Volume 9 Chapter 3 Part 3 (1/2)

”Wow, so fast.”

Tiera couldn't help but voice her thoughts about Mitsuyo's impressive speed. She was simply amazed that there was someone else capable of attaining a speed on s.h.i.+n and Schnee's levels.

Munechika was fast too, but very few in the current world were capable of such movements.

”It's not a speed humans can achieve.”

Suzune, who was next to Tiera, spoke her opinion too, but her voice contained more concern than awe.

Suzune's sister, Kotone, was in possession of Onimaru. She was afraid that because of this, she would be able to move like Mitsuyo.

Mitsuyo's current abilities were the result of s.h.i.+n's reinforcement, but as Suzune did not know this, she couldn't help but look sour.

”As expected of a Supreme Blade. These monsters mean nothing to her.”

Unaware of Suzune's feelings, s.h.i.+n swung his Moonless. He wasn't using his full power, but nevertheless unleashed sword slices on par with Mitsuyo's, which cut effortlessly through the Skullfaces.

When s.h.i.+n had battled a Jack-grade unique monster with a rather low-grade type of katana, he had spent considerable time on a single unit. Now that his weapon was an Ancient-grade one, even Kings could be defeated with one or two sword strokes.

The monsters could have tried to parry with their weapons, or rely on their armor, but s.h.i.+n's sword could not be stopped.

”Shah!”

s.h.i.+n cut down a Queen as he stepped next to her, then sliced through another as he returned his blade to the sheath.

A King unleashed a slash attack from behind the Queens, caring little about hitting its companions in the process, but s.h.i.+n repelled it and even knocked away the monster's katana.

s.h.i.+n's blade then pierced the monster's wide-open abdomen; its core was still disappearing when the katana moved to the next foe as if dancing.

Thanks to the guidance received from Karin, s.h.i.+n's swordsmans.h.i.+p had improved greatly. Because of this, the speed at which he defeated the monsters was not inferior to Mitsuyo, who had spent her life pursuing the path of the blade.

Suzune rubbed her eyes while looking at s.h.i.+n, as if she had seen something incredible.

”This is weirds.h.i.+n's movements seem like a blur”

s.h.i.+n's group had been routing the monsters until now, but with the emergence of a group of Skullfaces, Suzune thought that the rear guard's turn had finally come and took a fighting stance.

Compared to s.h.i.+n's party, the Skullfaces were not high-level monsters. Suzune was wary of the additional power the Black Lacquer gear could have given to the monsters.

As the monsters' grade increased, their gear's stats would too, as would their skill with their weapons.

They were not monsters one could look down on as mere Undead anymore.

The way to fight them was radically different than the beast monsters who normally appeared in the area.

Despite all this, Mitsuyo and s.h.i.+n were exterminating the Skullfaces with inhuman speed. It was a cakewalk not unlike all their previous encounters.

The monsters' armor turned to shreds like paper. Their spears and blades snapped and blew away like twigs. Levels and grades meant nothing. Ending each battle unscathed was the norm. s.h.i.+n and Mitsuyo continued to bury one Skullface after another, as if they were racing to see who defeated more.

Less than 10 minutes after the battle started, all Skullfaces had been brought down.

”Close combat battles take more time after all. I guess I'll blow them away with magic next time.”

”I think that's best, yes. They were so pathetic, I feel even less satisfied after fighting.”

”Ah, er, you two, that's enough.”

Tiera couldn't help a wry laugh as she saw Suzune looking flabbergasted at s.h.i.+n and Mitsuyo's exchange.

Tiera had witnessed s.h.i.+n and Schnee's battle styles, so she understood well how Suzune had to be feeling.

”I finally understand the reason why Lady Kuchinas.h.i.+ was not worried at all”

Suzune let out an exhausted comment. As a Chosen One herself, she was baffled to see movements far exceeding what Chosen Ones could do.

”Don't tell that you can move like that too?”

”Master probably can, but it's impossible for me.”

