Chapter 82

"......No way!?"

In the midst of the plain, he could sense the presence of monsters everywhere.

However, he could not see the monsters.

This was for a reason.

The presence of the monsters was currently underground in the plain.

Poko, poko.

Hands stretched out from the ground.

The shape of the hands was the same as a werewolf's.

But the color was different.

The werewolves had fur that was a brown close to gold.

But the hands that stretched out from the ground were a deep purple.

--Is this it!

The one that grabbed Seiki's foot earlier was a werewolf.

It was only then that Seiki realized this.

The reason Seiki hadn't noticed until now was that he hadn't even considered the possibility that monsters could be lurking at his feet.

Because he hadn't even imagined it, his guard had been lax.

He had been caught off guard earlier.

But he wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.

Seiki etched the words "be cautious" into his mind.

From the ground, a purple werewolf rapidly emerged.

There were fifty of them, at least for now.

These werewolves were probably the ones that had been attacking the deer before.

The werewolves, having received the black-purple mass, were buried in the ground and had been sleeping underground until now.

And now, they had awakened at the signal from the deer.

The eyes of the werewolves that had appeared were vacant.

They looked like zombies.

The black-purple mass undoubtedly had the effect of controlling monsters.

Come to think of it, Esta had been affected by it...

As soon as he realized this, a shiver ran down Seiki's spine.

He had thought it was unlikely, but Esta was still wriggling in Seiki's stomach.

When their eyes met, Esta moved her tentacles.

There was no sign that Esta was being controlled by the deer.

Her shell was a beautiful flame color.

The reason Esta was unharmed was probably due to her disease prevention skill.

A skill that prevented disease.

It had protected her from the attack that controlled the opponent.

Esta also had the blessing of a divine insect.

It had been just a hunch, but it was a good decision to have raised her disease prevention.

"---Alright!"

Seiki began his attack on the werewolves that had entered his range.

Slash, tear, stab, kick.

Defend, dodge, counter.

Due to Seiki's attacks, the werewolves were easily wounded and fell one after another.

...No good.

Seiki, who was fighting the werewolves, was deeply disappointed even in the midst of battle.

These were not werewolves.

They were much more beautiful.

These vacant-eyed creatures were just puppets with strong power.

Seiki slaughtered the werewolves without emotion.

While slaughtering them, he gradually moved closer to Hiren.

"Hiren, we're retreating!"

The werewolves were clearly weaker compared to the normal ones.

But their numbers overwhelmed their quality.

No matter how easily they could be defeated, if they were surrounded, they would surely be overwhelmed.

Before that, they would retreat once.

Since there was a possibility that a monster parade would occur, it was too much for just Seiki and Hiren to handle.

Seiki desperately tried to open a path through the blood.

But,

"Damn it!"

A deer cut in front of the direction Seiki was heading.

The deer spat out a black-purple mass from its mouth.

Seiki barely avoided it.

Rera crushed the werewolves that approached from behind.

Seiki defeated the remaining ones.

But they were being pushed back.

Just the presence of the deer made it impossible to move freely.

In front of the deer, Hiren was firing lightning at the werewolves.

The power was there, but the number of attacks was insufficient.

Hiren was being pushed back rapidly.

The distance between Seiki and Hiren was widening.

"Damn it, avoid that!"

Seiki forcefully stepped in.

But the deer obstructed Seiki's path with its body.

Seiki was forced to retreat to avoid a body slam.

He landed in the rear.

There, he was suddenly caught by a hand that stretched out from the ground.

"---Damn it!"

He had become too aggressive, and his detection had become lax.

Seiki kicked the hand with his free foot.

The deer did not miss this opportunity.

A black-purple mass was released from the deer's mouth.

If he received this, he might become like a werewolf.

However,

"---!!"

His body was fully extended.

His posture was bad.

--Can't avoid it!

In front of Seiki's eyes,

The deer slightly twisted its mouth.

It was a nasty smile.

Damn it!

Seiki glared at the deer, waiting for the last moment.

But before that,

A light impact on his abdomen.

Red floated up from below,

And it knocked the approaching mass to the ground.

"Esta!"

Esta, sensing Seiki's danger, had shielded him with her body and deflected the mass.

