Chapter 47 Interlude Five – Two Routes
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Whoa! It’s charging in!”
”Kanon! Get back, get back!”
A mutated variant of the enraged Giant Roper (ジャイアントローパー), hit by both a Flare Bomb and a Lightning Bolt, growls furiously as it rushes forward.
The purple creature, resembling a combination of a sea slug and a sea anemone, is thicker than a drum barrel, with long orange tentacles sprouting around its head’s mouth, easily surpassing 20m (65ft) tentacles seem to be covered in paralyzing venom-filled cnidocytes, making even a touch dangerous.
Tina’s explanations are a lifesaver when encountering such monsters for the first time.
’Kanon! Hurry, run away, nyuru!’
”Eep!?”
Himeno grabs the trembling Kanon and evacuates her under her arm.
”All right! Nice one, Himeno! Kanon’s in good hands!”
The Giant Leaper halts, using its head, devoid of eyes yet somehow tracking Kanon, to follow her.
”Himeno-san, thank you!”
”I’ll protect Kanon-chan!”
Higurashi and I step in, diverting the Giant Leaper’s attention.
”Lightning Bolt!”
A thick bolt of lightning erupts from my left hand, connecting with the Giant Roper. As it raises its head high and aims it towards us, it lashes out its tentacles like whips.
”Whoa!”
I quickly activate my Gain Speed Magic without an incantation, jumping back to create distance.
This Magic significantly increases my speed, but it only lasts about three minutes. I thought I might need to get used to it beforehand, but it turned out I didn’t. It feels like my senses are accelerating rather than just my physical body.
”Is this actually working?”
’It should be, but this guy is naturally resistant to both physical attacks and Magic on top of being a tanky monster! Both its physical and magic defenses are +5! You don’t come across such tough opponents even on the 20th floor!’
”Flame up!”
Higurashi activates Flame Sword and charges towards the Giant Roper from the side, aiming for its thick body. Some parts of the Giant Roper are engulfed in flames, causing it to wriggle uncomfortably before the fire is quickly extinguished.
The Giant Roper then turns its head sideways and targets Higurashi.
”Blue Thunder Fang!”
Taking advantage of this moment, I thrust the Kondou Spear, now surrounded by blue thunder, into the thick body of the Giant Roper.
There is a loud crackle as electricity sparks, but the Giant Roper ignores me and spreads its long tentacles above Higurashi. The outspread tentacles, like a net, move in to attack Higurashi.
”Higurashi!”
At that moment, a mass of flames hits the head of the Giant Roper, causing it to explode. The Giant Roper’s head is pushed back by the explosion, and then Flame Missiles start landing continuously. In that moment, Higurashi takes some distance.
”That was close! Thank you, Watarase-san!”
”This one is troublesome!”
When caught by the tentacles, you’ll quickly be thrown into that big mouth. It seems like it will be a battle of endurance, but it’s dangerous to even touch the tentacles. I can’t approach carelessly, and I don’t have enough magic power to attack from afar.
”Tina! How much time until we can retreat!?”
’7 minutes and 12 seconds!’
Once you enter the boss room, the door closes automatically and won’t open for 10 minutes. You can’t pass to the next floor without defeating the floor boss.
If we don’t have the power to defeat it quickly, we have to consider retreating and enduring the battle, but it’s pretty dangerous. Can we survive this time?
”Does it have any weaknesses!?”
’There are Ropers with attributes, but this one is normal, so it’s weak against fire and lightning!’
I’ve been using them, but I don’t know how much damage my attacks are doing.
”Is there a defense barrier in its mouth!?”
’I can see that there’s a defense barrier within a certain range. Deeper inside, there doesn’t seem to be a barrier, though…””
Should I directly inject Magic into that big mouth? But standing in front of those tentacles, it doesn’t seem like I can defeat it in one shot with its toughness. What should I do?
The Giant Roper mutant species lifted its head and moved its tentacles, targeting Higurashi who was holding a spear wrapped in flames. It doesn’t seem to have a brain, but maybe it plans to take out the weak points first.
What about a Flare Bomb? If I detonate it inside its body, it should be a fatal blow. I’ll thrust my arm into its mouth and shoot it in.
Even if I get caught by the tentacles and can’t move my body, I can still use spellcasting without chanting. One arm might get blown off, but it’s better than watching Higurashi get eaten right in front of me. If I’m lucky, recovery spring might be enough to heal me.
Alright, let’s go with this plan.
As I prepare myself and start to move, the Kondou Spear I’m holding pulsates with a humm.
My ears ring, and I involuntarily stop in my tracks.
This sensation…could it be Kondou-senpai?!
’Huh…? Oh, Master! You’ve just acquired a new skill! I’ll bring up the status screen──’
”Not necessary.”
I already understand. Following the instructions, I activate my skill.
”Blue Thunder Seven Fang!”
The Kondou Spear crackles with thunder as it envelops in azure light.
Near the tip of the handle, seven hook-shaped blue fang alternate in seven rows. The closest fang to the tip emits a strong light.
”Higurashi! Come this way!”
I shout as I run in a wide circle to get in front of the Giant Roper.
”Got it!”
Higurashi maneuvers towards me, avoiding the Giant Roper trying to close the distance. Its long tentacles stretch out, narrowly dodging Higurashi.
Suddenly, Kanon’s flare bomb flies in, causing the Giant Roper to pause for a moment.
In that moment, Higurashi and I cross paths.
I see a giant roper rushing towards me. I increase my speed and charge towards it.
”Tsuchimiya-senpai!?”
