Though their pace had slowed considerably, the three girls steadily cleared each floor. Yet as we approached the seventieth floor, they began facing moments of real struggle against increasingly dangerous monsters.
“Oaaaaah!”
On the sixty-eighth floor, they encountered a monstrous spider—the Arachne Queen. A spider of the highest rank, with the upper body of a human woman grafted onto its arachnid form.
“!?”
“This silk… it’s such a pain!”
“It sticks and we can’t even cut it…!”
The three girls had been lured straight into the queen’s web, a web of incredibly strong and sticky threads, forcing them to fight on the monster’s own terms. To make matters worse, the queen’s subordinate venomous spiders—the Death Weavers—were lying in wait in large numbers. Dodging the queen’s lashes of silk and venomous fangs, the three girls engaged in a fierce back-and-forth battle.
Fana leapt through the threads, chasing the Arachne Queen as it darted across its web at incredible speed, but no matter how fast she moved, she couldn’t quite catch up. Then, just as Anje activated an earth wall she had secretly prepared, blocking the queen’s path, Fana closed the distance and sliced at its neck.
“…It’s still alive.”
“Wait, cutting there doesn’t kill it!?”
“I’ll handle this…! Yagyū Shinnen-ryū, Oborozuki!”
Even after its humanoid head was severed, the Arachne Queen continued to thrash and move—but finally, Karen’s blade delivered the finishing strike.
After repeated deadly encounters like this, the three girls finally reached the seventieth floor.
“Mm… just five more floors.”
“…We finally made it this far.”
“Hah… hah… I… I request a short break…!”
We decided to take another short break, but…
“…Monsters.”
“They really won’t let us rest, will they!?”
“And even though we’re hiding, they find us immediately!”
The three girls immediately went on alert, sensing the approaching threat. This had become a recurring pattern over the past few encounters.
The new enemies were dog-like creatures. They are known as Blood Stalkers, these hyena-like monsters always traveled in packs.
“These guys again!?”
“They must have tracking abilities.”
Fana spoke.
They were also highly intelligent, coordinating with each other to attack from blind spots, strike simultaneously, or probe their opponents cautiously. Sometimes they would retreat to create distance, regroup with more allies, or use quick, agile movements to harass their targets.
“Mm… should we take turns resting?”
“Yeah. Fortunately, these monsters aren’t too strong for this floor.”
“How about that little recessed area further ahead? Even against a pack, it should be easier to handle. There’s no cover, but if we’re going to be spotted anyway, it’s the same either way.”
“Good idea.”
“For once, you’re being smart.”
“Hmph, I’m not that clever… wait, did you just slightly insult me?”
“Your imagination.”
In the end, they decided to take turns resting. Two would recover their strength while the remaining one acted as lookout and monster repeller. They rotated like this, resting and fighting in shifts, before resuming their advance.
But from the seventieth floor onward, monsters became incomparably stronger than anything they had faced before, making the climb extremely challenging.
Even clearing a single floor now took several hours.
“Mm… this is tough.”
“At this rate, it’s going to take forever to reach the bottom floor.”
“By now, the dungeon outbreak might have subsided, don’t you think?”
“We’ll see when that happens. With Lill there, we don’t have to worry about the surface. Let’s just proceed at your pace, oneechan.”
With Lill on their side, wiping out the monsters even those coming from the fiftieth floor would be a piece of cake.
Like that, step by step, they cleared each floor. And finally, they reached the bottom, the seventy-fifth floor.
★★★
“…A straight path?”
“The atmosphere has changed a lot.”
“I see a door up ahead.”
At the bottom of the stairs leading to the seventy-fifth floor lay a single, perfectly straight corridor. Unlike the cave-like interiors they had traversed so far, the walls and floor were now made of stone, giving the place the appearance of ancient ruins.
At the far end of the corridor stood a massive double door.
“Looks like this leads straight to the boss.”
“…Finally, we’ve made it.”
Perhaps due to the tension, Anje’s throat made a small gulping sound.
With no monsters or traps in sight, they advanced along the corridor and reached the doors. Up close, the doors were enormous.
“…Mm… I’ll push it.”
Fana pressed against the doors, and with a deep, rumbling groan, they swung open almost on their own.
Beyond the doors stretched a vast chamber. It was a circular space, reminiscent of an arena, with a single pillar standing at its center. Wrapped tightly in chains, something was crucified to the pillar.
A humanoid figure, but with jet-black wings.
The moment we stepped inside, the doors slammed shut. It seemed we couldn’t leave until the boss was defeated.
…Though, technically, teleportation magic might still work.
The black wings unfurled. At the same time, the chains snapped, and the figure began to move.
“…Its face…”
“Gross…”
“Is… is that a fly!?”
It was a grotesque monster, with a human body, jet-black wings, and a head that bore a terrifying resemblance to a fly.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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