h.e.l.lo everyone!
Next chapter may or may not be delayed again, just a heads up, we"ll keep you updated on discord.
Enjoy the read! Let us know in the comments if you find any typos or anything else wrong in the chapter.
Tl: SpecterZe
ED: Jun, Am I Undead?
Chapter 56 The Dungeon Master Battle & The Keeper
[Err, master. Do you want to fight the boss alone again? Although it"s happening rather often,I would like to fight as well since it is our long awaited last boss]
So said Sera, who was the first to recover from freezing up. I"ve certainly had a lot of solo fights. Starting with the butler Saladin, and the recent demon Zelvain too was defeated by me alone. Oh, the name of those two are a little similar…
(ED: This makes no sense at the moment in english. His original name セルディク(serudiku, or Cerdic, TL changed it to Saladin from the beginning) would resemble a little more than ゼルベイン(Zelvain), but still, j.a.panese stuff)
[It is Jin-sama"s wish. I won"t say no. However, I"m not confident that I would not interfere in the case a crisis would approach you even if just a little, Jin-sama]
[Well, we are going to enter the same room with Master anyway. It"ll be fine if we let Master fight on his own until it becomes dangerous, right?]
[Are you two disregarding my opinion…?]
[It"s not like Master would simply change his mind on something he proposed. Giving it up is better, you know.]
[I suppose so…]
Maria is in her usual stance as always, and Mio is trying to find a middle ground. However, having middle ground is meaningless in this case.
[No, I"ll be the only one entering the boss room. I"m sorry, but you will all have to stay outside the boss room.]
[[[Eh?]]]
[Wh!?] (Spec: I want to go with "nani!?") (Undead: I always a fan of a well-placed Nani!)
>
While Sakura, Mio and Sera raised a voice of doubt, only Maria raised a voice of shock and turned ghastly pale. Dora was s.p.a.cing out beside me due to the conversation becoming seemingly difficult.
[D-D-Don"t tell me, Jin-sama. Are you saying that you"re going to fight alone, at a place where Serchan and I can"t see you?]
[Yeah, that"s what I have in mind.]
Maria opposes this as expected. Setting aside if I"m fighting alone, if I were to add “at a place n.o.body can see,” then she would oppose me with amazing energy after all. That and this time we"re in a situation where we don"t know the enemy. I"m fully prepared for more intense opposition than usual.
[Jin-Sama could you not please reconsider you are the most important person to me Jin-sama to think that Jin-sama would go through danger in a place n.o.body could see I could not stand for it and if in the worst case something were to happen to you I would chase after your death I"d rather fight on my own than to have you fight by yourself Jin-sama please watch from behind me Jin-sama and if you want to deal the finishing blow to the last boss let me weaken it until it"s barely alive would you not permit me to do so I"d rather have you wait in front of the door Jin-sama I can"t go so far in saying that because that will go against your principle of course the best would be for Jin to do nothing in a safe mansion and reign like an absolute G.o.d but if you wish to see the situation outside and want to go on a journey then you should feel like you have taken a journey if you share your subordinate"s vision to you don"t you think not to mention if it is subordinates you"re looking for then they are increasing favorably and if it is skills then I will learn them for you the time where you cannot possibly move actively should have already pa.s.sed Jin-sama all of your subordinates are constantly worrying from you saying that you like going on a journey by all rights I would like to just mobilize all subordinates to escort you in your movements Jin-sama but…]
Aren"t you getting a little too excited? What you wished for came out midway, and most of the latter half went through one ear to the other, you know…
I looked very hard at Maria who continued her speech. Having seen my eyes, Maria stopped her talk.
[You look firmly determined, Jin-sama…. I can"t do anything about it if you"re like this…]
Seeing that my intentions are firm, Maria too judged that it"s impossible to change my mind. Her face went beyond ghastly pale and looked like she"s almost dying.
[Marichan is acting normally, but you would tell us at least the reason, right Master?]
[Yeah, of course. It isn"t that big of a reason for all that and it"s not like I"ll be doing anything that dangerous]
After that, I explained my reason for wanting going in and fight the last boss alone.
And after I got everyone"s agreement, I entered the boss room alone.
[Jin-sama! Please! Please be very careful! If you feel you are in even a little bit of danger, no, if you just think that it may become dangerous, even a little bit then by all means, please summon me! You absolutely have to!]
[I do know how strong Jin-kun is, but it"s still is worrisome after all…]
[Yes it is. We are still unclear about the boss, so we don"t know what will occur after all.]
