Vending Machine - 131 - Lava Demons (Patreon)

Kuroyata returned in the morning just before we departed.

We had all eaten, but the hardworking Kuroyata hadn’t had anything yet, so it happily ate the vegetables provided by Kikoyu.

After it was done eating, it began to preen its feathers. It looked like it had completely forgotten about its objectives…

"Did you find the Lava Demon?"

When Kikoyu stroked its head, it blinked for a moment, before bobbing its head repeatedly. She must be using her ability to hear the inner voice of another being through touch, because after stroking Kuroyata for a while, she turned to us to say, “It looks like Kuroyata has found the Lava Demons.”

“Is that so? You’ve worked hard, Kuroyata. Any detailed information about the location?”

Director Bear spread out the map for everyone to see and Kuroyata hopped up to it and pecked at a specific section of the maze with its beak.

Looks like it was in the northwest section. A little far from the main paths so it will be a little difficult to lure them out into the main path.

“Lava Demons are rather slow and sluggish, which means it’s easy to escape from them… however, this also means that it’s difficult to lure them into places we want them to be.”

“Right, with the narrow passages, it would be difficult for an enlarged Hakkon to fall on them properly. We must consider alternative plans.”

[1] I looked at the map again and realised that if I were to drop my huge body on the monster, I’d just get stuck on the walls and not be able to squash the monster to bits. Getting myself stuck on a wall would be a pretty stupid ending. With our winning strategy against the Lava Demon scrapped, we have to reconsider our plans.

Hold on, I seem to recall this bit of place on the map… that’s right, the last time I saw this place was when I fell through the crack between Floors and floated away with balloons as <Cardboard Vending Machine>.

“Well, now that we know there’s no space for Hakkon to drop onto the Lava Demon, what’s next?”

“The alternative would be to cool the surface of its body quickly, which we could do by spraying it with lots of water.”

“If only I could manipulate the cold better, I could help…”

So, our next option is cooling down the opponent, huh? Well, our choices are between ice, water or cold air.

For large amounts of water, my standby option is the <High-Pressure Washer Machine>. Although it produces less water than <Hot Spring Vending Machine> [2] which I could probably dump onto the creature quickly with my increased strength and agility, it is probably better to use cold water against an enemy like the Lava Demon.

Heck, even ice water would probably not do much against that extreme heat, but every little bit counts.

Also, the path where the Lava Demon is loitering about is only about 3 meters wide, if I were to transform into a <Giant Vending Machine>, I probably wouldn’t fit even if I turned sideways. Are there any other unlocked features I have that could solve the issue?

The walls of the maze are over 10 meters high. If the Lava Demon moves eastwards, it will move very slowly, kind of like a sluggish turtle. The pathway branched out a lot, but it will continue to move in a straight line so long as there's nothing in its way.

An idea came to me, however, there was no guarantee that it would work. Still, I believe we should try it out.

Before that, I should convey my thoughts to everyone… if I can’t, I’ll just have Kikuyo read my mind.

Please read this at kitchennovel dot com ~

In the end, it took us about two days to prepare the whole thing. However, if I had not invested points into strength and agility, it would have taken even longer. Still, I think we managed to get things done quite efficiently.

The Lava Demon continued to move slowly, gradually approaching the location where we had set the trap.

Its body appeared to be melting all the time, looking like it would turn into a puddle at any moment. However, the lava managed to hold on to its human-like form. Also, despite looking like it would piddle away, the volume of lava on its body did not increase.

Its eyes are basically black hollows, and its mouth too is made up of the same pitch-black darkness.

It did have something resembling fingers with drops of lava dripping off them. Each drop of lava would gouge out multiple holes in the ground.

Once it turns at a particular corner, the plan would be set into motion. Thanks to Kuroyata, I have a bird’s eye view of everything. That’s right, I’m now being held onto by Kuroyata’s three legs in my <Cardboard Vending Machine> form.

Powerful wings flapped in the air, keeping us in place as we hovered like bees or hummingbirds. Normal birds generally glide or skate along the wind, yet, it managed to stay perfectly still.

I wonder just how fast it could get if it flaps those powerful wings and just flies forward seriously. Who knows what astonishing speeds it could reach?

