by Fujino Omori
It all came down to this: The residents of the town of Rivira were not in the same familia. It was to be expected from a group of rogues. Teamwork was not in their vocabulary.
The newly leveled-up Level 2 Chigusa fought side by side with Mikoto, their movements blending together so well they looked like afterimages of each other. The teachings of Takemikazuchi, a god of martial arts, served them well as a pile of monster corpses built up at their feet. On the other hand, the other upper-class adventurers continued to fight as individuals in chaos.
“Don’t know what else to expect from adventurers, but…!”
A line of battle developed between friend and foe. No one in the extermination team lent anyone a helping hand as they continued to fight their own battles.
Ouka had willingly joined the fray as one of the new arrivals, but one look at their ragtag parties made him sigh as he chopped a liger fang in two with the battle-ax in his hands. His efforts saved an Amazon in the group of attackers from certain death.
“—This beast’s got a bit more pep than the usual ones!”
An adventurer yelled from the main battlefield after trying to engage the giant head-on.
Just as the many species of monsters that roamed the hallways of the Dungeon varied in strength among individuals, so did the Monster Rex. The Goliath spawned this time was definitely one of the stronger ones, or so claimed a blood-splattered animal person in the attacker group.
The joint battle party was disheartened by this frightening news. Even so, they bravely joined the extermination veterans from Rivira and charged out onto the battlefield over and over.
“Tsk! We need more…You there! Go back to town and get some help! You got ten minutes!”
“Like hell I can pull that off, Boris!”
The makeshift commander of this extermination force from Rivira barked the command, but the human on the other end yelled back his own complaint. He still turned to run toward the tunnel that connected the floors, but his send-off amounted to Boris shouting, “Shut up and do it!” behind him.
Including the extra members from Bell’s battle party, there were forty adventurers fighting in the cavern.
Either they’d been reluctant to commit more people to the extermination party or they hadn’t taken it seriously, but it was too late to do anything about it now.
There was also Rakia’s invasion to take into consideration.
A great number of the upper-class adventurers who normally resided in Rivira had been called back to the surface to join the Alliance and were currently outside the city wall. The fact that none of the extermination team ranked above Level 4 was proof of that. Even the Level 3s could be counted on one hand. The second-tier adventurers were needed all over the battlefield in support. Bell was racing here and there like a speedy white rabbit and had no time to charge his Skill that could bring them back from the brink—even the powerful gravity magic that Mikoto had at her disposal wouldn’t be much help because of the low ceiling and the number of her allies who would be caught up in it along with the monsters.
Their only hope lay in reinforcements coming up from the eighteenth floor. However, considering the distance they had to travel, as well as the time it took to equip armor and weapons, their saviors wouldn’t arrive for some time.
Everyone could feel they were fighting a losing battle, and morale started to drain from the adventurers.
Without the help of a concentrated blast from the magic users, the adventurers manning the Wall took too much punishment. One sweeping kick from the giant’s foot sent an entire group flying.
“GYAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
“Dammit…!”
Many voices cried out in pain as shields and bodies flipped through the air. Welf swore to himself as he fended off a monster with his greatsword.
Next, his free hand reached behind his shoulder.
Another long weapon was strapped to his back, just underneath his greatsword’s sheath. He had forged it just in case things went south during their mini-expedition—a Crozzo Magic Sword. Wrapping his fingers around its hilt, he pulled it free.
To be blunt, he didn’t care if any of these nameless rogues lived or died. But at this rate, the giant’s overwhelming power was putting his friends at risk. He would not compromise his allies for his pride. “Dammit, dammit!” he spat through gritted teeth as he raised the sparkling dark-red blade high above his head.
This sword would be overkill, but he took aim at the Goliath and prepared to bring it down, when suddenly—
“Grow.”
“!!”
An elegant singing voice reached his ears.
He turned toward the alluring sound and saw someone by herself in a corner of the cavern that was devoid of adventurers and monsters—the supporter Haruhime.
Mikoto and Lilly fought valiantly to protect the girl. The hood of her cloak was extremely low over her face as she continued casting.
“Confine divine offerings within this body. This golden light bestowed from above. Into the hammer and into the ground, may it bestow good fortune upon youGrow.”
Welf near jumped out of his boots when he realized the gorgeous melody emanating from her was nearing completion. The name of the spell escaped her lips a heartbeat later.
“Uchide no Kozuchi.”
Mikoto, who had fallen back to protect the supporters, was engulfed in a pillar of light that took the shape of a hammer from above.
She was the target of Haruhime’s Level Boost. The hammer of light disappeared, leaving behind a sparkling residue on her body.
Lilly was quick to remove her own black cloak—the Goliath robe—and throw it over the shoulders of the girl covered in the twinkling lights.
Mikoto pulled the hood over her face just as low as Haruhime had and wrapped her body in the dark fabric before racing off into the chaos.
“!!”
A black arrow shot through the battlefield, cutting through everything in its way.
