Volume 5 - CH 4.3

Part 3

The twelfth underground floor──

『Those who value their lives should leave』

Seeing the letters written on the gate, Rem gulped.

「……Up until here, even if it was a floor where high leveled monsters were deployed, the contents of the warning weren’t this direct. It would seem that a suitable amount of resolve is required.」

「Let’s go! Having come this far, there’s no way we can just go back!」

Shera’s way of thinking was plain and simple. Just as she said, they can’t feel timid at this point in time.

「……Naturally. However, it means that preparation and vigilance is needed.」

Lumachina nodded.

「I shall provide support with all of my strength. At this point, being anxious about you two would instead be impolite of me.」

「Thank you for believing us……Lumachina, we will bring you to the lowest floor. The item that will dispel the Marked Death Disease should be there……Besides, I am sure that Diablo and Horun will come as well. Let’s go on ahead and wait for the two of them there.」

「Yes.」

「Let’s do our best! Rem! Lumachina-chan!」

The three of them exchanged gazes with each other. They strengthened their resolve.

Rem placed her hands on the door.

She pushed it.

*Gou* Wind swirled, and there was some sort of sour smell.

It was a vast, spacious cave. The ceiling couldn’t be compared with the other floors, and continued on endlessly.

What could faintly be seen was……

──A blue sky?

By some chance, could this be a deep, gigantic pit, and did it continue on from the surface down to here?

Wouldn’t it have been faster if we just descended down into this pit? At the same time that Rem thought this, Diablo should have a reason why he didn’t do so──is what Rem thought.

The walls were grand and had become smooth as if they were polished. The ground under their feet was the same, and although it wasn’t level, not even weeds were growing there.

However, she wasn’t given any time to deepen her speculations.

It was because there was something coming at them from ahead.

A certain thing had just defeated a monster.

What had collapsed and lied on the floor was, a Humanoid-type monster. Rem had not seen it anywhere other than in books but……

Most likely, it was a 《Death Dancer》. It was a Skeleton that possessed several arms, and its killer technique called 《Bloody Dance》 would instantly cut Adventurers up into pieces.

The stern warning for it was that it was a “dreadful monster that you should definitely run away from if you come across one”.

That monster was defeated, and was changed into a mere corpse.

『I shall equally bestow death upon the small ones that invade my land!』

A voice resounded within their heads.

It was telepathy.

Although they cannot pronounce words, they understand human speech. Not knowing how they learned it, they are said to have a good command of human speech.

Shera started trembling.

「Wh-wh-what do we do, Rem!?」

It seems that the one that made the twelfth underground floor its stronghold wasn’t the 《Death Dancer》, but the 《Large Black Dragon》.

「Kuh……If you value your life, immediately running away would be the wise thing to do. However……」

If they don’t break through here, they won’t obtain the treasured article that will dispel the Marked Death Disease.

「Looks like we have no choice but to fight, right!?」

Gritting her teeth, Shera readied her bow.

She fired an arrow.

Her arrow broke the Dragon’s scale.

However, 《Petrification》 didn’t occur.

Shera’s eyes went round.

「Why……!?」

『Hou, to think that I would feel the Demon King’s power from a small one’s arms, how interesting. However, it is not enough to get through to me.』

Rem wiped the sweat from her forehead.

「……Most likely, you can’t get through the Dragon’s Magic Resistance with the magic power that Krum bestowed on your weapon.」

Dragons were ranked by their size. When it came to the Large-class, it was the king of Dragons in this region.

With the magical power that Krum bestowed for the sake of self-protection, it was only natural that it wouldn’t bring it down.

The Dragon that descended from the sky slowly landed.

『O small ones! If you oppose me, then wield that strength of yours! You shall sink into despair, until you accept death!』

Around the center of the cave, the Holy Knight was there.

「Don’t joke around with me -wa yoo!」