Chapter 33

Dungeon Battle, Conclusion

Slowly, the [Gate of Wisdom] opened .

As for Haku, she managed to assemble her broken mind, and tried to look at the other side…

… but couldn’t .

Because, there was a clay wall on the other side of the door .

… Under it was a polite [Under Construction] poster .

Her broken mind exploded .

*

“… Oh, she got it right . ”

“Hey, what’s with the dead end?”

“Well, there really wasn’t enough time… I-I didn’t sleep y’know? Definitely didn’t . ”

‘Ah, so he slept’, Rokuko was convinced .

“To be blunt, Rokuko was able to figure it out in three seconds—… is what I thought, so I didn’t finish making it . ”

“Why not?”

“Because I thought it would be surprising…”

“It’s definitely surprising you know . Coming up to a dead end in a labyrinth… hey, after this, where should they go?”

“Since I hid three Dummy Cores in the labyrinth in addition to the pitfalls… they went past it . ”

Two were in [Small Projecting Rooms] from the labyrinth, carefully constructed to be rectangular . The other hidden on the ceiling .

However, Haku-san’s group hadn’t found them since they were currently covered up by Wall Golems .

Though since a real Dungeon Core would malfunction if it was confined in the dungeon by a wall, the Wall Golems were designed to only move when he teleported with Castling .

Still, it looks like it doesn’t count as being shut away if the walls seriously isolated it . Though I don’t really understand the conclusion, using Wall Golems to surround them was no good . I don’t get it .

*

“””” … … … “”””

Everyone in the [White Trial] has become silent .

However, each of them looked slightly different .

First, Haku .

Her smile had solidified .

Misha, who was the only one to answer the riddle correctly, had her face turn blue, ‘Crap, I said too much…’

Then there was the other four retainers, which included Chloe . With the indescribable smile on Haku’s face, they didn’t say anything .

“… —The enemy, Dungeon Boss room broken through! C-Core Room discovered!”

Amelia’s sudden report pushed away the hardened atmosphere .

“Eh, hold up! What about the Red Minotaur boss!? You can’t get into the Core Room without defeating the boss you know!?”

“Th—… . they filled its throat, it died!’

She shivered .

Imagining that horrible way to die—not that it wasn’t perfect—the rats, mere rats… the fact they defeated a boss monster .

“Ah—ahahaha, t-that’s so funny! How are rats as brutal as that!?”

“Please settle down, Dolche… Ojou-sama . ”

“We haven’t lost yet… . Keep searching with our offensive forces, we must have overlooked something . Chloe, use my spear to defend the core . ”

“As you command, even if it costs this life of mine…!”

As for whether that much was exaggerated for rats, no one could say .

They were shown the unthinkable and crushing defeat of a Red Minotaur by its throat being blocked . With Chloe’s very petit build, she probably wouldn’t be able to take more than a single rat .

“The enemy, still has… one hundred… good luck . ”

“I still have to serve Ojou-sama, I can’t die just yet… I’m off!”

So, spear in hand, Chloe jumped out of the core . The rat swarm was just about to reach the Dungeon Core .

“Just in time huh…! Protect! [Firewall]!”

With those words, a wall of flame appeared to enclose and defend the core . The rats took a distance away .

This was Haku’s magical spear, the [Spear of Firewall]’s ability… It used the wielder’s magical power, manifesting the fire-type upper class magic [Firewall] with a single keyword .

—Furthermore, in the event it was picked up as a treasure in a dungeon, it was said to be worth 10,000,000 DP for a single one . A treasure amongst treasures .

“Phew… with this, we should have gained some time huh . ”

Chloe wondered what would happen next… she expected a mass of rats to make their way through the Firewall .

When she looked, the rats were huddling together .

That was good, so long as she prepared herself, she could deal with—

[Chloe-san! Feint—behind you! There are enemies behind you! Amount, 10!]

“—!?”

She turned around, but there was nothing there… no, she just couldn’t see them!?

“The heck is—!?”

She searched for the enemies, but she couldn’t find them . She couldn’t see them . Shouldn’t there be ten of them!?

Weren’t they rats!?

[… —It was… touched…!]

“Haha… the heck is going on… . ”

She couldn’t understand . Exhausted, she undid the [Firewall] .

… After the flickering flames went out, she noticed that there was [Something] transparent above the core .

“… What…”

It was transparent—she hadn’t seen it before, like… an insect, or something .

*

Finally, the Dungeon Core… well, Dummy Core, Touchdown! —Wait, Chloe jumped out of the core and put up a [Firewall] .

So you can sortie from a Dummy Core… didn’t know that . Would’ve put more Golems to work if I knew it, it would’ve been an infinite hit combo of Golems coming out everywhere in the labyrinth after reviving .

Though still, this flame was troublesome .

Or rather, it was foul play . Just needed one more step . It was obviously a magic item . I want to cross-examine her 100,000 DP .

The rats were gathering up, let’s see if they can’t somehow break through it… yup .

Hmm? What’s this…

“… Ah, oi, it’s defenseless from above . Nice, that’s just right . Invoke the [Hidden Gems] . ”

“H-hey, I don’t get what you mean!”

“Invoke them . ”

She isn’t getting what I’m telling her . Drones are something from my world, like a helicopter… she wouldn’t understand something like that .

Well, I made it with transparent materials .

I’d thought about making Water Golems at first, but I didn’t think their propellers would be strong enough for them to fly well . Though since I had some empty mana potion bottles, it went smoothly when I tried putting them to use and made some with them .

It was transparent and hard to see . The rats could transport them by swallowing them, the wonderful miniaturization was a success . At most they were the size of a marble .

Weeell, this time in particular… the flickering flames made them extra hard to see!

I could make them with a single type of material, it was even a stealth-type since it was a dungeon-restricted Golem and wouldn’t need a power supply . A Drone with a skeletal frame, battery, and communications equipment with modern Japanese technology would have looked like a mountain . Magic is amazing .

And so, the Drones were concealed in a part of the rats’ stomachs, going in as capsules that would open in the rats .

It was my ultimate weapon, [Hidden Gem] (Stealth Drone Capsule) .

… As expected, they tore their way through the rats’ stomachs . Grotesque . Sorry though, even though they all survived the suicide attacks at the Minotaur’s mouth… I won’t feel much heartache from rats .

Then, the Drones quietly made their way above the Firewall, and though they had a tough time operating for a moment there from the hot winds—they landed softly and—

—we won .

* Bonus *

A short snippet from when they were in the labyrinth .

“Ku— this [Transforming Labyrinth] is annoying… ah, right! Can’t we just break through the walls to advance?”

“Wait, that’s foul play for capturing the labyrinth . ”

“No, we don’t have the time otherwise so…”

“… Alright, I’ll authorize it . Go for it!”

“T-there’s communication coming in from the enemy!”

“I wonder what it is . Connect us… Oh my, Kehma-san, what is it? Certainly, breaking the labyrinth and dungeon walls shouldn’t have been in the rules . ”

[Yeah, I was just going to give some good information… This labyrinth is… handmade by Rokuko, yeah… Are you fine with destroying it?]

“Wha—…!? T-that’s…”

[In truth, Rokuko helped digging the passages with the Golems and a pickax… so, this is genuinely… her first, handmade labyrinth . So… are you fine with that? Really? Would you not regret it even if she hates you for it?]

“… . Mind games are unfair!”

[It’s my maxim though… So, will you destroy it?]

“—… Of course I won’t break it!”

That communication may or may not have happened…