Chapter 408: A Single Thought Pierces Even Crystal

Using 【Bradyon】, I reach the Crystal Crown located at a dizzying height in a single breath. The target, the 【Alexand Scorpion】 in the outer territory, has already lost the tail stinger it uses for intercepting magical power. There is no longer any need to be wary of a surprise attack when barging in.

"Let's go, Elma... too long. Saina, I'm expecting combat results that won't pale in comparison to the weapon I lent you...!"

"Correction: This Machine's (My) name is Elma=317. However, to shorten the designation process and since it fulfills the minimum identification criteria, I shall recognize that vocalization as a call sign."

"Commencing operation!"

"Referencing the Contractor's (Master's) genetic information, accessing the storage key Inventoria... Deploying Mech-Armor."

Saina, who had been clinging to my back with only one arm, detaches, and simultaneously operates the window to fill her equipment slots.

"───Unit name 'Non-Standard Special Enhanced Armor 【Rising Waterfall】,' system seized. Connecting temporary energy line with This Machine's (My) reactor line... Complete (Complete), I Have Control...!!"

Oh, that's a nice line. She's really going out of her way to reinforce her mecha attributes.
【Rising Waterfall】—which makes me explode three seconds after putting it on—materializes from the void and equips itself onto Saina. Perhaps the powered suit can compensate for missing parts; to put it bluntly, Saina was in a pitiful state with 75% of her limbs missing, but the hands of the powered suit she's now clad in clench tightly with strength.

『Armaments, Contractor (Master).』

"Right here!!"

Non-Standard Armament: Steel Wire Type 【Keep Out】. In terms of weapon category, it's a rope-type weapon similar to the one OiKatzo used a while back.
Something resembling a disc attaches to the left arm of Saina—who had changed from a junk girl into a machine-human modeled after a dragon—and begins a gentle rotating motion. It's supposedly a rope weapon, but...? Whoops, if I just stand here watching a mannequin getting dressed, I won't be able to win a winnable fight.

"I dub this Operation: Noob Player...!!"

The necessary parts are the 【Dis Pater】, plus guts and Lung Capacity (Stamina)!

"Here I go!"

I didn't die twenty times for nothing! Allow me to declare that I've already seen through your attacks, 【Alexand Scorpion】...!!

When the color of its body changes, it's the preparatory motion for a beam attack. Generally, you can figure out its next attack based on the timing it takes to catch the 'core' of the beam emitted outside its body.
If the time is short, it's a single laser; if it's medium, it's a 3-way; if it's long, it's an insanely thick laser cannon. As long as you maintain close to mid-range, you don't need to worry about the thick laser cannon. I've already relayed this to Saina.

The problem is the 3-way. Single lasers dissipate when they hit a field object—namely, the Tsar-Beryl Emperor Treasure Crystals—but the 3-way reflects like a game of billiards. Fortunately, the speed itself isn't that fast... it's definitely not some unreasonable speed like Wethermon's Severing Wind. So dodging it isn't impossible as long as you're not completely off guard, but you can't predict the trajectory.
After all, the field objects are unrefined rough stones; they aren't shaped in a way where you can cleanly calculate the angle of incidence and reflection. That's why they can suddenly fly right back at you. It seems they dissipate after roughly five reflections... meaning if it hasn't reflected five times yet, there's a possibility the laser you just dodged will bounce right back at you. Actually, I died three times because of exactly that.

"Alright, here comes the 3-way...!!"

If you always charge into the exact same spot, the one intercepting you will be the exact same individual. The 【Alexand Scorpion】—whose tail was severed through my twenty attempts—uses its bizarrely shaped pincers that look like they could fire a railgun (and actually function as laser turrets) as a substitute for its tail and stinger to reflect the beams.

"Saina!"

『Acknowledged: I will restrain it.』

With a hyun, something flies in from diagonally above the Alexand Scorpion and wraps around the pincer just as it's about to fire a laser. Taking full advantage of the judgment for centrifugal force, it's a 'weight' that likely separated from the main body, and a yellow, immaterial Band (Rope) that—perhaps revealing it was a joke weapon all along—literally displays the words 'KEEP OUT!' just like its name.

『Restraint and towing initiated... Error, judged that overcoming its physical resistance is difficult.』

"Interference is more than enough!!"

The 3-way is fired, but I've already seen it, so I know. Until it gets more than one meter away from the pincer, it's just a single mass of lasers!!

"Killer... Lineeeer!!"

The Nether-King—an emperor of the deep sea capable of firing lasers purely with its own body, despite using a different principle from the Alexand Scorpion. The new Divine Age buckler incorporating the lens that served as the keystone of that ability slams into the mass of light, and the reflected light-mass crashes directly into the Alexand Scorpion's face.

"Sorry, you want to head to the bench?"

What, no substitute? Can't be helped then!! Then let's have you pitch one more time!!

Perhaps wary of the beam reflection, its tail—which, despite having the tip severed, still functions perfectly well as a mass-based weapon—roars as it attacks me. If I were a tank, I might have caught it, but... sorry, I may have a shield, but I'm an evasion build.

"If you're an ore lifeform... then I'll mine youuu!!"

【Sturdy Excavation Pickaxe】! It's a rather crude weapon category to be aiming at a tail with, but my play record up until now proves the specific effectiveness of This Weapon.
Against metallic types... or more accurately, monsters whose entire bodies are made of minerals... this thing is incredibly effective!!

Gagin! A crisp sound echoes out. The pickaxe—which quietly shares history with the predecessor of Duxram, the Marsh Daggers—has been infused with almost the exact same amount of rare ores as Duxram. And the 【Sturdy Excavation Pickaxe】 will not lose, not even to the Emperor of Crystals. A point-blank strike collides with the surface armor, and a crack that definitely cannot be brushed off as a light injury runs across the Alexand Scorpion's outer shell.

"Hah!! When it comes to combat in crystal areas, there's no way anyone is better than me!!"

If there were a title for it, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say I'm undoubtedly the Scorpion Slayer, considering how often I frequented the Crystal Nest Cliff. I am the man who will become friends with all scorpions...!!
No, strictly speaking, I should say I'm the man who will turn all scorpions into Friends (Materials)...

"Saina! Don't go outside of that huge crystal, that one over there! And the two crystals stuck together! It'll turn into a hellish melee if you do...!!"

『Acknowledged.』

It's impossible to strictly determine the Alexand Scorpion's territory. However, you can deduce a vague outline from the arrangement of the objects. Through trial and error in twelve of my twenty attempts, I've figured out the borderline that pisses off the neighbors.

"Geh... Saina! Evacuate to the outer rim!!"

It charges forward with its pincers spread wide, and once its prey is within range, it grabs them as if embracing them and runs them over. It's a Hug Tackle. These guys are super sensitive to anyone entering their own territory, but completely insensitive to stepping into other territories. The danger of charging into another scorpion's territory is actually far more terrifying than the simple damage of the attack itself.

"Saina, from here we're going to push through to the climax!"

『I shall show you a stimulating Finale. A high-quality script is born from superior Intelligence.』

"Isn't that kind of thing more a matter of Sense than Intelligence?"

『You have a point, but the other nine points are due to Intelligence. In other words, This Machine's (My) Intelligence is guaranteed by the common sense of the majorit-buberah!』

"S-Sainaー!!"

You collected that flag way too fast!!

Author's Afterword
It's not like the pickaxe has some hidden effect...! It's just a commonly known trick. Please forgive him, he's a barbaric hermit...!