Chapter 119 - Chapter 119: The Combat Power of the God's Apostle
I head toward the conquest of Floor 7 together with Tetsuo.
If this were a game, I'd like to warp past the areas where the conquest is complete, but that isn't possible.
I must descend the dungeon the hard way.
And so, Izal's partner, Shazam, makes his appearance.
I ride on him and fly through the air straight toward the deeper layers.
The speed is faster than expected, and we don't encounter any monsters on the surface, so we arrive at Floor 4 in the blink of an eye.
"Gya!"
Upon arriving at Floor 4, the Harpies come to welcome us.
While riding on Tetsuo's Shazam, who is flying in the air, I catch them.
As always, they sniff me out as soon as I arrive.
Do they smell something particularly delicious?
"What's this? A Harpy?"
Tetsuo doesn't seem very surprised by this sudden unusual guest.
"That's right. We're good friends. Cute, aren't they?"
"They have big breasts too, haha!"
"..."
The Princess and Sana's gazes pierce through.
"No, wait..."
"Look! Cherry Princess! Darling has big breasts too!"
"Gnnn..."
"Darling said he had a big butt!"
"Gnnn..."
Now Sana is making the "gnnn" sound.
"In that case, victory is mine, since I have both big breasts and a big butt."
Somehow, Kaorulko boasts her victory.
"..."
Well, it's just the usual staring contest, so I'll pretend not to see it.
"Weren't there Harpies in the other world?"
"There were. I think they were quite disliked..."
"Well, they do rummage through meals and bomb people with poop, haha."
"Aren't the monsters in this dungeon summoned from the other world?"
It seems Tetsuo thought so from the beginning.
"So you think so? How about this Harpy? Is it the same type as those in the other world?"
"I haven't looked at them too closely, but... I think they are a similar type."
If creatures actually living in the other world are being summoned here, I can understand why the monster researcher said, "There is no contradiction as a living creature."
While we were talking, Shazam arrived at Floor 5, carrying us and the Harpies.
"Darling, if we got here so quickly, shouldn't we go to Floor 6?"
Iroha made a proposal.
"Princess, what do you think?"
"Hmm... With this group, I don't think there's any meaning in stopping at Floor 5. We should go to Floor 6."
"Tetsuo, can you take us to the next floor?"
"Sure~"
Shazam started running through the darkness again.
Since the adventurers participating this time are top rankers, including myself, even if we defeat the monsters on Floor 5, it won't affect our levels at all.
"We're at Floor 6!"
Sana points to the light of the safe zone.
By the time we reach here, there aren't many adventurers; only a few rankers remain.
As she said, we can see magical lights flickering here and there.
Having arrived at our destination, we landed slowly and silently.
Shazam's black body was sucked into Tetsuo's front like a vacuum.
We can't see it, but it seems there is a black hole in front of him, and that's where it returns.
"Thanks, Shazam."
At my words of gratitude, a black tentacle waved its hand tremblingly.
No, it wasn't a hand.
"Gii!"
Shazam transformed, and the Harpies bristled their feathers, feeling a bit wary.
They haven't seen this before and might not understand it.
"It's okay."
As I was patting the Harpies, the Princess shouted.
"Alright! Let's proceed like this. Is everyone okay with that?"
"No problem." "Sure~"
I and Iroha answered, and Kaorulko nodded as well.
Sana is naturally fine, but what about Tetsuo?
Will he use Shazam in battle too?
"Tetsuo, do you use Shazam in battle?"
"I sometimes use it when the opponent is a big shot, but usually, I fight alone."
"~, I want to see how much an old man can fight."
Iroha seems to be doubting Tetsuo's combat power a bit.
She probably has a sense of pride as a high-level adventurer.
She might be wondering if a failed adventurer has combat power comparable to hers.
Well, I understand the feeling.
"Well then, I'll try my best too, haha!"
As we all moved through the darkness, a low, heavy rumble rose from the bottom of the earth, cutting through the silence.
At first, it was faint, like distant thunder.
But gradually, the vibration gained a certain weight, resonating like a heartbeat shaking our feet.
The air around us trembled slightly, and small stones on the ground began to dance with a clatter.
Before our eyes, a white, giant shadow slowly appeared, tearing through the curtain of darkness.
"A Golem!?"
"Darling, this is Floor 6!?"
Iroha is also surprised, but it feels bigger than the Golems on Floor 5.
"Isn't it kind of huge?"
"As Darling says. It is indeed large, and this might be a new type of monster."
It seems the Princess and Iroha have never seen this enemy before.
Is it like a High Golem or an Ultra Golem?
It reminds me of retro games where enemies with different colors appear using the same graphics.
