Sousetsuka

Chapter 268 United Front

 

A moment later, the girls responded as well.

"Eh! This mana reaction...!"

"It wasn't there just a second ago!"

"Yeah. It's the 『Warmongers』."

Looks like the girls have noticed their mana reaction as well.

They wouldn't have noticed if it was just an ordinary mana reaction.
But this mana reaction is unlike that of a monster nor a human.
It's more distorted and bizarre.

"This mana reaction... Is it because of 『Broken Star』?"

"...Nope. Grevil who was also resurrected by the 『Broken Star』 had no oddness in his mana reaction."

Rather than from the [Broken Star], the bizarreness is more like... something that's been manufactured roughly and shabbily.
In my past life, there were experimentations done on humans to forcefully restructure Crests and remodel their innate power... This guy feels kind of similar to those test bodies.

...I don't know the details since I wasn't involved in that research though.

"They must have undone their stealth magic... Like declaring that they won't run nor hide."

"They're going out of their way to show themselves up even though they could launch a surprise attack here?"

"Yeah... Their goal is not exactly our death after all."

The goal of 『Warmongers』 is to fight.
Surprise attacks are completely out of question from their perspective.

"They didn't have to kill then..."

"You can say that again... We wouldn't have bothered if they were a group that only likes to have a fight without the killing part."

The [Warmongers] shortened their distance while we were talking.

"Here they come, don't let your guard down!"

I stepped ahead to cover the girls.
One man stopped in front of me.

"The one who used 『Enforced Detection』... Must be you."

The man had long unkempt hair and beard.
His eyes are bloodshot with rough breathing.

--His condition is clearly not normal.
But that's because he's only thinking about fighting--or not.

His body is falling apart due to the twisted resurrection.
Let alone exerting 1/10 of his power, I'm amazed he's even alive.

And despite all that, he managed to kill a high-ranking adventurer, as expected of [Warmongers].

"Correct."

I confronted the man as I answered back.
Defeating this man without saying anything is an easy task.

But if I did that, I would have to look around for the second [Warmongers].
I need to make this guy bring us to the other members of the group.

"Twas' a beautiful magic. There was absolutely no wasteful mana expended, like it was a spell art cast by elite magic combatants in the past."

"...And?"

"In honor of your strength, we 『Warmongers』 implore you for a match... After we are done with those, of course."

The man turns his back on us after saying that.
Toward a horde of monsters coming here due to the effect of [Enforced Detection].

『...Is he gonna help us?』
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
『Or so he pretended to and then used the chance to attack our back...』

Ruli and Alma sounded perplexed to see [Warmongers] turned his back on his opponents.
They can't comprehend the reason behind his actions.
...Well I guess it's something only those who live for battle can understand.

『He won't do that... From his perspective, we're the sparring partners he has been looking for all this time. Wouldn't it be a waste to kill us in a surprise attack? I believe he intends to fight us in perfect conditions after moving the small fry out of the way.』

『A waste...?』

『I-I don't really get it... But I guess you do, Mathi-kun?』

『Yeah... But I don't get how they would just kill their sparring partners.』

I mowed down an incoming monster as I said that.
It was a boar monster.
...It's not that strong but probably exceeds rank D at least.

The [Warmongers] man muttered when he saw my sword.

"Impressive swordsmanship. I thought there were only weaklings in this era... I almost feel bad to have you killed."

"...Who's going to kill whom?"

"I, kill, you. Death to the losers. That's what I've always done."

The man cut down a monster close to him as he said that.
The monster that had been hit by the sword of [Combatant Mira] kept charging forward without even realizing that it had been cut--before falling down split in two.







Previous Chapter

1



"Oh my, what's the matter this early in the morning."

"Let me in for a bit."

Shira looked slightly troubled, but Lecan made his way to the work room anyway without minding that. Then he sat on a chair and took a giant magic gem from <Storage>.

"Ah, that's"

"It's the magic gem of an otherworld dragon, Vurs. Since I plan to go to Golbul Dungeon for the time being, I was thinking of safekeeping it here."

"Is that so. Sorry that you had to go out of your way for me. Well, have some tea now."

Shira moved her finger up, and then a jar on top of a wall shelf came floating down. That spot is where jars with tea leaves are lined up, but it's the first time Lecan gets a taste of tea from that particular jar.

Water got boiled in an unbelievably short amount of time. But now they've got to wait for the temperature to come down just right before putting the tea leaves to soak in slowly. They have to wait for this part the natural way without using magic. In other words, there's time to spare now.

"Shira, can I use magic without chanting."

"Humm. Chant shortening eh. Let me see."

Shira pondered for a bit before speaking.

"You know how knocking flints together will produce fire, right?"

"Yeah."

"Why do you think knocking them together would create fire?"

Lecan slowly states his answer while constructing it in his brain.

"Sparks could be produced if you hit hard objects with each other. Flints are a stone that can easily produce sparks when they're knocked together. As such, it's possible to ignite fire by doing that."

"My, that surprised me. Wonderful answer. Your line of thinking is like that of a researcher. Now then, a question, what is hardness? What is knocking things together? What is fire?"

"Hardness is when an object is not soft, can't be easily cut. Knocking things together are when two objects or more are made to hit with each other. Fire is when something is burning. No wait, those were more paraphrases than answers."

"Let me rephrases my questions then. The flints are inside your body. Your hands can't be used to knock those flints together. Well then, how are you going to create fire?"

"I'll use <Move> spell."

"Oh good, good. That's a good answer. But you're not allowed to chant. Now then, how are you going to use <Move> spell?"

"...No idea."

"If you want to cast magic without chanting, you have to reproduce all actions that occur when you chant a spell inside your mind. To do that, you have to comprehend the foundations of those actions. How do flints produce fire, once you've traced back and understood the principle behind it, you'll be able to cast magic without chanting."

Jericho came into the room bringing something on a tray with him.

It's baked sweets. Shira put it on a plate and offered it to Lecan.

"Once you have gained mastery on magic, you will eventually get to learn all magic. And it's not about a problem with aptitudes or such anymore. Those who have truly mastered magic understand the foundations of all magic there is. This is different from power of magic and such, you see."

Shira poured tea on two bowls and offered one to Lecan.

"Once you got to that point, you could cast magic that returns the same results as <Appraisal> without chanting <Appraisal> spell itself. However, initially it'd take ten times as long to cast a spell without chants, and there's a chance it will fail at the casting process as well."

Shira stared at the giant magic gem on the table with gentle eyes.

"Those who could cast magic without chanting, and doing that as natural as breathing are not ordinary humans. The very existence of such a being is magic itself. A being who lives in the true nature of the world. If you ever meet someone like that, Lecan."

Shira nodded and drank her tea.

"Run, right away. Even if the other party only possess an extremely tiny amount of mana. That person is on a whole different level than you. They'll immediately see through you and your weakness, and kill you, or even make you go through fate worse than death."

Lecan relished on Shira's words while sipping his tea. This must be Shira's special tea leaves. It's really delicious with a soothing taste to it.

"I'll keep it in mind."


<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
2



Lecan left Shira's house, went straight to the west gate and headed toward Golbul. Even though the two towns are close enough to be traveled on foot in two days, few people are on the way between Vouka and Golbul. There's only a handful of wagons as well.

