Dungeon's Final Boss: Banished by My Boss, the Goddess, to Earth—So I'll Continue My Past Life - 51

Chapter 51: Robber Robot

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The robot was about five meters tall, give or take. Its proportions seemed a bit off to be called humanoid. I realized it was probably because its legs were constantly bent. Just as that thought crossed my mind, the robot skillfully gripped the sword with its large hands and leaped upward once again.

“Ahh! What are you doing?! Jiro! After it!”

“Oh, right.”

Now wasn’t the time to be impressed by the existence of a robot. Even if the sword it had wasn’t exactly ideal and not befitting a mythical grade, I was in the middle of a job as a guard. The team I was supposed to be protecting was pinned under the debris from the collapsed ceiling and wouldn’t be moving anytime soon.

Since they didn’t seem to be dead, I left them behind, jumped onto the stage, and leaped upward. The robot bounded off the ceiling of the luxury cruise ship and landed on the deck.

“Wait… You bastard!”

As I observed to see what it would do next, a voice rang out from behind me. Rock and several others vaulted over me and landed on the deck, surrounding the robot.

“Stealing the world’s greatest sword, huh? Not bad. But this is as far as you go.”

Rock smirked and reached out his hand.

“Now, hand that over to me.”

Speaking in English, Rock addressed the robot and held out his hand. That exaggerated click of the tongue—it had to be him. He hadn’t won the auction, yet he was acting as if the sword rightfully belonged to him.

And the others? They were S-rank Awakened individuals from other countries, ones I’d looked into beforehand. Rock was the only one speaking, but that didn’t mean they were following his lead. This was likely a temporary alliance of convenience with each of them waiting for an opportunity to steal the prize for themselves. So, the auction wasn’t going to end peacefully after all.

What a shame.

Now, how would the robot respond? As I watched, the robot adjusted its grip on the sword and took a stance. It was going to fight.

“Hah! A robot actually thinks it can take us on?!”

Rock’s item box opened, and a weapon emerged. A massive sword, one that matched his considerable height. The others also drew their weapons out. As if it had been waiting for them to finish preparing, the robot finally moved. With its towering height and proportionally long arms, it swung in a wide, sweeping arc. Its form was amateurish at best, but the sheer force and speed behind the attack were terrifying.

Rock and his crew attempted to block the strike.

Tried to, at least. The result? Every single one of their weapons shattered.

“What the—?!”

The Awakened fighters stared in shock at their broken weapons. Seizing the opportunity, the robot leaped off the cruise ship—straight into the sea.

Ah, right. I need to follow it…

Chasing it underwater in my human form would be a hassle.

A species suited for underwater pursuit… Ah, right. Elementals.

The moment I entered the water, my body transformed into a Blue Slur, a type of water spirit race. Unlike pure elementals, Blue Slurs had physical bodies, resembling humanoid frogs.They moved effortlessly through both freshwater and seawater, gliding through the depths with ease.

I could’ve used my dragon form, but this was the better choice for moving quietly. As I pursued the sinking robot, something else appeared to meet it.

Not quite a submarine… It looked more like a small submersible, reinforced with iron pipes. The submersible latched onto the robot’s back and continued moving along the ocean floor. After some distance, it began to surface. And just above, a ship’s hull came into view.

The submersible surfaced beside the ship. At the same time, bubbles formed around the robot’s chest. The chest cover lifted open, and a person was expelled from within. Someone had been inside. A woman in scuba gear emerged from the robot, carrying the sword as she swam upward. I followed her and surfaced, just in time to see a man on the ship pull her up.

“How did it go?!”

“You can see for yourself.”

“We did it!”

The man embraced the woman.

“Heaves, you’re getting me wet.”

“What are you talking about?! This solves our firepower problem!”

“You’re right. After all, it cut down the weapons of S-rank Awakened fighters from all over the world.”

“Huh?! What do you mean?!”

“Check the combat records later.”

“Oh… Okay…”

She removed her goggles, and I got a good look at her face. I’d seen her before.

Claire Saloon. A member of the founding family of a global corporate giant. An environmental activist, if I remembered correctly. If she had stolen the sword, that meant she hadn’t actually won the auction.

“But wouldn’t it have been easier to just buy it normally?”

“Don’t be stupid. If I did that, my father would take it away from me. That’s why it had to be ‘stolen.’”

“I see. What a hassle.”

A hassle indeed. So, was she the rightful owner, then? No, letting this slide didn’t sit right with me.

“Our family might be furious about the loss.”

“But once we reveal this, we’ll get it all back in no time!”

“That’s not an option.”

She was talking about the robot. The man—likely Heaves—spoke enthusiastically, but Claire rejected his idea.

“This thing is too dangerous. If we make it public, it’ll just be used for war.”

“But…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll see this through to the end.”

“Uh, excuse me?”

I couldn’t just act on speculation, so I activated my phone’s translation function. I didn’t actually know English. My universal language skill let me understand it, but not speak it.

“So, in the end… Are you the winner of the auction for that sword?”

Back in my human form, I stood on the edge of the ship and addressed her. The universal language skill only existed inside dungeons on Earth. Using it here would be a bad idea.

“Wh-Who are you?!”

“Ah! That’s Japan’s S-rank Awakener! Dungeon Old Man!”

Heaves recognized me.

So that’s how “Dungeon Ojisan” sounded in English.

“Are you here to take the sword back?!”

“Ah, wait—”

Before I could stop her, Claire dove into the sea.

“Ah, um, wait! Just wait a second!”

Left behind, Heaves stared at me, too stunned to move. Then his legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the deck.

“I just wanted to talk…”

But it seemed like they weren’t interested in just talking. The sea surface split open, and the robot emerged, climbing back onto the ship.

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