Once the strategy meeting wrapped up, Thousand Transformations left in high spirits.
After confirming the door had closed and waiting a few minutes, Adler finally spoke, gazing once more at the chain that had been left on the table.
"………………The Dog Chain? ……………………Why?"
The other members besides Thousand Transformations were still in the room. But no one seemed inclined to answer Adler's question.
He looked at Citry, who had devised the strategy, but she averted her gaze.
The chain on the table writhed as though alive, forming the shape of a dog—but it wasn't the kind of Monster Adler specialized in.
It was a Treasure Weapon. A chain-type Treasure Weapon so famous that even Adler knew of it—a variant of the Living Chain.
The Dog Chain.
Once activated, it moved as though imbued with life, seizing and binding its target—a chain Treasure Weapon.
The Dog Chain turned its head (?) toward Adler and sat down. The gesture was unmistakably canine, even a little endearing.
But though it seemed imbued with life, that didn't mean it was truly alive.
Thousand Transformations was known as a Hunter of outstanding cunning. Even after pondering it for several minutes, Adler couldn't for the life of him understand why the man would choose to use the Dog Chain here.
Treasure Weapons were fundamentally rigid in how they could be deployed. The Living Chain, while it behaved as though alive, shouldn't accept fine-grained commands… True, if he remote-viewed a target through the Living Chain, their own forces wouldn't diminish even if an accident occurred. But that only meant the Living Chain was too unreliable to be called a proper fighting force.
The Dog Chain's primary function was target capture. Using it for reconnaissance was questionable at best.
At the very least, if Adler were in Thousand Transformations's position, he wouldn't choose the Living Chain. The opponent had already seen through the Mirror of Revelation, after all.
The Mirror of Revelation had shown the innermost depths of the Treasure Hall. A black fog loomed over a pitch-black altar.
The enormous pupils that had suddenly surfaced had clearly locked onto Adler and the others—not in a way that could be dismissed as mere coincidence.
A Transcender. But this was something different from the Star-Eating Centipede, feared solely for its combat strength. This was a fragment of a far more sinister god.
There, Uno—wearing the same baffled expression as Adler over Thousand Transformations's decision—blinked and said hesitantly: "Lord Adler, perhaps…………there was a need to use a Treasure Weapon. Needless to say, Thousand Transformations had many other options to choose from. And among them, the Living Chain was selected."
"What do you mean, a 'need' to use a Treasure Weapon?"
"Well……I can't claim to understand everything, but……Phantoms and Treasure Weapons are both composed of the same Mana Material. Perhaps, to that god, Treasure Weapons simply aren't threats?"
"I've never heard anything like that. Do you have proof?"
"…………No. But if we don't think along those lines, using the Dog Chain makes absolutely no sense."
At Quint's words, Uno made a face.
Uno's guess was reasonable. Adler had sought out Thousand Transformations to train under him as a guide. If Thousand Transformations—who surely knew this—had chosen a Treasure Weapon unrelated to a guide's abilities for the next step, there had to be a corresponding reason.
It was speculative, but using a Treasure Weapon might be one of the procedures for subduing a Phantom.
Thousand Transformations was the only one whose attitude hadn't shifted after seeing the divine gaze that had frozen everyone in the room. That meant Thousand Transformations possessed a method for defeating that god.
Feeling gazes on him, Adler looked up. Watching him were his companions, who had been in the same room listening to Thousand Transformations's words all along.
The infamous Mourning Specter, and a party of striking Spiritfolk. Having clashed with them once before, he knew their strength. No—even setting that aside, you could gauge a first-rate Hunter just by their bearing.
Including Adler's group, their fighting force was considerable. Whether they could defeat a god head-on was one thing, but executing the strategy Citry had described—that was well within reach.
This was, after all, in front of a former enemy. He couldn't show a pathetic display. He licked his lips, narrowed his eyes, and spoke.
"Hmm……this is getting interesting. Let's see what your leader can do…"
"You people……don't understand anything about Klein……"
"……What did you say?"
The emotions packed into that voice made him widen his eyes involuntarily.
Excitement and reverence. And—a fierce, unwavering will.
Those eyes held no doubt in their leader's actions. Well, suspicion was certainly mixed in—but at its foundation was trust in Thousand Transformations.
Citry pressed her palms together, smiled, and spoke.
