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Chapter 419

Day 97 – Evening, Dungeon, 83F

A Dungeon Master of the 80th-floor class, an upper-tier existence clearly distinct from mere floor bosses. Though, it seems Haruka-kun doesn’t really grasp the difference. He still can’t tell the difference between a dungeon and a mansion, so perhaps expecting him to distinguish between a Dungeon Master and a Floor Master is asking too much.

And yet, the overwhelming pressure it exudes is on a completely different level from a floor boss. It’s not just strong, it’s smart. A Dungeon Master doesn’t just seem intelligent, it’s cunning, full of trickery and schemes. But Haruka-kun is too cunning and villainous himself, so he probably doesn’t notice.

Whether it’s a Dungeon Master or the Theocracy, to Haruka-kun, it’s all the same. While everyone else is thinking about how to fight, Haruka-kun alone is thinking about how to kill. If he can kill it, then he can do it, so he does what he can. He always shrouds his fragile body in outrageous effects and destroys his enemies while breaking himself in the process.

That’s why we can’t afford to lose to something like a Dungeon Master. Strength or fear or odds of victory don’t matter. If you kill it, it dies. So we’ll kill it. We want to destroy anything and everything that can break Haruka-kun, before he breaks himself. That’s why we’ll crush even a Dungeon Master!

「This is the final opponent, so burn through your MP. Just leave about thirty percent.」

「「「「Jaa!」」」」

MP depletion is dangerous. If you lose consciousness mid-fight you will die. Remain composed, never fire your last arrow. A bow without arrows isn’t even a threat. That’s why I won’t let their MP hit zero. More than anything, they say running out of MP is akin to shaving years off your life, it’s that dangerous. I won’t let them push it that far.

The Dungeon Master is a familiar foe 『Sphinx Lv. 83』. Though this one’s a sheep-type Sphinx. It has Immortality Attribute, but Haruka-kun lent us anti-undead weapon, 『Sword of the King of the Dead – PoW SpE DeX 30% UP, Instant Death Resistance, Undead Slayer, +ATT』With Fish Girl-chan as the designated wielder. Well, Chika-chan, but lately no one calls her by name anymore…

「Ah, just a heads-up, back in Ancient Egypt, sheep were symbols of fertility, so this sheep-type Sphinx monster has both the 『Sexual Vigor』and 『Insatiable Libido』skills, a very hardworking sheep? Also, it’s fluffy, but you know, sheeps are kind of harem kings, so it’s super lewd? And also likes fighting? They love pecking order battles, headbutts, and girls. So yeah, it’s got horns, it’s fluffy, and it’s dangerous in quite a few ways? Ba careful, I guess?」

What we thought was advice turned out to be idle chatter. And he said 『Fluffy』 twice, is he some kind of fluff-maniac? Guess he really loves petting things.

「Wait, did you just say it has both 『Sexual Vigor』AND『Insatiable Libido』?! What a pervert!」

「「……………」」

「The way it’s been looming over us since earlier, don’t tell me…」

「Yeah, it’s probably trying to breed. Seems pretty riled up, doesn’t it?」

「「「Don’t say breed! Use something softer, please!」」」

Bloodshot eyes, flaring nostrils, drooling mouth, that sheep Sphinx is definitely in heat!

「The human-faced, lion-bodied, hawk-winged andro-sphinx wearing the royal Nemes headdress is a celebrity, moreover, it’s claiming to be a temple guardian and all that, but it’s still a chimera, you know? Mixed with a human as well? The sheep-headed kind is a Criosphinx. Then there’s the hawk-headed one, the Hieracosphinx. So that’s the full set, all three kinds? I hope there’s no secret fourth one? Kind of?.」

Now that he said it, the thing does suddenly look disturbingly human, and obscene. Especially the way its eyes keep darting around like it’s ogling people. This thing is the enemy of all women!

「Oh no, it came this way. Ugh, it’s hard!」

「Kyaa! I-it just tried to lick me!」

「Isn’t something… dangling?」

「「「Let’s chop it off!」」」

「It’s kind of… huge…」

「「「Don’t say it! It doesn’t need to be spoken aloud!」」」

The fluff repels swords, spears and axes don’t seem to work either, and its head is protected by hard, twisted horns which it swings wildly, making it hard to avoid.