Lecan arrived at noon time.

First of all, he went to grocery store and secured food for his supply in the dungeon. Of course, he mainly bought stuff with long expiration dates, but there's no need to stock stuff that last very long either. As it should only take him 10 days at most to explore the dungeon. The shopkeeper and other guests seemed to be bothered by Lecan, they had been stealing glances at him for a while.

He saw a store with <Potion Store> signboard next to the grocery thus he dropped by it.

"W-welcome."

There's only a few customers inside and an idle clerk at the counter, so he steps forward.

"How much is one Small Red Potion?"

"Eh? Since we have enough stock right now, it's the market price."

"What's the market price."

"It's one big silver coin of course. Yer' a veteran ain't ya? Why wouldn't you know that."

"I came from a faraway land. I don't know the market price in this region. Does it get more expensive when you're running low on stock?"

"That's right. We were running super short in the middle of last month. It even got to one big silver and five silver coins."

"What about Medium Red Potion?"

"Two big silver coins."

"And Large Red Potion?"

"Three big silver coins. However, top level adventurers usually buy up all Large Red Potions, so we often don't have any stock available."

"I see. How much for Blue Potions, all three types."

"It's the same as Red ones."

Which means, what Chaney paid for the potions Lecan gave, six gold coins, weren't exceptionally that high.

"I see that you accept trade-in inside. Are the selling prices fixed."

"It's half the market price, that's the rule."

"Got it. Sorry for taking your time."

Lecan overheard people rumormongering behind him as he walked out of the store.

"O-Oy, isn't that"

"Yeah, that's the <Black Clothed Overlord>."

"That scared the crap out of me. Real crazy pressure he got there."

"Ya gotta make sure to keep that left eye shut. Heard those who were glared at got turned into stones y'know."

--Left eye shut? Are they talking about me?

Right as Lecan got out of the store while feeling doubtful, someone called him out loud from outside <3D Perception> range.

"Ooyyyyyyyy! Lecaaaaaaaan!"


It was the captain of Dungeon Security Guards, Doug.






Previous Chapter

Chapter 267 Strongest Sage, Completes Objective

 

『I-I didn't know we could do that...』

『...But we still have to defeat 700 monsters either way, don't we?』

『Well, ranks are the one thing that takes time to raise after all...』

Normally you raise your guild rank slowly over the course of years.
Trying to do that in just a day is pushing it.

『But since you declined the special test... Mathi-kun knows an even faster method, right?』

『...Yeah. Actually, we've done it before.』

『Ah that huh...』

『Yeah. That. 』

When we were trying to raise our ranks at Raginia Federation, we used Enforced Detection all over the places and defeated the gathered monsters to complete the quests we took.
Defeating 700 monsters would be easy using that method.

『And Senisye Plain is huge too, no better place to use that method!』

『...I'm afraid we'd get too many monsters thanks to how huge it is instead though...』

『No worries, we just need to adjust the intensity of [Enforced Compulsion].』

We thanked the branch head before leaving the guild.
Let's do this and upgrade our ranks quick.


◇


A while later.
We arrived at a spot in Senisye Plan far away from the town.
Using [Enforced Detection] here won't cause trouble for the town.

"...Are you ready?"

"It's the second time we're doing this, I'm okay!"

"Let's do it!"

"I've kinda got a bad feeling about this somehow... I'm ready when you are though!"

I checked the girls... and got these replies.
I don't usually care much about hunches and stuff... But Alma's usually right on the money...

"Bad feeling, like?"

"Uun, feels like we'll get some weird ones coming instead of usual monsters..."

"Ah... You're right, some weird ones probably will come along."

I checked the surrounding mana reaction with [Passive Detection] as I said that.
The range of my [Passive Detection] has gotten quite more far-reaching than before thanks to my developing magic circuits.

Yet, I don't see powerful mana reactions in my detection range.
Normally, I'd conclude that there's nothing of worth around here... But not in this particular case, something undetectable is probably lurking here.
Well it saves us the trouble if those guys come though.

"Weird ones... You mean monsters?"

"No, human."

"Human... Ah! You mean the [Warmongers]!?"
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"Yeap."

There's a high chance that the [Warmongers] are hiding in this Senisye Plain.
This plain may be vast, but we've got a chance of having those [Warmongers] be within the range of [Enforced Detection].

[Passive Detection] can't be used to find [Warmongers] but they will definitely notice if they get in the range of [Enforced Detection].
It's not surprising at all for those [Warmongers] to come picking a fight with us as they are currently looking for challengers themselves.

"Would be bad if those [Warmongers] come when our hands are full dealing with monsters..."

"Oh you'll be surprised... They're saving us time taking on quests if they come for us on their own."

To begin with, we're trying to raise our adventurer ranks to fight the [Warmongers].
We're lucky if they're coming on their own accord.

"...We'd be up against monsters and [Warmongers] at the same time, can we win?"

"We can... Assuming we'll receive an attack, I'm going to revise the way I use Enforced Detection this time."

The three nodded.

In the previous era, [Warmongers] were indeed strong.
But they've fallen as low as picking a fight with high ranking adventurers of this era.

Those guys have no problem fighting against weaker opponents... But they won't bother with those that are extremely weak.
...As long as the high ranking adventurer who fell victim wasn't as strong as Giruas by chance, those [Warmongers] should be weaker than ordinary demons.

I activate [Enforced Detection] while thinking that.

"[Enforced Detection]... Our enemy is coming!"

Last time, I scattered [Enforced Detection] all around, but not this time, as I narrowed down the direction.

Broadcasting it in all directions would be better if we wanted to gather monsters, but we'd be surrounded in all directions then.
By narrowing down the direction, we'd be able to cope with it in the event of [Warmongers] attacking.

However...

"To think they'd come this quick."

I murmured while checking mana reactions in the area.

--A mana reaction suddenly appeared out of nowhere at a spot 1 kilometer away.
And--That mana reaction is rapidly moving to where we are.









Previous Chapter

17-10. Purple Towers (2)

 

Satou here. I'm aware that even demolitions require calculations from seeing videos of multi-storied buildings getting demolished. Collapsing multi-storied buildings down below without damaging the surroundings feels like a work of art, doesn't it.



◇



"Well then, I'm counting on you to inform the viceroy."
"Un, I got it. I think it'll take about three hours to finish evacuating."
"Gotcha."

I brought Hikaru with me to Labyrinth City Selbira using Unit Arrangement.
The king has requested me to destroy the purple tower at this city first since it's fully equipped for it with excellent city defense being a labyrinth city and all.

Other members besides Hikaru are standing by in their full equipment on the airship.

"Hello."

Hikaru candidly greeted the guard in front of viceroy's mansion before going in.

The king must have informed the viceroy about his plan to destroy the purple tower through [City Core] transmission line already, but considering this world's time schedule, I expect that they have not done anything about it.
As such I asked Hikaru to act as a messenger to urge a prompt evacuation.

"Now then--"

I went to the Purple Tower near the labyrinth city.
It's situated right on the opposite side of the labyrinth.

"--Uwaaa. W-who goes there!"

