Volume 9 - Chapter 3 – Part 3 (2/2)
He could have given them an item that nullified status effects, but Suzune wouldn’t be able to equip it
Tiera was the saame terms, it was because they lacked the stats to do so
When shi+n was in Bal with Hibineko and Shadow, but they couldn’t equip it either shi+n knew ht that the reason had to be insufficient stats
Before entering “Depths of hellfire”, shi+n had given Schnee an 『Excelsior Ring』 which, like his 『Hades Ring』, prevented status ailave her the ring, but now the silver jewel, decorated in blue, hung fro on her chest, tied to a thin white chain
“For some reason, the s so, Suzune slowly stepped forward Thanks to the pendant, her expression changed fro
After co the countermeasures, the party proceeded towards the depths of the corridor
What they found next was a hall where several swa poison-like liquid were forht to be the source of the awful stench
“Growl…”
Kagerou, as next to Tiera, growled faintly and subain in her shadow Even if he would not be affected by status ailments thanks to the item, the foul odor must have been too ain right away in case of battle, so shi+n decided to proceed
The party proceeded byuse of the small space available between the poison swamps
At the sa within the swamps
“There are monsters inside the swamps They’re scattered all over Stay on your toes, just in case”
Tiera reacted
“Yes, I bet there are But what do you mean, just in case?”
“Well, situations like these are when Schnee shi+nes A in response to shi+n’s proud stateic spell with a wide area of effect, so please do notSuzune and the others, who had no idea about what she was going to do, Schnee slowly raised her right hand
“Ooh, you sure are so too”
Mitsuyo coic power that was being gathered She didn’t know about Schnee’s fighting ability yet
Behind her, Suzune whispered her honest thoughts, her face tense
“…we have another monster here What’s up with this party, seriously?”
After several seconds, Schnee lowered her right hand and a crackling sound, like breaking glass, resounded at her feet
Suzune looked at the ground and noticed a white ed color because of the poison swaround, she understood that it was chilled air
The crackling sound was produced by the freezing of the ground and the swa enveloped in extremely cold air, with Schnee at its center
“With this there should be no risk of being attacked fro reached deep within the swamps, so the presences shi+n had felt seemed to have been frozen too The map still displayed them, but their hostility ht encounter things we have no information about”
“I wonder if they detected our presence and are changing the dungeon’s interior because they feel in danger? We are a presence that puts their survival at risk after all, so it wouldn’t be weird for theuess?”
It couldn’t be said that miasma possessed a will of its own, but if presences that could purify it, like shi+n and Tiera, were close, it was possible that it tried to resist Because of its corruption of Kotone, it was also possible that it acquired soree of intellect, or so continued Mitsuyo
“Another possibility is the presence of so as the brain”
If thick miasiven birth to a demon
shi+nthat someone could stand in their way as they tried to rescue Kotone
With renewed caution, the party proceeded through the hall to the floor below
The following hall was also riddled with poison swamps, which Schnee froze before they passed
“Hey, we haven’t encountered a single monster for a while, is this normal?”
After they passed the 7th hall, Mitsuyo asked her question while looking around
As Mitsuyo had stated, the party had not encountered any monsters since the poison swaister any monster presences either
“No, eons Even if their nu fro Even if they are all exterain”
shi+n answered while glancing at the walls and the ceiling
This was so he had already verified Even if all the eon were defeated, they would either break in through the walls, the ceiling, or even the floor, or ic poould concentrate in one point and create one It was the same in “Depths of hellfire” too, so it had to be one of the world’s rules
“Could they be gathered somewhere?”
“They could have for is attracting the monsters on purpose”
The word “train” refers to the situation when a player flees, drawing more and roup ofthe player is reminiscent of a train, hence the term
Trains were usually caused by players’ actions, but in THE NEW GATE they also happened for other reasons
Monsters that called upon reinforcee, because of traps or other causes, received dae and called for help The sue fro the numbers roups of , thus causing a train
This “auto at first, but was then found out to be intentional In a dungeon, where escape routes are limited, it wasn’t any different froh the dungeon, attacking players on sight Even if it looked like there weren’t any uard would be a huge risk
“The dungeon is changing, so both are possible If we find a train, isn’t it better to retreat for a time?”
