Chapter 84: The Awakening of the Lizard King

[...What a Natural disaster.]

The words just slipped out of my mouth as a bit of an insult. But honestly, can you blame me this time? Kanna had really outdone herself with that attack.

: Brutal

: Not human

: Can people even cast magic like this?

: This isn't the kind of magic I know.

: Wait, if one person can do this, that's insane.

: And there are three more like her here…

I have a lot to say about Kanna's reckless behavior—like how she almost hit her own allies—but for now, I need to deal with the crystal knight that's still coming toward us, albeit barely. After taking the full brunt of Kanna's compressed fire spell, the knight's left arm had completely melted, and its body was deformed, but somehow, it was still walking.

Though it was just barely standing, it clearly had no fight left.

: How is it still alive after that?

: This is what makes the uncharted depths so terrifying.

: The deep floors really are something else.

: It's exciting to watch, but if I ran into something like that, I'd get chills.

: No wonder dungeon exploration hasn't progressed much.

Aizawa took a step forward and finished off the battered crystal knight with a swift slash. That's it for the 80th floor. I'm not sure how often monsters like this respawn, but floors with big, open spaces and strong monsters usually don't have others spawning. If the interval is long enough, this might even be a good resting spot... though that's still uncertain.

[Alright, that's done.]

[That was quick!]

[You should at least show some remorse for your actions.]

[S-Sorry...]

: Kisaragi always gets her to back down, lol.

: At least she knows she went overboard.

: She's aware, huh?

: If she wasn't, I'd question her humanity.

: Isn't she already pushing it as a human?

: She almost collapsed the dungeon, after all.

: Her power is already beyond human anyway.

: True, none of them are exactly "normal."

[So, should we keep going, or take a break? I don't know the respawn intervals for monsters like that.]

[Let's keep moving. Running into that thing again on the way back would be a pain.]

[Agreed. We can figure out the spawn intervals when we need to.]

Well, the goal this time is to reach the bottom floor of the Sapporo Dungeon, not to explore every nook and cranny. So, the sooner we reach the bottom, the better. With three votes in favor of moving forward, it's decided. Kanna's vote doesn't count right now, so it's unanimous.

We proceed down the staircase to the 81st floor, which opened into yet another vast, open space.

[Ah...]

[...Yeah.]

: Someone say something.

: Didn't we just see this? Sёarch* The novёlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

: Are we stuck in a loop?

: We definitely went down the stairs, right?

: It's not exactly the same, but it's close.

The main difference on the 81st floor was that it was brightly lit. In the distance, a large crystal, glowing as brightly as an LED light, was embedded in the ground, illuminating the entire space. The room was larger than the last one, with a much higher ceiling. The top of the chamber was so far away it seemed to blur into the darkness.

[I don't see any stairs.]

[Is this the final floor?]

[Maybe… but we won't know until we check behind that big crystal.]

[Be careful. I can feel a killing intent.]

I could sense it too. The moment we stepped into the 81st floor, a heavy aura of hostility washed over us. There were no monsters in sight yet, but something out there had definitely locked onto us.

I summoned Gouchen and set up a barrier around the party as we moved forward. In a place like this, we could get attacked from anywhere at any time. As I was thinking that, the massive crystal in front of us started to move. It wasn't a huge surprise—these kinds of things happen in dungeon exploration games—but I wasn't expecting the crystal itself to be a monster.

[...Is that a dragon?]

[Looks more like a lizard.]

[Is there really a difference?]

The massive crystal had legs and a tail, looking more like a lizard than a dragon. It was at least ten meters long from head to tail, and the crystal on its back was blindingly bright.

: Is it a lizard?

: I don't know if I'd call that a dragon…

: It doesn't have horns, so it's just a lizard.

: Yeah.

: Way too big, though.

It slowly exhaled, walking toward us with clear malice, clearly contemplating how to attack.

[Quit dragging your feet!]

Grandma, as usual, wasn't going to wait for it to make the first move. She shot forward at lightning speed, aiming a ball of compressed magic at the lizard's jaw, likely remembering how hard the crystal knight had been.

['Great Centipede.']

Taking that as a cue, I summoned my Great Centipede to charge at the lizard. At the same time, Aizawa rushed in with her shield raised, and Kanna sent a bolt of lightning from her fingertips.

The lizard shrugged off Grandma's magic blast, pinned the Great Centipede with its front legs, biting off its head, and spat shards of crystal at Aizawa to keep her at bay. It didn't even bother defending against Kanna's lightning attack. Read exclusive adventures at m_v-l'-NovelFire.net

As expected of a monster from the deepest floors, this one wasn't going down easily. Looks like I'll need to get serious too. No time to glance at the stream comments now. I turned off my watch and focused on the fight.

[It's too tough… Should I use another big spell?]

[I don't think that's enough to kill this thing.]

While Kanna and I debated what to do, Aizawa reinforced her sword with magic and slashed at the lizard's crystalline body, but it barely left a scratch.

[What an annoying lizard.]

While I was thinking about our next move, Grandma thrust her arms forward. I wasn't sure what she was planning, but the crystals growing from the cave walls began breaking off, gathering in front of her to form a large cluster.

[You'd better dodge!]

[I'm on it!]

Grandma strengthened the cluster of crystals with her own magic and then hurled it at the crystal lizard. As the barrage of crystal shards rained down, each one hitting with enough force to crater the ground, Aizawa didn't back off. She closed the distance, thrusting her sword forward.

Even a simple thrust wouldn't damage the lizard, but the compressed magical blade at the tip of her sword pierced through the lizard's crystal armor and into its side.

Man… the two of them are really pulling off some crazy moves.