It was a vast chamber shrouded in dim darkness.
Pale blue light poured in from a hole in the ceiling. Perhaps there were magic stone lamps up there, but due to the dungeon’s disturbances, the room felt like it was shrouded in the gloom of pre-dawn. A corridor stretched straight from the chamber, faintly visible in the fog.
Glancing back toward us, countless barrels were scattered about. Some lay on their sides, others stood upright. All emitted thick, black smoke.
“Hmph!”
The massive Thor stomped on one of the barrels, crushing it. Black powder spilled out from it. Lightning crackled at Thor’s feet, incinerating the powder instantly.
“The Ashes!”
Solana glared around the chamber.
I felt a chill at the sight of the barrels. The black smoke made the dimness seem even darker.
“…All of the barrels in this room?”
“Yes. So you’re right, this is a major base for slave traders.”
The goddess rose into the air. Her golden light drove back the darkness.
“As the Daughter of the Sun, I shall purge this evil.”
The barrels throughout the chamber erupted, spewing even more black smoke. They surged toward Solana, as if resisting, but a wave of her hand shattered them.
“Know the light of the sun.”
Golden light rained down. Each barrel was crushed, its contents annihilated. The black smoke vanished from the dim chamber, revealing the corridor stretching ahead.
Felix-san picked up fragments of the broken barrels in his hands.
“…It looks like some kind of magical rune has been inscribed here.”
Safi peered up from below, and Uru from above, each of them leaning toward Felix-san’s hands to get a closer look.
“More than that—it’s an actual magical rune.”
“Runes are written characters. Even low-level ones can be used by monsters. It seems they sealed magic into barrels and stored them here in the dungeon.”
Felix-san let out a sigh. Together with the other Warrior Corps members, he surveyed the fragments scattered across the room.
“No wonder they couldn’t be found on the surface no matter how thoroughly we searched. If the storage had failed, the dungeon itself would have caused chaos. The monsters could have acted as guards in the meantime.”
The slave trader who had targeted my sister… we had just cut off one of his sources of power.
I activated my skill to sense the area. The presence of monsters was dense, yet the floor was eerily silent. Even the source of the roar we had heard earlier seemed to be lying in wait.
Surely… they are in the boss room.
Mia-san ran her fingers through her red hair and tapped her shoulder with her axe.
“So, before the Warrior Corps could step in, they decided to scatter it all for effect, huh?”
We moved toward the corridor ahead.
Thanks to the blessing of Uru, the God of Hunting, I could sense the ground beneath my feet. I crouched and signaled for everyone to halt.
“If that’s the case… the enemy must have passed through here.”
The main corridor had the feel of a cave. Rough, jagged walls. A high ceiling with stones hanging like icy stalactites. The passage is wide enough for a carriage to pass. It didn’t resemble the artificially hidden areas, so this must be part of the dungeon’s original structure.
And on the moss-covered ground, a clear trail of many footprints was imprinted.
“The people who scattered the ashes… they were afraid of the Warrior Corps and fled into the normal areas?”
It was a rough guess, but Felix-san nodded in agreement.
“That possibility is high. Eventually, they’ll either be found by other adventurers or attacked by monsters…”
I stood up.
Now was not the time to worry about them.
We pressed forward toward the boss layer once more.
The recommended adventurer level for Flocia Dungeon is level 30. The thirteenth floor, its deepest level, was a maze of long, intersecting corridors. Monsters could appear from the waterways on either side, making this area a sort of preliminary battle before the boss.
If we were to challenge the boss, we’d have to keep moving forward through the layers.
—Suddenly, Mia-san stopped in her tracks.
“…We’ve dealt with the ashes. Should we just turn back?”
“That’s not an option.”
Felix-san shook his head.
“The monsters strengthened by the ashes… most likely the boss is manipulating the flow of water, sending them to the upper layers.”
“…If there’s a strengthened boss, we can’t just leave it be.”
Mia-san nodded in agreement.
I felt the same way.
“I have concerns as well.”
Sigris placed a hand on her chin. The Medicine God, Sigris, lowered her blue eyes and spoke in a cold, measured voice.
“Goddess Freyja’s dungeon seems designed to draw water from the lakebed, purifying the entire lake. If the monsters distort this system, the surrounding farmland could wither completely.”
Everyone fell silent.
