After leaving the Homeless cafeteria, the royal army continued their dive and in two days, they reached the twentieth floor.
“Explosive Sword Dance!”
Arvish’s sharp slash causes an explosion as soon as it hits the orc. Blood and pieces of flesh were scattered, and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air.
“Air Cutter!”
Feria also raised her wand and fired magic. The wind blade tore two orcs into pieces and a large amount of fresh blood spread across the cobblestones.
“Coby, how far are we to the stairs?”
Arvish asked as he wiped his sword with a cloth.
“From what I remember, we are almost there danna-sama.”
“I’ve been wanting to ask you for a while now but, do you really remember all the route up to the thirtieth floor?”
“Of course I remember. That’s my biggest selling point after all. I don’t know all the paths, but you can leave the shortest route to stairs and Temple of Teleportation to me.”
Feria, who has finished fighting, comes to them.
“Looks aside, I’ll praise him on the fact that he’s a usable guy. At least more so than…..”
She shifted her gaze to look at the soldiers sitting in the dimly lit corridor. Some have bandages on their legs and arms and some are gasping in pain. When they left the cafeteria, they were tired from the continuous battle with the magical beasts. It was the special environment of the dungeon that repeatedly tormented them. Staying in the dark and oppressive basement for days on was mentally exhausting for the soldiers.
“Stop saying that Feria. They are human. They are not like us who have evolved.”
“But at this rate, even if we take time, I can’t kill Erna.”
“I know. But still, we need these soldiers. We need them to act as meat shields when the time comes.”
“You’re right.… Tsk!, it’s really annoying though.”
Feria walks up to the soldiers and uses healing magic. In an instant, their wound closed, and those with missing arms, it is regenerated again. It is a special grade water magic called Aquarius Recovery.
One by one, the soldiers thanked Feria. However, she remained expressionless as she tells them,
“This is all I can do to heal you. I can’t use my precious magical power over and over again to useless people like you. Next time, just kill yourself quietly.”
“Yes!”
Five thousand soldiers bowed their heads with happy expressions. Feria stiffens, she has spoken such words yet she received an unexpected reaction. She let her gaze wander to the ceiling and walls and turned back to Arvish.
“What do they mean?”
Arvish, who had been watching the whole thing, blurted out with a surprised expression,
“No way… are they.…. all of them are they masochists!?”
◇◇◇
The army finally reached the twenty-first floor. The entire floor was a swamp and Arvish decided to take a big rest here.
“I thought we are finally on a large floor. Urgh, it’s damp and disgusting!”
With the bonfire in front of her, Feria complained while a few soldiers massaged her shoulders and arms. Arvish, who is lying nearby, was not listening to her and he stares blankly at the dimly lit ceiling.
“I can’t believe this is underground. I never knew that there was such a large area of land in the Great Dungeon.”
“Hehe, is this the first time danna-sama has come here?”
Coby asked Arvish as he stirred the pot.
“Yeah. I’ve never been to Mohed Great Dungeon you see. You have been here, right?”
“Of course. I passed through here with the comrades I used to have.”
“What happened to your comrades?”
“Dead. Everyone just left me behind.”
“I see…”
Arvish stopped asking questions. He decided that it was not a good idea to know the past of the person he would eventually kill. He stared at the ceiling for a while, then suddenly, he heard a scream from somewhere.
“Uwaaaaaaaa! There’s a griffon!”
A black griffon swooped down on the military campsite. It knocked the pots and dishes away with its feet, and then it tears apart soldiers with its claws. As it roared, air cutters were fired indiscriminately from around the griffon.
“A black griffon!? Don’t tell me…. it’s a mutant specie?”
“Arvish-sama! It’s not the time to talk about it. If we don’t kill it quickly, the damage will be great!”
Arvish and Feria hurriedly grabbed their weapons and run to the enemy. When the griffon saw the two of them, it stopped its attack and went into a state of alert.
“You darn black beast! You really did it!”
Arvish drew his sword and readied himself. Feria stood behind him, clutching her wand ready to shoot at any moment.
“Gurrrrr”
“It’s stronger than a normal griffon… It’s also smart. It is staring at my weapon.”
One by one, they kept their distance and waited for an opportunity to attack. The soldiers can only watch with their weapons in hand.
“Fu!”
It was Arvish who moved first. He closes the distance with a single jump and then he slashed diagonally from below. The griffon was quick to predict his sword attack and with the instantaneous power peculiar to the cat family, it greatly dodged backwards.
“Arvish-sama, I’ll do it! Aqua Prison!”
Holding up her wand, Feria unleashes her original magic. Raining down on a single point, countless water balls appeared around the griffon. The griffon struggled against the rushing water, but was gradually absorbed into the water ball, and in a few seconds, a huge mass of water about five meters in diameter was formed. The griffon goes on a rampage trying to escape while spitting out air bubbles.
“An original magic that can only be handled by a master-level mage huh. My dear Feria is really amazing.”
“Water Prison is an original magic created by the Benesse family, and the magic I created is even more powerful.”
“I know. You are the best mage.”
Feria felt estatic hearing Arvish’s words. The soldiers also decided that the battle is over and they all relaxed their stance.
“Flame Burst.”
