Chapter 52

To avoid entering the detection range of the rare lizardman, Kagemitsu carefully watched Seiki's battle.

His fighting style was hit-and-run.

—That was what Kagemitsu thought, but unexpectedly, it was a continuous attack with his feet stopped.

He dodged the enemy's attacks with sways,

and deflected dangerous attacks with plant attacks.

Kagemitsu was genuinely impressed.

Currently, with the low number of people equipped with daggers, there were almost no researchers of dagger combat.

Therefore, the fighting style inevitably became a second-rate version of great swords or long swords.

If that was the case, there was no need to use daggers.

Great swords or long swords would do.

However, his fighting style was his own.

While he borrowed the basics of movements from great swords or long swords, he placed more emphasis on the number of rotations rather than the strength of a single strike.

A strong single strike reduces battle time.

Reducing battle time decreases the probability of losing one's life.

That's why everyone prioritizes the strength of a single strike.

Fighting with a short-ranged dagger, and prioritizing the number of rotations by stopping one's feet, seemed to Kagemitsu to only increase the likelihood of losing one's life.

But he was different.

The enemy's attacks were clearly visible.

He observed them carefully, determined them,

and predicted subsequent attacks, dodging them with sways alone.

There were no intermediate adventurers who could do this, as far as Kagemitsu knew.

Dagger users couldn't be compared to others, but...

"What do you think?"

"...It's a bit lacking."

"Yeah."

When Kagemitsu asked, Yosh and Van expressed the same opinion.

Of course, Kagemitsu also agreed.

His skills were more than sufficient for hunting on the 10th floor.

He could probably reach up to the 12th floor without much trouble.

However, if he were to launch a special attack on the Monster Parade, his extermination speed was woefully inadequate.

He couldn't spend more than 10 seconds to defeat a single monster. If it took too long, he would be overwhelmed by the monsters.

For a special attack on the Monster Parade, he needed to defeat each monster in at least 10 seconds.

Ideally, an average of 5 seconds would be better.

But even after 20 seconds of combat, Kuki still hadn't defeated the monster.

"...Kagemitsu, what do you think? If we let him charge into the Monster Parade, he will surely die, right?"

"Hmm..."

Kagemitsu was already aware of this, even without being pointed out.

But there were no other adventurers who seemed capable of charging into the Monster Parade.

At least, the remaining adventurers in Sapporo were all beginners. Intermediate and above had already left for Shinjuku, leaving only Aerial.

It was possible to bring the remaining beginners to the middle floors,

but there wasn't enough time to train them to the point where they wouldn't die.

There were no cards to play with the current Aerial.

That's why Kagemitsu had latched onto the rumor of Kuki, who had single-handedly exterminated the Monster Parade.

—But it seems he missed the mark.

Kagemitsu was disappointed, though he didn't show it.

"There are too many bad moves. As expected, his short adventuring history means he lacks combat experience."

"What do you think?"

"...Let's observe a bit more. The Monster Parade doesn't seem to be fully active yet."

If it were just a regular Monster Parade, it would have been different, but this time it was led by a rare species.

If the Monster Parade became active, a stampede was entirely possible.

If a stampede were to occur in "Chikaho" now...

Sapporo would surely become a second Shinjuku.

Kagemitsu stayed in Sapporo as insurance in case something happened in the dungeon.

The dungeon is unpredictable.

He had learned this the hard way from the previous stampede.

(If we can't protect the place where the people who went to save Japan will return, it would be a disgrace to the rankers.)

As a ranker who remained in Sapporo, he would protect Sapporo.

Even if the current hope was small, he would cling to it and achieve the best possible future.

Kuki finally defeated the first Belobelo and collapsed to his knees.

"...Huh? Is it level-up dizziness?"

"No, that's too early for level-up dizziness."

"Probably, it's stamina..."

Each of them speculated.

Defeating a monster on the 10th floor wouldn't cause level-up dizziness severe enough to make one kneel.

At least, since Aerial's members became intermediate adventurers, none of them had ever experienced level-up dizziness severe enough to make them kneel.

This was partly due to sharing experience points within the party and taking more than the necessary safety margin.

From Kagemitsu's experience, there were three essential elements for adventurers to conquer the dungeon:

1. Physical level.

2. Technical level.

3. Combat experience.

It wasn't easy to defeat strong monsters without combat experience and physical level.

Kagemitsu couldn't imagine that a beginner like Kuki, who lacked combat experience, would be so low-level that he would get drunk from the experience of defeating a monster, let alone defeat an overwhelmingly stronger monster.

