The Strategy for the Underground Floor (2)
"Let's see. So, the personnel entering the underground floor will be... these six?"
"Yes. That is correct."
Kesia and Cheshire, who had finished their baths, along with Aram, myself, Eila, and Kekere—a total of six people—sat around the table. Tomorrow, when the Black Market opened again, we planned to move straight into the twisted alleyways and find the manhole that led to the underground floor. Before that, we decided to share information for the raid.
"First, let's inform each other of our abilities. I think we need to have a rough grasp of what everyone is capable of. Let's go in order from Aram to the right and have everyone state their specialties."
Everyone nodded at my suggestion. When I was with people I couldn't trust, like at the Thrill Mansion, I had intentionally hidden my strength, but there was no need to do that among ourselves. In fact, it was better to have a proper understanding of each other's abilities to coordinate our efforts.
"First, I can handle the Magi used by demons. And... if I absorb enough Magi, I can undergo Demonization... and I can also handle that large hammer you see over there."
Since there was no one at the table younger than Aram, she naturally used formal language.
"Oh ho... A Magi user. I see. I've been looking forward to this ever since you said you were a Demon Slayer. If you can absorb Magi... that's incredibly useful. Nice."
Cheshire clapped and responded enthusiastically to Aram's self-introduction. Having heard from Eila earlier that the 4th underground floor was virtually impossible to clear without someone who could handle Magi, Aram's presence was absolutely essential. Perhaps the reason Mer had awkwardly conceded her spot to Aram was because Eila had tipped her off about this internal situation.
"Next is Kesia."
"Yes? Ah, yes. Yes. I... well... I’m very good with a spear... I can breathe underwater, I sing well, and I’m quite useful. My singing has... a special power..."
"Hmm... I see. Okay. I'll be counting on you."
Unlike with Aram, Cheshire’s reaction was a bit indifferent. Kesia bowed her head slightly, looking deflated. She seemed much more broken than when I had first seen her. Her self-esteem and confidence were severely lacking... I really think I need to feed her some talent-boosting supplements.
"It’s okay, Kesia. You’ll find your use, too."
"Eek!! Ah... yes. I... th-thank you...!"
"Oh...? Right."
I patted her shoulder, intending to encourage her. But as soon as my hand touched her shoulder, Kesia flinched and recoiled as if she were having a seizure. It was probably because I had used Fleshing Growth. Right now, all the wounds that had covered Kesia's body were completely gone. As soon as she came out of the bath, I had grabbed her while she was still dripping wet and healed every single one of her wounds. She had writhed and screamed in agony as her wounds were forcibly closed... but I hadn't stopped. I suppose that left some kind of trauma. Of course, once the wounds were perfectly healed, she had thanked me with teary eyes, but it seemed she was still filled with fear of me deep down. Enough to jump at the mere touch of a hand on her shoulder...
"Ahem. Next is Kekere."
"This one... has a large... stomach... so I can... store what I swallow... and... I can use... a bit of sorcery... and I have a unique constitution... that rarely gets sick... so this one is very competent... haa... haa..."
The swamp toad-human, who seemed to find speaking a chore, just appealed to us by calling herself competent. Her tone was like that of a noble lady, but her appearance and voice were just that of a toad. Furthermore, she spoke so slowly it was driving me insane. I’d seen her move surprisingly fast earlier, though...
"Hey, I’m really sorry, but can’t you talk a bit faster?"
"Oh..."
"Forget it. It’s fine... Hmm. So, you can store items and use sorcery?"
"That is correct... to be precise... my specialties are... equipment Enchantment... Detoxification, and Curse Removal..."
She seemed useful enough. Above all, I liked the fact that she could carry things inside her stomach.
"You can carry the Slaughter Beast, then."
After having the Slaughter Beast delivered to Cheshire’s base and examining it closely... this bastard couldn't even walk properly, let alone run. It was a creature that was incredibly difficult to take along. Moreover, since it was a living organism, I couldn't just stuff it into a large-capacity magic bag, so someone had to carry it. But since Kekere said she could store it inside her, I could just leave it to her. While I was at it, I thought it might be good for Kekere to form a contract with the Slaughter Beast and become its curse-shield. Being a toad-human, she had a sturdy build, so it would be easy to hide behind her back. Since she had her own Detoxification and Curse Removal skills, she could probably handle minor curses herself. Of course, I wasn't sure how much of the curses used by demons she could withstand... but wouldn't she be able to block most things if she was carrying the Slaughter Beast?
At that moment, the toad-woman, who had been looking at the Slaughter Beast, licked her eye with a tongue covered in bumps and said:
"Oh... that... is a bit..."
"No... it looks like the same kind of thing as you. Is it uncomfortable? Why? Do you want to go back to the Clown?"
"Ah... no... this one... will gladly... carry it..."
"Good. That’s a good attitude."
Kekere, who had been reluctant to swallow the Slaughter Beast, obeyed immediately the moment I mentioned the Clown. She must have suffered quite a bit from the Clown's hysteria.
