Chapter 477: A Step Forward
Chapter 477: A Step Forward
“In the first place, it’s better if Guwon doesn’t raise his Assassin level any further.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Because even if your Assassin level gets higher, you’re just going to use Stealth to do weird things, aren’t you?”
“…I-I’ve never once thought of doing that?”
As expected of Sara. She knows me too well.
It’s not like I’m going to use this to forcibly peep on or assault anyone.
…What I do with my girls isn’t force, it’s consensual, right?
If you just think of it as broadening the scope of our play…
“Th-that’s right! You should just fight normally! Normally!”
The very person whose scope of play would broaden the most if my Stealth level went up must have instinctively sensed the danger, as she panicked and desperately emphasized ‘normal’ play.
But, Diana. It’s human nature to want to do the opposite when someone is so desperate.
“…Maybe I should just take off my crampons when I assassinate them?”
“W-would you stop that?!”
Despite Diana’s fierce opposition, I ended up trying to assassinate the penguins whenever we encountered a group.
Of course, taking off the crampons was just a joke.
Because of that, I failed most of the time, but I did succeed occasionally, so I was able to steadily raise my Assassin level.
The penguins’ levels were quite high compared to my Assassin level, so it rose quickly.
Anyway, as we dealt with the penguins, we grew steadily and traversed the ice cave.
The map-making went quite smoothly, but since this was the 3.5th Layer, we couldn’t move as fast as we did when exploring the kobold cave.
It would probably be impossible to find the path to the 4.5th Layer before we have to head back this time.
Well, even if we did find it, we wouldn’t be able to go right away because of our levels.
Just as Diana said, this place is an excellent hunting ground for raising job levels, so even if we found the path, we might have to continue grinding job levels here for a while.
“Oh my? That penguin over there is a little taller than the other penguins, isn’t it?”
“Th-that one is kind of cute in its own way…”
Just as I was proceeding, having half-given up on finding the path during this expedition, a penguin slightly larger than the others appeared in the distance.
But Matilda. After fighting so many of them, you still think these things are cute?
It seems Matilda has compartmentalized her feelings for fighting penguins and simply appreciating them.
…Isn’t that pretty dangerous in its own way?
She’s hunting something she thinks is cute, right?
No. Thanks to her fascination with the penguins’ cuteness, she seems to be less affected by the dungeon’s demonic energy. So when you think about it, that mindset might actually be helpful.
In any case, just as Leia had observed, a single penguin slightly larger than a normal one was there.
Well, even calling it large, its head barely reached my chest.
By my estimate, it was about 1.5 meters tall.
Looking closely, not only its size but also its appearance was somehow a little different from a normal penguin.
Could it be one of those so-called emperor penguins?
“Could that be the fake boss of this area?”
The ice cave was quite complex, with its path splitting into many branches.
Figuring we’d be coming back here many times anyway, we were drawing the map by pushing straight down one route instead of slowly exploring every path.
The plan was to go deep, come back out, and then delve deep into another route on our next visit.
And several days had already passed since we entered the ice cave.
So, in terms of depth alone, we had come deep enough that it wouldn’t be strange to find a fake boss.
However, it lacked the intimidating presence to be called a fake boss…
It’s not something I should say, having previously spouted off about how being big doesn’t automatically make something boss-like, but it’s too small for a boss.
No. Of course, the Transcendent Species we met on the way here weren’t much different in size from the normal penguins either.
Well, no use worrying about it here. Let’s go check it out.
If it really is the fake boss, a giant Magic Stone should be visible somewhere in that room.
“Look over there. It’s a giant Magic Stone.”
And sure enough, just as expected, a giant Magic Stone was visible on one of the walls in the room where the creature stood.
“Hmm. You. What will you do? Will you face it now?”
It hadn’t noticed us yet.
So it was still possible to avoid a fight and retreat.
In that sense, Diana was leaving the decision to me.
“Hmm…”
I knew exactly why Diana had bothered to ask me.
She probably thinks it’s an opponent we don’t need to fight right now.
True. Our real objective was to find the path to the 4.5th Layer, not the 4th. And this place was a much better hunting ground for raising job levels than the 4th Layer.
When you looked at it that way, there really was no need to fight.
However, my judgment was that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take it down now and go to the 4th Layer.
That’s because, based on our experience so far, the exit from these sub-layers to the next main layer was located somewhere in the middle of that layer.
In other words, going through there would likely lead to the middle of the 4th Layer.
Which meant the town on the 4th Layer would be closer than if we went from the 3rd Layer to the 4th Layer the standard way.
As someone who hadn’t registered with the 4th Layer’s teleportation circle yet, that fact was incredibly appealing.
And if we could use the 4th Layer’s teleport, getting here from the 4th Layer would be more convenient than coming from the 3rd.
“Let’s fight. I think it’d be good to register with the 4th Layer’s teleportation circle first.”
“Hmm. I see.”
She seemed to have understood perfectly even though I’d completely skipped the reasoning, as Diana nodded in agreement.
Indeed. We’re on the same wavelength.
“However, unlike the Layer Bosses we’ve faced so far, its size is not particularly large. It would be wise to be careful. Such creatures are often the most dangerous.”
Diana advised me with a cautious expression.
She’s right. Size itself is power. A big creature can perform an area-of-effect attack just by swinging its fist.