Therefore, Kagemitsu concluded that Kuki probably ran out of stamina.

In just one battle, a battle lasting less than a minute, running out of stamina was unusual, but it was more realistic than level-up dizziness.

"What do you think, Kuki? Take a break—"

"Next!"

Kuki interrupted Kagemitsu's words.

His intense voice left Kagemitsu speechless for a moment.

Kuki's eyes shone with a strong light, showing no signs of fatigue or dizziness.

Kagemitsu's serious expression confirmed this.

"Alright. Yosh."

He signaled with his eyes, and Yosh lured the monster.

Is his stamina okay?

I hope he doesn't get killed by a mere grunt in a series of battles.

If he gets into trouble, Kagemitsu would be ready to help immediately.

However, Kagemitsu's worries were dispelled by Kuki's additional requests.

"Next!"

"Next!"

"More!"

"Too slow!!"

Kuki's additional orders erased Kagemitsu's concerns.

"Hey, hey. How long does he plan to fight?"

"Kagemitsu, shouldn't we stop him soon?"

"Stop him? ...Don't be ridiculous."

Even Kagemitsu, who was usually cautious, hesitated to stop Kuki.

This was because his movements visibly improved with each battle.

As if he were a famous adventurer who had forgotten how to fight.

Kagemitsu's spine gradually turned cold.

Despite the coldness, his blood ran hot.

Battles that initially took nearly a minute were reduced to 40 seconds in the next battle.

Then 30 seconds, 20 seconds, 15 seconds...

The time kept decreasing.

His attacks became sharper.

His attack speed and strength were clearly improving.

Kagemitsu was impressed by the way Kuki exploited the enemy's weaknesses.

His movements to create openings in the enemy were so impressive that Kagemitsu couldn't help but exclaim.

Kuki was growing rapidly.

His growth rate was so fast that it even surpassed the common sense of Kagemitsu, who was known as a hardcore adventurer.

"Is he leveling up?"

"Don't be ridiculous. If he leveled up from killing a few Belobelos, we would have conquered the 30th floor by now!"

"True, it might not be leveling up, but..."

"Then is it the mask's ability? Does it berserk after a certain amount of combat time?"

"No."

If he had berserked, it would have been evident in his voice and attitude.

But there was no sign of berserking from him.

Probably, he had simply become better at choosing the best move.

Based on his own experience, Kagemitsu forced a conclusion about Kuki's changes.

"Probably, he has really good eyes."

As soon as he said it, Kagemitsu's spine shivered.

In this short time, Kuki had developed the ability to perfectly identify the weaknesses of Belobelos.

Not just strong adventurers, but a beginner who had just entered the middle floors!

By the time he had completed 10 to 20 battles, Kuki could defeat Belobelos with only the best moves.

Just when everyone thought it was over,

"Next!"

Kuki still demanded more monsters.

"No, no. We've hunted enough—"

"More!!"

"...Alright!"

Despite his strained face, Kagemitsu laughed.

This guy is crazy.

"Alright, Yosh. Keep luring monsters until he collapses."

"But..."

"Just do it."

Kagemitsu was now intensely curious about how many monsters Kuki could defeat in a row.

Breaking the limits of humanity, adventurers, and himself.

He might witness the entire process...

Yosh's face was strained as he lured the monsters.

He was probably afraid of the future where the monsters he lured would kill Kuki.

"It's okay."

Kagemitsu nodded to reassure Yosh.

"If Kuki is about to be killed, I'll help with all my strength."

"...Okay."

* * *

When he realized, Seiki was lying face down.

His back hurt from the rare leaves.

They kept hitting him, as if saying, "I'm a bit uncomfortable!"

...I wish you could be a bit more gentle.

Seiki slowly got up with a wry smile.

"Hey, you're awake. Want some water?"

"Yeah. Sorry, I haven't collapsed in a while."

"Really? Haven't collapsed?"

"I had my team members adjust the combat time, so it hadn't happened in a while, but before that, I used to collapse occasionally."

"......What if you collapse and die?"

"I got scolded for that."

Thinking of Hiren's expression at the time, Seiki smiled wryly.

"Sorry for the trouble."

"No, we finished hunting all the monsters, so we just waited for you to wake up."

But thanks to that, Seiki didn't die.

Seiki drank the water he was given and gave plenty of water to Rea.

"What do you think of fighting the Belobelos?"

"At first, I was confused by the weapon's range."

The thinking patterns of the monsters were different.

