Arknightcraft Modpack
Chapter 560: No Room for the Idle
"So, what do you think? I'm planning to head up there and check out what's really going on. Anyone want to come with me?"
After quietly marveling at just how absurdly massive the thing was, Steven narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced at the three others, who were just like him—silently staring at the distant, slowly moving Zorah Magdaros.
They were still too far away.
So far, in fact, that he couldn't even see its "health bar," let alone monitor its current condition.
Getting closer was inevitable.
And if he could gather some useful materials along the way? Well, that would just make this trip all profit, no loss.
"…That thing doesn't exactly look like a safe place."
The Emperor took a decisive step back, retreating behind Kal'tsit and Nian without hesitation.
"If anyone's going, it should be you. I'll just stay here and wait for your results. Bringing dead weight like me along won't do you any good, it'll just get in the way, won't it?"
At least he had the self-awareness.
Watching from the sidelines? Absolutely.
Throwing himself into danger?
He'd long since outgrown that kind of recklessness.
Beast Lords like him had plenty to be proud of—their Authorites, their accumulated knowledge, even their peculiar form of immortality.
But in exchange, they typically weren't particularly strong in combat.
At least, from the ones he knew, that was the case.
Unless their Authority leaned toward battle, most of them were only about as strong as ordinary beasts.
Whether others could fight or not, the Emperor didn't know.
But as for himself? He definitely couldn't.
"…While I am interested in whatever's up there, I still have things I need to accomplish. I'm not exactly eager to risk my life exploring a place like that right now."
Nian waved her hand as well, declining just as readily.
It wasn't that she wasn't curious about Zorah Magdaros.
It was that, at present, the thing was the very embodiment of danger.
Even for a Sui's Fragment like her, getting caught in the energy radiating from that creature would mean losing more than just a layer of skin—she might not even survive it.
She still had plenty she needed to do, so there was no way she'd throw her life away in a place like this.
Seeing both of them refuse to proceed any further, Kal'tsit originally intended to accompany Steven onto the island herself. But then, her expression tightened.
Something was approaching from beneath the sea.
Nian, as a fragment of Sui, could at least protect herself.
But the Emperor? That was another story.
If he fell into the hands of those sea dwellers, even as a Beast Lord, there was no guarantee he'd come out from beneath the sea for the next hundred of years or so.
If Steven left for the island now, the number of fighters remaining on the boat would be dangerously low.
And if something unexpected happened…
"I'll stay here," Kal'tsit said with a quiet sigh.
"Mon3tr can take you to the island. It seems the 'masters' of this ocean aren't too fond of our presence… so I'll need to have a proper talk with them."
It was the only solution she could think of.
If Steven wanted to go, no one here could stop him.
And since it was her choice to come along in the first place, any danger they encountered now… was hers to bear.
But what surprised her was that Steven, who had also clearly sensed the figures rapidly approaching from beneath the sea, showed an unusually conflicted expression. As if he were hesitating over something.
"…Hmm. Actually, scratch that."
After a brief pause, he spoke again.
"How about this, I'll leave someone behind to protect you. Since I'm the one who brought you here, it's only fair I make sure you stay safe."
Of course, what he didn't say out loud was that there was no way he was going to let all those "free points" swimming right toward him go to waste.
What he was really struggling with was figuring out how to chase down the island and deal with these walking bundles of rewards at the same time.
And, more importantly—how to come up with a convincing excuse to make sure Kal'tsit and the others didn't steal his kills.
After thinking it over for a moment, Steven suddenly realized—
He wasn't exactly fighting alone.
If it really came down to it, calling out a teammate or two wasn't a problem at all.
Reaching into his inventory, he pulled out a Pokéball and tossed it onto the deck. With a soft poof of smoke, a translucent, jelly-like creature appeared right in front of him.
"Shoggy. Activate Mimic Tear form."
He poked the blob lightly with his finger. Ever since it came into his possession, this little thing had done nothing but eat and sleep like a useless freeloader.
Now, however, it was finally time for it to prove its worth.
After several rounds of "devouring" and growth, Shoggy had already gained the ability to mimic a human-sized form. Not only that, it could even replicate part of the physical attributes of whatever it mimicked.