Maria, Sakura and Sera are showing anxious faces. They told me I can fight alone, but worrisome things seems to be worrisome.
[I"ve said it before, but I"ve made a prediction on the boss, and if it"s me then I should be able to defeated it without problems you know? And besides, I"ll be keeping my promise with Maria.]
[Well, it"s not like I don"t think Marichan"s insurances are overkill though…]
[What are you saying, Mio-chan!? This is still not enough!]
Maria saw she could not stop the fact that I would enter on my own, and proposed a lot of insurances for my safety. Like setting up "Portal" immediately once I enter the boss room and make a portion of my skills level 10. In addition to that, I would call Maria and the others with "Summon" once I think I"m even in a little bit of danger. Or they will leap through the "Portal" in my crisis. In other words, it means that I can"t even allow myself to be in a pinch in order to achieve my goal.
It would"ve been fine to refuse, but Maria would die from anxiety if I do that. Maria would die in a too original state as cause of a Hero"s death. As expected, putting my allies" lives at risk for something like that is kind of that, so I have decided to accept Maria"s proposals.
[Ahh, I"m anxious after all!]
Maria has been loitering around restlessly for a while. At this rate, she"s likely to chase after me as soon as I enter boss room… I"ll be troubled with that though…
[Here we go.]
[Ah, Serchan, what are you doing!?]
Sera went to bind Maria"s arms from behind her. Maria was struggling around. It seems impossible even for Maria to break out if she"s pinioned by Sera. Hint "Warp".
[Please calm down a little. Master won"t be able to concentrate on fighting the last boss if you"re in that state, Marisan. What will you do if he were to get injured because of that?]
[Ahh~! Ugh…, Jin-sama, please be careful…]
Maria saw me off while exhausted from being pinioned. She looks somewhat like she is being crucified.
[Then, I"ll see you later.]
>
After that, I opened the door to the boss room and went in. …Something inside this room that could work as a souvenir, I guess there"s only the boss drop.
If I have to describe this boss room with one word, it would be "white". The floor, walls and ceiling are pure white, and there is nothing that could act as a mark. Due to the door on the boss room side which I entered from being pure white, my field of vision turned bright white once the door closed.
[I"m in, but nothing"s coming out…]
Nothing appeared after the boss room door was closed.
In order to keep my promise with Maria, I first set up a "Portal" near the door. I"ve tried waiting for a while but nothing like Maria leaping towards me happened. Is Sera is stopping her or does Maria not have that intention …?
A: Sera is desperately stopping her.
……
Well, it looks like there"s no problem for now, so I guess I have to fight the boss quickly.
The boss room is the most s.p.a.cious so far, a square of around 500m and 50m in height.
I move to the center of the room. If there is nothing inside boss room, game"s knowledge usually tell us to move to the center of the room. It might be some kind of event there. Well, enemy that suddenly came out could give a surprised after all.
On a side note, when there are seemingly meaningful plazas inside the dungeon and yet, you can pa.s.s through without any events, you may think enemies would appear there on your way back.
-*buon*-
There is a sound of something materializing when I"m about 10m away from center of the room. …Well, I guess final boss has been decided.
Dungeon Master – Replica
LV200
[Staff if the Ruler – Replica]
Note: The copy of the dungeon master. It"s ability is lower in quality.
Staff of the Ruler – Replica
Cla.s.sification : Combat staff
Rarity : Legendary
Note: Enables one to add a portion of magic power status to one"s offensive abilities.
A skill with several skills integrated. Able to control the entire dungeon.
Judging from the appearance of the last boss, I see a man around my age. The suits and gla.s.ses gives him the atmosphere of an intellectual person, but it is clear that he isn"t human. That is because his skin color is pure white and lifeless, as if it was plaster. The atmosphere is different but apart of him is close to those angel on the 40th floor.
Last boss looked at me for a while and then readied the staff in his hand. I don"t know if he has no speaking function or thought it"s unnecessary to talk after coming this far, but and I didn"t intent to talk with the last boss endlessly either, so I readied Spirit Sword – Incomplete.
The one who moved first was the last boss. He deployed several magic without chanting. He simultaneously cast level 5 magic "Fire Javelin" "Aqua Javelin" "Wind Javelin" "Stone Javelin" "Ice Javelin" and "Thunder Javelin".
The that the last boss has must have several skills included in this one, similar to my integrated skills. At least and should be included in it. It"s not good to hold prejudice, but he seems to be specialized in magic as far as I can see.
Also, with and combo, you wouldn"t be able to cast spells simultaneously, so another skill must be influencing it.
