I spent the night comfortably in one of the safe zones scattered throughout the area, and started attacking the[Ship Ambrasm Pontus]early in the morning today. Just like the labyrinths I've conquered so far, the interior of the[Ship Ambrasm Pontus]changes greatly depending on the location.
The higher up the ladder, the more palatial and opulent the interior looks like a luxury cruise ship for millionaires, while the section below the waterline that we are currently attacking, which is close to the bottom of the ship, has corridors and small rooms with interiors that look like temples dedicated to an evil god that sank to the bottom of the ocean.
The dark green stone walls, which are always wet with seawater, are densely packed with barnacle-like crustaceans and noxious colored seaweed to the point of being uncanny. A number of sea monsters here and there madly worship the statue of the Evil God with an octopus head that seemed to glow a suspicious blue-purple color and at the same time, it scattered a smell like a large amount of aged, rotten fish. Honestly, it can be said that this is the worst place inside the whole[Ship Ambrasm Pontus].
Although there aren't many traps placed, so it's easy to advance, if you think about this compartment including the contents of the treasure chest and the poor quality of the drop items, it would be better physically, mentally, and in terms of results, to search the more profitable compartments by passing through this one.
But we were taking our time with this compartment. That's right, if we just wanted to conquer it, just one of us would be enough. I'm here, and Kanami and Avenger and company are here, so in terms of fighting force, we have more than enough.
Moreover, I've already purchased a dungeon map that is 80% filled, although the entire area is still unfinished from other adventurers who have spent long months searching it. I've also gathered information from casual conversations, and I've already guessed the route to the innermost part of the dungeon, where the dungeon bosses would be roughly located.
Unless something unexpected happens, I should be able to capture the[Ship Ambrasm Pontus]. But this time, Auro, Argento, Redhead, and Opushii are accompanying us. Since I've been neglecting them lately, a family trip to a labyrinth is nice and the perfect place for training.
Well, family service doesn't mean all of them, but this time it's inevitable. I'll reward the rest of the family in other ways. Despite the environment is quite poor, it's convenient for this section because the dungeon monsters that appear in it basically roam in groups of no more than 3 and as well as the benefit of experience with them being slightly higher, this area is very convenient for us.
If we do well here, we'll be able to move into battle with the advantage of 1-on-1, so we'll be able to greatly reduce our risk by helping out each other like we have in the past. After all, if I reduce their numbers or weaken them, Auro and company will lose experience, so if they can defeat the enemy, it's better to let them take it out by themselves instead of helping them as much as possible.
So I moved back to the distance where I could help them at any time, held the pampered Opushii in my arms and watched Redhead and company who were valiantly challenging the monsters. I was happy to see that they had become much stronger than before, and at the same time, I watched the outcome of the battle, wondering if they were going to be okay.
Auro's Point of View
I saw the ocean for the first time in my life. At first I thought it was an endless expanse, filled with crystal clear seawater, but then I was told that there was another continent beyond the ocean that I had never seen before. I was intrigued by the unimaginable world. I can say that that was the moment when I had the ambition to go to this continent beyond the ocean one day.
Well, setting such ambitions aside, I'm very glad that I was able to take a quick tour of the[Labyrinth City][Dur Gha Varia], which is facing the ocean and is more beautiful than I expected. After all, culture and technology develop according to the characteristics of the place where we live, right?
We learned about the lifestyle and food culture, for example. It was a great opportunity to learn about things I didn't know before. It was very interesting to me, and I really enjoyed it. However, it was very disappointing that my mother and Oniwaka weren't here this time.
I think it's a shame that mother wasn't here to see such a beautiful place. But there was my father, my goal is to surpass him someday, my kind and beautiful mother-in-law Kanami, my strict but caring mother-in-law Rubellia, and my half-brother Argento, who has been there since I was born, and my lovely cute sister Opushii as company, so I decided its all right.
Dad said let's all come together again next time. I'll have to play with them as much as I can for now, and I'll have to show them around next time we come together. The next day after enjoying the sights, we boarded a boat as big as a mountain -[Ship Ambrasm Pontus], and for the first time we got to experience the inside of a real[Age of the Gods Dungeon].
As soon as I went inside through the anchor, I came to understand that it was different from my dad's[Age of the Gods Dungeon]. A chilling and unique atmosphere. The feeling that my life was being targeted. Lurking in the surroundings, a clear hostility. Cleverly hidden, the divine intent to test the challenger.
In dad's dungeons, I had some sense of security. But this place hadn't been conquered yet, so I didn't have that sense of security. I immediately understood that this was the real[Age of the Gods Dungeon].
