Editing Sorcery Hacker:Volume4 Phase04 (section)

===Part 4===

That was why they just barely arrived in time.

“Wall Staff Ablatia!!”

“Toryahhhhh!!!”

The thick transparent tentacle swinging down toward Ayato had its momentum stopped by a thick wall. This may have been a first. Queen Astaroth Revolver’s attack had been directly stopped and repelled.

“Tch. I knew there would be plenty of nuisances in this palace, but still…”

The blonde devil didn’t try to hide her irritation.

Her beautiful face distorted as she gathered a large number of tentacles and sent them toward Terracockatrio.

“Ultimate Guard!!”

Stone slabs larger than the average house shot up from the floor in great quantity.

The transparent tentacles thicker than human torsos smashed through the stone shields one after another, but they still couldn’t push through with the Earth Lord constantly creating new shields. They were like feathers protecting against the biting chill of winter.

The shields did more than just guard the Lord himself.

More and more appeared, some protecting Ayato, Teleria, and his group and others protecting the half elves who had collapsed after taking magic gunfire. Stone shields covered the audience chamber. They jutted up like massive shields that would fully cover the soldiers on a battlefield and provide shelter from a storm of projectiles.

It wasn’t just Teleria’s water and ice anymore.

With help from one of the Four Lords, they could continue fighting on the offensive and defensive side.

This was a crucial difference.

At the very least, they weren’t just waiting for the deaths of the half elves who had fought alongside them.

But.

The Queen was still gradually overwhelming their side.

Managing to choose defense against a monster like Queen Astaroth Revolver was enough of a miracle. Terracockatrio and his defense specialty was a powerful and useful ally in this battle, but his inability to attack meant he couldn’t clinch it for them.

That he wasn’t killed by the very first attack was a testament to the power of the Four Lords, but he was still being worn down.

Meanwhile.

Was the Queen so irritated because her deadly revolver was gradually losing its decisive power? She was receiving external confirmation for her own complaints about the weapon’s obsolescence.

“Going all in on defense? Not even considering offense? Quit your complaining. Is curling up and delaying the inevitable all you can do, scum!? How dare you interrupt my honeymoon with Ayato!?”

“Ghh, sniff…”

Terracockatrio Gargoy Rocksky’s massive body shook irregularly.

Like a bowstring drawn taut.

Then he exploded.



“Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”



The world was flipped upside down.

That 500 esoule<ref>Approximately 600 meters.</ref> body swayed side to side and the fastest legs on the surface stomped in fury. The ground shook vertically and Ayato’s group couldn’t stay on their feet.

He was a selfish and spoiled crybaby.

But as one of the Four Lords, his power could shift the military power balance between continents.

Wailing, Terracockatrio puffed out his body as much as he could.

His words were completely broken.

“What, why, how can you say all these things say like you don’t even care!! What’s wrong with you, did you think I wouldn’t say anything back, nothing at all!? Sniff, well, you were wrong because even I can fight if I get mad and you made me mad!!!”

“Wha-?”

Not even Queen Astaroth Revolver had expected this reaction.

For a moment, she really did freeze up.

Then the Earth Lord hit her head-on with a full force tackle.

All that mass at max speed produced an explosive roar. He was like a horizontal meteor.

The many transparent tentacles had countless microscopic venom needles much like a jellyfish, but Terracockatrio didn’t seem to care. He had puffed his feathers out from within, preventing any of the needles from reaching his skin.

The crested honey buzzard specialized in attacking hornet nests. When they many venomous hornets fought back, the bird didn’t swiftly dodge out of their way. That storm of death caused enough pain to leave a giant brown bear writhing in pain, but the bird would repel the many stingers with its solid armor of feathers as it feasted on the nest.

The unexpected attack caused the mountain of tentacles to reel backwards.

The Queen immediately sent tentacles out to try and stop it, but the changes continued.

First, a dry cracking sound.

The formerly transparent tentacles grew white as they petrified.

This was the Earth Lord.

“Perfect Petrify!! And Absolute Petroleum too!!”

“Tch!?”

The devil stopped the spread of petrification by quickly separating the tentacles from the base. And with a sticky splatting sound, the tentacles turned to a dark liquid. ''Crude oil.'' That stuff made when animal carcasses turned to a flammable liquid after spending long periods of time underground.

First they turned to stone.

And then to fuel.

“You’re more than just that big body. Have you tamed microbes too!?”

