Chapter 65: Chapter 065
Though there was still more than a half hour before they were expected to arrive, Leon saw that every member of the Crimson Valkyries, and even a few who weren't, were already standing around and chatting in the first-floor conference room when he arrived. The welcome extras included his other Captains, Felt, Cynthia, and the recently assigned Ashlay, as well as Rosanna, Wil, Yamato, Miyako, Azumi, most of the individuals Millie had recently summoned, and two members of the cooking staff, Erina and her Sous-Chef, the pink-haired Hisako.
"It's good to see everyone so motivated," mused Leon, making a stand-down gesture as more than half the room's occupants turned toward him to offer Knightly salutes.
Fortunately, while some attendants, including Roddick, Dorne, Phia, and Ashlay, were dressed in armor, most of the people present were wearing casual clothes. Even Mordred was wearing white short-shorts and a red-and-black, long-sleeved crop top, so with more than half the group being beautiful women, Leon not only got a feast for his eyes, but the room had a pleasant aroma.
Making his way to the front of the room, Leon felt very little pressure as he turned to face the nearly fifty people who had assembled, sporting a relaxed smile as he said, "Since it's a bit early, let's use this opportunity to address any grievances or bring to light any issues that may have avoided my notice around the island. The floor is open."
Raising his right hand, Ioshua, the green-haired Featherfolk very recently summoned by Millie, stated, "I have an issue, Lord Leon. Please allow me to voice it."
"Brother..." muttered the golden-haired girl standing next to Ioshua, her angelic wings and pastel, gold-blue eyes giving her the appearance of a Saintess or a messenger of the Gods themselves.
"Go ahead," said Leon.
"My sister and I are appreciative of the accommodations House Asheford has provided, but as you can see, Erys and I aren't like the other denizens of your realm," stated Ioshua. "We need space to spread our wings and fly freely without individuals gawking or constantly approaching us to satisfy their curiosity, or worse..."
Raising her own hand, Ioshua's sister, Erys, appended, "Please don't take my brother's words too seriously, my Lord. He's just being overprotective and doesn't like that I'm receiving so much attention."
"Erys...!" exclaimed Ioshua, his expression aghast as he didn't expect her to sabotage him in such a way.
Looking slightly annoyed, Erys narrowed her eyes and 'whispered' in a voice that carried throughout the conference room as she stated, "We've already been over this, Ioshua. We wouldn't even be alive right now if not for Lord Leon and Millie, and my healing magic will be a tremendous aid to the Frontier Expedition Squad. Also, I'm not a little kid anymore...and you 'know' I can protect myself..."
Though Erys looked like a literal angel, one look at her Status would show she wasn't as innocent as she seemed. Alongside her [Healing Artes], she also owned the [Death from Above] and [Unassuming Assassin] Skills, a reference to the fact she had been kidnapped and brainwashed as a child to carry out assassinations across a Continent called Van, earning herself the moniker: Deathwing. As for Ioshua, he had the [Young Sage], [Sister's Protector], and [Tenacious One] Skills.
"Ahem...does anyone else have anything?" asked Leon, clearing some of the tension in the air with a cough.
Seeing everyone remain silent, looking around to see if anyone else was going to speak, Leon decided to get to the heart of the matter, smiling as he stated, "If you have anything you'd like to discuss in private, feel free to schedule a meeting with my Head Maid, Azumi. For now, let's get on to the main topic at hand, the Sixth Floor, and what you can expect from the many draconic species that inhabit it..."
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Though the Nargacuga had been the apex predator in the vicinity of the entry portal, there was no way of knowing when another monster would step in to take its place. Thus, to ensure entrants wouldn't be blind-sided or ambushed the moment they entered the Floor, the Frontier Expedition's top priority was constructing a defensible outpost.
With Leon providing the materials and people like Ed and Alphonse able to use transmutation to shape them into walls and other structures in an instant, the actual construction wasn't difficult. The bigger issue was the lack of personnel to man the facility as most of the residents of Purgatoria were content developing the farms they had been allotted or accepting commissions to collect specific drop items from monsters on the First and Third Floors.
On a positive note, there was more than enough currency in circulation to replace crystal fragments as the standard currency, and since Leon was the only one who could authorize Summons and Grade Promotions, most fragments were sold to his estate to be allocated to various projects and to support the Frontier Expedition Squads' activities. As such, while they lacked personnel to do gruntwork like construction, maintaining facilities, and providing on-site security, they had a surplus of capable warriors and a growing number of Mages...
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"Come on, you oversized honey badger! You can do better than this...!" shouted Mordred, sporting a massive grin as she deftly evaded the long and fearsome claws of a bear-like creature with thick forearm plating and several sharp spines that provided it great offense and defense.
Frustrated by Mordred's constant evasion and taunting, the 739cm-tall monster, known as an Azuros, reared up and spread its arms as wide as it could, intending to launch itself forward and sweep at her with both as a fast-moving ball of bluish-white, ice-infused Mana slammed into its back, knocking it off balance.
