Sousetsuka

 7





Lecan would love to skin the whole dragon, but that would have taken a humongous amount of time, thus they only strip off a bit from the intact part. Lecan had to use <Solid Sacred Silver Sword> in the skinning process, it was awfully tough. It would be nigh impossible for ordinary swords to cut this hide.

<Comet Cutter> was incapable of cutting through the hide. Likely due to its extreme resistance against magic.

Lecan couldn't wait to turn it into an armor.

They took a bit of the meat as well. A bit relative to the dragon's size that is, in reality it's enough to feed Lecan alone for one whole year.

They also got its magic stone.

The two resumed their march.

The dragon likely won't respawn in just one day, but who can tell. They can't exactly rest peacefully in a spot where a Great Flame Dragon could spawn anytime.

They crossed the Rocky Mountain's summit, and had lunch after taking some distance.

Of course it was the grilled meat of Great Flame Dragon.

It wasn't good.

The meat was way too hard. And the mana within was way too concentrated, it left an unpleasant aftertaste.

"Yeah, this ain't it."

"Guess it's gotta be Petitfire Dragon when it comes to meat, huh."

"Yeah. Too bad I left all I got in the Northern Tower. Guess I gotta pay Dungeon Rotor a visit soon."

"What do we do about the leftover meat?"

"I don't need it. Gonna give it to Nodlein later."

"Lecan never wastes food, do you."

"Never, you don't waste food."

After lunch, the two ran down the Rocky Mountain's slope. They arrived at the foot without engaging a magic beast even once since they were taking their distance. They arrived at Meadow in the same day and camped there. Climbing the Rocky Mountain took them one and a half day, yet descending only took half a day.

Dungeon expedition, day seven. 14th of month two. They dashed through Meadow. Engaged with magic beasts twice, exterminated them.

Dungeon expedition, day eight. 15th of month two. They ran through Meadow. Engaged with one powerful magic beast, exterminated it.

Dungeon expedition, day nine. They sprinted through Meadow and arrived at Rocky Mountain.

Dungeon expedition, day ten. They went around Rocky Mountain's foot. They couldn't cover that much distance that day since small insect monsters swarmed around them all day.

Dungeon expedition, day 11. They circled around Rocky Mountain's foot and arrived at Meadow.

They had their first relaxed camping in a long while.

Eda had been asking everything about Lecan even now. He talked about his adventure at Tsubolt that night. Eda's eyes popped open in surprise when she heard about Zoltan, an adventurer from Lecan's world. She didn't seem surprised when it was revealed that Chubby was unexpectedly evil, saying 'Ah, I see now', like it clicked.

Dungeon expedition, day 12. They ran through Meadow.

She asked about Lecan's old world that night. 'What a brutal world that was.' Eda gave her impression.

Dungeon expedition, day 13. They rushed through Meadow.

During their chat that night, Lecan realized that Eda has noticed the fact that Shira and Nike are the same individual. Otherwise, there would have been times when their conversations wouldn't make any sense. Lecan thought he let it slip by mistake, but he couldn't recall doing of sort. Which means, Eda has reached that conclusion on her own. Eda's growth isn't limited to battle prowess, but also her thought process.

Dungeon expedition, day 14. They arrived at Desert in the morning, went through it and reached Meadow.

Nodlein had calculated that it would take them 28 days to get to this point. Meaning they have shortened that estimation by 14 days.

Eda said something weird that night.

"I really gotta thank Rubianafale-san."

"What? How come."

"I mean, she summoned you Lecan to this world and all."

"I jumped into the <Black Hole> of my own will. That brought me to this world. No one summoned me."

"Un. That's what it looks like to you Lecan. But I personally see that Rubianafale-san called out for you."

"Hmmm?"

"Still, wonder which country this Boudo person fell to anyway."

"He might be somewhere in this kingdom."

"Unn. But isn't that man an adventurer on Lecan's level. His name would have been well known by now if he did fall here."

"It's not like I'm well known myself."

"What are you saying now. The name Adventurer Lecan's gotten quite famous between high ranking nobles of this country, or so I heard, you know."

"Oh yeah?"

"Un. How you're an adventurer who reached the hidden last floor of the <Sleepless Dungeon> Tsubolt, got his hands on a <Comet Cutter>, and how you conquered two grand dungeons Tsubolt and Palcimo and how you're a <Descender>. Since this rumor is gradually making their way down, you might actually get treated as a celebrity the next time you visit the Royal Capital."

"Sounds like a pain."

"Lecan."

"Hm?"

"If say, by any chance. By any chance, a <Black Hole> showed up in front of you, what would you do?"

Zoltan had prophesied that a <Black Hole> would manifest before Lecan one day. A word that came from his own experience. And Lecan would likely get back to his original world if he jumped into it. Or perhaps it would be a whole other world instead.

Eda asked this while putting up a nonchalant front. In reality she's trembling inside. Only Lecan could undo that. His decision was prompt.

"I got not reason to go back there. I'm having fun adventuring in this world. Doesn't matter if a <Black Hole> shows up, I'm not going in there."

"Ohh really. But there might be someone who wishes for your return in that world too, you know."

"There's no one like that."

"And what if you're already tired of this world's adventure by then?"

"I don't think that'd happen, but if I did jump in that <Black Hole>."

"If you did jump in?"

"It will be with you."

Eda looked dumbfounded for a moment before blooming into smile.

"Un!"

Dungeon expedition, day 15. 22nd of month two.

"We're supposed to meet up with the knights here, right."

"Right."

"It's soo big."

"It is."

There's no telling where in this vast Meadow the knights are.

"We should go to this Temple first of all."

"The temple must be super big if this map is any indication."

"Yea. We should find our bearing if we just run in general direction. We'll go look for the knights afterward."

The two ran in the meadow.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"Ah. Isn't that it?"

A gigantic building could be seen in the horizon of the Meadow. A temple indeed.

"That's it."

"It's surprisingly close, huh."

"Yea."

But they never got any closer to the Temple no matter how much they run.

