Chapter 366 part 2
At this rate, it doesn’t seem like the threat was high enough to be seriously worried, but from the 91st floor onward, we reorganized, Slime-san and Dancing Girl-san, both high in defense, would take the front, while Armored Pres-san and I moved to the wings as high-mobility types.
I threw myself into the fray with my body already starting to self-destruct. Slime-san and Dancing Girl-san halted the oncoming swarm of baboons at just the right moment, and I sent in the Shoulder Guard funnels ahead of me to pierce into the crowd. Then, gripping the 『Staff of the World Tree』 I waltzed in, activated『Magic Wrap』, and slashed through the baboons using 『Kyojitsu』, tearing into their right flank as I slipped behind them. From the left, Armored Pres-san jumped in, while Slime-san and Dancing Girl-san spread out to the sides, shifting from defense to offense, and now the baboons had to deal with attacks from four directions. Even if you have shields, getting hit from the sides or rear makes them useless. Without a commander, the horde fell into disarray, unable to coordinate. They crashed into one another, and one by one, were wiped out.
『Ultimate Baboon Lv 91』, may be ultimate, but in the end it’s still a baboon? I mean, maybe it’s the strongest of its kind, but it’s not even the strongest of all monkeys, just baboons? And this was the first baboon-type monster we’ve ever met, so I’ve got nothing to compare it to? First baboon acquaintance?
Still, with 『All Resistances』『Slash Immunity』 and 『Magic Immunity』and level 91 on top of that, it was no joke. Even targeting its weak spot with blunt damage was tough, since it had shields and armor, and its physical stats, especially PoW and SpE, were both well into four digits. If the classmates had only brought two parties, this would’ve been impossible. With monsters like this, if they coordinate as a group, they can overpower you with sheer numbers. If you don’t run, they’ll wear you down and tear you apart.
But we had a plan. Not just a tactic, we had both a plan and a countermeasure. Since they only had 『Magic Immunity』 I threw oil into the middle of the mob and set it on fire. No fire immunity meant instant panic. And with that it became impossible for them to coordinate their actions. Still, the real threat was their overwhelming numbers. And the countermeasure is 『If they want to overwhelm us with a violence of numbers then we will overcome their numbers through overwhelming violence』 If they bring 100 monsters, we respond with 10,000 attacks. Yep, a flawless plan.
Still, once combat shifts into high-speed movement while using 『Magic Wrap』both the Shoulder Guard funnels or Sword Rain become too much of a burden, making things too hard to manage. And once I lose control,『Magic Wrap』 goes berserk and starts breaking the body down from the inside. But even so, by the time we’re dealing with enemies this strong on the 90th floor, holding back could get me killed at any moment, so I have to go in with everything I’ve got.
But even if self-destruction begins, ever since I acquired 『Great Sage』,『Regeneration』 has been working better and healing much faster. I’m probably also benefiting from shrouding myself in『Healing』 and 『Recovery』 effects, too. If that’s the case, then I should have 『Resurrection』 applied as well, right? So maybe dying just a little bit isn’t that big of a deal? I kind of hate the way it sounds though!
Against a single foe, the balance holds, if I don’t mess up my movements, I can fight without risking self-destruction. But once I start layering on remote control-based mass attacks like 『Mobile Shoulder Guard Funnels』 or the 『Infinite Magic Hands』 with 『Magic Thread Wire Cutters』, or even Infinite Magic Hands wielding weapons for a full-blown Sword Rain, then I exceed my processing limit. It might seem reckless, but I want to understand the breaking point, the limit where I can just barely maintain the equilibrium. Because if I rely on only one thing, I’ll eventually hit a wall.
Of course, the only reason it becomes unmanageable is because I’m leaping into swarms of enemies with only a handful of allies, so it puts a strain on me. In more sparse encounters, like those on the 92nd floor, I’ve started getting better at handling everything at once. Perhaps it’s because fewer remote-controlled elements and fewer enemies make it easier to process? Well, iron-scale armored『Scale Ostriches Lv 92』make perfect targets for Magic Thread. By releasing threads during high-speed dodging maneuvers, I could slice right through them. Turns out armor, if it has any gaps at all, is surprisingly vulnerable to 『Magic Thread』.
These ostriches are hyper offense-focused, with minimal defense or defensive skills, easy to bring down if you can dodge them, but if you go head-to-head, even at level 100 you could get killed. That’s exactly the kind of match-up I don’t want the classmates getting involved in. If one of these birds, with a 『Penetration (Defense Nullification)』 trait, stabs them with its beak or slashes with those taloned feet, the attack might go straight through, and that could be fatal. I sort of feel like the lower floors of the Dungeon seem increasingly filled with monsters designed specifically to counter high-level adventurers.
Once we hunted down the last of the ostriches, we go for the hidden room. Slime-san, all jiggly, looked absolutely delighted, it must’ve eaten a lot of ostrich.
As expected, the treasure chest had no lock. And of course, no traps either. Inside was a set of 18 『Enchanted Throwing Blades – Slash(Greater), Throwing, Homing, Mana Conductive, +ATT』, a nice bundle of hidden weapon. Basically a set of throwing knives, though the handles were ring-shaped, allowing them to be used like short swords, but they also could be tied together with a tread or cord and swung like chained weapons. But… what if we attached these to the ends of Dancing Girl-san’s chains? That might let her 『Slash』with them too?