It was easy to see where the Lava Demon was. The very air shimmered and was distorted by the heat it gave off. I vaguely remember hearing something about this in my student days about the refractive index of air decreasing due to heat, causing this or that phenomenon.

Anyway, the distorted heat wave thing was moving slowly forward and finally halted after turning a corner. That’s because what was once an open pathway was now a dead-end.

A concrete wall, just slightly lower than the pathway's walls, had been placed where it should not be. The wall was made using <Concrete Slabs for Vending Machine Installation>. I managed to make slabs of different sizes per the different machines I could transform into to create a scoop-like enclosure facing the Lava Demon.

On the other side of the pathway, another wall had been set up to form a rectangular depression in the middle. What was that depression for, you ask?

Well, you will know just by seeing what was in the middle of the depression. That’s right, it’s a pool! A pool of ice water with cubes of ice floating at the top

Now, prepare to enjoy a refreshing bath! You melting blob of hotness!

With that in mind, I willed the concrete slab on the Lava Demon’s side to disappear.

A huge amount of water suddenly found itself unblocked by anything and rushed forward in a raging torrent, engulfing the Lava demon.

Steam erupted at every point of contact and my vision turned white. If the water had been too little, it would all have been evaporated into steam in an instant. However, no matter how hot the Lava Demon was, there was no way it could evaporate that much water in one go. Eventually, the Lava Demon sank slowly into the icy water.

The ice had all melted even as the water bubbled and boiled around the creature. No matter what, this amount of water could cool down a whole lot of things, and it was still flowing!

The impact of the water had sent the Lava Demon to one knee and thus, nearer to the ground where the water gathered. The water on its back had already been steamed away, but the fire on the surface of its body had been doused to the point where its pitch-black body was now exposed.

Despite our efforts, I think only the surface of its body had been solidified to some extent. However, that was enough for us.

I willed the other wall of the ‘pool’ out of existence, and Botan, who had been waiting on the other side was exposed.

The original plan was to have Director Bear charge forward, but in the end, we decided that Botan has better momentum and thus, we switched out the roles.

This was when Kuroyata descended. It cut through the air swiftly, with me held in its claws. Once we landed on Botan’s back, my body was secured to the harness attached to its back.

Kuroyata deftly tightened the straps with its three legs and back. When it was done, Botan began to move. It charged forward with me on its back and Kuroyata’s body flattened on top of mine.

We charged forward like a weird sandwich towards the Lava Demon.

According to Hyurumi’s (unverified) information, the Lava Demon’s weak point was the area just below its throat. The idea was to charge forward and have Botan stab his horn through the Lava Demon’s throat.

[3] The Lava Demon had looked tiny earlier, but on the ground, it looked like the three-meter giant it was. Even on its knees, it looked too tall. It’s throat too high for us to reach. However, Botan pushed through and in the final few meters, made a huge leap.

[3] It was an impressive jump for a wild boar with such short limbs, but, I could tell from the power of its jump, that it would lose momentum before it reached its target. At the zenith of its leap, Kuroyata spread its jet-black wings and caught the rising heat from the ground to swoop higher even with the added weight.

Still in my <Cardboard Vending Machine> form, I activated <Barrier>. I could not extend the <Barrier> beyond 1 meter from my body, but with Botan tucking his feet under him and Kuroyata flattening itself against me, it just managed to cover everyone.

The blue light of the <Barrier> extended around us in a sphere, with only Botan’s horn and Kuroyata’s wing tips sticking out.

Just before impact, Kuroyata folded its wings tight against its body and Botan’s horn, said to be harder than steel and resistant to heat, stabbed towards the throat of the Lava Demon.

"Kukaaaaaa--!"

"Bufuuuuuuu!"

Woah, both creatures just let out their battle cries. How cool.

The pointed end of the cone-shaped horn pierced into the Lava Demon’s throat.

As expected, only the surface of the creature had solidified. Scorching lava splattered out of the new opening, but with <Barrier> deflecting everything, we were not affected at all.

In fact, our combined weight and momentum were enough to pierce through the throat of the Lava Demon and out the back of its spine.