"Lecan. Is that thing maybe huge, like really really huge?"

"Seems so."

They camped in Meadow that night. Great Flame Dragon was just as unpalatable boiled.

Dungeon expedition, day 16. 23rd of month two.

They've finally arrived at Temple.

"It's huge."

"Yea."

The size is simply out of this world. They can't tell its exact shape unless they go around it but it's probably square shaped. Each side should be at least 4000 step long. It's enclosed by sturdy looking walls. The walls have reliefs of ancient patterns on them, and are about 30 step tall.

And according to Lecan's <Life Detection>, magic beasts that surpass even the Great Flame Dragon are roaming around inside.

"Wonder if we could climb it."

"What? You mean this wall?"

"Un. Feel like it's not really impossible."

"Oh yeah. But. Hm?"

"What's up?"

"Sensed something over there. Let's take a look."

They went to the direction of the presence and found the Dungeon Knights hunting magic beasts.

Part of the knights protect the 100 Might Unit as most of them fight around 20 magic beasts. There's a lot of these knights. He's been told Dungeon Knights has 100 personnel, but there's about twice of that number here. Half of them are likely squires. Their armor are different colored and shape. They're hunting magic beasts that have impressive looking horns, some are colored red, some blue, some yellow and some green. Those must be Sacred Deer magic beasts. The knights are refraining from killing these magic beasts, they're just holding them at bay.

(I see.)

(They're waiting for those magic beasts to call their kin.)

(They farm potions by repeating this process huh.)

(That's efficient for sure.)

Lecan walked up to a big knight who seemed to be their commander.

Naturally the other party had noticed Lecan and Eda.

"Hey there. Are you Duo Bahn-dono?"

"I am. And you are?"

The man was indeed the Dungeon Knights commander, Duo Bahn.

He's got an overwhelming aura.

He's slightly taller than Lecan.

The strength Lecan sensed from this man does not fall behind Boudo and Zoltan. His armor is a mix of Great Flame Dragon's hide and Dylan Silver Steel, his helmet is made entirely of Dylan Silver Steel.

On the other hand, Lecan is wearing a worn down overcoat and a tattered leather armor. But the presence emanating from Lecan was intense, even the knights standing in the rows looked nervous in the eyes.

"I'm Lecan. An adventurer. I've been entrusted to deliver this to you."

Lecan looked at the fighting knights.

All of them is a mighty warrior. An assemble of 100 knights of this level would be unbeatable for sure.

Dungeon Knights serving under Marquis of Yufu exists only to hunt magic beasts in the Grand Dungeon Yufu. They spend half of the year inside the dungeon, and the remaining half training for that purpose. Marquis of Yufu has provided these knights with the finest equipment and an abundant supply. Each and every one of them is a Depth-walking Adventurer who has traversed through the depths of a Grand Dungeon.

Duo raised his visor and took the letter.

His eyes, nose and moustache are visible. There's a huge scar on his nose.

Duo Bahn read the letter Lecan gave him.

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 6





Sixth day of dungeon expedition. 13th of month two.

The Rocky Mountain's summit was within sight.

"Uwaa, look at that, Lecan! The scenery is so amazing. You can see everything we passed through so far. This must be what they mean by picturesque. But really, it's soo spacious. This dungeon is unbelievably vast, isn't it."

Eda turned around as she got all excited.

However, Lecan cannot afford to turn around here.

He's glaring hard at the top of the mountain.

No.

He's looking at the thing beyond the mountain top.

It's still outside <3D Perceptions> range so its form is unknown but <Life Detection> depicts an overwhelming presence.

Realizing Lecan's state, Eda readied her <Bow of Yelvitz> and glared at the mountain top.

Then a gigantic head of a magic beast popped up from behind the mountain top.

"Eh?"

Eda sounded perplexed.

Then the shoulders came up, chest and then abdomen.

"H-hold on. Lecan? That's..."

Eventually, the behemoth showed up in its entirety atop the mountain.

It's still 200 step away from them.

Yet it's as if the entire thing is already right beside them.

"T-that's the Great Flame Dragon."

Its height exceeds ten steps. Five times Lecan's. Its upper half is gigantic by itself, but its mass concentrates on the lower half, its legs are thicker than any giant trees.

THUD, THUD, the behemoth drew near leaving heavy thumping sounds with every step.

It stopped moving.

Glare, its giant pair of eyes scowl at Lecan.

Lecan broke into run toward the behemoth.

Followed by Eda a bit later.

Lecan changed course to the right.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
Eda to the left.

Lecan ran up a slope and once he got to a point slightly higher than the behemoth, he charged at it. Eda also ran toward the behemoth from the opposite side.

Once they got to around 100 steps close, the Great Flame Dragon inflated its chest hugely before spewing out a white breath.

The breath shot out toward Lecan at tremendous speed.

Lecan dodged to the left.

But the white breath also changed its course following Lecan.

<Necklace of Intuador>'s barrier blazed up. Lecan reflexively covered his face with his left arm. His view has been completely obstructed. By this enormous attack both in size and power.

What's surprising is how the Great Flame Dragon kept spewing its breath without pausing and even spun around to shot it at Eda.

Even Eda whose nimbleness wouldn't fall behind Lecan had no way to dodge this attack.

She relied on <Necklace of Intuador> and crouched to minimize surface area of damage.

Grounds and rocks hit by the white breath burned and melted down.

(A breath that melts even rocks huh.)

(And it can keep shooting it for an extended period.)

(That's some unbelievable firepower.)

The Great Flame Dragon who spun clockwise while shooting its breath kept spinning round and round.

Its massive tail made its appearance. It's more like an extension of its body than an attachment at its base. That's just how thick it is. And it spans for quite a length, getting smaller toward the tip. There must be around ten steps from base to tip.

The dragon swung this tail while roaring terrifyingly. Everything it touches gets blown away, be it rocks or boulders.

Lecan greatly leaped backward.

"<Deploy>!"

He deployed <Shield of Wolkan> during the leap.

Amidst all the flying rocks, the tail tip passed through right before Lecan's eyes.

