Chapter 87

Giving up on forcibly opening the door, I decided to simply and honestly insert the gem into the coffin.

"Well then... shall we do it?"

"Is the contents of this coffin a monster after all?"

Nohl placed his hand on his chin and muttered while looking at the coffin.

What are you saying now... no matter how you think about it, the contents are a monster. Rather, I'd be surprised if it wasn't a monster.

"Isn't it reasonable to think that way?"

"If we're going to open it, we should probably be mentally prepared."

"Should I just stab it with my spear the moment it opens?"

Realizing that a monster would come out, everyone gripped their weapons again, ready to fight.

Luna was already in position to throw her spear, aiming for the moment the monster would emerge.

How violent... my thinking isn't much different from hers.

...Huh? Wait a minute... don't we really need to open this coffin and honestly fight the monster?

Alright, then I'll use that...

"What are you doing?"

"Hmm? Preparing."

"Putting so many explosives around... you're planning to blow it up the moment it comes out, aren't you?"

I took out several magic dynamites and two blast tickets from my bag and set them up in front of the coffin.

Just by seeing this, Cisya seemed to understand what I was going to do.

If we know the place and timing it will come out, it's like saying we should prepare to defeat it before it even comes out.

"Alright, I'll open it, so Estelle and the others, please go outside. When I come out of this room, Estelle, can you cast a fire spell at the room?"

"That's fine, but..."

"You don't seem to have any intention of fighting properly..."

I also plan to add Estelle's magic attack because just the explosives aren't enough.

This room is at the end of a straight corridor, so I'll have Nohl and the others wait outside and attack immediately after I come out.

With Estelle's fire magic, it should be easy to blow up the entire room.

Hehehe, with this, it will definitely be an instant kill.

"Since we know it's coming out, it's only natural to ambush it. It's best to defeat it before it can attack."

"Right. That's convenient."

"Hehe... Luna seems to think like Mr. Oogura..."

They had a slightly exasperated reaction, but Luna nodded in agreement.

She must have a good idea for proposing to attack the moment it comes out. I feel like we understand each other.

Well, I'm doing it to avoid danger, while Luna's motivation is to avoid trouble, but our interests align, so she might be a good ally in the future.

With the preparations complete, I sent Nohl and the others out of the room and stayed behind.

Now, what kind of monster will come out of this coffin?

I immediately took out the gem and inserted it into the hexagonal indentation on the lid of the coffin.

At that moment, the red gem glowed, and the green coffin began to emit light.

Then, the light gradually faded, and an indescribable silence filled the room.

Nothing? It's a bit anticlimactic...

"Whoa!? It's, it's bad!"

Suddenly, with a loud thud, the lid of the coffin in front of me flew off.

It's clearly bad, so without checking what came out, I quickly turned around and ran out of the room.

After moving a bit away from the room, I mentally triggered the blast tickets, and the sound of explosions came from behind.

A single blast ticket can explode five times, so two tickets for ten times. The dynamites should also detonate.

"Estelle, do it!"

"Okay, leave it to me!"

Estelle was already prepared with her staff and red book.

When I gave the signal, she created fireballs.

Not the usual huge ones, but dodgeball-sized ones appeared one after another around Estelle.

Then, when she swung her staff forward, the floating fireballs entered the coffin room one after another, producing a similar explosion sound.

Flames leaked out of the coffin room, and the inside was a mix of smoke and fire, making it impossible to see.

Wow... even though I suggested it, this is intense. There's no way it survived.

Just to be sure, I checked the map app, and the red circle in the coffin room turned gray.

"Haha, look! It seems we took it down before it even came out!"

"Is this really the end...?"

Showing the map app screen to Nohl, he seemed disappointed.

Was he excited about a potential boss battle? He looked happy when we entered the ruins, so I feel a bit bad.

But with this, the dungeon is over! Hehehe, it's time for the gacha, gacha!

"Hey... big brother. This gray means...?"

Just as I was celebrating, Estelle, who was peeking at the map app screen, muttered.

...Huh? Gray and still there... Ah, this might be...

To my surprise, the gray circle in the coffin room turned red again.

This is it!?

"Estelle! Cast another fire spell in that room!"

"Got it! Here goes!"