A: It is the skill.
It"s that fair skill I guess…
The last boss threw 6 javelins at me at the same time.
Although I said at the same time, it doesn"t mean that they would simultaneously impact at all. I see slight variations and by swinging three times, I cleared them all away.
The last boss didn"t look disturbed even when I got rid of his spells. Or rather he looked like he"s saying that this much is natural. It"s plasterlike so there"s no expression though…
I guess the tryout period is over; what he deployed simultaneously were level 7 wind magic "Tempest", ice magic "Blizzard" and thunder magic "Thunder Rain".
All of them being a strong wide-area offensive magic, the fierce wind, snow storm and lightning bolts were devastating my surroundings right now.
All different elements has their lvl 7 wide-area magic, but except wind, ice and thunder, they interfere with each other and reduce their power, so he cast only those 3.
[I-It is hard to move…]
Although there"s no damage, probably the successful work of my overwhelming status, it is difficult to move forward because of the squalls coming from the sides.
Woops! Lightning is almost hit. I casually dodge it. I have room to dodge it after seeing this level of lightning.
Oh, the last boss is trying to do additional attacks. It"s the thunder magic Lv8 "Thunder Bolt" which doesn"t interfere with those 3 magic. Deciding it with a difficult to hit attack after obstructing their movements looks to be something conventional in a game too.
A: The 3 spells are instant death grade spells when looking at it from an ordinary person"s perspective. You have strange senses for seeing them as mere obstruction spells, master.
…
That said, I don"t agree with obediently receiving that attack. I guess I"ll try to blow this magic away immediately.
[Fu~!]
I made some effort to swing my sword.
-Wham!-
That moment, the 3 spells that have been rampaging around me dispersed. I approached the last boss with with that momentum. Maybe I surprised him after all; he withdrew. His expression didn"t change though…
[Take this!]
I unleashed a slash at the last boss in front of me. Even when he tried to dodge it somehow, I succeeded in cutting down his left arm which wasn"t holding the staff.
The last boss swung his staff towards me with one arm, but it is easy to dodge a staff that was swung from a broken posture. When I stepped back to avoid the staff, it made a direct hit on his left arm that was cut off and fluttering in the air.
-Boooooom!!!!-
That instant, the cut left arm made a huge explosion.
[What!?] (ED: TL went for Nani!? But I couldn"t…. sorry)
Both the last boss and I were caught by the explosion and blown away. While it didn"t do damage at all, I was blown more than 10m away.
When I readied my posture in mid-air, landed and then looked at the last boss, he had already cast the next magic. On top of that, his left arm went back to normal and his HP barely decreased. His HP is recovering gradually.
[Quite a troublesome enemy, isn"t he Oi!]
It is cruel that the boss side would have ways to recover HP. Because in that case, I would have to overwhelmingly raise my status and deal more damage than his recovery…
What last boss released next were the level 9 fire magic "Volcano Blast" and earth magic "Ground Press".
"Ground Press" is a spell to drop a huge rock at me from the sky. "Volcano Blast" is a spell to rapid-fire 10 fire b.a.l.l.s that"s so large it can"t be compared to "Fire ball". Size and number is determined by magic power and MP.
Last boss"s "Ground Press" is a flat rock of 50m radius at a place 20m above my head. "Volcano Blast" resulted in 100 5m sized fireb.a.l.l.s lining up to each other.
He must"ve intended for me to lose my escape by releasing "Ground Press" from above and "Volcano Blast" from the side. It is quite the amazing strategy if you think about it normally. At least go for a barrage. Crushing me from above and such, I would run past it in the quick and easy way don"t you think..
A: I believe he has judged that a barrage is as useless as Javelin.
-gogoggoggo-
The floating "Ground Press" gradually came down. The "Volcano Blast" around the last boss went this way.
With all of that, it is possible for me to received some damage. And then, Maria will come. I guess this is the time for full a.s.sault.
[Flying Slash fury!!] (Spec : I don"t know how to translate this) (ED: I did my best; 飛剣連斬; lit flying sword continuous beheading)
The "Flying Slash Fury" is the name I unusually added to a technique . Of course, It is about the .
If I were to do a simple explanation, I"m rapid-firing long range attacks by at a dazzling speed. Quite simple.
I sent out roughly 100 flying slashes each towards the "Ground Press" from above and "Volcano Blast" in front of me. Each slash held a size of about 10m and would fly faster than bullets.
