Chapter 559 Liz’s Team – 20th Floor (Part II)
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The passage continued from the room where we took down the 3 one-eyed demons, so we decided to bypass the other rooms and keep moving forward.
”We’re not here to fill out the map, remember?”
Martina muttered this as she led the way down the wide corridor, her eyes scanning ahead cautiously.
There were a few branches along the way, but I decided to trust her judgment.
Her sense of direction hasn’t failed us yet.
Our goal is to conquer the Great Labyrinth swiftly.
We need to clear this floor quickly and then head to the ‘Welnia Labyrinth.’
So, we ignored the doors we passed.
We’re making a beeline for the floor boss of the 20th floor.
* * *
”A group of monsters is approaching from the front. I’d say there are… maybe about ten of them?”
Martina stopped and focused her attention ahead, reporting the situation as Liz gave the order to scatter.
We, the vanguard──me, Dorothy, and the Asuka-Simona pair──split up and took positions on either side of the corridor.
Martina stepped back and paired up with Liz, readying her Black Bow.
The rearguard members, Kazumi, Meluda, and Noo, as well as Rena and Aluda, also separated into pairs and prepared their Black Bows.
We, the vanguard, also readied our Black Bows and longbows, preparing for a preemptive long-range strike.
We set up a ‘firepower pocket’ in the front, waiting for the group of monsters to appear.
And soon, from the other end of the corridor, they emerged…
”Girtablulus… watch out for their tails, they’re packed with powerful poison.”
The creatures had muscular human upper bodies, but their lower halves resembled crustaceans… were those scorpions?
Asuka was right; they had tails, and they certainly looked like scorpion tails.
Their 8 legs, growing from the crustacean-like lower body, moved swiftly as they advanced towards us.
”Fire at will!”
At Liz’s command, we unleashed our arrows in unison.
Arrows rained down on the group of Girtablulus that had entered our firepower pocket, taking down several of them, but the rest just kept coming.
After firing 3 arrows in quick succession with my Black Bow, I sheathed it and reached for Yamikirimaru.
Six of them broke through the firepower pocket.
”Dorothy, you understand, right?”
”Yes. I’ll keep watch here.”
After checking in with Dorothy, I exchanged glances with Asuka and Simona before heading toward the enemy.
(If I’m going to show Dorothy… I should probably unleash adult Hiroya’s power, right…?)
’No need to worry about rebounds or excitement, sweetheart♡ Just leave everything to me♡’
The moment I made contact, I unleashed Hiroya’s power and cleaved through the abdomen of the Girtablulul in front of me with my katana.
It collapsed, spilling green bodily fluid, but then another Girtablulul lunged at me.
It swung down a sword about the size of a longsword.
However, this attack was likely just a feint.
A tail, hidden in the shadow of its body, was most certainly aiming for me.
(Its movements are quick, but…)
Having crossed into the realm of Rank S, I circled around the Girtablulul in front of me and swung Yamikirimaru, which was still drawn, in a sweeping motion.
(Now…!)
Glancing at Asuka and Simona, I saw they had already taken down 2 each.
”With the Rank S vanguard all together… it’s over before we even knew it…”
From the rearguard, I heard Kazumi’s exasperated voice.
”Well, we don’t have to worry about poison needles, do we?”
”Unless there’s an accident, we won’t get stuck by them.”
Asuka brushed off the green bodily fluid from Kansenmaru, while Simona wiped it off her Greatsword with a cloth.
”I’d heard the name before… but this was my first time seeing that monster.”
Aluda was retrieving and inspecting the arrows she had used.
Noo was gleefully collecting the Magic Stones left behind by the Girtablulul.
* * *
”So, how was it?”
We gathered usable arrows and reorganized the formation as we began walking through the corridor again.
I turned to Dorothy, walking beside me, and asked about the earlier battle.
”I saw Mr. Hiroya cut down the second Girtablulul… just barely.”
She said she saw it.
But despite her words, Dorothy still seemed a bit downcast.
”But, I can’t help but wonder… can I really move at that speed?”
”Dorothy, first and foremost, being able to ‘see’ is crucial. It wasn’t until I could see Hiroya’s movements that things started to click for me.”
Asuka said this to Dorothy, her tone encouraging.
”Exactly! Like Asuka said, it’s all about your eyes. You can only respond once you see your opponent. So, during this exploration… let’s get your eyes used to it. As for movements──when we get back, we’ll take on as many as you want.”
Dorothy nodded emphatically at Simona’s words, feeling bolstered.
* * *
After taking down 4 Greater Demons in the room at the dead end of the corridor, we decided to have lunch there.
Noo was preparing the meal, with Kazumi and Rena lending a helping hand.
Meanwhile, Liz seemed to be busy making a map with Martina, marking out the boss area of the floor and the route to the next level.
Aluda and Meluda were inspecting the large room’s walls, probably intrigued by the natural rock surface.
As for me, Dorothy, Asuka, and Simona, after Liz told us to “just take it easy for a while,” we sprawled out on the canvas we had laid down, relaxing.
”If we keep pushing into Rank S territory, it’s only natural that we’d get tired.”
Kazumi poured some tea before the meal, and Lilith, now materialized, was slurping it down with obvious delight.
”Indeed. I’m feeling quite fatigued myself.”
”Well, I was planning to practice mastering Rank S powers, but I really need to use them more thoughtfully.”
Asuka and Simona looked a bit worn out as well.
Honestly, I was feeling some fatigue too since I’ve been overdoing it with Hiroya’s powers.
”I’ve been focusing on ‘seeing’ during the last few battles… so the fatigue from earlier has faded a bit.”
Seeing Dorothy a little perked up eased my own worries.
”But… the troublesome part is Hiroya’s charm. How much of that can he sprinkle around during a fight?♡”
”Yeah, I’m starting to feel like my underwear is in serious trouble too!♡”
”With the way adrenaline are going all out in battle, I hope the rearguard members watching us are okay…”
”I’m pretty much in trouble too, just from focusing on watching…♡”
──ping!♡
Dorothy leans her shoulder against me.
”Like I said before, you can come looking for me during the exploration, you know…♡”
”My Amazoness blood is getting stimulated too… I can’t take it anymore…♡”
”I can handle the master’s backlash and lust, but there’s nothing I can do about your desires, is there? Just endure it, endure it…♡”
Dorothy, Asuka, and Simona send me hot glances.
Lilith tries to rein them in──or is she egging them on?
”Really, it’s tough, isn’t it? If Hiroya spreads his charm all over the battle area…”
”Yeah, and Rena has it hard because she can see Hiroya fighting monsters… Why does he have to look so cool…”
Kazumi and Rena, who brought us bacon sandwiches and soup for lunch, hand us our meals while complaining.
”Maybe we really need to think about ‘handling sexual desires during exploration’…♡”
Huh?
Are you suggesting we do it inside the Great Labyrinth, Ms. Kazumi?
That’s a pretty enticing scenario, though.
(I wanted the powerful monsters on this floor to be Hiroya’s nourishment…)
I don’t really intend to, but it’s probably a side effect of Hiroya’s power.
I need to hold back a bit.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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