Big and small rocks assaulted Lecan afterward.

<Shield of Wolkan> blocked the rocks, but not the countless pebbles. He could only endure the barrage.

Lecan grabbed <Myriad Dragon Cutter (Arzamscyll)> from <Storage> and plunged at the still spinning tail-mowing Great Flame Dragon.

He slashed at its right leg. Not just once. Two, three, four, five, he kept on slashing. The Grace was extremely effective, it cut through the gigantic Great Flame Dragon's right leg easily. However, it doesn't cut that deep. And Great Flame Dragon is overtly big, with overtly thick legs.

(This'll take forever.)

Lecan kept slashing as he went around to the right.

Great Flame Dragon spun to the left, going after Lecan.

As he went around the dragon's huge body, Lecan put away the <Myriad Dragon Cutter>, took <Comet Cutter> and put all his mana into it.

An extra large magic blade emerged. The maximum length he rarely ever deployed. It's more than two steps long. Enough to exceed the Great Flame Dragon's leg thickness.

Lecan lunged at the dragon's leg and drove <Comet Cutter> onto the right leg.

"What?"

<Comet Cutter> phased through Great Flame Dragon's right leg.

Lecan leaped back in a fluster and went around to the right of the dragon once again.

After a slight pause, the dragon roared in anger.

(Looks like it did hurt this thing.)

(Yet the blade didn't cut through.)

(What's going on?）

He plunged once again and swung the <Comet Cutter> at the dragon's right leg.

But it didn't cut it.

(Uh.)

(Not good.)

(Used up too much mana.)

Manifesting the maximum length consumes a huge amount of mana. Maintaining that demands a similarly huge amount.

Lecan erased the magic blade and put <Comet Cutter> away.

The Great Flame Dragon roared, stopped moving, inflated its chest while inhaling greatly and started converging its mana.

It's trying to shoot its infernal breath.

Eda had retreated outside the tail's range, shooting her magic bow all the while. Her attacks produced small explosions around the Great Flame Dragon's head and face, but it didn't seem to have dealt any damage. These arrows likely will never go through the hide no matter how many she shoots.

"Eda! Get over here!"

Lecan took a 30 step distance from the Great Flame Dragon. He drank Magenta Potion, and signaled the running Eda to hide behind him.

The Great Flame Dragon unleashed its incandescent breath.

"<Waldona>!"

Lecan put his left hand gripping the shield forward while reciting the spell.

The rushing incandescent breath got reflected by the <Magic Mirror of Ryin> right away. The reflected breath squarely hit the Great Flame Dragon yet the breath wouldn't stop. An overload of light and heat stripped their vision. As Lecan kept making small adjustment to the shield's direction to reflect the unending breath attack, he plunged his right hand into the hidden pocket in his leather armor, gripped <Guardian Jewel of Zana> and poured his the maximum amount of mana into it.

The breath eventually stopped.

Looking at it, the right half of the Great Flame Dragon has been burned and shaved down from the reflected breath. Its right shoulder has been gouged off too, its small--relative to its body size--right foreleg is also gone from the elbow down.

The leftover left eye glared hard at Lecan before it marched forward with its huge body.

"<Reduction>!"

Lecan turned his shield back to gauntlet form, took <Sword of Agost> out, and gripped it with both its hand before he too rushed ahead.

The Great Flame Dragon crouched down and opened its mouth greatly.

Its upper and lower jaws looked like the full rows of hundreds of swords.

Its gigantic face skimmed the ground as it went for Lecan.

Making use of his running start momentum, Lecan lifted <Sword of Agost> overhead and swung it down the Great Flame Dragon's cranium. A single strike loaded with the maximum power boost effect of <Guardian Jewel of Zana>.

He could feel the sensation of crushing a wine barrel.

Lecan got blown away. He spun in the air and stuck his landing.

Great Flame Dragon tumbled down, sending rocks flying everywhere before it eventually stopped moving.

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 5





The fifth day of dungeon expedition. 12th of month two.

Lecan and Eda took their first step in Rocky Mountain.

Swarms of Vileneedle Bugs (Lencilin), Brownpowder Bugs (Saglulin) and some other unknown small bugs swarmed around them. Due to <Exorcist Bracelet> Eda had on her, these bugs wouldn't get close within twenty steps from both. Instead, the number of bugs just kept increasing the longer they walked. Lecan would periodically drew <Demon Bug Cutter> and <Flame Sword> to exterminate them. They climbed the Rocky Mountain while repeating that routine several times.

By the middle point of the mountain slope, no more small bugs were present. Wrinkle Men (Zeofan) and Petitfire Dragons (Palbeizam) littered the place here and there instead, but those beasts wouldn't engage in battle even when the pair got within 100 steps as they passed by.

They kept climbing while being careful not to run into a magic beast using <Life Detection>. They didn't fight even once even by lunch time.

They continued the climb without engaging in single combat in the afternoon. Magic beasts displayed in <Life Detection> get more and more powerful, and more scattered about.

"This is much much quicker than going around the mountain foot. Wonder why Nodlein-san recommended you to take the long way out."

"Dungeon Knights consist of 100 knights, dozens of squires and another hundred baggage carriers. Might be why."

"Ooh okay. Guess it's hard for a huge group like that to avoid getting seen by magic beasts. He must think that we're gonna have to fight if we take this route."

"Mu."

"What's wrong?"

"There's something on a level beyond anything thus far. 2500 steps straight ahead up the slope."

Lecan rushed ahead climbing up the slope.

"And yet we're not changing course, yeesh I wonder why."

There's a giant boulder ahead of them. The enemy must lie beyond that boulder.

Lecan drew closer as he thought that.

Then he realized his mistake.

The giant boulder stood up.

"Tch."

This is probably Rock Giant (Nalgant). Or maybe even an even higher ranked Rock Mass magic beasts. The enemy is already in combative state. They must fight their way out here. Lecan put away Comet Cutter on his waist and grabbed <Crushing Hammer (Gwadobagh)>.