A young soldier guarding the Purple Tower was startled to see me appearing all of a sudden, he held out his spear while inquiring my identity. The fact that he got his spear backward must be part of his charm.

"You fool! Lower your spear! This person here is Hero Nanashi-sama of Shiga Kingdom!"
"Eh? Ah, purple hair and a mask--"

An older soldier reprimanded the young one.

His reaction was understandable if he never saw me before.
I mean a suspicious man donning a mask just showed up out nowhere after all.

"M-my apologies!"

The young soldier lowered his spear and apologized.

"Oh no worries. By the way, --what's that over there?"

There's a lot of people getting treated near the Purple Tower.

"They're explorers."

No uh, I can see that.

"When the mound got bigger, many explorers burning with curiosity gathered here and went inside the tower, saying something like 『We'll help with the investigation』 or 『Treasures~』."
"You didn't stop them?"

The older soldier shrugged his shoulders and said, "We were outnumbered."
There are dozens of explorers getting treated here, and some are high level ones. Just five or six average soldiers can't possibly stop them.

Right now, additional newly-dispatched soldiers are here forming a barricade near the entrance.

"How many people went inside?"
"We don't know the exact number. What we know are a mixed party of 30 people led by Koshin-dono, a party of nine led by Dozon-dono, and also 30 elites from Earl Pendragon's sub-organization, the 『Pendora』."

Pendora guys huh--.
They're not exactly my sub-organization, but I can't tell him that as Nanashi.

But this is troubling.

I can't destroy the tower from outside using anti-god magic if there's people inside.
Gotta remove--save the people who have gone inside first.

Well, guess I'll get to it while the labyrinth city finishes its evacuation and defense prop-up.

"When did they get in?"
"First thing in the morning!"

It's been quite some time since they got in, but I believe the parties led by Kosin-shi with his excellent commanding abilities and the veteran Dozon-shi would still be intact.
Same with [Pendora] guys who have been taught to prioritize returning alive at the Explorer School.

"OK then, I'm going in. Don't let anyone inside okay."
"As you wish, sir."

The older soldier saluted.

I lightly returned the salute and went inside the purple tower.



◇



"--Just in case."

I put staircase on the first floor under space magic 『One-way Traffic (Deracinator)』.
And now, no one can go to the second floor from the first floor.

It's not like I don't believe the soldiers would do their job, but it'd be annoying if explorers who have gone back to the first floor attempt to go up other staircases here.

I used [All Map Exploration] when I got to the Second Floor.

"So many victims..."

I fetched the dead bodies with [Item Aport] and put them in Storage.
Fortunately--though I really shouldn't say that, no one from the [Pendora] was among them.

"Only three survivors huh."

Since they were huddling together at one spot, I went to meet them using Map and teleport magic.

"Uwaa"
"Is it a gobu!"

Surprised by me showing up with teleportation, young female explorers raised their short spears at me while protecting a wounded male priest behind them.
I'll make myself invisible before teleporting in next time.

"Hello there. I'm Hero Nanashi of Shiga Kingdom."

I raise my hands up to show them that I'm not an enemy while greeting and touching them with [Magic Hand] at the same time.

"H-Hero-sama?"
"Why would you be here--"

I didn't answer them and instead took them with me outside the tower using Unit Arrangement.

"O-outside?"
"Are we saved?"
"We are! We're saved!"

As the three were rejoicing and hugging each other, I teleported back inside the tower.

All eight pillars had staircases, thus I searched through all eight areas, from [Purple Tower, 2F-I] to [Purple Tower, 2F-VIII], collected the dead bodies and saved a few survivors along the way like the three earlier.

The third floor had 16 areas in total, I combed through all those and found no survivors, total dead bodies were about 30% of the ones on second floor.
I couldn't find either Dozon-shi, Kosin-shi or the Pendora guys so far.


<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
◇



"There."

I found Koshin-shi's party on the fourth floor.

They're in the back, getting cornered by six groups of Demigoblin Vanguards that have blocked all three passages leading to them.
I was told that they were originally a group of 30, but it's been reduced to 20 now.

I hide myself using Optical Camouflage and teleport near them.

"Great shield unit, brace yourselves! Priest unit, prioritize healing shield unit! Mage unit, don't try to attack directly! Focus on using support magic and diverting the gobu! Strike unit, don't get too far ahead! Consider yourself lost if you get hurt!"

Koshin-shi is there. He's desperately giving instructions to the explorers at the center.
The average level of explorers in his group is relatively low, but thanks to his commands, they have avoided a total annihilation.

I could demolish those Demigoblin Vanguards in a single volley of [Remote Arrow], but then their efforts so far would be meaningless.

Thus I gave them a hand by overlapping my healing magic when the priests used theirs, and distracting and pulling the demigoblins' legs using Magic Hands.
Leaving the Demigoblin Vanguard Mages and Demigoblin Vanguard Priests who were leading the groups would problematic, thus I manipulated the Demigoblin Vanguards guarding them to kill them using their swords.

Thanks to my help, the battle ended in 10 minutes without any casualties.

"Haa, haa... We managed to repulse them somehow..."
"--Yea."

"All members, get your first-aid now that we have a chance! Let's move out before the enemy who had run away brought reinforcement with them!"

Koshin-shi gave orders to the party.

"Thank god for Beria magic medicine."
"Dang right. We'd have been demolished without it."
"I'm sorry for being an inexperienced priest."
"Oh my bad, that's not what I mean."
"Dang right. That last heal was pretty awesome."

The shield unit chatted with a young priest.

"But dontcha think something felt amiss with those gobu at the end?"
"Those entire gobu are a mass of weirdness, y'know?"
"Not that, it's like they got distracted by something invisible."
"Hahaha, maybe gods' were helpin' us."

There's some explorers with a sharp institution among them.

Before they were finished with the first-aid, I produced flashy effects with light magic [Illusions] and showed myself up in front of them.
They were surprised as expected, but it's better than being found out that I had been here for awhile.

"Are you guys Koshin Party? I'm Hero Nanashi of Shiga Kingdom."

I told so to the surprised Koshin-shi, reached out [Magic Hands] toward them and took them to the tower's entrance before they could answer back.

As I walked away from the group while they were shocked and rejoicing together, Koshin-shi approached me.

"Allow me to express my gratitudes for saving us. You see, some of our comrades are still left inside."
"I got it. I'll make sure to save all survivors."
"Thank you--young master."

Koshin-shi bowed and whispered only the last word.
Wonder at which point did he find out?

"Who do you mean?"
"Nevermind, it appears I mistook you for someone else."

After saying something that didn't sound convincing in the least, he went back to his party.

Well, anyway--.
I went back to the tower to seek out the remaining explorers.



◇



"There they are. Pendora."

I finally found them at the sixth area on the fourth floor.
Looks like they've kept the safety first mantra well, they're not missing anyone.

Just that, I thought the 30 of them were moving together, but there's a lone party that's split up from them moving by themselves.

For now I'll go collect the party with fewer people.

"Geez! This is what happens when you don't listen to Rabibi-san!"
"But, ya know~"
"Ya know, not!"
"Now now, Rikurina. That one was inevitable."
"Right right. Talking plants are stuff you can only found at Fairy Forest like Pochi-neesan said."
"Can't imagine how much we'd get if we sell it."
"Rightf~"

The destination of my teleport was a party of mainly humans with a dwarf and a foxkin.
They're looking lively despite being separated from their friends.

