by Chuuni Suki
Not noticing what happened in Hajime and Yue's minds, Shia thought, I wonder where the entrance is? And was looking around the surrounding, then she 'peshipeshi', hit the hollow part of the wall.
"Oi, Shia. Don't..."
GAKONn!
"Fukya!?"
"Don't carelessly move around," were the words Hajime was unable to finish when part of the wall that Shia touched 'GURUNn', suddenly rotated, and Shia disappeared to the other side of the wall. It was like a door mechanism inside a ninja's house.
""... ...""
The credibility of that signboard miraculously increased with the finding of the entrance of the Great Dungeon. The Great Dungeon of Raisen was here after all. Even though they had a mountain of complaints such as, "Is this really okay for a Great Dungeon?" and "Give me my seriousness from Orcus back", something like that after seeing that amusement-like invitation. Hajime and Yue who saw Shia silently disappear behind the rotating door, once more, looked at each other then let out sighs, and put their hands onto the rotating door just like Shia.
Having activated the door, Hajime and Yue were sent to the other side just like Shia. The inside was pitch black, and the door was 'gururi', rotated back to its former position. And, at that time,
Hyu Hyu Hyu!
Sounds of something coming flying at them resounded, while they couldn't see anything inside the darkness. Hajime immediately used "Night Vision" and discovered what they were. They were arrows. Countless arrows painted jet black so as to not reflect light, and they came flying to remove any intruders that entered.
Hajime, with Donner in his right hand, used his left hand to beat down those flying jet black arrows. 'Kan Kan Kan', the sound of metal knocking metal came out, without missing even one arrow.
When counted, there were 20 arrows. Jet black arrows made of metal and didn't reflect any light scattered on the ground, when the last arrow was knocked down, silence returned.
At the same time, the surrounding walls began to shine. The area Hajime and his party were in was a room with a length of 10 meters in every direction, and straight ahead, a passage into the interior appeared. In addition, there was a lithograph inside the room with words with the same characters as the signboard carved on it.
"Did you get scared? Hey, did this scare you? Then you're a kid, Niya Niya"
"Or, were you injured? Or did someone die? ... ... bufu—"
"" ... ...""
Hajime and Yue couldn't think of anything but one thing. That was "How annoying~". Also, the "Niya Niya" and "bufu-" part that were carved with emphasis as if to provoke them, made them even more irritated. Especially, if someone in their party truly died, then surely the survivor would curse the heaven.
Hajime and Yue were so irritated that many veins popped out on their heads. Then, suddenly, Yue muttered something she just remembered.
"... ... Shia?"
"Ah."
Having heard Yue's mutter, Hajime finally remembered, then looked back at the rotating door in panic. Because the door only did one rotation at a time, for her to not be here means the possibility that she got out at the same time Hajime and Yue entered were high. It made him feel something unpleasant because even though a lot of time had passed she didn't enter, so Hajime immediately activated the rotating door.
Shia was... ... there as expected. Her form sewn on the rotating door.
"Uu, sob, Hajime-san... ... please don't look~, but, I want you to take these out. Hic, please do it without looking at me~"
It truly was a pitiful appearance. Shia, although unable to see the arrows that came flying, she probably used her natural search ability to somehow manage to dodge them from the sound. However it seemed it was truly last second, with her clothes pierced here and there, she made a pictogram similar to those that were drawn on emergency exits. Her rabbit ears bent into something similar to a lightning bolt to avoid the arrows, because she knew that she had done something impossible, her body still twitched even now. Most of all, Shia didn't cry out of fear of death. The cause was... ... her feet were magnificently wet.
"Now that I remember, you are going to pick some flowers... ... well, what to say. You only did the necessary..."
"Wrong! Uu~, just why didn't you finish that, the past me~!!"
It was an appearance that you'd never want to show as a woman, even more so for Shia who cried because she had shown it to the man she fell for. Her rabbit ears completely hung down. First of all, even if it was a chance to encounter love after 100 years, Hajime thought it was already too late. That's why, without looking away he stared at her in amazement. And, that hollowed Shia's heart even more.
"... ... Don't move"
Maybe because she was also a woman, Yue's expressionlessness contained sympathy and she released Shia from the crucifixion.
"... ... I'll do something about it. You're still a novice"
"I am ashamed~. Sob"
"... ... Hajime, change of clothes"
"Here"
Shia's change of clothes were pulled out from the "Treasure Box", then she did a quick change while blushing.
