Chapter 369
Chapter 369: It looked like they were enjoying the mood, but turns out, they just had too much shaved ice.
Day 87 – Morning, Dungeon, 80F
Eighteen chains, now equipped with the new 『Enchanted Throwing Blades』 at their tips, scatter outward, sweeping through the sky, cutting, striking, and reeling in the『Accel Hornet Lv 80』 . One meter long hornets is some crazy talk, but their size also makes them easier targets, and they’re getting taken down. Although they’re called Accel Something, but after being smoked and then hit with water, sprinkler-style, while they remain fast, they are clearly weakened and their movements have gotten sluggish.
Still, the Accel Hornets fire their stingers. These hornets are capable of ranged attacks. Gracefully evading the incoming stingers she simultaneously whips her chains through the air, striking down the surrounding hornets in a furious dance of chain strikes. A heavenly dance, as if performed by a god of dance, transforms into a whirlwind tornado, turning into a death of death that blasts away every single hornet in sight. The broken, dismantled remains of hornets pile up across the floor.
Among bees, hornets are particularly violent and ferocious. Their sting hurts like hell, like having a nail driven into your skull, and the pain can last for over a day, with a real risk of death. But now that I think about it, if it’s just a pain of a nail being hammered into the skull then I’m going through that on a regular basis, so I’m sort of used to it? I mean, if it’s just one nail’s worth, it’d probably just hurt a bit?
「Nice work~ The Enchanted Throwing Blades and the mithril-reinforced chains seem to be working great, and that’s awesome and all, but why was I all tied up in those chains when I woke up~? I mean, I woke up in a full-on Highschool Boy situation, completely wrapped up in the very chains I stayed up late crafting with all my heart, with Highschool Boy being under attack which is what actually woke me up, but isn’t that way of waking me up sort of weird? And even when I did wake up, I kept waking up again and again, even when my eyes were bloodshot from how awake I was, the non-stop Morning Call continued making me wonder just how much more awake you want me to be until you are satisfied?. And Armored Pres-san, you are nodding along like it’s none of your business, but you were totally part of that wake-up service too, weren’t you? And stop trying to play this off with a little tehe-pero, that was definitely not an innocent mistake or some random goof! Also, your use of tehe-pero is way off, and that knock on the head is so obviously forced! And what is going on with those lewd tongue movements! That’s not a tehe-pero anymore, that’s something else entirelyuuuuugh!」
Yep, I’ve been attacked this very morning. Poor Highschool Boy-san, wrapped and toyed with, kept getting resurrected by 『Regeneration』 only to be licked and stroked into falling down again and again, MP drained massively first thing in the morning. Just how many consecutive 『Regeneration』s was that? The damage from waking up is casually overshadowing combat damage? Can that even count as a refreshing start to the day?
This morning brought me a thorough all-in-one, once-in-a-lifetime experience after which I’m surely no longer eligible for a marriage, courtesy of the usual mistress pair who refuse even allowing me as a boyfriend, let alone a husband. So my 『no girlfriend』 streak continues unbroken. They really went all out, will I ever be marriage material after this?
(Poyo-poyo~)
Looks like Slime-san’s bored from the lack of action. I wonder if there’ll be any tasty monsters on the next, 81 floor?
Seriously though, if you pull an all-nighter and can’t wake up first, this is the kind of thing that happens in the morning. Tomorrow, I’m getting up early and getting my revenge. And of course, I’ll be getting revenge at night, too!
Still, the fact that they chose maid uniform for the morning service was commendable. That really multiplied the damage to the Highschool Boy! Seriously, what is this duo learning at their girls’ gatherings?
In floors where monsters appear in groups, we practice formations. If it’s a maze-type floor, we split up and train individually. Against smaller monster groups, we run adjustment experiments for 『Magic Wrap』 and 『Kyojitsu』 It might seem odd to train in the dungeon and then go all out in the inn’s training yard, but thirty minutes of being defenseless is seriously dangerous, I know how dangerous now, having experienced it firsthand this morning! Thank you very much?