I teleported them to [Pendora]'s location while keeping my invisibility.

"""UWAA"""

Both groups screamed in surprise at the sudden appearance of the lost group.

"Usasa! There's somebody close by, gau!"
"All hands, assume battle formation <Ring>!"

At Gaugau's report, Usasa promptly took the Ring formation.
The dogkin boy Gaugau found out about me probably because I forgot to erase my scent.

"Excuse me for surprising you."
"""Hefro-sama!"""
"""Hero-sama!"""

Looks like lots of these kids knew about Hero Nanashi, not sure where they saw me.
I caught all of them with [Magic Hands] and brought them outside the tower.

"Eh? Outside? Why?"

I informed the confused kids that they king had requested me to destroy the tower.

"Aww, and there were lots of treasure chests too."
"You there, no complaining."
"Garbage treasure chests the lot of 'em anyway, bau."

The protesting kids were quickly persuaded by their friends.

"Please wait! Hero-sama!"
"There's something we need to tell you, Hero-sama!"

As I turned around and was about to leave to look for Dozon-shi.
The [Lost Pendora] kids I saved first called and stopped me.

"What is it?"
"The weed spoke!"

The boy said that while holding up withered weed.
Come to think of it, they were talking about talking flowers or something earlier.

Even while shouting back to their friends who made fun of them saying that they must have seen a hallucination out of fear, the kids insisted that it was all real.

"And, what did the weed say?"
"Stupid imps get them stronger! it said."
"They love greets, mystery and gruel! it said."

What the heck?

"You guys be quiet! Misorin, I'm sure you remember it, right."
"Un, I do."

A kid who seemed to be their leader stopped the two and asked a clever looking kid to explain instead.

"It said--"

The clever kid closed her eyes and recited like she was retracing her memories.

『We're getting stronger thanks to those impious fools.』

『Greed, misery, pent-up grudges, unhappiness and pain are our favorite food.』

『Tolerance, service, empathy, kindness and gratitudes are our nemesis.』

『But our worst nemesis is prayers to those detestable gods. The stronger gods the weaker our protection be.』

...It can't get any plainer rather than being some roundabout indirect hints.

This and the gauge-like tree relief with colors of gods at the entrance, it feels like these towers are created by someone's will.

"Thank you, it's really helpful."

I give my thanks to the [Pendora] kids for the valuable info.
Let's give them equipment fit for their levels through Echigoya Firm later.

And Dozon party which I went to save last was engaging a boss at the boss room, in a state of partial destruction. They would have cleared the boss room with Dozon-shi suffering grievous wounds though without any casualty if they had kept up.

◇



『Sete said that it's OK to execute the destroy Purple Towers plan.』
『Got it.』

I wrap the Purple Tower in an excessive number of barriers.
These won't break even if the anti-god magic bounced toward the barriers.

I check Map to see that no one is inside the evacuated area.

『Well then, here it goes.』

I cast an anti-god spell from Magic List.
Sparkling rainbow colored lights converged, then a moment later, it erased everything including the adjacent sub-spaces.

--Hm?

Normally, the spell composition would have dispersed just like that, but it's raging around, refusing to let go of my control.

『Master! Kinda looks like something odd is happening, are you okay?』

Arisa who was standing by on the airship called me through Familiar Link.

『I'm fine. This is within my expectations.』

The latter part was a lie, but I could manage this much trouble just by firing myself up.
I forcefully brought together the dissolving magic composition by spending a huge amount of mana on it, finishing the spell construction.

"--Phew."

That was tiring.

Afterward, I went around to cities under direct control of the king and erased the purple towers there one by one.
A similar phenomena, overreaction of anti-god magic, happened at the second tower as well, but dealing with it was a simple matter when you knew about it beforehand.
My mana would almost get depleted each time it occurred though, thus I had to keep recharging to full power from holy swords every time, it was tough.

It made me remember the days of death march at the company I worked at a long time ago somehow.



◇



"Territory lords have refused to have the towers destroyed?"
"More accurately, except for the towers that are close by their territory capitals, they said."

I asked Hikaru back.
Except for Marquis Muno and Earl Seryu, some or maybe the majority of those territory lords refuse to have the purple towers in their territories destroyed.

"Well, it's only natural. Though it's not really efficient, they now got labyrinths--magic core mines in their territories after all."
"I can't believe they dared to ask to destroy towers that are close by their capitals!"

Arisa explained the logic behind those lords' decisions, while Sera and her strong sense of justice was furious.

Only Marquis Muno kept the [for the sake of people] slogan for real, as even the affluent Duke Oyugock and Duke Bishtal wished to keep multiple purple towers in their territories intact.
I have no idea about Earl Seryuu's intentions, but he probably has no interest in those towers as they're not as profitable as the [Devil's Labyrinth] he's got at his capital.

"Just leave those capital towers alone if they refuse to--"
"""Sera!"""

Sera fell down while she was still talking.

I held Sera up before she fell on the floor.
Did she faint from being too furious?

"...『Prohibited』...『Destroy』...『Devices』..."

Sera muttered like she was delirious.

"H-hey, isn't this--"
"Quiet please."

I put my hand on Arisa's mouth as she pulled my sleeve.

"『Present』...『God Garden』...『Instructions』..."

No doubt about it, it must be an oracle from God Tenion.

"Guess we shouldn't destroy those purple towers now."
"Looks like it."

They didn't say anything about the Purple Mounds I had destroyed when I visited the Realm of Gods though...
And thus it was decided that I would visit the Realm of Gods once again even while feeling slightly dissatisfied about it.

Guess next time I'll ask them [What are the Purple Towers built for?] and [Stuff about Demon God Seal]?




※ Next Update is planned for 4/14







Previous Chapter

Chapter 266 Strongest Sage, Takes on Quests

 

"I'm this guild branch head, Dakufu... Baron Hildesheimr, we deeply apologize for our staff earlier... She did not mean ill will--"

I see.
I forgot that I'm technically a temporary baron.

My peerage should have been a temporary one for a duration of doll war--but the king seems to fully intend to make it permanent.
As such, I'm practically still a baron even though the doll battle is over.

"No, it's nothing to worry about."

"We're ever so grateful for your generosity, Baron Hildesheimr."

...Getting treated as a noble like this makes me feel all fidgety...
Though it may have its use in negotiations like I'm currently in.

"So let me be straight with you... I need to take on this quest due to a certain circumstance. And I'd also like to meet with the client of this quest."

"...We're truly sorry. Even if it's a request by Baron Hildesheimr, we cannot just ignore the rank specified by the client... We're also unable to share client's information, even if it were the lord here asking."

"What if I say that the client is a criminal?"

The branch head looked surprised when he heard that.
And then... he turns his sight at the client's name.

"Are you telling us that the client of this quest, Picas, is a criminal?"

"He possibly is."

"...I'm sorry, but we cannot divulge client information just because of a possibility. We'd be glad to comply right away if you have evidence to prove your claim however..."