It's gigantic. Rock Giant has a humanoid shape but its height must be full eight steps tall. Four times Lecan's height.

It raised its right fist, a gigantic rock, up high. Arrows from <Bow of Yelvitz> hit that fist, but it wouldn't even budge.

Lecan struck the giant's rocky right leg with <Crushing Hammer>. An explosion along with a boom sound occurred, but despite a clean hit, the Rock Giant only slightly shook from that.

The Rock Giant swung down its right arm.

Lecan advanced while dodging to the right and struck the giant's left leg with <Crushing Hammer>.

The Rock Giant's right fist pulverized the rocky ground below, sending splinters flying everywhere. Eda retreated back while dodging those splinters.

Lecan made another clean hit on the Rock Giant's right leg, from the back this time. But it didn't seem to deal any damage whatsoever.

The combat continued on.

Neither Eda's nor Lecan's attacks had any effect at all.

Lecan tried to get it tumble down and go for its head, but the giant just wouldn't fall.

He could have done something had the foothold been soil, but since it's sturdy rocks, there's nothing he could do. This Rock Giant is just way too heavy.

The Rock Giant seemed to have lost its temper with Lecan and Eda running around everywhere dodging its attack, it started to spew out hot lava.

They had no choice but to gradually move locations as they couldn't step on hot lava, they were at a huge disadvantage in this battle.

(Crap.)
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
(If we got in another magic beast's territory.)

(Or if this Rock Giant calls out its kin.)

(Things gonna get dicey real fast.)

(Dammit.)

(This thing's way too heavy and sturdy!)

(...Hold it.)

(Too heavy?)

Lecan suddenly recalled <Mass Heave Sword (Daspiscylla)> in his Storage. That has a Grace that multiples object's weight. Magic beasts are not objects, but since Rock Giant's body consists of rocks, <Mass Heave Sword> might very well show some effects on it. There should be parts where it works at least. With such a heavy mass, even if the sword only affects some parts, it should restrain its movement to a degree at least.

Lecan threw away <Crushing Hammer>, plunge his right hand in <Storage>, grabbed <Mass Heave Sword> and swiftly swung it four times.

The Rock Giant immediately slowed down.

(Alright! It worked.)

The giant tried to move but its legs wouldn't allow it. It persisted on doing that and tumbled down instead.

Lecan's whole body turned heavier as well.

<Mass Heave Sword> has multiplied all objects within its range by five times.

Lecan grabbed a Magenta Potion and drank it down. A potion that temporarily boosts muscle strength. Probably the first time he's ever used one in battle.

He let go of <Mass Heave Sword> and picked up <Crushing Hammer>. It's unbearably heavy. But that unbearable feeling is reliable now.

Rock Giant put both hands on the ground in an attempt to get up. Lecan ran up its back. Then he lifted <Crushing Hammer> over his shoulder. His muscles were breaking apart.

He swung down the <Crushing Hammer> on the Rock Giant's back head. An explosion occurred. Lecan grimaced from the load in his hands. An extraordinary impact hit the Rock Giant's head at the same time.

Lecan lifted the hammer again and swung it down. Rock Giant's head shook violently. Lecan struck it once again as it frantically tried to get up.

Another two strikes, and the Rock Giant's head got completely demolished, stopping it entirely.

A moment later, the Rock Giant vanished, replaced by a big treasure chest in its spot.

Lecan is on his knees.

It's suffocating. Feels like his entrails have been ruptured. His face is cramping painfully.

He's worried about Eda, but his neck feels like it's gonna torn off if he moves it now.

Lecan focused on <3D Perceptions>. Eda is lying down, but there's movement and she's breathing.

He exerted his willpower and sheathed the <Mass Heave Sword> back.

The weight increase Grace vanished.

Lecan lay down in the spot.

He couldn't move a finger for a while after.

After quite some time, the two were finally able to get up.

"Lecan."

"Hm?"

"You thought to yourself, 'Tch', when you saw that magic beast earlier, didn't you."

Lecan never replied. Which is an answer in itself.

He opened the treasure chest. There's a huge amount of familiar looking ores inside.

It's Solid Sacred Silver (Lesharad).

He put them away in <Storage>

His long cherished <Overking Bear Overcoat> has been burned and torn off all over from the fight just now.

The overcoat has <Auto Repair> function on its embedded jewel, but that might take quite some time when the damage is this bad. Or perhaps it won't ever go back to its original state anymore.

His petitfire dragon's armor is in a terrible state as well.

Lecan took <Recovery Sword> and gave it a try.

Injuries from splinters and sore spots from the heat recovered to a point. But since <Recovery Sword> doesn't heal much per use, he must cut himself with it multiple times to heal all the wounds. That he must take off his clothing before using it is another bad point about it. And Eda looked awfully repulsed when she saw the wounds from the sword that remained before the healing took effect. Lecan put <Recovery Sword> away.

The two took Red Potions and Stamina Restoratives, marched about 2000 steps forward and set up camp there.

It's still a bit early, but they just don't have the strength left to keep going.

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 4





The pair encountered relatively powerful magic beasts just before lunch that day. Two of them. Never seen before type. They're likely classified under <Demon Lion> just like the previous one. Their roar had <Intimidation> effect mixed in. Against opponents weaker than them this roar will immobilize their targets in fear. Their limbs were stout, strength tremendous and claws and fangs sharp. Their jaws must pack some serious power too. They would be around floor 100 beasts by Palcimo's standard. They shot out fireballs but since the move was very much telegraphed, Lecan and Eda easily dodged it. Eda instantly killed one of them with her magic bow, while Lecan cut down the other's head. They collected magic stones from these two magic beasts.

During lunch break, Lecan told Eda about the stuff he heard from his duel's opponent. Eda listened to it with gleaming eyes and asked Lecan all kinds of things about the duel afterward.

"Ooh I see. That person did seem like a good person for sure. So like. He got a hit on Lecan to dispel Heles-san's regret and then he'd propose to her with that deed under his belt. Uwaa, that's so nice. So so, has that guy made the move already?"

