Dungeon Again? The Round Sanctuary on the Floor
A circular sanctuary bloomed across the floor, radiating outward from Nemea at its center.
I'd spent the last three years receiving nothing from her but medical treatment. I'd never once seen her take the field. The sight was novel enough that I found myself drifting toward her without quite meaning to.
"If you stay inside this, you'll be free from the miasma!"
"I've got a mask on, though?"
"I did coat that with Holy Power, but it's still just ordinary cloth. If things get rough, the ties could come loose or snap entirely."
"Ah."
I was going to go in anyway, even if she'd told me not to. A little nervous, sure — but the closer I drew, the more I felt that familiar, warm pulse of Holy Power. I took a breath, then hopped right into the sanctuary she had raised.
Just like only stepping on the white stripes of a crosswalk...
"Oh?"
"Come closer! Hehe, closer — close enough that I can reach out and touch you... Aah?! Why are you backing away?!"
"Hey, those hands of yours are way too obvious."
This ass-obsessed maniac...
The instant I set foot inside the sanctuary, Nemea reached for my ass like she'd been waiting for this exact moment. I tried to put a few steps between us, but she'd clearly seen that coming. Her arm snaked around my waist, and she let out a thoroughly filthy little laugh.
"You mustn't stray too far from me, you know? My sister and Celestin might be fine, but you look awfully vulnerable to miasma, Iceman. Hehe... if you don't let me feel that ass of yours nice and quietly... uhehehe...♥"
"What kind of Saint is this shameless AND this underhanded?!"
I squawked like an elf at that brazen display, but Nemea paid me no mind whatsoever, her hands roaming over me with single-minded focus. Just as those wicked fingers were about to slip past my waistband, someone stepped between us.
"...No."
"Nngh, sis... I was just getting to the good part!"
"Hah..."
I was the one being groped, but from her sister's point of view, maybe it looked like some scumbag was harassing her twin. Leo stood between us without a word, looking down at me and snorting softly through her nose. Then she pointed at the hammer strapped to my pack.
"...Don't let go of that. It's dangerous."
"Ah, right."
Talking to her still felt awkward. She almost never spoke unless she absolutely had to, so I'd gotten used to filling the silence myself — knowing full well she'd never answer. Having her address me first felt strangely unfamiliar.
"Alright, let's wrap this up quick! We need to take out the Walkers inside before the miasma floods any further, then we can go home!"
"And collect our pay!"
"...The pay."
"?"
Why was she looking at me when she said that? Two pairs of golden eyes locked onto me in unison, and I shuddered. The Elf, utterly unbothered, strode ahead toward the underground dungeon — without ever stepping outside the sanctuary, of course.
And so the expedition began in earnest.
The moment we set foot through the entrance leading underground, a wave of miasma came roaring out to swallow us whole. My nerves spiked for a second — then the miasma vanished on contact, purified the instant it touched Nemea's sanctuary, never even daring to push through. Not only that, but the gloomy fog of miasma that had been blooming across the entire dungeon when the girls first arrived here was being wiped clean with every step we took.
"This is pretty amazing."
"Heh-heh. I may not look it, but I'm a veteran Saint! As long as you're here, Iceman, I could keep this sanctuary going for a thousand years — ten thousand, even!"
"Why me?"
"...Nemea. Later."
"Tch."
"?"
The two of them were having another conversation I couldn't follow, and it made me uneasy enough that I edged a little closer to the Elf.
"Gah! At least say something first! Who else but a lecherous little monkey would try to grope my chest under cover of darkness!"
"I wasn't thinking that at all?!"
Too far and the Elf snapped at me. Too close and Nemea started something. I was stuck in an impossible position, and even without breathing any miasma, my head was starting to throb.
Then, from the darkness ahead, came a wet, grotesque sound. I tightened my grip on the hammer, ready to swing at any moment. Compared to Dyna's massive warhammer this thing was basically a carnival mallet — but I'd caved in plenty of Walker skulls with it all the same. I stepped out in front of the group, staying sharp.
"Don't swing. Pushing them back takes priority."
"Got it."
The Elf naturally fell in behind me, her hand drifting to her holster. We'd gone maybe ten paces when a wet, gurgling croak rolled out of the dark.
"Ugh."
"That's a Walker completely consumed by miasma! If it touches you directly, you could be laid up with a fever for days — be careful!"