Even touching one of the Four Lord’s bodies ''without permission'' was dangerous.

And since the bespectacled dark elf surrounded by the plumage on his back was safe, this wasn’t just an indiscriminate and powerful attack. He could accurately kill only his enemies.

But it turned out that Terracockatrio wasn’t listening anyway.

“Ohhhhhh!!”

Wailing, Terracockatrio Gargoy Rocksky snapped his beak, swung his long neck around, and bit at the tentacles, severing them and swallowing them. The venom needles didn’t matter at all. Did the Earth Lord have the ability to turn anything “back to earth”?

So much was happening at once that Ayato couldn’t keep up.

''Was that Lord strongest after his pride was wounded by breaking through his defensive specialty?

And for some reason, Queen Astaroth Revolver held her cheeks with her hands and blushed.

Come to think of it, wasn’t she only able to measure others by their attack power and deadly force?

She seemed somehow spellbound.

“Oh, my. You’re not so bad after all.”

“Ugh, hic, wehh. Sniff, it’s too late to flatter me now!!”

“I am very serious.” The Queen licked her lips. “Now, what to do about this Earth Lord. I have heard that the Four Lords can be hacked, but I should probably prioritize vivisecting him to acquire materials and plans for developing new weapons. Hee hee. Not to mention that dark elf’s weapon. Wall Staff Ablatia was it? I was thinking I should learn about the Collaborative Continent’s alternate magic system. I only have the Combined Royal Family’s security now, but analyzing sorcery devices from every continent will let me bypass all forms of security.”

The threat level had risen again.

She had more than her physical hacking by destroying things and stealing their plans. If that illegally leaked model spread beyond the Combined Royal Family, then all four continents would be thrust into a war.

This would lead to an age where the blonde devil used the power of the Four Lords as her plaything and no human sorcery guns or magic worked against her.

It wasn’t just Wall Staff Ablatia.

Plant Spear Parasitio and Asset Axe Filterinda were also sources of alternate magic systems that the Queen could use to hack into the central systems of the other continents. Did she plan on gathering all those blueprints and creating a unified master key for all four continents?

Realizing this, Terracockatrio puffed his body out even further.

And shouted tearfully.

“Sniff, I won’t let you!! Naughty girl, I will protect this glasses lady!!”

“Did you miss the part where you are my delicious prey as much as she is, you foolish feast?”

A disconcerting straining sound came from within the Queen.

She was attempting to acquire another new card.

What emerged was a bit different from the earlier railgun. She had likely added something else to it. Based on its appearance, could be it be a giant electromagnetic pile driver used to break through castle gates?

“Shelter Opener.”

“Gah!?”

She fired it at the ground at her feet.

A huge crack ran through the floor of the already trashed audience chamber. Terracockatrio just about slipped and fell deep below ground.

He was the Lord of Earth, yet he was a bird who had evolved beyond the ability to fly.

His weakness was obvious from the start.

The ground below him quickly petrified and swelled up, sealing the crack and preventing him from falling.

But in the instant this kept him in place…

“Here, take this.”

“!?”

The sea of transparent tentacles tangled together to rush out as a single torrent that launched that 500 esoule<ref>Approximately 600 meters.</ref> body straight back, where he rolled like a ball. He didn’t appear critically injured, but it took all his efforts to avoid crushing Hemylina on his back.

(Dammit, Queen. You’re already learning.)

Queen Astaroth Revolver was a monster who would continue evolving no matter what.

She was dangerous enough as it was, but this was all over if the gap in their strength grew too far. Once they couldn’t catch up to her, every continent in the world would be destroyed. So they couldn’t afford a long-term battle.

Ayato knew that, but he couldn’t come up with an effective and speedy strategy.

“Earth Lord Terracockatrio Gargoy Rocksky. You are certainly powerful, but your parameters are fixed. You cannot change the amount of pure power at your disposal or the element of the magic you wield after coloring the colorless mana.” The devil’s lips split in a smile. “Which means you cannot defeat me as I continue to gather new blueprints, evolve, create weapons never before seen in this world, and constantly boost my parameters.”

She evolved.

Too quickly at that. Had she already reached a level not even one of the Four Lords could reach?

Ayato gritted his teeth, but then the situation changed.



''Boooom!!!'' The audience chamber’s wall collapsed.



Ayato’s view rapidly expanded.

