Chapter 120 - Chapter 120: Breakthrough!
We had asked Tetsuo to join us as a helper for dungeon clearing, and we had made it to Floor 7.
He had no adventurer aptitude and no level correction, but his combination with Shazam was super powerful.
We had flown through the air on Shazam up to Floor 7, a leisurely journey, but we decided to take a break here.
There was no need to rush.
With Tetsuo and Shazam, breaking through the great wall of Floor 7 was practically a done deal.
Besides, there was something I wanted to try out.
If that went well, we might be able to punch a hole in the wall of Floor 7.
"Light! [Light]"
Under the light of Sana's magic, I laid out the food I had taken from my Item Box.
"Gya!" "Gya!"
The Harpies, full of energy, stuck close to me and stuffed their faces with calorie bars.
"I'm glad they seem to be okay."
"Didn't they seem a bit more affectionate than before?"
Tetsuo reached out his hand, but they were wary of him.
To them, he was probably an unfamiliar face.
"Did they think we saved them from a dangerous situation?"
"Mmm~"
"Hahaha! Cherry Princess~ Don't get jealous of the monsters."
Iroha was teasing the Princess as if this was her chance.
"I'm not getting jealous or anything!"
"Again and again~ ahaha"
"You really are on good terms with the Harpies, aren't you~"
Sana's words seemed to have a little thorn in them...
"What? Is Sana jealous too?"
"N-no, that's not it... but you're sticking to Daisuke-san like it's natural..."
"That's just the same category as dogs or cats, right?"
"T-that's true, but!"
In words, yes, but she didn't seem to accept it.
She was muttering something to herself.
At that moment—
'Do' 'n't'
I couldn't tell where it came from, but it felt like I heard a voice.
I looked around, but naturally, only we were there.
It seemed the others could hear the voice too.
They were looking around warily.
I've heard this before—yes.
It must be the voice of the god that Tetsuo talks about.
Can it be heard even inside a dungeon?
"Tetsuo, was that just now...?"
"Yeah, it was the god—Sana-chan."
"Y-yes."
A look of confusion and anxiety appeared on her face—as if she had been caught doing something forbidden—such an expression.
"It's no good, right? You were trying to use the god's wish for something forbidden, weren't you?"
"I-I'm sorry!"
Seriously?
I'll leave it for now and not ask what she was wishing for.
"Sana-chan is Izal's Saintess, so she must always have a heart of compassion."
"..."
"To an old man like me, that's the least fitting word, isn't it?"
"Wahaha! You say it straight, I don't like it."
"I'm sorry, Iroha."
I added a follow-up just in case.
"It's fine. All people from another world are like this."
She said she didn't like it, but it seemed like a joke.
She didn't seem to mind it much.
"So it's different from Japan, after all?"
"They don't read the air, wahaha. Besides, that word doesn't even exist."
"Seriously?"
"Just money, just themselves, just for the moment—they don't care about what comes after—that kind of crowd only."
He threw the food into his mouth.
"Time is, truly, the end of the century..."
"Hyah-ha! That aside—Sana-chan, if a Saintess falls or converts, the god's power drops significantly, so the god will be sad too."
"I'm sorry..."
"Besides, if there are gaps in the heart, the possibility of being taken advantage of by other gods increases."
"Taken advantage of?"
I couldn't help but ask Tetsuo again.
"Your wish—if it were me, I could grant it for you? Something like that."
"Like a scam."
"The world is equivalent exchange. There's no such thing as a good deal like that."
"So there's no such thing as a free lunch?"
"Exactly! You girls should be careful too. By the way, Izal is a good god, so no worries."
"Despite being a shady old man, you're serious, aren't you?"
Iroha's abusive words exploded again.
"Indeed, I am a scoundrel and an old man who has killed many people, but I am sincere towards the gods. If I lie, it will be exposed, wahaha!"
Whether Kaorulko was watching our words and actions or not—she was silently eating her meal.
"By the way, doesn't Shazam eat?"
"She doesn't—in short, my mana is like her energy."
"I can't see it, but it feels like she's charging inside a black hole."
"That's about right."
When we first met Shazam, she seemed to be of normal human size.
"At first she chased us, so I thought she was an enemy and ran away endlessly."
"Like Cyborg O-tama-san..."
"It was really like that. I never thought she would be an ally..."
While we were talking, the meal ended.
Immediately, I got a ride on Shazam and aimed for 100 meters above ground.
"Before that, I want to ask..."