Afterward, I informed Kekere that if more than eight curses accumulated, she would have to be decapitated. Next, Cheshire explained her abilities. She said she could use various types of laser weapons and spatial-type psychic powers. Laser weapons... I could still clearly see the image of her wiping out the underground guards with a beam Gatling gun last time. In terms of firepower, she was probably overwhelming. And Eila’s specialty was magic through various accessories. I hadn't seen her use them properly yet, so it was hard to evaluate, but she seemed like the type to solve situations with a wide variety of tools. The items she could sell to me were limited, but there seemed to be almost no limit to the accessories she could use herself.
Finally, as for me, my specialties were obviously Tentacle Manifestation and Abyssal Maw. It felt like I was constantly milking these two, but... whatever you're used to is best. If you try to use skills too diversely for no reason and your actions get tangled up during combat, you're just doomed. Even if I'm a tentacle-one-trick or an abyss-one-trick... what can I do about my lack of combat sense...
"Alright, the confirmation of each other's abilities is done, so please explain the underground floor."
"Mm. I'll do that."
Cheshire spoke up. She had been to the underground floor the most.
"First, as far as I know, the underground floor has a total of four levels. And my soul fragment is on the 4th floor. The 1st floor is a dark maze. Even if you turn on a light, it doesn't get very bright. Clone monsters called underground guards crawl out of there like crazy. They are monsters created by demons... so be careful, as their claws are imbued with poison and curses. And if you don't make it to the tunnel leading to the 2nd floor, which is the target point... you might get surrounded and die."
The underground guards were the ones I had encountered when I first visited the Black Market. They had swarmed us with an insane number of enemies.
"But since Eila has a way to drive them away... we should be able to defend ourselves to some extent. Right?"
"Of course."
Thankfully, it seemed she had a defensive strategy, perhaps because she had the experience of going down to the 4th floor. That was a relief.
"Next is the 2nd floor... I named this place the Mirror Room."
"The Mirror Room?"
"Yes. In the Mirror Room on the 2nd floor, mirror ghosts sometimes appear, but there are actually fewer hostile creatures than on the 1st floor. Of course, mirror ghosts are extremely dangerous, so... you have to avoid being spotted as much as possible. And the real problem is that everything is made of mirrors, so it's easy to get lost... and there's a high risk of getting separated from your companions."
"Ah..."
"You have to keep your wits about you as much as possible. Otherwise... something you wouldn't even want to imagine will happen."
"Hehe... Cheshire, do you remember that time? When we lost each other."
"Of course... We drifted in the Mirror Room for... what was it, 15 days? Trying to find each other."
"Right. That's what happened. Thinking that if I left first, the other person might still be looking for me... I searched really hard."
The two of them spoke as if reminiscing about old memories... To think they had drifted for 15 days avoiding mirror ghosts in the Mirror Room... We couldn't afford to waste that much time in the Mirror Room. Above all, while Cheshire or Eila had the ability to escape on their own even if it took over a week, the four of us, including me, couldn't. Moreover, we had no way to deal with the mirror ghosts, which were said to be extremely dangerous...
"Don't waste too much time looking for each other... I have Honey Mead, so if it really doesn't work out, drink this and escape. The destination will be here, Cheshire’s room. If you search for a while and decide the raid is a failure, please escape immediately."
"Mm... I understand."
"W-wait... what about us...?"
"Oh?"
Kesia and Kekere looked at me as if they were flustered. I didn't have enough Honey Mead to share with them as well. As I was panicking about what to do, Eila suggested a method.
"You two... have these."
Eila pulled two rings from her pocket.
"Th-these are..."
"Mineralization Rings. If you activate them, your bodies will harden significantly. You should be able to withstand most things. And since my Mana is imbued in the rings, I can sense you if you're within a close distance once you activate them. If you get lost in the Mirror Room and feel like you're going to die, activate them. I'll come to save you."
"Ah... th-thank you..."
"Thank you..."
Kesia put the clunky ring Eila had handed her on her finger. But Kekere only had four fingers, and they were frog-like and thick, so she couldn't wear the ring.
"Ah... this one... will swallow it... and keep it..."
Kekere swallowed the ring. Her stomach pouch seemed quite useful.
"Alright, I'll continue the explanation. About the 3rd floor..."
She said the 3rd floor was a world made of pipe conduits like a sewer somewhere. It was said to be extremely filthy and dangerous because many low-level demons roamed around.
"You just need to handle the parasites well here, and it's no problem."
"Mm. That's right, that's right."
Finally, Cheshire began to explain the 4th floor. She explained that the 4th floor was a very large warehouse and logistics center. Because it was so vast, it was hard to find the soul, and the items lying around were all cursed goods, and mid-to-high-level demons called warehouse keepers were roaming around, making it extremely dangerous. Moreover, the density of Magi in the air was severely high, and because of that, yellow fog was everywhere, blocking visibility, and she said if a named demon ever appeared, there was really no answer. The difficulty level was enough to make me want to vomit just hearing about it.
"Phew... So, we've shared all the information, right?"
"Mm. Now we just need to get some sleep and start the raid."
Since the conversation seemed to be mostly over, I rubbed my dizzy head and pulled a bottle of liquor from my bag. This was Endless Impulse. I intended to feed this to Kesia and Kekere now. No matter how I thought about it, the dungeon difficulty was insane, so I felt like I had to feed them at least this much to increase our survival rate.