Chapter 342

Dungeon Battle, Start

There was a white room .

There were two luxurious sofas, the kind some noble might sit in . One was black, the other white . They weren’t facing each other, instead facing the same direction… Much like seats in a theater .

Two magic circles appeared simultaneously, a single person appearing from each .

One was a beautiful woman called The White Goddess . The other was a man in the prime of his life, The Great Demon King .

These two, Haku Raverio and Core No . 6, were famously always bickering with each other like a cat and a dog . What sort of situation would occur with these two alone in the same room—?

“It hasn’t been too long, has it? Since the assembly?”

“Yes, No . 6 . ”

They spoke surprisingly harmoniously .

Seeing the sofas, Core No . 6 strode unhesitatingly to the black one and sat down .

Haku sat on the white sofa in a similar manner .

“Today will be fun, No . 6 . ”

“Yeah . I think so too . Let’s see how your treasured child uses my No . 666 . ”

“It wasn’t my intention to hide her to the point of her being considered treasured . ”

“Kukuku, I was referring to her Master . You’ve managed to keep a screen up between you and your cute little sister, but I wasn’t talking about her, you fox . ”

“Oh my . I would send your words right back at you . I’ve wanted to get a look at No . 666’s Master as well, but he’s not here today either . ”

“Sorry, but he’s training for the once every four years Fighting Competition for now . The timing was off . ”

“Really? Too bad, then . ”

The two continued talking with each other . If someone who knew how they normally acted were to hear them, they’d likely doubt their ears . They weren’t showing any of their usual animosity toward each other .

“How do you think it’s going to go? I believe No . 564 will be reasonably difficult, even for them . ”

“I’m not sure either, I’ve been staying away from spoilers . Well, I was told they had around a fifty percent shot, though . ”

“By that Master?”

“Yes, Kehma-san . ”

“… In that case, what percent do you actually think they have . ”

“Fifty percent . He said so himself . ”

“Hmm . You seem to trust him . ”

Just then, another person appeared from a new magic circle . Different from the ones the other two walked out of, this was a much more complex magic circle meant to summon an existence from a higher dimension .

The one to appear from it… was [Father] .

He had a dark, swarthy complexion and black hair . He was dressed in a blue vestment with half of his face—his eyes—covered by a mask . His exposed mouth was sporting its usual smile .

“Father . ”

“Otou-sama . ”

“Yo . Oh, you don’t have to stand . We’re family, right?”

[Father], a person whose face was normally only shown through a monitor even during assemblies .

Actually meeting—although it wasn’t clear if this was truly his main body—someone who should be called a divinity? His aura was amazing . Haku and Core No . 6, two individuals who usually acted as top dogs, were driven to the point of wanting to kneel .

“I usually use the monitor so I don’t frighten you children, but I figured it should be fine with you two, yeah?”

“Yes . It is as you say, Otou-sama . ”

“Kukuku, guess not then?”

With that, [Father] snapped his fingers and a sofa like the night sky appeared facing the white and black sofas . The sofa looked almost illusory, like stars were shining in some places before blinking out of existence in others . It was enough to make one think that it was crafted out of space itself .

[Father] sat down on it .

“What a wonderful seat . ”

“Really? Thanks, No . 6 . I’ll give it to you later then . You want one too, Haku?”

“Oh, truly?”

“You don’t need to hold back . I even incorporated Kehma-kun’s massage chair feature that you showed me . ”

“That is wonderful . In that case, I won’t hold back . ”

The three were full of smiles . It certainly did have a family-esque feeling of [Intimacy] .

“But Father, is this alright? You preparing a room like this for us, I mean . ”

“It’s fine, it’s fiiiine . Dungeon Battles are a bit amusing for me, after all . Besides, I figured it’d be interesting hearing both of your commentaries on it . ”

“What could we possibly explain to Otou-sama?”

“I keep saying it, but I’m not as omniscient as you all seem to think . I guess I’m pretty good at making things, but well… that’s about it . ”

“Father, wouldn’t that make us existences that can’t do anything?”

