I'd Been Looking Forward to It

Having sensed something with her magic, Nau frowned slightly and stepped back.

"It's mana radiation…"

"What!?"

"Damn it."

At her words, the other party members recoiled in alarm.

Mana radiation. A phenomenon in which powerful residual mana contaminates an entire area, irradiating everything present.

The usual culprits were these: national-scale magic experiments, ultra-high-tier spells, or mana-based lifeforms commonly known as demons.

"This is dangerous."

"Are we still going in?"

"Of course. I have no intention of turning back here."

Whatever the cause, all of them were extremely hazardous—yet the women actually welcomed the discovery. In this line of work, danger equaled reward.

They immediately dug into their pouches, pulled out face-covering masks, and pressed forward.

Watching them, Evan donned the mask he'd been given earlier and followed. His vision grew slightly hazy, and breathing became a touch harder.

If we run into enemies like this, we'll be at a slight disadvantage…

Evan ran a hand over his sword hilt, staying alert for any contingency. Fortunately, no monsters appeared.

Then again, no one would station monsters in a zone spewing mana radiation. Even golems—inanimate constructs—would lose their magic and revert to mere rocks if exposed long enough.

Pushing deeper and deeper, the party discovered a space that looked like a grid-patterned laboratory. A bleak chamber with nothing but a single door barely wide enough for one person.

"This is it."

And this was the source of the mana radiation. The dungeon's most valuable prize they were after would be here.

Evan stepped forward on instinct and stood beside Rainia. Shield in hand, she stared at the door with a slightly tense expression.

Click—.

"Got it."

The moment Rogue picked the lock, the tightly shut door swung open on its own.

"Rogue! Why'd you open the door all of a sudden!"

"I-I didn't open it! It opened by itself!"

As the door opened, the scales grown across Evan's armor reacted even more violently. Even the party members without expensive armor like his could now feel the mana radiation's pressure firsthand.

While Rainia swallowed hard and stepped back under that pressure, Evan trusted his sword and armor and took the lead.

"I'll take point."

"Evan…?"

"This armor's expensive, so it can handle this much no problem."

He said this while tapping his armor. Rainia let out a small, wry laugh and, looking apologetic, bowed her head slightly before falling in behind him.

Leading the way, Evan ignored the pressure pushing him back and stepped deeper inside. Unlike the pure-white outer space, the interior was a pitch-black void without a single light.

Sensing the inconvenience for visibility, the mage Nau generated a light orb—and at the same time, Evan detected something flying toward them from the front.

—What is that?

There was no time to think about what it was. Evan immediately drew his sword, and the dragon roared.

—KRAAAAAANG—!

With a light roar, the dragon surged forward and collided with whatever had been about to engulf Evan's party.

Having never met anyone who could withstand that attack before, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Evan had frozen mid-swing—only to be sent flying far away by the something that punched straight through the dragon.

"Evan—!?"

What Rainia and the others saw through this entire sequence was this: there was light, the dragon roared, and simultaneously Evan went flying.

They couldn't understand what had happened, but they were adventurers. Adventurers who moved on experience and instinct, not understanding and theory.

Immediately drawing her shield and blocking the front, Rainia froze at the sight of the pitch-black something standing before her.

"…What is that?"

From head to toe, everything about it was pitch black. It had a human form, but it wasn't human. Something like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that could never be human.

Seeing it, Nau recalled a certain existence from the literature. A lifeform composed of mana—a demon.

And among them, one that transcended ranks like Upper Class or Highest Class—a noble of the demon realm who had completed itself. A Named.

After blasting Evan away, Raimu stood dazed for a moment before carefully opening its mouth.

—To attack me out of nowhere… How insolent for a mere insect.

Raimu tore its gaze from the unmoving Evan in the distance and fixed its eyes on Rainia's party standing before it.

A gaze of terror. Feeling that gaze, Rainia reflexively stepped forward. Using the tower shield protecting her body as a weapon, she swung it as if to shove the thing back.

Thooong—! Having landed the attack, Rainia felt a satisfying impact and carefully peeked over her shield.

The attack worke—

—You.

But Raimu beyond the shield looked at Rainia with an unbothered expression.

—Die.

As if crushing a bug.

It lightly pressed a single finger down onto the shield.

With just that, Rainia felt a pressure as if a mountain were crushing her.

"Kuuugh—!"

"Rainia!"

Her companions, coming to their senses too late, loosed arrows and magic—but nothing worked against it. Like cutting water with a blade, every attack passed lightly through Raimu's body.

Having casually crumpled Rainia's body, Raimu looked at the remaining party. Five including that one from earlier. A long-overdue meal looked like it would be quite plentiful.

"D-don't, don't come…!"

—I'll start with you, then.

In an instant, Raimu moved among the party, lightly lifted the trembling Rogue who'd fallen to the floor, and swallowed her whole. Its arms spread wide like a net and gulped down Rogue's body.

Having finished digesting without leaving a single bone or scrap of clothing, Raimu expressed satisfaction at its long-overdue meal and approached the remaining humans.

It had intended to savor them, but eating one only made it hungrier. Unbearable. It would have no choice but to eat the rest all at once…

Seogeok—!