The knife Chizan tore asunder the monsters unlucky enough to be in her path, their limbs and torsos flying left and right. She then zipped past the business owners of Rivira and Mord’s band of rogues and made her way toward the giant that was still kicking its way through the walls.
In very similar fashion to traditional board games of the Far East, Mikoto had leveled up into a more powerful piece. Now on equal footing with the Level 3 adventurers, she wasted no time in coming to their aid.
Attackers moved in to cover the members of the newly destroyed wall. They drew the beast’s attention as others got clear. Mikoto, however, was free to use that window to attack and quickly jumped into close range. Her sparkling arms thrust Chizan back into its sheath and drew Kotetsu in one swift motion.
“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
The katana emerged from its casing with blinding speed and cut into the Goliath’s leg with a flash of light.
From there, the beast that had allowed Mikoto to get close so quickly took more hits all over its body.
“?!”
A stream of blood spurted from the giant’s thick, stubby left leg.
The sturdy ash-gray hide had been pierced. The deep gash was pouring blood, a blow that signaled a change in the tide of battle.
Losing strength in its knee, the Goliath tumbled to the ground with a loud thud and accompanying shock wave.
The other second-tier adventurers, including Bell as well as the ones under Ouka’s command, watched in amazement as the katana-wielding figure in the black robe deftly avoided the giant’s fall and carved through another area of the battlefield like a black arrow shot from a bow.
“That’s gotta be cheating…!”
Seeing Mikoto’s incredible slash—no, the awe-inspiring power of Haruhime’s Level Boost—left Welf speechless. The shock was so powerful that he forgot to be proud of the fact that one of his weapons had delivered the blow that had literally brought down the giant.
“Holy shit!” “Who does that gu
y belong to?!” Cheers and praise for the mysterious hooded adventurer erupted from the ranks of Rivira’s adventurers as she performed a perfect hit-and-run maneuver. While managing to keep her identity a secret, Mikoto could feel all the eyes on her from beneath the Goliath robe. She turned around to make another attack run on the floor boss. It was the same technique that she’d seen with her own eyes used against the Black Goliath, movements that mirrored her vivid memories of the “Gale Wind.”
Behind all the thrilled spectators, Welf, Lilly, and Haruhime quickly distanced themselves from Mikoto’s starting point to avoid any unwanted attention.
“All you lazy attackers, forward! Cut it up! NOOOOOWWWWW!”
It was the chance they’d been waiting for. Spirits suddenly alight, a wave of adventurers charged forward while yelling at the top of their lungs.
There was one strategy for taking on large-category monsters and floor bosses: hit them low, bring them down.
The attackers were practically drooling as they saw their target writhing in pain on the ground.
Greatswords, war hammers, and battle-axes glinting menacingly in the dim light, the wave of adventurers reached the Goliath and raised their weapons.
Then…
“—Let me have a crack at it.”
A shadow burst out of nowhere, crossing the battlefield in the blink of an eye and severing the giant’s right arm.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“Wha…?”
Welf froze as soon as he got a good look at the person who had landed at the beast’s side.
One thick katana, crimson hakama, and long black hair swishing from the momentum in her sudden stop. His lips moved on their own.
“Tsubaki…”
Almost as if she’d heard him, the newcomer turned to Welf and flashed a grin.
The Goliath’s arm arced through the air and landed a short distance away, crushing all the monsters unfortunate enough to be beneath it. Bell, Mikoto, Ouka, and all other adventurers present spent the moment in stunned silence.
Wheat-colored skin and black hair tied back into a ponytail. Her minimalist armor was just gauntlets and a few other light plates around her body. With the large katana in her grasp and choice of clothing, she had the air of a swordswoman from an island nation in the Far East.
But the one feature that stood out above all else was the bandage covering her left eye.
“Cy…Cyclops…”
“…Level Five.”
Several adventurers gulped as they beheld the warrior who bore so many similarities to the Goddess of the Forge, Hephaistos.
“W-WE WON, YA BASTAAAAAAAAAARDS!!”
The arrival of the leader of the smith—part artisan, part top-tier adventurer Tsubaki—invigorated the adventurers even further, and they cheered in celebration.
That was the finishing blow.
Her presence on the battlefield skyrocketed morale to an all-time high, and the tide of battle completely tilted in their favor. Loud cheers caught the attention of other adventurers who were finishing off the last of the smaller monsters, and they came rushing in toward the fallen giant. Even the joint battle party joined in the charge once they got their bearings back.
The extermination party’s mission was completed in a matter of moments with the help of the Level 5 smith. The large cavern fell silent soon after.
A scramble for the loot ensued soon after the floor boss was slain.
Everyone tried to lay claim to not only the larger-than-usual Monster Rex magic stone but the Goliath Fang that appeared in the ashes of the beast. The small mountain of magic stones from the smaller monsters was also up for grabs.
Those on the outside of the scrum—as extras who came in later, they weren’t allowed to stake any claim—were either overwhelmed by the Rivira business owners trying to sell some of the smallest magic stones or standing in awe of the spectacle as a whole. “We’re adventurers, what else is there to say?” Mord said with a forced smile as he and his rogues walked by with their share of the loot firmly in their meaty arms.
