As I fell toward the sea of magma,
「Taira!」
Hime came running through the air.
Using her Tenshou skill, she ran across the sky to reach me.
She reached out her hand.
I reached out mine too.
「Tairaaaaaa!」
But our hands didn’t meet.
Ah, guess I’ll have to start over from level 1.
Haha, at least I won’t die. Lucky, I guess.
That’s when it happened.
Someone reached me before Hime.
It was Shingen-san.
He swung his bamboo sword with immense force, splitting the sea of magma in two.
Then, landing on the floor beneath the magma before I could, Shingen-san caught my body and leaped back to the surface.
「Taira!」
Milk used her magic to heal me as I lay on the ground.
The pain in my chest gradually faded.
「…Shingen-san.」
「You shouldn’t jump in without understanding the difference in strength. But I must admit, taking my strike and surviving with only this much damage is impressive.」
「Right, Milery!?」
I sat up, but Milery was nowhere to be seen.
Don’t tell me—
「She got away.」
The Jugonshi guy said.
So, Milery didn’t die.
「That’s enough for now. I didn’t expect to defeat her completely anyway.」
「Ano, Shingen-san, can you explain the situation to us?」
「As I said before, I can’t involve you in this.」
Involve us in what—what’s even going on?
「Why not? Just tell them.」
「Fuwa! They’re still kids.」
「If they’ve come this far, they’re not kids anymore. Besides, he’s a hero. He’ll have to know eventually.」
A crow flew over and perched on the shoulder of the Jugonshi guy, who was called Fuwa.
Then, Fuwa turned on his heel and began descending the stairs, likely leading to the 36th floor.
It seemed Fuwa and Shingen-san hadn’t come up from the 31st floor but had descended from the 40th floor to get here.
「Ah!」
Milk suddenly exclaimed, as if she’d realized something.
「What is it?」
「That crow—it’s the one that stole my D-can at Ishikiri Shrine!」
She looked in the direction Fuwa had gone, but both he and the crow were already out of sight.
「Are you sure?」
「Yeah, probably the same one.」
Why would he take Milk’s D-can?
I’m curious about what’s inside, but we don’t have the luxury of chasing him right now.
「Shingen-san, please tell us.」
「Gramps, please.」
Just as Milk and I were pleading,
「Hey, this isn’t the time to be chatting!」
Kikke shouted.
What’s going on now?
I turned to see a dragon’s skeleton—wait, is that the Demon King from earlier!?
「It’s the Demon King Zombie. The hidden boss of this stage! It seems the monster production function has reactivated because the elf’s energy absorption stopped!」
「What terrible timing for such a troublesome enemy!?」
「Isn’t it a skeleton, not a zombie?」
Hime cursed, while Ayame asked a pointless question.
The Demon King Zombie launched dark flames at us.
I used Reflect Magic to deflect the spell, but it didn’t deal any damage.
「Don’t reflect the magic back at it! Dark-attribute attacks heal the Demon King Zombie!」
「Dark-attribute healing, huh—」
That means I can’t use Shadow Beastification.
「This is—」
Shingen-san stepped forward, but—
「Let’s take it down quickly! Kinshitsu Souwa!」
「「「Kinshitsu Souwa!」」」
The four of us activated Kinshitsu Souwa.
Our stats doubled.
Four guns appeared around Milk.
Using telekinesis to float them and parallel thinking to cast spells simultaneously, she unleashed a barrage of bullets.
It felt like a Gatling gun—call it Armed Deployment.
The storm of bullets shattered the Demon King’s bones from all directions.
The Demon King Zombie spewed dark flames, but—
「Release: Cyclone—Chaotic Talisman Dance!」
Ayame threw a massive number of talismans, riding them on the tornado.
Her talismans were imbued with Milk’s light-attribute magic, and as the tornado tore through them, they became a whirlwind of light, canceling out the dark magic and engulfing the Demon King Zombie.
Immediately after, the Demon King let out a roar without warning.
The roar turned into a shockwave, trying to immobilize us.
But—
「I won’t stop!」
Thanks to her skill, No Brake, Hime nullified the immobilizing attack.
She and her bunshins scattered in all directions, throwing mithril kunai at the gaps in the bones left by Milk and Ayame’s attacks.
And then—
Dual-Wielding Advanced Sword Technique—
「Moon Shadow Twin Dragon Slash!」
My attack delivered the finishing blow to the Demon King Zombie.
The Demon King’s bones turned to ash and vanished, leaving behind a massive silver magic stone.
Phew, was it as strong as a 40th-floor boss?
Leave a Reply