Anyway, judging by the feel of『Space Perception』, the next floor is the bottom. Dungeon Master-san’s room awaits.
「Excuse us, or maybe more like, we will be causing trouble, breaking in, beating you down, turning you into a magic stone and selling you off. Which honestly sounds worse than some wicked bandits? And even if we were virtuous bandits, that still doesn’t sit right with me? But well, it’s the final floor, the dungeon’s last episode, and the final turn? Magic stone harvest draw comes after the fight, so I’m going with full deployment, six-unit Mobile Shoulder Guards up, followed by an immediate six-unit Mobile Shoulder Guards trigger launch. Which is just a straight-up attack though? But hey, as long as I’m shooting, it’s all good? Or something like that?」
Yeah, it was deep. Turns out the 93rd floor boss wasn’t a level 93 Dungeon Master as expected, it was level 100. Still, as long as there’s no darkness involved, there’s nothing to worry about. The enemy was a massive plant 『Earth Plant Lv 100』. It’s not a vegetable, so probably not edible. I was fully expecting another tentacle showdown, but no, it was an orthodox fencer. It jabbed with razor-sharp branches, extended and multiplied them mid-swing. I tried supporting from the rear with funnel-fired Fire Bullets, piercing the branches one after another, but they instantly regrew. Looks like we needed a high-reach pruning saw.
It’s got 『Magic Resistance』, 『Magic Reflection』, even 『Magic Absorption』, and with 『Flame Resistance』 on top of that I can’t even burn it with oil. Cutting, piercing, breaking, none of it matters when the thing just 『Regrows』. And its piercing vines and branches are no joke. Straight thrusts and whipping slashes form a curtain of death which we can’t help but focus on evasion. We could wait until it runs out of mana, but since it has 『Magic Absorption』it’s going to take a while.
Armored Pres-san and Dancing Girl-san are slicing through the multiplying branches while moving like dancers, evading piercing strikes, but they’re overwhelmed by the sheer number of attacks. They’re too busy dodging the endless stabs to get close to the core, which is shielded behind a literal hedge of spear-like branches. Slime-san, meanwhile, is getting impaled repeatedly, but also eating the branches as fast as they stab it. It looks way too happy getting served one branch after another. It’s basically an all-you-can-eat soba situation for Slime-san?
Giving up on rear support with Fire Bullets, I retract the 『Aegis Shoulder Guard Units』 back to my shoulders and, from mid-range, unleashed a vertical Sword Rain of 100 blades straight down. The greatswords of the level 99 Minotaurs struck down hard, but were deflected by the branching growths. It’s both tough and strong. Those swords weren’t just blocked, each one was properly parried to the side.
I’d been thinking about it ever since I first saw this thing, but I’d hesitated because it felt kind of sad. Still, no helping it now. I withdrew the Sword Rain back into the item pouch and began spinning Magic Thread, weaving it into a Kevlar-like structure. I’ve totally mastered knitting at this point, probably the only Highschool Boy around who can hand-knit Kevlar. Then again, it’s not like high school girls do this either. Pretty sure gifting someone hand-woven Kevlar wouldn’t exactly spark romance? It’s for strangling!?
And so, wielding three braided 『Magic Threads』 with weighted tips, I charged in, spinning them at high speed toward the forest of multiplying, lance-like branches spreading across the floor. Slashing aside the thrusting vines and branches with the 『Staff of the World Tree』, I pushed to the front. The high-speed rotating 『Magic Threads』 mowed down the vines and branches like some kind of well, lawnmower? Or rather, a wire-cutter-style weed trimmer? A spherical 360-degree mowing system, a 3D weed-whacking Highschool Boy. Armored Pres-san and Dancing Girl-san, who had been diligently slashing their way through with actual swords, are now staring at me… And that’s why I didn’t want to do this. But hey, turns out rotary-wire weed trimmers are pretty rare in other worlds. Maybe it will be a hit on the market?
「Highschool Boy gets busy mowing dungeon lawns, or rather monsters, or rather Earth Plant harvesting? Good thing it’s just branches and vines everywhere, no bamboo sprouting up. If it had been bamboo, maybe it could’ve blocked the 3D wire-cutter trimmer… In the end, we both missed our mark. Guess we send each other awkward prayers and let the cherry blossoms fall, wait, no, not blossoms. Just grass. Like some kind of otherworldly grass-mowing saga?」
It can absorb, reflect, or resist magic as much as it wants, but in the end, it doesn’t even matter. . Because this is just weed control. 『If Wind Cutter won’t cut it, then just mow it down with a grass mower. By M-san』
The Demon Scythes, who are so in love with cutting down Evil Forest, have been going at it since the morning… And so here I am, the literal weed-whacker. Came all the way to another world just to do dungeon yardwork. If it were just regular weed-clearing with a trimmer, I could’ve accepted that. But using skills just to cut grass…
Otherworld-san, what exactly did you summon me for? If it was for yard work, I’ll mow down the entire world!
Eventually, the thoroughly pruned『Earth Plant』 became Slime-san’s salad. Guess it was a healthy change after all the meat it’s been eating. I cut something boring again, I guess? Or mow down something pointless? Either way, a total waste of tentacle power. Using tentacles to defeat monsters is a wrong way to use tentacles for a Highschool Boy. They’ll need a proper palate cleanser tonight. Not that they have a mouth.
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