CH 105

The current Ice and Snow Dragon plan was as follows.

First off, the dragons would all disguise themselves as adult men. Then as a party of four with Claire and Frau tagging along, they would head to Marsfield’s Adventurer’s Guild in order to put in an application to search the labyrinth.

Ra-chin would wear some of Frau’s equipment and act like a heavy fighter while Su-chan pretends to be a light fighter with some of Reeve’s. Frau would wear an oversized robe, hiding her vibrant hair and voluminous curves, allowing her to pass off as an ordinary male magician, and Claire would play the role of a thief with some of Ellis’s clothes altered to fit her.

Their purpose was to confirm the location of the labyrinth and make sure there were no other parties there that would get in their way. Ellis and Reeve both had a mental link with their dragons, so they would know where to go after all was said and done. Incidentally, Katie was too conspicuous as a white-haired catgirl, so she was forced to stay behind as well.

After meeting up at the labyrinth, Frau’s group would head inside while Ellis, Reeve, and Katie waited outside the door. Frau would wait a while before using the Return Ring to head back to the Adventurer’s Guild under the pretense that the enemies inside were just too strong. The four of them could then meet back up with Ellis, and the real journey inside could begin. This strategy was all thanks to Claire’s spell, {Runaway Dungeon} which would allow them to flee the Ice and Snow Dragon Labyrinth if things were to ever get dangerous. One of the key rules to being a thief is always having an escape plan, so if it wasn’t for Claire’s spell, Ellis would have grudgingly kept the ring and risked exposure.

Ra-chin and Su-chan transformed into Ellis and Reeve respectively, altering their hair and builds to look more like men. And truth be told, Ellis and Reeve made quite the handsome men. They would certainly leave an impression on the receptionists when they see them which should work to their advantage.

“I’m counting on you Ra-chin.”

“Leave it to me Ellis. And for now, you can call me Ellison.”

Ellis nodded her head proudly. She knew she could count on Ra-chin.

“I’m counting on you Su-chan.”

“Well since Reeve’s the one asking me, I suppose it just can’t be helped you know. By the way, how does the name, Re-chan sound for me?”

It was quickly decided that Su-chan could not be counted on. It was decided that he would be called Revatein, and he should keep quiet as much as possible.

“Since I’ll be acting as the party leader, don’t worry about a thing.”

“Ehehehe. Ellis, your clothes suit me surprisingly well.”

Frau was going by the name ‘Flare’ while Claire had named herself Clarence. They were both extremely lazy names that would quickly give them away if any suspicions were pressed.

And so as the four party members rode to Marsfield on a set of Magical Horses, the other three were left anxiously hoping they didn’t screw up.

After a while, Ra-chin’s voice resonated inside Ellis’s head.

“We’ve finished our registration. We’re are now about to leave through the eastern gate.”

Passing the message on to Reeve and Katie, the three of them began to move as well. The Ice and Snow Dragon Labyrinth was only about a kilometer away from Marsfield’s eastern gate. Frau’s group broke away from their guide and entered the labyrinth immediately. Once their guide had confirmed that they did in fact enter, he turned on his heels and returned to the Adventurer’s Guild.

“Ra-chin, there are probably some traps in the hallway, so don’t move too far forward and just kill some time.”

Ellis sent out additional instructions for Ra-chin to follow, but about a moment later, Reeve cringed. A loud scream from Su-chan echoed in Reeve’s mind, so loud it brought tears to Reeve’s eye.

“UWAAA!”

“Su-chan, what’s wrong!”

Su-chan never sent a reply. Instead, it was Ellis who received a message from Ra-chin.

“Su-chan stupidly ignored your instructions and touched a doorknob causing an electrical shock to leave him paralyzed and twitching on the ground. He’ll probably recover soon, so we will return to the Adventurer’s Guild when he does.”

Ellis and Reeve both sighed and looked away. They were both dragons, so why were their personalities and competence so different? Only Katie wasn’t able to understand the circumstances and was quietly smiling behind them.

It took about an hour for the paralyses to wear off and another fifteen minutes for the four to regroup with Ellis. Su-chan was rarely quiet, standing off to the side on his own.

“I went ahead and punished him on Reeve’s behalf.”

Frau placed her dark mithril halberd on her shoulders and gave Reeve a report. It was a dark mithril weapon that could cut through even dragon scales, so whatever punishment she had given him, it had definitely hurt.

And sure enough as soon as he saw Reeve, the Storm Dragon transformed into his mini form on the spot and stuck himself onto Reeve’s chest over her equipment. He immediately hid his head underneath his wing without saying anything.

“My my”

Reeve shook her head, putting all of the equipment Su-chan had been wearing that had crumpled on the ground into her bag.

“Good job Ra-chin.”

“It was nothing, Ellis. It looks like most of the enemies inside are ice or snow elemental type monsters, but there are probably a few different types of beasts as well.”

Ra-chin also removed the gear he had been wearing and turned into his own mini self. Ellis then began to reorganize the party. Frau would be in charge of carrying Ra-chin while Claire would watch Pi-tan. Su-chan had still yet to say anything, and it looked like he intended to continue to be worn by Reeve even while she would be fighting. With everything worked out, they all stepped into the labyrinth.

The girls were able to move forward relatively quickly from the front entrance at first. The traps were about the same level as the Demon Labyrinth, and a sucker had already deactivated the first paralysis trap.

If what Ra-chin said was right and most of the enemies were in fact ice types, then pure fire power¹ was a valid strategy. While Ellis got to work on releasing the trap on the door, Claire put Pi-tan down in one corner of the room and began preparing her {Homing Missiles}.

There was a small *click* when the trap was cancelled. Katie and Frau got ready to charge forward as Reeve placed her hand on the doorknob.

All five girls held their breath.