As Professor Jill spoke, the water prison burst into flames and it exploded. A gust of hot wind swept up, and the mass of water that had been holding the griffon evaporated in an instant. Arvish and the soldiers had no idea what had happened.
“Have you seen the power of my Lich? With one blow, I finished that griffon you are having trouble with!”
Professor Jill excitedly looks at the scene of black smoke rising. Beside him is an artificial Lich with its right hand stretched in front, it is not moving in the slightest. It has a fire magic stone on its forehead, and its eyes, which are filled with darkness, do not show any emotion.
“That’s the enemy I defeated! You just dealt the final blow! I demand that you correct your statement!”
Feria immediately vents her anger. The professor began to laugh when he heard her words.
“Bwahahaha! You just caught it! It’s my lich who killed! That result remains the same! Well, I can just praise you for stopping the griffon’s movements!”
Feria clutched her wand tightly. Blood was dripping from between her fingers. Arvish let out a small sigh looking at her appearance. He decided to warn the professor.
“Professor Jill, don’t use the Lich carelessly. The magic emitted by the magical beast is powerful and it can involve allies in the attack. From now on, you will have to get my permission before you make a move.”
“Is it a restriction because it’s too strong? That’s not bad. Got it, I’ll follow the instructions.”
The professor replied in a good mood. This time, Arvish was about to speak to Feria to calm her anger when a soldier rushed up to him impatiently.
“I have a report. I can’t find the corpse of the enemy who was supposedly killed in the previous battle!”
“What are you talking about? Didn’t you see the battle just now? It was torn apart by the explosion so of course there is no way it will remain in its original form!”
“N-No, I mean, I can’t even find a piece of its flesh! It is as if it disappeared, there’s nothing found at all.”
“No way…!”
Arvish checks the battle-torn ground. As the soldier said, there was no blood or a piece of flesh to be seen. In fact, not even a feather has fallen off.
It was so weird that he can’t shake the feeling of unease. A figure suddenly popped into his mind.
“Was that griffon an enemy he sent? But, how could that be? Does this mean he has a skill that we don’t know?”
Arvish mumbled his thoughts, but he didn’t seem to be able to get an answer. So he assumes that Shinichi Tanaka has the ability to manipulate magical beasts and decides to move forward. When the royal army departs, the person who has been waiting in the distance begins to move.
Arvish doesn’t know yet, but someone from Mana has been watching them all the time.
◇◇◇
“We have identified some of their skills and capabilities. We are going to keep the task force in place.”
In a dimly lit room with candlelight, several figures around a large long table were listening to him. No, there is one person who is munching on a cookie on the table.
“Oi, Erna! Have you been listening to me?”
“I’m listening. It is that the kingdom’s army is going inside the dungeon to kill us, right?”
“That’s not all of it! There is also the matter about Arvish, who is now called a hero, then Feria, a master-level mage, as well as Professor Jill, who has four Lich with him. There are others whose abilities are unclear at the moment. If we are not careful, we could get killed you know.”
“Shinichi is worrying too much. There is no way that we, who have evolved, will lose. Besides, the power difference is too large. Even Shinichi alone can annihilate them you know.”
“That is what is called complacency. Let me reiterate, the power of the Lich they have with them is unknown, in addition to that, the report says it’s not just a magical beast. In other words, it could be their trump card.”
Erna reaches for the cookie again, saying, “They are not the enemy of a superior elf.”
Sure, I agree with her, but there is always a “what if”. At least the kingdom isn’t stupid enough to stand up against Homeless without doing any preparations at all. The fact that Professor Jill is with them should be seen as the best evidence.
“Speaking of Professor Jill, wasn’t he the one who sent out a nomination request to the Homeless before?”
Freya asks as she strokes the fur on Pero’s chest with her hand.
“That’s right. I think the request he gave was for us to get Lich’s skull. I think it is related to those four figures.”
“Related? Isn’t it possible that the professor can also make a familiar?”
“We don’t know that yet. That is why we will have to continue to gather information.”
It’s hard to think of it as just a magical beast. The professor should know that Homeless party are good enough to beat a normal Lich. Maybe he has collected a mutant species of lich. Then he is making them obey by subordination. It would be safer to think along those lines for the time being. It’s good to be vigilant.
(The griffon is in danger. Evacuate it quickly.)
I heard a voice in my head. This is a report from a person monitoring the army. With my skill, Familiar summoning, I immediately summoned the griffon that had been sent out to fight against them.
A light appeared on the floor of the room we are in and then a dripping wet griffon appeared. He is limp and seems to be quite exhausted.
“Sukejiro, carry this guy outside.”
“Katakata”
Sukejiro, who was sitting in his seat, stands up and leaves the room with the griffon carried in his hands. Suketarou, who was watching the situation, called out to me.
“Katakata”
“Well, I sent it out to gauge the strength of the enemy. It seems that they are stronger than I expected. The report I received just now said that the griffon could not do anything. It seems that they would be a tough opponent after all.”
When I said that, Suketarou crossed his arms and began to think about something. As a general of the homeless army, he must have felt a sense of crisis.
“There is no need to rush, there’s still time before they get here. The next operation is already being prepared. We’ll have to figure out what they’re capable of by then.”
“Katakata”
Suketarou clattered his chin and salutes. His dimly glowing red eyes seemed to be filled with determination.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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