Chapter 39 (1/2)

The First Exploration

s.h.i.+zuna woke up from the sound of a sword being swung.

It wasn’t really a sword, it was a katana.

It was still dark in the cave. Almost no light came in from the entrance, she could only see the figure from a faint light produced by magic.

At the center of the light, Ria was swinging her katana.

Though she had learned her father’s style of swordplay, she understood the principle.

Each form had its own principle. The sword slash was tinged with light from its initial motion, the end of its motion was beautiful.

The blade was glittering.

The same went for Ria, who was handling the katana. Her beauty was beyond comparison.

(Even though she’s a pervert…)

Her personality and skill didn’t match.

Though she felt s.h.i.+zuna’s gaze, Ria swung her katana with a peaceful heart.

To be bloodthirsty and to s.e.xually hara.s.s many girls, she was pure when she was with her katana.

Better yet, because she purified her corrupted heart when she was with her katana, she was able to live in rivers of blood.

Finis.h.i.+ng her forms, she quietly sheathed the katana.

Turning around, she met s.h.i.+zuna’s eyes.

Though s.h.i.+zuna looked away with an amazing momentum, Ria’s current mind and body were filled with purity.

“It’s still early in the morning. Want to have a quick match?”

Not knowing why, s.h.i.+zuna found herself obediently nodding towards Ria’s question.

Their bout was held outside the cave.

s.h.i.+zuna was most skilled in piercing long sword techniques.

Now that she didn’t use a magic sword, her basic skills were being improved. Even without killing intent, she put her whole spirit into it and let out her techniques.

Even with all of that, though, she couldn’t surpa.s.s Ria.

“Well, since you’ve fought against demons the whole time, it’s no wonder you couldn’t win.”

Ria admonished her. She had placed the point of her katana against s.h.i.+zuna’s neck many times by then.

“If you’re just speaking about talent in the sword, you might even be better than me. Still, you haven’t practiced one on one combat and your experience is a problem.”

Her words didn’t help to recover s.h.i.+zuna’s pride. Though it is true that s.h.i.+zuna mainly fought against demons, she had fought unarmed against men in that town filled with fights.

“Have you ever been trained in war?”

To that question, s.h.i.+zuna shook her head. An explorer’s swordplay was to fight against demons.

However, the knights that trained Ria polished her capability in the theory behind human wars. Moreover, she had mastered that art in her previous life.

Though you couldn’t express ability with a simple Skill, it was Ria after all.

“Use the rest of your endurance. One last time, give me your best shot.”

Ria opened her hands to usher her in. Meanwhile, s.h.i.+zuna brandished her sword grandly and charged.

But then, she wasn’t able to swing it down.

Before she had noticed, Ria who was a good distance from her had drawn close enough for their noses to touch. When she flicked s.h.i.+zuna’s sword away bare-handed,

“W-why…”

“The secrets of the nonexistent katana. By fighting unarmed, neither the opponent nor yourself will die. It’s the best technique to use if you don’t want to kill someone. Well, I’d disagree if you asked me.”

Ria didn’t use body strengthening magic. s.h.i.+zuna had been completely overwhelmed by skill.

“For now, how about some food?”

Contrasting s.h.i.+zuna’s ragged breathing, Ria hadn’t even broken a sweat.

“No way, for s.h.i.+zuna to be unable to do anything…”

Gates, who had been watching from the cave’s shadow, sighed. Among those in Thunder’s Fangs, he was the most knowledgeable in person to person combat.

“Vargas, could you win?”

He asked Vargas, but he was already shaking his head slowly.

“Though I can’t know for certain without trying, I believe it’s impossible.”

Vargas continued.

“For the millennium, it’s said that heroes who exceed the limits of ordinary people will appear. Perhaps, that Ojou-chan might be one of them.”

Vargas was confident in his skill. As an explorer that challenges the Dark Labyrinth, he also had fighting spirit.

However, the fact was that he’d come to a standstill after capturing a floor.

He was still alive. However, he wanted to feel even more alive.

Getting to his age, he was finally able to find it.

The group finished breakfast and immediately began their exploration.

Since they had already thoroughly explored the first floor, they headed towards the stairs leading to the second floor.

Going ahead of them was Shar and Maal, the cat beastkin combo.

In the Dark Labyrinth, there were few mechanical traps. You could say there were hardly any at all. However, magical traps were abundant. Maal’s Fairy Eyes were very useful for finding them.

The labyrinth’s traps weren’t constant. Particularly the magical ones. The ones found most often in the Dark Labyrinth were those that materialized a great amount of demons when stepping on the magic formation.

“How many is a ‘great amount’ anyway? Depending on the amount, it might be a good way to raise levels.”

Vargas responded to Ria’s absurd statement calmly.

“It’s usually between ten and twenty. Since there are a lot of enemies that can use magic, there’s a high chance of people dying.”

This was different than the Immortal Labyrinth, Ria warned herself. It would have been different if she were going by herself, but she couldn’t afford to bring her comrades to their death.

Salamanders and Worms, as well as huge insect-type monsters were defeated. They had obtained a huge amount of magic crystals. There was definitely no comparison between the Immortal Labyrinth’s enemies and this one’s.

Before long, the two people that went ahead returned.

“There’s the sound of metallic armor. It would be good if that was just the normal sound of armor, but…”

According to Shar’s explanation, it would be bad if the enemy was a Ghost Knight-type.

“A detour huh.”

Vargas’ judgement wasn’t wrong. Being able to evade danger was a necessary talent for an explorer.

An attack from a Ghost Knight inflicts an abnormal condition, it was very dangerous while exploring labyrinths. It’s fine if it can be fixed, but the speed you can escape from the labyrinth with falls if you can’t.

In that sense, Ria probably didn’t have any talent at being an explorer.

“Hey, is it no good for me to go by myself?”

Vargas frowned when she said that. Though he looked to Carlos for his opinion, he only shrugged.

“The Ghost Knight’s attack will cause a different abnormality according to the individual. Though you’ve probably fought one, it’s dangerous.”

However, he didn’t forbid it.

“If you’re fine with it, then I’m off for a moment.”

Ria broke into a run as if she was just heading out for a bit.

Shuzina was dumbfounded and went up to Carlos.

“Hey! Aren’t you that girl’s guard!?”

She wasn’t worried. She wasn’t worried, definitely. But still.

Just, she just didn’t want to approve of that lack of common sense.

“I’m not Ojou’s guard, I’m a watchdog. Well, I can’t say I’ve accomplished that recently though…”

Carlos already thought that worrying about Ria was useless. She was just unaware of danger.

The members of Thunder’s Fangs were worried.

The sound of metal hitting metal could be heard from the other side of the bend in the pa.s.sage.

Before long, it grew quiet. Ria popped back out into view.

“I defeated it. Though, it wasn’t a Ghost Knight, it was an Evil Spirit Knight.”

Despite being dumbfounded, the group ran over to Ria.

The armor had decayed. Just the sword remained.

“An Evil Spirit Knight…? That’s a higher-ranked version of the Ghost Knight.”

Vargas firmly recalled how troublesome those were.