In that sense, it’s reasonable to assume that this small creature has something that allows it to be a Layer Boss despite its size.
Taking Diana’s advice to heart, I used Stealth and slowly approached the creature.
“Kweeehk?”
Of course, my pathetic Stealth was seen through instantly by the Layer Boss.
“Tch! Knew it wouldn’t work! Girls! I’ll draw its aggro like always! Rainbow-colored all-out attack!”
I immediately used Holy Ground Proclamation, and at the same time, the emperor penguin slid toward me.
…It’s fast!
And its attack, as if proving its small size was an advantage, was on a completely different level of speed compared to the normal penguins.
A penguin missile shooting toward me at a speed surpassing the top speed of normal penguins, even without having built up any momentum.
Seeing that it would pulverize me if it hit, I didn’t even think of blocking and hastily twisted my body to dodge.
KRA-KOOOM!
And that choice was the right one.
Which meant speed wasn’t its only advantage.
The penguin missile that missed me smashed straight through the wall and burrowed inside.
“Eh?! Wait! If it does that, we can’t attack…!”
“Don’t panic! It’ll have to come back out to attack us! Aim for that moment!”
Calming down Sara, who was flustered by the unexpected situation, I readied my stance again.
But I never expected it to just smash through the wall and disappear.
It was still within the area of my Holy Ground Proclamation, so it would attack me again, but with it out of sight, there was no way to prepare.
As I tensed up, bracing for the penguin missile that could pop out from anywhere, I soon felt the space begin to vibrate with a rumbling sound.
No. Not the space vibrating… to be precise, the floor…!
Realizing that, I hastily threw myself to the side.
And at almost the same instant, the penguin missile shot up from the floor where I had just been standing.
That was close. It grazed my leg.
And, of course, the leg armor it grazed was torn apart with absurd ease.
Having shot up with such force, it smashed through the ceiling and disappeared once again.
It seems that to catch it, we have to land an attack in the brief moment it shows itself.
Seriously? Dodge and attack at the same time? This isn’t some kind of shooter game.
“Hmm. I see. So that’s how it is.”
Even Diana has probably never seen a creature like this before.
Diana nodded with a strangely calm expression.
“Lady Sara. I shall leave the attacking to you and focus on support.”
After saying that, Diana began to release an enormous amount of mana all at once.
A tremendous gale then began to rage throughout the room.
And again, a rumbling sound was heard, and the penguin missile emerged from the wall.
However, caught in the gale raging inside the room, its speed was much slower than before.
I see. So this is what Diana was aiming for.
I immediately fired off a barrage of Saint’s Waves at it.
But there was no need for me to do that.
“Hah!”
KWAAAAANG!
Not missing the moment the emperor penguin’s speed had dropped, Sara’s arrow flew toward it.
As if unwilling to waste the opportunity Diana had created, the arrow was imbued with more mana than any attack I had ever seen from her.
The arrow of light, so intense that its blue glow looked almost pure white, punched a large hole through the emperor penguin’s body and didn’t stop, continuing on through the wall before disappearing from sight.
And with that, the battle was over.
“Hmm. As expected, its defense was nothing special.”
Only then did Diana stop the raging gale in the room, and though she collapsed to the floor, plopping onto her butt, she muttered in satisfaction.
“Are you okay? Didn’t you use a ton of mana?”
“What’s this little amount? Who do you think I am? I am fine. With a little rest, I will recover enough to continue exploring.”
She collapsed the moment the fight ended, yet she’s still acting so high and mighty.
I patted Diana’s head and then praised Sara.
“You did great too, Sara. That was insane.”
“Right? If you keep teasing me all the time, Guwon, you might get seriously hurt one day.”
“……”
“I-it’s a joke. There’s no way I’d use an attack like that on you.”
I know. I was just messing with you.
Separate from the fact that I was genuinely terrified for a moment.
After finishing the battle with the fake boss, we decided to have a meal right there.
We had to wait for Sara’s and Diana’s mana to recover anyway, and a boss room without a boss is one of the safest places in a dungeon.
Several days had already passed since we entered the dungeon.
After finishing a leisurely meal without needing to keep watch for the first time in a while, we checked on Sara’s and Diana’s condition and immediately went through the passage that had opened in the wall below the giant Magic Stone.
The 4th Layer, huh? It’s been a while.
In the end, the plan to help Silvia and Matilda with their swimming practice on the 1st Layer fell through, but everyone’s job levels had risen while passing through the ice cave.
Even if this is the middle of the 4th Layer, shouldn’t it be easier to handle the monsters than before?
The passage became submerged halfway through, and we continued forward through the narrow tunnel wearing breathing masks.
And when we finally exited the passage into a wide-open space, I, leading the way, realized something was wrong.
No. To be more precise, I was made to realize it.
There was no time to prepare.
The moment I poked my body out into the open space, I was caught in a powerful current and thrown right into the middle of the 4th Layer.
“---!”
I couldn’t hear their voices, but I could guess what they were saying from the looks on their faces.
They were probably shouting my name.
Toward my girls, who hadn’t yet exited the passage, I desperately waved my arms to stop them from coming out.
Even I can’t control my own body.
If the others come out here, it’s all over.
I gestured to stop my girls from coming out while desperately trying to control my body, which was being tossed around like a toy in the current.