In other words, it was the perfect foundation for Steven's long-held dream of owning a slime maid.
Unfortunately, its biggest flaw was its brain.
To put it nicely, it was "airheaded."
To put it bluntly?
It was just plain stupid.
Still, Steven didn't need it to handle anything complicated. Besides, it wouldn't be alone.
The slime wriggled for a moment, then, in the next instant, it transformed.
Standing there now was another "Steven," identical in appearance. The only differences were its slightly vacant, overly "wise" gaze… and its pale, almost translucent skin.
Casually, Steven reached into his inventory again and pulled out Yamato.
Without hesitation, he handed it over to the mimicked Shoggy.
"I'll leave the rest to you. If nothing else, teaching it how to cut people shouldn't be a problem, right? I don't care how many you kill—if things get rough, just call me." He gave a brief instruction to Enma.
After all, one of them had a body but no brain. The other had awareness but no body.
Put them together and they perfectly covered each other's flaws.
A flawless combination.
Enma, for her part, had been itching for a fight for ages. If she went even a single day without "seeing blood," she'd throw a tantrum like a kid bored out of their mind.
Now that an opportunity like this had arrived—It was the perfect chance for the two of them to get some practice in.
Who knew? They might even become far more reliable "tools" for him in the future.
At least for now, Steven had no reason to doubt their loyalty. And with the system recognizing him as their master, any points they earned from defeating enemies would naturally be credited to him as well.
Which meant he was free to focus on what he actually wanted to do.
To Steven, all of this was perfectly normal.
Just summoning a couple of helpers to guard the rear. Simple.
But to the three observers watching from the side, it was anything but normal.
Nian, in particular, immediately noticed the changes in Enma.
Not long ago, it had merely been a weapon that might develop its own consciousness someday.
But now?
It was practically indistinguishable from the god-slaying weapons she talked about.
Just how many absurd resources had Steven poured into that blade to evolve it to this level in such a short time?
As for the other "Steven," the one standing there with a slightly vacant expression—
Both Nian and Kal'tsit felt something eerily familiar from it.
How should they put it…?
It felt like a Collapsal—
But even purer than a normal Collapsal.
That strange, unsettling aura could only belong to those beings of chaos and destruction.
And yet, at the same time, its current state was completely different from the Collapsals they knew.
"You're seriously raising a Collapsal? Good grief… if Ursus Royal Guard saw this, who knows what kind of chaos would break out."
Compared to Nian, the Emperor was far more wary of the very concept of a Collapsal.
Beast Lords like him didn't fear death.
But the corruption that came with those creatures?
That was a different matter entirely.
Even he wouldn't dare test whether he could resist that kind of contamination.
And he certainly wasn't about to gamble his own existence on it.
"They wouldn't say a thing even if they saw it. I'm on pretty good terms with their Emperor, after all."
Steven waved it off casually.
"And Shoggy isn't a Collapsal. It's just a pet I raised. Simple as that."
Naturally, there was no way he'd admit it out loud.
As long as he didn't say it, who could definitively prove otherwise?
"Besides—right now, Shoggy is the one protecting you."
Steven cast a brief glance toward the mimic.
"With it here, keeping you safe until I get back shouldn't be a problem."
He silently issued a command.
In the next moment, that slightly dazed-looking "Steven" tightened its grip on Yamato and dove straight into the ocean without hesitation.
A heartbeat later, the sea churned.
Then, from beneath the boat, a familiar, nauseating stench began to rise as dark, murky blood spread across the surface.
"I'll leave things here to it for now. Since you're not coming, just stay here and keep an eye on that thing's condition. Leave the scouting to me."
Steven glanced at the corner of his vision, clearly pleased as notifications of earned points began to pop up.
"I should be back soon."
With that, he activated the power of the Evol Driver and in an instant, his figure vanished.
The next moment, he reappeared, having already teleported toward the impossibly gigantic moving mass of Zorah Magdaros.
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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Tn: I updated the story daily, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 617: A Bold Guess[1]
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[1] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/arknightcraft-160680628
[2] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/arknightcraft-160680628