We had just seen Flocia city and the lush green lands around it on our journey—it was impossible not to imagine them turning to ruin.
“Let’s move forward, everyone.”
Keeping our detection skills active, we continued through the dungeon. Once a fight was inevitable, there were countless things we had to check and prepare for.
“…Gods, how does it feel?”
Soaring above us, Solana shivered slightly.
“Hm. As expected, the deeper we go, the stronger the seal becomes. Especially—near the boss chamber, the chill intensifies.”
The goddess furrowed her brow.
“…Strange. This is colder than any seal I’ve ever felt before.”
“Rion”
Solana started, turning her gaze toward me.
“From this point onward, we cannot intervene easily. To maintain our strength, we will return to the coin.”
“Understood. That’s fine.”
Scattering light around them, the gods returned to the coin.
Nils-san watched with interest as all five gods retreated. We shared a little about each other’s abilities, and then, at last, we arrived in front of the boss chamber.
“…It’s quiet. In the end, no monsters appeared on this floor.”
“Ah, that’s…”
I responded to Nils-san.
“The Temple of Odis has strengthened the seal with an item called the ‘Frost Orb.’ The ashes were scattered some time ago, so right now, the orb’s power might be prevailing…”
A thought crossed my mind.
Could the reason the gods felt such cold in the deepest layer be the influence of this ‘Frost Orb’?
Still, with Solana’s enhanced seal-breaking ‘Awakening Light of the Sun’, the gods could stay on the surface for longer periods.
Even so, if they feel a chill so strong that they can’t venture outside, doesn’t that suggest something lies beyond the boss room?
—Something sealed with extraordinary power.
That “something”…
What kind of goddess is Freyja, really?
“Frost Orb?”
Felix-san cleared his throat to stop Nils-san, who was tilting his head.
“Rion, let’s go ahead now.”
“…Y-yes.”
The entrance to the boss area was a waterfall.
As we approached, the waterfall split into two, creating a path like a curtain opening. A room so large that the end was barely visible. The walls were as high as cliffs, with water flowing into them. There were several puddles in the room, glowing pale blue in the light of the magic stone lamp on the ceiling.
In the center of the room.
Its bulging eyes turned towards us.
| A monstrous fish-dragon had appeared. |
A pillar-like legs and shining, sleek scales. Its eyes were emotionless like a fish’s, and a low growl escaped from its half-open mouth.
『It’s like a dragon version of the Sahagin. A noble dragon fell and mingled with the fish.』
Loki chuckled.
I instinctively felt that this was different. This was the real boss.
Nils-san vigilantly readied his sword and glared around.
“In a dungeon where the ashes were scattered, even the boss would experience strange behavior…right?”
The bright red light of the magic detection covered the ceiling.
“Above!”
The moment I pointed that out, the ceiling collapsed.
A large shadow attacked the monstrous fish-dragon, sinking its fangs into its neck.
A pained scream echoed out. Its long tail flexed, flicking rocks away. But even so, the shadow held down the dungeon boss with overwhelming strength.
A scene of brutal massacre.
The boss blackened and turned to ash. Smashing the scattered large magic stones, the new boss roared. It was a roar exactly like the one that had echoed throughout the vast space of the elevator.
“…Haha.”
Mia-san’s smile trembled.
I heard the voice of God in my head.
| A crystal dragon appeared. |
Countless crystals glittered brightly, forming armor on the dragon’s back.
Its eyes were far too intelligent to be considered a monster.
It turned its body towards us, and I could see the terrifying amount of muscle pulsating beneath its light blue scales. It lowered its massive, tree-like legs with a thud, making an earth-shattering rumble.
It smiled at us so gently it could almost be called a grin.
―A feast, when I’ve only just woken up huh.
The voice made my whole body go numb.
『A high-ranking dragon is equal to a monster general.』
Solana’s words made my mouth start to churn.
“T-then, this…”
Does that mean he’s on the same level as Skorl from the royal capital, or maybe even Flamebone Surtr…?
Nils-san’s sword shook, Felix-san groaned, and Mia-san let out a dry chuckle.
I couldn’t look away from their wide-open eyes. My breathing was getting heavy, so I readied my short sword and steadied myself.
There was still no response to the alarm horn, Gjallarhorn.
“We can win, I’m sure!”
The dragon spread its wings as if to greet us.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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