Chapter 718: The Turtle Den
Chapter 718: The Turtle Den
And then, with a tremendous roar, the entire cave began to shake as if an earthquake had struck.
Of course, this was caused by the turtle's shell colliding with the cave walls.
The cave was already damp and covered in moss, making the ground treacherous. The shaking made it even harder to stay upright.
Well, not that anyone actually lost their balance and fell.
Sara, Silvia, Matilda, and I all have combat-oriented jobs, so we could manage. Leia, too, perhaps due to her race, had better reflexes than the average priestess and didn't fall.
Of course, everyone’s movements were disrupted as we tried to stay balanced, but as long as Diana could properly launch her spells, it wouldn't be a problem.
As for Diana, who was the most concerning when it came to physical coordination, she was floating in mid-air, wearing an expression that suggested she had nothing to do with the earthquake shaking the cave.
However, it looked like she had cast her levitation magic at the very last, precarious moment before falling.
She wasn't standing perfectly straight in the air; instead, her upper body was tilted forward as if someone had lifted her by the back of her belt.
“Silvia!”
“Yes!”
But her face betrayed no sign that she had almost fallen. With a stoic expression, Diana looked straight ahead and called Silvia's name.
And as Silvia planted her shield into the ground, took her stance, and answered forcefully, a roar erupted, incomparably louder than anything before.
KRRRRR-CRASH!
That sound, like lightning striking nearby, was the turtle ramming its body into Silvia's shield.
“Kyaa!”
This thing is so reckless!
Its shell was wedged in so tightly, but it completely ignored that and charged, grinding against the cave walls!
And it didn't just charge straight ahead. It had pulled its head and legs into its shell and was rushing forward while spinning like a top.
On top of that, it was moving with the same speed it had briefly shown while fighting Sara.
Even after colliding with Silvia's shield, the creature didn't stop spinning.
No. In fact, it seemed to be spinning faster and faster as time went on.
D-D-D-D-D-D!
SKREEEEEEECH!
The sound of the creature's spinning shell scraping against the cave walls, sending stone fragments flying in all directions.
And the sound of its shell grinding against Silvia's shield as it spun.
As the cacophony of those already deafening sounds filled the narrow cave, echoing and reflecting off the walls, it felt as if not just my hearing, but all my other senses were becoming disoriented.
On top of that, the fragments sent flying as the shell carved into the cave walls pelted our bodies and obscured our vision.
Of course, my body was sturdy, so I didn't take much damage from the flying fragments, but the combination of being battered all over, my vision obscured, and the unbearable noise made it difficult just to stand.
But despite all that, I didn't forget my duty.
Maintaining my balance on the mossy, slippery ground of the shaking cave, I moved forward and took the brunt of the stone fragments with my own body.
Sara and Leia were in the rear, so Matilda could block the fragments flying toward them.
But Diana was positioned ahead of Matilda to cast her attack spells.
The cave was narrow, so if she cast from too far back, the people in front would get in the way.
Not that Diana would make such a mistake, but one wrong move and a spell meant for the monster could hit an ally.
So Diana was further forward than the rest of the backline, and unfortunately, she was also the one who would be hurt the most by these stone fragments.
That's why I, like a proper tank, stepped forward to shield Diana from the flying debris.
Of course, I'm sure Diana could use levitation, attack, and defense magic all at once, but you have to prepare for the unexpected, right?
“Diana! Are you done with your test?!”
“Mm. My apologies. Please bear with me a little longer.”
Diana replied to my shout in an apologetic tone.
Then, I once again felt the sensation of mana surging around her.
Immediately after, the sound of Diana's magic pummeling the turtle's body was added to the roar assaulting my ears.
How long did we hold on like that?
At a certain point, the roars ringing in my ears suddenly vanished all at once.
As sudden silence fell upon the once-deafening space, it felt like my ears were playing tricks on me.
But I shook my head lightly, as if to clear away the strange sensation, and first checked on the girls.
I gently opened my eyes and saw that, as expected, the turtle had stopped spinning in front of Silvia's shield.
Its head and legs were still inside its shell, but it was probably dead.
“Is everyone okay?”
“Yeees…”
“Somehow.”
First, I looked at Diana, who couldn't meet my eyes, her expression full of shame.
Seeing her like that, it seemed she wasn't hurt.
I wanted to tell her she had nothing to be sorry for, but checking on the others was the priority.
I placed a hand on Diana's head and stroked it, then turned my gaze behind me.
There, as expected, Matilda was reliably blocking the flying fragments with her shield.
However, perhaps unable to withstand the cave's rumbling on the slippery floor, Leia had sunk to the ground.
On the other hand, as you might expect, Sara was behind Matilda, her bow still aimed at the turtle.
“Leia?! Are you really okay?! You're not hurt? Did you sprain your ankle? Should I carry you?!”
“G-Guwon, honestly… I'm really fine.”
As I spoke with exaggerated concern, Leia blushed and got to her feet.
It's a relief she doesn't seem hurt, but that damn turtle. Making our angel collapse like that! I'll never forgive it!
Well, it's already dead.
And Sara. Don't give me that look that says, "Should I have fallen over, too?"
“Silvia, you did great, too. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No. I am fine.”