The marble wall crumbled to reveal the nighttime world beyond. And the presences outside overwhelmed all else.

“Do not speak of the Four Lords when you only know the Lord of Earth. We will teach you what we all can do.”

This came from a giant dragon.

And he wasn’t alone.

Fire Dragon Blasthogg Promethe Bergerson.

Water Fish Fleurelisia Nereid Aquamarine.

Wind Horse Escalrain Hraesv Iron.

And.

Earth Bird Terracockatrio Gargoy Rocksky.

“Kh.”

Someone gulped – Queen Astaroth Revolver.

This changed things.

Meanwhile, the giant winged fish, Water Lord Fleurelisia Nereid Aquamarine, seemed somehow relaxed. She literally ruled over water, but she was currently creating viscous clouds and rainbows and bouncing fancily between the fluffy platforms. Ayato hadn’t seen this ability before. If removing her from the water wasn’t enough to stop her, did she even have any weaknesses? And was Laguntreat alright? The sudden departure of the Water Lord seemed like it would cause enough of a panic for the mermaid community to collapse.

Fleurelisia waved her wing-like fins or gills from atop the clouds.

“Oh, there’s Teleria. Hee hee. Over here, sweetie! Mommy’s here, so everything will be okay.”

Before, this reveal might have made the girl foam at the mouth and faint.

But not anymore.

Teleria nestled against the boy’s chest and stuck her tongue out at the giant mother.

“I’m fine now. You can’t get at me like that.”

“My, my. You sure have grown since I last saw you. Hee hee. …But if you think a successful confession means things will be smooth sailing forever, you still have a lot of growing left to do.”

“Bwa, bwuh, what are you even hoping to sneak around and accomplish now, you persistent cuckolding mother!?”

The hunter’s look in Fleurelisia’s eye made Teleria bristle. That suggestive announcement was terrifying coming from a mother who claimed to find a new first(?) love every single day. If she was willing to steal away someone else’s man like a chocolate when they showed the slightest opening, just how broad was her definition of a first love?

This kind of sweet and peaceful exchange may have been the kind of thing the Queen most wanted to stop.

Even if it meant ignoring her strategic plan.

“I won’t let you!!”

Earth Lord Terracockatrio responded swiftly.

Giant rock shields grew from the floor to forcibly stop and deflect the Queen’s transparent tentacles and Rank 1 Winged Space Shuttle.

Meanwhile, Escalrain blocked the line of fire with his four wings and responded with irritation.

“So in the end, you act entirely on emotion. This is the problem with you children.”

“Heh heh. I’m a child who knows he’s a child. That makes me more mature than you, at least.”

“What was that?”

Escalrain and Terracockatrio glared fiercely at each other. Their prideful conflict seemed awfully childish for such enormous beings.

And Fleurelisia, who had shifted to a support role, moved her great form side to side as she cheered them on.

“Kyah, keep fighting, everyone☆ No matter how bloody you get, my healing magic will have you back on the front line in a jiffy. So think of it as an infinite loop keeping you fighting.”

“Okay, that water mama is the scariest one.” “Okay, that water mama is the scariest one.”

In a party of the ultimate adventurers, pissing off the healer was the worst move to make. They might seem harmless at first, but they could easily set aside their ethics regarding life.

Maybe the selfish and spoiled crybaby was a good match for a mother because Fleurelisia gently encouraged him.

“Terraco, get us started please.”

“That I can do. Toryahhh!!”

Earth Lord Terracockatrio puffed himself out and made several giant stone walls grow at his feet. Those defended all of his allies. Any gaps were filled by Fleurelisia’s water barriers while Wind Lord Escalrain flapped his four wings. That allowed him to manipulate the four winds to manifest any kind of weather disaster.

“Tch!!”

Queen Astaroth Revolver clicked her tongue.

An overwhelming gale rushed in from the side along with hail larger than fists. Each individual attack wasn’t lethal, but the broad range covered by the attack magic meant not even the Queen could fully avoid it.

And holding her in place even momentarily for defense was enough.

“Gahhh!!!”

Fire Dragon Blasthogg spread his bat-like wings and opened his great maw. A destructive breath fired straight out.

This was a devastatingly powerful attack.

That meant it had poor accuracy and could hit his allies if he wasn’t careful, but there were ways around that. As long as the other Lords created thick shields to protect his allies and made sure his attack could hit their enemy, he could cause massive damage to even the most powerful foe.

