Chapter 83: The Crystal Knight's Test

[What... is this place?]

While I had Taijo record the map, we continued walking through the dungeon, and after descending the staircase from the 79th to the 80th floor, we arrived at a vast, open space. The ceiling was quite high, and it was a huge contrast to the narrow caves we had been walking through so far.

[Can you see the stairs on the other side?]

[...Yeah, they're there.]

[If there are stairs, then this probably isn't the final floor.]

: That surprised me.

: Imagine if it was the final floor after just four more levels from 76.

: It's not impossible, though.

: Didn't something like that happen overseas?

: Yeah, there was a story where the floor right below the highest reached floor turned out to be the final one.

You can't know where the final floor of a dungeon is until you reach it. So even if the final floor is just one level down, you won't know unless you go and check. Though, in the deeper floors, going down even one level can be a life-or-death situation, so it's not something to take lightly.

Still, the glowing minerals sticking out of the ground remain the same. The vastness of the space reminds me of the 75th floor of the Shibuya Dungeon. That area also had a huge open space… and a powerful monster.

[Oh.]

[Huh?]

Responding to Kanna's exclamation, I looked ahead and saw what appeared to be a knight statue, its entire body made of crystal. No, it wasn't a statue—it was a monster. Most likely a golem-type creature, similar to the others that scatter magic. It wasn't that big, standing about three meters tall, but in the deep floors, the smaller monsters are often the more troublesome ones.

: That's cool!

: It's got a lot of style.

: A crystal knight? That's super badass.

: Looks strong.

: Wonder if it moves.

[It's our first time seeing this type of monster, so maybe we should observe—]

[Strike first!]

[Of course.]

Yeah... it was probably a waste of time expecting Kanna and Grandma to be rational. Kanna will attack anything that makes eye contact, and Grandma always goes all out from the start once she identifies something as an enemy.

Despite Kanna starting her attack first, Grandma reached the knight first and delivered a kick to its face as usual. But unlike the other golems, this one didn't even flinch from Grandma's kick. Kanna followed up with a beam of compressed flames, but the knight casually blocked it with its shield.

[Finally, something that's worth fighting.]

[Hmm… should I turn up the heat a bit more?]

[I'll take the front lines. Kisaragi, back me up.]

[Got it.]

: Is this the first real challenge for the EXs?

: Finally, some serious action.

: I'm getting nervous, too.

: If these four can't clear this dungeon, it's never getting done.

: That's a bit much, lol.

: Maybe for a few hundred years, though.

: Fair point.

Since the knight scatters magic, Kanna's spells likely won't be enough to break through. That leaves us with physical attacks... but if Grandma's kick didn't work, we're in trouble.

[Taijo, support Aizawa.]

[Understood.]

[Kijin!]

[Finally, my turn!]

You're too loud.

: Oh no, here we go

: Lol

: At first, viewers thought she was just a pretty girl, but now… Searᴄh the Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

: She brought this on herself.

: This shikigami has way too much personality, lol.

: As a first-time viewer, she still just looks like a beautiful woman to me, though?

: Give it time. You'll see.

The crystal knight began swinging its sword at Aizawa, who had closed in. It wasn't particularly fast, but judging by the cracks it left in the ground with each strike, it packed a punch. Still, I wasn't too worried since Aizawa excels at close combat with a sword and shield, so I stayed focused on providing backup from behind.

Meanwhile, Grandma kept darting in, landing quick kicks on the knight. Even though it didn't look like her strikes were doing much, she wouldn't keep doing it if she didn't sense something.

[Uh, what are you doing?]

[Oh? I'm prepping a spell.]

: What the heck?

: What is that?

: Is she making a mini sun?

: Why is she conjuring the sun in her hands?!

: This woman is terrifying.

I felt the temperature rising and turned around to see Kanna raising her hands, and in them, a large ball of fire, roughly the size of a basketball. When I asked what she was doing, she casually said she was casting a spell, but even as we spoke, the fireball kept growing larger.

[Yeah, I thought the last attack didn't pack enough punch, so I'm boosting it.]

[...Kijin, help control that fire.]

[Once again with this woman... How many times will she burden you, Master?]

You're not one to talk, Kijin.

: What's he even saying?

: You too, Kijin!

: Gotta love the Twelve Heavenly Generals… even their boomerangs hit perfectly.

[Aizawa, you might want to watch your back. Kanna's about to go wild with another reckless spell.]

[Uh… why do I need to watch out for my allies while exploring the deep floors?]

[It can't be helped. Both Kanna and Master are terribly carefree.]

[True, but still…]

Oi, Taijo. You're my shikigami, so I can hear your thoughts no matter where you are. Don't badmouth me in front of the viewers, or they'll start giving me grief too.

[Here we go!]

Kanna's fireball, which had grown to several meters in diameter, was suddenly compressed down to the size of a baseball. It was so condensed that it seemed to tremble, with white light leaking from it. Can you even throw something like that safely? Unfazed by my concerns, Kanna launched the compressed fireball at the crystal knight with Kijin's help.

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[Gouchen!]

Realizing it was about to cause massive destruction, I quickly summoned Gouchen to protect everyone with a barrier. At the same time, Kanna's fireball slammed into the knight's shield and exploded.

As a result, Kanna's compressed flame magic scorched the entire 80th floor of Sapporo Dungeon in an instant.