This monster, like the Fluerum Mummy, can revive. So, we need to defeat it again.

I asked Estelle to cast more fireballs into the coffin room.

She cast them for a bit longer than before, and the red circle in the coffin room turned gray again.

It took a bit longer without the blast ticket damage.

Looking at the map app, it was terrifying to see it gradually moving towards the entrance while being hit.

Alright, we defeated it again, so this is the end—

"Huh? It's, it's reviving again!?"

"It's, it's coming out, Mr. Oogura!"

I hoped it would disappear, but the gray circle on the map app turned red again.

Then, finally, the monster in the coffin came out of the room's entrance.

It had an oval-shaped upper body, no arms, but sturdy legs. There were only two black eyes at the top.

Compared to the mummy, this monster had a more adorable appearance.

It was trembling violently, with veins popping out on the sides of its eyes, looking at us.

Of course, it would be angry if the room exploded the moment it came out...

But this is a problem. I didn't expect it to revive twice.

I need to check its status first since I don't know what kind of monster it is.

---

●Smaiter, Race: Mummy

Level: 55

HP: 35,000

MP: 2,000

Attack: 4,500

Defense: 3,500

Agility: 120

Magic Resistance: 20

Special Abilities: Immune to debuffs, Immune to status effects

Skills: Ascension, White Meteor

---

I thought its HP would be lower since I've already defeated it twice, but it's surprisingly low.

However, its attack, defense, and agility are high, so fighting it in close combat is dangerous.

The skill Ascension might be the reason it revives... how is it different from the mummy's activation?

And White Meteor... it sounds cool but a bit scary.

"Anyway, let's attack again!"

"Leave it to me!"

"Got it!"

If we don't do something, it will come out of the coffin room and chase us, so I suggested attacking again.

Luna and Estelle responded enthusiastically and prepared their weapons.

Luna threw her spear, which pierced the Smaiter's body, and then Estelle cast fireballs, pushing it back into the coffin room.

We continued attacking without letting up, and it was defeated again, but...

"Hey, it's standing up again?"

"What, what do we do? Should we get closer and keep attacking until it disappears?"

Looking at the map app, it turned gray for a moment but quickly turned red again.

This is the third time. It seems to be reviving faster than before... should I check its status again just in case?

---

●Smaiter, Race: Mummy

Level: 60

HP: 37,000

MP: 2,050

Attack: 5,000

Defense: 3,700

Agility: 140

Magic Resistance: 20

Special Abilities: Immune to debuffs, Immune to status effects

Skills: Ascension, White Meteor

---

...!? Its level is up!? And its stats have significantly increased!

Could the skill Ascension... mean it gets stronger every time it's defeated?

It's already been defeated three times... if it keeps strengthening at this rate, it might have increased by 15 levels by now.

If we keep going, it will keep evolving!

The Smaiter, pushed back into the room, emerged again, enveloped in smoke, trembling more violently than before.

Seeing this, Luna prepared to throw her spear again.

"Wait! It's stronger than before! Let's stop trying to defeat it for now!"

"Huh... does it get stronger every time we defeat it?"

"Damn, that's troublesome."

If we keep defeating it, it will keep getting stronger, so I stopped Luna from attacking.

With an attack power of 5,000... it's already on par with the Behemoth in the Goblin Dungeon.

We could handle the Behemoth by defeating the goblins, but this one is different.

Fighting it normally is too dangerous.

"Let's retreat and rethink our strategy. Wait, it's coming after us!?"

If we keep fighting, we'll definitely take damage.

I decided to retreat and try to come up with a plan, but the moment we tried to leave, the Smaiter started running towards us.

"What, what do we do? If we keep defeating it, it will keep getting stronger!"

"What do you mean! What should we do!?"

"We ran away last time too! If we keep running, we'll eventually have nowhere to go!"

We started running to put some distance between us and the Smaiter.

This is bad... if we keep running, it will catch up soon.

Right now, it's not much of a threat if Nohl and I take the hits, but if we defeat it a few more times, we won't be able to say that.

This time, there's no easy solution like with the Behemoth.

What should we do... what can we do?

First, I need to do this.

"Estelle! I'm going to carry you!"

"Huh... kyaa!? Big brother!?"

