Chapter 212

Before proceeding with the check, review the stat window’s bestiary section.

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Cryptid ▽

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△

Land Boom (Investigating 19%)- Suicide Charge Corps. ▼

Flying Boom (Investigating 10%)- Flying Suicide Charge Corps. ▼

Sides (Investigating 52%)- Close-range entity. ▼

Spitter (Investigating 34%)- Long-range entity. ▼

Warrior (Investigating 17%)- All-purpose combat entity. ▼

▼

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“Well, that’s about it.”

After committing the information to memory, I turn to Sita visible beyond the hologram and speak.

“So, Sita, can I leave the watch to you?”

[Please do. But wouldn’t four people be enough?]

“Yeah, I think we need to check a few things, plus the cave is narrow, so a small, elite group would be more convenient. And last time, we went with fewer people than this, right?”

At my words, Sita hesitates for a moment before slowly nodding.

[Okay, big sister, then please all be careful.]

The communication with Sita cuts off.

Above my head, Jason maintains a vigilant stance.

“Shall we go now?”

“Yes!!”

A voice from behind me.

Turning my head, I see Seol tightly hugging Nisia’s body in the control seat.

“Haha.”

Smiling brightly, Seol looks happy.

“Auuu…”

In contrast, Nisia seems uncomfortable from the physical contact with the grown-up Seol, blushing slightly and fidgeting.

We ended up sitting like this because we considered the size differences, overlapping our seats in the Squite’s cockpit.

Even with Seol and Nisia stacked together, Ryong and me trying to fit on the same small seat—it’s cramped no matter what.

Actually, I tried giving Ryong to Mu Lady before leaving, suggesting three people would go, but his sad eyes looking at me defeated the plan.

And the result is our current formation.

“Eh, Edu. Can’t we use a bigger robot?”

“It was pretty narrow in most areas except a few during our last visit. Squite itself is already pushing the limits, so using anything bigger might restrict our movement.”

“G, got it…”

“Beast!!”

Somewhere in the midst of this dialogue, Seol loudly calls out to the Beast Knight.

“Groooh.”

Even though Sita’s voice didn’t come through the external speaker, the Beast Knight stands up as if it’s natural to hear it that way.

Striding over, the Beast Knight takes his position beside us.

It’s always surprising to see a former adversary—normally an enemy in AOE—that’s become so docile due to Seol.

“But Edu, what exactly do you plan to check?”

“There’s some newly found stuff. If it works well, it could become a great help, so I’m trying to confirm it in passing.”

“I see. Like a new ability or something?”

“Something like that. Seol, can you tell me where the Zing-Zing is? Hmm, no… Can you sense the Zing-Zing?”

“Zing-Zing?”

At my words, Seol scrunches her face before closing her eyes and turning her head around as if searching for something. Then, she opens her eyes again.

“Lots of Zing-Zings! The biggest one is below!”

That means there are many command entities in the enemy pack, with the one leading them located deep in the cave.

“Yeah, thank you, Seol.”

“Hehehe.”

A delighted laughter rings out.

Turning my head, I nod at Nisia.

Understanding my intent, Nisia nods back, transforms Squite into tank mode, and carefully moves forward.

The Beast Knight moves in unison with us.

The large entrance for releasing oversized creatures is soon covered in pitch-black darkness.

“Edu, what’s the plan?”

“I intend to knock out some enemies first. Nisia will go first fighting with Squite, then Seol will follow with the Beast Knight, and finally, I’ll summon a different robot to see if we can defeat the enemies.”

“In that case, we should look for the enemies first.”

“Yeah, but we already surveyed the cave shape, so it shouldn’t be difficult. Let’s move this way.”

No matter how good Cryptids are at creating colonies and burrowing underground, it’s been a short time since we cleared this cave last. Even they wouldn’t take the time to restructure the existing cave in such a hurry.

“Yeah.”

Nisia responds with a slightly tense voice and moves Squite.

The Beast Knight follows behind us as we pass through the winding tunnel and reach a slightly wider chamber.

“Grooooh…”

“Kyaah!”

A sound emerging from the darkness.

“All right, let’s fight with our backs to the tunnel. Then we’ll aim the weapons—”

Just as I was about to give Squite its usual command, a thought crosses my mind.

