Chapter 21

"Ah—, go, oh oh oh!"

"…Aichi, Fight…"

"You sure are relaxed!"

Now, Aichi was carrying Tsuki and trying to escape from the grass. The surrounding weeds were over 160 centimeters tall, reaching up to Aichi's shoulders. If it were Tsuki, she would be completely invisible. The reason Aichi was pushing through the gloomy weeds to escape was…

"『『『『『『『『『『Summer aaaaaaaah!!!』』』』』』』』』』』"

Nearly two hundred monsters were chasing them relentlessly. Let's start from the beginning.

After Aichi and Tsuki finished their preparations and began their dungeon exploration, they smoothly descended ten levels. This was partly due to Aichi fully utilizing his equipment and skills, and partly because Tsuki's powerful magic played a crucial role.

Tsuki used all-attribute magic with no delay in combo attacks, accurately supporting Aichi. However, she was quite weak in recovery and barrier magic. Perhaps because of the [Auto Regeneration] ability, her body unconsciously judged these as unnecessary. However, since Aichi had divine water, there were no problems.

The two of them descended to the current level. The first thing they saw was a sea of trees. Trees over ten meters tall grew lushly, and the air was quite humid. However, unlike the tropical rainforest level they had passed through before, it wasn't as hot, which was a relief.

Aichi and Tsuki were exploring to find the stairs leading down when a rumbling sound echoed around them. In front of them appeared a huge reptilian monster, which looked exactly like a T-Rex.

However, for some reason, it had a small, cute flower on its head… Although its sharp teeth and the aura of killing intent undeniably showed the monster's strength, one's gaze would inevitably drift up to see the small sunflower-like flower gently swaying. It was a surreal sight.

The T-Rex roared and charged at them.

Aichi hurriedly tried to draw Dona… Tsuki raised her hand in front of him as if to stop him.

"[Crimson Spear]"

A vortex of flames appeared in Tsuki's hand, forming a conical spear that flew straight into the T-Rex's mouth, piercing and penetrating it. It mercilessly burned the surrounding T-Rex flesh, and the dinosaur died instantly, falling to the side with a loud thud. The flower on its head also fell to the ground.

"…"

Aichi was silent in various ways. Recently, Tsuki had been quite unstoppable. Initially, she focused on supporting Aichi, but at some point, a competitive spirit ignited in her, and she always used preemptive attacks to instantly kill the monsters. Due to her reduced appearances, Aichi began to feel useless again, driven by anxiety.

(Could it be that Tsuki thinks I'm holding her back, so she takes immediate action to end the battle? It can't be that, right? If it were, I'd be depressed for ten days straight.)

Aichi put Dona, which he had partially drawn, back into its holster and spoke to Tsuki with a wry smile.

"Ah~ Tsuki? Being enthusiastic is good… but recently, it feels like I don't have to do much at all…"

Tsuki turned to look at Aichi, her expression blank but with a hint of pride.

"…I, am useful… partner…"

It seemed that merely supporting Aichi was not enough for her. Indeed, Aichi recalled the time when they talked about being partners who would share life and death, relying on each other. At that time, Tsuki's magic had drained her mana, and she had collapsed, falling into a dire situation. After they managed to escape, she was very concerned about it, and Aichi had said many comforting words… which had deeply resonated with her. She wanted Aichi to see her as a helpful partner.

"Sure, no, you've been very helpful. Tsuki's magic is very powerful, and although she's not good at close combat, she is reliable as a rear guard. The vanguard is my job."

"Aichi… hmm…"

After being reminded by Aichi, Tsuki slightly averted her gaze. Aichi smiled wryly at Tsuki's excessive focus on being useful to him and gently stroked her soft hair. Just this made Tsuki's expression soften, and her mood improved, leaving Aichi speechless. He needed to be careful about fostering dependency, but he continued to dote on Tsuki. In a way, Aichi was most surprised by his own actions.

While the two were in a somewhat flirtatious mood, Aichi's [Aura Perception] detected the presence of monsters gathering. They seemed to be surrounded, with about ten monsters heading in their direction. They moved as if under command, like the dual-tailed wolves that act in groups. Surprised, Aichi urged Tsuki to leave the scene. Due to the large number, they needed to move to a more advantageous location.

The monsters tried to form a circular encirclement, and Aichi and Tsuki targeted one of them to break through. Pushing through the dense branches, they ran out and faced a reptilian monster over two meters long, similar to a Velociraptor. A tulip-like flower bloomed on its head.

"…Cute"

"…Is this a trend?"

Tsuki couldn't help but smile warmly, while Aichi, looking at the monster, lost his serious expression and muttered an impossible guess.

The Velociraptor, like the T-Rex, seemed unaware of the flower on its head! The Velociraptor, in a battle-ready stance, growled and emitted a killing aura. The flower swayed back and forth…

"Summer aaaaaaaah!!!"

Aichi stood still, admiring the small flower on the Velociraptor's head, while the Velociraptor pounced at him. Its strong legs were equipped with claws about twenty centimeters long, gleaming menacingly. Aichi and Tsuki dodged to the left and right, respectively.