Since it didn’t make any sense to see how the battle for the remaining valuables turned out, the joint battle party of Hestia Familia and Takemikazuchi Familia decided to go down to the eighteenth floor because they were so close anyway.
A safe point filled with lush greens and beautiful crystals where no monsters were born.
A mass of blue and white crystals, shaped like a mum flower, sat in the middle of the crystal blue “sky” over the floor known as the Under Resort. Bell and the rest of the party finally had a chance to rest their tired bodies.
“Once again, we come to the eighteenth floor without planning on it…”
Lilly muttered as she shielded her eyes from the sparkling light of the flower crystal that shone far overhead like the midday sun.
The party members who were involved in the events that took place a month and a half ago reflected on their experience as the remaining members of Takemikazuchi Familia admired the scenery with a mixture of awe and wonder. Haruhime, who had only just recently gone through Conversion, eagerly swished her thick fox tail back and forth as she smiled alongside Mikoto and Chigusa. The three girls were each remembering the same thing: the scenery where they played together as children. “It’s like we’ve stepped back in time,” said Ouka with a forced smile as he watched their little group from afar. However, Bell and Welf could hear the excitement in his voice that his stoic expression wouldn’t show.
Several rivers wound their way through the forest in the southern region of the eighteenth floor. A few of the tired adventurers kneeled at their banks and drank some of the clear water, while the others sprawled out on the grassy floor. The joint battle party was just starting to recover from the fight against the floor boss when the rest of Rivira’s adventurers finally made their way through the connecting tunnel. “Why don’cha come up to the town?” shouted one of them as he waved. More spoke up, saying they were going to celebrate their victory, and invited them to join in.
Part of their motivation was guilt for keeping them out of the loot scrum. They were in a great mood and offered to treat them to a feast as an apology. Their offer was difficult to refuse. The joint battle party was just that tired.
So they joined the group of adventurers traveling west toward the rocky island in the middle of a lake. Crossing the log bridge to the island, it wasn’t long before they arrived at the town on the cliff and passed through the wooden gate at its entrance.
“Oh wow…! Is this the town of Rivira?”
“Um, is this your first time here, Miss Haruhime?”
“Yes, it is. I participated in many ventures during my time with Lady Ishtar and have thus passed through this floor many times…but I was never allowed to enter the town.”
Haruhime’s Level Boost and her very existence had to be kept top secret, so she had been hidden from view as often as possible. Now she was walking among the various tents and ragtag shops, gazing at the crystals and blushing with joy. The renart’s fox tail and ears moved back and forth excitedly as she couldn’t decide where to look. Bell could feel the excitement emanating from her and blushed when the two made eye contact for a moment.
The town of Rivira had a great view of the lake directly below as well as the expansive forest to the south and east. There was also a great deal of black-market money being made inside the tents and shops that lined the town’s streets. A bar had been built directly into the Dungeon terrain. Many happy and drunk voices echoed from the other side of the door in the cliff face.
The streets were much less crowded than the last time they were here, due to Rakia’s attack. Even so, uplifting melodies from string and wind instruments filled the town. Everything was peaceful beneath the crystal sky underground.
“That was some nice work up there, Little Rookie! Would have been screwed without you!” said the “leader” of Rivira, Boris Elder.
Extremely muscular, the adventurer stood even taller than Ouka
.
Most members of Bell’s battle party had seen him many times during the large-scale fight against the Black Goliath and recognized him right away.
He wasn’t someone easy to forget, with his intimidating build and gruff aura.
“You bein’ here means Hestia Familia’s going for the Deep Zone, that right?”
“Uh, yeah…Eventually.”
“Atta boy! We’ll be your staging area for attack runs to the Deep Zone! I’ll make sure everybody gives you a discount, fellow adventurer!”
Just like Mord, the leader of Rivira had seen what Bell did against the Irregular Black Goliath, and he was comparatively friendly with the white-haired human boy.
“Yes, keep coming back! Many times!” said the man who recognized Bell’s power with a mighty grin; he wrapped his beefy arm around the boy’s shoulders. Lilly, however, eyed him suspiciously as she walked behind them.
“…Oh yeah, Little Rookie. Somethin’ I wanted to ask you about.”
“A-and that is?”
Slightly intimidated by the fleshy tree trunk around his shoulders, Bell forced a shaky smile and looked up at the leader. The man tried his best to look docile and brought his voice down very low to ask.
“That magic-sword blacksmith is with you, ain’t he? Can you introduce me?”
“C’mon, please!! Make me a magic sword!”
Wrinkles appeared in the middle of Welf’s brow.
It happened in the middle of the feast, free of charge as promised, when Bell had left the group to go talk to the leader and Welf had gone on his own to find a comfortable spot at the base of twin crystals, one blue and one white.
The greatsword and magic sword were still strapped to his back as a small horde of adventurers rushed up to him, shouting as loudly as they could.
“A powerful one, like those amazing magic swords I saw in the War Game!”