—Huh?

And in that moment, Raimu's right half dropped to the floor with a thud. Raimu looked at its fallen right half, then glanced toward the direction the sword aura had come from.

The Evan it had clearly blasted away earlier was brushing off dust and revealing himself.

"You killed Rogue-noona."

—So you managed not to die.

"…I'd been looking forward to it."

Evan spoke with rage as he stared at Raimu. He hadn't shown it, but he'd been looking forward just a little to what she'd promised to do for him after they got back.

And this thing had ruined it all.

"You are a creature that should not exist."

—You lot are creatures that absolutely must exist. Because only then can you be my food—!

Absorbing its fallen right half and regenerating its body, Raimu charged straight at Evan. Seeing this, Evan gripped his sword once more and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠swung.

"Finishing move."

Evan's sword, split into three, cut Raimu's body into thirds. That alone only briefly stopped Raimu—but his sword did not stop.

Slash, slash, and slash again, never giving it a chance to regenerate, cutting continuously.

"Huuup—!"

An endless slashing began.

While Evan faced Raimu, Anes brought the nun over and healed Rainia, who had collapsed on the floor.

After Rainia came to her senses, Anes looked at Nau and sought a way to break through the current situation.

"Nau, what the hell is that thing?"

"…A Named. An exceptionally powerful existence even among demons."

"So it's a monster, huh… How do we kill it?"

"Either exhaust its mana, seal it, or find its true name…"

"Damn it, none of those are things we can do right now."

Biting her lip hard at the realization there was no method, Anes noticed there was another room further inside.

This was the place where that monster had been sealed. Then wouldn't something that sealed that monster also exist here?

Realizing this, Anes led the party toward the door.

The door was locked.

"Damn it—! If only Rogue hadn't died…!"

"She was an adventurer too. She was always prepared to die at any time."

"I know that—!"

In the end, only after Rainia kicked the door like a madwoman could they smash it halfway open and get inside.

Entering, the party gasped at a room covered in incomprehensible mechanical devices.

"What the hell is this now?"

"An archmage's research wing… We can't break a single thing."

"Shut up! We need to find a way to deal with that thing first!"

Hearing her words, the party spread out and began searching for any possible method.

Whether it was Anes the elf's experience shining through, she pressed a series of things placed before a mechanical device and played a video.

"Wh-what?"

Someone on the screen began feeding something to a slime. The food item changed every time.

But each time it ate, the slime continued to change. Sometimes larger, sometimes smaller, sometimes spewing flames or exhaling ice.

Evolving like that, in the end—the slime succeeded in ascending into something that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was no longer a slime.

"What does that mean…"

"What's wrong? What is he saying?"

"It's the discovery of the century… To prove it experimentally…"

Of everyone present, only Nau could understand what the man on the screen was saying.

She expressed her respect to the man on the screen—presumably the archmage who created this dungeon—and watched the video through to the end.

At the end of the video—they could see the man storing the drug he'd created in a certain space. With her keen eye, Anes found the place where those drugs were stored.

"Ah…"

Unfortunately, only a single dose of the drug remained. The rest had either spoiled or spilled when their storage glass broke.

The sole remaining drug. Looking at it, Anes maintained a brief silence before turning to Rainia.

"…Rainia, can you do it?"

"If that's the only way."

Anes bit her lip slightly and handed the drug to Rainia. It was something whose effects after consumption were unknown—but Rainia squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed the medicine.

And light began to pour from her body.

—Damn, it, how, long.

"—!!"

The air he'd drawn earlier passed through his lungs to his heart, delivering blood and energy throughout his body. Drawing on every scrap of that delivered energy—Evan continued a breath-holding exercise lasting over five minutes.

For that long span of five minutes, he had been relentlessly cutting Raimu without rest.

But soon the limit arrived. Living beings cannot survive without breathing. Even Evan could not escape that law.

"Haaahk—!"

A gap born of depleted stamina—Raimu seized that gap and lunged at Evan. Evan swung his sword and cut Raimu, but unfortunately Raimu was a being close to Evan's natural enemy.

Its entire body was composed of liquid like a slime—a being that could not be cut no matter how much one cut it.

Just as water meeting water requires no particular energy to merge, Raimu needed no particular energy to restore its body.

—Impressive. But that's as far as you go.

When Raimu, having uttered words of admiration for Evan who'd nearly killed it, grinned and reached a hand toward him, Evan grinned right back and looked behind Raimu.

"You're… late."

—What?

The moment Raimu reacted and turned around, its body went rigidly stiff. Raimu froze stiff looking at its own body that wouldn't move at all.

—What, is this…

"I never expected it would turn out like this."

Beyond the inner door, Rainia appeared—nine fox tails swaying.

Rainia, pouring out fox magic, held Raimu with her illusion arts and opened her mouth.

"I'll repay the debt from earlier."

—You, damn youkai—!

"Where are you looking?"

—Huk!

And then, Evan swung his sword. Foxfire gently billowed from the severed parts. Seeing this, Evan grinned and gripped his sword once more.

"Die."

Endless attacks shattered Raimu's body to pieces.