But from his experience fighting the owner, he had a rough idea.

He applied this to the Belobelos.

Furthermore, Seiki imitated the core movements of Kagemitsu and the others.

This was quite difficult.

It was only natural.

It was impossible to immediately imitate the movements of adventurers who reached the lower floors, even with skill assistance.

Seiki just kept trying and experimenting.

Perhaps due to leveling up or the manifestation of a blessing,

Seiki gradually became aware of the changes in his physical abilities as he repeated battles.

Even when he gave his all, it felt like there was still more to give.

Seiki kept repeating battles, approaching the new ceiling that had risen without him noticing.

He patiently imitated, corrected his movements, and aimed for his limit—the ceiling.

As a result, by the time he had hunted 50 Belobelos, he was no longer falling behind.

When his concentration reached its peak, Seiki saw it.

A faint white light shining in his vision...

What was this?

As soon as he became aware of it, it disappeared.

The more he wanted to see it again, the more it wouldn't appear.

But when his concentration increased, the light would float up.

He couldn't react immediately because he was focused.

But when he tried to react, it disappeared.

...What was that?

The light kept bothering him,

and Seiki kept demanding more monsters and collapsing.

In the end, he never found out what it was.

I feel like I would have understood if I had fought a bit more...

He returned the water bottle to Kagemitsu and thoroughly checked his body.

He had tried various full-effort movements, but there was no sign of pain anywhere.

Just his body felt heavy.

It was inevitable after fighting continuously.

"Should we head back soon?"

"What time is it now?"

"Exactly 2 PM."

"Then let's hunt a bit more."

"...Huh?"

"Um, do you have any plans after this?"

"No, nothing."

"Then let's hunt."

"Um..."

Kagemitsu looked at Yosh and Van with a confused expression.

He said he had no plans, but maybe he did.

"I'm sorry for pushing. I can do it alone—"

"No, no, no! It's fine. No problem. If you're going to do it, I'll join you."

Kagemitsu hastily interrupted Seiki's words.

I don't want you to push yourself since you're helping, but...

Since he said it was fine, I'll take advantage of his kindness.

He stuffed a nutrition ration into his mouth and stood up, gripping his dagger.

"Alright!"

Today's goal is 200 Belobelos!

* * *

【Monster Parade】Thread about "Chikaho" 75【Avoidance】

211 Name: Kagemitsu★

Hey, hey, hey!!

If anyone knows about the adventurer I mentioned,

come out!

212 Name: Anonymous avoiding the Monster Parade

What happened this time...

213 Name: Kagemitsu★

You pushed an incredible talent on me!

He hunted from 11 AM to 8 PM!

214 Name: Anonymous avoiding the Monster Parade

That doesn't sound like the hardcore Kagemitsu.

Just 9 hours?

Not a big deal, right?

215 Name: Kagemitsu★

Is it not a big deal to fight monsters continuously for 9 hours?

It was non-stop, like a dog's soba!

216 Name: Anonymous avoiding the Monster Parade

Dog's soba...?

Did you take breaks in between?

217 Name: Kagemitsu★

He only took breaks when he collapsed from fatigue.

218 Name: Anonymous avoiding the Monster Parade

Huh?

Sorry, I don't quite understand.

How many Belobelos did he defeat in total?

219 Name: Kagemitsu★

>>218

Over 200.

The respawns couldn't keep up.

If they had, he might have reached 300.

220 Name: Anonymous avoiding the Monster Parade

Respawns couldn't keep up? lol

Which Monster Parade did you charge into? lol

You must have helped, right?

Right? (serious face)

221 Name: Kagemitsu★

We haven't charged into the Monster Parade yet.

I just watched.

I didn't help at all.

222 Name: Anonymous avoiding the Monster Parade

...Huh?

I was happy with 50 kills a day.

I was just a bottom-tier grunt...

223 Name: Anonymous avoiding the Monster Parade

I can only manage 50 too.

Is Kagemitsu really human?

224 Name: Anonymous avoiding the Monster Parade

No way, that's awesome lol

225 Name: Kagemitsu★

It would have been easier if it were a lie...

>>223 Probably human.

He ate rations.

By the way, our highest kill count is around 150.

With a full 5-member team!

Seriously, it's really, really, crazy...

Our team members were shocked.

I was shocked too.

226 Name: Anonymous avoiding the Monster Parade

To shock the most hardcore Kagemitsu in Sapporo,

this talent must be something special...

Indeed, it's no wonder Masatsugu was interested...