Activate! Hidden Inheritor!

“Defense Mode, activating.”

In the room lit by the red magic lamps, what rang out next, after the alarm, was that cold electronic voice.

“H, hey hey hey...... uwoh!?”

And then, suddenly, the floor began to vibrate violently!

Darakerus had staggered to his feet, but he couldn't keep his balance and went down again!

“Wh, what is this!?”

Meanwhile, Fret crawled his way to the window, looked outside, and cried out despite himself!

“The hideout......!! Is rising up!?”

Fret and the others should have been in the living room on the first floor of this hideout.

But right now, Fret was...... “looking down on” the Dongozugozu Society's men, who stood gaping in a daze!

Unable to take in the situation, Fret couldn't help making the same face as the men outside.

But whether he understood it or not, things inside the room kept moving along, right alongside the violently shaking rise of the hideout.

First came an unfamiliar “sensation.”

“U, uwoh!?”

“What's this!?”

“............”

Yes, Darakerus, Fret, and Emi...... had suddenly felt the sensation of “something passing through the body.”

“Via magic power pattern, scanning for registered owners of this laboratory...... none found. Scanning for persons permitted entry to this laboratory...... none found.”

<This is 【Magic Scan】......! It's a little rough...... but it's a method of personal authentication that was common in the era of the Super-Ancient Magic Civilization!>

Unlike the two adults who were merely bewildered, Emi understood, at least, what had been done to her.

This was because her reliable partner in her head immediately shared the answer.

But, sadly...... she could not, brace herself for what came next.

“The 3 persons currently within this laboratory are identified as trespassers. Ejecting immediately.”

“““Ehh!?”””

That heartless announcement rang out, and the very next instant!

Pakari!

The wall on the side where the Dongozugozu Society's men stood lined up, opened!

And without a moment's pause, with a gakon...... the floor tilted into a steep slope!

““UWAAAAAAAH!?””

Darakerus and Fret couldn't cope with the sudden change, and along with the room's furniture, they went slipping and sliding down the floor, now suddenly a slide......!

Watching this, Emi channeled magic power into the soles of her feet.

As long as she used 【Silverfish】, which her Master had taught her himself and which let her cling even to walls and ceilings, no floor, however steep, would ever make her slide......

“Whaat!?”

Or so it should have been.

This floor, which had turned into a slide.

For some reason, magic power wouldn't pass through it!

【Silverfish】 wasn't working properly!

<N, n, no way, Gyashikinu! You anticipated someone with a special ability, with magecraft, like Emi, and took countermeasures!?>

Had she thought calmly, she could have dealt with it in any number of ways, like stabbing 【Black Tentacles】 into the floor...... but Emi was so shocked at having 【Silverfish】 sealed off that she panicked.

Pathetically, just like the two adults, Emi slid right out of the hideout.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Gubeh!?”

“Bugu......!!”

Meanwhile, Darakerus and Fret, flung outside, went tumbling over the soft meadow with the momentum of the throw, groaning.

“............”

Emi twisted round and round in midair and landed neatly on both feet.

Then, she looked back.

<Th, this is......!!>

What lay there was a sight that surprised even Omake-sama.

It was the lovely house in the forest...... utterly transformed.

The cute two-story house, shaped a bit like a mushroom, was still there just as it had been.

But beneath it...... the basement section that had risen up out of the ground was enormous.

Dirt-smeared, it was clearly built of heavy, sturdy metal, and on its sides were 6 “legs,” 3 pairs of 2.

It called to mind a cicada nymph taken over by cordyceps, and apparently it could even move.

““............””

Both Darakerus and Fret.

Were struck speechless despite themselves at its imposing sight, and could only stare blankly at the transformed hideout.

“Warning. Please cease combat activities, immediately. Should combat activities continue any further, this unit will annihilate all of you. Repeating the warning. Please cease combat activities, immediately......”

The warning, delivered by a cold electronic voice, echoed through the now-silent forest.

If it had been only Darakerus, Fret, and Emi here.

They would have meekly obeyed the warning, and things would have wrapped up peacefully.

But.

“HAAAH!? Don't you, look down on me, PUUUUUNK!!”

The Dongozugozu Society, who had chased after Darakerus, was here.

Badengaju was here!

This man had always made those around him fall in line through his own violence, and clawed his way up the underground organization.

He was arrogant, and he hated nothing more than being held down from above.

Therefore, even if the opponent was a giant metal monster that had suddenly appeared.

Doing as it said was an option he could never, ever take.

Of course, it wasn't just a matter of personality.

Since Badengaju ruled over those around him with violence.

No matter what the opponent was, he couldn't let his subordinates see him ‘showing his belly and groveling without a fight’.

Do that once, and he was finished: his men's trust in him would hit rock bottom.

They would harp on how pathetic he had looked, and his standing in the organization would tumble straight to the very bottom.

Among the subordinates he had brought today...... there were at least 3 who would gleefully push his weakened back and shove him into the abyss.

That hunger, never hesitating to overthrow a superior, was just what Badengaju liked...... but he couldn't actually let them do it.

Hence.

“DIEEEEEEE!!!”

Ignoring the warning, Badengaju turned the giant magic gun on his shoulder...... on the hideout that had revealed its true form, and let it rip with everything he had!

Truth be told, up to now he had been holding back his firepower, since he meant to get Darakerus's body in a state where it could at least be identified.

But this time, the shot was dead serious.

His most powerful shot, fired with magic power charged to the max!

DOGOOOOOOOOOON!!!

The bombardment hit the metal monster dead-on, triggering a massive explosion!

“HAHAAAAAA!! How d'ya like that, DARAKERUSAAAAAH!!”

While thick clouds of dust blocked his vision, Badengaju laughed triumphantly!

“That's your trump card, ain't it!? Too bad I smashed it to bits!? Next it's your turn, you BASTAAAARD!!”

And then, still high on the exhilaration of having launched such a powerful strike, he shouted furiously.

Beside Badengaju, the subordinates quietly readied their respective magic guns.

With a single command, they could fire at any moment.

“Now, brace yourself, dumbass!! Hey, you lot, get ready!! Till the volley, threeee, twooo, ooone......”

There must have been some kind of trouble: Darakerus had been thrown out of that monster and had slammed into the ground.

With that pain, he wouldn't be getting up any time soon.

Even if he ran, it didn't matter.

If they chased him with this many people, he'd be caught in no time.

It would only increase the time he spent trembling in fear of death.

That was why Badengaju deliberately held still all this while, and waited for the dust to settle.

Making sure, as best he could, that Darakerus felt the fear...... menacingly, even with a countdown.

And the dust cleared quickly.

And what met Badengaju's eyes then.

Was Darakerus's face, trembling in fear.

But that fear was not aimed, at Badengaju and his men alone.

He kept looking all around, now at them, now behind him, over and over.

Because, behind Darakerus.

Stood the metal monster, without a single scratch even after that bombardment!

“Following warning, attack confirmed. Surrounding lifeforms, identified as hostile entities.”

The metal monster, coldly, spoke those words, and.

“This unit, Hidden Inheritor, will now transition to Annihilation Mode.”

The two round windows set like eyes under the roof, on the part of the hideout that had stood above ground all along, glowed bright red...... and it made that declaration!

【Silverfish】

A special ability (magecraft) Emi inherited from her Master in Arc 3.

By using magic power, she can stick to walls and ceilings.

This is probably the first time it has been countered and neutralized in the story.