Tiera firmly shook her head at the thought of being compared to them. Kagerou, the divine beast lying as always in Tieras shadow, would be a challenging fight for s.h.i.+n. In comparison to s.h.i.+n, though, Tiera was like an average person.

”s.h.i.+n's power is far beyond our reach. This is still far from him fighting seriously.”

”You mean that he's holding back.?”

To Schnee's answer and smile, Suzune could only react with a long sigh. At the same time, a sort of feeling of security spread in her chest.

If people as strong as s.h.i.+n and Mitsuyo were available, it was highly likely that they could restrain Kotone even if she went on a rampage.

”Let's keep going. Different types of monsters will start appearing on the next floor, so be careful.”

After s.h.i.+n's words of warning, the party advanced through the dungeon.

Their exploration of ”Depths of h.e.l.lfire” required mapping the whole dungeon, so it took a long time, but this time they had the map provided by Black Priestess Shrine's scouts. They knew that both Onimaru and Kotone were in the deepest part of the dungeon, so as soon as they found stairs or pa.s.sageways leading further down the dungeon, they took them without hesitation.

”Hm? Everybody stop!”

As they were walking down a corridor, s.h.i.+n suddenly told the party to stop.

Mitsuyo had apparently predicted s.h.i.+n's order, so she stopped right way. Suzune and Tiera stopped after a few moments.

”What's wrong?”

”There are monsters right in front of the exit of this corridor.”

s.h.i.+n had detected the monsters' presence clearly. Mitsuyo simply nodded in agreement, without showing any particular reactions.

”They're not many, maybe 3 at most.”

”Exactly. There's a high chance to be ambushed. Schnee and I will take the lead this time while concealing our presence. Mitsuyo, everyone, please come later.”

s.h.i.+n left Tiera and Suzune in Mitsuyo's care, then alongside Schnee concealed his presence with Hiding. As they carefully proceeded through the corridor and into the following hall, 2 monsters appeared before them.

”Nues, huh. The monsters are all j.a.panese-style because we're in Hinomoto?”

s.h.i.+n recognized the monsters even before using a.n.a.lyze.

Monkey head, tiger body, a snake as a tail; that was the monster Nue. It was a dangerous opponent, known for its venomous claws and tail snake, high attack power and speed.

”The ones in front are a decoy it seems.”

”Perfect for an ambush, I guess.”

Above the entrance connecting the corridor and the hall, hidden from view of whoever entered the hall, another Nue was lying in wait. It was a mystery how it had sensed their arrival, but it was apparently ready to stage a surprise attack on s.h.i.+n's party.

It probably planned to take out the rear guard or give them status effects via surprise attacks, probably to defend itself against its weakness, long-range attacks like magic spells.

”Schnee, please take out the one above. I'll handle the ones in front.”

”Understood.”

As per s.h.i.+n's orders, Schnee ran up the hall's wall.

Many monsters were difficult to ambush while using Hiding, but Nue was not one of them.

In addition, Schnee's main job was Kunoichi. She enjoyed added bonuses from concealment-type skills, preventing her from being noticed even by monsters with high detection abilities.

Schnee moved behind the Nue, which was waiting immobile, its claws firmly grasping the wall. Her Blue Moon struck swiftly, without hesitation.

The blade, clad in blue light, cut through the Nue's neck without delay. The monster's head fell shortly after.

Schnee confirmed the disappearance of the monster's body and turned her eyes to s.h.i.+n, in the exact moment when Moonless sliced through the other two Nue's bodies, cutting them cleanly in half.

The Nues' monkey faces showed how they had failed to understand what just happened.

As the two monsters disappeared, fur and fang-like items remained in their place.

”Anywaydid Nues always plan ambushes like this in dungeons?”

Monsters never positioned themselves near the entrance of corridors or halls. It was a fact, ever since the game era.

”They were originally monsters skilled in ambushes, so I do not think it is too strange.”

”That's true too. I still can't completely shake off the feeling I had in the game era.”

Suzune, who only knew the current world, remarked with a slightly pungent tone that it was normal to expect attacks from any direction in dungeons.

”I have barely explored any dungeon you know.”

