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After Soul Howl and Mira revealed everything they had available to each other, they began planning their strategy to take down Machina Guardian. The conversation kept diverging into various directions, but both were already accustomed to that happening, so they would get back on track soon enough.

And so eventually they had their strategy complete.

「I guess we can start like that, and then we just adapt to however it reacts.」
「Yeah, just like in the past.」

Even if they made a really detailed and specific plan, there were chances things could take an unexpected turn at any moment. Rather than flailing around aimlessly if things went off the rails, the Nine Wisemen had agreed that once that happened, they would each fend for their own.

It was convenient to just tell each other to adapt whenever something happened, but it also went to show how much they trusted each other when they said it so casually.

「Alright, now we just need to rest enough to be ready for tomorrow then. Actually, how are the golems in the corridor doing?」

Mira was starting to get sleepy, so after a short yawn she asked that.

「So far it’s all going according to plan. Though considering Machina Guardian’s ability to learn, it’s hard to say if it’ll keep working tomorrow. At least it might not take that long to defeat it now.」
「That’s fair. I’m still surprised it learned how to deal with the first batch. It’s good that we don’t have to keep trying to stretch the fight out.」

Back during the game days, the boss would only repeat a specific cycle of actions, making it feel like an actual robotical construct.

Except that it had hundreds of available actions, which would be chosen in response to its current state, so it was not that easy to memorize all the attacks and know how to fend them off. Some attacks were also difficult to evade completely, but at least it was possible to be ready for the most common ones.

Their plan to defeat the boss now was also largely based on that knowledge.

As wide and vast as the world was, only a small portion of the very best warriors had completely memorized all of Machina Guardian’s actions. They were the Twelve Apostles of the Nirvana Empire, which was one of the two largest countries in the Ark Continent.

They were a bunch of oddballs as well.

「We don’t know if it always could learn, or if it only became able to do that now that this is reality, but regardless of that it’s an annoying ability.」

Soul Howl still sounded a bit disappointed about their discovery of Machina Guardian’s learning abilities. He had been ready to fight there for a long time, but that threw a wrench in his plans. Either way that no longer mattered though.

「It’ll all be over tomorrow if we manage to defeat it. We have a plan and plenty of ways to attack. We’ll just have to run wild as much as we want.」
「That’s true. It’ll be a good training dummy to de-rust my high level spells.」

The two grinned after saying that, looking forward to the fight. Though they also looked like a pair of mad scientists who just made a new find.

「Oh right, I almost forgot. There’s something else that might motivate you more.」

They were finally getting ready for bed, and Mira had just come out of the toilet when she suddenly remembered something. Soul Howl, who was placing a simple rug on the floor as cushion, turned to look at her, smirking defiantly.

「What is it? Being able to motivate me is quite a challenge.」

He then sat down, looking at Mira to let her give her best attempt. His voice rang confident about himself, rather sure nothing she said would have a strong effect.

Mira sat down on her sleeping bag and faced him before talking. She told him everything else the Spirit King and Martel had told her, about the devil’s carved seal and stigmata, as well as the Brilliant Chalice of Divine Decree’s power, and how it could actually cure the woman frozen in time.

「And that’s about it. It might not be exactly what you were hoping for, but at least she should be able to avoid death. Maybe I’ve been meddling a bit too much, but your decision has been approved by the Spirit King and an Originator Spirit.」

That was all Mira had to say, so without waiting for a reply she just lied down on her side.

「So that’s Stigmata, huh. There’s still a lot of questions left about that, but ultimately we should be able to handle it at least.」

Soul Howl was trying to obtain the Brilliant Chalice of Divine Decree to save a woman afflicted by the devil’s carved seal. Now he knew that she was not suffering from that, but that it was actually Stigmata.

On top of that, once she was healed with the Brilliant Chalice she would gain special healing powers.

Soul Howl looked somewhat surprised after learning all of that, but that did not change his plan or objective, only reaffirmed it. At the same time he could not stop himself from smirking more though.

「But I see, she’ll get new power, and every time she uses it, she’ll be forced to remember it was all thanks to a necromancer like myself for the rest of her life.」

Soul howl lied down on the rug he placed on the floor, and then cackled with joy. Then he added, 「You were right, Elder. That did motivate me more.」

「I see, I see, that’s good to hear.」

His efforts to obtain the Brilliant Chalice would not go to waste. The end result would be slightly different to what he expected when he embarked on that quest, but it was still a positive one. Mira kept thinking about all that as she undressed and slipped inside her sleeping bag.

『He’s too embarrassed to admit it. I can tell.』
『Sure thing. Let’s hope he finally admits it soon.』

Martel’s voice kept heralding love without exhaustion, so Mira just gave a defeated reply and closed her eyes.

A day passed after Mira caught up to Soul Howl in the Ancient Underground City’s seventh floor.

Mira woke up and took a morning shower to fully awaken her mind, finding breakfast fully served when she left the shower room. The dishes were Soul Howl’s handmade sandwiches and soup, with a side of Martel’s stat boosting fruits. The last part had been prepared by Mira, as she figured it would be good to do that before a long fight.

Those legendary fruits were taken by Soul Howl and carved delicately before being presented on plates. The table looked much more elegant, compared to Mira’s usual habit of just biting into the whole fruit when eating them.

Soul Howl had already eaten his share, and instead kept himself busy by drawing the magic circles he would need.

「Alright, let’s go over the plan again. You can listen while you eat.」
「Ghmhjmm.」

Mira agreed with her cheeks stuffed with sandwiches. No matter how idiotic she looked sometimes, she was still a force to be reckoned with. Soul Howl still felt a bit thrown off by the stark difference of how she looked now compared to the Danbulf in the game, but he kept going with the conversation.

They were just reviewing the plan, so it was nothing complicated. It was simply going over everything they discussed the night before and making sure they still thought everything would work.

「And once one of us starts Meditating, the other will have to focus on defense.」
「Mhm. Once we start all our senses are cut off after all.」

Meditating, that was one of the most useful skills Mira had found in the Encyclopedia of Skills. Its actual name was Ascension Rule, but as whoever used it took a meditating pose, the two chose to call it Meditating.

The conditions to learn it varied greatly, and were even influenced by things like spirits’ Divine Protections, but the Nine Wisemen had all essentially completed any requirement possible. For them it was just a matter of knowing the method to learn the skill.

Mira had found that skill in the Encyclopedia some days before, and learned it that same day. Soul Howl learned it while they had their strategy meeting the night before.

But more importantly, the effect of Ascension Rule was a big boost to mana recovery speed. While it was quite demanding to learn for an average spellcaster, it was exceedingly useful. Even Mira with her unusually large mana pool would have her mana fully replenished in five minutes.

It also had its downsides though. While the skill was active, the caster’s vision, hearing, touch, and pain were all cut off.

The pain part was the scariest of all. One would not feel any attacks while Meditating, so it was easy to imagine one could be lethally wounded without realizing.

Using that skill required extreme situational awareness, especially if used during a major fight.

「It’s risky, but being able to avoid the toxicity from powerful mana recovery potions makes it worth it. If we do it well, we’ll be able to go all out without having to worry about our mana. Meditating feels almost mandatory for any spellcaster worth their money.」

Classes that could produce minions or servants that moved autonomously, also could greatly diminish the risks involved with using Ascension Rule.