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High School Hack and Slash Chapter 24x Part 1

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Pasifista

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Hero Party［BRAVERS］

――『Yomotsu Hirasaka』, a branch realm connected to the labyrinth of Perforation Realm, 『YGGDRASILL』――

――The『first』 stratum, 『charted』 domain――

The realm gate that connected the dungeon stratums was a transfer facility that connected space, just like Rashomon.

Given the framework of the dungeon, despite proceeding into deeper stratum, from the first to the second to the third and so on, was called 「descending」, it wasn’t like they were going up or down some stairs or something.

Each stratum Floor was an independent space of itself, so even if you dug through the floor of the first stratum, you would not end up penetrating to the second stratum.

As for why the realm gate that linked the first and second stratums was that of a stone paved staircase embedded on the floor, it was none other than because it was a space-binding facility in the form of a staircase.

Cautions were necessary when one proceeded to the deeper stratum of the dungeon.

Due to the rewriting of the stratum control value, the miasma pressure that dominated the space would also increase, giving some influence to your physical condition.

Even so, the area surrounding the realm gate was spared of it due to the miasma pressure difference leaking from the linked space.

The places where the gateway from the shallower stratum was located had lower miasma pressure than the stratum control value, so those places turned into a kind of safe zone where the monsters in the stratum would not step close to.

Although ultimately it was no more than a security for which from the monster’s point of view, they would find it hard to get close to those places for some reason.

On the other hand, around the realm gate which was the entrance toward the deeper stratum, due to the miasma leaking from the lower stratum, there were cases of emergence of monsters with levels surpassing that of the stratum control value.

It was impossible for monsters to move through the realm gate, and instead of wandering around the floor where the miasma pressure was low, they tended to stay around the realm gate.

Such transcendent individuals (overborders) were called the guardians (gatekeepers) of the realm gate.

They were both troublesome obstacles as well as blessings for dungeon conquerors.

That was because transcendent individuals, which were the embodiment of mass of miasma that went over the stratum control value, had high probability of leaving behind drop items.

There were a lot of those who passed through the realm gate of the known area, so you would rarely encounter the guardian of the realm gate.

Choosing the chamber where the realm gate was located as the logout coordinate, they aimed for the guardian of the realm gate.

This was the standard pattern for the conquest faction of the dungeon group who had power to spare.

However, for these people to encounter the guardian of the realm gate at the realm gate of the first stratum the moment they logged in, it was no more than a coincidence as they didn’t particularly aim for it.

「Hey! This guy is seriously a bad news!」

Sena had her spear at the ready, but she had gotten completely cold feet.

*Gwarr* The monster, which threatened like a snarling dog, boasted a size and pressure that they had never seen in the first stratum.

Category-wise it was a Kobold.

They were greater in number than goblins in known areas, and were a just right introductory monster for beginners to take on.

Their appearance was perhaps akin to a slightly hunched bipedal Siberian husky.

They were small in size and slow in movement, and as long as you were careful with its biting and claw attacks, you could overwhelm them even at level 1.

「Say, are we running away? Or rather, is it okay if I run away?」

Similarly with her spear at the ready, Shiho sought the opinion of the party members she had logged in together with.

「Not good, it’s really not good.」

「Could it be that a monster from the second stratum has crawled up here?」

They were the only party in the first year third class to have set foot on the second stratum.

Even compared with the first-year students from the other class, they could be said to be the top group.

Excluding the few exceptions, that was it.

However, as a side effect of their conquest being ahead of the norm, the content of the lectures pertaining to the dungeon was unable to keep up with them.

「What do we do now? Kazuto. Should we get it, or get done by it?」

Takeshi, leaning forward with a 『Named』 double-edged axe they had luckily obtained from a treasure chest on his shoulder, was waiting for the cue.

「Speaking of irregular monsters, I think it’s a superior species of Kobold, either a Kobold leader or Kobold king!」

Poking his spear on the floor, Kotarou turned around as he made a search on his student notebook.

They, who were fortunate enough to have logged in the corridor area, had the composure to observe the Kobold King, who hadn’t moved from inside the chamber.

Its body, which was two times larger than a normal Kobold, was more humanoid and robust like a professional wrestler.

Its body hair had a bluish tint to it, unlike the dull ashen of the normal Kobold.

And above all else, unlike Kobolds and Goblins who had no weapons, it had a halberd that shone in silver in its hand.

「If there’s only one opponent then it’s just right. It will serve as a good rehearsal against the monsters of the second stratum.」

Kazuto, holding his spear, looked back at his companions as he took the lead.

Their basic tactic was safety first through the use of their spear to secure maai.

Their goal was to return alive from the dungeon and level up, while taking as few risks as possible.

Of course, they did return from death a few times, but they gradually extended the amount of time they could survive during each dungeon dive, and steadily continued their conquest.

They had gotten accustomed to the first stratum and no longer returned from death, but they ended up getting easily annihilated when they challenged the second stratum.

The monsters went from bare hands to holding weapons.

The monsters that they had encountered only one at a time went to appear several at the same time.

「Haa, geez it can’t helped then…」

「Roger. A woman is all about guts.」

「That’s the way you go, Kazuto.」

「Accumulating experience is indispensable, after all. For argument’s sake, in case that thing is the individual known as the gatekeeper, we can expect to get something in return.」

「—Alright. Now then, let’s go!」

Following Kazuto who stepped out as the vanguard along with a yell, they all spread out to encircle the Kobold King.

A roar that made the dungeon air tremble.

The halberd that was swung down shattered the stone floor of the Floor, and it would surely render you incapable of fighting in a single blow should it land a sound direct hit.

The fact that it was a newly emerged individual, that they had polished their one-to-many coordination, and that the magic weapon in Takeshi’s hand was an animal category kamikaze attack weapon known as 『Hunting Raburius』.

No matter which one of these was missing, they, who had yet to obtain class, shouldn’t have any chance of victory.

「Kuh, haa!」

Facing it head-on, Kazuto knocked off the halberd that was swung down toward him with his spearhead, making the edge of the halberd cut into the floor.

The stratum control value of the first stratum was 『1』.

It referred to the law that only level 1 monsters were allowed to exist.

The stratum control value of the second stratum was 『10』, allowing monsters from level 1 to level 10 to appear.

The stratum control value of the third stratum was 『20』, ramping up the difficulty to level 10 to level 20 monsters.

The level of this transcendent individual emerging from the miasma leaking from the second stratum, the Kobold King, the guardian of the realm gate, was 10.

According to the level conversion stipulated by the academy, a level 1 monster was equal to the SP of an ordinary person.

So even if you excluded the toughness of its flesh (material), 10 human power was contained within this individual through its star force (astral) alone.

「Don’t step close to it carelessly! Surround it from all sides so it can’t focus on a single target.」

Swiftly drawing back his outstretched spear, Kotarou warned his companions as he inflicted wounds in a hit-and-run fashion.

However, in the face of inhumane violence that was wielded with all its might, the slightest mistake would prove to be fatal.

Parrying it by matching his spear on the handle instead of the halberd’s bladed edge, he let the power slam into the floor again.

Kazuto pressed down the spear, which was cracked and on the verge of breaking, on top of the halberd, and shouted to Takeshi, who had been accumulating his strength.

「Now!」

「Ooohh, aahh!」

The large axe, which required Takeshi to muster up the whole of his strength to do a full swing, was swung with all of his might as even his whole body charged forward.

Zwish, this single attack that pierced through the SP barrier with kamikaze effect sent the head of the Kobold King flying.

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