While replying with what sounded like just an excuse, s.h.i.+n wondered if he shouldn't pick a random dungeon to explore at leisure.

There were many differences from the game era that he hadn't felt yet. Even though he had Schnee to ask for confirmation, like this time in some cases the game's experience still influenced his thoughts.

”By the way, your first dungeon was ”Depths of h.e.l.lfire”, wasn't it.”

”That was a hidden dungeon, so it didn't have many floors and it was also completely corrupted by miasma. Instead, here the effects of the miasma might be strong in the deepest floor, but around here it's like a normal dungeon, so this might be my actual first time.”

”Cadaver Realm”, however, did not possess many floors either. s.h.i.+n predicted that the area still resembling a normal dungeon would be over soon.

As if to confirm his prediction, the monsters around floor 20 and beyond stopped producing item drops.

”So the area under the effects of the miasma starts here.”

”The appearance is the same, but the atmosphere here does feel ominous.”

Tiera looked at the surroundings, a grimace on her face. s.h.i.+n also felt his skin tingling.

”I feel the same. Let's proceed with caution.”

As they started noticing traces of miasma corruption on the walls and ceiling, suddenly Kagerou jumped out of Tiera's shadow and started howling loudly.

”What's wrong?”

”I don't know exactly what, but looks like there's something lurking ahead.”

Kagerou went as far as showing himself to warn them. s.h.i.+n and the party advanced with extreme caution, knowing that the possibility of danger was high.

After around 10 minutes, s.h.i.+n's nose picked up a smell he had never felt before then.

”.hey, could it be that Kagerou warned us about this smell?”

”Looks like it. We should still be far, but it's a really foul stench.”

Tiera answered s.h.i.+n's question, her face again distorted in a grimace, but for different reasons than before.

Near the stairs in front of s.h.i.+n's group, which were leading to the lower floor, a terrible stench filled the air. It was different from the smell of rot, but in the same way it caused nausea and vertigo to the party.

”I didn't hear anything about foul odors like this.”

”This is weird. I never heard anything either.”

Schnee commented on the situation, her eyes semi-closed in disgust. Suzune answered her, tears in her eyes.

s.h.i.+n was barely affected because of his high resistance, but it seemed that the extent of the effects varied from person to person.

”Let's retreat for now. There's not only the awful smell in the air, but also poison, I think.”

s.h.i.+n stopped in his tracks to talk.

Maybe because they had only breathed a little quant.i.ty, or there was just a small quant.i.ty of poison in the air, no one had been affected by status abnormalities yet.

”Poison you say!?”

Suzune covered her mouth with the sleeve of her priestess robes and stepped back.

Even among Chosen Ones, few possessed resistances as high as s.h.i.+n and Schnee. If they ended up being paralyzed, they would be at the monsters' mercy, so they were much more wary of status effects than s.h.i.+n and the others.

”It'll be okay if we are this far. I'm going to do some countermeasures now, so calm down.”

After rea.s.suring Suzune, s.h.i.+n pulled out 3 cards from the item box and gave one each to Suzune, Tiera, and Mitsuyo.

What materialized was a rhombus-shaped pendant the color of amber.

”This is World Tree's Amber and Granite Ring, I gave them to you to increase your resistance to all status effects, but not by much. But with this you can have strong resistance against poison and paralysis.”

He could have given them an item that nullified status effects, but Suzune wouldn't be able to equip it.

Tiera was the same; if the reason was thought in game terms, it was because they lacked the stats to do so.

When s.h.i.+n was in Balmel he tried the same thing with Hibineko and Shadow, but they couldn't equip it either. s.h.i.+n knew more or less the extent of their status, so s.h.i.+n thought that the reason had to be insufficient stats.

Before entering ”Depths of h.e.l.lfire”, s.h.i.+n had given Schnee an Excelsior Ring which, like his Hades Ring, prevented status ailments.

A certain ”trouble” happened when he gave her the ring, but now the silver jewel, decorated in blue, hung from Schnee's neck, dancing on her chest, tied to a thin white chain.

”For some reason, the smell doesn't bother me as much either.”