263 - - a thunderstorm born in the dark

"So, what do you think?"

With outstretched wings skillfully cutting the wind, the flying dragon crosses the sky.

The bow of a small boat is tied to its belly.

With the wind at his back, Chiru asks his three companions with a sharp look in his eyes.

The twins, who had been looking boredly at the bleak wilderness below, break eye contact and meet each other's eyes.

"Yes, I see. It's impossible for that man, or even those children, to be here..."

It was the older sister, Kikiriri, who started the conversation.

The younger sister, Nenemimi, has her expression as if masked, her lips still tightly knit.

"I see. That's impossible."

Hearing his reply, Chiru nodded his head in satisfaction.

Less than two months.

That's how long it took Thor and the others to reach the bottom of the underworld.

Even with the help of Stratchia and the others, the search for the white dead would normally take years to complete.

It is unthinkably fast.

Moreover, the disadvantages are too numerous to mention.

There were four members, less than the normal number, and three of them were young women, and one of them was not even double-digit in age.

They do not belong to any faction and are not encouraged by the temple.

Furthermore, all of them are magic-users, a composition that would make even a heroic figure lose his head.

Such an unconventional party did not leave any vacancies, but rather, they trudged through the labyrinth without a single sign of serious injury.

It was truly an unbelievable sight.

"So that's enough?"

"No, I'm talking to you as an adventurer. Whether we can trust him as a human being is another story. I know, Nene.

"I think you're a good man, Thor."

"Yes, I saw nothing false in the way he took to her. But that's only so far. How do we choose what to do ......?"

"We can't afford to wait that long. We can't afford to wait that long.

"I know, I know."

It is not for lack of ability that the Tengrashi Alliance's search has so far seemed to have made so little progress.

As Thor had surmised, it was for a specific purpose.

Chiru and the others had been secretly and carefully sizing up Thor and the others.

Kikiriri exhaled deeply and continued without looking back at Nenemimi, who remained silent.

"I don't have a choice. Okay, let's do it."

"Well, thank you. How are you doing?

The waterman, who was sitting on the stern of the boat with his staff in his arms, looked up quietly and gave a short answer.

"I have no objection.

"Then it's settled."

Thus, the Tianrashin Alliance was to challenge the fifteenth floor.

After spending more than half a day to reach the tenth floor, the group set up their bunks on the stairs and made preparations.

First, since the stairs to the eleventh floor were closed, they searched for the ghost of the former chief guard.

They succeed in opening the lid of the sarcophagus in about two hours, while blocking the escape from the wall by setting up an electrical blockade along the passageway.

After disposing of the evil spirit in white on the eleventh floor, we look for the blue steel doll.

"It's over there somewhere..."

"Yes, I'll take care of it!"

It was Kikiriri who started the conversation, but it was Nenemimi who pointed the way.

Chita, who replied lightly in the direction indicated by the twins, activates the .

The head of the steel puppet is blocking the , but a skilled lightning user can determine its location, if only roughly.

All that remains is to use the wind's magic technique to read the terrain and find the location of the projection on the ceiling.

Chiru, standing at the end of the passageway, draws his stiff bow lightly with his arm as thick as a log.

The monster, shot by an arrow that flew in from outside its sensing range, stopped functioning before it could issue a warning.

Nenemimi hears the noisy footsteps of the patrolling body, skillfully avoids them, and the group moves toward the back.

Again, in less than two hours, the blue steel doll was killed.

The search stops there for the rest of the day.

After pulling themselves up to the tenth floor stairs, the Tianrashi Alliance lowers the bars on both sides of the building to prepare for dinner.

It is usually Chiru who prepares the meal.

"Milk porridge again?

"I'm sick and tired of it. Give me something better to eat."

"Stop complaining!　In our country, we eat this every day without fail so that we can have a healthy body."

"I'm a little tired of it too!"

Moldamo was the only one who finished eating in silence.

The next day, we proceeded to the 13th floor.

In front of the red hidden room are Chita, Chiru, and Moldamo.

The twins are already waiting near the other room, which is crammed with steel dolls.

The waterman moves the corner stone, and the doors to both rooms open at once.

The steel dolls that jump out are instantly stopped by the electric currents.

Slowly moving forward, the monster swarm shoots out icicles one after another.

The speed is slowed down, but it is still dangerous.

The twins, however, move themselves out of range.

While the Kikiriri and the twins bide their time, the Midoriwa siblings finish the job.

The red ghost, pierced by a silvered arrowhead, vanishes into thin air, its jaws open in regret.

Chiru and the others, having killed the monster without taking a single step into the room, immediately turn on their heels.

Their goal is the stairway to the fourteenth floor.

At the same time, the twins run away as if they have done their job.

The group is safely reunited at the bottom of the stairs, and after catching their breath, they head for the large room to the north.

Behind the bars, a black shadow floats quietly among the gray spirits.

Silently, Chiru draws his bowstring, watching his prey and timing his shot perfectly.

The next thing he knows, the bow is swinging, and an arrow slips noiselessly through the bars and pierces the shadow.

The archer nodded his head in satisfaction at his perfect shot.

After quickly killing the monsters that form the key to the four pillars, the group heads south.

The pillars at the four corners of the back room on the fourteenth floor had all disappeared into the ceiling.

And the bars have been lifted up as well.

Peering into the dimly lit staircase leading downstairs, Chiru urged him with a few words.

"Let's go."

There was no answer, but no one stopped.