Chapter 86

After that, we continued our exploration and finally found the entrance to the next floor.

"Finally, the next floor..."

Kuuna muttered, looking utterly exhausted.

"To be honest, I never want to come back to this floor again."

Anne looked just as worn out.

"There are all sorts of things here, you know."

"What is this place! Starting with that crocodile, the seabirds that keep dropping bombs from the sky, and the goblins that set traps on narrow footholds! I can only feel malice here!"

Kuuna was right; on the eighth floor underground, there were only the most despicable monsters.

In the forest area up to the ninth floor, this floor was the only one where such vile enemies gathered.

"But this time, we were lucky. We didn't encounter the worst one. In the forest area up to the ninth floor, the Hiding Alligator is only the second-worst monster; the worst is something else."

"There's something worse than that!?"

Kuuna said with a pale face.

"Yeah, the worst is incredible. It's a monster called the Dummy Glove. It looks exactly like the mangrove trees we use as footholds. They usually position themselves at the breaks in the mangrove paths, where explorers are likely to use them as footholds. When you jump and land on one, your feet first sink into the ground. Then the roots entangle your feet, and while you're panicking and can't move, the Dummy Glove dives into the lake. The explorer is weakened by the miasma-filled water and becomes its prey."

It was a perfect embodiment of malice. The first-time kill was extreme.

The level of mimicry was also high, and it took considerable skill to detect them.

"That's too vicious!?"

"Souji, you'd die instantly if you didn't know about it."

"Yeah, that's true. Fortunately, I know about it, so I can be careful and avoid them. But I don't know everything about the underground labyrinth. Sometimes I might fall into a trap. In the underground labyrinth, if you're just strong, you'll die easily. Observation and attention are always necessary."

The two of them nodded.

Both were steadily growing. With these two, everything would be fine.

◇

"This is the ninth floor underground."

"Since the eighth floor was like that, I was on guard, but it looks normal."

Kuuna and Anne were right; the ninth floor had no particular features. Trees grew moderately, and streams flowed here and there.

In appearance, it wasn't much different from the first floor underground.

The ninth floor was the last floor of the forest area. From the tenth floor underground, it would be the volcanic area.

"We'll hunt here for a while. The monsters here are strong, but most of them don't use tricks, so we can handle them in numbers. It's a good hunting ground if you have the appropriate strength."

"That's great news! I'll vent all the frustration from the eighth floor here."

Kuuna clenched his fist.

His tail was wagging, showing his readiness. We entered the forest together.

◇

Three hours had passed since we started hunting.

We needed to stop hunting soon and set up camp.

"Phew, we hunted a lot."

"Yeah, it was a satisfying hunt."

Anne and Kuuna smiled contentedly.

Our bags were packed with magic stones and monster materials.

The ninth floor underground was an excellent hunting ground. There were no other explorers, and there were many monsters. Moreover, while these monsters were strong, they didn't coordinate and came at us head-on.

In that case, there was no reason for us to lose.

We had already slain dozens of monsters.

"Kuuna and Anne have grown stronger. You've changed a lot."

Kuuna no longer felt unwell, and Anne had become capable of practical combat.

The battle with Clanel had made her grow. She could now become stronger on her own without me.

"Hehehe, Kuuna-chan is a genius."

"I also feel stronger. But compared to Souji, I still have a long way to go. I'll keep improving."

Each of them gave a different response, and I chuckled. However, both seemed to recognize their growth.

"Still, it's going smoothly, almost frighteningly so. I'm glad Yuri-senpai's bad feeling was wrong."

"Yeah. With such good visibility, we won't fall into strange traps. It's good we didn't turn back."

The two of them sighed in relief.

While I smiled, I felt a tingling sensation on the back of my neck.

I felt like someone was watching us.

But when I cast a detection spell, nothing came up. Maybe I was overthinking it.

"We'll head back to the seventh floor in about an hour. This floor has too many aggressive monsters, making it unsuitable for camping."

"That means..."

Kuuna looked displeased.

"We have to go through the eighth floor again."

"That seems more dangerous."

"No, really, it's better that way. If we tried to camp here, we'd have to take turns keeping watch."

The monsters here would ignore the smell that repels them and charge into our tents, and they had a wide range of movement.

Camping here would be suicidal.

"Then, we have no choice... Let's go back."

Kuuna seemed to agree.

The next moment, I sensed a powerful magic and instinctively went into battle stance.

I transformed the orichalcum into a spear.