This place with none of the promised safety is still a heavy burden for Argento and me. Alone, we would be killed almost instantly. We can say that we are small fry. It is not a place where we are allowed to challenge, which makes it interesting.
But with the help of dad and the rest, we get a few battles under our belts. The total amount of experience we gained was high, so the amount of experience we gained surpassed the required value, and our level increased rapidly.
In addition to that, after defeating it, by eating as much meat as possible before the corpse disappears, the effect of our[Holy Beast Eater]will be activated, and our abilities will improve far more efficiently than normal. It has definitely increased our strength even more than before we entered.
Even so, it's still too early for us, so I thought that after we experienced the upper world like this, my dad would quickly capture this place and train us later on.
Yet my father said "This dungeon is just right for Auro and Argento to level up, so let's take our time with it." Well, we want to be strong as fast as we can. We want to be strong and help you, not just be protected by dad and the others. But nevertheless, I think it is not necessary to grow stronger in this specific place.
It's near the bottom of the ship, but it's so gloomy in here, and there's a bunch of barnacles growing on the wall. That's so weird. I almost get goosebumps just looking at it. It smells ridiculously bad, and the dungeon monsters that come out are kind of raw, and some of them are kind of sticky or wet with some kind of freaky bodily fluids anyway.
They're stronger than us as individuals, so we can't let our guard down a bit. If we are careful, we could probably be killed instantly. It's a lot of stress from the mental pressure, and it's also physically excruciating. Well, it's not that I completely hate it, because I won't get angry since I can unleash my magic cannon as much as I can to relieve stress.
『Sister Auro, are you ready yet?』
In order to support his mother-in-law Rubellia, who is working hard as a single vanguard, my younger brother Argento released the Demon Orbs, and with the silver bow in his hand, he guarded her and attacked the enemy in front of him. He fires at the [Fierce Brawler].
It is a type of giant that fights with an axe-like anchor of a size that matches its size, and its physical prowess is matched only by its massive, 6-meter frame. Although its size alone is threatening, its tough muscles and skeleton, as well as its thick blue skin, make it a natural armor that does not accept half-hearted attacks. Fortunately, they don't attack at long range, only melee combat, they are still a formidable foe that Argento and I are not good enough for.
『Damn, what a defense!』
Argento is taking precise aim at the relatively soft eyeballs and ears, the neck that's prone to lethal wounds, and the joints in the extremities that can slow down movement, but the skin and muscles are still too thick for the attack to be effective. It's been stabbed through, gouged, and made to bleed a good amount, and he succeeded in inhibiting its movement, albeit slightly. If it were a normal opponent, it wouldn't be funny if he was already defeated, but given his huge frame, the damage is likely to be minimal. In fact, it's still going strong right now.
At the closest place to the [Fierce Brawler], aunt Rubellia was attacking in all directions while emitting a beastly roar. She lightly avoided the anchor being swung around at great speed, sometimes deflecting it with her[General's Kiteshield]as she fought, her beloved sword with its pure white and fleshy blade, the[General's Large Chopper], was draped in red phosphorescence and focused her slash on the right knee.
It seems that even the thick skin and muscles couldn't withstand the concentrated attack of a slash that used some kind of warfare art, and it seems that one of the legs, like a giant tree, was severed while gushing out a great deal of fresh blood. The [Fierce Brawler] lost his balance after having one of his legs amputated, but as if it was the least he could do to fight back, he swung the anchor in his hand at mother-in-law while falling to the ground.
It was like a huge rock falling down, but aunt Rubellia was no longer there. This is because she had already escaped out of the attack range with more agility than a beast. The anchor pierced the cobblestone corridor, sending debris flying with great force, but no other damage was done.
『Ch.』
I heard a small tongue click. It was something that was let out by aunt Rubellia. I see it's already starting to regenerate. If we were of the same size, I could have finished them off long ago, but size is tricky, really. In the small amount of time that aunt Rubellia was at a distance, the [Fierce Brawler] was regenerating its severed right leg.
It forcibly attached the chopped off part to part of the leg and connected them together with its ridiculous regenerative power. There seems to be some discomfort, but there doesn't seem to be that much of a problem with the movement. It rose again from the state when it should be lying on ground.
While it was sticking my severed leg together, Argento was firing his bow hard, but it was ignoring the projectiles and prioritizing regeneration. He's more intelligent than all the dungeon monsters I've fought in the labyrinth dungeons so far. Even in the event of an attack, it can properly assess the situation, and focus on the action needed to win.
