At 01R’s command, 00EW moved directly underneath the circle of trees. It stirred up its Earth magic, taking control of the ground the trees were rooted into, then began propelling the whole mass forward. 00Sylvan and the others could thus keep up the defense even on the move, and the entire formation began moving up towards the peak of the mountain.

Lightning Elementals, Thunderbirds, and other monsters attempted to assault them the entire time, but none got through. Lightning Rats, Zapper Moths, and other smaller monsters trying to slip in between the trees got caught on the magical webbing, or the trees themselves would come to life and entangle the monsters with branch and root. Some of the monsters attempted to strike at 00EW below, but the mighty worm was safe beneath a thick layer of Earth Magic. And ultimately, these monsters lacked any sort of leadership or organization, seeing as they were no longer responding to the dungeon master’s command. There were no attempts to coordinate, or to learn from their comrades’ earlier failures. They simply kept repeating the same attacks every time they noticed the intruders.

The group also had to face environmental hazards as they approached the storm clouds obscuring the peak. Lightning struck from up above in mighty flashes. But this lightning, while perhaps more powerful than a small monster’s spells, was unguided and more mundane in nature. As such, it was even easier for 00Sylvan’s trees to redirect into the ground. Likewise, lightning runes triggered as 00EW churned up the ground, and surged harmlessly into the mass of Earth Magic, while lightning charged arrow traps bounced off of metal-plated trees. A cloud of electrified gas was dealt with by a simple Air Magic spell, while towering metal spires that shot lightning towards anything that approached were easy targets for HARMs.

What proved more dangerous were the gale-force winds kicked up by the storm. But an Air Magic Barrier by Lilussees counterattacked them with winds of her own and Gravity Magic helped trees and cyborgs to remain rooted in place.

And so the group made their way through the veil of storm clouds. Just before the end, a dark shadow covered over them. They looked up and saw a mighty cyclops towering above them. The beast grabbed a bolt of lightning with its bare hands, and lobbed it at the group like a javelin.

But 00WE was prepared. It cast a water magic spell, forming a barrier of water in front of the tree grove, making sure the water touched the ground. The bolt passed through with ease, but some of its power was conducted into the water instead, and redirected into the ground. As a result, the tree grove was able to handle the strike, passing the current through intertwined roots to take the pressure off the struck tree.

And then the cyborgs responded. The cyclops shielded its eye as cannon fire from 00B exploded around its face and 00SO threw his harpoon, wrapped in Holy Mana. And then…the tree grove itself erupted into fire.

Sylvan had not formed simple trees when growing this grove. Rather, they downloaded some schematics from Melion, and made use of them here. Hidden within the branches of each tree…was a magical railgun.

The problem was 00Sylvan lacked the mana to power it. They could form the barrels and the rails, projectiles out of metal-coated magical wood, and even the engravings for the enchantments, but could not provide the mana cores needed to power them.

But…if a massive, magical electrical current began to surge through the trees and into the circuits and enchantments…

And so 00Sylvan turned the cyclops’ attack against it with a volley of electromagnetically accelerated metal thorns. It wasn’t nearly as effective as Melion’s purpose built designs, but that fact was small comfort to the cyclops now bleeding from many wounds.

And most importantly…all of this bought time. Lilussees and her drones finished a Prismatic Bombardment magic circle in the meantime. Before the cyclops could recover and attack again, Holy Beams fused together, and a superbeam pierced right through the monster’s heart. The cyclops blinked in shock as it fell backwards.

And with that, the final obstacle to the peak had been overcome. A moment later, the group broke through the storm clouds. Beyond them was a clear area, with barren and jagged rock leading to a small, metal structure at the top. A second thunderstorm covered the sky beyond the peak, striking the metal structure with lightning on occasion. One bolt landed directly in front of the group, and coalesced into a vaguely humanoid form. It spoke with a crackling and distorted voice.Stolen novel; please report.

“Impressive. Very few have ever made it to the end of my domain, and never a monster. I imagine you are not here to seek a boon from me?”

R stepped forward, out from the trees, and shook his head.

“We are here to claim-conquer this land in the name of the Wise-Mighty-Gracious Boss Queen, and cleanse-purify it of the corruption stealing-thieving your control. Submit-Surrender now, and you will be allowed-permitted to keep authority over your dungeon, yes yes.”

The storm clouds rumbled overhead as the dungeon master laughed.

“A rival dungeon seeking to conquer me in these times?”