-Gagagagagagag
"Ground Press" was erased with earth-shattering force. Before the 100 slashes cut it, it had already become small pieces the size of pebbles, so I got no damage when it fell down. (For average j.a.panese people, it would be a disaster if ten thousands of pebbles would fall down from a height of 30m.)
"Volcano Blast" went 100 vs 100 so it looks like just right, but since my side seems to be higher in strength, none reached my side.
[I knew it, cool isn"t it!]
To be honest, is my most favorite skill. How should I put this, it held firm my chuuni heart.
Oops, I have to concentrate and not get immersed in the lingering sounds of my technique forever. Since I"m going on the offensive, I will decide the match before I let him cast his next spells.
The area surrounding the last boss is covered with smoke due to the explosion from the clash between "Flying Slash Fury" and "Volcano Blast" so I can"t check his appearance.
When I check the last boss"s HP with map, I saw it decreased by a lot; it was in a state you could even say it"s nearly 0. I guess "Flying Slash Fury" went through the"Volcano Blast" and even reached the last boss.
After the smoke settled, I see the final boss with only what"s above his neck. He should have had time since his body was destroyed, but he was not in a state to regenerate at all. His staff flew away somewhere, or it was destroyed, so I can"t say the last boss is a threat anymore.
Is what I thought, which is probably not good; the last boss"s eyes suddenly lit red and began to flicker. Oh, sh*t…
Q: What is the attack that the hopeless last boss is doing at the end?
A: That would be self-destruct.
-Booooooooooooooooooooooooooommmm!!!!!!!-
[Flying Slash Furyyyyyyyyyy!!!]
An explosion so big that it couldn"t be compared to what I make myself shocked the room. It seems painful even for me, so I unleashed "Flying Slash Fury" with quite some power. Going outside the room with "Portal" and such undoubtedly safer, but it is quite impolite to ignore the last boss"s final desperate strategy.
Thanks to "Flying Slash Fury" that cleared away all of the explosion, l didn"t get any damage at all. Well, even I was a little impatient, you know. Really, he stuck to the basics at the end, didn"t he?
-*buon*-
As soon as it made the same sound as when the last boss appeared, , a pillar of light appeared at the place of the last boss"s appearance. Yup, that is a warp point no matter how you look at it. There are no stairs to the lower level in this boss room after all…
>
I reported everyone with telepathy for now.
>
Sakura asked. Oh, there is actually "Warp Point" politely written on Map.
>
>
When I told them I"m going to enter the warp point, Maria bit at it with great force. Well, that"s as natural as it can be. Though I"ve defeated the last boss, going to another place through warp would make me go solo again after all.
The last boss is defeated, so wouldn"t it be fine to bring someone along? If I keep going solo, Maria"s mind get damaged…
A: It is probably fine.
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The youth group (Mio and Dora) seem to be coming along with me. Oh, I"m treating Mio as a child.
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The senior group (Sera and Sakura) didn"t consider going it seems.
Considering the size of light pillar, I could fit myself, Maria, Mio and Dora together.
>
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Sakura and Sera seems to have gone back with "Portal" and so they disappeared from Map.
["Summon"!]
I summon the remaining 3 people. The designated place began to light up and then, the 3 immediately showed up.
[Master! Congratulations once again~!]
>
[Ah, I"m sorry I am late in saying it. Jin-sama, congratulations on capturing the dungeon.]
[Oh, thanks.]
The first thing Mio and others said after appearing was a congratulations to me. I was the only one to defeat the last boss, would Mio and the others also become those who captured it in this case?
A: They would not.
Oh dear me… Well, I could just let everyone fight again next time. With the original boss…
[Well then, how about we enter the warp point right away. The one who cleared the dungeon is me, so Mio and Maria should hold my hands.]
[Yes!]
[Yeah~]
Maria took my right hand and Mio took my left.
>
[You"re riding piggyback.]
>
With pitter-patter, Dora jumped and rode on my back. I can"t hold her legs with my hands so her balance will be bad, but considering her sense of balance, she shouldn"t fall off. She could fly even if she were to fall.
I enter the warp portal equipped with a young girl on my right and little girls on my left and back. Can you believe it? These are the ones who have cleared the dungeon, you know?
On the other side of the warp was a pure white room like the last boss room. But if I were to point out one difference, it would be that a mansion is built there.
[Why a mansion?]
>
Mio tilted her head. Lured by her, Dora tilted her head too.
[That is of course, because it is a residential quarters.]
And who opened the door to the mansion and appeared is…
[A bunny girl?]
[Yes. My previous master had called this a bunny suit…pyon.]
What was there was, in one phrase, a bunny girl.