『Against an enemy of superior level, we lack decisive force. In the future, we will need to work on that."
Aunt Rubellia overwhelmed the [Fierce Brawler] that was 3 times larger than her in melee combat without receiving any damage and inflicting one-sided attacks. This is certainly understandable, but still, there's that constant regeneration, to kill him with our attack force is not enough.
If the size difference is too much, there's nothing you can do about it, but still that's not a good excuse. Aunt Rubellia, while dodging, mutters something about target points. Argento supports her, but it wasn't going to be easy to defeat it due to her lack of decisive attack. You could say that things have stalled out. But that's when it's time for me to make a move. Magic bullets have been generated, I'm ready to turn it into experience.
If it is difficult to stab at [Fierce Brawler] just by causing him small amounts of damage, which was healed by his regeneration, you just need to burn the entire body with enough firepower to overcome its regeneration.
Auro unleashes her warfare technique, the[Magic Cannon of Doom]. This time, I'll add a combat ability to it and make sure he's cremated.
『Hey, Aunt Rubellia is still ahead...』
Argento shouted something, but Aunt Rubellia can't be seen there since she has long retreated. In addition, before this, she retreated by using fighting techniques and managed to knock out the eyes of [Fierce Brawler].
After a while, it would be recovered, but still, he temporarily lost his sight. As a result, his chance to evade my attack has fallen even lower. I have to thank Aunt Rubellia for her assistance. Pressing the magic gun's trigger that my dad gave to me, a blinding flash flew out of its muzzle and a shot roared out. With a speed that's not visible to the eye, the bullet, that was made by compressing my mana, crashed into the enemy. It was unavoidable because of their wounded leg and impaired vision. Flames broke out like a huge torch. The pillar of fire was large enough to scorch the ceiling and the walls.
Bathing in the bluish flame of hell, even [Fierce Brawler] couldn't stand it all. Prominent areas of blue skin blistered from the heat, the eyes that were beginning to recover immediately boiled and burst again. The hellfire was inhaled, frying the inside and causing a smell of burnt meat.
What I used this time was a magic bullet, which happens to creates an unquenchable flame, called the [Ancient Bullet Flash] by [Synthesis] which creates a flash and wind in a certain area like a firestorm. After raising the level of[Magic Gun], among the synthesized bullet possible to be created, this bullet has the greatest offensive force, but also as a bonus, I used the combat ability[Magic Cannon of Doom]. As a result, its destructive capacity is 3 times the normal one.
Like any living creature with its body on fire, the damage cannot be avoided, even by the incredibly robust [Fierce Brawler]. But he was still alive. Fully covered with flames like a fire giant, [Fierce Brawler] produced a wild roar pointed at my direction. At this point, the flames covering him have reached a temperature of several thousand degrees.
Due to the effect of the magic bullet, the surroundings were being roasted by incredibly hot heat waves if they were approached.
『Fire!! Fire!!』
Though somewhat bearable, there are limits. Hastily stepping back, I poured on the same fire bullets to try to defeat him. The flames' temperature increased further, and the waves began to diverge around the hot air. Finally, unable to withstand the intensifying inferno, burning limbs began to fall apart in tatters.
Legs fracture, unable to withstand its own weight, and his huge body began to fall forward. At the same time, he still had his hands, because he continued to crawl towards us. As expected it was scary, but still Argento, releasing [Arts] one by one, began to destroy his softened body.
Even when more than half of his body was burned, he was still moving, but after [Fierce Brawler] stopped moving, Aunt Rubellia dealt him the final blow. The slash from top to bottom of the combat technique looked like a flash. The attack was so acute that the sound came only after the sword reached the goal. It looked beautiful enough that it was possible to fall in love. However, the battle against the [Fierce Brawler] ended.
『Okay, next.』
After defeating [Fierce Brawler], I let my guard down for a second. That was a fatal mistake because a new enemy appears.
『Wave of Evil, Destroyer of the Psyche!』
From the side corridor, in my blind spot, a black wave passed through my body immediately. In just a moment, it hit me: "Wave of Evil, Destroyer of the Psyche", belonging to the 5th level of Mental Magic.
In front of that overwhelming force, resistance is almost meaningless, and I felt as if my brain was stuck on a red-hot metal rod. Still, I managed to raise myself in order to confirm the situation. In front of me, there appeared to be a mountain of corpses, which were not only Argento and aunt Rubellia, but all my friends. Heavily soaked with blood, mixed with the entrails, bone fragments mixed with rotten meat. All my 5 senses are saying that it is not a hallucination.