Perhaps because she was still tense from the battle, Silvia answered my gentle question without even a tremor in her voice.
But looking closely at her feet, I saw they were embedded in the floor up to her ankles.
That turtle… just how strong was it?
No. But Silvia, for withstanding that, is something else.
“My apologies. It's not that I couldn't have used a triple-cast, but my mana is still insufficient, so it would have taken too long. I judged it would be faster to defeat the creature in that time, and so I did.”
After I finished checking on everyone, Diana finally spoke up and apologized, her voice full of guilt.
“No, you did well. Blocking attacks is my job, anyway. So, what was it you were trying to find out? Were you testing to see if the turtle would attack if you kept hitting it?”
As I patted her head, Diana finally showed a relieved expression.
“Not at all. I never imagined it was the type to attack when its health got low. Miss Silvia was merely positioned there as insurance. A blessing in disguise, I suppose.”
“Then what were you testing?”
“Mm. Do you recall what Miss Alicia said yesterday?”
“Huh? What was it?”
“That the Emperor Penguin's attack power was comparable to that of the monsters on the 5th Floor.”
“Ah. Yeah. Now that you mention it, she did say that. Why?”
“I have never been on the receiving end of an attack, so I hadn't noticed, but hearing Miss Alicia's words gave me an idea. Did I not say it yesterday? This dungeon is structured not only to prevent something below from coming up, but also to foster the growth of you, the Saint, as you descend.”
“Yeah, you did.”
“And after hearing Miss Alicia's story yesterday, I began to think that this sub-layer, which can only be found with the Saint's ability, might be even more dedicated to that role. And just as I suspected, my guess was correct.”
“Huh? Ah, does that mean…”
“Mm. The defense of the turtles on this floor is comparable to that of the monsters on the 5th Floor. In other words, it's telling us that you must be strong enough to defeat this turtle blocking the path to hunt effectively on the 5th Floor.”
“I see. So it's best to assume your hypothesis from yesterday was correct.”
“Mm. It is still too early to be certain, but it is also true that it is gaining more credibility. However, that means…”
“That means?”
“From now on when we go through the dungeon, it might be best to seal your Saint skills unless it's a true crisis.”
“What do you mean?”
“Did I not mention it once before? The 6th Floor is filled with enemies upon whom your Saint skills have no effect.”
“Ah, now that you mention it, I think I remember hearing that… So. You think even that is a mechanism to make me stronger?”
“Mm. It seems the Goddess wishes for you to attain a sufficient level of martial prowess even without your Saint skills. Of course, since she entrusted this mission specifically to you and not someone else, I imagine there will be a time when you must use your Saint skills effectively… Hmm. As I thought, it's highly likely that the mission given to you is to defeat an opponent who is susceptible to your Saint skills.”
Diana muttered this, one hand on her chin, her brow furrowed.
I agreed with Diana.
Considering all the clues we've gathered so far, it's the only conclusion that makes sense.
An enemy susceptible to the Saint skills, an enemy that can be defeated with them.
No. She sent me for a reason. It's better to think of it as an enemy so strong that it's impossible to defeat through normal means—an enemy that can only be defeated with the Saint skills.
But even if the Saint skills work, if my own combat ability doesn't reach a certain level, I'll be taken out before I can defeat the enemy.
It's hard to imagine I could defeat it in one blow even if the skills work, and the moment the enemy is hit by a Saint skill, it will probably come charging at me like crazy.
But having reached that conclusion, I honestly felt more at ease than I did right after having that nightmare.
Because the demon god I saw in my dream didn't seem like an opponent the Saint skills would work on at all.
Just thinking that the Saint skills would at least have some effect was a great relief.
Of course, I couldn't let my guard down completely.
No. If it's an enemy that can only be defeated with Saint skills, then… alright. Let's really give it my all.
“Then, just as you said, Diana, let's try to restrain my Saint skills as much as possible from now on.”
I was planning to seal my Saint skills as much as possible to improve my own abilities anyway, so this works out.
Well, I've been thinking that but still using them whenever I got the chance. I'll be more restrained from now on.
“Mm. And my apologies to the rest of you, but from now on, please try to defeat the turtles on this floor by controlling your power, just as I did a moment ago.”
“What? But if it's about mana…”
“Miss Sara, doesn't that attack of yours require time to prepare? That might be fine here, but on the 5th Floor, you won't have that luxury. So, let's proceed by defeating them with a continuous barrage of instantly usable attacks. This will also allow us to gauge how much damage is needed to defeat the monsters on the 5th Floor. The Goddess has graciously provided us with a training ground; shouldn't we make full use of it?”
Sara looked like she wanted to say she could control her mana well enough to kill a turtle in one shot, but Diana shook her head and calmly explained.
It's true. Here, the turtles are basically stationary, and even if they attack like before, we just have to block them from the front, so it's easy to experiment.
But we won't be able to do that on the 5th Floor.
“You're right. Yes. I understand. I'll do that.”
Sara seemed to understand Diana's explanation and nodded.
“Alright. Then let's quickly carve out the magic stone and move on!”
With our hunting strategy for this floor decided, I said so cheerfully and plunged my butchering knife into the turtle's corpse to extract the magic stone.
Ting!
…Wait a minute. The knife won't go in.