“No problem Even if we find a train, all we have to do is take the the level of the her than whatever eon indeed lacked in escape routes, but that also meant that the directions the monsters would attack from were limited too
With party er than themore than a way to accumulate experience points
“We’ll have to pay special attention whenever we arrive in a place with many entrances and exits”
Halls not only had stairs leading to the lower floor, but were also connected toand small corridors In halls withattacked from all directions, thus the party had to be especially careful
shi+n’s group proceeded through severalto the information provided by Kuchinashi+, they were supposed to be less than 3 floors away from the bottom, but even then monsters were still nowhere to be seen There were only a few units acting on their own; even the roups were on their own, apparently separated froether one step before the last floor, huh”
shi+n stated this observation, with a tone both jaded and annoyed, on the floor above the boss’ chae nue of his perception field
“It’s really a pain if there are soin dejection
The floor where thethe last floor before the final one, was rather small and narrow It was surely filled withany rooreat if they just fought and defeated each other like that
“This is…pretty incredible”
Schnee’s perception field also detected the h Elf’s brow furrowed at their numbers
“They’re way too many for a skirmish before the boss, seriously It would take forever if we knocked them down little by little in close coe-scale spell, you snipe any survivors Tiera Mitsuyo, Suzune, I want you to watch our backs and be wary of any surprise attacks”
“I doubt I’ll have much to do, but leave it toshi+n and Schnee’s e was no easy feat She nodded as she pulled an arrow froe attack uess I’ll take the rear this ti us will be cut in half”
“Going overboard like that is kind of concerning too…but I’ll make sure I fulfill my role”
Mitsuyo and Suzune also had their weapons at the ready
Aftersure that everyone was prepared, shi+n stepped into the corridor leading to the floor below
Maybe because of the high-densitythem, a foul stench, a mix of blood and beastly odors, leaked froe
“Okay then, let’s show the in on the group like a torrent of water breaking through a daed , and flying types swooped through the space between floor and ceiling
Behind theres and Nues could be spotted too
Towards the phenomenon that could be aptly described with the words “monster wave”, shi+n and Schnee calic power focused on their hands through their ar in the center point between their palms
“【White Cannon】!”
shi+n and Schnee’s voices resounded at the salobe accelerated instantly, flying towards the es as it shot forward, the white globe sped through the center of the corridor
The flying-type e it, and just tilted their bodies slightly as they kept flying
After the globe’s passage, however, even apparently untouchedinto ashes
The burning speed was so fast that rather than “going up in flaes
“Whoa…”
Suzune couldn’t help but voice her surprise and incredulousness at the extent of the spell’s power It wasn’t only the lobe that had disappeared
The coht with an invisible da hellfire
The aura noric power had expanded it to an extree
The invisible fla any roo
The monsters had fallen in utter confusion, as so destruction as others kept pressing forward
“I’ to feel sorry for the erou looked at the screas
“Tiera, Suzune, close your eyes”
“Eh?”
The light globe continued onwards, incinerating the monsters in its wake As it reached the end of the corridor and the hall, shi+n gave this order to Tiera and Suzune
They didn’t understand what shi+nabout it and immediately closed their eyes
It happened the next instant
Upon reaching the hall, the globe unleashed all the energy compressed within itself
A pure white fla all the way to the corridors The ic barrier shi+n put up in protection turned coht anymore
As the flames died down, shi+n released the barrier As he did, the heat wave he had blocked blew past him, towards the rear
“Let’s cool down a bit”
shi+n used a water spell to bring down the te hot corridor and hall
After the torrid air had changed to a cool breeze, shi+n and Schnee proceeded forward
“What’s wrong? Let’s go”
“Eh, yes, okay”
Still affected by witnessing 【White Cannon】 and its power, Suzune replied with a shrill tone of voice
When the flaun to decrease, Suzune opened her eyes a little; even after witnessing the party’s fighting style throughout the dungeon, the scenery before her eyes left her completely speechless
“For shi+n and the others, that’s just normal…”
Tiera had felt Suzune’s shock and tried to cal a hand on her shoulder She then added “I got used to it already”, and Suzune felt again that Tiera was a person on “her side” of the world
“Let’s focus on our goal, together”
Behind shi+n and Schnee, the two girls felt a curious sense of community between each other