The Key to the Random Box Is in the Dungeon...! (2)
The Key to the Random Box Is in the Dungeon...! (2)
— KUUUNG!
It launched its massive frame into a dramatic leap, shaking the ground upon landing.
PABABABAK!
The stone floor shattered under its weight, sending shards flying in every direction.
Its bulk was as massive as a three-story building.
Deep ash-gray fur.
And a sinister violet mana stone embedded in its tail.
[ Eos Wolf ]
This was the dungeon's mid-boss.
Why was a beast that was supposed to be roaming the outskirts of the distant temple showing up here?
— Grrrrrr!
The wolf stopped in place, glaring at us as if sizing us up.
Clever creature. It was weighing whether it could take us.
All we could do now was hope it would leave on its own while we prepared for battle.
"...Looks like it really doesn't like Ian."
Rina helpfully interpreted the wolf's mood for everyone.
"I can see that without your expert analysis, Rina."
"Sorry."
"Everyone, take your positions. Elena! Watch out for flying debris and tail attacks. It can whip its tail around out of nowhere."
"Understood."
Elena stood beside me, showing no fear.
Good. That settled the vanguard position.
"Rina and Danya, focus on keeping it off us while dealing damage. It's so fast and agile that any magic cast at its current position won't hit. Use area-of-effect attacks."
"Got it!"
"Danya, if possible, aim for the gem in the tail... Danya?"
No response from Danya.
'This has never happened before.'
A vague unease made me turn my head toward her.
Unfocused pupils.
Fingers trembling uncontrollably.
Danya was walking toward the Eos Wolf in a daze.
"Danya! What's wrong?!"
I grabbed her hand urgently.
It was burning hot, her fist clenched tight.
And trembling at the same time.
"Danya!"
I grabbed her shoulders and shook her roughly.
Only then did Danya's eyes regain their focus. She tilted her head.
"...Nya. Ian? Huh. What was I doing?"
"I'd like to ask you the same thing. What was that?"
Danya looked up at the wolf.
The wolf, too, was staring at Danya with its huge golden pupils gleaming ominously.
Danya's own pupils had narrowed to thin slits, like a cat about to pounce.
"...That wolf. I feel it, nya."
"Feel what."
"An aura similar to the one who... killed my parents. It's not the same creature, but."
Danya clenched her teeth, muttering.
Come to think of it, I'd never heard Danya's past.
Since she wasn't a heroine, I had no information about her. All I knew was that she was from the Catsnesia Myoin tribe, settled in the Great Forest at the continent's center.
I'd vaguely sensed that she avoided talking about her past, so I never asked. Not that I was in any position to share my own history, either.
'...She says it feels like her enemy.'
So was that a momentary blackout from rage just now?
She needs to calm down first.
I flicked her pale forehead.
"Ow! What was that for, nya?!"
"Calm down and get into position first. That thing is way beyond anything you can handle solo."
"Ah... right. Of course. I just spaced out for a second there, nya. I'm taking position."
"Target the tail with your bow. That gem in it is the weak point. This one's got magic resistance."
"Got it, nya."
— Grrrrrr!
The Eos Wolf took a step forward, as if it had finished its calculations.
"Everyone ready!"
◆
Easily over three meters tall, the wolf was an intimidating sight.
Honestly, Elena was genuinely scared.
Until the moment before the creature's first attack, she was frozen in place.
But.
"Tail pattern incoming! Elena, shield!"
The instant she raised her shield at Ian's command, the wolf's tail came crashing down.
— KUUUUNG!
The shield rang with a heavy impact.
Her arms went numb.
Only then did Elena snap back to her senses.
The wolf's tail came swinging a second time.
This time it snaked directly toward Danya and Rina in the rear line.
PAAAT!
Elena lunged, intercepting the tail just as it was about to slam down onto Rina's head.
"Thanks."
"It's my job."
"Ifrit!"
Rina called forth her fire spirit.
FWOOOSH!
The Eos Wolf's tail burst into flames.
But the creature simply shook out its tail, extinguishing the fire with ease.
— KWAAANG!
Seizing the opening, Ian drove his fist straight into the wolf's face.
But as expected of a hidden dungeon's mid-boss.
The wolf twisted its head, deflecting the brunt of the impact diagonally off its skull.
In the end, its thick, coarse fur absorbed most of the remaining damage.
'As I thought, tough to crack.'
Ian settled back into a defensive stance, sinking into thought.
The Eos Wolf.
A muzzle bristling with razor-sharp, massive fangs.
Claws like swords.
And a tail that lashed unpredictably like a whip. In every respect, this was a foe hard to handle with their current firepower.
'Somehow, we need to strike the mana stone in the tail.'
Which meant they had to get behind the beast.
The problem was, there was no way to do it.
Danya was firing arrows, but they couldn't reach it effectively.
The wolf's tail was simply too fast and too erratic.
Ranged attacks with travel time were virtually impossible to land on such a target to begin with.
'Should I drop tanking and take up my sword?'
Ian considered it for a moment, then shook his head.
That move carried far too much risk.
One person for the fangs, one for the claws, one for the tail.
This was an opponent that needed at least three main tanks to subdue.
If he abandoned his position to deal damage, the rear line could collapse in the worst possible way.
