The lift descended at a pace as slow as a walking stride. The ride was quiet. I could feel neither the mechanism moving nor the floor vibrating. If the scenery on each floor hadn’t flowed past above us, I might not even have realized we were moving.
“…This is another secret of the dungeon, huh.”
Nils-san murmured, glancing briefly at Safi before looking at me.
“You’ve kept surprising me at every turn.”
Ah—I realized something.
Nils-san shrugged, a faint smile tugging at his lips. He didn’t look angry, but I couldn’t help lowering my gaze.
“I’m sorry. I really meant to tell you before we entered the dungeon…”
After Felix-san’s speech to the Warrior Corps, I had intended to explain about the gods and Safi to Nils-san. As he is going to be part of the party, he needed to know about the gods in case of an emergency. Eventually, I wanted him to understand the truth of the myths in the Frost Orb chamber of the Odis Temple.
But before departure, Nils-san had been absent for a short while, and I hadn’t had the chance.
“…Ah, so it was that time.”
Nils-san gave a wry smile.
“Sorry. After the speech, I was looking for my collaborator. I received word last night that we could meet.”
Felix-san narrowed his eyes.
“You’re saying you gave him information about the slave traders?”
“Yeah. In the end, we couldn’t meet. I was searching for a while, which is probably why I crossed paths with you, Rion.”
Nils-san relaxed his expression, as if to say we’re even.
…I couldn’t really bring myself to ask, “Did you get lost again?”
“So? Is there anything else you can tell me?”
“Y-Yes… uhm…”
The lift shook suddenly.
We had entered a narrow, vertical passage, and the scenery was now completely obscured. Using my detection skill, I noticed a sound growing steadily louder.
“…The sound of a waterfall?”
We must have reached close to the tenth level.
Then, suddenly, the view brightened.
“Wow…!”
I was overwhelmed—it was a sight unlike any other.
Beyond the vertical corridor lay a breathtaking panorama. A sheer cliff stood several dozen meters ahead, spilling water that scattered dazzling light everywhere. The space seemed to form a gentle circular shape.
Taken as a whole, it resembled an upside-down cup. We were inside it, descending downward.
“All of this… is from magic stone lights…?”
Mia-san was dumbfounded.
The cliff, the distant ceiling, every surface glittered with light. Even below, the water reflected the glow. Water and light floated in the dimness, as if someone had plucked the stars from the night sky and scattered them throughout the dungeon. From the numerous waterfalls cascading downward, I could feel the vitality of the water itself with every breath.
“A space this vast..…”
Felix-san immediately brought a hand to his mouth.
“No… that makes sense. The dungeon isn’t shaped like a tower, but like an island—like a mountain. It follows that the lower we go, the larger the space becomes…!”
“I see… that’s how it is.”
Safi nodded with satisfaction, glancing at me briefly.
“As expected of a god’s handiwork.”
『U-uhm…』
Solana’s voice came faintly from the gold coin. She seemed about to say something, and I quietly asked,
“What is it?”
『…Even compared to the dungeons in the royal capital, this mechanism is incredible.』
“That’s true.”
The space was vast enough in both width and height to fit an entire castle inside.
Looking down, the lift didn’t seem supported by anything; it floated through the air as it moved. Considering the magic required… it truly was astounding.
Solana’s voice continued.
『…Could this really have been just a simple emergency shelter…?』
I couldn’t continue speaking.
Instead, I felt a new vibration beneath me. The air began to tremble, gradually growing stronger. Soon, it became a roaring gogogo, shaking the entire space.
Safi flattened herself to the floor.
“W-what!?”
The waterfall flowing in suddenly surged with incredible force. Even though it should have been dozens of meters away, spray flew toward us.
My eyes followed the water instinctively.
Below, the water twisted into a tornado-like whirl. Then it surged upward. The spiraling column passed right beside us and rose, sucked into a hole carved into the wall above.
“There’s a monster in the water!”
Nils-san pointed at the watery vortex.
The power of Blessing of the God of Hunting captured a red glow.
A Sahagin—or rather, a small water dragon. The monsters rode the water, rising and heading straight for the hole in the wall. I couldn’t help but gasp aloud.
“Monsters…. to the upper floors…?”
One by one, whirlpools of water carried the monsters upward to the higher floors. The sight was overwhelming—but terrifying.
『Hmm… the dungeon is activate? If that’s the case, this is bad.』
As if responding to Loki’s voice, the sound intensified. A rumble from the earth—yes, I’d never heard anything like it before, but this must be what an earth rumble feels like. The air, the cliffs, the floor—all of them vibrated.
Safi screamed, clinging tightly to the platform. Everyone else lowered their stances as well. The lift swayed from side to side, still moving down. Falling from such a height would mean being slammed dozens of meters down.
The slow movement of the lift felt maddening.
“Ah… this is why I hate lifts!”
“It’s not my fault, you know!?”
Mia-san and Safi bickered quietly.
Among the rumbling, a low growl came up from the lower levels. The sound echoed, striking my ears again and again.
『A dragon specie…』
Thor’s words echoed in my head.
I remembered. Flocia Dungeon. The monsters on the boss floors were large dragon species.
“…Could the boss have regained its strength from the ashes and is now disrupting the dungeon?”
Even the lesser water dragons could manipulate water.
Could it be that a larger boss is controlling the water throughout the dungeon, carrying monsters upward…?
“Seems like that’s a possibility,”
At Felix-san’s words, Safi shouted.
“W-wait a minute! This thing is powered by that water too!?”
The lift shook. It rocked side to side, then back and forth, suddenly losing the stability we had held until now. We were tossed from side to side like leaves in a storm.
“We’re… falling!”
Nils-san’s warning and the lift losing power happened at the same instant. The descent accelerated.
No—it wasn’t just speeding up. We were falling.
““Waaah!””
The drop looked like more than four floors!
I gripped the gold coin in my pocket desperately.
“Wake up!”
Light scattered, and the gods appeared.
One by one, they caught us as we floated through the air.
Solana caught me, Uru caught Mia-san, and Sigris held Nils-san securely. The most impressive was the massive Thor, who carried Safi, Felix-san and the three Warrior Corps members all at once.
A crushing sound echoed from below. The lift must have slammed into the ground.
“This… this is…”
Nils-san stood frozen, stunned.
Even as Solana and the others released their grip, we continued to descend slowly, wrapped in golden light.
I straightened and nodded, trying to look as much like an adventurer as possible.
“This is my power that hasn’t been revealed until now.”
It was time to reveal my Alarm skill to him.
“My Alarm skill has the ability, “Unseal”, the power to lift dungeon’s seals. And—”
I gestured toward the gods who were supporting us.
“These are the ancient gods who once battled the monsters. Right now, we are—awakening them to fight, so that an ‘end-of-the-world’ scenario, like the one announced in the global message, does not come to pass.”
Nils-san looked back and forth between me and the gods.
His wide eyes were filled with surprise, and perhaps even awe.
Thor, towering over two meters. Solana, radiant like the sun. Sigris in blue armor. Uru in his hunting garb and Loki, the dark-robed deity.
The gentle golden light enveloped us, carrying us downward through the swaying, immense space.
“I believe… this will let you protect your family too.”
I reached out my hand.
Nils-san pulled a charred necklace from his pocket and closed his eyes.
“…The gods… huh.”
He smiled firmly and took my hand.
“Understood!”
Almost immediately after the handshake, we landed atop the shattered lift.
The lowest level.
—Guuoooooooh!
The roar of the boss echoed through the long corridor.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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