Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Clever Dungeon Conquest (7)
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Thermal shock destruction.
A phenomenon where materials break due to sudden temperature changes. I didn’t know the detailed principles since that was humanities territory.
All I knew was that objects were prone to cracking or shattering when their temperature shifted dramatically.
Of course, I had no guarantee this method would actually work, but it was better to try something than sit around and die.
“Miss, when I give the signal, cast an ice spell on this door.”
“Mm...”
With Laura’s promise secured, I closed my eyes and once more gathered holy power at my fingertips, controlling it carefully.
And then.
Whoosh.
I unleashed the Purifying Flame.
Sizzle.
The door, struck directly by the flames, let out a sound like meat searing on a hot stone slab.
The cracks I’d made with my sword widened a bit more.
‘Oh, it’s working!’
I inwardly cheered at the cracks spreading as planned and looked at Laura.
“Now, Miss!”
“Ice Spike!”
Countless ice spears shot toward the door amid a blast of cold air.
They were so impressive they made me think of a certain blonde mage.
Clang clang clang!
Laura’s spell hit the ironclad door dead-on.
Crack!
A massive rupture echoed from the door.
Even if it had some magical protection, it clearly hadn’t accounted for destruction from the inside.
“Oh...”
Laura, who had somehow slipped her arm through mine again, marveled at the door cracking in real time.
I gazed contentedly at the crumbling door.
I had no idea what principle caused it to break, but success was success, right?
Crack, crack. The door stopped developing new fissures at some point.
But it was weakened enough now that I could smash it with my own strength.
I gripped my sword properly and swung with all my might at the massive door.
Boom!
My finishing blow shattered the precariously holding door completely, and fresh air flowed in from beyond.
My head had been aching from the heavy air infused with aphrodisiac magic, so the timing was perfect.
“How was that? My skills?”
I looked at Laura, who had slipped her arm free at some point, expectant of praise.
Even I thought it was an awesome feat, so I deserved some compliments.
“...”
But for some reason, Laura’s cheeks were flushed, and she couldn’t look me straight in the eye.
Her lips were mumbling something.
I leaned in to listen.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
I heard vulgar curses unbecoming of a duke’s daughter.
“What?”
I stared oddly at Laura’s sudden weird behavior, then it hit me: escaping the lust chamber meant the aphrodisiac magic on her had worn off.
She was probably beating herself up over her actions inside the room.
Recalling everything she’d done in there one by one, it was all mortifying enough to die from shame.
So her reaction was understandable, but...
We didn’t have time to wallow in agony right now.
Clearing the dungeon quickly and getting out was the priority.
To bolster her resolve, I sidled up to her slyly.
“Miss?”
“...”
“Miss? Can you hear me?”
“...”
Unless she’d suddenly gone deaf, there was no way she couldn’t hear my whisper right next to her.
She was probably ignoring me out of embarrassment.
Pondering how to coax her, I murmured into her ear.
“Miss, you’ve gotta get revenge.”
Her body twitched at my whisper.
“The succubus who caused all this—you’re not gonna catch her?”
A venomous glint slowly returned to Laura’s dazed eyes.
Powerful cold leaked out, mirroring her mood.
For a mage, mana leaking uncontrollably meant emotions were too intense to control it properly.
My plan to stoke her anger had worked.
Laura’s eyes flashed as she growled low.
“Yeah, I gotta freeze those filthy sluts solid.”
Revenge really was the ultimate motivator for humans.
Her will, which had nearly crumbled from shame moments ago, blazed back to life in an instant.
The journey after leaving the lust chamber was uneventful.
The most annoying monsters didn’t show up anymore.
No real traps either.
“Miss...?”
“I’m gonna kill them...”
“Laura?”
“Rip those bitches to shreds, it wouldn’t even be enough...”
“...”
The dungeon conquest was going smoothly, but angry Laura was terrifying.
Walking in silence, Laura and I finally reached what looked like the master room.
Dense demonic energy poured from inside, thick enough to choke on.
The power made my shoulders shudder, reminding me I’d entered a seriously dangerous dungeon.
Standard protocol: final preparations before entering a place like this.
Instead of rushing in, I checked my status at the door.
Holy power: fine.
Mana: fine.
Physical condition: fine.
Now just to check Laura.
I turned to her and said.
“How’s your condition, Miss...”
Boom!
Before I could finish, Laura—eyes blazing with fury—kicked open the master room door.
“...”
She flung open that massive door like it was nothing, so her condition seemed fine.
Laura strode in confidently, and I followed behind.
The master room was packed with lewd tools, just like something out of a succubus’s tastes.
Whips, animal ear headbands, blindfolds, collars, and more...
Laura tilted her head at the adult toys.
“What’s all this? Were they raising pets or something?”
Thankfully, the utterly pure Laura didn’t know what those were for.
“Haha... Who knows? What could they be for?”
I pretended ignorance about their uses and played dumb.
Laura’s still a kid.
She shouldn’t know about stuff like this.
“No one’s coming out.”
“Yeah. I figured a master room would start the boss fight the second we opened the door.”
“Hmm, maybe they all got scared and ran?”
“Could be.”
From the succubi’s perspective, running made sense.
Succubi were infamous non-combatants.
With their ultimate weapon—the lust chamber—failing, they probably couldn’t think of any way to beat us.
“Argh, I need to rip those bitches apart.”
Laura scowled and grumbled irritably when no succubi appeared.
No idea why she was venting at innocent me, but picking a fight with venom-mode Laura gained nothing, so I let her complaints go in one ear and out the other.
At the end of the master room stood a massive throne.
My eyes sparkled at the sight.
“Whoa, isn’t that all gold and jewels?”
The huge throne gleamed gold, encrusted with massive gems. Selling it whole would set me up for life.
Mages learned alchemy as a side skill, so Laura would know about this stuff.
“Hmm...”
Squinting, Laura approached the throne, tapping it and scraping it lightly with her nail.
After inspecting it like a pro, she smirked.
“It’s all fake.”
“What?”
Clearing a dungeon naturally came with rewards—that was the promise.
All that was left in this boss room were useless sex toys and the throne.
So I’d assumed the throne was the reward.
Fake?
We were conquering to defend the territory, but I’d secretly hoped for loot too. This was disappointing.
Hummm.
As I slumped in gloom, the throne slid aside, and something rose from below.
‘Jackpot!’
I watched eagerly, while Laura eyed it warily.
Thud.
With a heavy boom, the thing from below revealed itself.
Sadly, not the reward I’d hoped for—about a dozen succubi.
They all wore pure white garments, performing dogeza, the Eastern traditional apology.
“Hah, they haven’t run yet. Ice A—mmph!”
Laura lit up at the sight and started chanting a spell on the spot.
I hurriedly clamped her mouth shut to stop her.
Attacking someone in dogeza was the act of an uncouth barbarian, not a gentleman.
As her self-appointed educator, I couldn’t let her stray down that savage path.
The succubi, startled by Laura’s chant, sighed in relief, then slammed their heads to the ground in triple prostration, perfectly recreating the ritual in this world.
“Master... please spare us! I... my virginity! My heart too, I’ll offer everything...!”
“...”
What the hell are these chicks?