Bile rises from the stomach to my throat, feeling something in my esophagus, a pungent smell rises to my nose. The spectacle of the death of my family has a lot of stress on my mind and the red-hot pain in my head prevents any logic. Rather, I have now been affected by[Bad Status Condition]such as[Panic]and[Confusion].
While "Wave of Evil, Destroyer of the Psyche" has no effect on the body, it causes a severe blow to the psyche, and entails several negative effects. I learned from the lessons of magic, so there is no doubt. Because all I see now is an illusion, it should be. But a picture too realistic casts doubt in layers and again, I do not know if this is true. I can't shake out of it. I cannot resist the magic superimposed with such overwhelming force.
Mountain of bodies, this must be an illusion. And there is an enemy capable of using magic. The head was like an octopus, tentacle licking out of his mouth eager to devour the brains of all. All of this sitting on a of body like a man, a brutal dungeon monster emitting madness: [Ishrid]. It is physically not that strong, but it is also known to be very good in magical fields. It is close to the worst as an enemy encountered in this labyrinth.
Speaking honestly, we have no chance to win. At the time of meeting, his victory is sealed, so is his status. Ishrid started grabbing my father's head, and pulled out his eyes using his long finger, and then used his tentacles to go up father's mouth and pulled out his brain. Ishrid seems to have a smile full of malice.
A cry came involuntarily out from my mouth. Ishrid, who took notice of it, crushed father's head along with his brain. Meat and blood splattered everywhere as if it exploded. After that, the flesh of what used to be father's head started to condense and turned into some kind of magical power in the Ishrid's hands.
It might be trying to activate some sort of magic, but now I can't do anything about it. Even if it is a hallucination, still, that scene, which I thought of as reality, had surely tormented me. Definitely, I was not in a normal mental state because of the "Waves of Evil: Destroyer of the Mind". If it attacked again, I think I would have been killed without being able to even defend myself.
But, if I had seen this scene at somewhere different, I would have gone back to normal instantly.
『Father cannot be killed by you, you know! When Father encountered you along with my family, he said "Oh, we found an octopus. Okay, let's try to eat it! I will kill him without mercy with just a swing of my spear!!" Then he ate one of you afterwards: "Oh, the octopus is crispy and delicious. I was talking about hunting for some souvenirs like this.』
Until coming to this section, I have not encountered an Ishrid because the numbers were small and only a few existed. Like mowing grass, we are witnessing the Ishrid killing us instantly. Moreover, with respect to the [Fear] that Ishrid released to barrage me, magic as strong as the high seas, without even a need to defend, like how father just mows down opponents with a spear, it is now approaching just to kill us. Even such an existence is too cruel, even if it is a hallucination, such as raising father's head and poking the brain marrow.
『Oh my god, oh my god, how could I lose to this thing! It's disgusting.』
My head does not hurt anymore. Probably the negative effects are over. If there's a good way to vent my anger, after watching this stupid show, I would not hesitate to use it.
『Everything, absolutely everything, EXPLODE!』
By creating and sending a bullet born from the magical gun filled with mana to the limit, in the [Ishrid]'s direction, I pulled the trigger. The overwhelming explosion swallowed him whole in a blink of an eye.
A magic bullet produced by my magic cannon filled with magic power to the maximum. Until it runs out, I squeeze the trigger towards the [Ishrid]. The overwhelming explosion swallowed the [Ishrid] in an instant.
Rou's Point of View
I'm a little worried when soon after the battle with the [Fierce Brawler], appearing from the corridor which is in a blind spot, there was an [Ishrid] casting magic at Auro. It seems she was terribly hurt by him without me realizing it. I rushed to help her, but as expected from my child, even under several negative effects, thanks to a strong will, she could still win.
While I was glad she surpassed my expectations of her growth, Auro released an insurgent bullet storm that caused the vast destruction of our surrounding environment. With her storm of emotion hitting such a range, Argento was blown away by the aftermath, well, such things happen.
As expected, a one hit kill of [Ishrid] did not happen, but it has received significant damage from the blast, which left him smeared on the wall. Of course Redhead couldn't miss the moment when he was still unsteady from the shock, and approached him from his blind spot. She finished him off successfully, immediately cutting off his head. [Ishrid] octopus legs are quite tasty, and because I have not forgotten, I immediately put his carcass in my Item Box.
After a brief meeting over what happened on the last battle (while relaxing after the victory, and a missed surprise attack), I praised them for their good work. There were, of course, mistakes, but in general it was not bad. Focusing on the kids' education, we slowly conquered the dungeon. This is how our day went.