“It’s nothing like that . Dungeon Cores are existences made to be able to handle various things . Therefore, that includes things I cannot do that you all can . As long as there are people able to do whatever I can’t, it’s fine—at least, that’s what someone told me . ”

Father spread his hands and smiled .

What someone told him… who in the world would say something like that to [Father]?

Haku thought to herself .

“Right, how about we start this? What will you two be doing for the starting signal? I want to make an appearance after this as a surprise, so…”

“Oh? Father, when you set up this room, your involvement became obvious . Won’t it not matter even if you give the starting signal?”

“Wait, Haku . That Master might have realized, but at the very least No . 564 hasn’t seemed to notice . If Father is wanting to hide, he should still be able to… The way people act would change upon realizing a god is watching them, there’s no need for us to be merciful to fools who haven’t realized it for themselves . ”

“I see, it’s as you say, No . 6 . So Otou-sama, who will give the starting signal? Do you have a preference?”

The reason she asked was because in addition to No . 6 and Haku there in the room, there were also the competitors themselves to pick from . Then again, it was also to imply that she and No . 6, non-competitors, were fine with giving the start signal .

“Hm? Hmm… Alright, let’s have No . 6 decide on it . ”

It appeared that [Father] seemed to think it was best for No . 6, the only one connected with both sides of the competition, to make the call .

“It’s a big responsibility, No . 6 . Do it properly . ”

“You don’t need to tell me that . Still, rushing and doing this poorly would besmirch Father’s existence, so I will do this with the natural flow . Help me with this . ”

“There’s no helping it . ”

A monitor appeared in the air in front of [Father] . Looking at it, it displayed the Dungeon Cores that would be performing in this Dungeon Battle . The same was visible on [Father]’s side of the monitor .

“Still though, No . 6, Haku, you two get along well . You could just act like that all the time, honestly . I mean, I don’t know what you two are trying to achieve so I won’t say anything . ”

“Thank you for your understanding . ”

“Come to think of it, Haku, have you progressed on your investigation on that matter since then?”

“None… Actually, right now would be good for that . Really, No . 6, you’re so diligent . You should just enjoy the Dungeon Battle . I’ve been keeping myself from asking Kehma-san much for that as well . ”

“Oh well . Ah, let’s give the opening speech . Father, could you?”

“Coming right up . In three, two…”

Matching the timing of Father’s countdown, the Dungeon Battle’s participants were connected to see the two of them sitting in their VIP seats . They were shown by the monitor to be looking away from each other as if displeased… although they were still smiling, all that could be seen was [Two Rival Leaders] with none of the peaceful mood there had been until then .

“… Well . It seems everyone is prepared . ”

[Yes, Great Demon King-sama! My Magnificent Self will dedicate this victory to you, Great Demon King-sama!]

[I-I’ll show kyuu who’ll wiiin!]

“Ku ku ku . You both seem motivated… Don’t disappoint me, No . 564 . ”

[Sir!]

Core No . 564, the cause of this whole thing, and Core No . 629 . The victory condition for this was [Touch the Dungeon Core], either of these two’s true bodies, or for either of them to declare their surrender .

Although the previous time was a three-way battle, it was a battle held between the young 600 series generation of cores and was settled in the course of a day . This time would include one of the 500 series . Core No . 6 wondered how many days this one would last .

“Kehma-san . Use No . 666 to smash through him and win, alright?”

[Yeah… I mean, eh, I’ll try . ]

“What are you saying, No . 89—no, Haku… No . 666, I won’t mind if you secretly stab No . 695 during this Dungeon Battle if you want . ”

[A surprise attack! That sounds fun, Jiji-sama . I don’t think Rokuko’s going to be in the fighting though . Unfortunate . ]

“Really? Hmph, so the [Betrayer]’s pet is a [Weakling], is she? What’s so good about her?”

“You don’t understand Rokuko-chan’s charm . Of course you wouldn’t, seeing how you admire that brutish No . 666 . ”

“Ahhh? You want to settle this here and now?”

“Fine… is what I’d like to say, but today’s fight isn’t ours . How about we start this?”

“Tch, that’s true… Alright, begin!”

With that, the Dungeon Battle between [Core No . 564] and the [600 Series Core Alliance] began .