Silly Al, you can"t enslave the Hulk. Next chapter in either 4-8 hours or after I sleep again.
As it is now, I currently plan to do up to 194 through Sunday, then I"m probably going to go back to Miduchi"s Reverse chapters for whatever I can do of them Sun/Mon morning. I plan to finish 195-202 all at once next weekend due to the cliffhanger-ish nature and get done with whatever I can of the Reverse chapters and SS 27 before and after that. Hopefully by August 5th we"ll be at 140+
Year 7445, Month 7, Day 11
We {Sun.Ray} teleported into the 6th floor and we immediately scattered and raising our vigilance in every direction.
After confirming the safety of our surroundings, the Rindobel couple confirmed the arrow on the pedestal of the crystal rod and looked for the number written beyond that. They found it right away. Right next to "OneEightVI" the number "34" was written on the wall in the {Common.Language}.
It seems that {Sun.Ray} has come here in the past as well.
After confirming the number on the wall the Rindobel couple started discussing something in a whisper while looking at the map.
Soon they called out to me.
"Now then, Greed-kun. If you have a map of the 6th floor I"d like you to show it to us."
He~ you"re really saying that. In my own opinion I have the feelings that it would be unpleasant for you to make it to the 7th floor but even thinking about things in a favorable light in order to clear through a group of ogres on the 7th floor you at least need someone with Miduchi"s level of mana or else things will get quite severe so them making it to the 7th floor itself doesn"t matter at all. What I find unpleasant is the fact that we"ll no longer be able to monopolize the teleport room on the 6th floor. Although it"s not like it belongs to the {Slaughterers} or anything else so you could say it"s a mistake that I find it unpleasant in the first place.
"Unfortunately, I don"t have it."
"Ho? A man of your level wasn"t able to keep it hidden when you left?"
After all they saw through it huh? I shrug my shoulders once and take out a map container that just looks like a slightly long flask hanging on my waist from a glance. The map of the 6th floor is inside of here. It"s one of the things I made sure everyone has because of the teleport traps. Of course, the content is the same as the one the {Slaughterers} use as is.
"Well, I don"t mind showing you. This is the map of the 6th floor. Although, I was only able to take just this one when I left as I thought the 6th floor would be the most difficult. However.."
Not just the Rindobel couple but the entire party went stiff as they were paying attention to me.
"I won"t explain every little thing. I don"t feel like going that far and I haven"t promised that much."
"Yeah, we already know that. It"s fine if you just show it to us."
Maps of the dungeon are a shared a.s.set for a party of adventurers. Normally they aren"t though of as something that belongs to any one person. Of course, if the party itself is made up of only one person then it would be different but normally you can"t produce a map of the dungeon without borrowing the help ofr your allies. It"s safe to say there"s almost no cases of people handing the maps they used up until then over to a new party once they leave the old one. Normally when you leave your previous party you"re strictly checked to make sure you aren"t in possession of anything like a map and they"re confiscated.
In the case that all of the members of the party end up joining a new party it"s only obvious that the map information is still owned by them. In this case, rather than saying they joined the party, rather it"s close to multiple parties merging but that only happens in the case both sides don"t have a large difference abilities.
For example, in the case where Faruergaz and the others joined {Sun.Ray}, because of the large gap in their abilities, rather than saying they merged or combined, it"s clearer to say they were absorbed. In these sorts of cases, I"ve heard that most often one of the conditions of being absorbed is to hand over the maps and information to the more skilled and powerful adventurers. Normally the number of people itself becomes the difference in power.
If the party ends up having some discord and splits up then there"s cases where both sides keep the map information as well but it"s extremely rare for them to split up where both sides still have an equal amount of power. In comparison to that cases like me where the leader them self gets thrown out are rare in number but it"s not like there"s none at all. I"ve heard that even in those sorts of cases the maps are confiscated without exception as well.
Among the adventurers who enter the dungeon the authority of the leader is powerful but that"s precisely why, someone who isn"t suitable as a leader, or who"s lacking the ability to manage the other members will easily be blamed and either forced to change or thrown out. No one would think that it"s possible to stay alive long or find a huge treasure in the dungeon under an unreliable leader right.
On the contrary, precisely because the authority of the leader is powerful everyone wants to take up that position. People want to train with an adequate party, go independent, and then make their own party with themselves as the leader because of that. Particularly when it comes to the party leaders of the higher ranked adventurers in Baldukk their income becomes enormous. I think you already understand but a precise map is one of the most essential things for challenging the dungeon of Baldukk and it wouldn"t be strange to call it of the greatest importance.