Well, I guess I'm pushing it without evidence.
If a noble who isn't even a territory lord could get information from the guild by simply saying 『The client may be a criminal』, no one would trust the guild anymore.

...Even if we catch the client, the one who posted the quest is probably someone hired by the [Warmongers].
I don't remember anyone called Picas in that group.

Which means, what we need to do here is... to raise our ranks as planned.

"Then I guess we'll just have to raise our ranks to A... The demons we have defeated are counted in the rank up assessment right?"

"Of course... In that case, you need to get to rank C... I believe Mathias-san's party is able to take on a special test if you negotiate with the guild."

Special test huh.
Something like that is possible even without the king's intervention huh.

"...How long would that take?"
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"I believe it would take two days at the quickest."

"Too slow... Might as well take on subjugation quests and raise our rank to C the honest way... It's 200 rank E quests and 500 rank D quests, no?"

Fortunately this guild has plentiful of quests.
We can probably complete 500 quests in a day if we just hunt monsters quickly and abundantly.
Doing the quests is still faster even if we count the time needed to recover our mana.

"...So it's faster to take on normal quests than the special test with Baron Hildesheimr's strength... In that case, would you like us to prepare the right quests for you?"

"Are you sure?"

I'd welcome it if he could get us nice quests for rank up.

"Baron Hildesheimr should have been rank A considering your strength. No one would complain even if you get to rank A in a slightly forceful manner."

Then the branch head wrote two quest tags.

――――――――――――――――――――
Type: General Quest
Quest Rank: E
Required Rank: E
Reward: 100 elmi
Quest Spot: Senisye Plain
Subject: Subjugation of one Rank E monster
Client: Adventurer Guild
Remark: Multiple Acceptance is Allowed
――――――――――――――――――――

――――――――――――――――――――
Type: General Quest
Quest Rank: D
Required Rank: E
Reward: 200 elmi
Quest Spot: Senisye Plain
Subject: Subjugation of one Rank D monster
Client: Adventurer Guild
Remark: Multiple Acceptance is Allowed
――――――――――――――――――――

"Please accept these quests... These are the simplest quests as far as my knowledge goes."

"...We just need to defeat 200 rank E monsters and 500 rank D monsters if we take these quests huh."

"Yes. As long as you get the rank right, they're terribly easy to accomplish if you have the strength to back."

Normally, subjugation quests ask you to locate a specific monster among a swat of monsters and defeat only those type of monsters.
Moreover, there's no guarantee that defeating one of those monsters is counted as one quest.

However, we can simply defeat monsters randomly out there and these two quests would be deemed complete.
Only shortfall is that defeating rank F and below monsters won't be counted, but any simpler and these quests won't be approved as rank D.

"...Much appreciated."

I took the two quests as I said that.






Previous Chapter

Chapter 265 Strongest Sage, Negotiates

 

"No one is taking this quest, right? I know it asks for rank A, but is there a way for lower ranked adventurers to take it?"

"Err... We need the client's agreement in order to lower the quest rank, so..."

I see.
Those 『Warmongers』 most definitely won't lower the required rank as their goal is to fight strong adventurers.

Guess we need to raise our ranks after all.
The problem is how...

"How do you raise your rank? We're currently rank E..."

I asked the receptionist.
If it needs a huge amount of quest completions or time-consuming tests, we're stuck.

If that happens, we have no choice but to ask the king's help.
It'll take a few days, but the quest should still be around if we're lucky.

And if we're not... Then we'd have to search those 『Warmongers』 from scratch.
We could try following the trails of the missing high ranking adventurer.
...But I'd prefer to settle this now to decrease potential victims.

The receptionist handed over a paper with details about rank up.
Then she speaks apologetically.

"Here are the prerequisites for rank up... Unfortunately, getting up to rank A is quite a task, you know? Even tough adventurers need years to get to rank C..."

The paper the receptionist handed over had this written.

――――――――――――――――――
Rank Up Prerequisite Table
To Rank E - Completes 50 Rank F Quests
To Rank D - Completes 200 Rank E Quests
To Rank C - Completes 500 Rank D Quests
To Rank B - Completes 2000 Rank C Quests, or participate in a Disaster class monster subjugation and play an active role in it
To Rank A - Participate in a Disaster class monster subjugation and play a leading role in it
――――――――――――――――――

The numbers of quests we need to complete are too far away.
If all the monsters we've defeated so far get counted as quests, we might just reach rank C... but since most of the monsters I defeated don't seem to, my rank stays at E.

Well, I guess our ranks being low is just natural.
After all, it was only recently that we got formally registered as guild members instead of Second Academy students.

But these prerequisites... Perhaps there's still a hope for easy rank-ups.

"...Are demons counted as a Disaster class monster?"

"Of course they are. Demons are the worst of Disaster class monsters."

"Then... If a rank E adventurer were to defeat a demon by himself, his rank would be upgraded to A?"

The receptionist pondered a bit when I asked her that.
Then she replies while looking at me with warm eyes.

"Unfortunately, you have be rank C first before you can get to rank B and above. As such, the rank won't go up even if a rank E adventurer defeated a demon... If by that time you've satisfied the prerequisites to be rank C, your rank will be automatically upgraded to A however."

"...I see."

Looks like defeating a Disaster class monster even before you get to rank C is counted.
Which means, if the guild has a record of me defeating demons in the past, I'll get to rank A just by completing the number of quests required to get to rank C.
While thinking that, the receptionist speaks as if she's cautioning me.

"But you can't go and try to defeat a demon now, you hear me. You're already off to a promising start being a rank E at your age... Don't put the cart before the horse and get too hasty at raising your rank you end up dead, okay."

Apparently, this receptionist thinks we're rookie adventurers yearning for high ranking ones.
...The rookie part is not necessarily wrong.

"...No, we've beaten demons already."

"You shouldn't lie like that... The guild manages records about subjugations of demons. A quick look at the data will expose your lie, you know."

Hou.
They've got records on subjugation history huh.
That's good to hear.

"Then please check the data."

The receptionist shrugged her shoulders like 'oh geez' when I said that.
Then she speaks to me with a 'I give up' look on her face.

"I understand. I'll have a look, hand me your guild card please."
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"Sure."

I passed my guild card to the receptionist.
Then she looked at the card--and opened her eyes wide in a shock.

"Ma...!?"

Then she alternately compares the guild card and my face.
After a slight pause, the receptionist asks.

"Are you perhaps... Mathias Hildesheimr of the Second Academy?"

"Yeah. I am--"

"P-pardon me! I will go call the branch head!"

The receptionist ran at full speed toward the guild's back room after saying that.
After a little while, she came back along with a middle aged man.

The man's name tag had 『Guild Branch Head, Dakufu』 written on it.







Previous Chapter

17-9. Purple Towers (1)

 

Satou here. Talking about a game where you climb up a huge tower, it reminds me of an arcade game designed after Babylonian myth. Conquering that game sure was fun with its combination of RPG and Puzzle elements.



◇



"Please wait a moment!"

The one who called and stopped me was a bespectacled man called Runner-up.

"You'll need a guide if you want to explore inside, won't you? As an associate researcher of Royal Research Institute, I volunteer to take that role."
"No need."

I've got Map anyway and I just can see this guy wandering off by himself if I take him inside.

