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34. Wolf’s Hidden Village (7)

「T-The platoon leader said… there will be evidence that a “Dungeon Break” was about to happen! S-So, if a village was destroyed, it’d be more convincing, so let’s lure the monster out, he said!」

「Lure them out. Is that possible?」

「T-The insect-type’s behavior is simple. Near the “Dungeon Break” period, where it is easy for them to leave the dungeon, you can easily use a scented potion to draw them out… The scented potion is normally used for surprise attack or sneak past.」

The swordsman said that the dungeon capture attempt was not an order from the Duke, but his own decision.

In the military, acting solely on your own is subject to severe punishment. Unless he can claim that “I had no choice but to act on the Dungeon Break,” he will be at risk of being fired rather than promoted.

“Evidence” is needed to back up his claim and there was solid evidence in the form of an abnormal number of monsters spilling out of the dungeon.

「So that’s why there were monsters in the village…」

「He said joining the Knights Order is no longer a dream. And because we did something like that! That’s why, such a brutal divine punishment!」

The important thing is that those insects did not overflow naturally, but were brought out artificially.

It means they only lured out enough to destroy the village.

「U-Umm, help…」

「Since you were honest, I’ll also keep my promise. Don’t move until it’s all over.」

After telling the scout that, I confronted the giant snail. The giant bluish-purple snail crawled slowly, but the eyes at the end of its large antennae stared intently at me.

「…You’re huge.」

A ceiling higher than that of a royal palace, made it clear that it was not simply a decoration but a necessity. In terms of size alone, the snail was larger than Vritra, who was the king of “The Abyss Where Evil Comes From”. The diameter of its eyeball alone was probably about as big as my body. Its whirling jet-black shell melted into the darkness, making it impossible to see the entire snail.

The tension in the humid air was thick. The standoff lasted only a few seconds.

The snail was the first to move. Tentacles approached at a faster speed than before. Two hundred and fifty-nine in number.

「Cocytus.」

I unleashed a powerful skill that can freeze the tentacles and the body at the back in one breath. However, the snail, sensing the power of the skill, pulled its mucous membrane body into its shell faster than the cold air.

The jet-black whirlpool shell collided with the cold air. The Song of the Age of Gods’ freezing skill coated the surface of the shell with ice, but it was not able to freeze the inside, and it simply dispersed after a few seconds.

「That’s a hard shell.」

It was more solid than I expected. I even got the image of 5,000 Gordon’s with [Obsidian] activated stacked on top of each other. That’s how hard it was.

「Since we are trying to finish this as quickly as possible, an enemy that excels in defense is a barrier in our path. However, with your skills you can attack the inside of the shell, master.」

「I’m sure I can, but there’s something more important right now.」

「More than defeating the General?」

「Our purpose is not to defeat the General, right?」

「I see. Our goal is to conquer this dungeon in the shortest possible time.」

I was rather lucky to have met this “General” on the 13th floor.

The evolved [Vajra Barrier] was hard and heavy, but that’s just from the perspective of a normal human. I thought it was a little too light for what I was going to do.

I cast my right hand over the enemy who had retreated into its own shell, and activated my skill with a great deal of power.

「[Space Jump], activate. Target: Snare Snail, Location: directly above.」

Although I won’t be able to transport it to the sea of stars, moving it close to the ceiling was more than possible.

「[Asura’s Six Arms], activate.」

I firmly grasped the black whirlpool shell floating in the air with the six arms. Furthermore, I formed wind between the ceiling and the snail, accelerating it.

「Aeolus.」

The super hardness of the Giant Snail ✕ The strength of the God of War ✕ The violent storm of the Age of Gods.

The combined power of these three causes a sudden downturn.

「Oh, I forgot to tell you.」

As the shell approached the ground, I called out to the scout behind me.

「Y-Yes?」

「Keep your eyes and ears covered. Just do what Koe-san is doing.」

「Huh?」

「–Here I go.」

I slammed the accelerating snail straight into the floor.

The result of the collision was not a thunderous roar. A shock that exceeded sound itself ran throughout the dungeon, kicking up a large amount of dirt and dust.

Eventually, the dust cleared and a large hole could be seen on the ground. The hole led to the 14th floor, one level below our current floor.

「Gii…!!」

The sound of the snail groaning came from the bottom of the hole. It looks like the shell hasn’t cracked yet.

Thank goodness.

「Let’s do that again.」

The 15th floor seemed to be a water floor.

「Again.」

Unusually, the 16th floor was a rare fire floor. Steam rose as water from the 15th floor poured down the hole into the 16th floor.

「Again.」