The fact that they"re holding an accurate map will become that adventurers, that party"s power. There"s a lot of adventurers who see the dream of one day becoming independent and producing their own hidden maps.
I"m sure that it"s the same for this {Sun.Ray}.
"Well then, here you go."
After taking the map from me Koritto looked at that and quickly started making a difficult face. That"s only obvious. All of the numbers on the map are written in Arabic numerals. We somehow were able to get Zenom and the slaves to learn just the Arabic numerals. We read out the number written on the first wall we teleport into on the 6th floor and have them confirm our current position on the map. In the worst case if someone gets caught in a teleport trap, they need to search out a similar terrain from the map they"re holding so it"s not necessary for them to learn numbers in kanji to make it to the teleport room on the 6th floor.
"It..It"s filled in this much?"
"Am..Amazing.."
"..Is this a pitfall?"
"..It seems like this is the symbol for teleport traps."
"..I wonder what this symbol means?"
"..Since it resembles a pitfall isn"t it a pitfall..like a pitfall with spikes or something?"
"..None of the rooms have which boss is in them written down..I guess that means there"s no meaning since they"re killing all of them?"
"..But, these characters, I"ve never seen before, I wonder what language it is...It"s not Southern Ragudarious {Masasoirisshu}. Maybe it"s the {Migudarious} language?"
"..Mu..It seems that our current location here. The terrain seems similar to on our map."
"..That"s right. It seems to be here."
"..In that case..Fumu..It seems like we could even make it to the 7th floor."
"Greed-kun, I think were here right now but do you think we could make it to the 7th floor?"
Even if you show me on the map you"ve just put back in my hands, there"s no way I could respond so quickly...
"..Nn, it seems I"ve come here in the past as well but..Well, I"m sure we can make it."
"Dear, ahead of here we usually..turn back at the teleport trap here right..I think it"s worthwhile going."
"Nn, I guess so..Alright, let"s try going huh? Then, everyone, let"s go."
I fold up the map they returned to me and put it back into my map container. At the very least the fact that I"m in possession of a map of the 6th floor has been confirmed but this is a message to Faruergaz and Hirosukol as well. Well, it could be taken as a message to anyone else as well. I wonder who will notice it? It wouldn"t be strange for anyone to notice it though.
With Harukein.Fumizu nicknamed Hulk using the battle mace and Rokasuto.Keinesutan, nicknamed Rokko who"s using a long sword at the front, the Rindobel couple in the middle, and me at the rear we started proceeding through the dungeon. Since you never know when a monster will teleport in on the 6th floor the rear is the most dangerous and exhausting. It took the shape of pushing the harshest job on a newcomer just as would be expected of a newcomer but since it"s only obvious I don"t have any particular complaints.
Just, if they wanted to make use of my magic then I think they should position me closer to the middle. If I"m at the rear when a monster appears from the front, as expected it"s difficult to use attack spells in a hurry with all the people in the way.
..............
We"ve advanced about 1 Km heading towards the 7th floor. Along the way, no {Cave Boars} have teleported into us up to here but we were attacked by groups of {Vampire Bats} a number of times. We"re killing all of them with bow and magic but the exhaustion of the magicians is intense. Though if I were to just rapid fire missiles I could finish them all up in a few seconds to ten seconds or so while yawning. I used {Flame Arrow} a total of five times and landed all of the hits. But, Koritto and Ransun each fired three and two shots of Flame and Stone arrows but each of them only landed one hit. Their aim sucks.
In order to recover our mana we remain cautious while splitting breaks up into a total of about an hour before advancing again. This is the reason we"re so slow. It can"t be helped though.
And then, we approached the first monster room. According to Meiria who"s standing at the front and checked the room, the enemy is just one {Cave Great Boar} that"s resting. But, since I was in the rear in a situation where no one would see my face (my eyes shining blue), I used the spell {Detect.Life} and there were three reactions. Though it"s possible that two of them aren"t {Cave Great Boars} and just {Cave Boars} as well.
Whatever the case when the {Cave Great Boar} stands up high it"s height easily exceeds that of an adult over 4 meters high. It"s length reaches over 4 meters as well. Just think of it like taking on an opponent the size of a six-seat van. If you"re pierced by it"s tusks even if you can avoid instant death there"s no doubt you"d be seriously injured on the verge of life and death. Even from just a body slam Zulu was sent flying and on top of three bone fractures, he stopped moving.
