Volume 4 Chapter 22-2 High-Leg Tights
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”This is the 5th Floor… It’s really like being underwater.”
Yomi lets out a sigh of admiration.
”Yeah, it’s beautiful, but the strength of the enemies is on a whole different level.”
I urge everyone to be careful.
”Do as I instructed.”
”Yes, leave it to us!”
Yomi stands tall, full of confidence, her ample chest puffed out.
We move forward a bit, and Lifia detects monsters with her Spirit Magic.
”…They’re coming, a swarm of Demon sardine!”
She announces tensely.
”This time, I’ll really show them!”
Kéa draws her twin blades, her fighting spirit rising.
Soon, we see a large shadow moving towards us.
A group of shadows, moving as one.
A swarm of fish monsters.
These are the monsters that live on this dungeon’s 5th Floor, forming swarms of over a thousand.
When they move together in a mass, it’s like they’re one giant creature.
They’re about 30 meters long, maybe.
They look like regular fish.
But when they bunch up, layering on top of each other and move in sync, they look like a single monster with a mind of its own.
By the way, the ‘Demon sardine’ is just a name I gave them on a whim.
Not many adventurers visit the deeper floors of this dungeon.
Of course, the monsters don’t have official names.
Last time we explored, we had no way to take down these Demon sardine and had to retreat.
But this time is different.
We should be able to do it.
If it’s us now.
I grip my sword tightly.
”Alright, here we go. Mooluumve, Air Torment!”
With Lifia’s shout, a barrage of wind is unleashed.
With a thunderous boom, a compressed air strike smashes into the swarm of Demon sardine.
The shockwave races through, parts of the swarm are blown away.
As if in pain, the whole group surges.
Then a large mass of darkness expands, swirling as it tries to envelop us.
”Here they come!”
The swarm of Demon sardine suddenly changes shape and charges at us to swallow us whole.
Like a giant amoeba.
”One more time!”
Lifia raises her arms, calling to the spirits of the wind.
”Mooluumve, Air Sense!”
A sharp wind blade sliced right through the center of the swarm.
Invisible blades danced through the air, tearing the little fish apart one after another.
Part of the swarm vanished in a flash, and from that gap, a single one rushed straight at us.
”Let’s do this!”
Kéa jumped forward, swinging her 2 swords.
”Take that!”
Sharp slashes flew out, cutting the charging demon sardines in 2 one after another.
The twin sword trails crossed, black shadows bursting in the air.
”Hah!”
I swung my sword too, slashing down the demon sardine that got close in front of me.
These guys are weak one by one.
But their numbers and tight teamwork are a pain.
And there’s someone leading them.
If we don’t take that one out, we can’t win against this swarm.
”Damn… where is it…?”
Yomi was behind us, spellbook open, eyes squinting hard, trying to see.
The demon sardine swarm was thousands strong.
We had to find the leader hiding inside.
Yomi kept staring at the black shadow.
Then her eyes lit up.
”Found it!”
Deep inside the swarm, right in the center.
A fish glowing red all over was there.
It moved hiding behind the other demon sardines’ shadows.
That’s the one.
If we take that one down, the swarm should fall apart.
”Okay, I’m aiming! Oh white order, shine on all things and show your glory──”
Yomi started chanting.
But it was hard to aim right.
The demon sardines swam all over, and that red one quickly disappeared again.
These little fish swim super fast already.
Countless shadows mixed up, and every time she tried to aim, the target moved.
”Yomi, don’t rush. Take your time and aim steady.”
I called out.
I cut down the small fish coming toward Yomi.
”You’ve got this. You can do it.”
I could feel Yomi’s vibe shift behind me.
”…Thanks!”
At the same time, her aim seemed true.
She shouted out.
”Altair Ray!!!”
A dazzling beam shot straight from Yomi’s palm.
The light raced toward the demon sardine swarm.
But the swarm tried to block it, instantly surrounding the red fish.
A wall of countless demon sardines shielded the beam’s path.
Still──
”Pierce through!!!”
With Yomi’s shout, the beam smashed through the sardine wall.
The demon sardines were getting poked and blown away, one after another.
And then──
”KIIIIIIII!”
A dying scream came from behind a black shadow.
The shadow faded.
And what showed up was a red demon sardine, sinking weakly into the sand.
The beam had gone right through the red demon sardine that was in the back.
”Yes!”
Yomi made a victory pose without thinking.
Right after that, the group’s movements went crazy all at once.
They lost their leader and couldn’t work together anymore.
The demon sardines lost their way and started to scatter.
Some ran away to the back of the dungeon, and some came at us.
But the demon sardines coming at us had no control, and they weren’t a threat anymore.
”I’ll take the rest!”
Lifia used her big magic, and killed the rest of the demon sardines all at once.Me and Kéa hunted down the ones that got away.
The demon sardines that lost control were getting hunted like it was a lie that they were so strong before.
And then──
”Hah!”
My sword stabbed the last one.
And so, all the demon sardines were dead.
We finally got through the group of demon sardines that we had to run away from last time.
”We did it!”
”We did, yes!”
The girls were happy and hugged each other.
I turned to Yomi and spoke to her.
”Yomi, you did a good job.”
This win was definitely thanks to our new friend, Yomi.
Yomi wiped the sweat off her forehead and looked up at me.
”Yeah, of course!”
She was breathing hard, but her face showed she really did it.
Yomi never had to be needed before.
No one expected her to be a fighter, and she didn’t even have a place to be.
But she showed what she could do.
This might have been her first ‘victory.’
And this is a big win for us too.
We just got into the 5th Floor of the dungeon, and the demon sardines were just the first enemy.
But still, this is a step forward that breaks the standstill.
For now, let’s enjoy this win.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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