A Walker burst from darkness so thick you couldn't see an inch ahead, charging us without the slightest regard for the Holy Power barrier surrounding us. Even as its body began to sizzle and burn on contact with the sanctuary, the thing kept trying to force its way in. I shoved it back with the hammer.
I wanted to cave its skull in, but the space was too tight for a proper swing. I thrust the hammerhead forward like a spear instead, and the sensation that came back was less of a dull thud and more of a wet, squelching give. Thoroughly disgusting.
"The feedback on this thing is nasty as hell."
"It was already a rotting, crumbling corpse — and then it made direct contact with Holy Power. Whatever part it touched probably just melted."
"It melts?"
It had vanished back into the dark, so I couldn't see it, but I could definitely hear something pouring out. I squinted, trying to peer into the darkness beyond, and Nemea spoke up.
"Holy Power is poison to Walkers. That's why adventurers come to our village to commission Holy Power enchantments."
"Oh."
I'd figured she was just being cocky and that this thing was basically an air purifier with no extra effects. I hadn't expected it to work this well.
"A normal Walker would've melted on contact, head to toe. But this is a Miasma Type dungeon. Just as we're protecting ourselves with Holy Power, the Walkers are wrapping themselves in miasma. Still..."
Before the Elf could finish, something huge shot past us and vanished into the darkness beyond. A sickening crunch echoed from somewhere up ahead — it had come from behind us, tearing past our flank. The sound of something being crushed and shattered rolled out of the dark, and I spun around immediately to check on Nemea.
She was my lifeline right now. If something had happened to her—
But contrary to my fears, Nemea was perfectly fine.
"Heh-heh. Impressed? You are, aren't you! So impressed you want to let me feel that ass of yours without any fuss? You've fallen for me completely, haven't you?"
"Where's Leo?"
"You ignore everything I say and ask about my sister first? What a heartless man. Ahem. My sister just went up ahead..."
"Ahead?"
That thing that just shot past us was Leo? As if to prove it, Nemea thrust her flag forward like a spear. A brilliant beam of light poured from it, as if she'd flipped on a floodlight, illuminating the passage we stood in and the darkness I'd been trying to peer into.
A wet, heavy stamping echoed through the lit corridor. Then again. Caught in the spotlight of Holy Power, Leo emerged from the darkness — and she was in the middle of a hunt.
She was stomping a Walker into paste with merciless, unrestrained fury, as if enraged that it had dared to reach for her and her little sister. Anyone could see she'd already pulverized it with her own hands. Only after the thing had been reduced to ash and vanished completely did she stop tearing it apart. Nemea shrugged.
"Now you see why I don't bother hiring extra bodyguards?"
"Yeah, I can see that."
"H-hmph... No matter how fierce a lion she is, in front of my gun..."
If Nemea was closer to a sly little wildcat than a lion, Leo was a genuine beast of prey. Especially those claws, glowing bright — whether from Holy Power or something else — shredding every last scrap of flesh so thoroughly that not even regeneration was possible. That kind of brutality. Of course, I was only feeling reassured because I was certain those fangs and claws would never be turned on us. I couldn't begin to imagine how terrifying it would be to be on the receiving end.
"...Hahh. Why is everyone just... standing there?"
"Ah, no... I was just thinking how, uh, incredibly wild you looked..."
"...Ah."
Leo, who'd been stomping and shredding the Walker this whole time, finally seemed to register our stares. Her shoulders jerked once, hard. Then she stood her tail up ramrod-straight and muttered under her breath.
"...Sorry. I got too rough."
Then she trudged back over to us like a puppy that'd just been scolded by its owner, and something about it was incredibly cute.
"I think I might've had the wrong idea about you, Leo."
"...Forget it."
"Ehehehe, sis, your face is all red!"
"..."
"Ow, ow! Don't give me a noogie?!"
As Nemea made a teary face from the knuckle sandwich planted squarely on the top of her head, the Elf — who'd been crouched by herself examining something — held an object out toward me.
"Do you know what this is? It came out of that Walker just now. It looks like some kind of metal, but..."
"Huh? Hmm... wait."
It was rusted and corroded beyond measure, but the shape itself hadn't been destroyed, so identifying what she'd handed me wasn't difficult.
"It's a scalpel. A surgical scalpel."
"A scalpel?"
"It's a blade humans used for surgery. If one of these turned up here, that means this place used to be a hospital..."
"A hospital... Then this really is a remnant of old humanity!"
The Elf's eyes lit up as she began scanning the surroundings.