"Sorry, but you need to stay still for a while!"

Estelle, who was at the back and already out of breath, was picked up in my arms.

Running like this is tough for someone with low stamina like Estelle... fortunately, my physical abilities have improved a bit, so carrying her and running isn't a problem.

As we kept running, more mummies started appearing in the direction we were escaping.

Nohl and Luna instantly killed them, clearing the way for us.

"Mr. Oogura! This is bad!"

"Estelle, can you stop its movement somehow?"

"I'll try."

Some of the mummies we defeated didn't disappear and remained active.

Estelle burned them as we passed, but she couldn't get all of them while running.

If we keep running, the number of active Fluerum Mummies in the dungeon will keep increasing.

We need to do something quickly, or clearing the dungeon will become even harder...

Glancing back, I saw the Smaiter running towards us, swinging its legs widely and swaying from side to side.

Scary! It's really scary!

I asked Estelle if she could do something, and she turned her face to the back and started waving her staff a few times.

"It doesn't seem to work. Earth magic can't interfere with the walls around us."

Damn, it has special abilities that make it immune to debuffs and status effects, so it can't be affected by magic.

It seems the walls in the dungeon can't be affected by Estelle's earth magic, so we can't trap it.

Using Nohl's Legi Elitra to slow it down is also impossible.

...Is this a dead end?

"---Whoa!?"

While thinking about what to do, Nohl suddenly shouted and fell.

What the heck!? Why did he fall at this moment!?

"Hey! What are you doing—"

"Ugh, gah! ...I, I can't move..."

Luna and Cisya were fighting the mummies in front, replacing Nohl.

I put Estelle down and approached the fallen Nohl.

Nohl tried to lift his body with all his strength but, after raising his upper body a bit, he fell back to the ground with a thud.

Looking closely at his body, I saw a green, gooey liquid attached to his legs.

...I see. This is Rigas Manus. I didn't expect it to use its skill and interfere at this moment...

"Big brother! Behind you!"

I was about to defeat the Rigas Manus when Estelle suddenly shouted, and I turned around.

A glowing white mass was rushing towards us at high speed.

Estelle tried to stop it with fireballs, but it broke through them and kept coming.

Is that the Smaiter's skill, White Meteor?

"Ugh... ah... whoa!?"

"Ugh!? ...It's, it's heavy..."

To avoid hitting the fallen Nohl, I stood in front of him and blocked the attack with a pot lid.

The impact was strong, and I was pushed back, landing on Nohl's back.

I heard his pained voice from behind.

I flew back and landed on Nohl's back... I'm really sorry.

I tried to stand up immediately, but... looking ahead, the white mass—Smaiter—was looking down at me.

Ah... this is bad.

"Heibei! Don't stand up!"

Considering Nohl's safety, I gripped the pot lid tightly, ready to take the attack.

Just as Smaiter raised one of its legs to attack—

I heard Luna's voice, and a thick red flash passed over my head, slicing through the air.

The Smaiter, which was about to attack, was hit in the middle of its body, bent in a V-shape, and disappeared down the corridor.

What a powerful attack... it must have been Luna's skill.

"Thanks... I owe you one."

"More importantly, wake Nohl up. Even if I bought some time, it won't last long."

Relieved to have escaped the Smaiter's attack, Luna approached me.

She was holding her spear, which had returned through automatic recovery.

I quickly pulled the Rigas Manus off Nohl's legs and helped her stand up.

Phew... I didn't expect Nohl to end up like this.

I always relied on him, so I never thought something like this would happen.

It's been a while since someone was grabbed by a Rigas Manus in the dungeon, so I let my guard down.

"I'm sorry..."

"I'm sorry too... I couldn't stop it..."

"No, the most important thing is that you two are safe."

Nohl bowed his head in apology, looking dejected.

Estelle also looked apologetic for not being able to stop it.

"Let's get it off and move a bit further to use this for evacuation."

The atmosphere is a bit awkward, but we don't have time to worry about that.

I suggested evacuating and took out a doorknob from my bag.

It's the Dimension Room I won from the gacha.

Continuing to fight won't lead to a good outcome, so I want to use this to escape and regroup.

Damn... Smaiter. We need to find a way to defeat it... what can we do?