At last, my first Dungeon exploration.
I’m here not only to hunt down monsters but also because I wanted to properly examine the construction of this Dungeon which was created by another Demon Lord. I will use this as reference for when I build my own Dungeon in the future.
My current thoughts were to place the very first floor above ground and build a wealthy town on it. And then, the second floor onwards would spread below the ground, to which I would deploy a great number of monsters and traps so that my crystal would not be broken.
Since DP would be gained from the humans gathered on the town on the first floor, the underground floors wouldn’t be built for attracting adventurers. It would instead be a ruthless place whose only purpose was to kill any intruder.
As I thinking that this will be an exploration full of tension, Tenko yawned.
“Oto-san. There’s nothing to do.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
We were walking in the Dungeon which seemed like the inside of a volcano.
Dirt and rocks surrounded the cave and the red magma in the distance illuminated it.
I was tensed and anxious about what kind of exploration this would turn out to be but it seemed like it was completely unnecessary. The reason for that was………
“GYAAAAAA!”
The enormous salamander that could and would swallow humans whole roared forward and the air burned. I knew of this from experience, it was the strength equal to a C rank.
However, tatatatata, like music to my ears.
The moment the enormous lizard with fire escaping from its mouth appeared, the Skeletons fired simultaneously, their bullets like a swarm of bees.
By no means were the enemy monster weak, the stats of a C rank monster was nothing to scoff at. However, the offensive capabilities of the Skeletons were just too high.
The Skeletons, of course, showed no reaction.
“……”
Devoid of any boasting, the Skeletons lowered their guns and began walking.
They were unfeeling precision machines that completed their task in full composure. They were pure professionals.
I estimated the number of the bullets left based from the number they fired. I concluded that there was no need yet to reload. No matter how much training they did, the Skeletons couldn’t be made to remember how to change magazines by themselves so the task of managing the amount of bullets was left to me.
Looking at those Skeletons, Tenko suddenly puffed her cheeks.
“The Skeletons got to it first again!”
Tenko stamped her foot in the ground in frustration.
“Well, they can’t help it. Their range is different than yours.”
The Skeletons were under the command of both Ready and Fire so if they found something, they’ll immediately fire at it.
Moreover, I divided them into two groups, the front and the back group, and had them keep watch on all directions.
The Skeletons performed better than expected, dealing instant death to any monster the moment they encountered it. The 400 meters effective range of the rifle wasn’t just for show.
On the other hand, Tenko’s shotgun only had 50 meters of effective range. Before Tenko had the chance to be near the monster, the Skeletons would have already shot it down.
“Oto-san. Tenko wants to fight too!!”
“I’m going to keep you on reserve for when a monster that the Skeletons can’t handle appears.”
The monsters that the Skeletons couldn’t handle were the ones whose movements were too fast to which the Skeletons couldn’t land any decent hit and the ones whose defenses were too tough that the 5.56mm bullet couldn’t penetrate.
In such occasions, it would be Tenko’s turn to shine.
No matter how agile the opponent was, it would be easy for Tenko to catch up to them.
And she was equipped with a shotgun, a Remilton M870P which was equal to the power of a large caliber rifle. Almost all of our enemies would agree to its power.
Tenko didn’t seem convinced but for the moment, she had calmed down.
“But being in a party really helps out a lot.”
It was thanks to Succubus that I knew of the existence of parties. She taught me everything I knew regarding parties.
The maximum possible members of a party were ten and the experience obtained by them was distributed equally among the members. Additionally, all the DP went to the Demon Lord.
There was no reason not to make use it.
In fact, the Skeletons had already raised their levels earlier and as for Tenko, she had gained the proportional amount of experience.
Making the Skeletons able to grow in levels was the right decision. At this rate, it would seem that they would be over level 10 in an instant.
When I felt someone’s gaze on me and turned around in response, I saw that Succubus was shifting her gaze between me and the Skeletons.
“You truly are the [Creation] Demon Lord. I would have never imagined the Skeletons to become this strong.”
The Skeletons who were normally easily defeated even by C ranks monsters were gazed upon by Succubus in awe.
“Only their attack power is on par to a B rank. Their defense, however, remains the same. They’ll still die from a single blow.”
“But if they’re attacking that far away, wouldn’t receiving an attack themselves be something impossible?”
“We can never tell. A surprise attack may happen. Well, even if they were to die, it’s no big loss. Their cheapness was their selling point anyway.”
Even if a Skeleton died, only 20 DP would be lost so it won’t hurt my finances.
Such were the advantage offered by the Skeletons…… Just don’t think about the time it takes to train them.