Esta herself was as lively as before.

The black-purple mass had no effect on Esta.

"Great job!!"

Seiki patted Esta's shell, and she wiggled her bottom.

The deer released another mass.

But Esta reacted.

She deflected the mass in mid-air and returned to Seiki's stomach.

"Haha..."

Seiki couldn't help but laugh at Esta's unexpected performance.

What a surprise.

It's like an automatic defense system!

Seiki's childlike heart was tickled.

A ray of light for the future was seen.

If he followed this narrow path, perhaps...

It would lead to the best future.

Yes, Seiki was certain of it.

But the path was too steep.

And it was too narrow.

In fact, Hiren was being pushed back considerably.

Hiren's lightning was essential for counterattacks.

Retreating from the battlefield meant defeat.

But Seiki couldn't do anything.

...What to do.

"Rera, can you reach that far with your attack?"

"（Shiver, shiver）"

While dealing with the werewolves, Seiki asked.

But Rera's reaction was not good.

The distance between Seiki and Hiren was about thirty meters.

It wasn't a distance that couldn't be reached by a throw.

But now, there was a deer in between.

And a large number of werewolves.

They were obstacles, making it impossible to back up Hiren.

A bitter memory of losing the Four Cauldrons resurfaced in Seiki's mind.

Is there anything...?

Seiki suppressed his anxiety and desperately tried to think.

But he didn't have time to think.

Hiren fired lightning while retreating.

Her back hit the dungeon wall.

"Hiren---!!"

Seiki's voice was drowned out by the crowd of monsters.

Seiki pushed through the crowd of monsters, desperately trying to move forward.

But he couldn't speed up.

Even when he moved forward, he was blocked by the deer.

"Back off!!"

Seiki attacked with all his might.

But with a disordered sword stroke, he couldn't cut anything.

Seiki's dagger was deflected by the deer.

He was hit by a body slam and blown backward.

Not only did he not return to his starting point, but the distance between them widened even more.

In front of Seiki's eyes,

The werewolves surrounding Hiren raised their fists,

--Hiren!!

In an instant.

The werewolf was split in two.

"......Huh?"

Suddenly, a dazzling adventurer appeared.

With just a swing of his greatsword, he slashed through five werewolf torsos.

"Hey, hey. When I rushed over, things were getting pretty interesting!"

The one who appeared was a tall man, wrapped in a dazzling presence, wielding a greatsword from the Ichimatsu High-End "Ichi" series.

"---Kagemitsu!!"

*

【Administrator】Chat Room【Limited】

Masatsugu★ has entered the room.

Bacon★ has entered the room.

Shizuru★ has entered the room.

Bacon★: What's up

Masatsugu★: Hello

Shizuru★: Hi

Bacon★: Have you arrived in Shinjuku, Shizuru?

Shizuru★: Yeah, I made it safely.

Bacon★: I thought you were serious about not coming to Shinjuku.

Shizuru★: My team members scolded me. I'm really reflecting on it.

Bacon★: Muhahaha wwww

Shizuru★: ...

Masatsugu★: How much of the stampede story has Shizuru heard?

Shizuru★: Mostly.

Masatsugu★: Just to be safe, I'll explain it again.

The rare species of deer is the boss this time, and it launches a special attack.

If you touch that attack, you can't move.

Bacon was affected by it.

Bacon★: Yeah

I couldn't move at all.

It felt like my muscles had been completely exhausted!

Masatsugu★: I didn't know that...

Shizuru★: A curse?

Masatsugu★: I don't know.

Since the same color monsters were swarming, there's a possibility of a hypnotic skill.

I made Bacon drink all the medicines I brought.

The only one that worked was the universal medicine.

Bacon★: No, it was the protein that worked!

Masatsugu★: Please be serious.

Bacon★: A, Yes

Masatsugu★: It took quite a while for the symptoms to completely disappear.

I gathered all the universal medicines before Shizuru arrived.

Bacon★: It took a lot of time to gather the necessary amount.

Shizuru★: Yeah.

What am I supposed to do?

Masatsugu★: Surround the boss and attack all at once.

Bacon★: Avoid the purple mass at all costs.

If you touch it, you'll be immobilized like me.

