"A-alright."
With a slight blush, she took the potions I offered to her. Thanks to them, she could catch up to my steps. This is the benefit of a bonafide level three.
'One monster.'
We are making our way into a rock bridge. Below it is the huge lake present in this floor.
When my sight saw the monster, I inwardly sighed. It is roughly 1.5 meters high. It looks similar to a black horse, except for its blue hair and mane. This monster is currently "walking" on water.
"Damn…"
A kelpie. It is similar to the spirit in Scottish folklore; a shapeshifting water creature that appears on land. With its strength and vitality, it is considered to be one of the strongest monsters on this floor.
It is roughly comparable to top level three at least. It'll take some time to defeat it. We're not in a situation to spend more time.
"Filvis-san, apologies in advance. This has to be done."
"What—?!"
I abruptly carried her in my arms. Not minding her reaction, I completed several spells within few seconds.
"Anemus parma." (Wind Shield.)
A green magic circle appeared before it transformed into a green sphere enveloping us. It contained the air present inside and protected us from external factors.
"Mass gravitas reductio." (Mass and Gravity Reduction.)
Another magic circle passed through our bodies. It reduced the gravitational pull as well as the mass of the person itself.
"T-this–?!"
"We need to escape this hellhole fast. This is the only way I could think of…" I muttered to her. "Brace yourself."
My mana found its way to my boots. Then, the rest was history.
"Queastum ad astra." (Reach to the stars.)
In a split second, we are flying.
*****
How does it feel to ride a rollercoaster without any breaks? Or a bullet train suddenly taking a turn at 200 kilometers per hour?
"Close your eyes. You won't get dizzy after that."
Filvis did as she was told. She doesn't feel anything inside this wind sphere, but her sight was changing so fast that she saw the world spinning.
Right now, they are flying. They are only a dozen meters above the ground. One wrong mistake and they could crash, but Nobu would not make that mistake.
Even without his assistant, he is capable of flying without making any mistake—rather, he already made those mistakes that he knew how to handle them.
Their surroundings became blurry. The wind sphere made it so that the noise outside would not be heard on the inside. As a result, the two could not hear the surprised shouts of the adventurers as well as the screeches of the monsters.
'Amazing.'
That was the only thing she could think of. She saw how Nobu controlled his magic spells to utter perfection. Moreover, he could cast spells as he momentarily stopped to lend a hand for the other adventurers; that is easy for him. As a mage, that is something very admirable. Only the level of Riveria Ljos Alf could exhibit something like this.
This flight spell might have came from a magic tool, but the ability to control it is on another matter. What's more, his positioning and aim during some scuffles with monsters amazed her, too.
'Akasaka-san is not ordinary.'
She couldn't help but think of the boy who carried her.
"...Filvis-san."
"Yes?"
A grave tone came from inside his helmet.
"The monster rex of this floor, the Amphisbaena… How aggressive is it?"
"It's very aggressive. Why?"
"Well…"
'Fuck.'
With Nobu's intuition, he sensed a dragon-type monster nearby. Soon, it came to his sight. A 20-meter tall twin-headed dragon wreaking havoc in the sea. It is currently fighting a level five adventurer when it saw a fast projectile coming its way.
In annoyance, it tried to slap it with its tail, only to be dodged by it.
"Akasaka-san. Is that…?"
"Well, let us hope that it lets us pass through."
His prayers went down as a pillar of blue flames chased them from behind. He managed to deftly dodge it, but their wind sphere was hit, canceling the magic spell.
Fortunately, his Goliath scarf was used to protect Filvis against the wind current. As for Nobu, his armor is enough. Although his eyes hurt as the wind could pass through his visor, he endured it.
Roar-!
The adventurer from before injured the dragon with her cursed sword while it was distracted. This moment was enough for Nobu to fly away.
Soon, he was gone, leaving the female adventurer alone. She fought with the water dragon until it was killed by her.
"Fuck..! It's finally dead!"
Valletta, an executive of Evilus, cursed under her breath. It wasn't her plan to face off against this troublesome monster rex, but she was forced to. If not for the distraction from earlier and the terrain being out of water, she would've been greatly injured by it.
"That one has my thanks…"
The huge monster corpse laid to the lakeshore silently. She swiftly took its core, resulting in the massive corpse to turn into ashes. A shiny crystallized red liver was also present on top of the ash heap.