Finally, Shia's preparations are finished, "It's time to conquer the Dungeon!", was the enthusiastic shout that she let out, only to notice the lithograph.
She looked down and her hair concealed her expression. Shia was silent for a while, then she slowly took out Doryukken, and struck the lithograph with all of her might. 'Gogya', was the sound that resounded accompanied with the destruction of the lithograph.
Maybe because she was unable to endure it anymore, she magnificently swung Doryukken many many times as if attacking the enemy of her parents.
Then, in the place of the broken lithograph, characters were carved on the ground, it said...
"Sorr~y♪ This lithograph will automatically be repaired after some time~ Pu-kusukusu!!"
"Mukii— —!!"
Shia was truly enraged and started to swing Doryukken more intensely. The small room was shaken as if a small earthquake happened, the sound of extraordinary impacts were resounding many times.
Watching Shia with a skeptical gaze, Hajime frankly muttered.
"Miledi Raisen, rather than a member of the "Liberators," she is unquestionably the enemy of humanity"
"... ... I absolutely agree on that"
Apparently, the Great Dungeon of Raisen would be a difficult place in a different way than the Orcus Great Dungeon.
* * *
Thank you for always reading.
Thank you for the impressions, opinions, and typo reports.
Chapter 44: Miledi Raisen I
* * *
Raisen's Great Dungeon was a lot more troublesome than they expected.
First, magic couldn't be used at all. It was because the strength of magic disintegration was far stronger than inside the ravine. For Yue who specialized in magic, this place puts a heavy burden on her. She was unable to use high-ranked magic and her magic's range of the magic she could use were shortened to their limits here. The farthest she could use them was only five meters. Somehow, the current level of magic she used was enough for combat. However, right now she was incapable of using magic strong enough to deliver a one-hit kill.
In addition, although the amount of magic stored inside the magic crystallization series didn't decrease much, it couldn't be used. The consumption rate was too severe after all. Yue was only able to use middle-ranked magic because she was a genius, most people would be unable to do anything.
Even Hajime was greatly affected by it. Special magic that worked by emitting magic outside of the body such as "Aerodynamic" and "Wind Claw" couldn't be used, Even the output of "Lightning Clad" is greatly decreased. Donner-Schlag's power also fell below half of the usual, while Schlagen's maximum power was at the usual level of Donner-Schlag.
Therefore, body strengthening became the most important magic in this Great Dungeon. In Hajime's party, Shia had become the main star in this stage.
So, the reliable rabbit ears of Hajime's party
...
"I'll do it, you know... ...absolutely, when I reach the dwelling I'll mess it up so much it'll be as if a storm had gone through"
With Doryukken on her shoulder, she examined her surroundings as if she was trying to find her prey. Her anger was obvious. It was a deep deep anger. Even her words' intonation had become strange. The cause was, you could imagine it came from Miledi Raisen's mischievousness.
Because they understood Shia's feelings well, Hajime and Yue couldn't say anything about it. It was because if there was someone who was seriously agitated, by her side there would be someone calm in reverse of her. It was the current psychological state of Hajime and Yue. Currently, while Hajime and his party continued their advance, they had encountered various traps and annoying carved words. That's why, with Shia who was truly enraged by it, Hajime and Yue also felt irritated.
Finally, "Fuhihi", strange laughter came from Shia's side, and Hajime recalled the extremely malicious things they encountered to get here.
* * *
After Shia destroyed the annoying lithograph, Hajime and his party continued their advance into the passage, and came into a certain vast space.
Inside, there were staircases and passages, the passageway that continued from the entrance was a mess without any regularity, it was as if this place was made by casually combining lego blocks. The staircase from the first floor was connected to a passage on the third floor, and the passage on the third floor gradually became a slope that connected to the first floor's passageway. While the staircase that was erected on the second floor was connected to nothing but wall, it was truly a mess.
"Once again, in a way it was truly a dungeon-like place."
"... ... Nn, it is confusing."
"Fun, as expected of a dungeon made by a rotten person. This mess is an expression of her mind's contents."
"... ... because we understand what you feel, it's about time for you to calm down."
Shia was enraged even now. Hajime, half-sympathized and half-amazed, said, "Well then, how should we advance now", while thinking about it.
"... ... Hajime. Even if you think about it, there's no other method."
"Nn~, well, you're right. For now, let's advance while marking and mapping the way."
"Nn..."
Hajime nodded at Yue's words. Mapping was the basic thing for exploring a dungeon. However, Hajime unconsciously frowned when he thought how troublesome it'd be to accurately map out a complex dungeon like this.