"There is nothing wrong with Klein's actions. Therefore, we will also accept Lord Adler and the others. Imagining what Klein is thinking is impossible for amateurs—Right now, let's do what needs to be done. We still have preparations to make, so we'll be taking our leave—"
"…………You still……don't know the terror of Mastaa……"
"Ghk!?"
Just before leaving the room, the black-haired girl with a ribbon—trailing at the end of the group—pointed her index finger at them, speaking as though issuing a threat.
But her expression looked more like she was about to die than anyone else in the room.
§ § § The Treasure Hall was an unknown world. Its difficulty was known to increase roughly in proportion to Mana Material density, but once you reached a certain level, tackling one without thorough preparation and investigation became extremely difficult.
Conquering a Treasure Hall was sometimes compared to solving a puzzle. Super-high-level Treasure Halls sometimes demanded fixed procedures that had to be followed in order to clear them.
Treasure Hunters honed these non-combat skills by gradually increasing the level of the Treasure Halls they tackled.
And among the members of the Mourning Specter—who generally figured you could just beat everything into submission—Citry Smart was particularly skilled at that sort of thing.
The [Source Temple] could be called an exceptional Treasure Hall, but this experience would surely prove useful for future adventures.
"All set…………Leave the rest to me. I'll go help Citry's group—"
"Wha, wait—Klein-chaan!?"
One day after Citry announced her strategy. Klein activated the Dog Chain at Lids' location, shrugged off their attempts to stop him, and headed toward the Citry group.
Citry was at a workshop built in a section of Yggdra, preparing alongside Lucia and Selen.
The open, spacious area with only a roof overhead had apparently served as a place for magical research.
In Citry's strategy, the members would split into two groups. The Lids group, responsible for investigating the ley lines and surveying the [Source Temple]'s condition. And the Citry group, responsible for manufacturing and installing the equipment needed to weaken the [Source Temple].
Klein would naturally join the Citry group, which seemed less dangerous. Lids' group would be using the Dog Chain too, so their risk was low as well—but he had no desire to share a space with the Thousand Demons Night Parade.
"These are gemstones stored on Yggdra as magical catalysts. The high-quality ones have already been used, but—"
"No……these are plenty! I've heard Spiritfolk gemstones possess tremendous power—Lucia, look!"
Selen handed over gemstones of various colors, and Citry let out a cheer.
Lucia, the one addressed, examined the stones with an icy gaze and sighed.
"They're not just ordinary gemstones. Spirit Stones—where the power of spirits accumulates and crystallizes—are ideal as magical catalysts……More importantly, Citry—what exactly are you planning to use these gemstones for—ah, bro……Leader."
"Hey, Lucia. Citry. Preparations going well?"
A difficult situation. Klein forced his voice to sound bright and cheerful as he entered the room. Lids' group had been tense because of the Thousand Demons Night Parade, but things here were as usual.
The World Tree—said to be the largest tree in the world. The ley lines converging within it were testament to the vast quantity of Mana Material flowing in, and the Mana Material Mixing Device Citry had designed was reportedly going to be enormous.
She'd mentioned they were going to build it, but Klein couldn't see any materials lying around.
Citry welcomed him, as always, with a beaming smile.
"Good morning, Klein! Were your sisters all right?"
"Yeah, well……they were on edge, but I think it'll work out."
When working with unfamiliar parties or parties that didn't get along, one thing to watch out for was betrayal during field operations—being shot in the back during combat, having Monsters shoved onto you, and so on. This was common enough in the industry. Especially when your partners were bandits, there was zero trust to speak of.
But this time, they'd assigned reconnaissance to the Dog Chain, so that problem wouldn't arise. Klein hadn't fully considered it when he first proposed sending the Dog Chain, but was he on his game today or what?
"Even so, entrusting reconnaissance to Silver……she's always doing something strange like that……That girl isn't exactly brilliant, you know?"
Lucia, the very person who had trained the Dog Chain, furrowed her brows in slight dissatisfaction.
Incidentally, "Silver" was the name Lucia had given the Dog Chain. Because it was silver-colored, apparently. Simple……
"Ahaha……of course I know. But I'm sure it'll be fine. Lucia trained it so well, after all."
"……I'm the one who trained it, and I'm not exactly brimming with confidence."
The Living Chain series was famous, but not many people knew you could actually train them.
Silver, whom Lucia had painstakingly raised, was quite clever even among Dog Chain variants. It should be able to circle around the World Tree—its body was small and inconspicuous, and it could run at a decent speed, so it had at least the minimum performance this mission required.