‘Hold on, if I keep directing Squite to attack, it’s no different from just using a summoned creature, right?’

“Edu? What is it?”

Suddenly cutting myself off, Nisia questions me.

Turning my head, I see her face and a good idea comes to mind.

“Nisia, would you like to try using the weapons too this time?”

“E, eh… the weapons?”

“Yeah, it’s not that difficult. This time, you don’t need to aim precisely, making it perfect for you.”

Coincidentally, Squite is equipped with a flamethrower and an extended shotgun at the moment.

Literally, it’s equipment that can wipe everything within its vicinity, thus easy for a beginner to handle.

“Uuuh… Can I do it well?” A worried voice.

I speak firmly to encourage the hesitant Nisia.

“With your piloting skills, it should be more than enough! And if it gets extremely dangerous, I can help. But if you’re too worried to proceed, there’s no problem either. What would you like to do?”

She pauses for thought.

The serious gaze of Nisia as she raises her head looks directly at me.

“Then, I’ll give it a try.”

“That’s the spirit! This one lets you control the weapons on both hands, and this one over here helps with the secondary armament.”

“Uum!”

A quick explanation.

As I remove the covers from the controls to prevent misfires, Nisia grips the control stick strongly and takes a deep breath.

“Grooooh!”

“Kiyyyah!”

The approaching Cryptids gradually revealing themselves from the shadows.

Mostly composed of lower-tier Cryptids, the enemy formation seemed weak but suited our experiment perfectly.

“Alright, let’s go!”

“Yeah! Go all out!”

The vibrations and sounds of the treads are felt through the gloves.

As Squite moves forward, the previously cautious Cryptids all start rushing forward at once.

“Kiiiieee!”

Howling sounds fill the air.

“Tsh”

Nisia tightly grips the controls, halting the body, then raises the control stick upward.

Veeeng – Clank.

Both hands of Squite rise in response.

The flame nozzle with its curved pipes crackles with fire, firing a stream of concentrated napalm the instant Nisia presses the trigger.

Whooshh – BOOM!

“Kiiiieeek!? Kyaahh!!”

The flames instantly engulf the Cryptid squad.

The lower-tier Cryptids, scorched by immense heat, are quickly burned to ashes.

Overwhelming firepower.

“Wow…”

Nisia mutters in awe.

Cryptids appear equally bewildered, hesitating before making their move.

“Yeah, you’re doing great.”

I add a timely praise.

Nisia blushes slightly and lights up with enthusiasm.

“Then, I’ll keep going!”

“Yeah! Stay strong!”

“Big Mommy, stay strong!”

Encouraged by us, Nisia clears the dark cave with a fiery red glow, eliminating the Cryptids.

The napalm flame sprays all around.

“Cyaah! Kiiiee!”

Some Cryptids break through the flames but Nisia doesn’t allow them to approach.

BOOOOM!

Simultaneous firing from the extended shotgun.

“Kiiigeeeek! Cyaahh!!”

The Cryptid squad hit by the shockwaves begins to slow down.

The ones dealt with become chunks of meat, or suffer fatal wounds.

Toward these, the napalm is sprayed again.

BOOOOOOMM!

The chamber covered in flames.

Dead Cryptids and the ground emit embers and black smoke.

“Kiiiee! Cyaahlhl!”

The remaining Cryptids carefully assessing the situation.

Watching them, I touch the stat window’s bestiary to check the progress of Cryptids.

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Cryptid ▽

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△

Land Boom (Investigating 22%) – Suicide Charge Corps. ▼

Flying Boom (Investigating 12%) – Airborne Suicide Charge Corps. ▼

Sides (Investigating 57%) – Close-range entity. ▼

Spitter (Investigating 38%) – Long-range entity. ▼

Warrior (Investigating 20%) – All-purpose combat entity. ▼

▼

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“Ah, they’ve increased!”

As expected, the overall percentage increased.

This clearly shows that receiving help from allies while defeating enemies contributes to the investigation progress of the creature.

Now, the remaining questions are if the progress increases when a distant ally kills enemies using the Beast Knight, and how it compares with directly dealing with enemies – these are the two issues.

“All right, I think you’ve done enough, Nisia. Can you back off a little?”

