Chapter 213
Existence
Translator : PolterGlast
Even from the tenth floor onward, Ginia and Aoi
defeated the monsters with ease. They showed no signs of struggling against the
floor bosses either, which was proof that the two of them had become stronger
than I imagined. And just like that, without me having to do a single thing, we
arrived at the thirtieth floor.
"We've already reached the thirtieth floor. Ginia
and Aoi are too reliable."
"Hehehe! Opponents around this level are a breeze, you
know!"
"I was imagining the floor bosses would be a bit
stronger, but having information beforehand really is huge. Just not having
that initial feeling of fighting while groping in the dark allowed us to fight
with a lot of leeway."
The fact that we were able to get here this easily is, just as
Ginia said, largely due to having information on the enemies.
Conversely, if we had faced the capture without obtaining any information, they
would have struggled, and I probably could have satisfied their desire for
battle, but as expected, I couldn't read that far ahead.
Besides, our objective to the bitter end is the subjugation
of the Kaonashi. The journey ended up being an easy victory as a result,
but I don't think gathering information was a bad choice.
"If we didn't have information, you might have
struggled a bit. However, from here on out, we enter the floors where the Kaonashi,
which we have no information on, appears. Please don't drop your guard."
"We won't! Besides, if you're the one fighting, Graham,
it'll be a breeze! Our only worry is whether we'll actually be able to
encounter it or not!"
"Right. It'd be great if we could encounter it, but if
we can't, it means we'll have to come all the way to the thirtieth floor again
on another day, after all."
"If we can't encounter it even after visiting a few
times, I intend to stake it out alone. I've also learned that the floors up to
the thirtieth are far too easy for Ginia and Aoi, anyway."
Since we supposedly can't probe its presence, I think the
possibility of not encountering it is high. I plan to have them capture the
dungeon with me a few times, but after that, I plan to hole up in the dungeon
alone and persistently stick around until I can encounter it.
"To prevent that from happening, it would be best if we
could encounter it this time. If we do, we can also aim to capture the deeper
floors, after all."
"The fact that our period of stay is only one week is
the bottleneck! If only the Kaonashi was a monster that appeared on the
deeper floors!"
"Since it only appears on relatively shallow floors,
this just can't be helped. Let's proceed while hoping we can encounter it early
on."
And so, after finishing a light break, we decided to proceed
with the capture of the thirty-first floor. Just as I mentioned earlier, from
here on out, it wouldn't be strange for the Kaonashi to appear at any
time.
Ginia and Aoi
had given the assessment that I could defeat it with ease, but on top of having
little information, judging from what I heard from Sonia and Zola,
it's perfectly normal to assume I might struggle. After all, this is my first
time facing an opponent without a form, and if it truly has no form, it's
questionable whether I can defeat it.
Slowing down our capture speed, I had Ginia and Aoi
defeat the opponents along the way just like before, while I focused my efforts
on searching the surroundings. I didn't know if I would be able to find it, but
I proceeded while probing for presences just in case.
In contrast to such thorough vigilance, the dungeon didn't
show any particularly different signs from before, and we arrived at the
thirty-fifth floor in the blink of an eye. Just as I thought we might arrive at
the fortieth floor without anything happening this time—I noticed something
approaching.
Although there was no presence, I detected something approaching
from the sound of it kicking off the ground. I sent instructions to Ginia
and Aoi with hand signs, deciding to act completely oblivious on my end
to make whatever it was—presumably the Kaonashi—take action.
Just as I had heard from Sonia and Zola, I was
surprised that it truly had neither a presence nor a visible form, but there
was unmistakably something there. The "something" that had
approached stopped midway and began to chant magic.
That being said, it wasn't like I could hear words; I judged
that magic was being cast because I could feel magical power being kneaded. I
couldn't sense its form or presence, but when it came to magical power, I could
feel it clearly.
Its target seemed to be me, and just as Sonia and Zola
had said, it appears to target the strongest one first. Now that I knew I was
the target, I wouldn't let Ginia and Aoi do anything; I would
deal with it alone.
Truthfully, I wanted to have the two of them fight it first,
but since it has no physical body, it would be too heavy a burden for them.
While I was thinking such things—the kneaded magic came flying at me.
Judging from its power, it was Advanced Magic. I already
knew, but this confirmed that it was a highly capable entity.
While dodging the magic that had suddenly become visible, I
sent a flying slash toward the position the magic was fired from. If it were
just simple invisibility, I believe I could have cut it with this strike, but
the result was a swing and a miss.
I had guessed as much from the fact that even I couldn't
sense its presence, but its main body isn't in this place. When it comes to
that, the likely scenario is something similar to the Goblin I
encountered when fighting the Crimsonroid.
That someone is operating it remotely and attacking. To be
able to pull off a stunt like this, I don't think they are too far away... but
I have to find the main body.
Until now, I had been searching with my focus on the immediate vicinity, but I expanded my range and switched to searching for the main body. Because attack magic was continually flying at me during this time, I had Ginia and Aoi evacuate, while I focused on searching for the main body while pretending to desperately dodge the magic.
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