"Rover, this isn't a rash decision at all. I've thought it through carefully before coming to this conclusion."
Rover: "This is clearly very rash."
Lucian pointed at Aalto and Encore.
"Look, with so many people—and even the priest—as witnesses, I think this is the perfect moment!"
Rover: "Who's the priest?"
Lucian: "That shrine maiden from earlier."
Rover: "…Even though she does seem mysterious, I don't think she has anything to do with being a priest?"
Aalto couldn't stand their flirting any longer and clapped his hands. "Alright, you two, that's enough!"
"Now that the power's back on, the central elevator should be operational. The signal from the data beacon is coming from below us. Let's head down."
Lucian nodded slightly, wrapping an arm around Rover as they took the elevator down with the others.
Below was a massive, empty space, with only a mechanical monstrosity at the center that looked all too familiar to Lucian.
Encore gasped. "Whoa—what a huge tin-plated beast!"
Indeed, this "tin-plated beast" was none other than the Mech Abomination they had encountered earlier with Yinlin.
Who would've thought this was standard issue for the Fractsidus?
Does every organization affiliated with the Fractsidus come with its own mini-boss or something?!
Though this particular Mech Abomination was much larger than the one they'd faced with the Dollmaker.
Aalto sighed. "The Court of Savantae folks always manage to surprise us with something new."
"The data beacon's signal is coming from it. Did it swallow the thing?"
"Ah, doesn't look like it's in a talking mood. Guess we've got no choice but to fight."
The Mech Abomination emitted a grating, metallic screech—unbearable to most ears.
But Lucian, with his Language Mastery ability, could understand it perfectly.
"Hungry… so hungry… humans… eat…"
So it saw humans as food. Did that mean the vanished members of the Court of Savantae had been devoured by this thing?
Either way, they had to take it down first.
Unlike the previous Mech Abomination, this one wasn't being controlled by a human, so its weaknesses were different.
Lucian warned, "This thing's body is pieced together from metal components. Its joints are its weak points—we can use the scattered parts against it, destabilize its structure!"
Encore grinned. "Hehe, in that case—leave this guy to Encore!"
"[Black Sheep White Sheep], go!"
Within minutes, the Mech Abomination was brought down by their combined efforts. Unfortunately, Lucian didn't land the final blow, so the Reverberation left behind was absorbed by Rover instead.
Aalto retrieved the data beacon and snapped his fingers. "Done and dusted!"
Encore giggled. "Hehe, Encore's pretty strong, huh?"
"But why was this big guy even here?"
Lucian: "Actually, I've seen a similar Echo before. It's called a Mech Abomination."
Aalto frowned. "You've seen one like it? No wonder you knew its weak points so well."
Lucian: "My guess is this Mech Abomination was supplied by the Fractsidus."
Rover: "The Fractsidus?"
Lucian nodded. "Right. The first time I encountered one was at the Séance Society, which also had ties to the Fractsidus."
"And this time, the Court of Savantae was funded by them too. So I think the Fractsidus provides these organizations with Mech Abominations as 'bodyguards.'"
Aalto stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Based on our earlier investigations, the Court of Savantae members in Whining Aix's Mire were just a small faction of the real organization."
"They were likely researching an ancient civilization they worshipped as 'gods,' but their methods were too extreme, so they were exiled."
"Somehow, they got leads suggesting this civilization once reached Whining Aix's Mire, so they tried to recreate 'miracles' using the Retroact Rain's properties."
"When their artificial Retroact Rain experiments stalled, they started mimicking the civilization's methods. To speed up results, they fed this Echo frequencies, data, even mechanical parts…"
"The result? 'Hunger' became its dominant frequency, turning it into a monster that only knew how to devour." Follow current novels on novel{f}ire.net
"The culprit behind the Court of Savantae's mysterious disappearances was probably this thing all along."
"Like Lucian said, its creation is likely tied to that Fractsidus overseer mentioned in the researchers' notes."
"These people… they were so obsessed with proving the 'miracles' they'd witnessed that they ended up lured by this monster's frequency, willingly walking into its 'embrace'…"
"Rather than saying the Court of Savantae members were 'eaten' by it… it's more accurate to say they were consumed by their own madness and obsession."
"What a bunch of lunatics…"
Lucian smiled approvingly. "Nice summary, Little Aalto."
Rover nodded too. "Nice summary, Little Aalto."
He sighed. "Rover, don't let Lucian rub off on you. He's sick—you shouldn't catch it!"
Lucian: "Yes, I'm sick. I have a disease where I'll die if Rover isn't by my side."
Rover's face flushed slightly as she pouted and lightly punched Lucian's chest.
Leaning close, she whispered in his ear, "Then I'll have to keep a close eye on you… so you won't die…"
Lucian gazed at Rover's lovely face, so close to his, and couldn't resist stealing another kiss.
The two clung to each other again.
Aalto: "…Can't you save the flirting for when we get back?!"
He clapped his hands to regain their attention. "Alright, now it's time to honor our promise."
"What do you want to know about the Black Shores?"
Lucian spoke up first. "Master, what exactly does your organization do?"
Aalto: "The Black Shores is a research and observation institution focused on The Lament. We've established links with signal beacons across nations—information you likely already know."
"The Black Shores itself is a massive Tacetite containing immense energy. That energy serves as the core power source sustaining the organization's massive operational demands."
Lucian: "A massive Tacetite?"
As everyone knew, Tacetite weapons were specialized arms designed for Resonators to combat Tacet Discords, named for their Tacetite core modules.
Their exact forms varied based on need, and the modules differed in appearance, but they were fundamentally the same type of weapon.
If Aalto was saying the Black Shores itself was a massive Tacetite, did that mean the entire organization was built from Tacetite?
If so, and they used this Tacetite to forge weapons… he'd be rich!
With that thought, Lucian declared loudly:
"I want to join the Black Shores!"