Chapter 169.2: Clearing the Northern Palace (Part 2)
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Then it would be time for a signal. Tryd would use his parent device to send a message informing all groups that the first gate could be opened, and they would begin extinguishing the fire of the torches.
Once all fires had been extinguished, it would be time to fight the Vessel Guardians. While Mira and her group fought them, a different group would already be heading up to the last floor with the crystal ball. The whole strategy was optimized to take as little time as possible.
In case something went wrong, the children devices could send a message to the parent one. Tryd had assigned each group their specific color patterns. So the moment a message came, he knew which group had sent it. Each group was also assigned a specific location of the building, so it was easy to know where the irregularity happened. Everything was well established and directed, showing Tryd was used to doing that.
(They've really thought up all sorts of things. Though now that I think about it, that makes sense considering this is reality now. Being able to use a chat function was quite overpowered.)
The two devices could only send simple signals to each other. But adventurers had figured out the optimal way to use that. Mira looked at the boxes attentively as she recalled the game days.
There used to be a chat function back then, which allowed players to converse no matter how far away they were. It was a useful tool to time things, just talk about random things, or brainstorm ways to solve puzzles like the one Mira was in. It was instantaneous and there were no restrictions to it. If it was still active now, Mira would be able to have random conversations with Solomon while going through the northern palace.
As Mira thought of that, she also realized Solomon would likely give her many more requests through chat messages.
Some time passed and Mira's group reached the first gate, and while they waited for it to open, they discussed their strategy to fight the Vessel Guardians.
「Mira, is it alright if you take one on your own?」
There were five Vessel Guardians, and the group also had five members. Tryd's strategy was to have each member pitted against one Vessel Guardian. Mira and Tryd were rank A adventurers, so they could finish faster and go aid one of the other three rank B adventurers. That was the most efficient way of taking down the Vessel Guardians. Tryd had sometimes been in charge of two Vessel Guardians, but he was glad to have Mira now, who was the same rank as him.
Seeing that, Mira had proudly asked 「What if I take everyone on then?」
「Sure, that would be a great help. But since we have the people, you don't have to push yourself too hard.」
Tryd had replied with a rather playful smile, probably thinking she was joking.
But he did not stop her from doing that either. That was enough for Mira, which made her grin just thinking of how the Tower of Summoning would change once she showed the appeal of summoners.
「Oh, it seems everything is going smoothly.」
After their initial discussion, they chatted about random things until the first gate opened. It was quite large, befitting of a palace, which opened with a grave sound, which made everyone stay alert, even though the fight would be done later. The only matter now were the torches held on the right and left walls, even if there were fifty of them.
「Alright, let's split up to light them.」
Saying that, Tryd ran up to the wall and began lighting the torches. The other three members followed his example. Watching that, Mira thought of something.
「It's finally time to give that a try..!」
Mira could barely resist her excitement as she faced the wall and took it out, the same tool Tryd and the other adventurers used to light the torches. She had bought it from the Dinowal Store, the 'Magic Lighter Lil' Crimson'.
The device was shaped similarly to a gun. Mira had bought it recently, and had been itching to test it, so she pointed the nozzle at a torch and pulled the trigger. A bigger flame than she anticipated came out.
「Ohh, this is quite powerful actually!」
Mira was shocked at first. That flame was large enough that it could be used to fend off monsters, which was an emergency use case for adventurers.
She quickly went from one torch to the next. Concept Magic would have made that job faster, but pulling the trigger and watching fire spurt out was more fun. She went from torch to torch, happily lighting them up.
「I think that's all of them.」
After lighting the last torch, Mira blew off the tip of her lighter. She was fully committing to the role of a gunman.
「Yeah, we can rest for a bit now.」
Tryd made sure all the torches were lit and used his device to tell the other groups they could move onto the next step. They had to extinguish all the torches they had lit now. Once that was done, it was finally time to fight the Guardians of the Full Moon Vessel.
Everyone prepared for the fight, except Mira who reclined herself against Pegasus without a single worry. Pegasus seemed to be in an excellent mood, gently swaying his wings. They looked completely out of place considering there was a boss fight soon.
「Mira, are you sure you don't have anything to prepare? I know this area might be ranked D, but those enemies could still be dangerous.」
Tryd was curious about Mira's careless attitude, considering they were about to enter a boss fight, so he spoke up while he checked his gear.
「Don't worry. I won't lower my guard.」
Giving that simple reply, she added in a much lower voice 「You won't be disappointed,」 and grinned.
「I see. Alright then, but make sure you tell us if you need anything.」
There were only a few summoners practicing their craft, so Tryd was unsure of how they fought. At least Pegasus looked like a powerful creature, so he was not too afraid. In a way it made sense for Mira to be so relaxed if Pegasus took the brunt of the fight.
Tryd had carried a greatsword so far, but now he switched it out for a spear. That seemed to be his preferred weapon, and the way he sharpened it was enough to show how proficient he was with it.
「That looks like a mighty weapon you have there. I was wondering, do you happen to have some sort of nickname?」
「A nickname? Well, I guess I do. At some point people just started calling me the Crimson Rondo.」
Tryd spoke as he continued looking after his weapon, sounding slightly embarrassed about it. Mira smiled a bit more, saying, 「That actually sounds pretty cool.」 Someone famous could help a lot with spreading the word about summoners.
Mira continued planning her own strategy, and casually exchanging some words with the rest of the group until the gate opened.
Half an hour passed after that, and the second gate opened, making a heavy sound.
「Alright, time to get serious.」
Tryd stood at the lead, and after one last check that he had all the emergency items he needed, he walked toward the gates. The rest of the group followed his example.
「First impressions are always important. Pegasus, you strike first.」
Mira muttered that into Pegasus' ear and followed the rest. Crossing the gates, they reached a room with five large vessels.