Masatsugu★: I tried fighting it, but

It can be avoided and deflected with a sword.

But you must not avoid it.

It might hit other adventurers fighting with you.

Knock it down with a weapon while attacking.

Only I, Bacon, and Shizuru can do that.

I'm counting on you.

Shizuru★: Grr

Masatsugu★: Don't fall asleep.

The other top players will be responsible for eliminating the lesser monsters.

Otherwise, it will only increase the number of casualties.

Bacon★: Be careful, the lesser monsters will spawn at your feet.

They can easily trip you up.

Masatsugu★: Experience talks.

Bacon★: ...

Shizuru★: Haha

Bacon★: !?

Masatsugu★: Let's do it as planned.

Bacon★: Alright!

Shizuru★: Understood.

Shizuru★ has left the room.

Bacon★ has left the room.

Masatsugu★: I'll store this conversation in the log.

If the rescue operation fails and we die,

I hope the remaining top players will use this log as a reference to come up with a strategy.

I hope they don't give up or lose hope,

but look forward and take on the future of Japan.

Thank you.

*

In the midst of the battlefield where lives were being taken, Seiki had completely forgotten about it and was overjoyed at Kagemitsu's appearance.

"How did you get here!?"

"Of course, if I hear that my brother is in trouble, I can't just sit around, can I?"

The "brother" was a one-sided claim by Kagemitsu.

Seiki wanted a strong presence, and Kagemitsu wanted to lose his presence.

Both were asking for what they didn't have.

But their vectors were opposite.

They were definitely not brothers.

But at this moment, Seiki almost nodded to this claim.

"Ah, but I'll still charge you for the fee, okay?"

"......"

Correction.

If they were brothers, they wouldn't talk about money before saving each other's lives in a crisis.

With Hiren backed against the dungeon wall and Kagemitsu guarding in front of her, the battlefield stabilized instantly.

Kagemitsu wielded a greatsword.

Against a monster parade, he was at a disadvantage.

He was supposed to be at a disadvantage, but Kagemitsu slaughtered the werewolves without any trouble.

No matter how strong the monsters on the 15th floor were, without the advantage of human thought, they were no different from puppets.

The quality of the top adventurer Kagemitsu could not be overwhelmed by mere numbers without strategy.

"Coming in and immediately asking for money, that doesn't sound like something a brother would say."

"Even if we're brothers, work is work. I've come all this way, so I'd like a little extra, you know?"

"Then work as much as the money is worth."

"Heh. Of course."

While talking nonsense, he continued to dispatch the werewolves one after another.

With the front line protecting her, Hiren's magic began to shine.

She fired lightning at the werewolves that Kagemitsu couldn't reach.

"Hey, what's that attack?"

"Magic."

"Magic!?"

Seiki's revelation made Kagemitsu's eyes widen.

Hiren used magic right in front of Kagemitsu.

Seiki didn't feel any sense of crisis about this.

There was no situation where he could hide the magic and get through.

Moreover, Seiki predicted that there would be no bad consequences even if Kagemitsu found out.

Although they hadn't known each other for long, Seiki trusted Kagemitsu's character.

"Magic is a team secret. Don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Of course. But magic, huh. So it really exists!"

Kagemitsu was an adventurer who sought the unknown.

Even though it had been said to exist for a long time, he had never seen it before.

Despite being in the middle of a monster parade, he looked like a child with shining eyes when he saw it.

"---But, hey, what's with that air! The magic is amazing, but you've become something else, haven't you! What's that insect!?"

"This is my new companion, Esta. She's as excellent as she looks."

While Seiki was talking nonsense, Esta was spinning and floating, knocking down the black-purple masses that the deer spat out.

Now, even in front of the deer, Seiki had the leisure to talk nonsense.

On the other hand, Kagemitsu was struggling to hide his shock.

(How much has this guy leveled up in such a short time!?)

The air that Kagemitsu had seen before had a certain unpolished quality.

His combat skills were still lacking, and there was a sweetness to his recent promotion to intermediate.

But the man Kagemitsu saw now was completely different from before.

His movements were refined, and his speed and strength were on a different level.

If someone said he was a different person wearing the same mask, Kagemitsu would have believed it.

It was that much of a change.

『Dungeon 15