Chapter 60
Challenge to Ultra
Hard Mode!
With an Ashigaru-type Skeleton-kun in the distance, Madoka
tucked her hefty shotgun inside her jacket and instead took out a handgun-like
weapon. Looks like she's got a variety of things.
「Tsubaki, wait a bit. I'll give it a try first.」
That handgun-like weapon wasn't like the rugged, cool ones used in the
military; I feel like its shape was closer to the type that fires flares with a
thick barrel? Not that I know much about it. But naturally, I could imagine
that instead of flares, magical bullets would shoot out of it.
「First, I'll
try attacking with the weapon I've been using up until now. Last time I fought
on the Fifth Floor, I could defeat them in one shot if I hit them in the
head. If it yields the same result, that's fine, but if it doesn't defeat them,
I want to test how many shots it takes.」
「I see.
Sounds good, that might be perfect for a comparison. We can shoot all we want
while it approaches. By the way, how is that Skeleton-kun different from
the ones you know, Madoka?」
Since the monsters seem different in 『Ultra Hard Mode』 compared to
normal Dungeons, I'm curious.
「Speaking of
visual differences, the color is different first of all. The ones I know had
yellowish bones, and I think this one is larger too. I can't tell for sure
since there's some distance, though. And then there's the armor. Last time, the
monsters definitely weren't wearing armor like that.」
「Whoa, is
that so. Seems quite different.」
Madoka readied her handgun in the middle of the passage,
took careful aim, and fired. The bang of the gunshot had a refreshing,
satisfying feel to it. It was my first time seeing a handgun-type weapon, but I
could see a ping-pong-ball-sized light go flying at high speed. The speed of
the bullet was probably much slower than a handgun that fires live ammunition.
The bullet of light brilliantly hit the Skeleton-kun tens of
meters away... not, but missed, grazing right by it. And then, the Skeleton-kun
noticed us and came running toward us.
「Whoa, it's
fast!」
Is it fast? It feels like the speed of a normal person running over
here. It's not particularly fast, and I can run much faster than that anyway.
「Does that
mean the ones you know are much slower, Madoka?」
「The Fifth
Floor monsters I know don't run. Furthermore, it's tough!」
Oh, so they don't even run to begin with. The Skeleton-kun didn't
do anything as dexterous as dodging while running; it just charged straight at
us. Hitting such an opponent with bullets didn't seem difficult, and Madoka
was landing bullets of light one after another. Even so, far from defeating it,
it seemed to only have the effect of slightly slowing down its running speed.
That wasn't doing any damage at all. I feel like we couldn't defeat it
even if we hit it with dozens of shots.
「This weapon
is no good.」
While her words were calm, she put away the handgun with hurried
movements and took out the large gun from earlier. The Star-Dust of Ruin
something-or-other Magic Shotgun, was it? It looks like a strong gun.
The approaching Skeleton-kun was getting quite close. Madoka,
holding the large gun in a rather fitting stance, took careful aim once again
and pulled the trigger. Then, I could see several bullets resembling the
twinkling of stars being fired. The firing sound wasn't as loud as I expected;
in fact, it was quieter than the handgun from earlier.
Even so, the effect was outstanding. The twinkling stars blew the Skeleton-kun's
head clean off, turning it into particles of light and a magic stone. A
one-shot kill.
「W-We managed
to defeat it somehow. Completely thanks to the weapon, though.」
「...Madoka-onee,
that was dangerous.」
「Yeah, I
know. 『Ultra Hard
Mode』... we
absolutely don't have the leeway to be holding back. To think it's like this on
the Fifth Floor.」
「You defeated
it, and with that power, there's no problem! And, here's the loot.」
I showed them the magic stone I picked up.
「It really
drops high-quality magic stones. That's amazing.」
Even for Madoka and Tsubaki, whose family home seems rich,
they apparently can't expect much in the way of financial support. That's why
daily earnings are important.
「By the way,
how many shots can that gun fire?」
「As I am
right now, I think 10 or 11 consecutive shots is my limit. After that, if I
rest for about 15 minutes, I can fire one more shot. Sorry, this is pretty
inefficient, isn't it.」
Well, the efficiency is bad, alright. Unfortunately.