It seems Tetsuo has a question.
"Hm? What is it?"
"I said I could dig a tunnel with my ability, right?"
"Yeah."
"Can't we just dig a hole in this wall simply?"
"If you dig a hole normally, it will connect to another space."
"Haha... It's similar to the god's gate, isn't it?"
I didn't understand well, but he seemed to accept it.
Guided by the black tentacles, I sat on Shazam's black and soft body.
"Everyone, okay?"
The Princess confirmed.
"We're fine... Tetsuo, please."
"Alright!"
At his signal, Shazam ascended vertically.
It took only about 10 seconds to reach the 100-meter table.
"Light! [Light]"
This time, it was Kaoruko's magic.
The table was illuminated by the magic light, but it was empty.
I had expected a little, but there was no welcome from the Harpies.
This was their nest, but adventurers had come, so they must have realized it was dangerous and abandoned it.
It should have been a safe bed for them, but I did something a bit pitiful.
I have a little regret, but if what I'm thinking comes true, no more adventurers will visit here.
If that happens, the Harpies might return again.
"Seriously! We worked so hard for this! This is why you cheat old men!"
"Wahaha! Even if you say that, this is what the god intended."
"You really say it."
Iroha somehow couldn't believe that Tetsuo was a Cleric.
More than that—
"A 100-meter high stage, I'm back!"
I really thought I couldn't come here anymore.
"Darling, what do we do from here? Do we go through the hole with Shazam?"
The Princess seemed interested in my plan.
"That's it! Tetsuo's black hole can make holes in walls and cut rocks, right?"
"Yes. As you said, he dug tunnels in mines."
"But if you dig a tunnel in this dungeon, it connects to another space—there!"
"There?!"
"Dig this hole wide horizontally."
I pointed to the hole opened behind the stage.
"Like this?"
When Tetsuo waved his hand, the passage was dug wide horizontally.
"I understand!"
Suddenly, Kaoruko raised her voice.
"Understand?"
"Are you going to widen the hole and pierce through the wall of Floor 7?"
If we keep widening the hole, it won't connect to another space.
If we reach the wall of Floor 7 as is, what will happen...
"Correct!"
"Isn't this cheating?!"
Iroha was dumbfounded.
She's surprisingly serious.
In a world like this ridiculous game, there's no need to follow the rules honestly.
"If you force your way through, reason retreats—is that a bit different?"
"Well, whoever does it wins. If you win, you're the general, wahaha."
"You can't do such cheating with a normal pickaxe, but with Tetsuo's cheat, you can."
"Of course."
Using his ability, we kept widening the original passage.
We also went down.
If we reach the wall this way, a hole should open on the inside of the wall.
Also, if we shave the entire wall evenly and expand the room, the wall might disappear without connecting to another space.
If we did that, it's unknown how long it would take, but with Tetsuo's ability, it might be possible.
"A, um... Daisuke-san..."
Sana seemed to have something.
"What is it?"
"Will the passage we are in now become a strange space?"
"...Impossible... maybe not."
"It's no good!"
Iroha gave a retort.
"But there's no other way. Well, there's the option of going through this narrow passage full of bugs properly..."
"Other adventurers said they entered here and it was full of bugs, is that true?"
Speaking of which, were there people who entered here after us?
"Yeah, it's a hell that makes the Princess regress to infancy."
Recalling that horrible sight, the Princess had a blank expression.
"...I-if that's the case... then let's go with Darling's method after all."
"Well, it'll be fine... probably."
"Probably?!"
While we were talking, the hole was widening rapidly due to Tetsuo's ability.
At the same time, expanding the hole downwards also shaved the wall.
Since it was quite a steep slope, everyone rode on Shazam and descended gradually.
Only high-level adventurers were here, so they could descend along the wall, but since there was a convenient method, there was no reason not to take advantage of it.
"Gya!" "Gya! Gya!"
Perhaps tired of riding on the black Shazam, the Harpies were flying around the safe zone of Floor 7.
More than that—normally, if you collapse a wall, debris piles up, but even that wasn't happening.
"It's good that no debris or trash comes out."
"Wahaha! Exactly. I can throw anything in, so I call myself a trash can."
"Even though it's a miracle of the god, is that okay?"
"Important people don't care about such things. In short, as long as you get results."
"Doesn't that mean any means are justified?"
Suddenly, Kaoruko joined the conversation.
"Yes—the god's name allows it."
