237 - - Steady search

The stairs to the seventh floor were found in the morning.

It is located at the end of the intricate southeast corridor.

There were three steel guardians in the not very spacious room, but Yuril mercilessly shot them with freezing fog to stop them from moving.

Thor swung his sword machete and finished dismantling them quickly and easily.

Without the small steel dolls attached to their heads, they would not release electric shocks, so they are not such a formidable opponent as long as they are stopped in their tracks.

The next floor was similarly constructed.

However, the monsters are mainly steel dolls.

I dare to make them combine with each other, and then use Sola's to return the electric blasts to finish them off.

Also, from this floor, the behavior of the monsters has changed a little, and they sometimes call multiple companions.

Cold Sleep, which forces them to sleep, and Cold Lost Wave, which drains their strength and reduces their thinking, do not work on steel dolls either, but unlike the spirits of the dead, cold air itself is not negligible.

The group was collectively hardened by Yuril's brilliant magic.

Thanks to their ability to combine action inhibition with defense and counterattack, the search proceeded without any particular difficulties.

"Hmmm, mmmm, mmmm..."

"What's the matter, you need something?"

"No, I'm fine, I've already taken care of that one earlier.

"Ms. Sola, it's not something you should talk about openly."

The girl, her brow slightly furrowed and her lips pouted, looked alternately at the end of the passage and at the map.

She looks a little adorable, though she says she is thinking hard.

Sola's eyes were fixed on a room with four guardians standing in the way.

At the end of the room, a stairway leading to the bottom of the darkness can be seen.

On the third day of searching the dungeon, Thor and his team had found a staircase leading to the eighth basement floor.

However, the cartographer, Sora, is not convinced.

"Is it getting narrower?"

"Yes. See, the size is completely different.

Overlapping the map of the sixth floor with the map of the seventh floor, it seems that the seventh floor is indeed smaller.

It is only about half the area.

Moreover, there are places on the sixth floor that have not been covered yet, so it is possible that the difference between the two floors is even larger than that.

"That's strange."

The seventh floor was explored by checking the outermost wall and then filling in the inside, so there should be no chance of getting the size wrong.

Usually, the deeper the labyrinth is, the more spacious it becomes, and it is almost impossible for it to be narrow except for the level guarded by the master.　

"What do you think?　Mr. Yuril."

There might be some kind of hidden door somewhere. But I didn't see anything like that.

Unlike Thor and the others, Yuril had a lot of experience in dungeons and seemed to have checked the area thoroughly.

"Well, what should we do?

"First, let's fill in the areas we can go to. Even if there is some kind of mechanism, we can't unravel it without clues. For now, I recommend that we gather as much information as possible.

"Okay. Then let's go to the eighth floor first.

While the adults continued their serious conversation, Moe was just lunging at Thor's thigh with one hand outstretched on his forehead.

According to him, he was playing the role of a beetle.

"Moo is going to pick you up and turn you upside down!"

"Well, I'll take it first!　Ouch, ouch!　Goo hurts a lot more than you think, Moo-chan."

"I told you, rhinoceros beetles aren't so bad!"

"Oh, I've never heard of that before!"

The watchmen are quickly disposed of, and Thor and the others step onto the next floor.

Here, too, there were only steel dolls, but the alarm dolls on the ceiling were now calling for more of them.

Also, traps where parts of the floor suddenly come loose or sharp bones pop out of the walls begin to appear here and there.

Thor went and managed to escape.

On the fourth day, halfway through the mapping of the eighth floor, we returned to the ground and headed back to the city.

The miasma in the fixed dungeon is much thicker, and it is dangerous to stay there for too long.

After submitting the vajra shards as proof of defeat, all of them are converted into a tag and left in my possession.

After two days of relaxing in the baths and feasting on elaborate cuisine, Thor and his friends once again head for the depths of the swamp.

"Mmmmmm, mmmm..."

"Again."

Sola was moaning again as he faced the stairs to the ninth floor, which was guarded by five guards.

The eighth floor was larger than the seventh floor, but still smaller than the sixth floor.

It was obviously strange, but at this stage, it was impossible to tell why.

The new floor was a more complicated structure.

In particular, there were many dead-ends, and a large number of steel dolls called by the staff came to those dead-ends.

However, they fell prey to Moo's unleashed "Denchujin" (Electric Retardation).

The child, who had been disturbed by the many obstacles in his search and who had been spending all his spare time, giggled at the steel doll approaching at a slow pace.

On the fourth day, Thor and his friends already reached the staircase leading to the tenth floor.

There is only one large steel doll in the room.

But there are several small, shell-shaped steel dolls attached to its entire body.

At a quick glance, they are attached to the head, wrists, and elbows. And two more on its chest, so there must be at least seven of them.

"Hmm, they're so elaborate!"

"This guy looks like a pain in the ass."

"You're so cool, To-chan!"

If only the power of the blitz increases, they are not so scary.

However, there is a possibility that they may send several electric currents.

In such a case, , which can only take one target, is not suitable.

Even if you use and together, the speed of the blasts will limit you to three.

"There's no other way, and besides, it looks like--"

"It seems there is no other way but to defeat them."

A staircase peeking over the shoulder of the guard.

In front of it, a sturdy iron grate had been lowered firmly.