"Oh~"
Tetsuo looks up at the giant enemy.
"Old man, do your best!"
"Alright!"
Responding to Iroha's cheers?, he entered battle mode.
However, he didn't draw a weapon, nor could I see any blue light of magic unfolding.
"Gogogo!"
The Golem's giant arm swung down toward him.
Since it's bigger than normal enemies, its potential energy and mass are huge.
Simply put, the power must be on a different level, but...
Tetsuo didn't dodge; he just stood there.
"Is... are you okay?"
"Go?!"
I didn't know what happened in the next instant, but the enemy's arm was cut off.
The part of the body separated from the living stone statue immediately turned into a lump of rock.
When it fell to the ground, it created a large vibration, shaking our bodies.
"Go?!"
I don't know if the lump of rock has consciousness, but it seems confused.
It seemed to try to retreat backward as if frightened by something, but since its legs were cut off, it collapsed backward as is.
Once it lost both arms and legs, it could only flail about.
"Amazing! What was that? Was it a magical attack!?"
"That isn't magic. It's a miracle of the God."
"Did you cut it?"
"Sana-chan, you can see my black hole, right?"
"Y-yes."
"I used that hole to cut it."
"Can it cut anything?"
"It tears through space itself, so there shouldn't be anything it can't cut. The hole also absorbs magic."
Now that I think about it, it was absorbing the Light Bullet magic used by the Emblem Squad.
Was it sucking it into the hole back then?
"Then it can cut rocks too?"
"Yes, it can cut them. I've even worked in a gold mine, haha!"
Tetsuo demonstrated.
A perfect circle opened up in the ground.
If he continues this, he could easily dig tunnels.
He wouldn't need tools like pickaxes.
"Can he do things like sucking up all the water in a lake?"
"I haven't tried it, but I think he probably can."
As expected, a miracle of the God.
Anything goes.
"Just don't end with the punchline of a hole opening on top of his head and everything put inside coming out, okay?"
"Haha! Yes, there was such a novel. I doubted that at first too."
It seems he has already confirmed with the God that it isn't that kind of punchline.
Can that God be trusted?
Isn't it a joke where he gets used up and finished?
Well, while he is being used, he and his family might be protected by powerful blessings.
Tetsuo and I jumped onto the fallen Golem.
"Then, cut it here."
I pointed to the area below the Magic Stone of the Golem.
"Alright."
The Golem was split cleanly in two, just like cutting a sweet bean paste cake.
"If it doesn't matter what material it is, it can cut Dragon Scales too, huh?"
"It can cut them. I've actually done it."
Seriously?
Isn't he truly invincible?
However, his hole can only be created nearby, so he needs to get quite close.
If he gets close, there's nothing he can't cut.
Is it like the Dimension Slash I read about in novels?
Since the base of the Magic Stone collapsed, I kicked it and picked up the black stone.
"Here, it's Tetsuo's."
The Magic Stone is also larger than a normal Golem's.
"Oh, a huge Magic Stone. This one has various uses~"
When he held the stone with both hands, he started doing something.
Blue light began to swirl inside the black stone, but it felt slightly different from what I do.
It feels like the momentum is incredible.
In my case, the stone doesn't swirl like this.
"You're putting magic power into it, right?"
"Yes. By storing magic power like this, it can be handed over to a mage and used as a magic battery."
It seems it can be used for High Heal and Area Heal.
"Wait..."
I beckoned him over and whispered.
"What is it?"
"Are the children who use recovery magic from the other world also inexperienced in that?"
"Not really. But for Cleric types, yes."
"So there are jobs for Priests and Clerics after all."
"It's a world where the God's faith is alive and actually interferes."
The world's structure is completely different.
"Ah, um! I want to try using that Magic Stone for magic!"
Suddenly, Kaorulko joined the conversation.
"I think I mentioned this before, but I can't use magic, so I don't know exactly how to do it."
"I see..."
Kaorulko looked disappointed, but if she could really do that, the world of magic would expand significantly.
"I can't add to your magic, but I invented a way to use it as a weapon."
I told Tetsuo about how I use Magic Stones.
"Make the Magic Stone into a bomb?"
"That's right. Infuse the Magic Stone with magic power and throw it at the enemy. That's all. However, it's impossible unless you have a very high speed."
"Oh, this is a feat only high-level adventurers in this dungeon can do... Probably, if I use Shazam, even I could do it."
Since Tetsuo's hole is a super short-range attack, being able to attack with Magic Stones would expand his range of attacks.
He is also very interested.
"Darling, why don't you try it?"
The Princess also seems to want to see Shazam's abilities.
"Then, while heading to Floor 7, let's look for enemies."
"For the old man, maybe a super amazing enemy will come out~, ahaha."
Iroha might be looking forward to enjoying Tetsuo's unusual combat.
"Harpies, let us know if enemies come."
"Gya!"
Two of them flew into the darkness.
"They really are tamed."
"They guard the surroundings, tell us when monsters approach, and guide us."
"Oh~, you've tamed them."
"Well, I don't really know why they are tamed to me..."
I don't think it's just because I gave them food...
Is this also one of my abilities?
While scouting inside Floor 6, we all moved together.
"If we're looking for enemies, shouldn't we spread out?"
That was Tetsuo's plausible question.
"No, we don't know where traps are."
I explained the teleportation traps we encountered to Tetsuo.
"It would be bad without Daisuke's Item Box. If you were teleported somewhere alone, you'd be stuck..."
"Are you okay, Tetsuo?"
"Well, I'm fine. My Magic Bag and Shazam are filled with plenty of supplies."
"There could be cases where you get trapped in a floor you can't escape."
"In that case, I have a secret trick from the God."
"Secret trick?"
"Well, I mentioned it a bit earlier, but please don't ask."
He has a solemn expression.
"Understood. Anyway, can Shazam act as a substitute for an Item Box?"
"Yes. He manages the black hole's alternate dimension."
It's super convenient.
I want one too... but the Princess might get jealous of Shazam too.
"Gya!" "Gyagya!"
While I was talking to Tetsuo, it became noisy above.
"Darling, enemies!"
The Princess has accepted the Harpy sensor too—or rather, has she given up?
Three red bodies emerged from the dungeon's darkness.
These guys... are a bit dangerous.
"Lesser Demons!"
"And there are three of them!"
"Daisuke, are they dangerous enemies?"
"Yes, I think they are surprisingly strong for this floor."
"~, Osh! Shazam, let's go!"
Black tentacles emerged from in front of Tetsuo, forming a hand shape.
He handed a black Magic Stone with blue light glowing on it to the black palm.
It was the one he had just infused with magic power.
"Now~, how will that old man fight?"
Will Shazam meet Iroha's expectations?
The black hand holding the Magic Stone kept extending.
"Everyone, hide behind me. Protection!"
Perhaps sensing something, Kaorulko deployed defensive magic.
Everyone hid behind her.
"Shazam! Throw it at the enemy as is!"
The black tentacle became like a whip, and she threw the Magic Stone at the red enemy.
Along with the hand movement, a deafening explosion and shockwave attacked us.
Dust swirled, blue light stretched in a straight line, and at the moment it collided with the Lesser Demon...
Cobalt blue flashes illuminated the dungeon walls.
"Ugh!"
Blinded by the flash, when it cleared... the enemies had disappeared.
"Hey! The Lesser Demons are gone!"
Iroha is surprised.
"Check the surroundings! They might have dodged the attack."
"Understood!"
Everyone guarded the entire circumference, but the dungeon remained silent.
"Could it be that you did all three at once?"
I am also surprised.
"Haha! This has amazing power!"
Tetsuo laughed and patted Shazam, who attacked successfully.
If this is true, the power is terrifying.
"This isn't a joke. It's a proper weapon."
The Princess trembled at that power.
"Your great-grandmother would be happy if she heard this."
"I couldn't say that even if my mouth split open."
Indeed, it could be used for missiles and artillery shells.
I think it would have considerable power, but only Tetsuo can infuse that much magic power.
"What is this? Is the quality of the magic power different?"
It looks like I'm doing the same thing, but it was actually different.
"Probably, it's the amount of magic power?"
Tetsuo seems to have a realization.
"Did you put in that much magic power?"
"Yes. If you use it as a large magic battery, you need this much magic power."
"I see..."
Basically, you just need to put in a lot, even a little bit at a time.
"There are Magic Stones lying around everywhere in this dungeon, but in the other world, Magic Stones are expensive."
"Are there not many monsters spawning?"
"No, there are quite a few, but it's hard to get such large Magic Stones."
According to his story, besides monsters, they are mined as a mineral called Magic Ore, refined, and then become Magic Stones.
It takes effort, so of course, it is expensive.
If Magic Stones are expensive and scarce, does that mean this attack can rarely be used in the other world?
"Let's collect large Magic Stones here for when we return to the other world!"
"With the current attack, the Magic Stone and everything else would have been blown away?"
"Haha, I didn't think it would have that much power."
"Hey, old man! An attack like that isn't any reference!"
"Because I'm an old man from the other world..."
Iroha's words are also reasonable, but since it's not something from this world, everything is off.
"Daisuke-san. Since Tetsuo-san is the God's Apostle, he probably receives magic power support too."
Sana came to my side.
"Is that so? Could it be that Sana is like that too?"
"I haven't told you, but... I think it started when the pattern appeared on my back. I felt like magic power was welling up more than usual..."
"Well, Sana-chan is Izal's Saintess."
If you lose a Saintess blessed by the God, the God's power drops significantly.
Is it like a large piece in Shogi?
"In that case, the God's involvement must be different too."
"That's right. I am the anti-Saintess biological weapon to defeat that enemy's Saintess. I am familiar with Saintesses."
According to his story, Saintesses seem to have super powerful power due to blessings from the God...
"..."
Sana seems to be thinking about something.
"Sana, what's wrong?"
"...Nothing at all."
I realized that monsters are easy if left to Tetsuo, but that doesn't give experience points.
While we were discussing, we encountered Lesser Demons again.
"Oryaaaaa!"
This time, Iroha faced them alone.
She is slightly lower level than us, so she probably wants to earn experience points.
"Iroha! Today, there is no mage to cast buffs, so don't do anything reckless!"
"I'm okay, Darling! I have to show you something good too—!"
The long sword she swung tore through the monster's red skin.
The enemy's arm danced in the air, spinning.
"Gaooon!"
Particles of blue light gathered in the enemy's mouth.
"Magic!? It's dangerous!?"
Iroha dodged the enemy's magical attack with a graceful step, and with the momentum of a spinning top, she bisected the monster's body.
Even though her level is slightly low, she has overwhelming physical stats.
In other words, she is basically strong.
Even without the dungeon's level correction, she would be considered unbeatable in a normal street fight.
"Phew!"
As Iroha maintained her composure, her body began to glow.
Level up.
If we defeat monsters on Floor 7 together, her level will rise even more.
"Oh, quite amazing! I think you're a top-class warrior even in the other world."
"Is there a level correction even in the other world?"
"There isn't one. The only thing is the God's blessing, but the bigger that is, the more it feels like a level correction."
Is the root the same thing?
Since the battle ended, we decided to move, but...
By the way, I can't see the Harpies anymore.
"Hey! Harpies!"
"...Gya..."
I thought I heard a faint voice from the darkness.
"Did they get caught in the explosion just now and get injured?"
"Seriously, I did a terrible thing."
I didn't expect such power either.
If I had known, I would have evacuated the Harpies.
"Hey!"
Picking up their faint voices and moving through the dark dungeon... white wings appeared on the ground.
It seems they are flapping their wings spread out on the ground.
So they crash-landed after all.
They might be injured somewhere.
"Gya"
"Are you okay!?"
I found Gigi, but Chichi was right nearby.
Holding the two of them, I returned to everyone, relying on the magical lights lit in the darkness.
It seems Sana had lit the lights.
"Daisuke-san!"
"The shockwave from the explosion, or maybe they were blinded by the flash and crash-landed. They seem to be injured a bit."
"I'm sorry~"
"Gya"
The Harpies don't seem to think Tetsuo did the explosion just now.
I gave them recovery potions and asked Sana to cast Heal.
They won't recover fully immediately.
So I decided to have them wait on my shoulders until they can fly again.
Carrying the Harpies on my shoulders, we arrived at the safe zone on Floor 7 and checked the surroundings.
"No one is here today!"
Iroha was checking the safe zone.
"Oh~, what is this? A wall everywhere!"
Tetsuo looked up at the wall of Floor 7 in amazement.
"Tetsuo, look."
I pointed up.
At the tip of my finger, there was a protrusion near the ceiling.
This was where the Harpies' nest used to be.
"That is the entrance 100m above the ground. Haha! They really have no intention of clearing it."
Even he is amazed.
If this were a game, it would definitely be a terrible game.
"We were dropped to the deeper layers by a trap and cleared it from behind."
"Well, the God who made this dungeon probably didn't think there would be such a way to clear it either."
"Tetsuo, are you convinced that this dungeon was made by the God?"
"Well, yes. From our God's perspective, it would be the Evil God..."
"Even if it's an Evil God, the God is still a God, right?"
"That's right. The inside hasn't changed."
Now, regarding the plan from here on.
"Princess, shall we climb up immediately?"
"Darling, I'm hungry."
Iroha seems to be somewhat exhausted since she was fighting.
"Alright, there's no need to rush. Let's eat and rest here."
"We flew straight here, so..."
Kaorulko only used defensive magic a little.
"Sana, are you okay?"
"Of course."
We decided to take out supplies from the Item Box and eat together.
"What about Gigi and Chichi?"
"Gya!" "Gyagya!"
It seems they are getting a bit energetic.
Good.