Roaring with rage and indignation, the Azuros looked toward the person who had attacked it, Millie, but, just as she had done many times before, Mordred immediately punished it by slashing an icy claymore through its side and body, leaving a bluish-red trail where it passed. Ordinarily, such an attack would have bisected the Azuros in two, but while it sustained a tremendous amount of damage, massive scars appearing across its body, it remained standing as it abruptly spun around and swept the claws of its right paw with enough force to make it do a 720.
Unfortunately for the Azuros, Mordred effortlessly evaded its reprisal, stepping back with a cheeky smile as she shouted, "It's on its last legs! Let's end this...!"
In response to Mordred's shout, a flock of purple, pink, and blue-tinged butterflies flittered past the heavily injured Azuros. Narmaya appeared immediately after, but instead of the usual phenomenon where her prey would be sliced in two, several mine-like devices had appeared around the Azuros's feet, metal rods protruding from them to produce powerful currents of golden electricity.
Too weak to resist, the Azuros's body started spasming uncontrollably as the electricity of the devices, known as Shock Traps, flowed into it. At the same time, Kisara, Presea, and Millie threw what appeared to be handfuls of smoke bombs, bursting into pink smoke upon contact with the Azuros's body. Then, to wrap things up, Daetta came falling from the sky, wielding a giant hammer in place of her usual spiked ball and chain, shouting, "And the finishing blow goes to Super Platinum Daetta-chan~!" as she smacked the Azuros in the top of its head, impervious to the Shock Traps' paralytic effects thanks to the Rubber Bracelets she and the other members of the Crimson Valkyries wore.
Unable to endure the combined assault, especially with the tranquilizing pink smoke entering through its nose and wounds, the Azuros collapsed face-first onto the ground, still alive but completely knocked out.
"Another successful hunt! For the glory of House Asheford...!" shouted Mordred, raising her sword overhead and prompting the other members of Crimson Valkyries to do the same. Even Narmaya and Presea, the two most taciturn members of the group, elected to join in, the former smiling and making a cutesy guts pose while the latter raised her axe, refusing to shout out but sporting a triumphant, shimmery-eyed expression.
Observing the celebration from within Latia, providing oversight for the group, Leon couldn't help thinking, 'They're almost like a cult...' when he saw how enthusiastically everyone credited their triumph to him. It was like witnessing a bunch of sports fans celebrating after a winning game, but each of the girls below was prepared to give more than just their life for him, all thanks to Mordred's morale-centered 'conditioning'...
'Well, at least they're loyal...' thought Leon, directing Latia to descend to the ground so he could help with disassembling the Azuros. 'Capturing' monsters extended the time limit you had to harvest them from three to ten minutes, but as butchering even a simple boar could take two to three hours, they had to be quick if they wanted to harvest things like its meat, which never dropped on its own and could be used to prepare dishes that provided various buffs. Azuros meat, in particular, could boost Endurance by 10% and provide [Lightning Resistance] for 20 minutes, so it was vital if Leon wanted to fulfill his middling ambition of seeing Mordred and others sporting Kirin bikini armor...
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With each large-sized monster on the Sixth Floor dropping a Red Crystal, Leon was in the middle of performing a few orange summons when a young man with somewhat spiky, medium-length brown hair and large brown eyes appeared wearing a high-collared black sweatsuit under a yellow vest, yellow shorts, a red belt, and large brown boots bound with red cord.
"Well, this is new," remarked the youth, looking around like a curious child despite appearing to be in his mid to late teens.
Recognizing who the youth was, a somewhat wry smile adorned Leon's face as he thought, 'I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised, considering I've summoned people from the Star Ocean franchise...'
"You're Jack Russell, right...?" asked Leon.
"That depends," replied Jack, passing his suddenly serious gaze over the people in the summoning chamber before asking, "Who's asking...?" while meeting Leon's gaze.
"My name is Leon Asheford," answered Leon, clarifying, "I am the Lord of this place and the person who summoned you."
"Oh!" exclaimed Jack, appearing surprised and then serious as he asked, "Are you the one the voice was talking about!? The person who can help me resurrect Ridley...!?"
"First off, calm down..." said Leon, raising his right hand to prevent Jack from invading his personal space further than he already had. This wasn't Leon's first time dealing with someone desperate to be reunited with their loved ones, so he focused on getting Jack to calm down before apprising him of the situation and advising him not to set his expectations too high before supplying him with an Orange Crystal to perform a summoning of his own.
Unfortunately, Leon's words seemed to go in one ear and out the other, as when the person Jack summoned turned out to be a petite girl with short brown hair and eyes, dressed in an outfit that clearly distinguished her as a thief of some sort, he immediately became depressed and groaned, "Aw, man. Why is it Flau...?"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean...?" asked Flau, crossing her arms and sporting a pouty, clearly annoyed expression. She felt relief when she saw Jack alive and well after their kingdom had been razed to the ground, so it hurt and pissed her off to see him disappointed rather than happy to see her.
Seemingly realizing he had fucked up, Jack adopted a smile, waved his hand in front of his face, and replied, "Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it. It's good to see you, Flau."
"Right..." muttered Flau, maintaining her annoyed look as she gazed up at Leon, who, compared to her 150cm height, may as well have been a giant. Despite this, she didn't show an ounce of fear as she asked, "And who the hell are you...?"
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Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone