After eating a delicious breakfast, with some regret, we left the Labyrinth City Aquarium. Just like usual, we passed some time riding in the Skeleton Centipede before going deep into the woods. Satisfied, we move on to the Ancient Flame Dragon Tatsushirou.
This time, the destination is set within the territory of Atarakua Demon Empire; a[Age of the Gods dungeon] of [Demigod] Class.
[Museum of Stone Sculpture]
[Museum of Stone Sculpture] belongs to the underground type and is located in the Labyrinth City [Stonehenge]. Although its location is in the territory of the Atarakua Demon Empire, it's rather closer to the Estgrand Beast Kingdom. If we were to move along the ground, getting there would be problematic because of the difficult terrain.
In addition, in the approximate areas located near the 2 dungeon exits, were monsters that have very troublesome abilities. I myself had not yet come here, but because of my scouting clones, a map of this area is already in my head. And because of that, it was possible to get there by the shortest route.
Moreover, we don't have to traverse the ground, considering all the trouble associated with the landscape.
I did think of it before, but, as expected from the Atarakua Demon Empire. Residents are mainly representatives of the demonic races and races of fairies.
While riding Tatsushirou and flying straight past the border, pretty soon, there was something chasing after us. We were chased by an organized group of several dozen people that sit on birds as well as people with wings that belong to a race of flying demons.
Since the national border, they have followed us. Probably guards of the Demon Empire. They were armed with equipment designed to capture, so I'm pretty sure they belong to the Demon Empire.
They used a formation that is the most effective for chasing, they tried their best to catch up to us.
Of course Tatsushirou is not as fast as [Wind Dragons] or [Storm Dragons] that specializes in flight speed, but because of its high initial settings and effects that were added here from my protection, it cannot be called slow.
Despite that, they're still keeping up with him when he is flying at cruising speed. They do have some skill to keep up with the chase.
But this pursuit unit is quite small. To fly at full speed, it's not easy because fatigue accumulates instantly. Even from a distance, you could see their desperate faces.
Even for the elite, just following us was already pushing them to their limits. Well, I just don't understand them.
Well, if they were to catch up with us in a tired state, in a battle with Tatsushirou, they'd instantly die. They should understand this as well. Still, they are trying to follow us. That's the spirit!
Trying to think about their suicidal tendencies, the reason has emerged quite quickly. The reason was me. I created Black Dragons using [Summoning: True Dragon] to send a message, or rather to deliver my message.
Infecting them with [Parasite], after they successfully fulfilled their mission, as a warning, I made them a little aggressive.
This was necessary in order to scout the combat potential of the other countries that I have completely failed to estimate. Then, in the Atarakua Demon Empire and neighboring Estgrand Beast Kingdom, the black dragons were killed relatively quickly, and they caused minimum damage.
For other kingdoms, it was perhaps hard, but once they were a little too aggressive, I stopped them. As expected, even I don't want meaningless genocide.
Thus, from that moment, a day had passed, and it was quite natural that the neighboring countries have strengthened their security at the borders more than ever.
I've intervened carelessly. The fact that it happened won't bother me as nothing can be done about it. If we proceeded at a high speed this would not have happened. Frankly, I underestimated them, so I need to rethink a bit.
That is, they didn't pursue us for battle, but in order to know where we're going.
Chances are, if we attack them, they will scatter in different directions, and when flying further, they will pick up the chase again.
This is certainly a good thing that they are so serious about their job, but for me, it's an unnecessary hassle. I threatened them because they were starting to get annoying. Using [All Creation], I dropped them.
Since they weren't broken by using wind and gravity, I've created zones of turbulence in their path. Having flown into it, they fell from the air. But with all this, there was one person which could still endure the turbulence and passed through it. Well, I pressed him a little harder and he also fell.
All of them are alive and almost immediately returned to the chase, but to follow us at such a distance is impossible.
Despite this incident, just after noon, we arrived safely at[Stonehenge].
I decided that Tatsushirou would do better not to appear too close, so we got off the dragon, hopped on the ground and took out the Skeleton Centipede. Thanks to this, we were able to see the beautiful scenery that [Stonehenge] had to offer.
A valley surrounded by mountains, filled with scattered boulders and overgrown shrubbery in the middle. We're on a wide plateau, and there are the towering walls of the Labyrinth City [Stonehenge].
We immediately went to the huge stone gate and stood in line to get inside. Since the queue was not as big as compared to other places, we quickly got inside.
The check at the gate was pretty strict, but most of our stuff was in my item box. Thankfully, we were not faced with any problems, such as the confiscation of our luggage. Then again, if a problem like that occurs, I could just fly into the city at night, but fortunately I didn't have to.
The first thing that I realized after I came into the city was the fact that it was the first city of this type that I have seen in this world.
This is a city where all the houses were built entirely of stone.
There were buildings made from a boulder, and structures assembled from many small stones, but there weren't any that were made up of wood.
All this is because of the special situation of[Stonehenge]. Due to the surrounding landscape, building a wooden house was too luxurious, even for the nobility. Stone has been in excess supply, so there is no shortage.
Well, let us leave aside these reasons. In general, all the houses in the city are built entirely of stone. The second distinguishing feature was that all the people are very muscular. Of course, as conquerors of dungeons it was quite normal, but even sellers in shops were mostly macho men who had a very muscular body.
In the city, there were many representatives of different races. I came across animal-gnomes, giants and demons, and the vast majority of them were huge.
One reason for this was the fact that most of the monsters in the 3 labyrinths located in the city ([Museum of Stone Sculpture] and 2 other underground dungeons) had stone bodies.
As stone monsters are very resistant against thrusting and cutting weapons, such as swords and spears, the main weapon used by the populace tends to be heavy weapons like a mace or hammer.
Besides that, a lot of people here are working at the quarry in order to move the heavy stone slabs, so they can train their body easily.
Thus, the locals have a very athletic lifestyle. Which is why my first impression was, "such a sweaty town." Well, whatever it was, after quickly doing away with the preparations, we immediately went to the [Museum of Stone Sculpture]. This is because we have little time to spend here.
The dungeon,[Museum of Stone Sculpture], resembles a huge ancient ruin. The width of the corridor can easily allow for several people to traverse it, the ceiling was also quite high. The ceiling is littered with minerals that emit a dim light to illuminate the corridors.
Avenger and company progressed further into the dungeon.
This time at the head of the group was Avenger and company with Kanami-chan at the back to support them at the rear.
After a few tens of meters, we've come to a fork in the road. Avenger unhesitatingly turned to the right and after a while, we met the first monsters.
[Rigidly Built Stone Wolf], the living stone statue that looks like a wolf. About the size of [Black Wolf], it is normal for the size of a wolf. The body is made of gray stone, and because of the stone it moves rather slowly, but it weighs quite a lot and its charge is very powerful. Even if you completely block the attack with a shield, it will likely break.
There are just 30 monsters in the area, but since the group still had our support, dealing with them was not a problem.
At the back rows of the monster are [Royal Stone Alpha Male Wolves]. Well, anyway, they were almost immediately destroyed. Indeed, them being made of stone, chopping them is very difficult. But by having enough agility and skill, they are just slow opponents. As expected, Avenger and company is not so weak as to get into difficulties with such an adversary.
After that, [Stone Clattering Bats] appeared flying through the corridors, [Stone Crushing Wild Boars] partitioned off walkways, and holding stone swords were the [Stone Knight Statues] and other stone monsters preying on us when moving forward.
Incidentally, there are quite a few different types of monsters. I suspect this is because they are all creations from the [Demigod of Stone Statue], which then have been repeatedly copied.
It's as if the [Museum of Stone Sculpture] is more like a place where the[Demigod of Stone Statue] decided to boast the strongest. In this I am almost certain.
According to my information, [Museum of Stone Sculpture]is an underground type and has a total of 20 floors, which is very small, if it is fair to say, among the dungeons of the class [Demigod]. This dungeon's complexity is considered quite low.
This place does not compare with the [The Wailing Waterfall] which I first conquered alone, since that dungeon is closer to the class of [God] than to the class of [Demigod].
Because even though they really are very annoying monsters, dealing with them is not so difficult, and there aren't a lot of traps.
Bosses are on floors 5, 10 and 15, but the structure of the floors don't change a lot, and usually, the structure of the floor is quite simple. As a result, in this dungeon, even quite experienced explorers may very well get far inside.
Due to this, a few hours later, we were able to get to the boss on the 5th floor.
The Boss of the fifth floor, [Majestic Statue Tahiti], was waiting for us in the middle of the room before we entered it. The [Majestic Statue Tahiti] is made out of white stone, looks immaculate, and doesn't have a single dirty spot. The statue has a face of a man with curly soft facial features.
The clothes don't look like they are made for him, but his body is like a living organism, it exudes strength and at the same time, beauty. The [Majestic Statue Tahiti] stands at a height of 5 meters, and he holds a sling as his primary weapon. Its solid body is invulnerable to conventional attacks while at the same time he has a high speed. With the help of the sling, he was able to use ranged attacks, which made it quite the troublesome opponent.
[Floor boss [Majestic Statue Tahiti] successfully eliminated.]
[Yatendouji is permitted to proceed to the next floor, floor boss [Majestic Statue Tahiti] can hereafter be passed without battle.]
[Yatendouji has been awarded the [Agatemiya Giant Statue] treasure box as a first time subjugation bonus.]
Well, Avenger and company took about 10 minutes to eliminate it. The group suffered in the battle against it. Fortunately, no one died. You could say that [Majestic Statue Tahiti] tried to be nice.
So, after the battle with the boss, we took a break. Before the Avenger and company continue, they need to replenish their mana, strength and energy. Although no one was hurt, there is still a need to relax a little bit, yes.
During the resting time, I took the corpse of [Majestic Statue Tahiti], along with a box of treasures received as a reward for the elimination and sent it all to my item box. The group restored their strength and mana by using potions. Then, by using their abilities, they regrouped and I sent them off to slaughter all monsters on the road.
The young Usurper quietly began to resent me but I just ignored it.
The only problem is, there is almost no monster meat to eat. Well, because the statue was made up of stone.