Everyone seems to be enjoying the mix of solo and group battles, but there are a lot of monsters here that magic just doesn’t work on, huh? And yet, in a hidden room, we found a『Mage’s Bracelet – InT, MiD +30% Up, Boost Magical Attack/Defense(Greater), Sorcery Control(Greater), Magic Cloak』 It’s mage equipment. I kind of want it, but the culture clubs members probably want it too. 『Magic Cloak』 seems similar to『Magic Wrap』, so it could be perfect for a midline fighter. Well, since we’re in a dungeon, might as well try it out.
We split up to explore the maze-style floor. Thanks to 『Space Perception』 and 『Map』, I know the layout from the start, but with all the branching paths, we have to go back and forth a lot, which is a pain. Since the monsters here drop gear, I don’t want to miss any. And at Floor 85, magic stones are premium quality. Let’s farm them all.
Now, I reinforce my body with 『Magic Wrap』 Up to now, I’ve only thought about wrapping it instantly, but maybe that was the wrong approach.
The key is to consciously separate 『Teleportation』,『Gravity』 and 『Atomic Manipulation』, and bind them with 『Holding』 for control. If I fail to suppress these four and let them mix, they’ll react and combine, leading to loss of control and self-destruction. Basically,『do not mix』 ? Still, mixing them feels stronger somehow, but I can’t rely on power I can’t control. Who even knows what they are even doing together without telling me?
Sweeping strikes with a mighty spear clash and rebound, slipping into close range for simultaneous slashes, while staying aware of each Skill, recognizing, controlling, and restraining them separately from the battle itself. As expected, I haven’t managed to completely『Vanish』 my entire body. It’s only partial『 Teleportation』 of certain limbs. Once I push past fastest and optimal range for certain actions into the realm of hyper-acceleration, 『Teleportation』 seems to activate, but I still can’t control it.
I can’t control it, but if I don’t focus on it, my forearm might teleport somewhere, and when it snaps back it would be broken. The fact that my shoulders and elbows can’t keep up is the cause of self-destruction. That’s likely the reason for my bone and muscle damage. As for the rupturing blood vessels and the gushing blood that might be due to something else. Considering the strain of forced body control from 『Muppet』no part breaking would be surprising.
Thanks to the Great Sage’s enhancement,『Body Reinforcement』 is also applied, making me harder to break. Even if something breaks, 『Regeneration』also works faster with additional 『Healing』and 『Recovery』. Just stepping forward triggers full-body activation of 『Kyojitsu』 Just swinging my arm puts my entire body into motion optimized for 『Kyojitsu』 Repeating the forms endlessly and calmly until my body memorizes them through sheer repetition. In a slow-motion world of accelerated thought, I pour everything into the act of slashing, stripping away all excess. Bring everything together. Cut at the fastest possible speed without waste. That’s all there is to the technique of『Kyojitsu』
Not knowing why they couldn’t pierce through, not understanding why they were being cut down, the『Skeleton Lancers Lv85』 are scattered into white shards, cleaved and swept aside. The hollow sockets of their skulls roll across the ground, glaring upward in dissatisfaction, but since it’s not a Flat Gaze, who cares.
Clashing with skeletal knights armed with high-level 『Lance Mastery』in swordplay like puppets entangled in each other’s strings. Flickering and vanishing awkwardly like a poorly made stop-motion animation, vanishing, slashing, slashing, vanishing, spinning in a frenetic dance. All for the single moment of cutting faster than a SpE 900+ monster. Just slash pursuing the moment where the tempo vanishes completely.
「Haah… I’m exhausted, but since getting stabbed means instant death, it’s probably better to eat some self-inflicted damage by moving faster than the incoming stab? Or rather, damn, those orthodox fighters are tough, they’re strong and fast. Maybe that’s why there aren’t so many of them?」
Pretty good spears, and their armor’s not bad either. Our current gear’s better, but I could make a fortune selling these. Still, they’re too good, so selling them on the market might be a bad idea. I won’t be able to look everyone in the eyes, although the people in charge of blindfolding probably wouldn’t bother covering my eyes either, so maybe it’s fine? But that blindfolding duo, it feels like I could get away with anything, but no matter what I do, I always end up getting scolded. It’s sort of unreasonable. I guess it’d be wise to limit who we sell these lower-floor weapons to.