"Beats me."

"Going up against an overlord for the sake of your love, that's soo poetic."

"Who the heck's an overlord."

"I mean the look alone is already intimidating, but it's actually even worse once you cross swords. Humans can't hope to match that."

"I'm a human. Ah, yeah. That guy's probably disciplined under Arios's school of swordsmanship."

"Eeh? So someone from Iris Clan taught him? Hee, I see. Fufu. Hey, Lecan. Do you think Heles-san will accept his courting?"

"Who knows."

"By the way Lecan. Weren't you trying to lose on purpose during that duel?"

"What makes you think that."

"That match could have ended much faster with your speed, yet you purposely overlooked so many chances."

"Hou."

"How do I put it. It's like you've accepted his challenge or something."

Good insight. When did she got all this power of observation anyway.

"And the referee was gonna declare your victory at the end, didn't he. But then you said something to him."

"Yea. I would have died if it were a real blade or something."

"Hee. So you yielded victory. It's like you're a cupid. To that viscount person."

"Beats me."

"I love that part of you, Lecan."

"...."

"Only issue is that there's surprisingly a lot of women who noticed that quality of yours too."

"There's no one like that."

"There are. See here, me. Norma-san. And Sushana-san at Vouka. Heles-san. You didn't do anything sketchy with that woman at Tsubolt, did you."

"I've done nothing of such."

"Sounds fishy. Was there really nothing going on with that Eliza girl?"
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"Nothing at all."

They took a longish break after lunch.

They didn't encounter any more foes that day, smooth going all the way.

They camped in the Meadow again that night.

"Hey, hey, Lecan."

"Hm?"

"Tell me about the time you descended to this world. And thereafter, in detail please."

"Yea."

Lecan talked about how he lived in his previous world and in Zaidmahl Household. And since Eda still wanted to know more, he dug up his memory to talk about all kinds of things. This topic would continue on for several days. He even talked about his exchange of Guardian jewel after several days.

The day after. The third day of dungeon expedition. The tenth of month two.

They came across a pack of 200 Ashen Wolves. Lecan used <Demon Wolf Cutter>. The Grace had tremendous effect on them, killing everything in one slash.

After lunch, they didn't cross path with any more magic beasts. Lecan detected the presence of an extremely powerful magic beast, but they took a detour and managed to get past it without being detected. It was moving alone. Lecan took  a peek of it, another magic beast he'd never seen. They got near the Mountain by the end of this day.

The fourth day of dungeon expedition. The 11th of month two.

They departed in the morning and arrived at the Mountain foot despite not running all the way. They went around the Mountain foot and reached a huge forest, with the entrance to Lake and Marsh area sandwiched between Mountain and Forest.

They took the route that'd bring them deep into Lake and Marsh area.

Lecan found Soil Grazes (Ajezal) and Mock Rocks (Hietera) along the dry route he picked, he took care of them with strikes from <Lightning Dragon Gauntlet>

This is the reason Nodlein believed Lecan could reach Dungeon Yufu's deepest area.

The most troublesome thing about Lake and Marsh area is how the area is full of wetlands you can't travel across, the little dry spots of land it has are proliferated with lurking Soil Grazes disguising as grounds and Mock Rocks disguising as rocks, while the grassy part is full of Sod Fluid (Sosuut). These Odd Mud beasts take humans by surprise, rob them of their freedom and choke or melt them to death. Doesn't matter how much firepower you have, it doesn't work on Odd Mud.

This place is awfully problematic to Dungeon Knights, but Nodlein changed his mind once he found out Lecan has the ability to discern magic beasts.

All of the aforementioned magic beasts are weak to magic attack, especially lightning type. If Lecan has the ability to reliably detect them, he only needs the right weapon afterward. And if he's able to safely traverse through the Lake and Marsh area, arriving at the deepest part is no longer an impossibility.

Nodlein recommended some spears infused with lightning elemental to Lecan, but Lecan refused since he's not so good with long reaching weapons.

He's had experience fighting Soil Graze in Dungeon Golbul. They disguise themselves as rocks in rocky areas, and mud in wetlands. He fought some Mock Rocks in Dungeon Rotor.

The two found a spot suitable for resting under a giant tree. A huge magic beast is laying down there, but bare eyes can't tell it apart from a grassy patch of land. That's probably Sod Fluid. You will find yourself entangled within Sod Fluid if you carelessly sit down on that spot.

Lecan attacked the tip of Sod Fluid with <Lightning Dragon Gauntlet>. The lightning paralyzed Sod Fluid but only a part of its gigantic body, the rest turned over, stood up and came attacking. Without its disguise, it looks like a water body. Lecan cut at it with <Odd Mud Cutter> in his right hand and then he unleashed a barrage of attack all over its giant body with <Lightning Dragon Gauntlet>. It stopped moving by the eight hit, dead.

They sat down and had lunch there.

"Four days to get us here. Since we initially got in here at noon, and it's noon now, I guess full three days."

"Right yep."

"Nodlein predicted it would take us five days to get to the wetlands, so we're two days faster. And since the prediction was two days to reach the entrance, that's three days saved in total."

Lecan took the map and glared at it.

"This wetlands are ending soon. Afterward, Nodlein recommended we took a detour around the Rocky Mountain foot to the Meadow. However."

Lecan slid his finger on the map.

"It's far shorter if we cross over the Rocky Mountain from where we are."

"Then why did Nodlein recommend we take a detour?"

"Crossing straight through the Rocky Mountain means getting near its summit. A mighty magic beast lurks there. But you and me should have no problem taking this route."

Eda looked at the map. Types of spawned magic beasts according to areas are written on the top left.

Rocky Mountain has Blight Bugs, Rock Masses, and Flame Dragons.

"Lecan."

"What."

"What are kinds of Flame Dragons again?"

"Petitfire Dragons,
Fiery Ball Dragons, and Great Flame Dragons. Dunno if there's anything else."

"Are you maybe going for Great Flame Dragon's meat?"

"Wrong."

Not meat. But hide.

