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Chapter 156: Floor 3 of Phantom Castle

Next is the 3rd floor of Phantom Castle.

As I teleported in, the scenery spreading before me was wilderness as far as the eye could see.

「Hmm? Has the work only begun now?」

「Welcome, Aun-sama.」

「Yo, Shinku. Good timing as always!」

「It is a maid’s natural duty to have a grasp of Aun-sama’s schedule and detect your presence.」

「O-ok… Are you going to create the environment for the floor from now on?」

「No. The floor itself is complete. All that’s left now is to summon monsters.」

Hmm? Just like Drake and Nelfie, the style of Shinku’s floor also seems to be different…

Even so, just what kind of monsters is she planning to summon in a mere wasteland? I suppose if you don’t use dungeon points for the floor environment, then you would have a considerable amount of points left over…

「By the way, what kind of monster are you planning to summon?」

「We plan to summon more than 100 monsters each such as Orcs of C rank or higher, Minotaurs, Centaurs, and the Orc Emperor as the boss.」

「Mo… More than 100 each? What’s more, the boss is an Orc Emperor…」

「We will march them all from back to the entrance and crush the intruders to death.」

Damnit! This is too freaking dangerous……

She completely ignored the concept of a “dungeon”!

In short, a floor where an army of 300 C-A rank monsters, led by an S-rank Orc Emperor, a variant of the Orc King, march toward the intruders. Furthermore, there is not a single place to hide in the wilderness.

And we’re talking about Shinku here… It’s possible that she’s planning to summon the monsters after considering the balance of the unit level and their composition…

「Rather than a dungeon capture, that’s more of a…」

「Yes. A stampede… or war.」

This girl… she’s doing it on purpose!

A party of 4-5 adventurers have to survive through an army of 300 monsters and find the teleportation circle to the next floor. Moreover, the Orc Emperor, the boss, is in charge of the entire command system, and you can only get to the 4th floor after breaking through that boss.

If you make even the slightest mistake, you will be crushed in an instant…

「Shinku, I think this is a bit too–」

「Aun-sama. The Phantom Castle Dungeon is the most difficult dungeon in the world.」

「Yeah, that’s right.」

「I am in charge of the 3rd floor. And there are only three floors left beyond this floor.」

「Well, yes…」

「In which case, this is honestly still too kind. Originally, I would have liked to line up with a higher number of A rank or higher monsters such as Gigantes.」

「I… I see.」

「Therefore, in case of emergency, I am of the opinion to cancel Cherry and Mare’s human transformation and add them to the defense system as monsters.」

「Wha…」

「Honestly, we [Black Thunder] can break through this floor.」

「W-Well… it will take quite some time, but it’s not impossible.」

「It is possible that an enemy that surpasses us could appear in the future. In that case, it is only natural that we do our best.」

Now that she mentions it, it’s right.

I made a declaration in front of everyone the other day to make the Phantom Castle the most difficult dungeon in the world. Moreover, the Phantom Castle Dungeon is [Star Supremacy]’s final line of defense – our “lifeline”, so to speak. Considering the future, we have to consider the invasion of demons such as Satanas and strong individuals from other countries. In which case, there is no such thing as “overdoing it” as Shinku said.

「It is as you say, Shinku! Alright, then just do your best. Once we accumulate enough dungeon points in the future, I’ll allocate you the points you’re lacking. So just create the most difficult floor that you can think of.」

「Thank you very much! I will do my best to comply with Aun-sama’s wishes! In line with this, I have a question…」

「What is it?」

「In order to raise Mare and Cherry’s level and achieve their evolution, Nelfie-san and I would like to accompany them and support the capture of the Ruins of Silence.」

Hmm… It’s true that both Mare and Cherry are getting stronger, but their level is still around 40. By raising their levels now, we could raise not only this floor’s standards, but also Star Supremacy’s.

I have been thinking that the two of them would eventually need to raise their levels through dungeon exploration and farming, and this timing might be just right.

「Understood. However, you and Nelfie probably wouldn’t level up that much in that dungeon, so I’d like you two to continue working on the Phantom Castle Dungeon as well. Is one month enough?」

「Yes. No problem.」

「By the way, where are Mare and Cherry?」

「I apologize. They are not here even though Aun-sama came all the way to visit us… I will give those two a proper lecture later.」

「No, you don’t have to do that! So, where are they?」

「They should be training with each other on this floor using the equipment that Aun-sama gave them. I shall go bring them here right away.」

After we conquered the Ruins of Silence, I gave Mare a weapon called [Magic Steel Thread], a weapon that can be controlled by channeling mana through an invisible ultra-fine steel thread, and Cherry was handed a gauntlet type of weapon called [Bullet Knuckle]. They were both red rarity weapons.

In particular, the magic steel thread is a weapon that is difficult to handle and requires considerable practice to master. However, Mare was able to use this weapon more skillfully than others from the beginning, probably because she was dexterous to begin with. She has the potential to establish her own original fighting style in the future if she excels.

As I was thinking about that, Shinku, Mare, and Cherry teleported in front of me.