Volume 3 - CH 24

I opened the flap of the carriage and gazed outside.

A rainbow colored swirl could be seen on top of a shallow river.

That’s our objective, the entrance to the Sunken Utopia.

“I see, so it’s there.”

A lot of slug-like monsters were loitering around the entrance.

Those were the monsters that overflowed to the outside due to the Monster Pool that was happening in the Sunken Utopia.

…..I prepared myself for it, but that’s a lot more monsters than I expected.

“What’s with those creepy things?”

After checking outside from over my shoulder and seeing the monsters, Celt had a frown on his face.

A lot of blue mollusk monsters that spawned outside the Sunken Utopia……

They had long tentacles that served as sensory organs and had a great resemblance to sea-slugs.

A bunch of red tentacles growing from their backs were undulating in the wind, looking for something to grasp.

“Those are Sea Oni. They have both high Attack and Defense. They attack with a multitude of tentacles, so it’s difficult to fend them off until you get used to them. However, if you keep your distance, then they start attacking with water magic.”

“So, highly aggressive, highly durable, and has a bunch of ways of attacking. These are some high-spec monsters. They really shouldn’t be swarming like that then, right?”

The corners of Celt’s mouth curved downwards, already being fed up with things.

“When a monster has such clear strength, their weak point is usually even clearer. Both the tentacles and its main body are very slow. As long as you get used to its tentacles, you can fight them in close range without any problems. Don’t worry, there is an easy trick to use against enemies like those. Fighting these types is something of a speciality of mine, you can say.”

The more techniques like that work against a certain opponent, the more confident I’m with fighting them.

Opponents like the Sword Saint Mariss, who depend entirely on their high Agility stat to hit me are much more troublesome for me.

Since Heavy Knights have a serious disadvantage in speed, they are unable to reliably fend off the opponent’s attacks, which leads to their defense inevitably breaking down eventually.

“…..but really, where did that knowledge and experience of yours come from? It’s more and more shocking the more you think about it. I can say I’m really happy that I ended up in the same party as you, Elma.”

Celt let out a sigh.

“Those monsters…..those Sea Oni are kinda cute……”

Luce muttered while looking at the swarm of Sea Oni.

The atmosphere froze from her words.

“Cute? Those? I think you have very strange tastes.”

Celt looked at the Sea Oni with narrowed eyes.

“D-did I say something that strange?”

“W-well, depending on how you look at them…..they are kind of cute….? They’re like giant sea slugs too…..”

My eyes met a swaying pair of eyestalks.

At that moment, the sea-anemone-like tentacles on its back all stood at an end to try and intimidate me.

A surge of nausea welled up in me at the sight.

Since this was much more realistic than it was in the game, it was really disgusting.

“…..sorry, but that’s a no-go for me after all.”

I averted my eyes from Luce, who was looking at me anxiously.

The carriage had stopped and it was decided that clearing out the entrance of the Dungeon came first.

The other adventurers in the Raid who arrived first have already started fighting them.

“Byuuuuh…..”

“Byuuh…..”

The swarm of Sea Oni was closing in on us while making those sounds.

――――――――――――――――――――

Monster: Sea Oni

Level: 63

HP: 177/177

MP: 99/99

――――――――――――――――――――

“I will get their attention! Celt, you try to make an opening; Luce, you try to take advantage of it. Mabel, I would like you to cover the people that get hit.”

I moved forward with a battle-cry.

The three Sea Oni in the area all focused on me right away.

“H-hey, you pulled too many, Elma! Don’t rush ahead that much! If the healer can’t keep up then you’ll be a goner!”

Celt yelled after me in a panic.

“No problem.”

I used my [Parry] Skill to fend off the Sea Oni’s tentacles.

The other Sea Oni that tried to tackle me from the side I stopped with my [Magic Guard] bolstered shield.

I kept moving so the three Sea Oni constantly got in each other’s way, allowing only a single one to attack me at one time.

“….he really makes everything look easy. What an obnoxious guy.”

Celt readied his bow.

“This is the original role of a Heavy Knight though.”

Then I noticed something strange with Celt’s stance.

He was aiming too high.

“Celt, where are you aiming…..?”

The arrow sent by Celt neatly impacted the tip of an eyestalk, right in the eye.

“Bgiiii!?”

The eyeball ruptured and the body of the Sea Oni shook.

…..so he was going out of his way to aim at the swaying eyeball at the tip of the stalk.

It’s certainly very effective, but I didn’t think it would be something that’s easy to hit.

“That’s some amazing accuracy.”

“Hah, I won’t miss at this distance. Though getting praise from someone like you is sure something.”

“As expected of Celt-san. You can see your experience with snatching the last hits in group battles to steal away experience points.”

Celt felt very proud of himself until Mabel’s comment from the side made his expression turn into a scowl.

“….though, Elma. Is leaving the last hits to Luce okay here? Clowns specialize in speed and high number of attacks, right? Against an opponent with high Defense like the Sea Oni, her compatibility as an attacker is…..”

“[Dragon Killer Thrust]!”

Luce got behind the Sea Oni that lost one of its eyes, got into a stance and stabbed it with her knife.

A skull shaped light flashed.

――――――――――――――――――――

〈Abyssal Dagger〉【Special Skill】

It doubles the Attack on a successful critical hit.

――――――――――――――――――――

The Sea Oni went flying with a flourish while its bodily fluids went spraying every way.

It landed on the ground head first, its body flattening with a messy sound.

【You have gained 446 experience points.】

The xp notification came in after a small delay.

“Yaay, I got one!”

Luce said, looking proud of herself.

“Just now…. what did you do?”

Celt stared in open-mouthed astonishment, then turned his gaze towards the remains of the Sea Oni.

“In the Graveyard of Sorrows Luce had indeed been instructed to simply keep the attention of the enemies, but her main speciality is as an attacker.”

Though since she didn’t have the [Reaper Assassin] at the time just yet, she had to rely on [Dice Thrust], so she lacked consistency, which was an important factor.

“W-what was that just now!”

“A Sea Oni was just blown away!”

We could hear the voices of astonishment coming from the other adventurers that noticed what happened over here.