「But the
number of shots you can fire will increase as your level goes up, right? Then
we just have to work at it steadily. Or rather, that was the plan from the
start anyway.」
「If I could
skill link with Tsubaki as well, the efficiency would be on a whole
other level, though...」
「Oh, I see.
So if 『Skill Link I』 evolves
into 『Skill Link
II』, we can
expect something around there.」
「There are
past precedents, so probably.」
Besides 『Skill Link I』, Madoka
possesses a skill called 『Passive Effect Enhancement』. It supposedly heightens the
effects of certain skills, which is a perfect fit for Madoka, who can
link skills.
And Tsubaki apparently possesses a skill called 『Source of
Magic Power I』, which
continuously recovers depleted vitality, spirit, and even stamina all at once.
It's strictly a skill that vastly increases natural recovery power, so it
doesn't instantly recover sudden drastic depletion, nor does it allow one to
sustain intense combat for long periods. Still, it's an insanely useful skill.
The amazing thing about this is that if she can link Tsubaki's 『Source of
Magic Power I』, Madoka's
recovery speed will increase even further due to her own 『Passive Effect Enhancement』. As her
level goes up, the recovery amount increases, so efficiency will just keep
going up.
If the number of skills she can link increases, and we gather more
companions with excellent skills, the entire party will be strengthened. This
really feels like a promising future. She has immeasurable potential.
「Aren't we a
pretty good team? Next is you, Tsubaki, give it a try.」
「I'll use
talismans, and this.」
Tsubaki, the girl dressed all in black who was already
prepared, showed us the weapon in her hand. The talisman was a rectangular slip
of paper drawn with unreadable, mysterious characters and patterns. That's fine
and all, but it's the other weapon.
It was a bizarre black dagger. The handle part was shaped like a clay
figure, and patterns resembling hieroglyphs were carved into the blade. Its
texture didn't feel like metal; it was either stone, or possibly wood.
「What's that?
You can fight with that thing?」
「This is the Puppet
Judge... an exclusive weapon used with magic.」
The strange short sword is apparently named Puppet Judge.
Everything about it is a mystery. Anyway, let's watch. When all of us walked a
bit and discovered a monster, Tsubaki immediately sent a talisman
flying. The talisman, controlled by magic, was stable and fast despite being
made of paper.
Just as I thought the talisman hit the Skeleton-kun in the
distance, it burst into a magnificent blaze. After burning out in a matter of
seconds, not a trace or shadow of the Skeleton-kun remained. What was
that, amazing!
「Whoa, not
bad at all!」
「I told you Tsubaki
is excellent, didn't I? Having to worry about replenishing the talismans is the
drawback, though.」
「Next is
this... 『Puppet Ritual』.」
It seemed Tsubaki launched a consecutive attack against another Skeleton-kun
that had entered our field of vision. I strained my eyes to look at the Skeleton-kun
in the distance but nothing happened. Thinking "huh?", I looked
towards Tsubaki and was surprised.
「Whoa hey,
what is this, since when?!」
There was an Ashigaru-type Skeleton-kun right nearby.
「Huh,
something's weird about it.」
「It's okay, Aoi.
This is Tsubaki's magic.」
「What, magic?」
「This is my
skill... 『Puppet Ritual』.」
Did she create a life-sized doll with magic? Wondering what it was, I
tried to touch it with my hand, but it just passed right through.
「If it's not
this, you can't touch it, and you can't attack it.」
When she casually thrust the bizarre black dagger into its skull, the
phantom doll easily turned into particles of light. Reflexively looking at the
actual Skeleton-kun far away, it was just in the process of turning into
particles of light as well.
「Ooh,
amaaazing.」
「Most
monsters... have low curse resistance. I'm relatively good at monster
extermination.」
I can't see it because of the black veil, but she's probably wearing a
triumphant expression. Even so, you know. Isn't Tsubaki insanely strong?
We're still just testing on the Fifth Floor, but it seems like they can totally handle 『Ultra Hard Mode』. Could it be that 『Ultra Hard Mode』 unexpectedly isn't that big of a deal? I wonder. Well, I guess we'll see how it goes after we go to slightly deeper floors.
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