"You said Tetsuo-san has killed many people... is that okay?"
"Well, yes, I've killed thousands."
"That many?!"
Iroha was also surprised by that number.
I had heard it before.
"I don't enjoy massacring people on purpose. What I do is acting as the god's proxy, so anyone who targets my life or obstructs me is an enemy of the god."
"I cannot understand that..."
"Well, I'm originally Japanese, so I don't think about doing something terrible in this world. I know how to read the air too, wahaha."
"..."
Sana was listening to our conversation silently.
Earlier, Sana was stopped by the god, so it seems the title of Saintess is indeed significant.
Tetsuo is the god's spearhead and also the dirty workman.
He might be looked over a bit, but the Saintess seems different.
As I was talking with him, a change appeared on the wall.
A hole had opened.
"What is it, Darling, did you fail?"
"Iroha, you don't know yet?"
"Sana, put magic light in the hole—"
"No, I'll use my magic lamp."
Tetsuo took out a lamp from somewhere.
When you put a Magic Stone in the bottom, it starts to emit a pale blue light.
"Eh?! What is that?! A lamp?!"
"He brought it from another world as a magic item."
"...Eh?! I thought it was a joke because Sana said the old man was from another world... is it real?!"
"Real, real."
Again, the old men harmonized.
"And where did you take that out just now! Do you have an Item Box too?!"
"That was Tetsuo's Magic Bag, a magic item."
"Huh?!"
Tetsuo showed the bag to Iroha.
"This bag can hold luggage the size of a room—here."
He took something out of the bag and showed it.
It was a wooden box, but when he opened the lid, something like a stone was inside.
According to Tetsuo, it seemed to be a children's toy like Othello.
"I bought it as a souvenir."
"...Old man, did you have children?"
"Yeah, not real children."
"I see... I'm sorry for saying such terrible things until now."
"Oh?! What's wrong? Did you pick up some trash?"
"No!"
Iroha also heard that she had no parents and only sisters.
She might have empathized a bit.
"Wahaha!"
"But it's amazing! A lamp usable in dungeons! A Magic Bag that can replace an Item Box?!"
"Have you re-evaluated the old man a little?"
"Yeah."
"Wahaha!"
Tetsuo seemed in a good mood.
Basically, old men are happy when flattered by young people.
"Actually, I tried to sell these to the Princess's family home, so they might be commercially available."
"Seriously! If it's true, clearing the dungeon will be faster!"
"It might be expensive at first..."
"So we won't need to use chemical lights anymore! And if anyone can use an Item Box, there's no need to carry luggage!"
"If it goes well."
Tetsuo was looking into the hole with a light, but he intended to go down inside.
"Shazam, please lower me into the hole a bit."
"Are you okay?"
"Haha, no problem."
Black tentacles wrapped around his body, and he slowly entered the hole.
"A, are you okay?"
Sana was worried.
I want a steel heart that can rush into such places first.
I'm basically a coward.
"It's a bit moldy, but it's okay."
"How does it feel?"
"A stone passage extends..."
"Could it be that you broke through the wall?"
"We did it!"
Iroha was doing a victory pose—but no, we don't know yet.
If we map the maze as is and reach that hot spring, it will be proven that this passage is correct.
"Oga, you're getting ahead of yourself."
The Princess spoke to calm him down.
"Daisuke and the others are still suspicious whether this passage is correct, aren't they?"
"Well, that's right. After all, it's not access through the official procedure."
"For now, I had Shazam run about 50m, and it seems there's no danger. Shall we go down and check?"
"Can you do that too?"
"Yes, checking for traps, of course."
Since she can change her shape freely, she can slip through any trap.
—Before that, let's have Tetsuo widen the hole for the following adventurers.
The impregnable huge wall of Floor 7 collapsed and a hole opened.
When I return to the surface, I'll record video to publish it.
The dungeon maze had a high ceiling, so faintly its shape could be seen dissolving into the darkness.
The entire space was made of cold rock, and on its surface, moss and blackened traces of dampness were stuck.
The walls were irregularly cracked, and rock fragments that had peeled off here and there were scattered on the floor.
The air was heavy and motionless.
Piercing the nasal cavity was a dense, suffocating smell mixed with the scent of old mold and the coldness of wet stone.
There was no sign of life in this place.
Not even the sound of insect wings, only an eerie silence dominated.
"Now, access is easy."
"Darling, we still don't know if this is real."
"That's true."
If it fails, we have to come back here and block the hole with a big rock or something.