After she confirmed the boss of the monster room, we returned about 200 meters away on Meiria"s instruction and were given a simple strategy. First off Koritto, Ransun, and I will preemptively attack with attack spells. Simultaneously Mishausu will shoot it with some arrows. If we"re lucky just that will be enough to defeat it but unless it hits a vital organ that"s pretty much impossible. Next Haruku and Rokko will go in with their shields ready and build a line with Meiria and Firestarter using their sword and axe behind them. Behind that Biosukol and Ramires will charge in with their spears.
Ransun and Mishausu will continue attacking with the bow after that while Koritto tries to find gaps to attack with his spear while maintaining general command. I need to fight at the front line while trying to retain as much mana as possible. If circling around everyone is helplessly difficult then I can look for an opening to use magic after that.
Honestly speaking, I think it"s the right answer to not use a scout on the 6th floor where boars are wandering around but since the {Cave Great Boar} is going to the trouble of resting for us, even if there"s not much control to it at the start we should attack it all out before it notices us. If we let it stand up and start moving around it"s huge and it has quite a bit of power so it"s reasonably troublesome. Just wandering around in front of the monster room stirs up the air and raises the chances it"ll reach their nose. And also, the attack spell I was instructed to use was Javelin. It seems they"re taking into consideration encounters with monsters afterwards with preserving my mana but I"m sure it won"t make much of a difference and unlike the {Slaughterers} we only have three people who can use magic.
I think we should hit it with the most powerful attack spells we can right now. Judging from the level of elemental magic he can use Koritto should be able to use arbalest type attack spells as well. If just Koritto and I were to use that cla.s.s of attack spell to land hits even if it doesn"t hit a vital organ we"ll quickly gain the advantage. Additionally Ransun should be able to use {Stone Javelin} as well. Even though that"s the case he was instructed to use the attack spell {Stone Bolt}.
Even if you focus on the 7th floor, if someone gets seriously injured here~ won"t it be terrible?
Well, it can"t be helped. It was after we all confirmed the strategy for charging in and started to slowly approach the monster room again. We could feel the vibration from the footsteps of a large animal from the monster room. Ah~ it noticed us. What do they intend to do? With this? I glanced to the side at Koritto"s face but he still just has his lips shut. Meiria who was standing in front opened her right hand and raised it before closing it. The signal for stopping and gathering.
We all gathered together slowly while making sure not to make any noise and while Koritto and Meiria were surrounded by everyone they whispered discussing something quickly before giving out new orders.
"It seems that we were noticed. Since it can"t be helped we"re changing the strategy. The members who are charging in first are the same. However, Haruku and I were go from the left and Rokko and Kevin will go from the right as we split up and charge in. Kimu you follow in soon after Haruku and I. Jeru you back up Rokko and Kevin from behind."
"In regards to magic if you three think you can hit it then use it. If it seems impossible then between Haruku and Rokko, Greed-kun you take the lead and I"ll back you up with the spear. Kamu and Misu even in that case you two should back us up with the bow when you get a chance."
Well, there"s not much else than that. Splitting up into three groups could be just right considering there"s three opponents as well. If we approach a bit closer then they should clearly be able to hear the footsteps of multiple opponents after all. Though retreating in that case is all an option. It"s not suitable for the image of a top team with their powerful combat potential but. It"s not like anyone is looking either way.
Since there"s nothing good that will come from agitating the opponent, we split up into three groups, and quietly started advancing like that.
After proceeding for a short while and it"s only obvious that you can clearly hear the sound of multiple footsteps from the monster room. Everyone can clearly comprehend there"s definitely multiple opponents. On my right side Koritto raised his left hand and raised three fingers before quickly opening his hand and lowering it ahead. Free combat between each of the groups and the opponents we find huh? Lowering his hand ahead is the signal for everyone to keep advancing. I wonder if he"s noticed the fact that there"s three opponents the same number as we have groups? Even so, it"s quite the firm decision.
................
There"s already no more than 5 meters from the monster room. We can"t see any monsters in the range we can see. I wonder if they"re hiding on both sides of this entrance? Everyone fixes their hold on their weapons. Koritto and I will charge in first with me remaining cautious of the left and Koritto of the right, if there"s only one opponent in that direction or none at all then we quickly turn around and partic.i.p.ate in the battle on the opposite side.
