Darkness attribute" and "named demon"...
"I should have known it! That blasted goddess! Not only is she so impudent to try to make the great me, the Black Baron, into a simple pawn or 'Champion' or whatever just to win some kind of bet, now she's messing with my plans?!" - Black Baron
(I think we're safe for now.) - Breaker
(Sweet! Let's open a can of vintage oil back at the lair.) - Scarecrow
"Breaker!" - Black Baron
"Y-yes, sir!!" - Breaker
"You used [Identification] on that spider?" - Black Baron
"Yes, but why asking about that now?" - Breaker
"The spider's squashed under a bazillion tons of rocks now." - Scarecrow
"I know, but you can never be too certain with those Darkness attribute creeps. Be overjoyed Assault. You're going to have [Identification] installed into you. If you see anyone that matches Breakers data..." - Black Baron
"ANNIHILATE." - Assault
"Yes, you are right there. Hehehe... Hahaha... O-HOHOHOHOH-hrk?! *Cough, cough, cough*!" - Black Baron
"And that kids, is the reason not to laugh like a mad man in a dead-dry wasteland." - Scarecrow
*****
Percel's PoV:
"*Spit, spit*, sand, bleargh. Are everyone alright?" - Percel
"WHAT? YOU NEED TO SPEAK LOUDER." - Wulf (Pugilist-knight)
The others gave similar answers. Guess they're alright?
I looked at the entrance of the Dungeon... completely caved-in. Even the illusion effects placed around the entrance have collapsed. Even so, my experience with Dungeons tells me that this one is still in one piece.
I placed my hand on the rubble that blocked the entrance. ...I see. It's faint, but I can still feel an aether pulse from the Dungeon. And from this feeling, the 'entrance' for the Dungeon has been replaced.
The ruler of the Dungeon must have remade the Dungeon when they noticed the Black Baron's bombs, so it 'cut-off' the three first floors of the Dungeon, making the fourth floor essentially the entrance floor, and further improved the durability for the rest of the Dungeon with the aether that should have been used to maintain the cut-offed floors.
Still, this is a problem. We cannot expect that the Dungeon will remove all these boulders now since the three former floors aren't part of the Dungeon anymore. And removing several tons of stone in the middle of the wasteland is not what I would call "an easy task".
"Yeah... further exploration of this place is going to wait for quite a while." - Percel
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Cent (Magician-knight)
We cannot do anything in our current situation anyway. And with this mess, I would say it would take more than half a year to clean this up. More than that when we consider the many dangers here, such as the local wildlife.
I went away from the destroyed Dungeon entrance and turned my attention to our six helpers: the Floor Boss and his five friends.
I thought I was going mad when these guys threw us on their backs and ran out of the Dungeon. They saved our lives. I have heard stories like this, stories about monsters that give a helping hand to humanoids, but this is the first time I have witnessed such a scene with my own eyes, let alone being the one being helped. No wonder the rest of the guys wanted to leave Avalar...
"...Do you six want to come along?" - Percel
I mean, they cannot enter the Dungeon anymore. I do not have [Identification] or similar skills, but the "aura" of a Floor Boss has disappeared from the evolved dinosaur. Not to forget that they saved our lives, despite being the guardians of the Dungeon. That, and I miss having a ride.
"Oh yeah! Good job boss!" - Wulf (Pugilist-knight)
"It's nice to finally have mounts again." - Herman (Spear-knight)
"I want this one. Its hiding skills are almost as good as mine." - Emel (Thief-knight)
"Then the ones with identification abilities are ours then?" - Dan (Priest-knight)
"Not that there are any other choices left." - Cent (Magician-knight)
...You guys sure picked a good time to regain your hearing...
*Pat*
The former Floor Boss patted me on my shoulder. I-I do not need any sympathy here... but you five are going to regret this during our next training session!