The explosion sent a cloud of dust into the air, but as Fleurelisia lay atop a rainbow, she scattered sparkles carried by tiny droplets.

“Okay, everyone. Time for mommy to heal you all up.”

That ended their first turn.

And they of course weren’t going to give their enemy a chance to recover or strike back.

Repeating this one-sided cycle allowed the Four Lords to wear down any enemy. This was what made them the Lords known as the strongest. Only one being in history had ever broken through this cycle. Only Demon Lord Nirvelphany who could control the world’s random fluctuations to mess with the cycle.

Flame Lord Blasthogg groaned a little.

“Damn her. She’s set up some kind of barrier.”

“The one used for the consul guest quarters? But that’s only a material. What kind of monstrous barrier has the Queen created by combining different bluepri-”

“''But I can break through it by brute force. This cannot stop us.''”

Ayato had been preparing to give the Four Lords some advice, but he shut his mouth instead.

Apparently they really were extraordinary.

“There’s nothing to do,” honestly said Mamilis, unsure what to do with her full-auto shotgun.

“Well, in that case, I will give you access, so can you use your sorcery gun to provide targeting instructions? These children’s attacks are powerful but their aim isn’t the best, so some support would help. Especially with fire and wind.”

In that case.

Mamilis complied and Henrietta, who normally stuck to close-quarters combat, also joined in, peering through the sight of her bolt-action carbine. Apparently not even the great Striker had the courage to charge into that barrage and begin a fistfight.

Of course, they were all still the Queen’s targets.

She must have decided to take out the targeters first. The tentacles tore through the dust cloud and launched venom needles to attack Mamilis and Henrietta.

Four-winged Escalrain and winged Fleurelisia allowed the two to jump high with wind and water spouts.

The Earth and Water Lords created stone and ice platforms for them to land in midair.

“This isn’t enough…”

“…to stop us!!”

The Four Lords continued their cycle. They received targeting support from Mamilis and Henrietta while sending more and more intense attacks rushing out to the other side of the cotton-candy-like dust cloud.

Were the high-pitched shattering sounds the result of the Queen’s barrier being broken?

Nothing remained to protect the blonde devil.

Only a series of explosive booms followed.

“Hm. So the young dark elf is supporting me. I thought you were only firing that full-auto shotgun at random, but your aim is quite precise.”

“Ehh?”

“Why would you sound so dissatisfied with a compliment coming from the Fire Lord!?”

Perhaps Mamilis’s reaction was to be expected when Blasthogg was (unwittingly) responsible for nearly getting her captured by human traffickers back in the sky city.

“Honestly, I would have preferred Terracockatrio. Cause he’s cuter. I feel like I got the short end of the stick.”

“What!? You specialize in fire, so you should be bowing down to me, the Fire Lord!! All the world’s fire magic is formed when I provide a red coloring to the colorless ma-”

“Well, at least you’re better than the rambunctious and annoying Escalrain. Sigh, I guess I can live with this.”

“I have several complaints!” “I have several complaints!”

Ayato felt a mild chill. He could only call it astounding that Mamilis could point to the Four Lords with the ultimate power and categorize them as either “cute” or “not cute”.

''However''…



“Not good enough.”



Something exploded.

The cloud of dust was blown away and countless tentacles raged about, lashing Blasthogg hard.

The Fire Lord was the Four Lords party’s decisive attacker.

With that pillar down, their cycle couldn’t actually defeat the Queen. Maybe they could continue to fight, but Fleurelisia couldn’t continue casting her healing magic forever without resupplying. They would be worn down until they eventually lost.

Queen Astaroth Revolver licked her fingertip, bringing some of the microscopic venom needles into her mouth.

“Your four-person cycle can continue forever, but what if I prevented that at the very start? I knew your feathers could repel my venom needles, but that protection is based on certain rules. If I do not go against the flow of the feathers and slip them in between the feathers, they can reach your skin.”

Next was the ostrich-like Earth Lord.

A beam swept out from the giant revolver and one of the Four Lords was sent rolling.

Queen Astaroth Revolver really was faster and her strength continued to grow, preventing anyone from catching up.

Was it impossible to defeat this devil no matter how much you built up your strength by ''traditional means''?

“Ah.”

Mamilis was nearly crushed by the rolling Lord, but Escalrain moved to protect her. The giant horse clenched his teeth as one of his four wings was bent at an unnatural angle by the impact.