I wait for the signal. 3, 2, 1, now!
I rush into the room and look to the left, and it"s there! Two {Cave Boars}. Then in that case the {Cave Great Boar} should be on the opposite side. Rokko, Kevin, and Jeru pulled the unlucky number on their end.
I set my aim on the right boar of the two on the left side and charged at it. Obviously the boar is furiously dashing as well.
I cut at it while pa.s.sing by it.
I run the long sword in my right hand along it"s side as I run.
I run along making sure not to overtake Meiria, Haruku, and Kimu who were running in a position ahead of me from where we charged in. After all if I were to be at the front both of these two boars would aim for me.
The two boars came running over here at a furious speed.
Even these {Cave Boars} while they"re not at the level of {Cave Great Boars} they"re still quite huge and have a lot of force behind them.
The one on the right is my prey.
I run through the middle of the two.
I hold up my long sword in my right hand so it"s easy to use.
If I cut it from the shoulder to it"s front right leg then it should make Koritto"s job easier with the spear.
There!!
Just look, this magnificent sword play!
No, I"m just cutting with all my strength though.
I felt the response of doing heavy damage with that attack in pa.s.sing.
I feel like I hear a scream echoing out.
I quickly turned around to the right and while Koritto is taking it on with his spear I"ll stab it from it"s a.s.s!
After cutting along from the left, this time I went from the right side, in other words if I make it"s right front leg useless then it"ll be powerless. I aim for the joint of it"s back right leg from behind it"s a.s.s and sliced it in half. {Cave Boar A} quickly couldn"t sustain it"s weight and fall to the right in a pile of blood and dirt. Here, I"m done with you, this is about right. I guess next is either B or Great.
Shortly after thinking that, I heard some shouts from B who was on my left when we charged inside. Haruku is using the shield to skillfully parry the {Cave Boars} charge and it seems while it was troubled over changing directions he circled around to the side of it"s head.
"Hmph!!"
With a thud Haruku"s battle mace hit the back of the {Cave Boars} head. On the side Meiria landed a thrust into one of it"s eyes. Kimu is stabbing it"s shoulder with her spear. It seems like they"ll take a bit more time to finish it off but there shouldn"t be any problem.
Then in case the one who needs backup is the main dish the Great.
I immediately start running.
b.u.mo~ a large boars voice echoes out.
"s.h.i.t!! Ouch~!"
Rokko is rolling around while holding his stomach and training to endure the pain. It seems like he"s bleeding quite a bit as well but I can"t tell the details. There"s no time to use Identify.
Kevin is swinging his battle axe desperately as if to not let the huge boar get close.
Jeru is trying to hold his ground with the spear while back up Rokko but he seems to be drawing back from fear and unreliable.
There"s already several arrows stabbed into the body of the Great and it also seems to have been injured by attack spells as well. Though just from a glance none of them seem to have done much damage. I was about to yell "Just ignore that and back me up!" to Koritto but he seems busy trying to finish off the boar I half killed and above all I don"t have that sort authority.
I took off running at my full speed but I didn"t make it in time.
Kevin was sent flying along with his axe. Even then while he"s a small dwarf he didn"t let go of his battle axe but it seems he hit his back badly.
The one who stood at the front in Kevin"s place was me as I quickly swing my long sword and lightly cut the nose of the huge boar. With this it"s anger should be focused at me. But, well I"ve experienced fighting against this fellow to the point of being sick of it since last year. I have confidence I can win against it even one on one. If I just evade all of it"s attacks and continue hitting with my own then eventually it"ll run out of stamina and as a result I"ll win. It"s the truth. Though it"s difficult.
What"s scary would be if another {Cave Boar} were to come teleporting in at this moment and just that but it doesn"t seem like they can teleport into the monster rooms so I"m probably safe on that end. We"ve had something intrude while we were in the middle of fighting in the past but they were all jsut ones that teleported outside of the room and then wandered in from there.
"So..Someone..He..aling.."
Rokko seeks help in a voice that"s about to disappear as he crawls in his own blood. It"s unfortunate but wait just a bit longer. It would be good if someone else comes along after finishing off the {Cave Boars} while I"m holding out but while I say that this great boar will die in a matter of time as well. I"ll properly heal you up after that.
I make a half grin with just one cheek and after finding an opening on the center of it"s head I was able to lightly cut it. It seems the back up from the arrows is still coming and there"s already around 10 arrows in it"s body. If you"re going to do it I"d prefer if you aim for the eyes but I guess that"s a luxurious desire from someone other than Bel.
