Online In Another World

The plan they agreed on embodied the essence of "controlled chaos"--a combination of Emilio and Blimpo's own way of handling encounters.

"You stay up there and get ready to deploy the 'Dragon Buster 4000'," Blimpo said, "I'll make sure we know when that gruesome machine is comin'!"

"It's beyond reckless, but I think it might just work…I'll hit War full-blast from up above. If we're lucky…the blast will bury it beneath the labyrinth. If it does end up being the case where he has the key…Well, we'll just have to worry about that after checking the rest of the area," Emilio said, "Just make sure you're far out of the way when the time comes, alright?"

"Don't have to tell me that! I've got a pretty good idea of how destructive that buster is going to be–though, I'd like to see it up close in action…Ah, well," Blimpo laughed.

Of course, in order to be properly ready for any such encounter with War, the vibration-emitting device was planted onto the dark floorboards in the center of the library by the elven man. Luckily, he fine-tuned both of his inventions to make sure the vibrations weren't interfering with the "Silent Storm" device either.

"Right here should do. I can't wait to see that big guy's face when it triggers this one!" Blimpo chuckled maniacally to himself while setting up what resembled a monstrous bear strap in one of the door ways.

Up above, the young man briefly watched the elven man set up the magical devices meant to thwart War, or at least aid in slowing the relentless entity down.

The sound of wood cracking and steel bending filled the closed-off library as the elven inventory spread his gadgets in various points around the chamber.

It wasn't a displeasing noise; it pleasantly accompanied the atmosphere of the lonely, yet grand library as he picked a random book from a shelf, having to clean the dust from it.

Just what sort of world did this all come from? If he was telling the truth, then all of this…It's been completely forgotten–it's hard to even call it a relic of time; who is around to remember that? He thought.

At the very least, he chose to bring some of those memories with him of the unknown, lost world, opening the book that had no title inscribed on the front nor any design besides a black, weathered cover.

"...Huh?"

Attempting to read the very first page, the text was illegible; it was washed out, seeming as though the page had been dipped in water for far too long, yet the page itself didn't look or feel to be weathered.

Flipping through the chapters of the nameless book, there was nothing that could be read. As he set it aside, he grabbed more books, randomly choosing from each shelf and rapidly opening up the pages–

Nothing.

It was all lost.

No way, he thought.

Though it was likely a world far disconnected from Earth or Arcadius, seeing the history of it simply being moot; lost and discarded in a labyrinth of grime and death, there was a distinct feeling of sadness it caused to spur in him.

VRRRRRRR

No time was given for such feelings of loss to marinate as an intense hum filled his ears like a fire alarm, widening his eyes and causing him to jump to his feet.

He was on a balcony of the isolated library that was at least three dozen meters from the initial floor, making it hard to see exactly what was going on from up high.

"What's that–?!" He yelled.

Blimpo had a wide smile that was coated with excitement and nervousness as the elf was already sweating, standing in front of the Echo Driller, "...It's found him." 𝙛r𝚎𝐞𝑤𝚎𝗯𝗻𝗼𝐯e𝚕.𝒄𝐨𝓂

Those three words were powerful, able to freeze the Dragonheart for a few moments as he could see the diamond-shaped magical tool spinning on the ground while humming.

"War is approaching," Blimpo said, sliding his goggles over his eyes once more, "--I think it's time for our own declaration of war, what do you say, my friend?!"

It was without question that fear was spawned in both of them through the quickly-approaching threat of the seemingly unstoppable entity of violence, but that unrivaled reckless abandon and sheer passion behind the elf's demeanor was contagious.

Emilio couldn't help but form a smile of his own as sweat trickled down his cheek, slapping the compact device attached to his arm, "I say let's give him hell!"

"I couldn't have said it better myself!" Blimpo said, readying his own gauntlet.

It only took a moment for the 'Dragon Buster 4000' to deploy into its full form, extending the dual, massive barrels that faced down either side of the Dragonheart's arm.

As according to plan, Blimpo got himself away from the ground floor, running across the room as he scattered tiny, spherical gadgets before jumping up onto the steep steps, climbing it like a ladder to get to the higher floors of the library.

"Everything is set! Start charging that sucker up!" Blimpo called out.

Nothing more had to be said as the Dragonheart already had a tight grip around the circular handle of the power-condensing weapon, funneling his draconic force straight into the rune-bearing barrels.

Come on, I need more…! He thought.

[Dragonheart System Activated]

[Current Stage: 2/10 | Dragon Son]

It was the most he could draw out on a whim, it seemed; whether his current state while dead had suppressed his abilities or not, it seemed to be the best he could do. While it wasn't quite what he wanted, it seemed to be more than enough as the draconic power flowed from his arm, down to his fingertips, and straight through the fantastical railgun of steel.

Just then, "it" arrived–

FWOOM

The silent barrier of wind was completely shattered as the towering humanoid of steel and burning flesh charged into the vast, forgotten library of the labyrinth.

"There he is! Looks like some of my traps nailed him!" Blimpo laughed.

It was evidently true as the metal-toothed bear trap that snapped with tremendous form held onto War's ankle, though was discarded by a single stomp of its tank-treaded boot. Steam exuded from its metallic body, breathing out the heated essence from its mouth as it looked around from between the steel bars of its archaic helm.