[3] The brittle neck cracked and the blackened head rolled to the ground. I’m pretty sure we won that round.

Kuroyata flapped its wings and glided us forward with Botan to a spot that was free of still-burning Lava.

“Please come again”

I retorted with that little line.

I think we all earned it. The super combo between myself and the others was the reason we managed to take down such a dangerous demon. I was fortunate to have met Kikoyu and the others here.

Will the Lava Demon continue to spread and cool down on the floor here? Or will it disappear and leave behind nothing but a magic stone? If it’s the former, we would have our work cut out bashing solidified lava to pieces for the stone.

Hoping that the aftermath would not be too troublesome, I continued to check the condition of the Lava Demon. If I’m lucky, I could spot the magic stone and maybe isolate it with water and… wait, more lava is welling out from the creature’s neck!

And… the lava is solidifying like melted candy into a round shape, forming… the head? Is it regenerating?!

[3] I looked around and spotted the blacked and broken head on the floor, but on the shoulders of the blackened Lava Demon, liquid fire was gushing upwards and wrapping itself into a head. In fact, cracks were beginning to form on the body, showing red glowing lines.

I thought the neck was its weak point? Was it just some bad info? Ugh, our gamble has failed, should we retreat now?

As I hesitate, unable to make a decision, the Lava Demon‘s upper body is already covered in red lava. One hand was on its knees. It was clearly about to stand up when, suddenly, a huge block of ice fell from the sky and crushed it.

W-What! Where did this huge block of ice come from?

I was still in a state of confusion when two more massive blocks of ice fell from the sky, dangerously close to us.

Fortunately, I had the <Barrier> up all this while. It deflected the flying pieces of gravel and shards of ice that could have hit us.

Unsure what was going on, I looked up to the sky and noticed that a hole had appeared in the clear blue sky.

Wait, a hole?

As I continued to stare at the unnatural hole above us, a black dot fell out of it. The dot grew larger and larger and began to take shape. The mechanism inside me began to creak and groan as I realised what I was seeing.

Limbs spread out of the shapeless blob and the figure looked… familiar. Too familiar. Although there was still a great distance between us, I immediately knew what I was looking at.

What the heck, Ramis!?

There was no room for joy inside of me at our approaching reunion. The only feeling I had was a great sense of urgency at the approaching figure.

If she continues to fall like this, she could crash into the ground and… surely even she couldn’t survive that without injury!? I have to do something!

Balloons won’t help cushion her fall.

I can’t float up fast enough to catch her!

Umm, that, what-??

No good idea came to my confused mind. All I could do was helplessly stare as she continued to freefall.

However, in the next moment, I was so relieved that I thought the power had gone out of me.

Something popped out from her back and began to expand. Is that… a parachute?

Her rapid freefall suddenly halted and she began to descend gently with the winds. She must have spotted me because she was waving her arms vigorously at me.

Phew... I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm really glad she's safe...

"That idiot, using my invention without permission," Hyurumi, who had somehow come next to me, sighed with a hand to her head as she stared up at the sky.

An invention... Ah, could it be that magical tool that protects a person from falling from high places? So you used that?

Wait, how did she end up falling through the floor?

"Hakko-o-o-o-o-on!"

Kuroyata, who had been watching the gently descending Ramis being suddenly blown to the side by the wind stretched out its wings and picked my <Cardboard Vending Machine> self up to the air.

Is he bringing me to her? Did it manage to assess the situation on its own and come to the conclusion of what I wanted? What an intelligent creature. On the other hand, I’ll have to scold Ramis… the same Ramis who is currently floating around with a huge grin on her face.

[Gumihou: Ahaha, I wonder, how is a vending machine supposed to scold someone?]

[1] Reword it so that it’s not too repetitive

[2] Hot Spring Vending Machine – is a vending machine that dispenses… hot spring water. For real. Gumi is not making this up.

https://soranews24.com/2022/05/24/japanese-onsen-stand-is-part-gas-station-part-hot-spring-vending-machine/

Here’s the evidence

[3] The description of the giant was unclear, make it clearer. Adjust the description of the ‘attack’ so that it’s more coherent