Jeru who circled around from the side thrusts his spear. It doesn"t seem to be a vital spot but he did a reasonable amount of damage and the great boar is trying to charge at me again even though it won"t hit. I make a light smile while easily evading that and cut along the surface of it"s body. Since it didn"t hit, it stopped it"s charge, and while it was changing directions I gave it a heavy attack.
And then, it"s movements gradually started to dull. High cla.s.s creatures with a lot of nerves like boars hate pain. In order to eliminate the one hurting it, it tries to charge at me again. When I calmly evaded that charge and..look, a line of spears held by Jeru, Koritto, and Kimu. Without hurrying I went to it"s a.s.s and cut at the base of it"s back legs with my sword before jumping away. Shifting places with me Haruku hit his battle mace into the same place on the back leg.
Since he saw the center of gravity of the great boar start to shift, Haruku raised a war cry of, "Uo~~!!" while hitting with his mace a couple more times. That"s quite the skill. If it wasn"t Ginger or Gekudo at that time but this guy then I would have gladly dropped him into a slave...
It"s started to get quite a bit weaker. There shouldn"t be any more need for me to bear the full brunt but it"s not worth easily letting these guys gain some experience points either.
"Move out of the way."
I said that to Haruku to get him to step back and then stabbed the long sword made from Special Forged Steel by Arnold and my father in between the gaps in it"s ribs aimed at it"s heart with all of my power. When I kick off and pull my sword back out and the great boar starts convulsing as it falls to the ground. I wipe the blood and oil off on it"s dirty fur, I want to use water magic but I endured it and just wiped it with a hand towel on my waist before putting it back in the scabbard.
Everyone is looking at me and cheering.
Ah, I have to disa.s.semble it to gather the magic stones..This is going to be annoying~
I guess I have to dirty the sword I just wiped clean again...
"Koru, Gureed-kun, Misu you three check up on Rokko and Kevin. Everyone else let"s gather the magic stones."
Thanks to Meiria declaring that I didn"t have to dirty my sword again.
"Pl..Please help..gobo...I..I don"t want to die.."
Rokko was heavily injured with a large hole open in his stomach. A bit of his intestines were coming out as well. The injury is too complex so {Cure} and {Cure Light} would at best just stop the bleeding. Even {Cure Serious} is vague whether it would close the wound, {Cure Critical} is necessary I"m sure. I"ve decided my own MP to be 39 that I"m willing to use in front of everyone. It"s impossible to use {Cure Critical} twice.
I used {Flame Arrow} five times against Vampire Bats on the way here. If I think about the recovery from taking a break then there shouldn"t be any problem if I use {Cure Critical} once. Incidentally Rokko"s wound is a considerably serious wound and while his maximum HP is 110, right now it"s just cut below 20. If the bleeding doesn"t stop he won"t even last an hour.
"Rokko! Give it your best! If we can just stop the bleeding.."
Misu ran up to Rokko"s side and crouched down.
"Rokko! Ah, s.h.i.t!! Meri-san! I..Is really no good if it"s my Note!?"
"I..I have a bit of the unnamed kind! If we can just stop the bleeding even now..It"s no good.."
Jeru and Kimu are worried about Rooko even though they were ordered to gather the magic stones.
"Nn Mi..Misu..Ju..Just a bit more and, th..the third time I, would have..gathered them..though.."
"Don"t move!"
Misu started concentrating with her hand on Rokko"s wound.
Leaving Kevin who hurt his back alone I called out to Koritto"s with a shout of, "I"ll use it", and took off my glove while forcibly crouching down across from Misu. It seems like Misu"s {Cure Light} had effect on the wound and just the bleeding stopped but for a wound this large it"s like water on a hot stone. And with that Misu"s MP cut 6. It won"t recover anymore. Though the wound with his intestines coming out closed.
I carefully push his intestines back inside of his stomach and after putting my hand on his wound for plenty of time..as expected it"s not a hobby of mine to watch someone pale and suffering as they cough up blood in front of me. I took about 20 seconds to use {Cure Critical}.
"..A, Ah? Ama..Amazing..The wound is closing..That"s amazing! Rokko! Rokko! You"re already fine! You can relax!"
Misu is calling out to Rokko.
I wonder what I should do about my right hand covered in Rokko"s blood...
Even if I wipe it with a hand towel it won"t completely come off after all...