Also, what Hajime meant by "marking" was using a special magic called "Tracking." This special magic operated by leaving a "mark" made of magical power on the places that he touched. When the "mark" was used on living things, Hajime was able to track where they moved. In case of this place, Hajime put his "mark" on the wall. Because the "mark" could be made visible, Yue and Shia were able to understand it. Maybe because the magic power was applied directly, the disintegration didn't seem to take effect.
Hajime immediately put a "mark" on side of the passageway on the nearest place to the entrance and continued to advance.
The passageway was two meters wide, and made from countless blocks that looked like bricks. Because the walls emitted a faint light, there was no problem with their vision. Maybe it was made of a different material from the green-light stone because it gave off bluish lights.
When Hajime tried to see it using "Mineral Appraisal," he found that it was called "phosphorous ore." Apparently it gave off light when it came in contact air. The first room didn't give off light probably because it was the first room. The image that came out of the cave was lapu** where the levit * * *
** stone appeared. There was an old man's voice that came out of the stone. After all, the phosphorous ore would keep radiating light as long as it was in contact with air.
It was the masterpiece anime of Japan that Hajime unintentionally thought of while advancing in the long passageway. Suddenly,
GAKONn
The sound came out of one of the blocks that Hajime stepped on. That block sunk into the floor due to Hajime's weight. Hajime and his party instinctively let out, "Eh?", and looked at their feet.
At that moment,
Shaaaaa!!
The sound of gliding blades resounded, and in the space between blocks on the wall, giant saw-toothed blades come out rotated in high speed while vibrating. The blades approached them with height of the neck from the right, the one from the left wall at the height of the waist.
"Evade it!"
Hajime immediately shouted, and evaded it by leaning his back just like the protagonist from the matr**, while the two behind him also tried to evade. Yue was small in the first place so she only needed to squat down to evade. Shia also seemed to be able to evade it. From his back, "Hawawa, hawawawa", a shaken voice could be heard. Because there was no pain in her voice, Hajime guessed she must be unharmed. Although it was truly at a hair's breadth that the tip of the fur of her rabbit ear was cut... ... it was not a problem at all.
The two blades that were filled with murderous intent and malice were unable do anything to Hajime and his party, and disappeared into the walls. Being vigilant of a possible second wave, for a while Hajime watched his surroundings carefully. However, apparently that was the end. Having felt relieved, Hajime let out a sigh then looked at his back only to feel a chill.
He dashed out instinctively, to retreat and using the momentum recovered Yue and Shia. Immediately, countless blades fell onto the place where Hajime and his party were in just like a guillotine, and cut the ground as if it was made of butter. As expected, it was rotating in high speed and vibrating just like the blades from before.
Hajime looked at the blades that dropped just a few centimeters ahead with cold sweat. Yue and Shia also stiffened because of it.
"... ... it was a completely physical trap. I couldn't sense it with my Magic Eye."
Until now, Hajime was able to avoid traps perfectly because they were magic traps. Of all the traps in the Great Dungeon that he had seen, all of them contained magic. That's why, if it was a magic trap, Hajime's Magic Eye was able to see through it. Therefore, he had the preconception that it was okay as long as the Magic Eye didn't react to something. In short, he overestimated his power.
"Hau~, I-I thought I was dead~. Rather, Hajime-san! Please stop it if it was just that much! Isn't that why you have the artificial arm?!"
"Well, don't you think those blades were sharp? Even if it won't be able to cut it, there might be scratches. After all, I can't use Vajra now."
"S-scratches... ... between equipment and me, which is more important!?"
"... ... well, you're safe after all. Isn't that good."
"Wa-, what's with that topic evasion! That was a lie, right? I am the one that's more important, right? Right?"
Shia tried to ask Hajime, who played her for a fool, and Yue added verbal abuse to the current Shia.
"... ...Keaking rabbit. You're dying because of your own inexperience."
"Le-leaking, please take that back, Yue-san! No matter what, that was a disgrace for me!"
A new disgraceful title added to Shia's " * * *
** rabbit" series, while Shia endured it with protest. Having entered this dungeon, although she almost died twice in short succession Shia was unexpectedly energetic. As expected, Shia's forte was taking hits. Even though the person herself won't admit it.
It was as Shia complained, there were other choices to evade the surprise attack, after all Hajime should be able to stop those blades from a while ago with his artificial arm. His coat's also made from the leather of a demonic beast that boasted defense, and there were protectors underneath to guard the vital points, that's right he wouldn't have died from something like that.