“Yeah.”

Nisia pulls the control stick inward forcefully, retreating Squite.

The Cryptids merely watch as we move.

“Alright… Seol, can you issue an order to the Beast now?”

“Yeah! Beast!”

“Growl.”

The Beast takes a step forward.

Unbothered by the flames still rising all around, the valiant Knight of the Queen makes a bold advance.

“Kyaarl? Kyaahaaa!”

Watching his movement, the Cryptids scream again, hesitate, before Seol loudly yells.

“Memmy!”

“Roaaaar!!”

A sonorous roar.

Fearlessly, the Beast Knight charges against adversaries vastly outnumbering him by a few times.

Did he hesitate for a second? Am I just imagining it?

Before I finish the thought, Seol’s voice echoes from behind.

“Memmy! Memmy!”

Seol loudly cheers the Beast on.

While it’s unclear if the encouragement has an effect, it’s enjoyable watching Seol cheer, and the Beast Knight continues to mercilessly slaughter the Cryptids without losing ground.

“Kyaarl!?”

Weak squawks, as lower-tier Cryptids get crushed underfoot.

“Shaaaak!! Kiiieee!!”

Meanwhile, other Cryptids rush forward, attempting to flank the Beast Knight.

“Cyaah!”

Crack!

“Cyaahh!?“

An unfortunate lower-tier Cryptid quickly gets impaled and stops moving.

The tail of the Beast Knight sways leisurely, looking for prey, much like the arms, legs, and jaw, all parts of the body working together to ferociously attack the enemy.

Moving effortlessly over the fiery terrain scorched by napalm, even the Cryptids can’t help but be awestruck.

“Amazing.”

“Yeah! Beast is amazing!”

Sitting nearby, Seol giggles.

Assessing the surroundings and confirming enough enemies are down, I check the stat window once more.

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Cryptid ▽

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△

Land Boom (Investigating 22%) – Suicide Charge Corps. ▼

Flying Boom (Investigating 12%) – Airborne Suicide Charge Corps. ▼

Sides (Investigating 57%) – Close-range entity. ▼

Spitter (Investigating 38%) – Long-range entity. ▼

Warrior (Investigating 20%) – All-purpose combat entity. ▼

▼

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“No increase. Perhaps directly defeating the enemy is the condition?”

The Beast put up a great fight but disappointingly, there’s been no change in the stats.

The confirmation done, I tell Seol to dismiss the Beast.

“Alright, that’s enough, Seol.”

“Yes! Beast!”

“Gruff.”

Responding to Seol’s call, the Beast Knight swiftly leaps back.

“Kyaarl? Cyaahhh.”

As they retreat, the Cryptids make soft cries of confusion, unsure what just happened.

To perform the final check, I call out my summon.

“Armor summon, Colossus! Equip the firepower module!”

Before us appears a steel giant.

A 6-meter black knight armed with thick armor plates, multiple weapons appears before us.

“Wipe them out!!”

Pointing forward are the 30mm machine guns and the shoulder-mounted gun ports.

The rocket pods open and fire a barrage.

BANGG!! Whoooooooooosh!!!

“Kiiieee! Kiiyaah!?”

Lower-tier Cryptids get swept away.

After observing and confirming a sufficient number of enemies have fallen, I make the final check in the bestiary.

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Cryptid ▽

——————————————————–

△

Land Boom (Investigating 24%) – Suicide Charge Corps. ▼

Flying Boom (Investigating 14%) – Airborne Suicide Charge Corps. ▼

Sides (Investigating 59%) – Close-range entity. ▼

Spitter (Investigating 39%) – Long-range entity. ▼

Warrior (Investigating 21%) – All-purpose combat entity. ▼

▼

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“Indeed, defeating enemies seems to be the condition. The method or means don’t matter, as long as it’s not too indirect.”

I organize my thoughts.

Then, that’s it. All the confirmations are done.

What remains is to liberate the pearls from these creatures for our beloved ones and thoroughly clean out this cave.

“Shall we go and collect some pearls?”

“Love pearls!”

Seol responds loudly.

“….”

Ryong grips my collar tightly and turns her head to look at me with wide, sparkling eyes.

“Alright, Mommy’ll bring back lots of pearls!”