Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 897: The Goddess Core

While Raven and the girls would meet Grace in the dark castle, Mono was accompanying Ditsy to the underground forge where Meimei cast special equipment. Enthralled by the prospect of watching an Ironcore for Athenia to be made in the fires of a flaming bird, the iron queen could not help her curiosity. Unable to help herself upon seeing the blood of a god in a vial as well, she asked the Caladrius to let her hold the golden blood before she casts it into her crucible.

From Erika’s hand to Eclanor and then into Mei’s hands, the blood had travelled far, but now that it rests in her hand, Mono’s mind wandered to the most profane of prospects the golden liquid could be used for.

”So much potential, and it’s just a few drops of blood.” All eyes, from Melenai, Flitza, and Meimei, were digging into her. The smile on her face spelled sinister intentions, but none moved a muscle for the very air was thick with tension. ”A single gulp and you can become a god. Partially, of course, but a god nonetheless.”

The prospect of power has always been a potent poison against the queen of iron. However, this time, lowering the vial, she looked into Mei’s eyes and whispered.

”I’ve learned my lesson, though. A week spent in a crippled girl’s body really gives you perspective.” Not waiting any longer, Melenai reached for the vial and gently took it from Mono. Smiling at the horned demi-human and the head of the council of Eclanor, Mono took a deep breath and chuckled. ”No need to worry, I have no intentions of staying in this world for too long.”

”What...” Albeit her eyebrows were raised in confusion, Melenai prioritized handing the vial to Meimei instead of asking any questions. ”I can never predict what comes out of your mouth next, your highness.”

”You–”

”And no, I won’t drop the formalities.” Before she could even speak, Melenai shut down Mono’s complaint. Shifting her attention to Disty and Flitza for a moment, she stared at the two as the vampire was extracting the paladin’s blood with an injection. ”And what’s going on with you two? I do not want any surprises once the smelting process begins, so how about you finish this up?”

”Sorry,” putting the injection away, Disty rubbed some cotton on Flitza’s shoulders. ”I want to correct her genetic makeup. Miss Flitza, here is a special specimen after all. Inheriting the bad qualities of her progenitors more than the good, but give me a few weeks, and I should be able to put her on a month or year-long program to reverse that effect.”

”I asked her for help,” Flitza explained, her tired gaze staring at her horned friend.

”That... would be much appreciated, honored judge.” Masking a flash of joy, Melenai gave Ditsy a courtesy nod.

”Ditsy is fine, Melenai.”

”I work better with titles,” lifting her head, Melenai allowed herself a smile. ”It helps me compartmentalize better. Putting people into different boxes is how you solve problems for people in different walks of life.”

Swaying her hand with a flourish, Melenai turned her gaze to Meimei. The limbless girl was already pouring into the crucible–the scales of steel dragons acquired from Gallaria, and a few others which Mono had brought but hadn’t shared the specifics of. From the looks of them, however, it was clear that the scales were much smaller than an adult dragon–adolescence at the most, and that too only in their human form.

Glancing sideways at the iron queen, the head of the Eclanor council wondered to herself. What is up with this woman? She’s supposed to be a queen, yet her actions are anything but what defines a refined lady.

’I’d always heard that she’s a bit queer, but I never expected her to be as volatile as a pet crocodile.’ Her wish to visit another world, her pursuit to create a vessel for a god, and herself, not to mention the shadow dragon she rode into the kingdom after a long tanning route taken through the desert.

”Pouring the blood,” Meimei’s warning alerted everyone, even pulling Melenai out of her confusion about Mono. ”Stay back in case it blasts or something.”

Taking a step back, everyone watched as Mei’s magic hand poured the golden blood over the dragonic scales. Then, once everything was set, she made her floating gauntlets carry the crucible over the magma. Taking a deep breath, the little-girl adult called out to her captive pet.

”Kuruon! Come out!” The very ground beneath their feet began to rumble, and out came the first burning wing of the bird. Scaling it high, the creature–chained by the strongest of metals–rained magma over the crowd.

A glove of steel twice the size of her shielded Meimei, and no harm came to her. Flitza used her shield of faith spell to keep herself and Ditsy from getting hurt. Melenai, being a bard, simply ordered the rain to miss her with her magic words. As for Mono, being metal for the most part, she simply stood there looking up as the magma showered over her. A few blisters formed over her artificial skin, but were quickly repaired thanks to Aperion. The little injuries that she would’ve incurred were taken into account by her defensive ability, Aegis. Thus, safeguarding her from everything, she could watch the bird crawling out of its pit without having to look away.

”Kelidoscope...” Activating another skill as the bird began breathing its flames against the crucible, the iron queen absorbed all of its data like a sponge and came out on the end with a new skill popping up in her already extensive list.

’Phoenix breath.’ It said–bringing a smile on Mono’s face, but the smile didn’t last long as Raven’s voice called out to her through her bracelet.

”Mono, we need to talk.” The hero said.

”We are talking,” the queen replied, bringing the bracelet to her face.

”Face to face, Grace told me that you’re with Mei. But I need you in your castle right now.”

”Can’t this wait? I would hate to miss the creation of the ironcore capable of housing a god’s soul.”

”Depends, do you wanna meet someone who came from your parents’ world?” Alas, drawing her curiosity with that sentence, Raven had managed to snatch the queen away from such a curious event.

”How can I say no to our chosen hero?” She chuckled and extended a hand for Ditsy.

As explaining things would take a few seconds too many than she would’ve preferred, the vampire was given no explanation about what was happening before being taken away from the scene. As for the rest, it would be hours before the ironcore would be ready. Even against the fires of a phoenix, a god’s blood, and the scales from many different dragonic species, weren’t exactly ingredients that would smelt into one easily.