It would be terrible if adventurers accidentally entered.
Well, since it's definitely a dungeon, it might be okay to clear it.
Entering through the opened hole, it was a so-called dungeon built with stones on all four sides.
The passage was straight, the corners were right angles—it seemed like a map could be drawn on graph paper.
The Harpies also entered inside.
Since the ceiling was low and they couldn't fly, they were riding on Shazam.
They were initially wary of the black, wriggling thing that could change shape freely, but they were surprisingly tough.
"Kaoruko, please map it."
"Leave it to me."
Her glasses glinted with light.
"Sorry to bother you as always~"
"That's a promise not to say."
Leaving the boring gag aside, we proceeded down the passage.
With every step, footsteps reflected off the rocks and bounced back unnaturally, creating an illusion that something invisible was peeking at us.
When we are peering into the labyrinth, the labyrinth is also peering at us.
There were no footprints of anyone who had invaded before.
It was clear that no one had reached here yet.
To save magic, I had Shazam carry Tetsuo's magic lamp.
Since everyone could see in the darkness, this was enough.
As long as there was even a little light, the field of view changed from monochrome to full color.
Shazam led the way about 50m ahead, and the dungeon map was being created.
Since she couldn't speak, Tetsuo was communicating by arranging the Othello-like toys he had.
Shazam's intelligence seemed quite high.
At least, higher than the Harpies.
We proceeded for a while as is—
"!"
Shazam was twitching her tentacles in response.
"Gya!" "Gya!"
The Harpies were also reacting—probably an encounter with a monster.
"Princess, what do we do? Fight?"
"This is the long-awaited Floor 7. Of course, we fight."
"A, um... it's better to avoid..."
Sana seemed to want to choose avoidance.
"Then I'll avoid too."
"Darling!!"
"Huh? Because..."
Judging from past records—The Princess's choice would not end well.
"I'm in favor of fighting!"
Iroha was clenching her fists against her palms, gathering her spirit.
Because they were stuck at Floor 6, everyone's levels had hit a ceiling.
The Princess, Kaoruko, and Sana had become higher level than usual due to battles with irregular strong enemies.
But Iroha probably wanted to fight strong enemies to raise her level even a little.
Tetsuo didn't care either way, and Kaoruko was also in favor of fighting, so it became a majority vote for fighting.
Turning the corner, we prepared for battle.
"Alright! The first enemy on Floor 7! What kind of enemy is coming?!"
Iroha was experiencing this for the first time, but we had fought quite a bit here.
"The ones we fought were the Lich and the Griffon."
"The Lich is like the boss of the undead we fought before, right?"
We fought the Lich when we rescued Iroha's younger sister—Kagari.
"Now, since Sana has Turn Undead, undead are one-shot. Well, that means only Sana gets experience points..."
"Sana-chan, you can use Turn Undead?"
"Yes."
Tetsuo also seemed to know about Turn Undead.
"As expected of a Saintess."
"Was that magic in another world too?"
"It's a high-level magic used by Clerics and Priests even among Clerics."
"Gya!" "Gyaah!"
While we were talking, the Harpies reacted.
"They're coming!"
In the rock maze enveloped in silence, deep in the back—emerging from the darkness, a presence that seemed to warp space itself appeared.
At first, it seemed like only a black shadow was spreading slowly, but gradually it took shape and revealed the outline of a huge monster.
Its body was covered in a dark purple, eerie color that seemed to absorb light, blending so much into the darkness that it was indistinguishable from the rock walls.
The moment two red glows shone brightly like flames, its existence manifested as a certain terror.
Horns stretched from its head as if piercing the ceiling, twisted, and had the texture of a heavy iron mass.
With every breath, steam like black smoke leaked from its snout, further stagnating the air.
The whole body was covered in muscles, and the skin was hard and cracked like burnt leather.
Here and there, patterns glowing red floated up, creating an eerie atmosphere as if curses were carved into it.
"What is that!"
Iroha shouted upon seeing the abnormality.
"Is it the Demon we fought when we went to save Kagari?"
"I feel like the color is different from that one."
The Princess reacted to my words.
"Either way, it's a strong enemy."
I also agreed with Kaoruko's opinion.
If the red one is three times stronger, how many times stronger is this one?!
Every time the enemy stepped on the ground, the ground groaned low, and the floor and walls shook.
Its movement was slow, but it approached us surely and with overwhelming presence.
This was undoubtedly a strong enemy.