With all my strength, I activate a blast without an incantation while stepping on the ground.
The recoil from the blast launched from the soles of my feet catapults me into the air.
I continue to activate blasts and jump up to the same height as the head of the 6-meter-tall (20ft) giant roper.
One more time!
I activate another blast and soar above the giant roper as if kicking through the air.
The giant roper looks up at me, opening its mouth wide and spreading its tentacles.
Now’s my chance!
Swinging the Kondou Spear overhead with one hand, I hurl it with all my might.
”Take this! Ballista!!”
At the same time as the throw, I activate a blast on the tip of the Kondou Spear, causing it to accelerate rapidly and rocket into the mouth of the giant roper.
Wham! The Giant Roper’s body bounced with each sound.
Then, wham! wham! With each consecutive sound, the Giant Roper convulsed wildly, surrounded by flashes of lightning.
On the seventh convulsion, the Giant Roper made a thud! and sank its massive body down.
I had wanted to release a blast with reduced power three times in order to slow down my falling speed and land safely, but I ran out of magic after the first blast. I ended up landing with the impact of jumping off the second floor, causing my legs to go numb and leaving me sitting there.
Well, at least the jump was successful. All the practice I did in the morning paid off.
In front of me lay the mutated Giant Roper’s massive body, powerless, with thin smoke rising from its mouth, emitting a mix of burnt and foul smells. Upon closer inspection, its tentacles and various parts of its body were blackened and emitting smoke.
”Tsuchimiya-senpai! Are you okay!”
Higurashi ran towards me, her face drained of color.
”As you can see, my legs feel a bit numb, but it’s nothing.”
”Tsuchimiya-senpai always does something reckless! You could have been eaten!”
”Ah, sorry about that. But I’m glad you’re safe.”
With a smile of relief that no one died, Higurashi hugged me, tears in her eyes.
”Please worry about yourself more than me. If Tsuchimiya-senpai were gone, there would be no point in me being here.”
I see… she must be thinking about me more than I thought about her.
””Tsuchimiya-senpai!””
Seeing the battle end, Himeno and Kanon also rushed over.
The Giant Roper’s tentacles are still moving slowly, but it’s starting to evaporate, releasing black mist.
Suddenly, the whole thing began to collapse and vaporize, being sucked into the center as it converged.
There is a spear stuck on the floor over there.
Is that… Kondou Spear?
’Awawawa… that guy absorbed that huge mutated monster whole!’
Tina is acting strange, running around in a panic.
With the help of Higurashi and Himeno, I approached the spear with still-tingling legs.
It was a beautiful spear with a deep blue handle and a double-edged tip.
When I pulled it out from the floor, a familiar green cloth decoration swayed.
”It’s grown quite impressive. Maybe it’s bothered being called ‘toy’ by Iwakura?”
With a “pssh” sound, a small electric current ran through the tip.
Perhaps it is feeling a competitive spirit towards that battle axe.
* * *
”Now, instead of nitpicking Tsuchimiya-senpai, let’s talk about something important. I think we were in serious trouble during that boss battle earlier.”
We somehow managed to defeat the Floor Boss on the 4th floor and then refreshed ourselves with the water from the recovery spring before starting our meeting.
By the way, the Floor Boss did not drop a treasure chest because it was absorbed by the Kondou Spear.
”Yeah. Honestly, I didn’t expect such a monster to appear.”
”That was stronger than I anticipated. Tsuchimiya-senpai, did Tina say anything?”
”Yeah. She said that its defense level is so high that it could easily be on the 20th floor. Mutants like it seem to be like bugs, so the rules don’t apply.”
”Well, we managed somehow because Tsuchimiya-senpai was there, but I’m worried that the others might get eaten.”
”Um, so I’ve been gathering information at the teleportation facility too, but I’ve never heard of anyone encountering a mutant species. I think maybe the place we are in right now and where everyone in the academy is diving into are completely different places, don’t you think?”
”Oh, now that you mention it, it does seem possible.”
”Huh, what do you mean?”
Himeno, looking puzzled, asks for an explanation.
”This place is like an extension of the first dive. In the first dive, there were magic circles at the corners of the hexagon, and we were thrown into the areas inside those circles. I think it wasn’t possible to get out of the area without going through the room with the magic circle. I don’t know how they found terrain that met those conditions, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it was far away from where everyone in the academy is diving.”
”The dungeon’s bookmark warns that venturing too far may lead to encountering dangerous mutants or creatures that should appear on lower floors.”
Higurashi explains.
”So, places where dangerous mutants appear…”
”Most likely referring to this location.”
”……”
Himeno and Kanon fall into silence with indescribable expressions.
”Following this route, there’s a high possibility of being pinned down by powerful mutants on some floor in the future. It’s better to return to the regular route.”
”Yeah… you’re right.”
”However, there’s no need to rush yet. Fortunately, with Tsuchimiya-senpai here, we can freely move between two routes. For now, I think it’s a good idea to stay put here without interference and level up.”
”After that, since there are no other players here, we can easily grab the treasure chests. If we explore the 4th and 5th floors and find the chests, we can come back and collect them once they have respawned.”
”We can achieve a stable income and improve our equipment. It might be a good idea to leave a strategy for this route for future challenges.”
”I’ve realized that we need more powerful Magic to move forward!”
’If you take the normal route, you should be fine for a while. I agree with improving your equipment.’
”Today, let’s explore the 4th floor, look for treasure chests, and aim to level up.
”Understood.”
””Got it.””
After Kanon leveled up to level 5, we returned to the school as planned before noon.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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