"Heh. Today's my lucky day!"
While she was grinning, she sensed a monster party from nearby.
Valletta threw a look at the female corpse she had prepare—she wore her previous clothes with a badly mutilated face. She discovered it being eaten by a monster, which is a "lucky" encounter for her who is planning to fake her death.
"Tsk. If I didn't have to do this…"
She placed her beloved weapon beside the corpse and quickly left.
*****
"I'm sorry about earlier." I said as I put Filvis-san down. "About the sudden contact, I mean. I am aware that—"
"It's alright." She shook her head. "You already saved my life twice. What more could I ask for?"
Filvis-san is kinder than I thought. I thought she would be the same as the other elves. They dislike direct contact with others, and by doing so, you would be spurned on by them. They would despise you to the point of wanting to kill you.
In Gekai, elves are very narcissistic. I'm just surprised to see a gentle elf like her.
"We're not far from the stairs. We should be on the 26th floor soon."
I drank another potion to soothe the fatigue in my mind. While modern magic spells do not consume mind as much as Orario magic, it still tires me out to continuously use it for half an hour straight.
Suddenly, my world spun for a moment. I lost my balance and tripped.
"Akasaka-san!"
I saw Filvis-san carry my arm on her shoulders.
"I'm alright…"
Looks like normal potions has their limits. Taking out another high potion, I drank it. The high potion made my mind clearer. I could not feel the heaviness and chronic headache, too. A high potion solved whatever a normal potion couldn't.
'Pay-to-win is a cheat.'
"Thanks for helping."
"Akasaka-san. Did someone tell you how hard you are working yourself?"
Her words reminded me of the others. Tsubaki-nee constantly reminded me to rest while Hephaestus-sama, who now knows my future memories, told me to not push myself too much. That I would trip one day.
As for Lady Artemis, she did so too. Wait, she's even more persistent than Hephaestus-sama now that I think of it..?
"Hehe… I guess no level two's would dive into this floor alone."
"That's right."
We talked as we went to the staircase leading to the 26th floor. With the hellhole behind us, I heaved a sigh of relief.
"Oh~? Who do we have here?"
Tap.
Tap.
My entire body froze. My instincts felt a huge amount of malintent from the person behind me. I looked back and I saw the adventurer from earlier. Her short-cut pink hair swayed as she walked in a carefree manner—it showed an unparalleled level of self-confidence.
"You..!"
Filvis-san seems to have discovered something. Her hazelnut pupils widened in shock as she swiftly said:
"Akasaka-san. We need to escape!"
Slam-!
The pink-haired woman appeared beside us and slammed her leg at Filvis-san. She flew away from the impact before sliding on the ground.
'..!'
My body moved on its own. My hand went to the kukri knife behind my back and tried to stab the woman's neck.
The woman reacted by forcefully grabbing my hand.
"Shit..!"
With a single arm, she managed to lock me in place!
I couldn't properly react when she threw my entire body down.
Bam-!
The ground cracked due to the impact. I became dizzy immediately as the impact went through my body. Clearly, the shock reduction spell on the armor did its job. But why..?
"You could have lived, but it's a pity that you saw me. Tsk, truly a pity."
I saw a huge grin forming on her face. It's similar to Olivas Act. Her sadistic smile, condescending eyes, and huge malintent…
"Evilus…"
I thrust the kukri dagger at her leg, only for her to kick it.
Clang-!
The dagger was sent away as it spun.
The pink-haired woman squatted before she forcefully took off my helmet.
"Oh~?!" The woman's grin had something more on it the moment she saw my face. "A child? Today's really my lucky day~! And a good quality one on top of that!"
"... purging evil. Dio Thyrsos!"
BUZZ-!
A ray of golden lightning arced in the woman's direction. With her bare hand, she blocked it.
"Tsk..!"
It's time!
"SEIDEN!"
Buzz-!
Triple casting.
Three blue lightning bolts found their way toward the woman's face. I saw her irritated look before she got hit.
Hum.
Using the other kukri knife, I widened our distance. I used its magic to escape from her grasp. Instantly, I teleported to the knife that was previously kicked by her.
