CH 71

“Gugagyegah!” (Rimdobmur)

The members of the mercenary group gather on a battlefield cut out of trees. The captain, Angus, is giving orders, but since I don’t understand English, it’s unclear what he’s saying.

“Hmmm, I don’t think we’ve ever fought Rimdobmur head-on, have we?” (Kei)

“That’s right. We’ve only been able to take off by surprise or just run away from the beginning. I’m looking forward to seeing how they fight.” (Haru)

“Me too.”

We are now far enough away from the combat that we won’t be affected by the effects of the fight since we are observing the battle atop a tree.

I’ve torn off the leaves that are in the way with my hands, so it’s not like I’m taking part in the battle.

In order to understand the situation, we’ve rechecked the Proficiencies of the 20 mercenary group members.

There are 11 Proficiencies: Sword, Shield, Fist, Bow, Spear, Club, Trap, Hunt, Magic, Heal, and Enchant. You can easily tell them apart if you have knowledge of their roles and what they are specialized in.

The Proficiencies of those in the vanguard and bow-users can easily be deduced by what weapon they have. Trappers and Hunters are always running around, and the Trappers often have something that can be used as a trap. For the magic-users in the rear, Magicians use attack magic immediately, while Healers and Enchanters often up. Honestly, Enchanters and Healers are barely distinguishable.

So, in the case of the mercenary group, there are 15 vanguards. But all of them had weapons that exhibit quite the range, and none of them have Fist Proficiency. This makes their equipment look like they are more concerned with solidifying their defenses than attacking. Either they were aiming for a counterattack, or they are fools who are so focused on defense that they were willing to take the attack.

Well, since they are not amateurs, I doubt the latter. And the rearguard hides himself close to the vanguard to avoid being attacked.

Normally, as the norm, the vanguard and rearguard would be divided between the front and the rear, but this time the enemy was attacking from above with overwhelming firepower. So, they had to form a different formation than usual. However, they still move with familiarity.

The captain shouted something. No, he voiced a command. At the same time, the Rimdobmur in the sky bellowed. It was not a cry but used a breath of air as an attack. A tremendous amount of magic power and vibrations rained down on the mercenaries, but they were unable to damage the defenders.

As it is, Rimdobmur passed through the sky, but they did nothing and just held their ground. If we had been in their current position, we would have been able to strike back with certainty. Using Magic and Bows would be easy.

“Why don’t they fire magic?” (Kei)

“Hey, they can hit it from that distance. It’s much closer than the distance when we attack.” (Haru)

When we usually attack Rimdobmur, we usually do it before it becomes hostile, so it flies far above the top of the tree, but now Rimdobmur is flying just above the tops of the trees. That’s a position where people with vanguard skills of the mercenary group, who are stronger than us, can strike directly at it.

Rimdobmur who circled back and returned spits out a massive cannonball of air. It was like they were being carpet-bombed, but it contained a huge and dense amount of magical power, but with the command of their leader, the magic was dispersed by the vanguards before moving on to their next action.

“They don’t use any skills.” (Kei)

“Yep. They don’t seem to have been buffed by the Enchanters. They just might be strong against the element.” (Haru)

“So is their equipment good?” (Kei)

The mercenaries have already defeated Rimdobmur and have already fought the 25th floor’s boss. I’m sure they’ve got better materials than us, of course.

What’s more, they’re the strongest in the world. They probably have a lot of money. If they have the money, they could get a named weapon that we couldn’t ever get.

The question is, who will sell it to them?

“Oh, next one is a powerful gust.” (Kei)

While we were pondering, Rimdobmur was launching its next attack from the sky. A strong gust of wind is created by channeling magical power on its wings.

Even though they have increased their power by diving into the dungeon, their weight hasn’t changed in any way, so a strong wind would normally blow them away.

But even with winds far stronger than those typhoons, they avoided being blown away by sticking their weapons in the ground or by sticking together.

How long has it passed since then? Rimdobmur had used breath, wind balls, and strong winds as his attack pattern, firing repeatedly at the mercenaries below.

Needless to say, the results were clear. No one was injured. It was as if he hadn’t even used any of its magic. Rimdobmur must have realized that. He found that long-range attacks were ineffective, so what should it do next?

“Oh, will the battle finally start?” (Kei)

“Well, they are spreading out.” (Haru)

It’s going to be a melee. As I heard later, Rimdobmur seems to have low magic and high strength. I thought the amount of its magic was high because our magic didn’t work that well, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

So, by destroying the reverse scale, the amount of magic will be raised to the same level as its strength. By following the dungeon’s system, they can lower its strength to the same level as the amount of magic it has. If that’s the case, it’s probably a good thing we didn’t go near the Rimdobmur that we shot down.

The earth trembled as Rimdobmur landed.

“Gyaaaa!!!” (Rimdobmur)

And it roared.

Along with the captain’s cry, magic rains down on Rimdobmur. However, all of the magic was adjusted so that it did not fly straight down but drew an arc and hit from above.

It’s a trick that even the most advanced explorers can’t pull off. I don’t know if we can do it either.

The plume of dust spreading around Rimdobmur spread with a roar.

Its wings were torn into pieces.

“Wow, so that’s the vanguard skill used by the world’s strongest.” (Kei)

“It looks powerful.” (Haru)

A pale light shoots from the sword swung by the leader, breaking the ground, cutting the wind, and even ripping through Rimdobmur.

The attack made a huge hole in its wing, making it impossible for it to fly again.

When the leader was done, the rest of the vanguards attacked in unison with their skills. The leader’s skills were indeed strong, but they could only show their true value at a distance. However, that would need to involve his companions.

That’s why they attacked in order. They blinded Rimdobmur with magic, blocked its way out, and pinned it to the ground with the leader’s skill. And beyond that, it’s the unspoken devastating end.

“Let’s go home?” (Kei)

Looking at the clock, I asked Haru. The battle is indeed a fine and well-planned one, but it is all but impossible for a party of only two like us to imitate.

There’s probably not much to be gained by staying here and watching the battle.

“Yeah. In our case, even if we reduce its strength. What’s the point?” (Kei)

“First of all, we are weak at close combat.” (Haru)

When we looked back at Rimdobmur, we can see that it is overrun and it will not be able to fight back. Even so, its scales are hard.

“Their firepower is weak, right?” (Kei)

“Yes, they are. I’m a little disappointed.” (Haru)

Angus is the leader of the world’s strongest mercenary corps. The skill he released certainly hurt Rimdobmur. However, it is only its patagium.

It didn’t break the wing or sever it, it just punched a hole in the membrane. He is a [Sword] who has the Proficiency to slash.

From a distance, the Rimdobmur was covered in wounds, but nothing else. How much time would it take to kill it?

It had already been a little over two hours since they had arrived at the forest.

“Well, I’m glad I found a clue to their strategy. Let’s go back home, brother.” (Haru)

“That’s right. That’s probably enough to beat it. Let’s go.” (Kei)

We jumped down from a tall tree without even being on the defensive and started walking. We don’t even have a weapon, our hands. There are no signs of monsters around, perhaps due to the influence of Rimdobmur.

“Let’s go home and have supper. We have to hunt Minotaurs.” (Kei)

“Yep, if we get some on the way, we can cook them once we get back home.” (Haru)

While the mercenary group fought to the death, the siblings leisurely headed home.

A few hours later. Little do they know that the dungeon in Tokyo will bring about a revolution in the world.

They were unaware of the power that was growing deep underground.