Chapter 457: O Dragon, O Dragon! Part 34

Author's Preface

I didn't say I wouldn't update.
Well, you know, updates are probably gonna stop for a while...

Re-Legacy Weapon: Vysache "Centipede Type Tausend (8-0.5)".
Its appearance was an indescribably bizarre rod, but it was still categorically classified not as a club or wand, but as a spear... specifically, a halberd.
(She spent three minutes staring, five minutes touching, and looked like she was about to start licking it, so I gave her a karate chop to the head—ten minutes passed in total) According to Bilac, Legacy Weapons apparently have "generations," and among them, this spear was from the final generation of the Divine Age... It's a bit weird to use this phrasing for an ancient artifact, but it basically meant this was the latest model.

Bilac usually demands highly rare ores in addition to the base materials, but as expected of a Divine Blacksmith... Vysache's forging, which required only the materials from Trainol Centipede Dora, was on a whole other level.

...

......

.........

"Yo, yo, it's been a while, see... Gotta make sure it moves right, 'n all..."

"B-Bilac! Passing out at this stage just means your resistance is way too trash-tier, ain't it!?"

"Ogogogogogo..."

"Bi-neechan! Wait, you are frothing at the mouth desu wa!?"

What Vash pulled out of his workshop rummaging around was something hard to describe... If I had to put it into words, a metal brush whose tip opened up like crab legs?

"Yo, bring out the materials."

"Yessir!!"

Wake up—if you miss this, you're the one who's gonna be pissed at me later.
Right after Vash gripped the metal-crab-brush in an indescribable manner and lightly snapped his wrist, the numerous materials of Trainol Centipede Dora I had obtained began to float in midair all on their own.

"Folks can't breathe fire, their claws are round, 'n if they get lightly roasted they scream... Simply put, weapons and armor are meant to bring ya closer to the 'ones who have it'."

"Bilac, you alive?"

"Still kickin'..."

Every time Vash moved the metal-crab-brush, the floating centipede materials were processed without anyone even touching them.
The carapace was whittled away like an eraser rubbing out a drawing on paper. Just when I thought it shattered, it had been processed into "screws" so small you'd mistake them for shavings if you didn't squint, and it looked exactly like a puzzle assembling itself.

"But with Devices, it's the other way 'round."

"The other way around, you say?"

"Humans are humans, beasts are beasts... It ain't about bringin' humans closer to beasts, it's about altering the beast's power so humans can wield it and making it stronger. That's what 'Activation (Utilizing the Nature)' is."

The ultimate form of that was weapon forging using a single material; wood playing the role of iron, stone shining like jewels... That was the absolute technique of the "Ancient Craftsman," the ultimate culmination.
Where the metal-crab-brush traced, Dora's "Core Liquor Organ"—which looked like an organic engine—was integrated into the weapon being assembled as if molding clay.

"Look 'ere, Devices ain't somethin' you can just swing 'round blindly. They rely on the hands of Humans, but if yer gonna use 'em, ya gotta understand 'em... If yer being used by the weapon, yer just a greenhorn. With that, yer a hundred years too early to even think 'bout beatin' that guy."

"Just as you say."

Legacy Weapons or Re-Legacy Weapons are heavily influenced by the characteristics of the source monster. In fact, finding out what the Crystal Scorpion's poison works well on and what it doesn't is useful for applying 【Reject (Destructive Exceed Charge)】. By the way, their poison works almost guaranteed on organic matter, from beasts to fish—so much for elemental matchups, huh?

Which meant that understanding the species traits of the Trainol Centipede could be the first step in mastering this overly unique Re-Legacy Weapon crafted by Vysache... a weapon made by a Unique Monster.

"Here ya go, it's done. The name... let's see, a centipede wrapped around a mountain seven and a half times is destined to be slain with a headband (eight wraps). Centipede Type Tausend (8-0.5) oughta do it."