"Hmmm. Well okay. I'll go along your wish, Lecan. But don't forget that we can't use magic in this dungeon, okay."

"I know."

They took a straight path toward the exit of wetlands.

They kept walking ahead while killing Soil Grazes and Mock Rocks along the way. They'd go around Sod Fluid whenever possible, if not they dealt with them. They would evade Sham Swamp (Roufat) and Landfall (Graviel) if they met one along the way. They didn't fight Bewitching Waters magic beasts lurking in the bogs and lakes. There were also a lot of Crag Snakes (Goljimuin) and Flat White Snakes (Urslarin) around, but these beasts wouldn't attack so long they kept their distance. <Comet Cutter> and <Cold Wave Sword (Raktorscylla)> were proven effective here. Magic beasts that were likely Hammerhead Snakes (Dorgozuin) were also plentiful, but they didn't engage with them. The whole area is packed full with magic beasts. You can't walk a few steps ahead without encountering one.

They got right before Rocky Mountain area on Water Buffalo period that day, thus they set up camp at the edge of Lake and Marsh area.

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 3





The two of them reached a spot with knee-tall grass. The view is clear to quite a distant away. Meaning they're easily spotted here.

They took a short break before resuming.

Before starting their advance, they drank Stamina Restoratives they had stocked up at Yufonia.

There's a herd of magic beasts ahead. It's coming straight in their direction. The herd must have detected Lecan before he could.

Lecan halted his advance. Eda stopped too.

"Incoming magic beasts ahead. Around a hundred."

"Got it."

Eda retreated ten steps back and readied her <Bow of Yelvitz>.

Lecan put <Lightning Dragon Gauntlet> on his left hand, and <Blazing Sword> in his right hand. It's a sword he obtained as a reward for completing a certain quest in his original world. It doesn't have an amazing sharpness or anything, but it has been Enhanced with a function that will set the blade ablaze by pouring mana into the sword. As a lot of magic beasts don't do well against flames, they usually flinch when they're up against this sword. A handy sword to have when you're surrounded from all sides.

Lecan poured his mana into it. A flame blazes up from the blade.

The magic beasts kept getting closer.

(Silver Wolves (Saraje) huh.)

(A pack of hundred.)

(These Silver Wolves don't seem to be that strong.)

(But there's a few relatively powerful individuals among them.)

Lecan lightly swung down his sword from upper right to bottom left.

A huge crescent-shaped flame manifested mid-air.

The leading Silver Wolves flinched for a bit.

Some wolves went around to the left and right, lunging at Lecan.

Lecan swung the <Blazing Sword> round and round. A giant serpent of flame danced around him.

The wolves jumped at it. But they were clearly daunted. Some of the wolves even halted their charge.

Lecan slashed at the right wolf with his sword and punched the left one with <Lightning Dragon Gauntlet>. He promptly raised his sword and stab at a wolf coming from his front, struck another coming from left with the gauntlet then kicked up a wolf sliding in from the bottom right.

They're nothing special. <Comet Cutter> would have made a very quick work out of these wolves. But this is their chance to test out <Exorcist Bracelet>. Hence Lecan purposely dragged the battle longer.

<3D Perception> told him Eda had retreated back.

The Silver Wolves began surrounding Lecan from behind. Yet they wouldn't get close to Eda.

He kept fighting while maintaining this for a while, then Eda marched forward.

The Silver Wolves retreated. They eventually even stopped attacking Lecan.

Eda started shooting <Bow of Yelvitz>. The magic beasts got culled out in the blink of an eye. Lecan put away <Blazing Sword> changed to <Comet Cutter> and took care of the remaining Silver Wolves.

"Fumu. Silver Wolves are upper ranked Demon Wolves, but these wolves we just fought should be around the ones on floor 30 of Dungeon Palcimo or slightly above. About three at floor 80's level mixed in. So, how was it?"

"Un. This thing's amazing. The effect starts around 15 steps distance, and by ten steps, they pretty much won't get close anymore. Silver Wolves that got within ten steps by chance ran away in a fluster."

"Really."

<Exorcist Bracelets> are said to not work well against powerful magic beasts, but its effect is pretty much guaranteed against magic beasts that flock in a herd of hundreds or thousands.

In Lecan and Eda's case, against one or two opponents, Lecan can fight just fine while luring them, and there's no need to worry about Eda since she's good at positioning herself. The issue is when they're up against many. Eda doesn't specialize in close quarter combat. And Lecan would have been burdened with guarding Eda while fighting.

But with <Exorcist Bracelet>, Eda can focus on ranged cover fire and Lecan doesn't have to mind his back. Furthermore, this bracelet doesn't need mana supply. It's a very handy item.

The two took another short break before running again.

"Phew. Eda, what time is it?"

Eda took the <Time Slab>. Nodlein lent it to them.

"Lemme see. Err, oh we've just got into Yellow Frog period."
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"What? Not good. Got a bit too eager there. We're setting up camp."

"Un."

The inside of this dungeon is permanently bright. Though even if dungeons this bright are uncommon, this brightness doesn't come from the sun. In this dungeon's case, the entire structure itself emits lights. Hence you could easily be fooled to think it was natural lights. And they might have also been a bit eager there. At any rate, they must rest their bodies otherwise they'd wear themselves thin.

Lecan and Eda prepared their camp. All the tools from pots, metal fittings, meat, skewers and even firewood came from Lecan's <Storage>. They made fire using a magic tool borrowed from Nodlein. Eda grabbed some ingredients and utensils before skillfully cooking with them.

Lecan found a withered tree nearby so he cut some branches and tried setting it on fire with <Blazing Sword>.

(Oh, it's burning nicely.)

(Good.)

(There should be plenty of firewood in Mountain and Forest seeing this.)

(We won't run out of firewood supply.)

The two put on their mantles and huddled in them as they went to bed.

Around two herds of magic beast came close to their location during the night, but the herds just passed by their camp seemingly unaware of them.

The second day of dungeon expedition. On the second of month two.

They were relaxing after having breakfast.

"Now then, let's get a move on."

