Megumin's Dilemma

As the battle grew intense, the students brought out more powerful weapons. The explosions attracted the monsters and the vicious cycle of attracting monsters and destroying them took place in the outer periphery of the island.

Surrounded by various beasts of Rank 2 and Rank 3, Zeus had already replaced his marksman rifle with a submachine gun as the small rounds of plasma bullets pierced into the bodies of the animals while he kept on dodging long-range attacks of a group of toad beasts.

Tuc Tuc

The energy core of the gun was finally depleted and the gun became almost useless.

Shnkk

Activating the critical energy source, a small beam of light erupted out of the muzzle and formed into the shape of a thin sword.

Gripping on the stock of the SMG, Zeus's body overflowed with green spiritual energy as he shot towards the venom spitting toads.

Whoosh

Since he was already surrounded, Zeus had to slash through the bodies of a small deer tribe that tried to pierce him through their antlers while the energy spike started to diminish as the critical energy depleted rapidly.

"Wolf Claws!"

Pulling his left energy claws up from the ground, he released his spiritual technique and the monster group in front of him was cleared up while Zeus also caused the dust to create a natural smoke screen to confuse the senses of various monsters relying on their vision.

Whoosh

Activating his infrared lenses, he immediately shot through the remaining monsters and finally reached the annoying Venom Throwers.

"Aura Transformation!"

With his limbs coated in green spiritual energy, Zeus swiped his claws once more, realising a large phantom claw that struck down the trio venom toads and left deep bloody gashes on their bodies.

"Huff!"

Placing his SMG into his spiritual ring, he placed another barrier core on his chest as the previous one was already destroyed and immediately left under the protection of dust-screen.

While many would feel shocked by his battle talent, Zeus himself knew that most of his accomplishments came from the system and hence, never actually let any of his achievements get him over his head.

Rushing through the forest, he finally came across a strange scene.

Leaning against a large tree growing near a mesmerizing lake, an almost 3 metres tall mecha sat while the head looked at the sky as a large forcefield surrounded its body. The scene would have looked extremely beautiful if not for the mecha surrounded by a group of large sparrow monsters.

Looking at the clear jet modules on the back of the mecha, it was clear that it was an AeroDroid type Mech while it's surface painted in metallic red and brown.

Rays of sunlight fell onto the lustrous body of the droid when suddenly, its pointed and valiant face looked towards him.

"Ah, Zeus! Help me! I'm stuck!"

Almost immediately, a cry emerged from the communicator installed on the head of the AeroDroid, attracting the attention of relaxed sparrow monsters.

"Huu~"

It didn't even take Zeus a single moment to run away without looking back.

Heck! How come a noble kid can afford a Mecha when even he as an Imperial child wasn't allowed to get one?

And why the hell would you sunbathe inside a Mecha while surrounded by so many monsters?

Zeus shook his head and increased his speed.

Even though he wanted to be the hero to save a damsel in distress, this particular damsel would be quite burdensome.

But almost immediately, Zeus turned back and shot towards the Mecha.

"Ah! You are back! Help me, please!"

"Let me in the barrier, now!"

Zeus screamed at the top of his lungs while the surrounding monsters flapped their wings and shot towards Zeus with their literally blazing beaks.

Meanwhile, a large thud sounded from behind Zeus followed by a deep and low growl and he covered himself by his aura transformation and quickly entered the small hole created on the surface of the barrier.

Fortunately, his entrance into the barrier was timely as a pillar of flame covered the entire path as it struck the energy barrier while reducing the nuisance of sparrow monsters to dust.

Thud

Thud

Zeus rested above the shoulder blades of the mecha as the communicator rang once again.

"Thanks for helping!"

Zeus immediately scowled.

"I didn't do it!"

He shook his head as the deep thuds grew closer as a patch of the forest could be seen clearing up while the direction of the movement clearly pointed towards them.

Chk

Whoosh

The cockpit on the chest of the mecha opened up as a petite girl with a witch hat on her head extended her head and looked at Zeus.

"What do you mean?"

Megumin asked with a curious expression.

Zeus kept his gaze on the direction he ran out from and spoke lightly.

"Dragon."

"What?"

"A dragon."

"Wait, you mean a 'dragon' dragon or a 'lizard' dragon?"

Megumin asked as he finally felt fear even if she was surrounded by an extremely powerful forcefield.

"No, I meant a 'puppy' dragon... of course it's a 'dragon' dragon!"

Zeus shouted in impatience.

He then looked at Megumin as if she was an idiot.

"Do you need my permission to move your Mecha and escape? Move, move, move!"

Megumin shook her head and climbed up the mecha and sat near Zeus with a dull expression.

"I cannot. It's simply a dummy Mecha with oy defensive features while my father got its movement and weapon modules replaced by strengthened alloys and increased energy capacity for the forcefield."

Hearing her words, Zeus's face fell.

"What kind of father does that?"

"Hey! Don't talk about my father like that! If you have a problem then why don't you take out your mecha?"

"Well, whatever!"

Zeus snorted and simply stayed put.

Running was not an option as this draconic creature has clearly set his goals and he might as well stay in the protection of the mecha.

Screeeeeeeeee

A soul-shaking cry destroyed the trees in front of them as a large, scaly beast entered their view. Its giant limbs, spiky tail and the reptilian head made the monster's identity clear.

Another Great Beast: Wide-Jawed Earthen Drake.

Seeing the monster, even Megumin felt disheartened.

"Do you want to rest inside Chunchunmaru? While there is no extra seat, you can lay a blanket and sit inside."

Zeus looked at her strangely.

"Chunchunmaru?"

"Yes, Chunchunmaru."

"Why Chunchunmaru?"

"Why not, Chunchunmaru?"

Zeus looked at her crystal clear expression and found that she was actually serious about her naming sense.

"Sure thing, thanks."

Booom

Almost immediately, the Earthen Drake rushed and smashed his head into the energy barrier only to be repulsed and fly back, crashing into the lake.

"Repulsive barrier?"

Zeus asked with twitching lips.

"Yes."

Only now did he understand that this forcefield might be the safest place he could find in the entire island.

Megumin and Zeus entered the cockpit but didn't shut its entrance as there was clearly no need.

"Oh, if you already have this barrier, why did you ask for help?"

He suddenly recalled Megumin shouting for help.

As if recalling something, Megumin's body immediately shuddered as her expression turned bright red while she rubbed her thighs as she remained seated on the pilot seat.

"I-I needed to ask that if you brought a... a... portable bath— restroom."

She was practically muttering under her breath as Zeus finally understood her dilemma.

"Sure, I have a portable bathroom in my storage space."

Zeus smiled and didn't care much. They were still in the ranks of mortals and had to relieve themselves so Zeus usually brought along a portable toilet.

"Here you go."

Walking out of the cockpit, Zeus took out a box and placed it on the bent legs of the mecha... Chunchunmaru.

"Thank you."

Megumin nodded gratefully and covered her face with her hat before entering.

Zeus then entered the cockpit and took out a small mattress and placed it on the empty region behind the pilot seat and sat down with a spiritual stone in his hand.