「It pisses me off how it’s trying to knock us down and get on top!」

「We have to kill it, or we’ll be in an entirely different sort of danger?」

「But it’s so fast and tough, what do we do?」

「Maybe someone could act as bait and get pinned down while the others stab it like crazy?」

「「「Pres!」」」

「No waaaay! I mean, look at that thing… isn’t it getting… bigger?」

「「「You got this, Pres!」」」

「I do not got this! If it pins me down, that’s… that’s that, right?!」

「Well, you’re wearing armor, right?」

「Yeah, so it’ll just press up against you?」

「Maybe it’ll start thrusting its hips?」

「There’s a risk of firing, too. An accidental discharge?」

「No no no no! Absolutely not! Even an accidental one is a no-go!」

Its horns make aiming for the eyes difficult, the torso is covered in protective fluff, it’s got clawed lion limbs, and at the rear, a snake for a tail that demands caution, no weak spots at all. If we don’t finish this fast, someone’s getting sacrificed. It’s a maiden’s crisis. Ariana-san took everyone’s jokes seriously and offered to be the decoy, so we’re all desperately trying to stop her.

「Ariana-san, there’s no way you could handle both 『Sexual Vigor』and『Insatiable Libido』.Only Pres with 『Regeneration』 can take that!」

Uhhh… that’s a joke, right? I’m gonna cry. No, seriously, I’m gonna cry for real, you know?

「MEHHHHHHHHHHHYYEEEEEEHHHHH!」

Charging it, trying to ram us with its horns, it would then stand up tall and swing its claws around, trying to pounce and pin someone down whenever there was an opening. Standing upright on two strong hind legs, with its front legs spread wide, supporting its upper body, it looked 100% like a creep! Don’t dangle that thing in front of maidens!!

「Take this, Blazing Flash!」 「Hmph, Raging Gale Slash!」 「Sweep, Hundred Streams!」 「Freeze, Absolute Zero!」 「Six-Blossom Frenzied Slashhh!」 「Swift Strike!!」 「Take this! Water Dragon Crash Drop!」 「Vital Spot Poke!」 「Ball Buster!」 「Rip off that dangly thing!」 「Giant Shears, Snip!」 「Localized Destruction: P-Burst!」 「Hyaa!」 「Groin P-Split!」 「Slice it up! Sixteen Slashes!」 「(Piiip) the (Piiip) with (Piiip) and (Piiip)!」 「Hiyahhh!」

Everyone went for the weak spot. Standing up had been its fatal mistake. It tried to use its height and intimidation (BEEEP) to instill fear and throw us into chaos. But no matter how powerful its beastly intimidation (BEEEP) was, our training, honed under the fearsome pressure (BEEEP) of the Sex King, wasn’t for nothing. Even though I was sleeping through it. While it was puffing itself up with confidence, our concentrated barrage on its weak (BEEEP) had it howling in tears, bleating 『MEEEH MEEEH』 as it was gouged, sliced, kicked, stomped, and crushed, until the Dungeon Master met its end. It was trying to overwhelm and intimidate us, but in the end, it was no match for the pressure of the Sex King. How pitiful.

「MEEH MEEEH MEEEEHHHHHHHHYYEEEHHHH!」

「Pres!」

「Eh? Ah. Instant Slash!」

「MEEEEEHHHhhhhh……… (*thud*!)」

The enemy of all women has been vanquished. For some reason, Haruka-kun is frozen with an indescribable look on his face? It’s like he’s sharing a moment with the fallen sheep sphinx?

「Ah, thank you, Fish Girl-chan. I guess we should return the 『Sword of the King of the Dead』 to Haruka-kun? Thanks. The Dungeon Master has been defeated… ah.」

「Well, good job~ you totally got it. And you even got double bonus with『Plunder』 ? Ah, and you ended up stealing its 『Sex Drive Enhancement』 too? Yeah, well, good luck with that? I guess」

So yeah, I ended up landing the final blow. The Sword of the Dead King suddenly got tossed to me at just the right moment… Why would you throw it to meee?! Now my 『Sexual Vigor』and 『Insatiable Libido』levels are definitely up, and I even got 『Sex Drive Enhancement』… And I also have 『Regeneration』on top of all that?!

「N-no-no-noooo! Why did you throw it?! Why did you make me finish it off?! I ended up stealing all sorts of things, all sorts!」

「「「「Well, good luck with that? Sort of?」」」」

「A maiden, a maiden, should not have these kinds of skills! What if they level up from stealing so many of those and I end up getting a title like 『Sex Maiden』?! What do I do then?! (*huff, huff, huff*)」

Everyone gave a collective teehee-pero pose! They all pressed their fists to their heads, such calculatedly cutesy. I’m a maiden, you know! What if 『Sexual Vigor』and 『Insatiable Libido』 and 『Sex Drive Enhancement』 come with side effects? Wait… Don’t tell me they are seriously thinking about using me as a sacrifice!