"Ooh you do really get up on Small Turtle (Fengel) period."

"What?"

"I mean, remember what Heles-san said during our Ninae expedition? 'Lecan-dono will without fail get up on Small Turtle period when it's time to go into battle'."

"Aa, yeah she did huh. Ah. Now that you mentioned it, someone's gonna propose to Heles."

"Eeeeh. Another weirdo?"

"No, a decent one this time."

"Decent by Lecan's standard is a bit outside other people's though. So who's this person?"

"I had a duel at the royal palace back then, didn't I."

"Un un. You fought that viscount something right?"

"That's the guy. I'll get into more detail in our next lunch break."

"Eeh~. But I'm curious~~."

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 2





(Hmu.)

(Found a magic beast.)

(Quite a strong one.)

Lecan got a reaction on the edge of <Life Detection>'s range, somewhere 2500 steps ahead of them.

They're moving diagonally right from its position. If they keep their course, they will pass by about 1000 step to this magic beast's right.

They're gradually getting closer to the magic beast. But it's not giving any response.

Lecan shifted their trajectory slightly to the left.

A mold like scent drifted.

(Fumu.)

(We should try fighting a strong specimen at least once.)

Lecan slowed his advance and course corrected to the left. Eda matched that without saying anything.

The enemy still won't move even at 500 step distance.

(It should've noticed us by now.)

Lecan slowed down even further as he approached the magic beast.

The distance between them was cut to 200 steps.

100.

It got in <3D Perceptions> range. The enemy is in crouching position, staying still.

Lecan drew his sword. <Sword of Rusk>.

His left wrist had <Shield of Wolkan>, left ring finger had <Ring of Rozan> with <Ring of Undying King> in index finger. Of course he's also got <Guardian Jewel of Zana>, <Dagger of Harut>, <Necklace of Intuador> and <Leg Bands of White Devil> on him too.

Lecan resumed his advance.

50 steps.

Only the sound the two pushing through grass resounded.

30 steps.
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20 steps.

Lecan halted.

The magic beast was in clear sight beyond the grass here.

It's got an abnormally large head. Thick long fur grows abundantly around its face. It looks simultaneously like hair, beard and body hair.

Its eyes are shut, unmoving. Like it's a statue.

Even at crouching position, it's as tall as Lecan.

(Is it sleeping?)

(Or perhaps in a stasis?)

Lecan breathed in greatly and charged ahead.

The magic beast suddenly opened its eyes.

Its huge mouth slammed open as it spewed out black mist like matter.

A strong putrid stench wafted.

The enemy sprung up.

Lecan raised his sword and swung it down toward the middle of its face. But his aim was off, he ended up striking the magic beast's left shoulder which made his sword slide down the long fur.

The magic beast kicked at Lecan's face with its gigantic left leg.

Lecan attempted to evade it, but he couldn't move well and got his left shoulder hit. A strong impact like he was hit by a battle hammer assaulted him.

(Crap!)

He fell ahead to the right side.

At that point, a magic arrow Eda shot hit the magic beast's giant face.

The magic beast landed and growled before rushing at Eda.

Lecan tried to get up, but his body wouldn't follow his order.

He put his sword away and plunged his right hand into <Storage>.

(Yellow Potion, Green Potion, Large Red Potion.)

He grasped all three by willing it.

And threw them in his mouth.

He could move his body again. Lecan stood up, grabbed <Comet Cutter> from <Storage> and generated its magic blade.

Before his eyes, Eda continued her <Bow of Yelvitz> assault while swiftly dodging the magic beast's attacks.

Lecan ran up to the magic beast and swung down the magic blade diagonally at its back.

The magic beast turned around while roaring in anger.

An awfully ugly mug.

Lecan swung his sword in a cross shape at the lunging beast's face and dodged to the left.

The magic beast turned around and growled menacingly.

Lecan froze up, he could feel his vitality leaving his body.

However, he mustered all the willpower he had and swung down the magic blade at the magic beast from overhead.

The magic beast lurch and fell down the ground, but a treasure chest was in the spot the next instance.

Lecan fell down slumping.

"Are you alright, Lecan?"

"Yea. You hurt anywhere?"

"No. I'm fine. What's going on back then?"

"Not sure. But it seems you didn't get numb huh."

"Un."

Eda has curse resistant <Giena's Barrette>, and poison void, <Charm of Iluent> on her. And as a <Sleep> magic user, Eda is resistant to mind magic.

On the other hand, Lecan has curse void <Dagger of Harut>, and status abnormal resistant and poison resistant <Ring of Rozan> on him. <Guardian Jewel of Zana> also has curse void effect though not as strong as the dagger.

That moldy stench was probably a status attack. <Necklace of Intuador> barrier would have stopped magic-based attack. But it does no good to physical-based powder. The powder probably had poison and mind magic attack contained within. No way to know if that's true, but that's the only possible explanation he could think up right now.

It must be why Eda was unaffected, while Lecan was hit hard. Though thanks to <Ring of Rozan> weakening its effect, Lecan retained a degree of freedom to move his body.

"Lecan. There's blood on your left shoulder."

"Ah, I drank a red potion, the wound's closed already."

"Your overcoat and armor's torn too."

"I likely still got my left arm attached thanks to this overcoat and armor. Good thing I got 'em."

"Wonder what kind of magic beast was that."

"Who knows, but it's probably a Demon Lion type."

The treasure chest had an <Exorcist Bracelet>, same type as the one Eda had on her. Eda's bracelet had the Depth of 120 when Lecan appraised it. This bracelet should be quite deep too.

"Sure faced a tough one right off the bat. Hold it. Did your <Exorcist Bracelet> not work on that magic beast?"

"Uun. I don't think it did."

"I see. We'd better consider that there's gonna be more magic beasts unaffected by the bracelet later. Now then, let's keep moving ahead."

"Un."

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 1





Lecan and Eda ran through the sprawling meadow.

The view is extremely clear here since the overgrown grass only reach waist-level and the meadow sits on a flat plane.

