Chapter 45- Explosion!!
The last thing I had expected when I decided to take on this mission of spreading chaos and destruction was that it’d lead to my first time being taken by an evil goddess! {Heh.)
It’s outrageous, to say the least!!
Sigh... Let’s quickly finish this errand and unblock my road to godhood.
I’ve already collected enough samples of that weird energy present inside the bombs, it’s time to detonate them.
Before that though, Manager-san, how many skill points does it take to get Telekinesis?
{Number of skill points currently in possession: 10,278. Number of skill points required to
acquire skill [Telekinesis]: 1000. Acquire skill?}
That much, huh?
I guess my current race’s affinity for magic is even lower than I thought.
Anyways, buy it, Manager-san!
{[Telekinesis] acquired. Remaining skill points: 9,278.}
Neat.
Shuttling between the safe areas approved by intuition, I start by cutting off all the trap mechanisms.
You know what they say, better safe than sorry!
After I’m done with that, I use a combination of Burrow and my newly acquired Telekinesis to slowly dig out the deactivated bombs and move them away.
A level 1 Telekinesis might not be that powerful, but if supplied with my refillable soul power, its effectivity easily surpasses that of a max-leveled version.
Mental abilities fall under the soul category after all.
The energy contained inside the bombs did try to escape again, but I declined Manager-san when asked whether to absorb it or not.
Although it’s probably beneficial to absorb a lot of this energy, it’s unknown how much of it I can store and whether I can actually process it or not.
Another reason why I declined is that the bombs use this energy as fuel for their explosion, so they’d be reduced to nothing but containers if I accept.
While I’d be considered a top-notch bomb disposal expert if I do so, it goes against my actual plan of blowing up stuff.
About an hour later, the entire facility had pretty much all of its flooring demolished except for some areas.
A bunch of spherical objects can be seen trailing from right in front of the central command room’s door and towards one of said untouched areas.
What’s special about those areas, you ask?
Well, they all have one or more active deadly traps inside, ranging from normal explosives that cause instant death to the release of poisonous gases that promise a slow agonizing death if inhaled.
Actually, I’ve discovered the difference between the functioning and non-functioning traps after going through the preliminary results of Sage’s analysis on that weird energy.
Basically, all the traps are powered by that weird energy, but they each utilize it for a different purpose.
For example, the explosion traps have a mechanism that collects this energy from the atmosphere and applies incredibly strong pressure to compress it.
Following the laws of physics, any crack in the container results in the energy violently escaping to the outside, which ends in the container bursting in a way similar to a frag grenade.
Luckily, a large amount of those traps had their mechanisms malfunction due to the wear and tear of their water-proof coating over the years.
However, it was only their automatic functions that were affected, you can still activate manually activate them.
Sooo, the plan’s to trigger an active explosion trap next to a trail of passive ones, resulting in a chain explosion that would hopefully blast whatever stands in my way to smithereens!
Do I have any idea about the exact blast radius? Nope!
Do I have any surefire method to avoid getting involved in the explosion? Also nope!
I’m counting on my intuition and a whole lot of luck to ensure my survival, to be honest.
In fact, there’s a high chance that the explosion would trigger the self-destruct mechanism by itself, blowing up this entire place instead of the intended target only.
Basically, there’s no correct answer to those questions.
Since wasting food is a sin, I’ve gone ahead and absorbed as much of that weird energy as my soul can currently handle from the leftover bombs.
Now, I’m standing all the way back at the airlock hatch I came through in the first place.
Telekinesis is working overtime, suspending a heavy box right above the trap’s trigger bounds while I make my way out.
I’d rather get the hell out of this place and do everything through my Spatial Awareness sphere, but there’s a big guy blocking my exit.
Jellyfish are good for nothing but making life worse!
Manager-san, add those guys above the crabs on my extermination list, would ya?
Well then, I guess this is as far as I can get.
Here goes nothing...!
Bang.
BOOM. BOOOOM xN.
BOOOOOOOOOOM.
Ahh, it’s such a shame those mechas are included in the mission’s range as well, it would’ve been nice to grab a couple of them...
Those were my last thoughts before a falling rock hit my head, causing me to promptly pass out.
{Proficiency has reached the required level. Acquired skill [Faint Resistance LV 1].}
Waking up a few hours later, I find myself buried underneath the remnants of the underwater laboratory.
Just like I thought, the chain explosion also triggered the built-in self-destruct procedure, exponentially increasing the range of the damage caused, resulting in me getting buried in the aftermath.
First things first, I use my Spatial Awareness sphere to locate the gatekeeper jellyfish’s position, the entire place under it did cave in after all.