"Right right, no need for that with us around."
"Sorry, but Arisa and Duchess, you stay here."
"Nyooo~"

Arisa fell down on all four like orz.

『It's a good idea to have Arisa whom I can contact with Familiar Link and Mito who can get in touch with the king outside just in case something wrong happens inside.』

I talked to the three with Tactical Talk.

"Then, please at least allow me to accompany Lord Pendragon inside."

I gave an affirmation to Zena-san who volunteered.
I asked Arisa to gather the girls here and went inside the tower along with Zena-san.

"What a huge place."
"Yes, and that pillar over there seems to be the stairway."

This place does fit the descriptions I heard beforehand.

My Map displays [Purple Tower, 1F].
I tried using All Map Exploration, but it was only effective for this floor.
Second floor and above are apparently treated as different maps. Curious.

There's no enemy nor anyone left behind on this floor so we climb up the spiral staircase inside the pillar.
The map changed when we got out of the spiral staircase. Looks like we're on floor 2 now.

--Hm?

The second floor is displayed as [Purple Tower, 2F-I].
Don't tell me you can get to different maps with each staircases.

"Satou-san, I found a trace of blood!"

There's a trail of blood in the two-meter wide passage.
I stop Zena-san who was going to follow after the blood trail and use All Map Exploration.

This floor is far bigger than the first. Total area is about as big as the royal capital.
Moreover, most spots are structured like mazes, reminding me of older 3D dungeon RPGs.

"There they are."

There are four survivors. Three soldiers and one researcher.

This floor is inhabited by a lot of level 1-4 [Demigoblin Vanguard]. Every one of them is wandering around the mazes alone.
They don't have any skill, but they've got this ominous sounding [Demon God Protection] on them.

So this tower is related to demon god after all.

Together with Zena-san, I headed to the spot where the survivors were according to All Map Exploration.
We found two dead bodies along the way so I secured them into Storage.

"Satou-san!"

We encountered a [Demigoblin Vanguard] at the corner of this passage.
Zena-san rushed ahead and slashed at it with her short sword without the need for my help.

"It's gone?"

The Demigoblin Vanguard whose head was cut off by Zena-san vanished into purple mist.

Clank, a small purple magic core dropped on the floor.
According to AR reading it's called a [Fragment of Magic Core].

"Is there something wrong?"

Zena-san looked like she had something in mind after cutting the Demigoblin Vanguard, hence I asked her.

"It kind of felt like I was facing off against an ogre instead of a goblin."

Unbelievable sturdiness for a level 2 demi-goblin.

I tried killing a level 4 demigoblin vanguard we met along the way.
I couldn't really gauge its strength, but a moment before my sword hit the demigoblin vanguard's body, a purple barrier showed up and broke apart, average soldiers would have a hard time against them.
It's probably the [Demon God Protection].

Another Demigoblin Vanguard we beat also disappeared into purple mist, leaving behind a small fragment of magic core.

I was almost swayed by an impulse to investigate further but since the condition of people we needed to rescue were looking bad, I got a lock on all the Demigoblin Vanguards in the way there on the Map and killed them all at once with [Remote Arrows].

The rescuees were staying in a small room at a dead end.
There were lots of nail marks of demigoblins on the wooden door leading to the small room.

"Our rescue is here!"
"It's the demon lord slayer! The demon lord slayer has come to save us!"
"Oy, you idiot, mind your manners!"
"Our apologies your excellency. We're truly thankful for your aid."

The soldiers raised a cheer when we went inside.
The soldier who scolded his subordinates looked glad as well.

"Your excellency, do you have a recovery potion with you?"

A soldier with bandage wrapped on his arm brought me to a researcher sleeping in the back.

"Don't worry, his life is not in danger. Zena-san, if you would healing magic."
"Yes!　■■■……」

I asked the bandaged soldier their circumstances while Zena-san was chanting the spell.
According to him, when they came back to fetch new recruits who were left behind, two soldiers fell victims to the [Purple Gobu]--Demigoblin Vanguards, thus they gave up trying to get back to the staircase and hid here.

"How strong are those goblins in your opinion?"
"They are at least stronger than full plated knights-sama."

These soldiers are level 7-9 with common soldier equipment.
Even including new recruits, five of them losing to level 1-4 Demigoblin Vanguards are unusual.

The effect of [Demon God Protection] those Demigoblin Vanguards have must be that high.

"I'm surprised you guys managed to get away."
"When all seemed lost we prayed to gods and that made those goblins flinch and stop moving."
"And we managed to flee thanks to that."

Are they weak against prayers to gods?

Well, I can check it out later.
We brought the treated soldiers who could walk again with us and got out of the tower.



◇



"Good work out there. Quite a weird tower this turned out to be huh."
"I've informed Sete already. He requested 『Demon Lord Slayer』's cooperation in the investigation."
"And I've left a message to Echigoya Firm."

I thanked Arisa and Hikaru and contacted each branch heads of Echigoya Firm through [Telephone] to tell them not to enter the Purple Towers.

Meanwhile, the girls arrived and came together one after another.

"Satou-san! I can't believe you went ahead here and left me behind!"
"I'm sorry about that Sera-san."

I whispered to Sera-san that I got my business done at the Realm of Gods while apologizing.

"H-how was it like? Were gods as divine as they would be? How was Tenion-sama like?"

Sera vigorously drew closer to me.
She almost pushed me down with her momentum.

"Muuu, guilty."
"Ah hey! I get how you feel, but no getting a head start!"

Mia and Arisa, the impregnable fortress pair tore Sera off me.
Oh right, Mia and Nana have also got before I realized.

"Satou-san, please tell me!"
"It was an incredible place filled with lights."

Since Sera had broken through the impregnable fortress pair and looked like she was gonna push me down again, I told her how it was like briefly.

"Did you ask about the extent of taboo?"
"Yep, down to the last details. The scope was just as we expected. Apparently printing techs are safe too."
"For real?! Yay! Gotta go make Arisa Publishing! Think we'd need a resale system~?"
"We can think about that leisurely later."

I told the two excited girls that I'd inform them more in detail later, and went to the Ancient Dragon Continent to fetch the beastkin girls and Lady Karina who were training there.

"Tiger tiger tiger~?"
"Pochi will be tiger that will be tiger of tiger nodesu!"

Tama and Pochi are calling out tiger tiger in front of tiger statues at a rocky area.

"Hey you two, I've come to get you."
"Maste~"
"It's master nanodesu!"

Tama and Pochi jumped at me.

A dot signifying Lady Karina is coming here from the other side of the valley.

--Tiger?

A real life tiger came out from the other side of the valley.

I thought Lady Karina had turned into a tiger, but I was wrong.
It's apparently a tamed tiger leading the way for Lady Karina wearing wild-looking attires running here. Her usual breastplate and side plate are gone, looking a bit sexy. Truly a sight to behold.

"Satou!"

She jumped and made a pose like she was going to hug me, but she seemed embarrassed midway through, thus she leaped sideway as she landed and hugged Tama and Pochi.

"No-good~"
"Drooping down is Panda-san's special privilege nanodesuyo?"

I smile at Lady Karina who was getting dissed by Tama and Pochi.

