My father’s transformation from defeating Nidh in almost an instant left me shocked.
Furthermore, he only used two of his S-rank Engraving Magics, Mist Inflation and Mist Rebellion, which he developed himself, and the battle lasted just a little over a minute.
Even though he’s my father, I never imagined he was such a monster.
I wasn’t the only one surprised by my father’s fight; the Ancient Classes were particularly astonished.
“To think he’d defeat Nidh so easily…”
“I didn’t understand how he helped us during the Polar defense battle, but with this much of a difference, it’s only natural…”
“Ah… when the skill gap is this vast, it’s hard to even comprehend the extent of the difference…”
Faris, El, and Slei are stunned by the unbelievable sight before them.
I understand how they feel, but just being surprised wouldn’t honor my father for defeating Nidh, so I must engrave this battle firmly in my memory.
“Welcome back, Asuka.”
“Yeah, I’m back.”
“You seem displeased.”
“It’s because I didn’t intend to use Mist Rebellion, isn’t it?”
“I figured as much. Moreover, do you think you made a fool of yourself because you were forced to use Mist Rebellion?”
“Close.”
For some reason, my father, mother, and Mako are having a nonsensical conversation.
They say I was forced to use Mist Rebellion, but couldn’t I have defeated it even without it?
Also, I only used Mist Inflation and Mist Rebellion once each, and there’s no doubt I defeated Nidh easily, so no one here would think of it as making a fool of myself.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying, but couldn’t you have defeated it without using that Engraving Magic, Mist Rebellion?”
“If you ask whether I could have defeated it, yes, but it would have taken longer. It was my own misjudgment based on flawed combat analysis, so I can’t complain.”
“No, that wasn’t on that level. As I believe you’ve been informed, Nidh is known as the strongest Demise Species, which means it’s also the strongest monster in the Helios Orb.”
I completely agree with El and Slei’s opinions.
They claim it was a misjudgment, but there was virtually no information about Nidh to begin with, so what analysis could there have been?
Yet, they call it their own misjudgment, and I can’t for the life of me understand why.
“Moreover, you mention misjudgment, but from our perspective, it looked like you were overwhelming it the entire time.”
“Yeah. And I never even imagined you could catch Nidh’s arm.”
I also completely agree with Faris and Cliff.
“No, that’s precisely why it was a misjudgment. Frankly, I didn’t expect to be able to catch it.”
Well, I can understand why my father thinks that.
I had the confidence to endure it, but I apparently thought I would at least be pushed back.
It’s unreasonable to think it would only result in being pushed back after taking an attack from such a massive body, but let’s just attribute it to being an Arc Human.
“I have a lot to say, but let’s descend onto Enigma Island for now. We need to recover Nidh’s corpse and conduct a preliminary investigation.”
“Right. I’m excited to see what Divine Metal looks like.”
At this point, Mako and Mother abruptly cut into the conversation.
However, recovering Nidh’s corpse is essential, and I’ve never seen Divine Metal before, so it would be a lie to say I’m not interested.
“Y-yeah. Then we will descend onto Enigma Island. There should be monsters on Enigma Island as well, so be extremely cautious.”
We haven’t identified what kind of monsters inhabit Enigma Island, but the forest is quite dense, and there have been sightings of B-rank Battle Hoppers and Rock Kongs near the Enigma Labyrinth.
Since those two are normal species, there’s a non-zero possibility that S-rank or G-rank superior or rare species inhabit the island.
We should investigate that as well.
“If there’s a Divine Metal Mine, it must be that mountain.”
“There are no other mountains that look like it, so it has to be that one.”
We descend onto Enigma Island, recover Nidh’s corpse, and survey the island.
Since there’s only one mountain on Enigma Island, if there’s a Divine Metal Mine, it must be there.
It’s a rather large mountain, so it’s quite possible it was Nidh’s dwelling.
Furthermore, there’s also a Treasure Tree at the foot of the mountain, so we’ll collect a stone tablet while we’re at it, though not for that sole reason.
“Can something this big really be stored?”
“This is the first time I’ve encountered something this large, but I still have plenty of room in both my storage and inventory, so it should be fine.”
Nidh’s corpse will be dismantled by Glacian, and its Magic Stones will be presented to the Celestial Emperor’s Family.
The hide, fangs, and claws will be gifted to the Celestial Emperor’s Family, the Beast King’s Family, the Phantom King’s Family, and the Dragon King’s Family. A portion will also be bestowed upon my father, who actually defeated it.
Since my father has no use for them, those will be allocated to the Wing Crest.
“Alright, storage complete. Your Majesty, shall we head to that mountain next?”
“That’s the plan. Lady Athena, Lady Themis, Miss Eos. I apologize, but I’m counting on you.”
“Yes.”
After recovering Nidh, we board a Beast Carriage and begin our journey.
Enigma Island is almost the same size as Hachijojima Island in the Ogasawara Islands, so the journey won’t take too long.
In the center stands an unnamed mountain about 2,000 meters high, with a Treasure Tree flourishing at its foot and forests spreading out around it.
There’s also a small lake south of the Unnamed Mountain, making it seem like an ideal environment for Nidh to inhabit.
Incidentally, the entrance to the Enigma Labyrinth is on the north side, and it takes about 20 minutes to walk there after landing.
Looking down at the Unnamed Mountain from above, a large part of the eastern side has collapsed, revealing what appears to be a massive cavity.
The Unnamed Mountain is large enough for Nidh to enter comfortably, so it’s likely that’s where it lived, just as I suspected.