As I pondered that, the ground shook. It was quite near.
“KyuWa!”
A high pitched cry rose and then the enemy jumped out of the ground, right in the center of our formation. It was a fire snake. As I stared on it, its name and rank popped into my mind. It would seem my level ups had enhanced my Demon Lord abilities and now, I could see not only the enemy’s level but also its name, rank as well as its abilities. Unfortunately, at my current level, it was only applicable up to monsters of D rank and the details of their parameters weren’t visible.
Race: Flame Viper, D rank
Name: Unnamed
Level: 38
Skills:
Underground movement
Blaze
The Skeletons were completely defenseless against the fire snake that appeared from the ground. The snake wrapped its torso around the Skeleton that was closest to the place the snake popped up. The Skeleton had the paper-thin defense of a G rank monsters so of course it was crushed in an instant.
I clicked my tongue at what was transpiring. The enemy was right in the center of our formation thus ordering the Skeletons fire their guns was out of the question.
“Skeletons, stop!”
I issued an order to stop firing to the Skeletons who were told before to shoot any enemy as soon as they discovered it. Otherwise, they would have fallen due to friendly fire.
I grinded my teeth at the fact that aside from the Skeleton’s lack of defensive capabilities, situations like these were also their weakness.
However, if the Skeletons stopped shooting, it only meant that the snake was allowed to do whatever it pleased. And so, the fire snake sprang upon the next Skeleton.
“Won’t let you!”
As Tenko said so, she sprinted forward. She couldn’t use her shotgun while her allies were gathered together so she drew the large military grade knife hanging from her back.
Rather than a knife, it was more of a machete (鉈). It was a jet-black heavy blade with a length of 50 cm.
Tenko didn’t hesitate to put a firm grip on the fire snake’s head. She then raised the large military knife over her head and a moment later, lopped off the snake’s head.
The snake’s headless body twitched and shook. There was nothing else the snake, even with all its strong vitality, could do once it lost its head.
“Oto-san, I did it!”
Tenko turned towards me and while her hands held the lopped off head of the snake, her face held innocence.
“Great job, Tenko.”
It truly was. Had she not defeated the fire snake right away, two or maybe even three Skeletons may have suffered damage.
As usual, the snake turned into particles of light. The Skeleton which I went to the trouble of teaching it on how to use a gun also changed into particles of light.
“What’s this?”
The snake’s corpse didn’t completely vanish. In its place was a hard fang.
When I picked it up and tapped on it, a sound like it was almost metal rung.
“Ara, an item drop.”
Succubus told me so in a slightly cheerful tone.
“An item drop?”
“Yes, if one’s lucky, a part of the monster where magic power was concentrated will remain after the monster’s death. Monsters that have already lived a long life are more likely to give an item drop. There are some among the humans that challenge Dungeons for these item drops.”
I see. That must be why I almost wouldn’t see an item drop in Marcho’s Dungeon. After all, I only fought the monsters coming from the Maelstroms which were just newly born monsters.
“Thanks for telling me. And then, I think I’m going to hold off on using the Skeletons for a while.”
While one-sidedly barraging our enemies far from their range was great, should an unforeseen situation like this one, wherein the enemy had managed to shorten the distance, once again occur, their fragility won’t go unpunished.
As I thought before, I want a commander. A commander that could move the Skeletons as though they were its own limbs.
“Oto-san, I have a great idea! Stop using these Skeletons and make a Mythological Fox instead. They’re strong, they can talk, they’re smart, and rather than having these bones, you’ll have lots of cute foxes!”
“……Well, maybe someday.”
I wouldn’t have enough DP. Besides, I want to create an army of not ten nor twenty but hundreds of monsters right away. The Mythological Fox was too pricy for that. However, I’m not saying I’m not interested in having a lot of foxes. Maybe someday when I have a bit of extra DP.
And so, while the Skeletons may have almost owned their enemies, this shall mark the end of their first level up session.
Losing one Skeleton which has finished its training was painful but it shall serve as a lesson and I had thought of how to make best use of this learned lesson.
The author, Tsukiyo Rui-sensei, wants to take this opportunity to promote the release of the first volume of her other work, お菓子職人の成り上がり～天才パティシエの領地経営～ (Upstart Pastry Chef ~The territory management of a Genius Pâtissier). It will launch on the 30th of October (although futabasha states it will be available on the 29th).
The synopsis say that it’s about a genius pastry chef reincarnated into a n.o.ble albeit of low n.o.bility. And after some twists, becomes the ruling lord of an area. And so, he want to build up his territory while also fulfilling his previous life’s dream of becoming the best pastry chef.