Liza is standing on one foot on a nearby rock cut to look like a spear, meditating.
She kinda looks like a master martial artist or a sage that comes out in movies and manga.

"Liza! I'm here to fetch you!"
"Master!"

Liza jumped off the rock here.

"How's your training?"
"With Ancient Dragon-dono's guidance, we're currently training following each individual course."
"I see, looks like I'm in the way then. Would you like to train here a bit more?"
"No! It's my duty to be of help to master!"

I apologized to Liza for getting ahead of myself and brought everyone back to my mansion at the capital.



◇



"Satou-sama, I wanted to go with you."
"My apologies. I'd like Sistina-sama to hold the line at the Royal Capital together with Mito."

Hikaru and princess Sistina will stay here this time.
The reason is because her power as a Golem Master is fitting to defend the capital.

After connecting everyone with Arisa's [Tactical Talk], we go into the tower.
Since we have no idea what will happen, everyone is fully equipped with their golden and silver armor.

"Gobu~?"

A Demigoblin Vanguard immediately showed up when we got to the second floor.
The Demigoblin Vanguard is baring its fangs here in an attempt to intimidate us. Kind of like a monkey.

"Iii, nanodesu."

Pochi showed her fangs as well, intimidating back.
Liza shut Pochi's mouth, "Stop that."

"Sera-san, if you'd please."
"Yes."

As arranged beforehand, Sera prays to gods.
The Demigoblin Vanguard flinched and began to act weirdly.

Looks like it won't run away though.

"■■■■■ Pray Bit."

Invisible bullets shot by Sera killed the Demigoblin Vanguard.

"Gone~?"
"Different color than demons nanodesu."

Tama and Pochi ran off to fetch a fragment of magic core dropped by the Demigoblin Vanguard.

"How was it?"
"They don't feel that different from the demi-goblins at Selbira Labyrinth."
『Should we ask Temple Knights to give it a try?』
『I'll let the king decide on that.』

Hearing Sera's impression, Hikaru proposed that, but since it'd be relatively dangerous, I left all the decision making to the king.

"Well then, let's check out the floor above."

I lead the way forward for everyone.

"Satou-san, this place feels different than the maze before somewhat."
"Yes, it does indeed."

As Zena-san mentioned, the inside of the maze has indeed changed.
Wish they left these repayable for 10,000 times thing to games only.


<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
◇



"Armed~?"
"Dagger gobu nanodesu."

A Demigoblin Vanguard that showed up at the corner got cut in two by Arisa's space magic.
The bone knife the demigoblin carried also disappeared along with it.

"I'm not too sure since they're too weak, but they give out about as much exp as an ordinary gobu, I think?"

We prioritized getting to higher floors and defeated only Demigoblin Vanguards we encountered along the way.

Most of those demigoblins dropped fragments of magic cores, but sometimes they dropped full magic cores.
We also encountered several demigoblin vanguards who carried bone knives with them, but even if we took the knives before defeating the goblins, those knives would still disappear into purple mist right as the goblins disappeared.
One bone knife remained once as a drop item, but its appraisal result was [Cursed Bone Dagger]. And since it's only about as strong as random cheap daggers, it's not something to celebrate about.

"Weak weak~?"
"About as strong as a Soldier Mantis nanodesu."

Tama and Pochi keep defeating demigoblin vanguards even while looking bored.

After checking out all the staircases on second floor, we found out that the two staircases leading above led to different areas and the three staircases leading below led to the same area.

"I guess the floors branch out more the more you climb up?"
"Looks like it."

The third floor housed the same demigoblin vanguards as the second floor. The area is also about as big.
The demigoblins here were slightly higher leveled at 3-6, and some formed a group of two, three demigoblins in addition to those who wandered around alone.
The group leader would always carry a bone knife, some even had bone short swords and bone axes in rare occasions.

The ascending and descending staircases have similar traits as the ones on second floor.

"I wonder, can Goblin-san take the stairs?"

Lulu tilted her head when she saw a pursuing demigoblin stopped in its track before the staircase.

"Let's give it a try."

Liza caught the demigoblin and tested it out.

The monster wouldn't enter the staircase no matter how hard she tried.
Seizing and pushing the demigoblin into the staircase halted it, like it hit a wall.

"Looks like the monsters here are incapable of moving between floors."

The test ended with that conclusion by Arisa.



◇



The fourth floor is largely the same as the third floor.
The demigoblins here were a bit stronger at level 4-8, and more of them formed a group of 2-3.
Rarely there were even groups of six, with magician-type Demigoblin Vanguard Mages, and priest type Demigoblin Vanguard Priest mixed in. The priest type is a wee bit stronger.

"This is kinda like a tutorial dungeon, don't you think?"

I'm agreeing more and more with Arisa's mumble above the more we climbed up.

By the fifth floor, there were almost no solo Demigoblin Vanguards, most were in a group of 2-3. They grouped more on floor 6. Level range got to be around 5-10.
From what we know so far, we can conclude that monster levels are floor number x 2 at most. And in reality, their actual strength would be around their level + 10~15.

"Let's get to the floor above quick."
"Yeah, hold on a bit."

There's no staircases on floor 5 besides the one we took to get here, instead there's a spot with a blank zone on the Map.

"It's finished with floor 5?"
"I wonder about that?"

We arrived at the blank zone while routing solo moving armor-type <<Demigoblin Vanguard Knights>> along the way.

"Boss room~"
"Looks like it."

The blank zone was a huge room, the door automatically shut itself and disappeared when we got inside, and a monster that seemed to be the boss appeared at the center of the room.
A single level 18 <<Demigoblin Vanguard Boss>> with five level 12 <<Demigoblin Vanguard Knights>> as its guards.

"Torya~"
"Wou nanodesu!"

The beastkin girls demolished the boss and its guards in a jiffy without a hitch.

"Treasure chest."
"Master, here comes treasure so I report."
"Satou-san, I found a staircase over here!"

Mia informed me about a treasure chest while Zena-san about a staircase.
Looks like the staircase will appear if you beat the boss.

"What a weird copper coin."
"Apparently it's called Demigoblin Copper Coin."

Lulu replied to Arisa's murmur.

The treasure chest had a lot of copper coins engraved with demigoblin's side face inside.
There were also ornamental bonework item those demigoblins love so much, along with [Tower Escape Orb] which was an escape item, and health potions and poison.

"Geez, they just toss poison together with these stuff, scary."
"And it only got mark as a label too."

After giving our impressions about the treasure chest we climbed up the staircase that showed up at the back of the boss room.



◇



"It's like, a stage change?"
"Kind of feels like we're inside ruins."

Lulu is right, the walls on this floor have cracks running on them, weed growing on the ground, and pieces of crumbled walls lying on the ground.

From floor 6 on, fast moving demi kobolds and tough powerful demi orcs were added into the monster composition. Not much different besides the names being demi kobolds and demi orcs instead of demi goblins.

On every five floors, the monster variety changed, and there were more traps and monsters with peculiar skills.

We continued our exploration as such and arrived at a wrong floor on the 15th floor.
Some floors that are multiple of five don't have a boss room.

We found the boss room when we went back and climbed up different staircases, so it must be just how this tower has been built.

What an obnoxiously made structure.