It took me a while, but I was finally able to pick out its remains mixed in with the rest of the ruins.
That minuscule bit of vitality flowing through it is now gone, but I’m unsure as to why it actually died.
Could’ve been the damage from the explosion, could’ve been losing the last source of power it had.
Both are fine anyways, what’s important is that this area is temporarily safe and that my mission is officially complete!
“You might want to have lunch before celebrating, little girl.”
Huh...? Oh! That’s awfully close!
I checked my current status after hearing Miss Ouri’s voice, only to find both my red SP and HP bars well into the danger zone.
There was nothing to eat down there, so my last meal was probably a couple of days ago!
Rapidly ascending to the wyrm depth, hunting a couple of them, skewering the bodies with my spikes, then descending with my game.
The process has been ingrained into my body after the first couple of times.
I’ve gotta say, wyrms are the tastiest prey down here while being the least difficult to hunt as well, the danger of their parents is quite high though.
Hopefully, I’ll be strong enough to kill water dragons after my upcoming evolution!
Filling my resource bars back up including Satiation stocks, I turn my attention back to Ouri with anticipation.
“Sooo, I did it. I get my evolution now, right?”
“Ahh, sure. Just send an evolution request through the system, and I’ll have it go through.”
You heard her, Manager-san!
{Requesting evolution.}
<...Upper...Sariel...rejected...>
<Middle Administrator &@^#% has accepted the request under the condition of individual Laethoul Ramae providing the MA energy required for the process>
<Designing a new evolution option for individual Laethoul Ramae.>
<Absorbing MA energy... Success.>
<Now constructing species Ilsoir Mejer.>
Every single bit of that weird energy I had stored inside my soul was forcefully sucked away even though it was surrounded by a barrier.
So, it was actually MA energy, huh? This one was mentioned in both the anime and Greed’s description.
I think I’m gonna be hearing about this one quite frequently in the future...
<Construction completed>
{Individual Laethoul Ramae will evolve into Ilsoir Mejer.}
Huh? I thought one of my skills disabled the evolution sleep, didn’t it?
If so, why... am I....feeling drowsy..?
A moment later, I drift into the fantasy dreamland created by my brain and filled with all kinds of delicious food.
<Upper Administrator D has updated the system.>
<Now constructing skill [Mischief] according to provided schematics.>
<Construction successful>
{Condition satisfied. Acquired skill [Mischief].}
{Skill [Probability Correction LV 6] has been integrated into skill [Mischief].}
{Skill [Stealth LV 10] has been integrated into skill [Mischief].}
{Skill [Concealment LV 1] has been integrated into skill [Mischief].}
{Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Taboo LV 7] has become [Taboo LV 9].}
{Condition Satisfied. Acquired title [Ruler of Mischief].}
{Acquired skills [Trickster] [Shapeshifting] as a result of title [Ruler of Mischief].}
{Skill [Silence LV 10] has been integrated into [Trickster].}
{Skill [Heatless LV 10] has been integrated into [Trickster].}
{Skill [Odorless LV 10] has been integrated into [Trickster].}
{Skill [Evasion LV 10] has been integrated into [Trickster].}
All while unaware of the astonishing changes taking place inside said body and the huge effect they’d have on my future.
<...bzzt...Ping!>
{Request received from Upper Administrator Sariel.}
Earth, Japan, inside a female high schooler’s room.
Watching the process of Tomoko’s evolution while keeping tabs on the system logs, evil goddess D nods approvingly.
“Seems fine. The skill’s direct combat power enhancement isn’t that great. The evolution specifications are a bit overkill though.”
“She’s seeking strength, so she’ll probably head deeper, you know? Those... things living down there and their offspring can easily kill her at her previous strength.”
“Ah, I forgot about those puppets. Come to think of it, they were the reason why you became a shut-in, huh?”
“Puppets, huh? If they’re just puppets in your eyes, then what does that make me...? You know what, don’t answer that.”
“Merely a large worm.”
“Ouch. Anyways, what request did the birdwoman send her?”
With undisguised disdain in her voice, Ouri waits for D to read through the logs.
“Oh my.”
“What is it?”
“Hmmm, I won’t tell you. It’ll be more entertaining to watch you find out about it yourself.”
“Tch.”
Concluding that it’s impossible to get any more words out of D’s mouth, Ouri gives up as her presence vanishes from the room.
Not even batting an eye, D reads through Upper Administrator Sariel’s request for Tomoko one more time.
“Oh, dear. Depending on her reply, things can end up in two completely different situations. I trust that the little fish’s intelligence will bring about the most entertaining result though. Guess there’s no need for me to intervene in this one.”