「But be it the Kingdom or the Frontier, can’t really sell to their armies since both the king and the Count are broke as heck? And adventurers haven’t even made it past the mid-floors yet, so I doubt they’ve got the cash? The ones who would have money and would buy are mostly enemies, which means economic disparity is dragging me, a humble magnate, into a financial crisis, but I’m going through it like seven times today already, so whatever? Just one more time and I’ll be seven-down-eight-up, except I never manage to get back up? I shout into the void for answers, but naturally, there is no reply. Didn’t wanna hear it anyway, cause the answer is usually a lecture.」
And according to 『Space Perception』 the next floor, Floor 86, should be the last one. The Dungeon Master-san’s floor.
It’s relatively shallow, but still, 86 floors is still more than deep enough. Even with good gear, neither the army nor the adventurers have made it past the mid-floors. With things as they are, where even Floor 50 can’t be cleared by them, it’s fair to say that all of the lower floors are dangerous. If the Dungeon Master was on, say, Floor 70, the pres and company could probably handle it, but this is deep. Why, though?
「Sorry for the wait~, Though, I gotta say, it’s kind of sad how I’m always the last one. But I won’t give up my pre-battle posing, okay? Yeah, as a Highschool Boy fighting in a dungeon, it’s an absolutely essential, vital, crucially and critically important pose that I just have to do, but enemy or ally, nobody ever reacts. It’s honestly heartbreaking. Can’t you guys do it with me, just once?」
(Shake-Shake, Nope-Nope, Bounce-Bounce)
Rejection! A complete, flat-out, instant denial. Looks like chuunibyou hasn’t taken hold in this world just yet. I’m already a second-year high schooler, but full recovery is still far off, I mean, it’s a dungeon, after all.
Even so, thanks to being able to deflect attacks with the 『Shoulder Guard』 dodging has become more compact, and that’s helped bring 『Kyojitsu』 into proper form. Combat time should be shortening too, so surely I’ve earned the right to strike a pose. That said, once enemies go past Lv80, even if I deflect the attack with 『Shoulder Guard』, I still take damage. At Lv24, unless I deflect it perfectly, the impact alone seems enough to deal damage.
And this time it’s a Dungeon Master, an opponent that can deliver a fatal blow the instant you lower your guard.
It was bound up in chains, stabbed relentlessly, and is currently being devoured, before a chance to deliver any blow even presented itself. But I must keep myself mentally restrained, no, bound, tight against carelessness. Well, it is tied up though?
I’d suspected it would be effective, but 『Enchanted Throwing Blades – Slash(Greater), Throwing, Homing, Magic Conductive, +ATT』but with the throwing blade dances through the air, slashing with its slashing effect, while the chain is guided to strike and bind, and finally, the blade stabs in and channels lightning through 『Mana Conductive』. Far from being a two-in-one special, it’s more like each chains is already a delicious deal, and there are 18 of them.. Even if you dodge that all, 『Divine Chains of Prometheus – ALL 30% UP, Transformation, Extension, Binding, Restraint, Enforced Total Ability Nullification, + ATT.』 are still awaiting.
While the constantly regrowing heads of the 『Ice Hydra Lv86』 are getting blown away by Fire Bullets, Armored Pres-san’s slashes are turning it into shaved ice, which is consumed by Slime-san. Apparently, no syrup needed? Out of curiosity, I poured some condensed, syrupy juice made from wild berries on top, and I got a happy 『Jiggle-Jiggle』 in response. It does look tasty, but I wonder what flavor best matches hydra?
I sort of got my hopes up, thinking we finally encountered a dragon-type, but turns out the 『Ice Hydra』 is more like an ice statue, a gargoyle. So, being made entirely of ice, the shaved ice treatment was the correct one. A monster for which shaved ice is the orthodox way of beating it?
(Jiggle-jiggle)
「See, I told you, that happens when you eat too much cold stuff at once, you get that brain freeze, except, where would your brain even be? Maybe your stomach got cold? Wait, you don’t have a stomach either, huh. Well, have some hot tea? It’s mushroom tea though.」
(Sluuurp, gulp gulp, Jiggle-Jiggle)
We all sat down for tea. Spread out a mat that looked vaguely like a felt rug, making it sort of like a little outdoor tea party, with some manju buns too.
(Sluuurp, gulp gulp, Jiggle-Jiggle)
I even made a tea ceremony parasol and set it up while we were at it. Everyone seemed happy, so I guess it was worth it. Maybe this counts as refined for dungeons?
Comment (0)