The Queen licked her lips.

“That ends your coordination. Now, what can a healer do on her own? Will you continue healing your allies endlessly with no hope of ever delivering a lethal strike? Like the undead? Hee hee. You will eventually run out of breath. And doing it that way is fine with me!!”

“Oh? I’m not so sure.”

Just as Fleurelisia made that comment, light exploded out.

Even ''the'' Queen Astaroth Revolver was forced to halt her attack. She used her mountain of tentacles as a shield, but even that wasn’t enough and she was forced to let the attack pierce through her transparent tentacles to alter its path enough for her to avoid it. Yes, she was pierced through.

Even with her railgun, heavy laser cannon, electron beam, and so many more weapons, the Queen shouted helplessly.

“''An anti-dragon rifle''? But how is it so powerful!?”

The name of the weapon classification reminded Ayato of something.

The Four Lords had made an appearance.

But they were not actually the true leader of all demons.

He heard a footstep.

This person did not tower over them like the Four Lords. She was human-sized just like Ayato and his companions. But her mere presence completely changed the atmosphere.

“Oh, dear. Don’t tell me you forget about me, you junk weapon. Who did you think delivered the Four Lords here?”

Flowing, straight red hair.

A red vest with an open chest, and a long, crimson leather skirt with large slits up the sides.

Real and fake bat-like wings spread wide on either side.

And horns and tails added on as expansion devices.

“Demon Lord…Nirvelphany,” said Ayato.

She wasn’t like the fixed ultimate power of the Four Lords. By accepting the fact that she could easily be killed if she screwed up, this truly ultimate demon gambled on the fluctuations to defeat any powerful enemy.

Queen Astaroth Revolver blinked twice.

“You too?”

“I know I said I wouldn’t appear again until precession made the north star take up a new position. But, well, maybe I said that because I knew something would happen at these major turning points.”

It had been odd for the Four Lords to all appear at the capital like this. But it made sense if an even more powerful being had ordered them to and ''had won the gamble''. The Demon Lord’s goal in life was to live through the same time as the human hero’s descendants, so she had no reason at all to let this situation continue.

Now things were finally changing.

Yes.

''It was because no one could defeat Queen Astaroth Revolver by traditional means that Demon Lord Nirvelphany had used unexpected fumbles and critical hits to create opportunities to take control away from the Queen.

The Demon Lord easily rested Critical Disaster, her anti-dragon rifle, on her shoulder.

“I really had hoped to never wield this kind of deadly power again. I hate having to keep a secret from the old man, so can you just die already? I want to get back home and flirt with him some more. I’d so prefer to be eating homemade cookies with him right now, so stop ruining my day, scum.”

Hearing that, Ayato stared into the distance.

“I’m learning the strongest housewife’s secrets? How do I even wind up in these situations?”

“Say that again and I’ll blast you, her ex, before moving onto the junk weapon herself. You two have caused far too much trouble for a single couple.”

Teleria grew quietly upset at that.

Did she want to delight him that much?

And the Queen’s temples writhed disturbingly as she treated as no more than an ex-girlfriend.

Which was plenty terrifying for Ayato.

“Are you stupid? Did you miss the part where I showed you all that a powerful enemy is nothing more than more materials I can use to create new toys?”

“Oh? ''Incorporating my structure into your super weapons will add in a random chance if you dying, you know?''”

“Kh.”

For the first time, Queen Astaroth Revolver was hesitant to analyze and scan.

Strongest and weakest.

Pros and cons.

Victory and defeat.

The fluctuations controlled by the Demon Lord included everything from top to bottom.

Maybe the Queen hadn’t expected to come across someone who would reduce her level if she stole their ability.

“And since I showed up late, I had time to analyze your trick from all the weaklings fighting. You broke the Four Lords’ coordination by secretly attacking the earth crybaby? ''Wrong''. Of course, I get why you would encourage your enemies to misinterpret that when you’re trying to hide your weakness.”

“You…”

“This wasn’t my win.”

Demon Lord Nirvelphany winked and smiled with her red hair blowing in a crosswind. That Demon Lord had once been unable to trust anyone and fought against the entire world to save the person she felt indebted to.

She spread her real and fake wings wide as she continued.

“This is their win for hearing the Demon Lord’s words and trusting them. That is the form this jackpot takes. Do no underestimate the power of the bonds between people, discarded junk woman.”