All things considered, all that's left is to smash the barrier and storm in.
But, uh, that barrier — seeing it with my own eyes is something else entirely.
In a word: ridiculous.
Not amazing. Ridiculous.
That's how dangerous this barrier is.
The fact that even the Demon King can't break it tells you something's seriously wrong.
The Demon King's Status sits around ninety thousand — just shy of the cap.
And if even that can't punch through, then with Status values in this world, destruction is basically impossible.
You'd have to break past the limit.
And could something like this be created with the power of the System? No chance.
Which means this barrier was built with technology the System had no part in.
And in this world, there's basically only one kind of technology that exists outside the System.
Super-technology powered by MA Energy.
And to make matters worse, this barrier is guzzling MA Energy just to maintain its strength.
I can't believe someone actually thought it was a good idea to use such an idiotic barrier.
It's practically a defective device that shortens the planet's lifespan the more you use it.
Kuro, why did you leave this thing sitting around for so long?
Well, that ends today.
When it comes to something this dangerous, you're better off just destroying it as fast as possible.
And so, I produce the Golden Bat!
It's batting time!
"Huh?"
The Demon King makes some dumb noise, but this bat is incredible, you know?
After all, it was found in D's house.
The second installment of the one-use-only series of handy gadgets!
Give it a full swing and — lo and behold!
Anything, no matter how hard, gets obliterated.
A barrier? No big deal.
Truth be told, trying to destroy this barrier with my own power alone would be pretty rough.
My base stats are pretty lopsided, you see.
Done wrong, it could lead to massive MA Energy consumption.
So I'll use whatever I can get my hands on.
Even if it belongs to D!
It's almost time for the Imperial Army to fire off their big spell.
All I have to do is time my full swing with theirs.
So then.
Step into the batter's box!
Shiro swings — and she connects!
Home run!
What an incredible feat!
Timed to coincide with the Imperial Army's grand magic, I bring the bat into a full swing.
The bat shatters the barrier to pieces, and then, its duty fulfilled, crumbles away as well.
Mm.
Well then, shall we go?
"Shiro, what was that bat just now? It had, like, a super ominous aura."
"Demon King, there are plenty of things in the world you're better off not knowing about."
The Demon King keeps asking about the bat, and I'd really prefer he not dig too deep into these handy gadgets of D's craftsmanship.
For every useful feature, there's a terrifying consequence waiting on the other side.
After all, they were made by D.
They feel like they'd carry some insane curse or another — that's scary, right?
I did thoroughly check them to make sure there was nothing like that before using them, but...
Knowing D, it wouldn't surprise me if she'd hidden something that would slip past my inspection.
Even so, when the time comes, I use them.
Because they're just that convenient!
That said, there's only one left.
I already used the clock on Kuro, and the bat just now.
There was supposed to be a card too, but it disappeared on me at some point.
I wonder where it went?
Well, no use worrying about that now — time to move.
Focusing my Farsight to survey the entire elf village, I see that the elves are in a panic now that the barrier is gone, while the Imperial Army, led by Natsume-kun, has begun its triumphant march.
I turn my attention to the reincarnator residential zone.
So far, the elves don't seem to be doing anything to the reincarnators.
I've already quietly positioned the clones I'd previously smuggled past the barrier — the Stomach Acid Sisters — so if anything happens, I can extract them immediately.
There seems to be some kind of dispute among the reincarnators, though — could that be Ogiwara-kun, whom the Pope had infiltrated as a spy?
Looks like he got caught or something.
Hmm, well, it's fine to leave that alone.
While the elves are focused on the Imperial Army, we should get to our own job.
With that, we set off.
I take the lead and guide the Demon King and the others.
If it were just me, I could teleport all over the place, but the Demon King can't do that.
Besides, using teleportation would probably trigger spatial fluctuations and give away our position.
We might already be exposed, but we might not, so let's play it safe with Stealth.
I pick routes where there are no elves and push forward.
I sprint through the forest at just barely the speed the Puppet Taratects under the Demon King can keep up with.
Even as we move, I don't let up on intelligence-gathering with my Farsight.
Despite the Stomach Acid Sisters' desperate search,
He must be hidden under some serious security.
Typical Potimas — always cautious.
But the fact that he can't be found actually becomes a clue to pinning down his location.
If we've searched this thoroughly and still can't find him, he must be somewhere we can't reach.
But that rules out being outside the village.
For Potimas to be using a barrier that powerful, there's no way he'd gamble by leaving his real body outside it.
His true body must be inside the safest point of that barrier.
And within that barrier, in a spot where he can't be found.
Once you think it through that far, you can pinpoint the location.
Underground.
If a thorough surface search turns up nothing, there's nowhere else it could be.
What we need to find is the passage that leads underground.
But there's no need to search.
There wasn't a single super-tech robot belonging to Potimas anywhere on the surface.
Which means they must be hidden underground too, just like Potimas himself.
This attack can't be survived without those forces.
He'll have to deploy them at some point.
When he does, we just ambush them where they emerge.
Where they come out should be the path that leads to Potimas.
And right as I say that, the ground about a kilometer ahead of us cracks open, and robots come pouring out.
Whoa.
They look like something out of one of those Star Wars-type movies.
Four arms, four legs.
Guns are strapped to each of those four arms.
Sci-fi robots that have no business being in a fantasy world.
The moment they reach the surface, they start heading our way.
It seems the enemy has already locked onto us.
They deftly maneuver their four legs and race through the forest at high speed.
Fast.
Converted to Status, that's about five thousand?
The Demon King and I wouldn't bat an eye at that kind of speed, but the Puppet Taratects might struggle a bit.
The Puppet Taratects have Status over ten thousand too, but who knows how much firepower those robots' weapons pack — and more importantly, there are a lot of them.
"Contact. I'll handle this."
I report to the Demon King and the others in short.
Moving at high speed, I cast my spell before the robots come into visual range.
Multiple projectiles of darkness fly forth and slam into the robot squadron.
The robots can barely put up resistance as they're pierced through and destroyed.
...Fragile.
Is this the extent of Potimas's forces?
No, no way.
He can't have nothing but junk.
Well, regardless, we've found the entrance underground.
Leaving the destroyed robots' wreckage behind, we push on and reach the entrance the robots emerged from.
The entrance's lid starts to close in a panic, but I stop it with brute force.
Actually, I just smashed the lid to pieces.
The entrance the robots came from turned out to be a steep downward slope.
Down below — Potimas is waiting.
I exchange a glance with the Demon King. He nods silently and descends.
From here on, the Demon King goes on alone.
That's his wish.
We won't interfere.
Still, I secretly sent a tiny clone after him — just to keep watch.
Don't you die, Demon King.
Now then, let me do what I can.