Then, I left one of the kukri knife on the ground as it is to misdirect her. Blood slipped out from my mouth, but I paid it no heed.
Taking out my handgun, I proceeded to fire at her.
"Aim Compensation."
"Velocity Enhancement."
"Combustion Enhancement."
Bang-!
The fast bullet flew at her. With the three activated spells from the handgun, its power is no lower than level four magic..!
Still…
She managed to dodge it.
"I knew it."
Bang-!
Bang-!
Bang-!
While firing, I chanted:
"Dividus Projectus!" (Dispersed Projectiles)
Two magic circles appeared behind my back. A total of fourteen invisible projectiles flew in her direction.
Bam.
Bam.
Bam.
As she dodged some of them, some hit her. Though, the damage done was negligible.
"YOU BRAT!"
All it did was annoy her… something I was aiming for.
Click-!
Soon, the cartridge was emptied out. Blood dripped from the woman's arms and left leg due to her inability to dodge some bullets. The projectiles only served to limit her movements; to make her more predictable.
…Just like now.
Her hand reached out to cover my entire face as the back of my head was slammed to the dungeon's walls. A loud buzzing sound resounded in my ears as a result of concussion.
"Nobody would save you here! Are you afraid now, boy?!"
Her eyes emitted annoyance as she looked down on me.
"Akasaka-san!"
"Oh, that elf. Don't worry, I will deal with her later."
With a smirk, she pulled out a silver dagger and placed it under my chin.
"How would you like to start?"
"How…"
Snap-!
A wind bullet pushed the nearby kukri knife away. Her eyes followed the trace of mana and saw it.
The misdirection paid off. She never realized my teleportation is from the daggers..!
"You—"
"...stupid."
Just like that, I slipped out of her grasped again. My location was transferred to the dagger's. I made a considerable distance with the wind bullet from before.
Swiftly, I brought out a flaming red dagger. Without hesitation, I threw it at her. Before the woman could react, I activated its sole magic.
"Erupt."
BOOM-!
A huge shockwave pushed both I and Filvis-san away. For a moment, the entire dungeon was colored in crimson-red flames.
"Filvis-san. We need to go." I said as I took out another similar dagger, but this time it is ice-blue.
Stab-!
I threw it on the ground.
"Freeze."
It briefly glowed with blue light before a thick ice wall originated from it. Soon, it covered the entire width of the pathway.
"Akasaka-san, that was Arachnia just now! The one on top of the guild's blacklist!"
Unlike earlier, Filvis-san's stoic face was replaced with a sense of urgency.
"Arachnia… Evilus..?"
Vendetta was already a worse criminal on the blacklist, but Arachnia? It was told that her victims are in the hundreds at least. The corpses of her "toys" were found two years ago. They are all children from various races or pallum. A chill was sent to my spine as I thought of what would've happened without my surprise factor.
I calculated for the teleportation spell quickly. If we're not fast enough, we are dead meat.
"Filvis-san. Hold this."
"Eh?"
Applying the more complex part of the spell to the dagger, I chanted:
"Return."
A bright blue glow surrounded us before it swiftly disappeared.
…
…
…
"I have done it, huh."
The teleportation spell could not handle two people at once. Meaning to say, I could only send Filvis-san to safety. If two people tried to use it, the spell would not work. Hence, the spell fails when there are two people in contact with it.
Logically, the right thing to do is to use it for myself. Why risk my life for a stranger whom I met hours ago?
My beliefs are contrasting it, however. When I help someone, I ought to see it until the very end. If I irresponsibly drop someone off, that's the same as being a hypocrite… and hypocrites are the ones I hate the most.
Shrugging this thought, I took my last spell core. I chanted just as usual—inserting the coordinates, inputting the X-Y-Z dimensions, and such. But…
Bam-!
"Argh!!!"
A kick to my back sent me flying to another wall. I could barely see her silhouette even with my enhanced eyesight.
My face came closer with the woman's once again. This time, however, she grabbed my head and slammed me to the ground.
Bam-!
Crack-!
I could feel my nose breaking.
"Huh? So these are it."
Her hands went to my waist where I stored [Kukyo] and [Chimei]. She carefully examined each of the blade with relish.
"A magic sword..?"
"Triplus Firmus." I uttered under my breath.