To be accurate, she is a girl around 17 years of age with shoulder-length white hair and red eyes. Due to the bunny girl"s figures, her well-developed b.r.e.a.s.t.s emitted their presence more than necessary, though they"re not at the level of Sera or Mira. Oh, she has bunny ear and tail too. Or rather, that sentence ending…
Name : Carro
LV130
Gender : Woman
Age : 68
Race : Beastman (Rabbit)
Skill :
t.i.tle : Keeper (迷宮保護者; dungeon guardian)
Upon checking her, she is actually a real bunny beastman.
[And you are?]
[Yes. My name is Carro…pyon. It is taken from carrot, is what my previous master said.]
Oh carrot. That"s quite a close impression to bunnies.
[I am the chief of the keepers, the ones who carry the maintenance and management of this dungeon on their shoulder. In other words, I hold the position called Chief Keeper. Ah, …pyon.]
[You sometimes forget your sentence ending don"t you…]
[Yes, ever since I"ve heard that a rabbit would use this sentence ending, I"ve tried to make it my catch phrase, but it doesn"t quite get ingrained in me-pyon.]
Carro smiled awkwardly towards Mio"s retort. She has completely admitted that it was an impression. I guess she has serious nature. It seems she has swallowed even a stupid story.
[Are you the dungeon master?]
After making a somewhat seemingly saddened expression towards Mio"s question, she shook her head and answered.
[No, the dungeon master, the highest managing position of this dungeon is currently vacant. When speaking of ranks, Chief Keeper would be the second- pyon.]
[Wouldn"t you become the dungeon master by moving up, Carro?]
She shook her head to my question too.
[A keeper is a keeper. It is not like we can become a dungeon master just because there is n.o.body. In the first place, a keeper"s job is basically doing maintenance and inspection of the dungeon. We do not have any authorities in management like a dungeon master at all -Pyon.]
So the dungeon master manages the dungeon and the keeper conducts maintenance and inspections. Their jobs are different, so it doesn"t mean that they could a.s.sume the position just because it became vacant I guess.
[If I were to go more fundamentally, those who become a keeper could not become anything beside a keeper. Also, the ones who hold the rights to become a dungeon master is only someone who would clear the dungeon"s hidden route. My previous master gave me that sort of strict order.] (ED: Author wrote 裏ルート, not 100% sure if it"s hidden route or alternate route)
[I knew it, that means…]
Mio timidly looked at me.
[Yes. You have splendidly broke through this dungeon"s hidden route, Jin-sama. I believe I would like you to become the dungeon master.]
Carro declared so with a smile.
[I have 2 questions.]
[I will answer everything.]
[Why do you know my name? Did you peep in our activities in the dungeon too?]
I haven"t introduced myself yet. No, I should have introduced myself, but I"ve let the delicate timing escape me. So from the fact that she guessed my name right as if it was natural despite that, I suspect them of having observed us in the dungeon.
[No, I did not do that. It is possible for me to observe the dungeon, but this time I have simply read the information on your dungeon card. The dungeon side was the one who took the lead to teach them the way to create it, so the information was gathered by us. It is easy to check up on one"s name. Many of the dungeon-only items with the exception of that had been prepared by our side from the start. Ah, pyon.]
Just when I thought there were awfully convenient items, she"s saying they were things that the dungeon side supplied from the beginning. I don"t know what benefits she would have though.
[I see, I understand it. Then the second question. What happened to the previous dungeon master?]
Carro was at a loss for words for a little while.
[…My previous master had died an extremely long time ago.]
[I see… So he already died…]
I thought, maybe, and asked her, but the previous dungeon master had died after all… It was regretful, but there is nothing I can do about it, even if I say that.
[Is that all the question? I don"t think it is something that can be decided so quickly, so I don"t mind however many questions you have for me.]
[Yeah, there are a lot of things I"d like to ask, but I"ll say just this first.]
[What would that be?]
[I will become the dungeon master.]
I declared this clearly to Carro. I"m already done preparing myself to become the dungeon master in front of the door to the 50th floor boss.
[…I see. So you really have read my previous master"s note isn"t it…pyon.]
[Yeah. I"ve read it properly. I mean, these are the notes that my close friend left behind in the other world after all.]
[*sigh*… As I expected, so you were the friend of my previous master, Azumsama…]
Carro sighed. Carro must"ve expected it too. What kind of human they are who would acquire the qualifications of being the dungeon master and come here…
My close friend from the former world, Azuma Akira. There shouldn"t be any human beings more suitable than me to succeed the dungeon he had created.