“Let’s descend here.”
“Understood.”
At Emperor Reinhardt’s command, we descend, and Lady Themis releases her dragon transformation.
As a Normal Dragonian, her magical power is becoming depleted, so this is where her role ends for now.
However, Lord Harut is present, so she is scheduled to accompany us until the end.
Athena and Eos, the Ancient Dragonians, still have plenty of magical power remaining, and I’ll be relying on them for the subsequent journey, so they will remain in their dragon forms.
“Huh? Is this… ‘Investing’?! Huh!?”
“Mako?”
Mako froze after picking up a stone at her feet, but could it really be…?
“This is Divine Metal. To think it would be lying around so carelessly… I really didn’t expect this…”
“What did you say?”
“Th-then, could it be that the stones here are…?”
“When viewed with Investing, almost all of them are Divine Metal. I suppose it scattered around when Nidh was creating its nest.”
Almost all of them are Divine Metal? There are an astonishing number of stones scattered around!
Many are the size of a human head, but there are also rocks larger than me, and conversely, some are as small as my fist.
Since it’s “almost all,” it’s probably not everything, but I still never expected to find this much Divine Metal lying around so carelessly.
“It hasn’t been smelted, but this quantity is certainly surprising.”
“Oh, so this is Divine Metal. But without smelting, it can’t be used as metal, right?”
“That’s right, but for a Crafter, that’s not difficult. Emperor Glisina, may I try one?”
“Go ahead.”
With Mother showing interest, I obtained Emperor Glisina’s permission and used the Craft Magic, Metal Smelting Magic, Melting.
Ideally, I would have used Deforming as well to create ingots, but it’s a bit troublesome without equipment, so I’ll refrain for now.
“Be more precise. Let me. ‘Deforming’… There you go, Maoh, it’s done.”
However, the meticulous Mako took the smelted Divine Metal from me and skillfully processed it into an ingot.
It’s an ingot of quality that can be normally delivered, but it’s amazing how she achieved such a clean finish without using any equipment.
“Wow! It’s like a pale gold color!”
Mother, who was handed the Divine Metal ingot by Mako, was extremely delighted.
On Earth, not only Divine Metal but also Magic Silver and Adamantine Steel do not exist.
Ah, in that case, maybe it would be nice to give it as a souvenir.
There’s the question of whether it can be used on Earth, but even if it can’t, I think it would serve as a memento.
“Also, I used Measuring, and it seemed slightly inferior to Lapis Laz.”
“What? Mako, since when did you use Measuring?”
“Right after I used Deforming. I was curious about Divine Metal’s properties, and since I was investigating anyway, I did it at the same time.”
As expected of Mako, she had already used Measuring.
Well, I was also curious, and more importantly, my father’s liberation of Enigma Island was for the purpose of obtaining Divine Metal, so I should have been the one to take the initiative.
I’ll reflect on that later, but for now, let me hear about the properties of Divine Metal.
“So, what were Divine Metal’s properties?”
“Magic Strength, Hardness, and Magic Conductivity were 9, 7, and 7 respectively, as per the information. Magic Durability was 8, and Magic Retention Rate was 9.”
“So, applying that to the formula… it’s 80. Even though it’s higher than Jade Silver and Blue-Gray Iron, it means Element Class users can’t use it.”
“It seems so. I was surprised too.”
This is unexpected.
Mako’s formula involves adding the values of Magic Strength, Hardness, Magic Conductivity, Magic Durability, and Magic Retention Rate, and then doubling the result.
However, this formula concluded that if the value is 80 or less, it cannot withstand the magical power of Element Class users.
I had thought it would be comparable to Lapis Laz, or slightly better.
“Its boiling point and melting point were higher than Lapis Laz. However, the difference wasn’t that significant, and it can be compensated for with Mana Rings.”
Ah, so in that regard, Lapis Laz was inferior.
But as Mako said, Mana Rings also enhance weapons and armor with magical power, which can prevent even easily flammable wood from burning.
Therefore, it’s an aspect we don’t place much importance on.
“Well, aside from Element Class, we already knew Arc Class users couldn’t use it, and I was planning to use it for alloys, so it’s not a particular problem.”
“Indeed.”
I remain curious about whether Divine Metal can be used in alloys, and if so, what the finished products would be like.
“Does that mean if I or Asuka channel our magical power into this Divine Metal, it becomes unusable?”
“It will. So, under no circumstances should you channel magical power into it.”
“I’m a little scared, so I’ll give it to Mako. Whoops!”
“Hey!”
However, just as Mother was about to hand the Divine Metal ingot to Mako, a fist-sized stone hit her.
More accurately, it felt like someone had thrown it.
“It’s that guy!”
“Huh? It’s a Buster Monkey!”
What, a Buster Monkey of S-N rank is the culprit?
The way it’s celebrating with a clap of its hands is infuriating!
“What are you doing!”
However, that Buster Monkey was then dismembered all over by Mother’s enraged Air Vortex, leaving not even bones behind.
“Even as an S-rank, for a Buster Monkey to disappear without a trace…”
“What kind of attack was that…?”
Yeah, I think it’s brutal.
“Ugh… sorry, Mako…”
“Well, what just happened was…”
However, the Divine Metal ingot Mother was holding had become tattered after being exposed directly to Mother’s magical power.
Despite the unfortunate timing, it served as a perfect demonstration that even Divine Metal cannot withstand the magical power of Arc Class users.
Well, it was a form of verification, so let’s consider it bad luck this time.