It was getting late, so we decided to head back to the inn. The teehee-pero group is still fine, but Arianna-san and the others are clearly exhausted. Hitting the deepest floors after just a few days of training is a huge physical and mental strain. They’ve only been keeping themselves going with mushroom doping, forcing their MP to recover, but it has to be tough.

Even so, they’re not complaining. They’re giving it their all, determined to grow stronger. In just a few days, they’ve already overcome the level 50 wall. They’re doing their best, not whining at all… well, apparently they did cry and tried to run away during Haruka-kun’s forced leveling, but now they’re clinging on and pushing through to get stronger. Because there’s no time left.

Today’s Dungeon Master battle was a passing grade, but we got red marks for the 『Quake Kongs』 on the 82nd floor. If you can’t read an enemy’s skills and understand what they do, you’ll get completely shut down. We have to get stronger. In the end, Haruka-kun is heading to the Theocracy too, so everyone is even more desperate now.

Apparently, even before making the nun outfit, Haruka-kun had been working on a monk’s robe. That one’s definitely for himself. He likes putting others in cosplay, but apparently doesn’t seem into doing it himself, so it has to be for disguise purposes.

He was definitely planning to say something like the Church is dangerous, make up some excuse to keep Arianna-san and the others in the Frontier, probably leaving Angelica-san and others behind too, and then go off on his own again.

Then later he’d pretend it was all a coincidence,『Oh, I just happened to be passing by』 or 『Got lost and ended up at the cathedral?』, something like that. He was totally planning on quietly ditching everyone and doing it all alone.

Because there’s no way he’d actually abandon Arianna-san and the others. He pretends not to care, but that just makes it even more obvious, he definitely would never.

Back with Princess Shariceres, he just tagged along like it was nothing, pretending like he didn’t care about the Kingdom, but still helped save the orphan kids. He even said, 『Just watching would makes one the same as accomplice』and wrecked only the noble district to avoid involving the rest of the capital, and also reducing their forces to prevent a full-blown rebellion.

Even back then with the neighboring domain, he avoided involving regular townsfolk until the very end. And at the end he even used still unstable and dangerous 『Teleportation』 to save Stalker Girl-chan.

Because… because that’s how it was when he came to save us too. He said it was a coincidence, but he came straight for us. I’m sure even that rain of fire back then was already pushing him past his limits… That time, the kobold leader had made it all the way to Haruka-kun, mouth wide open, ready to tear him apart, only to collapse from exhaustion at his feet. Haruka-kun just stood there, didn’t move an inch. He couldn’t move. Even with a monster right in front of him, he stood there completely defenseless. He looked calm, but I know he was at his breaking point. Probably wrecked from magical backlash. He’d only barely held on, winning just the moment before he would collapse. Even back then, he actually was on the verge of death! He’s always lying, always, always lying. Lying that he’s fine, lying that it doesn’t concern him, and in the end, lying that it was all just coincidence.

Haruka-kun’s lies are incredibly kind. He deceives everyone with such kindness. But those lies are cruel too, because to make them true, he always bears the pain alone, always breaks himself to do it. Always nothing but lies.

That’s why I set up a plan so he wouldn’t end up alone again. I wanted to start the battle in the Theocracy while escorting Arianna-san and the others first. But then the church had to go and do something unnecessary, and now it’s snowballing into an all-out charge from everyone. And now we’re out of time. If royal execution becomes a possibility, Haruka-kun will head out immediately, but if they’re using them as a hostages to lure Arianna-san in, they won’t execute them.

Even so, it would still be a trap to lure her in. We’ll need the strength to break cowardly schemes through brute force. We need the power to shatter everything in our way. I just want us to have enough power so Haruka-kun doesn’t have to suffer alone anymore!

We can’t let him get any stronger than this. He’s already way past his limits, only surviving thanks to his Epic Luck. Training with Arianna-san and the others made that painfully clear, at Level 24, you just don’t have enough strength to fight properly.

I don’t understand the details, but I know that Haruka-kun has always treated the church as an enemy. Even if I don’t fully understand why, if they’re his enemy, then they’re our enemy too. If it’s dangerous, then we’ll be the shield. We’ll become his sword. If we can keep him from fighting any more, that’s all that matters. That’s been the plan all along. But we don’t have enough time. Or strength. We can’t catch up… and even when we try, he only gets further ahead.

Why the heck are the shoulder shields splitting into twelve parts and flying around fighting on their own?! And turns out that snake was actually a hydra. That’s a legendary divine beast, not something to be used for talking, singing, or doing sexy stuff, you knw? Can we really catch up to that? Like, as humanity?