Time to Return
This guy's only worth 5 points? Points sure lack flexibility. Total loss.
The robot, sliced by daggers, pummeled by fists and kicks, had lost all semblance of its original form.
"...Rohan. Drink a potion quick. If you don't have extras, take one of mine."
"I've got spares. I always stock up on potions."
Among the three, Sion had finished her fight the fastest.
While Rohan handled one unit, she'd smashed two robots in an instant with her telescopic baton.
Sion must have noticed that the parasitized monsters were especially vulnerable to electricity.
Once her battle ended, she kicked off the wall, soaring in to help Rohan finish his.
Clara wrapped up her robots right around the time Rohan did.
Fighting robots felt nothing like killing flesh-and-blood creatures, which made it tricky in all sorts of ways.
And with that, the 30th floor was done.
Sion and Clara emerged unscathed again, but Rohan's wounds were impressively flashy.
Which led to this.
As Clara approached after the fight, a balisong slipped from her hand.
—Ting! A clear chime rang out as it hit the floor.
"O-Oppa...!?"
Rohan turned, and sunlight streaming through a broken window made it crystal clear.
Clara's face was a mess. Her eyes brimmed with tears, ready to spill any second.
A sniffle broke the silence. Rohan felt more flustered than he had since arriving in Academy City.
His feet carried him to the girl without thinking.
"I'm really fine. Don't cry, okay?"
"You always... always say you're fine..."
Clara pursed her lips like a duck and hung her head.
Rohan gently took her hand with his clean one, free of blood.
"Just skin-deep cuts, nothing serious. Sorry for worrying you."
"..."
Clara was just as baffled by her uncontrollable emotions as Rohan was.
Sion, watching them, was pretty surprised too.
About a minute passed like that.
Clara, who'd been sniffling away, snapped out of it and whispered softly.
"Oppa... s-sorry..."
"I'm the one who's sorry. I'll train harder when we get back."
Rohan had no intention of asking what she was apologizing for.
The meaning behind it was obvious enough—even Sion, watching from the side, got it.
Wounds came with the territory in battle. Clara knew that full well.
She knew showing her feelings like this just burdened the wounded party, which was why she'd pulled herself together to apologize. But Rohan? Far from burdened, he was thrilled by her emotions.
It was great motivation to kick his training into high gear.
...
...
After Rohan drank his potion and stanched the bleeding,
the group headed up to the 31st floor. To their surprise, it was completely empty.
They found out why when noisy vibrations echoed from the 32nd.
Heading up, robots descended from the 33rd floor—all the same guard models from the 30th.
Perhaps the parasitic plant had decided its current numbers weren't enough to win.
Thorn vines suddenly erupted from one robot in the middle, wrapping and yanking the surrounding ones tight.
Shrrrk! Kwudduk! Kwudduk!
The robots crumpled under the physical force. Forced together, the vines intertwined.
Robots from the 31st to 33rd floors gathered for an absurd fusion.
Boosting power through a method utterly at odds with precise machinery—that's why we call them monsters.
"..."
The thorn vines, tangled thick, had grown several times bulkier, with miniguns jutting out haphazardly.
Shattered displays spilled glass shards, sparking and fizzing.
The machine's voice was clearer than before.
The intimidation factor was on another level from the earlier robots.
But.
Rohan's group synced up better against a single target than when scattered.
They'd stuck together fighting nonstop for about three days—far from perfect, but their coordination had no gaps.
Rohan signaled Sion to draw her pistol. They were almost there.
Tat-tat-tatang!
One magazine emptied in a flash. Deafening gunfire brought a swift end.
Sion sealed the deal with her signature mana-infused bullets.
Rohan had hoped for big points from the fused monster, but it was just 7.
Felt like a loss.
No monsters on the 34th.
Not a single thorn vine—spotless, but that only amplified the eerie wrongness.
As Rohan recalled, this was a rest area before the boss.
Sion and Clara didn't know, so they stayed on high alert, sweeping the area until convinced it was safe. Then they listened to Rohan.
"Remember what was written on the first floor? This building tops out at 35. Right above us."
"Ah! Had no idea..."
"You caught that amid the chaos? Then the next one's probably tougher."
Truth was, nothing like that was on the first floor.
Rohan was just making it up.
"Let's go all out. Drink a potion if your mana dips even a little."
At Rohan's words, Sion and Clara downed blue potions.
They winced at the bitterness, and Rohan—expecting it—popped macarons into their mouths one by one.
"Say ahh~"
He held out a macaron, and not just Clara but Sion opened wide to take it.
Sharing the hardships had really brought them closer.
<35th Floor>
Unlike below, iron doors flanked both sides of the stairs. Odd for a non-rooftop.
They turned the handle as quietly as possible.
"Oppa. Something weird inside!"
"As we've said every time. Utterly grotesque."
The girls peeked in and recoiled like they'd seen bugs.
Rohan, eager to see the memory-made-real monster, peered through the gap.
Oh.
Countless thorn vines twisted into a massive pillar.
Ends extended from it, wriggling like dancing tentacles.
And at those tips, televisions of all sizes hung like fruit, displaying emoticons to express "emotions."
Like every monster so far, the dungeon boss matched Sion's words—grotesque to the core.
Rohan glanced around, then whispered to the girls.
"See that? It's the Monolith. Right there."
At his words, the two leaned in closer, focusing on the vines.
And there it was.
In the narrowest gap of the thickest, tree-trunk-like vines—a fingernail-sized space squirmed, subtly revealing a pitch-black stone etched with letters.
A Monolith, as Rohan said. Unlike its debut glow, it now emitted a faint, subdued light.
"Ah, for real!"
"Definitely."
The moment they spotted it, instinct kicked in.
Smash that, and they could leave. The knowledge seeped into their minds.
"!"
The three exchanged looks, nodded, and shared thoughts.
They were convinced the implanted info was legit.
"Can you hit it with your guns?"
Sion and Clara both had the rare talent to infuse projectiles with mana.
If it worked, they might skip the hassle and go home.
"Piercing a gap that size? Piece of cake."
"M-Me too...!"
The target wasn't the monster—the Monolith. Their ticket out.
Both girls nodded confidently at Rohan's question.
Sion drew her hefty pistol, checked the mag. Clara loaded her subsonic rounds.
Now was the time to unload without holding back.
"Rohan. It won't pack the punch you'd hope."
"Why not?"
"Unless it's custom-made gear and ammo, overinfusing mana makes it blow. Max output's about what we used on those robots."
Clara nodded in agreement. Sion looked wistful without her sniper rifle.
Good to know.
Rohan memorized the new info, figured it was enough anyway, and asked them to fire.
The girls poked their pistols through the gap.
Sion knelt into position; Clara stood and aimed.
"Clara. Fire when ready. I'll follow up."
"Got it...!"
Peek! A sharp crack—then bang! thunderous gunshot.
The bullet zeroed in on the wriggling gap, heading for the Monolith.
But the vines stiffened and contracted the instant they sensed the attack.
The shot punched through layers before halting.
—Chiiik! Steam rose, proof of intense impact and friction.
The emoticons on the TVs shifted in unison.
Its mood was crystal clear.
No hit on the Monolith, but definite damage.
"O-Oppa! That thing... its face got scary...!"
"Rohan. The entity's nature seems to have changed."
Rohan placed hands on the girls' shoulders as they urgently reported.
His voice calm, devoid of tension.
"Don't sweat it. We just keep doing what we're doing."
Now it was time to go home.