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077 Royal
Capital Dungeon 8th Floor Group Battle
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Translator : PolterGlast
A deep voice echoed
through the cool morning air.
"Why!? Why aren't
you going back!?" The speaker was Bachus. He was interrogating me,
grabbing me by the collar, about why I did not return to Kerniff with Duke.
"I have a small
favor to do for the Duke," I replied.
"If Toi doesn't
return, what will happen to that!? I can't wait any longer!" He's more
concerned about Gormodia than me, huh? What a man, so loyal to his desires.
Honestly, being told by some scruffy old guy that he wants to go home with
me... I'd rather decline. It's much clearer if he just says he wants to forge
Gormodia.
"Here you go. I
prefer a two-handed sword."
"What, you'll
entrust Golmodia to me? You should have said so sooner!"
I handed him the
Gormodia. Bachus, the bearded old man, snatched the Gormodia from my hand as if
stealing it, and rubbed his cheek against it... That's too much visually.
Please do that where I can't see it.
Bachus returned to his
territory in high spirits. Thanks to Bachus, my Heavy Drinker job reached Level
20. Still, I couldn't keep up with Bachus's drinking. He was a monster. Only
when it came to alcohol, though.
Looking around the
Duke's mansion, even with the managing servants and the patrolling knights and
soldiers, it felt considerably larger than before.
"Shall we go
too?" I asked.
"Understood!"
Gandarvan replied. I still hadn't found evidence to ruin Grissom. I decided it
wasn't good to get too fixated, so I decided to enter the dungeon after a long
time.
"Yamato. Don't do
anything strange to Itsukushima-san."
"I won't, don't
worry," Yamato replied.
"Itsukushima-san,
if Yamato does anything strange to you, tell me immediately. I'll bury him in
darkness."
"Okay. I'll ask
you then," she replied.
"Hey, aren't you
treating me horribly!?" Yamato loudly protested, but I ignored him.
***
We entered the dungeon
entrance, the building like the Parthenon. This time, we would explore the 8th
floor. I wanted to quickly reach the 10th floor. My promise to the Princess was
to defeat 1,000 monsters on the 10th floor after all.
We immediately used
Dungeon Move to teleport to the 8th floor. Now, what kind of monsters would
appear?
"Colon and Karon,
just land one hit and don't push yourselves too hard," I instructed the
two who were surprised by Dungeon Move. I was relieved that they couldn't leak
information due to the magic contract.
Colon, the elder
sister, fought with two daggers, a dual-wielding dagger version, suited for her
small body. Her stats were high in DEX and AGI. In other words, her accuracy
and evasion were high. She had reportedly used daggers since she was a Villager
due to her small stature. Furthermore, since she was naturally dexterous, she
could change to Dual-Dagger User if she used two daggers.
"Y-yes," she
replied.
Karon, the younger
sister, was a burly front-liner with high STR and VIT. She used heavy armor
comparable to Gandarvan's and wielded a giant axe. Her battle axe was about her
height and had a large blade. She was tall, had a sturdy frame, and long arms,
giving her axe considerable reach. Her job was Heavy Warrior, and this job
could wield any two-handed weapon, be it a battle axe, two-handed sword, or
warhammer.
"Understood!"
she affirmed.
Even if they landed
just one hit, they would still gain experience, even without dealing damage.
Colon was Level 13 and Karon was Level 12, so taking a hit could easily mean
instant death. Colon, in her light armor, would be especially vulnerable. So, I
would only allow them to level up without overexerting themselves.
The landscape of the
8th floor, unlike up to the 7th floor, was no longer a rainforest inside a
cave. The cave remained, but the forest was gone, replaced by wide, rugged
rocks that created blind spots. Furthermore, a river flowed through it, but its
current was very fast and torrential.
As we proceeded with
Bath guiding the way, I sensed presences.
"We'll be
engaging soon. Brace yourselves!" I warned.
"Understood!"
(All of them)
We braced ourselves,
checked our formation, and advanced. What appeared were Merfolk, with fish
heads and human bodies. They carried a variety of weapons, including spears,
swords, and staffs. Their bodies were covered in scale-like armor, making them
seem tough.