This wasn't over. Aichi used [Air Force] to jump in a triangular pattern, aiming for the Velociraptor's head, and fired a shot at the tulip. (Author's note: Only shooting the tulip, not the head—like cutting the clothes without hurting the naked body.)

With the sound of the gun, the tulip's petals scattered. The Velociraptor convulsed instantly, falling to the ground like a drunk, rolling and crashing into a tree. The surroundings were silent. Tsuki ran to Aichi's side, alternately looking at Aichi and the scattered tulip petals.

"…Dead?"

"No, it seems to be alive…"

In agreement with Aichi, the Velociraptor convulsed and struggled to get up, looking around. Then, it saw the tulip on the ground and, as if seeing its mortal enemy, began to stomp on it.

"Hey~ What's with that reaction?"

"…Prank?"

"No, only elementary school students would get so angry over a sticker on their back…" (Author's note: I didn't get that angry when I was in elementary school either…)

After a series of stomps, the Velociraptor seemed satisfied, as if saying, "Phew, mission accomplished!" and let out a long roar. Then, it suddenly noticed Aichi and Tsuki, turning its head in their direction and shuddering.

"Did you just notice us now? Were you sleepwalking earlier?"

"…Bullying?"

Aichi commented, while Tsuki looked at the Velociraptor with sympathy. The Velociraptor stiffened for a moment, then lowered its posture and lunged at Aichi and Tsuki with a roar. Aichi simply raised Dona, aimed at the Velociraptor's open mouth, and fired an electromagnetic accelerated Tauru mineral bullet.

With a flash, the bullet ravaged the Velociraptor's mouth, shattering its head and flying out, piercing the tree behind it and disappearing into the forest.

The Velociraptor, due to the momentum of its jump, slid forward and died. Aichi and Tsuki looked at the dead Velociraptor with a speechless expression.

"Seriously, what was it trying to do?"

"…Bullied and then shot… pitiful"

"No, the bullying part is off-topic, definitely different."

Aichi didn't understand the reason, but the monsters in the dungeon were inherently strange, so he didn't dwell on it. The encirclement had shrunk considerably, and Aichi and Tsuki quickly began to move, looking for a favorable location.

Soon, they reached an area with countless trees over five meters in diameter. The thick branches of adjacent trees intertwined, forming a kind of aerial corridor. Aichi used [Air Force], and Tsuki used wind magic to jump onto the thick branches above. Aichi planned to snipe the gathered monsters from above and eliminate them.

Within five minutes, Velociraptors began to appear one after another. Aichi was about to throw a burning grenade, but he froze. Beside him, Tsuki was preparing to cast a spell, but she also froze in the act of extending her hand. Because…

"Why do they all have flowers, this one and that one?"

"Flower field…"

As Aichi and Tsuki said, the more than ten Velociraptors that appeared all had flowers on their heads, and they were of various colors.

Reacting to Aichi's comment, the Velociraptors all looked in Aichi and Tsuki's direction. Then, they saw the Velociraptors jumping and attacking them.

Aichi threw the [Burning Grenade] and used Dona to snipe the Velociraptors outside the effective range. Gunshots rang out continuously, and with each shot, a Velociraptor's head was blown off with a red flash. Tsuki also used [Crimson Spear] to kill the nearby individuals.

Three seconds later, the [Burning Grenade] in the center of the Velociraptor group exploded, scattering burning tar and incinerating the surrounding Velociraptors with a 3000-degree flame. Seeing that his attack was effective against the monsters in this level, Aichi breathed a sigh of relief. Indeed, the scorpion monster's strength was exceptional.

The enemies were successfully eliminated in less than ten seconds. However, Aichi's expression remained grim. Tsuki noticed this and tilted her head in question.

"…Aichi?"

"…Tsuki, don't you find it strange?"

"?"

"A bit too weak"

Hearing Aichi's words, Tsuki immediately understood.

Indeed, the Velociraptors and the T-Rex before them had simple movements and no special attacks, making them easy to eliminate. Moreover, despite emitting a killing aura, their movements were mechanical and unnatural. The Velociraptors' anger after the flower fell and their stomping, along with the Velociraptors with flowers on their heads, all pointed to a sense of wrongness.

Just as Aichi was about to say to Tsuki, "Let's proceed cautiously," his [Aura Perception] detected more monsters approaching. Monsters were gathering from all directions, too many to count.

Aichi's perception range was a 20-meter radius, but the number of monsters within that range was overwhelming, all charging straight at Aichi and Tsuki.

"Tsuki, this is bad. Thirty, no, forty or more monsters are rapidly approaching. They seem to be following someone's command, surrounding us from all sides."

"…Should we run?"

"…No, at this density, there's no escape. Climbing to the top of the tallest tree and eliminating them in one go would be better."

"Um… the biggest one"

"Alright, let's do it!"

Aichi and Tsuki moved at high speed, searching for the tallest tree in the vicinity. They jumped onto the branches and destroyed the lower thick branches to make it harder for the monsters