“3…….2……..1……..Go!”

With Ellis’s shout, Reeve threw open the door, and as Frau charged forward from the front, Katie made her way around to the back. 15 large balls of flame came rushing down after Claire had confirmed the enemies’ positions.

Three ice sprites and three snow sprites were all turned into water vapor on the spot, and some type of ice creature in the back was torn to shreds by Katie’s claws, having only enough time to scream before it breathed its last.

The whole fight didn’t take ten seconds.

“Heh, you have my sympathies.” Ra-chin was suddenly remembering when he was on the receiving end of that assault. And Ellis and Reeve hadn’t even had a turn this time.

Ellis immediately headed towards the treasure chest. Its similarities to the chests in the Demon Labyrinth made her want to rush through it, but she was smart enough to not let herself get careless.

*Click*

The treasure chest trap was successfully removed, and the latch swung open. It was an explosion trap. The kind that would have killed every ice type monster in the room if there were any left.

The chests contents was 20 thousand ril in coins. There were no magic tools to be had.

The girls used this same process on much of the following rooms with repeated success. Every couple of rooms there would be more ice-type beasts in the back that Reeve could cut up, but Ellis was relegated to being an over-glorified locksmith. Until the 20th room at least, where a luxuriously designed door of a different color stood before them.

There would be a boss monster behind these doors. After canceling the trap, Ellis and Katie stood to one side of the door as Frau and Claire stood in front of it. Claire prepared a {Distraction Needle} beforehand and loaded it into her dress. Reeve started the countdown, and as she pulled open the door, Ellis ran to the left while Katie moved to the right.

As expected, a large monster was standing at the room’s center, but what was unexpected was the fact that they could only see a light silhouette of it from the door. A massive snowstorm was blowing in the room, casting fluffy snow around that disrupted their vision, tiny crystals of ice that felt like tiny needles were being jabbed into their skin, and whirling cold winds that cut straight to the bone.

Frau ignored the cold and charged the boss straight from the front while Claire swung around to its rear and cast her {Distraction Needle} to remove any status resistances it had.

Frau stopped and stared for a moment, disbelief evident on her face. Her blade should have had Exorcism attached to it and at least done something. Reeve had come in from the side, but seeing the result from Frau’s attack, she judged her katana would have the same result and re-aimed her attack on the Snow Queen’s head. The monster’s scream was evidence enough that this attack was far more effective.

Katie’s Brave Ripper also had an effect on the queen, bringing a look of panic to pass across her human-like face. The Snow Queen tried to fight back with some magic, but her voice had already been sealed by Ellis’s Silence.

The Queen began jerking around confused. And then Claire’s {Valkyria’s Lance} shot through the Queen’s stomach. The spell blew a whole through her, revealing nothing underneath. The dress was made from interconnected snowflakes with no body, spectral or physical, underneath.

With the revelation that she had no lower half, Katie’s follow up attacks were all focused on the Queen’s head and arms. After that, all that was left of the queen was a pile of snow and blood resting on the ground.

The treasure chest in the room had only one million ril inside.

Room 35

What appeared inside was a White Giant. It was able to completely resist Claire’s {Distraction Needle}, preventing any of the girls’ status ailments from hampering him. Luckily, this type of enemy was where Frau’s abilities shined brightest.

Frau charged it right from the front, taking its mighty blows. With each blow from the giant taken by her shield, she returned each strike with a return swing from her halberd. Her halberd hacked away at the giant’s foot, cutting through flesh and bone until the fifth swing completely cut through.

The giant stumbled, giving Reeve the opening she needed to run up from behind and slice through the tendon of his remaining foot while Katie gouged out the giant’s neck with her claws. The final strike came from Ellis who jumped out of the giant’s own shadow and stabbed him with her Mad God stiletto.

Once again, the treasure chest contained only ril.

And finally the 50th room.

Ra-chin spoke up directly into everyone’s minds.

“I have no doubt. The being behind this door is similar to me. It is most likely the Ice and Snow Dragon.” Ra-chin then immediately began talking to Su-chan in turn. “Su-chan, this will be your time to redeem yourself.”

The attack compatibility of Ra-chin’s {Summon Volcano} is just too good against an Ice and Snow Dragon, and the possibility of him accidentally killing it is too high. If it was Su-chan’s attack though, it should be able to deal a good deal of damage while also cutting through any snow that might be piled up in there.

“This will be on another level from the Snow Queen or the White Giant. And you won’t be able to get the drop on him like you did me. It would be for the best if we took some safety measures.”

The truly reliable Ra-chin.

With his suggestion in their mind, the five girls reevaluated their strategy for the final boss.

Ellis carefully released the final trap.

Reeve stood in front of the door, Su-chan sitting in her hand. They had already activated {Share Sight}. Frau would be opening the door this time while Ellis and Ra-chin waited next to the door.

“Reeve, Su-chan, are you ready?”

The dragon and its owner both nodded together, so Ellis turned to Frau.

“Go!”

As soon as Frau threw open the door, Reeve and Su-chan jumped into the room and unleashed their {Summon Hurricane}.

*WHOOSH!!!*

A tornado exploded out, creating a whirlwind that tore through the room. The boom of the air cutting itself was ear-shattering, eclipsed only by the violent scream that rose from the tornado’s center.

“Now Ellis!”

Ellis jumped into the room at Ra-chin’s word. She was able to see a large white object through the wind and threw Ra-chin as hard as she could at it.

{Change Size}

Ra-chin’s size grew to its original length, and he used all that increased growth to hold down that white object. His hind leg shot out, hitting the white object’s head and slamming it onto the ground.

The tornado soon gave way, revealing a large snake-like dragon whose body was covered in pure white hair.

1. No, this pun wasn’t in the original Japanese, but I saw an opportunity and took it. I won’t apologize.