"The ones with
staffs will use magic," I warned.
There were five types
of Merfolk: Soldiers (two-handed swords), Lancers (spears), Knights
(shield/one-handed sword), Mages (staffs), and Archers (bows). There were 20 of
them. As a first battle with unfamiliar monsters, the hurdle was quite high.
Especially with Colon and Karon sisters present, I had to think carefully.
"We'll be fine.
If worst comes to worst, we'll retreat," Colon said.
"It's strange to
brag about retreating, though," Gandarvan chuckled, and the two sisters
hastily bowed their heads.
"I can hold back
20 of them. Let me do it," Gandarvan offered.
"Since Gandarvan
says so, then fine. Solidia, can you summon more familiars?" I asked.
"Yes, leave it to
me!" Solidia replied.
I changed my main job
to Enchanter and my sub-job to Reincarnated Hero and applied enchantments to
everyone.
"Alright,
go!" I commanded.
"Understood!"
(All of them)
Gandarvan charged,
shaking his massive body. Jojok, Lin, and Rosalina followed, and Solidia's four
summoned Wraiths floated menacingly.
Thwack! Thwack! Arrows
were fired from the Demon Poison Bow. The poisoned arrows were perfect for
disrupting the coordination of such a group. The movements of several Merfolk
struck by the arrows noticeably worsened.
"Thunder
Rain!" Anneliese's magic overwhelmed the Merfolk. Several of those struck
by poisoned arrows then perished.
A Merfolk Mage cast a
water spear. Gandarvan blocked it with his Death Knight Shield. He saw it
clearly.
"Saint
Attack!" I also provided magical support. I defeated one.
"Haaah!" Lin
leaped into the air with acrobatic movements. She skillfully dodged the
Soldier's two-handed sword and retaliated by thrusting her spear.
"Take that!"
Rosalina shouted, slipping into the vulnerable side of the Soldier, whose guard
was down after being pierced by Lin's spear, and landed five punches. The
Soldier was sent flying, fell, and lay motionless. Good teamwork.
"Rose, I'm
counting on you," I said, summoning Rose, my contracted Lesser Vine
Spirit, to restrain the Merfolk swarming Gandarvan and the others. Vines
emerged from the ground and entangled the Merfolk, stopping their movements.
Mages were casting
spells from the rear. Though only water-based magic, ranged attacks were a
nuisance.
"Anneliese, can
you attack those two Mages?" I asked. My magic probably wouldn't reach
them, as they were distant, positioned between Gandarvan and the others.
"Leave it to
me!" Anneliese's magic seemed capable of reaching them. As expected of the
Sage of Love.
Anneliese raised her
Mithril Staff, and a torrent of magic power overflowed from her.
"Cyclone
Cutter!" A tornado formed and engulfed the two Mages. Being at the mercy
of the tornado, blood streamed from their bodies, and their arms and legs were
torn to pieces—a rather splattery sight. But with that, the Mages were gone.
All that remained was close combat.
"Colon, Karon.
Go!" I commanded.
"Yes!"
(Both) Since Rose's vines had considerably restricted their movements, there
should be an opening for the two of them.
While Gandarvan and
the others defeated the remaining Merfolk, Colon and Karon chipped away at
them.
Finally, the Wraith
summoned by Solidia defeated the Knight, ending the battle. Twenty Merfolk were
indeed a lot, but perhaps this kind of group battle would be the main challenge
on the 8th floor.
The drop items were 18
D-rank magic stones, and one two-handed sword and one spear from the Merfolk.
All the weapons were demonic swords and demonic spears with effects. Jojok and
Lin could use these, but they already had weapons I enchanted. Moreover, they
also had a demonic sword and a demonic spear from the Princess. Their
performance ranked: the weapons from the Princess > my enchanted weapons
> drop items, so I decided to exchange them for money at the guild.
By the way, the
demonic sword Salman I received was quite high-performing, as expected of
something stored in the royal treasury. I had intended to use it in place of my
Mithril Two-Handed Sword, but I never expected to suddenly make Enchanter my
main job.
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