"Trying to do another of your tricks, huh?!"
She discovered it easily. She struck both of the daggers to my left and right arm. My adamantine gauntlets could not prevent the force that came from a genuine level five.
Psshk-!
Psshk-!
Immense pain came from it. I tried to keep myself composed, constantly reminding myself of my future memories.
I suffered more than this.
I suffered more than this.
I suffered more than this.
…
The woman sat on top of me.
"Cat got your tongue~? Don't worry. We'll be having more fun."
"Kh..!"
I tried to lift my stabbed arm. It did move, much to her surprise. I stealthily hid the small catalyst dagger under my arm as I did so. Its [Memorize] spell does not have anything else. If I were to cast a spell, using the teleportation spell would take a much longer time. Moreover, it won't work with two people on direct contact. There's no need to consider my bracelet with my constricted arm.
In short, I am fucked.
But… A blank [Memorize], huh.
"You."
I stared straight at her pupils with bloodlust. My mind shifted to a new spell–one that I had just cast an hour ago. I am still on the 27th floor, hence my previous computations should work with some adjustments. I can skip the positioning portion.
It further served to fuel my bloodlust. To this woman who wanted me dead, I will give her the same thing she wanted to inflict.
"You're dead."
*****
Bam-!
Bam-!
Bam-!
Valletta slammed Nobu's head into the ground three times. Afraid of ruining his "handsome" look, she did so with the back of his head. With that, his eyes dulled down a lot.
"That's it. You're cuter when you're not struggling."
Psshkk-!
With her bare hands, she stripped him off his armor. His black adamantine armor and chainmail were thrown off the corner, leaving him with a skintight black long-sleeves and pants. It was a troublesome work that lasted half a minute, which momentarily made her wonder how difficult it was to take off.
Nobu's intention of it being hard to dismantle contributed to it. He forged the armor in a way that one could not wear it swiftly, requiring the use of [Wardrobe] to put it on.
"Hm~? What should I do first?"
She admired his looks first. Pure golden pupils that are unique even to this world. White hair that further accentuated the color of his pupils. His white skin and well-proportioned face also contributed to his handsomeness.
It isn't wrong to say that he belongs to the upper percentile in terms of looks.
"Hehe…"
Valetta already drooled over him. When she saw a portion of his torso, it worsened. Although he does not have any abs, his stomach is well-toned due to repeated exercises.
"Precis exsoltus nox. Grandis modicum optatum." (I pray to the wounded night. Grant this little wish of mine.)
"What are you pulling off this time?" She sat on top of his torso as her face became closer to his. She was confident as a genuine level five on thwarting his plans at point-blank. He could not pull out any of his magic tools, too.
Such is the confidence of a level five against a level two.
Unfortunately, all she received was a dull stare.
"Apertus inanua terra mirabili." (Open the door to my wonderland.)
Sizzle-!
A complicated magic circle appeared on the ground. It consisted of many incomprehensible runes as well as numbers.
"You can't—"
Before Valetta could process everything, she found herself on an asphalt road. The night sky lit itself with countless stars. Street lamps could be seen on the side of the road.
Towering buildings could be seen everywhere; much more than in Orario itself.
"Like I have said earlier—"
The white-haired boy appeared within her sight. This time, he is wearing a black overcoat and pants. His dull eyes represented an unprecedented amount of bloodlust. The sheer amount of pressure he emits is overwhelming, even for a level five.
Still, she brushed it off. Valletta is someone from Evilus who survived the Great Feud four years ago. She had been making trouble since Evilus was established.
(A/N: Great Feud pertains to the events of Astraea Records. It is the time when Zald and Alfia raided Orario along with Erebus.)
"Heh~? So this was it? Your retaliation?" She stood up calmly. "If you think this is enough, you are gravely mistaken, boy."
"—you're dead."
Nobu disappeared. In his place, a man in a tight black T-shirt appeared. He held a dagger held in chains. His black schlera and red pupils contacted hers. He didn't wait for her to react. Like an untamed beast, he charged straight at her.
The Sorcerer Killer—Fushiguro Toji—bared his fangs to the Evilus executive.
*****
A/N: If anyone's wondering, the Toji summoned by him is the one from Shibuya Arc—the one who got summoned from the dead by the Séance Cursed Technique.