Even recalling the suspicious looks Adler and the others had directed their way that morning, Klein felt his plan was on track.
If he kept betraying their expectations, they'd voluntarily request to dissolve his apprenticeship before long.
"Never mind that—what about over here? Can you build the device?"
"Yes! The catalyst was the only real bottleneck, and now we have it. With stones of this quality, we can build a large device. It's all thanks to you, Klein!"
"No, I didn't do anything……Well, whatever. What's the device made of? Is there anything I can help with? I'm not much use, but—"
Citry's overestimation of him was nothing new. Klein brushed it off and asked, just in case.
He had no knowledge, no skills, no experience—but he could probably handle odd jobs.
In response to his question, Citry answered energetically with a smile that made her slightly anxious expression from yesterday seem like a lie: "Yes! I'll handle everything as long as nothing goes wrong, so just watch, Klein! I'm not going to keep relying on others forever, you know?"
"……Just don't overdo it, okay?"
She was probably planning to dump it all on him if anything went wrong…
Klein, smiling away in his attempt to escape reality, listened as Citry explained.
"The device requires delicate work to manufacture. But fortunately, unlike an Akasha Golem, this one is designed to be assembled by a few Mages as long as you have the materials. Ease of construction is an important factor, too."
"……Bi……Brother, please keep a close eye on Citry."
Lucia was so flustered she'd slipped into calling him "Brother."
The device did sound quite dangerous from the overview. Klein believed Citry would never do anything illegal, but Alchemists tended to have rather flexible ethical boundaries…
They were in a crisis, so he'd let it slide for now. There was no one to report to anyway…
At Lucia's words, Citry widened her eyes and said, puzzled: "What are you talking about?……You're the one building it, Lucia."
"……Wha—huh?! Why me—"
"Because I don't have enough mana capacity…………Don't worry. I know the formula for building the device, and I can adjust the parameters like size. There's no problem at all."
"…………"
Lucia looked at Citry with extreme reluctance, but Citry's smile didn't waver. Those two really were close……Selen was completely left out of the conversation.
"Aside from the materials I brought, all we need are gemstones to use as magical catalysts and—glass. And the gemstones we received from Selen should be more than sufficient. After that, all we need is a large quantity of glass for the device's main body—"
A large quantity of glass……glass?
Yggdra had glass? From what Klein had seen, Yggdra's windows didn't use glass. The place didn't seem to have much in the way of industry to begin with…
As if reading his thoughts, Selen furrowed her brow and said with a troubled expression: "Glass……glass, you say. Unfortunately……Yggdra doesn't use much glass. There's a small amount, but—"
So it wouldn't be that easy, huh? It depended on how much they needed, but unfortunately, Klein—who had brought more things than usual this time—hadn't brought any glass.
Yet when Citry heard those words, she inexplicably looked at Klein and declared with a triumphant expression: "It's fine! I have a plan for the glass. Right, Klein?"
………Huh?
§ A lifeless, uninhabited town. Citry stood in the middle of a main avenue, before a roaring bonfire, and shouted instructions at the top of her lungs: "You can break them if you have to—just collect as much as you can!"
"Kirukiru…"
The Kirukiru creatures scurried through the town inside Mimik-kun's body with clattering footsteps. Their targets were the buildings scattered everywhere.
In what era this place had been swallowed, it was unclear—but each building had window panes fitted with glass.
Ah, so that's the idea…
Klein watched the operation with a conflicted feeling—half impressed, half exasperated.
The town inside Mimik-kun was vast. If they collected the window glass from each building, the required amount would be gathered in no time.
But wasn't this a bit excessive? It was actually a rather charming little town…
"Hehehe……I actually had my eye on this place from the very first time we entered! I thought it might come in handy someday. The moment we needed to produce a large number of Mana Material Mixing Devices, it all clicked into place! What do you think?"
"Mm-hmm, yeah."
She'd been planning to dismantle this town's buildings from that far back……Klein had been here several times himself and hadn't noticed a thing. Someday this place would probably be reduced to bare ground.
Lids had mentioned wanting to explore it next time, too, though…
Incidentally, Klein had tried asking Mimik-kun to produce the glass directly, but that was a no-go. Their only option was to break the buildings and collect it by hand.
At the ceaseless sounds of destruction, Klein pressed a hand to his forehead and let out a deep sigh.