"The enemies are getting a bit tougher now."
"T-they are. We could suffer a critical wound if we let our guard down here."

It's getting tougher for the silver members when we smoothly got to floor 20.

"Is that so?"

Since Sera was the only one having it easy, I asked her to put holy magic enchant, afterward Lady Karina and Zena-san had a much easier time beating monsters.

Monsters in this tower are generally weak against holy magic.

"It's getting longer for us to get past a floor."
"Well, the monsters are getting stronger after all."

I look up at the ceiling.

"I'll see if I can break it."

I broke the ceiling apart to see if we could use it as a shortcut, but there was a zone filled with purple mist that absorbs life force beyond the broken ceiling.
The absorption rate is incomparably faster than the purple mound's, a drone golem I sent out crumbled down in an instant.

Just as I was hesitating to jump past the hole, purple mucus dripped down the hole and began to close it up while wriggling.
Its name is [Tower Keeper] but everything besides the name is [UNKNOWN].

"Pokey pokey~?"
"Meddling medley nanodesu!"

Tama and Pochi tried to interfere with the restoration, but it was no use.

"Magic just passed through it."
"Same with arrows as well."

Our attacks got annulled like it was with the Purple Mound.

"Then--"

It instantly evaporated when I swung the Divine Sword.

"Seconds~?"

But, more purple mucus immediately came out and repaired the hole.
It's not like I can get past it, but we can't use anti-god magic in this cramped place, and it's not like we get anything out of it anyway.
We give up trying to create a short cut and go the normal way.
By normal I mean using teleport magic to move the point where the staircase is.

We eventually arrived at floor 30 by repeating that method.



◇



"Gee, this floor sure has a lot of variety."

Arisa murmured while staring at the dead body of a Manticore Vanguard.
Level 50-60 <<Mutant Dragon Vanguards>> and Level 30 Manticore Vanguards reign this floor 30.
At this floor, it takes some time for even the golden members plus Sera's holy magic support to beat a monster.

"Hectic."
"Mia-chan gets to act as both a healer and support unit after all."

Lulu offered a throat quenching honey water to the completely exhausted Mia.
Mia, Zena-san and Sera have to chant their spells, unlike me, Arisa and Nana, they've got it rough.
Lulu can also use magic, but since she's mainly using her magic guns, she only uses force magic and life magic after battle, hence she doesn't have it as bad as the two.

"Next, coming~?"
"It's Myu-tan this time."

Pochi cutely confused the <<Mutant Dragon Vanguard>> name.

"It's been a while since we have to cooperate together like this."
"Yep, it's worth the struggle to beat them."

Arisa nodded as Liza faced off against the Dragon Mutant Vanguard with the dragon spear in her hand.
It may have dragon on its name, but this thing is not a dragonkind. It's merely a monster created in the image of dragons by humans who bore ill will against dragons.

"<<Dragonic Acceleration>> nanodesu!"

The Mutant Dragon's layered barrier got pulverized by Pochi's finisher in one hit.
Thanks to the series of battle we had here, she apparently managed to finally learn her finisher which was only one step away from completion back then.

Pochi who was taking a pose while smiling brilliantly got blown away by the tail attack of the mutant dragon that was feigning death.

"Uwaa, that thing could still move after getting hit by that? It must have like three times the HP of an equivalent monster at Selbira Labyrinth."
"<<Dragonic Penetrate>>."

Liza made use of acceleration magic circle and gouged off the Mutant Dragon Vanguard's skull.

"Ouchie nanodesu."

Pochi stood up like she didn't feel any damage.
Looks like she jumped toward the direction of the tail swing right before it hit her.

"It's giving about the same exp too, this would have been a nice farming spot if they were a wee bit weaker~"
"I will go train here tomorrow as well!"
"Tama too~"
"Pochi is gonna train too nodesuyo!"

Arisa's complaint was met with opinions from the muscle for brain members.

"You can't. There are enemies with instant death attack here, remember?"
"It's okay so long you don't get hit desuwa! It was a quote by a hero from Arisa's hometown, wasn't it? 『Nothing to it if it hits you』, correct?"
<TLN: A corruption of Char's quote.>

You'll die to the [Instant Death Attack] then.
Gotta dodge before you get hit.

"Satou-san, it's a real boss room ahead. It has the usual crest on it."
"Thank you, Zena-san."

What spawned at the boss room was the first monster that didn't have [Vanguard] on its name.
It's called [Chaos Lord]. It looks like the reaper outwardly.

"Alright, everyone let's put our back into it!"

Arisa's yell encouraged everyone.

"Everyone, sorry but this one's got Instant Death attacks."

As I couldn't let the girls be exposed to danger, I locked the Chaos Lord in a barrier and defeated it using a chain of [Implosions].

"What an awfully blunt way to kill..."
"Aamen~?"
"Soumen nanodesu."

Tama and Pochi put their hands together toward the vanished Chaos Lord.

"Tama, take care care of trap on the treasure chest."
"Roger~"

Tama leaped out like, kyupin, and opened the treasure chest.

"How is it, Lulu?"
"Just a second, I'll be done appraising shortly--this one's a magic sword, this one's a wand that can be charged with elementary spells, this one is an elixir? Wait no, it's a lesser elixir. This one is a hydra poison, I think? There's also rings and necklaces that boost status values in here."

Besides the stuff that Lulu appraised, there were all kinds of jewels and a huge amount of of gold coins with an image of skull engraved on them.
Money found in the treasure chests here are engraved with species of bosses found in the same room.

"Satou-san, I couldn't find the stairway."

Zena asked me to come with her, so I did and found a piece of paper.

『Under construction. We await your attendance next time.』

--What is this, a game?!

I almost retorted out of reflex.

"This is terrible."
"Maybe it's gonna get an update patch."
"It's probably going to be sold as a DLC."

I calmed myself down after grumbling together with Arisa, and took us all out with Unit Arrangement.



◇



"That sounds pretty rough."
"We got to the highest floor but didn't found anything resembling the Dungeon Core."

Even though she probably knew about it already through Tactical Talk, I reported still to Hikaru who was staying behind.

"Welcome back, Satou-sama."
"I'm back."

Princess Sistina came back from a building nearby.

"Was there any change outside the tower?"
"The gems found on its entrance have changed. It'll be quicker if you see for yourself."

I went to look together with the princess and indeed, there was a change.
The green gem has gotten a bit bigger and emits stronger light, while the purple gem has gotten smaller with weaker light.

Wonder if the purple light gets weaker by defeating the monsters inside?

Green--the color representing God Tenion might have gotten stronger because we took Sera, God Tenion's miko, inside.
Or perhaps it was because we had used holy magic that originated from God Tenion many times over?

"--Satou. Sete has made a request to destroy the tower if you could."

Hikaru conveyed the king's request.
He probably judged it a danger if the monsters inside this tower overflowed outside.

"Sure I don't mind, but are you sure I should do that here?"
"No, please take care of the one at Selbira first. Since many people there can fend for themselves and it has the best facilities for evacuation."

Well, it's got the oldest labyrinth on the continent right next to it after all.

"Got it. I'll transform into Nanashi and go there."

Now then, been a long time since the last Hero Time, isn't it?





※ Next update is planned for 4/7





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