"Centipede Type Tausend."

Guh... Damn Vash, seeing things like Togetsu I figured he was mainly about Japanese-style naming, but he's actually got taste...

"That thing... it ain't like 【Reject】 or 【Convert】... I've built the foundation of a Device into it. That's why yer 'chops' (skill) is what matters most."

"That is..."

Leaving behind Bilac, who was hopping up and down reaching for the bizarre rod I was holding, and Emul, who was looking at her with a slightly put-off expression, I asked Vash as he took a drag from his pipe.

"Kakaka... Didn't I tell ya right at the start?"

.........

......

...

"【Exceed Charge】..."

The lines running down the rod I swung were divided into two colors, red and blue, like water and oil. But now, answering my voice, that boundary vanished... the two colors mixed and turned purple.

That was the basic principle of a Device, activating the power of the material to bring about tremendous force... The name of which was.

"───【Liberato (Activation Awakening)】!!"

It wasn't like 【Reject】, which slammed out output to the point of breaking, nor was it like 【Convert】, which activated via external input.
To put it simply, this Exceed Charge was just turning on the power, yet it boasted performance that didn't pale in comparison to the other mechanics.

『Poisoning... oneself...?』

"Everything comes down to how you use it. If you strictly follow the dosage, even poison can become a panacea (doping)."

Ogogogo, I feel awful. With the indescribable sensation of having jelly pumped into my veins, like a foreign substance racing through my body, the "poison" of the Trainol Centipede injected from the Centipede Type Tausend coursed through my entire being.

"Now then... overlapping real-life caffeine and system poison into a double trip... Now you meet your doom! The floating log for a blind turtle! A 1% drop rate! Now, die fair and square!!"

『Gunuu!?』

Accelerating with the first step, covering five meters in four steps, and closing the distance to Siegwurm in eight steps, I carved a slash into Siegwurm's flank using the Centipede Type Tausend, which had revealed its true form as a halberd after being "started" via Exceed Charge.

"That seriously tweaked-out centipede...! Can't they take a little better care of their own bodies...!?"

Thanks to that, I'm completely tweaked out too! This feels terrible for my body!!

The ability of the Centipede Type Tausend was intimately connected to the racial traits of the Trainol Centipede.
To begin with, how does it move that massive body... That was the key.

Unlike the Gargantula species, which are spiders (likely Tarantula variants) but possess no venom, the Trainol Centipede can generate highly lethal poison to use as artillery shells.
But compiling the flavor text gleaned from the materials of Gustav and Dora, it seems they generate a specific poison internally, completely separate from the one used for attacking.

That was the Trainol Centipede's "Mad Muscle Poison," a natural doping agent that hyper-activates their muscle fibers by ingesting the poison themselves rather than using it on enemies.
A detuned version of this, adjusted for human use, was installed inside the Centipede Type Tausend. And the Mad Muscle Poison, injected into the user's body with 【Liberato】 as the trigger, permeated my muscles, rapidly consuming a "certain something" while providing a massive enhancement effect.

"It consumes the caster's MP to massively enhance all stats...!!"

And the purple tip, formed by the mixing of two poisons, was not the "Mad Muscle Poison" injected into the user, but the blade of the "Artillery Poison" that eroded enemies, polluting the target it cut...!!

"I've heard the stories... You eventually nullify it, but that doesn't mean it won't work, right?"

『Nu, ooooh.........!!』

"I don't know if you're a plus driver or a taxi driver, but if you keep holding back, you're gonna die with your skills unused, Siegwurm!!" [*1]

With my entire body roaring, the Exile Cloth gleamed with a vicious, menacing shine under the moonlight.

Author's Afterword
An advanced technique: padding the word count by dedicating the majority of it to lore.

Translator's Note

• [1] Plus driver: Phillips head screwdriver, so probably talking about the x in "Dragon x Driver". The flat head (or slotted) is "Minus driver".