The view is oddly unobstructed to distant far.

Lecan has <Life Detection> in highest gear ahead of him. When he first came to this world, its range was 1000 step in radius, 2000 steps in diameter. He could shift the detection area to a degree, but it would top at 1500 steps.

However, this range extended to 2000 step distance after conquering Dungeon Ninae. It further expanded to 2500, and then 3000 steps after conquering Dungeon Tsubolt and Dungeon Palcimo.

In other word, Lecan is currently detecting area 2500 steps ahead and 500 steps behind while running.

There are some spots without grass growing in this vast Meadow. There are also some trees here and there too. And even flower beds.

A cool breeze is blowing and the air is fresh despite being inside a dungeon.

Lecan kept running while enjoying the exhilaration.

(Oh. There's a herd of magic beasts.)

Finding a herd of magic beasts ahead, Lecan raised his hand to signal Eda, and slowed down before making a complete stop. They're still outside <Life Detection> range. In this flat Meadow, your eyesight can see farther than <Life Detection>'s range.

The herd got into range before long.

It was originally going to pass diagonally by them, but the few leading beasts started running straight at Lecan's direction. The entire herd thus followed.

Now that they've been found out, fight is the only choice here. Lecan has no plan to rush headlong into every battle, but neither can they possibly avoid fighting forever. Then might as well get a taste of it early on.

Lecan started retreating. Eda followed him.

They stepped back to a spot with no grass growing. Eda is ten steps behind Lecan. They didn't make an arrangement beforehand. These two are already in sync by this point.

Nothing obstruct Eda's view here, and they've got firm footholds.

Eda took <Exorcist Bracelet>, put it on her left arm, then she took a stance with <Bow of Yelvitz> at the ready.

The magic beasts were Wood Wolves (Torje).

It's a big pack. A bit more than 200.

Once the pack got within 1000 step distance, Eda launched offensive.

<Bow of Yelvitz> is a magic bow. The speed of which arrows fly from it surpasses even <Flame Spear> let alone <Fire Arrow>.

Each shot can launch from one to five arrows, and Eda has it set to always shoot five. The arrows strength depends on the amount of mana poured into them, unrelated to how far back one pulls the bowstring. At first she couldn't generate magic arrows without pulling the bowstring to maximum arc, but she gradually mastered shooting them just by flicking her fingertip.

The current Eda shoots Bow of Yelvits using four of her fingers all together, plucking the bowstring like she's playing a stringed instrument. Despite the barrage of five arrows per shot, each of those arrows has a lot of mana poured into it. Meaning they've got high penetrating power. Doesn't matter if it's faces, heads, or torsos, every arrow pierces through these Wood Wolves. A hit on their forelegs completely blows them away.

This incessant heavy rain-like barrage poured down from the sky. The incoming big pack of wolves shrunk down before their very eyes.

Several wolves finally reached Lecan after a great many sacrifices along the way.

Lecan put the <Lightning Dragon Gauntlet> away and grabbed <Comet Cutter>.

The first lunging wolf got cut in two.

Since Eda is standing behind Lecan, the wolves who came straight to Lecan's front survived her barrage. More and more wolves came attacking from this side.

Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice.

<Comet Cutter> gleamed with every swing Lecan made.

Anytime a Wood Wolf was slightly outside <Comet Cutter>'s range, Lecan would instantly expand the magic blade's length, and cut the wolf down before erasing and regenerating the magic blade again. Instantly lengthening and shortening the magic blade like Nike showed him is still impossible to current Lecan. Hence he chose to erase and immediately generate the magic blade back instead. Much faster that way.

The entire wolf pack was annihilated before long, Lecan erased <Comet Cutter>'s magic blade and sheathed it while feeling slightly lacking.

"We didn't have a chance to test out <Exorcist Bracelet>."

"Yea."

He completely forgot about that.

<Exorcist Bracelets> are Grace Gear that occasionally get dropped in Dungeon Yufu, Nodlein has lent Lecan one. It possesses the effect to ward magic beasts' advance. Nodlein loaned it to Lecan when he found out Lecan's partner specialized in ranged attack. Lecan gave it to Eda. They need to test its effect but they ended up exterminating all the magic beast without leaving any behind by momentum.

"Well, there's always next time."

"Yep, there sure is."

"Keep that bracelet on you at all time."
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"I got it."

"Some treasure chests got dropped huh."

"Should we pick them?"

"Go pick two."

"Just two?"

"Yea."

The enemies were nothing special so the treasure chests must be nothing of note either. They've got no time to pick them all up and check the insides. Thus they won't be picking up treasure chests. Or carve out the bodies for mats. However, Lecan wants to check on two of the treasure chests here to verify something.

Eda picked two treasure chests that looked like they would have swords inside.

And two swords there were.

Lecan recited <Appraisal> spell.

"<Appraisal>."

But nothing happened.

"Lecan. Wasn't magic unusable here?"

"Oh right."

Lecan drew the two swords and compared the two in both his hands.

They're different.

There's just something about them.

Lecan hit the two swords on each other.

One of the swords broke.

(It's Depths.)

(There's probably a huge gulf difference in Depths between these two swords.)

(Magic beasts in the same herd can have a varying degree of strength.)

(Nodlein mentioned that.)

(Always suspected as much though.)

(Figured this Dungeon Yufu.)

(Is that kind of dungeon.)

He received several objects from Nodlein last night.

The results of appraising those objects showed that some has a Depth of 120 and some 55. He found that odd when Dungeon Yufu only has one floor, and the reason for that has been made clear just now.

"What's up, Lecan?"

"If it were in other dungeons, one of these swords is an item dropped on the first floor while the other gonna be on floor 50 to 60."

"Eh? You mean magic beasts from all kinds of floors strength-wise could crop up together here even on the same floor?"

"Exactly. That's how it works. We mustn't let our guard down since some of those magic beasts could potentially be much stronger than other in the flock."

"Gotcha. I'll stay on my toes."

They resumed their advance.

They slowed down soon after as they arrived at a zone with tall grass everywhere.

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