It lifted a hand, pointing it towards the rat.

“As long as my storm rages, I will never submit!”

A bolt of lightning shot towards 01R, but he had already detected the energy surge building up and so boosted back into the trees. HARMs and spells launched towards the dungeon master but his body turned back into a lightning bolt that shot up into the storm clouds above. A moment later, lightning began to strike from the clouds. The lightning surged into the trees once again…only this was unlike any lightning from before. This attack had the power of the storm overhead, yet magically empowered and guided like the monsters’ attacks from before.

And so the trees’ wooden centers began to catch fire, and some even exploded. The lightning also began to strike 00EW below. This part of the mountain was pure rock, and that rock was a dungeon wall construct rather than pure physical minerals. As a result, there wasn’t much ground for 00EW to draw into its Earth Magic shroud, and so the lightning managed to blast its way through. The Mecha-Adamant Bull Worm roared as electricity surged through it.

Fortunately, the Earth Attribute monster was not particularly vulnerable to Lightning, and took noticeably less damage than other cyborgs might have. Unfortunately, 00EW was not purely organic. The dungeon master spoke again, only now in a loud booming voice like a crack of thunder.

“What’s this? Metal bodies that are moved by lightning? How strange.”

A deep, rumbling laugh sounded from the storm clouds above.

“But I like this. We will have great fun together.”

The lighting started to surge through 00EW’s cybernetic components…and then 00EW’s body began to writhe. Guns and bombs began going off as 00EW’s implants began activating at random, with metal arms spinning about, laser cutters flickering on and off, and harpoon guns firing off in every which way.. The Lightning dungeon master didn’t necessarily understand software, and made no attempt to intrude upon the cyborg’s programming, but it didn’t need to. Rather, it was surging lighting through the cyborg’s electrical circuits, causing 00EW to lose control over those parts. The worm itself resisted with all of its organic half’s considerable might, and so the creature stopped thrashing about, but it could do little to stop the activation of the weapons installed in its armor.

“Move move!”

With the tree protection gone and the very ground beneath them now firing weapons at random, 01R ordered the group into action. They disconnected the cables between the cyborgs, needing individual mobility once again, and then scattered, leaping away from the burning grove and 00EW. The lightning rained down on them but a glowing Prismatic Dome appeared over the sky, protecting the group.

Lilussees grunted as the full might of the storm assaulted her spell.

“Like, figure something out, fanatic snack! I, like, can’t hold this for long!”

R’s mind raced as the cyborgs gathered together under the dome. The group had researched Lightning both as an attribute and as a mundane phenomena, so he had numerous different ideas on how to counteract it. 04S connected the group with magical webs again, reimplementing CELIU network communications between the cyborgs present. 01R decided on a solution and began forming a magic circle as quickly as he could.

“Group Defense Protocol, yes yes!”

The cyborgs nodded and each formed a magic circle, and began a Ritual Cast. A second Prismatic Dome formed directly underneath the first. 01R then turned to Lilussees and shouted.

“Cool-ice it down!”

Lilussees sighed but switched up her magic circle, letting the group’s Prismatic Dome take over the defense. A strategic magic circle formed just outside the Prismatic Dome, a Prismatic Rain spell that began lobbing dense spheres of ice up into the storm clouds. The Frost Bombs then began to explode, with cold mist and snow falling from the sky. The icy barrage began to disrupt the storm clouds overhead…

But the clouds quickly reformed. Lilussees grimaced.

“It’s, like, no good! That cloud is, like, a dungeon feature, or something! The dungeon is, like, repairing it faster than I can destroy it!”

“Then put-throw your back into it, you lazy spider-man-thing!”

Lilussees scowled and spat her next words.

“I’m, like, applying as much…effort as I can, you stupid fanatical snack! Like, someone else needs to help me and do something useful here!”

R was about to reply when another monster cried out.

“00B!”

R’s head spun around and his organic eye went as wide as it could go.

B hadn’t made it inside the Prismatic Dome. Or rather, he had chosen to stay behind. In the confusion following the destruction of 00Sylvan’s grove and 00EW going haywire, some of the cyborgs had gotten separated. 00B now stood over some of the cyber-rats and cyber-spiders, shielding them from harm with his body.

And the dungeon master had just noticed the group…outside the protection of the shield.

A massive bolt of lightning struck the cyber-bear. 00B let out a roar. 01R’s heart dropped, and his mouth shot open.

“00B!!!”