Ian furrowed his brow.
'What I wouldn't give for a melee dealer who could shake up the board. Just one guy who could move freely and deal damage.'
Even against this unexpected raid-level monster, someone like that would have made this fight winnable.
"Ifrit!"
— FLAAARE!
Rina's exploding fire magic spread along the sprouts Danya had scattered everywhere, but...
FWWIP!
...the wolf shook itself once, and the flames died instantly.
"...Its magic resistance is beyond insane."
A rare coarse word slipped from Rina's lips.
"Seriously..."
Danya agreed, her own brow furrowed.
This was never the kind of monster they should have been up against.
The only reason they were still holding on was because Ian was at the front.
— KUUUNG!
Watching Ian block the wolf's headbutt yet again, Danya was stunned.
Just how strong had he gotten?
Ian's growth had been absurdly fast.
At the same time, a sense of urgency crept over her.
She kept feeling like she was nothing but a weight dragging at Ian's ankles.
'If we can't deal any meaningful damage like this, it's going to get dangerous...'
She couldn't grasp what to do against a foe like this.
Then.
Ian spoke.
"Danya!"
"Yeah!"
"Shoot arrow seeds into the ground behind the wolf!"
"Got it, nya!"
What was he planning?
She had no idea, but she followed Ian's orders immediately.
"Done!"
"Okay!"
The moment Danya's confirmation landed, Ian seized the initiative.
— GUGUGUGUNG!
Drawing out the heavy elements around him, he grabbed the wolf's snout and held it in place.
""!!!""
At the same time, behind the wolf, he summoned the earth pillars he had started using earnestly since the Richard fight.
"Danya! Bloom them!"
"On it!"
In sync with Ian's order, Danya activated the arrow seeds she had planted in the earth pillar.
— PSHUSHUSHUK!
From the Eos Wolf's perspective, a volley of arrows suddenly erupted from directly behind it.
— GRRRRRR!
Elena charged forward, shielding her team from the thrashing wolf's tail and the arrows raining from the front.
But the Eos Wolf had no way to block the arrows pouring out directly behind its tail.
— KYAAAAANG!
The beast thrashed, trying to break free, but Ian had already drawn the heaviest surrounding metals to himself to anchor his body.
— CRACK!
A sharp sound of something shattering.
— YELP!
The Eos Wolf wrenched itself away, shaking out its coat violently, and fled.
◆
'Hides', 'meat', and other byproducts from the trash-mob Ashen Wolves.
From the mid-boss Eos Wolf: two 'High-grade Mana Stone Fragments', three 'Eos Wolf Claws', and two 'Eos Wolf Fangs'.
And most importantly, one 'Key to the Mysterious Box'.
The dungeon raid concluded successfully.
In the end, the rewards were considerably greater than we had initially aimed for.
Above all, even though we didn't manage to finish it, obtaining the Eos Wolf's broken-part items was a massive haul.
"Whoa—!"
"I've never gotten this much loot in my entire life!"
Everyone was visibly thrilled by the dungeon rewards.
I casually proposed a distribution method.
"Split the stuff from the Ashen Wolves among yourselves. In exchange, I'll buy out the materials the Eos Wolf dropped. I'll pay everyone in cash later. How's that?"
Danya, who had been unusually quiet, raised her hand at my suggestion.
"But when we fought the Eos Wolf, it felt like you did almost everything, nya."
The rest of the team nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. Splitting the Eos Wolf spoils evenly would be wrong. I'm fine not taking any."
"Me too. Deus teaches us not to be greedy. Besides."
Elena added.
"The intel on this dungeon alone is more than enough. And it's an open-type dungeon. We can come back in and farm it anytime."
"I share that opinion, nya."
"Yeah. Yeah. The dungeon info and the Ashen Wolf loot. That's plenty."
I was genuinely moved by my team's consideration.
Kids who understood the value of compromise.
I really had picked a good party.
"If that's how you feel, then I'll accept it gratefully."
The word 'humility' didn't exist in my dictionary.
I take what's given.
...though, having said that, I'd make a point of treating them separately later.
Anyway.
As I gathered the Eos Wolf's drops, I also collected patches of its fur scattered around.
"This is less like fur and more like rope."
Tough as hell.
"Why are you picking up the fur?"
"I've got a use for it."
It wasn't a top-tier material, but it was still classified as an in-game item.
And right now, I needed as many of these odd bits as I could get.
After wrapping up our looting, we exited the dungeon.
The sun was already beginning to dip low. Evening.
We were just checking each other for injuries and about to part ways when Elena sidled up to me.
"...Um, so."
"Hm?"
"E, every week, you said you'd give me a Snow Blossom Fruit. When are you giving me this week's, Brother?"
Her voice was barely audible, as if embarrassed to be asking so directly.
What was there to be so embarrassed about?
This was strictly a contractual arrangement.
I grinned and answered.
"Funny you should ask. I just filed the application today for the first official sale two days from now."
"Ohhh! So it's finally then!"
"Yep. Come help me when the time comes. Then I'll give it to you."
Thud.
Elena's expression crumpled in shock.
"You said you'd just give it to me! This isn't what we agreed on...!"
Pitiful Elena.
That's exactly why you always get contracts in writing, kid.