"Kuuna, Anne, ready your weapons."

I said briefly, and both of them readied their weapons.

They didn't ask questions. From our previous explorations, they had learned to act first and think later. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to respond in time.

A massive vortex of magic appeared before us.

By this point, Kuuna and Anne could also sense the power.

The sheer magnitude of the magic left them in shock.

I began to decipher the spell.

This is... a teleportation spell. It's supposed to be incomplete, still in the development stage by players in Irlande, with only the basic theory established.

What's happening?

Blue light burst forth, and when it subsided, three people stood there.

All of them wore white clothing with silver embroidery, exuding a noble air reminiscent of priests.

A man with a two-handed sword, a woman with a bow, and a girl with a staff, likely a mage.

All of them were mid to high Rank 3.

"Ugh, this teleportation sickness is unbearable. Can't something be done about it?"

The man with the two-handed sword spoke.

"It's because you're inexperienced. Mina and I are fine."

The woman with the bow, who seemed confident, scolded him...

"Stop resisting the bishop's magic. That's why you feel this way. Incompetent."

The girl with the staff spat venomously.

"Sorry, sorry. So, are we at the right destination?"

"The bishop wouldn't make a mistake."

"That's true. So, is the Fire God's sacrifice here? Oh, there's a fire fox."

The man looked at us.

His gaze wasn't human. It was like he was looking at a pig ready for slaughter.

"Use your words correctly. The transformation isn't complete yet. The bishop said it takes time to mature."

"So, just cutting out the heart and extracting the red gem won't work?"

"Olin is incompetent. He didn't listen to the bishop. The bishop said the goal is to capture her alive. Stress will accelerate the transformation. Harvesting comes later. If done correctly, the heart will turn into a golden flame red gem. If you just kidnap any fire fox and cut out the heart, you'll get an ordinary red gem. Only a nine-tailed fire fox is suitable as the Fire God's sacrifice."

"But she looks like an ordinary fire fox. Though she is exceptionally cute..."

The girl tilted her head and examined Kuuna closely.

"That's strange. If the bishop sensed the transformation magic a few weeks ago, the transformation should have already started... But it's fine. I can sense power. We'll kidnap her and dissect her to see."

"Hey, don't dissect her. If you kill her, it'll be a waste. Stress accelerates the transformation, right? A woman like that will cooperate. Mess with her dignity, and it'll be quick."

The man showed clear hostility, but I was certain the girl was the most dangerous.

The man walked toward us and spoke.

"Who's the leader of your party?"

"It's me."

I stepped forward, shielding Kuuna and Anne.

"Got it, it's you. I'll get to the point. We, the Holy Rose Knights, are working to save the world. We need the fire fox woman for that. If you hand her over, we'll spare the other two."

It was a straightforward proposition.

They were underestimating us because they were Rank 3 and we were all Rank 2.

"Do you think we'd accept such a demand?"

"If you don't, we'll kill the others and kidnap the fire fox woman."

I glared at the man silently.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. This is for the world. I'm suffering too. ...To have to turn an innocent girl's important companion into mincemeat in front of her. For both our sakes, just hand her over quietly. You understand, right? Resistance is futile."

I relaxed my stance and suppressed my killing intent.

All traces of battle readiness vanished from me.

"Hmm, you understand?"

"Yes, I understand."

The man relaxed.

He thought I was going to hand over Kuuna obediently.

"I have to kill you."

In the next instant, I enveloped myself in miasma with the [Emblem Armor] and closed the distance with a high-speed step, stabbing the man's heart with the orichalcum spear, which was also enveloped in miasma, without any preliminary movements.

The man, who had let his guard down, thinking I had relaxed my stance, couldn't even react.

I relaxed my stance to make him let his guard down. I suppressed my boiling anger and concealed it, starting the spell calculations and waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

"Ugh..."

The man died instantly.

A complete heart puncture causes immediate death. There's no time for any protection to activate.

With [Emblem Armor], I can overcome a one-rank difference. That's why I could match Tiran.

Moreover, against humans, a weapon enveloped in miasma has a special attack. The miasma consumes protection.

I would never hand over Kuuna. She is everything to me. I have no hesitation in killing anything that hurts her.

The man's companions, the woman and the girl, panicked at the sudden turn of events.

Perfect. I would cut them down in an instant, kill one, and neutralize the other to extract information.

Even if we couldn't fight them head-on, a surprise attack was possible now.

The next update is on Saturday,

It will definitely be updated because I have stock.