Chapter 289

Chapter 289 Strongest Sage, Heads to Site

Ancient monsters are incomparably stronger than present ones .

Similar monsters probably exist in the deepest parts of dungeons even now, but those types won't go above ground .

Human civilizations will collapse in a few months time if we leave those monsters alone .

Even though we would probably survive, coexisting with civilizations is imperative if we want to efficiently raise our forces .

We've a great need to remove the threat of [Broken Star] .

And I need to get close to it in order to accomplish that .

"G-great outbreak of Disaster class monsters . . . Mathi-kun, can you win?"

"I can manage somehow if it's 1-on-1, but jumping straight into the middle of a great outbreak is out of question . . . Though that's exactly what we need to do now . "

I'm really not eager to but that's the best option we have .

The more time passes, the more monsters will emerge around [Broken Star], making it harder to deal with .

"Right in the middle!?"

"Got to get close to the [Broken Star] if we want to destroy it . . . But Ruli and Alma, you two can stay somewhere farther apart . It's impossible for you . "

"Ah, Mathi-kun and Iris-san are going then . . . "

Ruli said in both disappointed and relieved tones .

I asked Iris while listening to her .

"Iris and I will jump right into the center of the swarm . . . Iris, you'll have to temporarily transform back into your dragon form, is that fine with you?"

Iris has had her magic circuits ruined due to the meltdowns of ancient civilizations' [Magic Fusion Reactors], turning back into dragon consumes a lot out of her .

I've been keeping her from turning back to dragon for when the time calls for it . . . And now is exactly [that time] .

" . . . Will about an hour do?"

"That's good enough . "

The girls rendezvoused with me as we were discussing .

No need to use comm magic anymore .

"How's your mana and condition looking?"

"All fine!"

"We only fought a bit in the end after all!"

"I can turn back to dragon anytime!"

The girls replied so .

I'd have liked to let them rest for a day at least before bringing them to a danger zone, but the situation doesn't afford us that .

I'd prefer to settle the problem when we still have time .

"Okay . Then let's go to where the [Broken Star] is right away . "

"Go . . . How?"

"There's a tunnel that goes straight to [Broken Star] . "

I walk inside the research facilities .

After walking a bit, Tunnel No . 3 comes into view .

"We'll arrive at [Broken Star] if we get on this . "

I point at a magic freight car parked in the tunnel entrance .

[Broken Star]'s location is too far to go on foot .

"This looks . . . like a very complex machine, can you even operate it?"

Ruli pointed at the driver's seat while getting on board the freight car .

So many meters, buttons etc . are installed there .

Moreover, these buttons and levers aren't labeled .

Anmorr brothers probably thought that it'd be fine so long as they alone could operate these .

"Yeah . I'll just randomly hit some of these stuff . "

It could prove challenging if our goal were to ride comfortably, but if it's just for going from point a to b, then all's good as long as it can accelerate and decelerate .

I could hazard a guess by looking at the magic device's structure, next I'll just figure it out as we move .

"Randomly . . . "

"It'll be fine, just gotta get down to it . I mean, all it needs to do is move forward right . "

After making sure that everyone was on board, I pushed a lever that seemed to be for accelerating .

Then, mana flew into the engine–only for an instant before stopping .

There must be some sort of procedure to start this thing up .

As the starting up process of magic tools is what consumes the most mana, there's usually a certain procedure you must follow with a highly efficient magic tool .

But when I try to force mana into the part where mana was about to flow earlier . . .

"See, it's moving . "

"D-did you just force your mana into the magic tool . . . ?"

"Yeah . There's probably a formal procedure for it, but doing this is way faster . . . However, I advice against mimicking what I did . "

Forcing mana to activate a magic tool is convenient, but one wrong step and it could end up destroying itself or going up in an explosion .

This method is not suited for anyone who is not familiar with inner structures of magic tools nor lacks experience in dealing with out of control magic tools .

I'm sure Ruli can manage something like this once she's learned a bit more about magic tools and started dipping her toes into creations of more complex magic tools .