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.

  "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."

  "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.