"Indeed, this level of preparation is fitting for the final challenger."
Crown seemed oddly satisfied to learn that we'd brought an artifact with us.
"So... let's see, how long can you withstand?"
At the same time, his hand swiftly dropped.
Fire ignited in the cannons mounted on his side. I cried out in urgency.
"Damien!"
Damien pulled the trigger even faster than I could shout.
Bang-!
Damien had identified the enemy's main artillery positions from the beginning.
Before the flame in the cannon could launch the shell, the magic bullet Damien fired was sucked into the cannon's muzzle.
Kwagwang!
The shell exploded inside the cannon, and the cannon and the gunner, engulfed in flames, were flung far away.
Simultaneously,
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Thud...!
Arrows fired by the Nightcrawler Squad began to rain down from all sides.
However, we had five front-line tanks with shields on our side.
Moreover, the SR grade artifact anti-missile barrier was also activated.
Ping! Ting! Titititing!
Like intense rain, the arrows they fired were all bounced off.
The five tanks perfectly repelled the enemies' ranged attacks. Magnificent!
Roar-!
Then, a sound as if the atmosphere was boiling echoed.
The two mages standing on either side of Crown were casting attack spells. They were the ones who had injured Jupiter.
One was wind attribute, and the other fire.
"Junior!"
"Waited for you, Your Highness."
Junior's thin eyes emitted a bright magic light.
Junior had accumulated magic power through multi-casting even before entering the teleport gate.
Two different colors of magic swirled around her.
One was wind, and the other was water!
The two enemy mages launched their spells simultaneously. A massive tornado and a pillar of fire hurtled towards us.
Junior also fired back with her magic. A slightly smaller tornado and a water spout were launched.
Kwaah!
In mid-air, the spells from both sides intertwined.
Junior blocked the tornado with a tornado, and the pillar of fire with a water spout.
And when water and fire collide, naturally, water has the upper hand.
The wind and wind were in a deadlock, arm wrestling, but the water spout extinguished the fire pillar in a flash and even rushed toward the mage who had launched the fire.
Splash-!
"Gah?!"
The enemy mage, swept by Junior's water spout, groaned as he was flung backward.
Almost simultaneously, Damien, who had incapacitated the enemy's cannon, switched targets and aimed his magic gun again.
The target was the enemy's wind mage.
"…"
He hesitated for a moment, but Damien finally pulled the trigger.
Bang-!
The fired magic bullet rushed toward the enemy mage who was spewing the tornado.
"What?!"
The startled enemy wind mage hastily redirected his magic to create a defensive barrier.
Crash!
The magic bullet had failed to pierce the barrier, bouncing off harmlessly. But that had been enough.
"Thanks for the backup, Sniper!"
The tornado cast by Junior had swallowed the enemy magician's tornado.
Kwa-gwa-gwa!
"Ahk!"
The storm magic had thrown the enemy magician back.
This entire exchange of offense and defense had taken only a few seconds.
While both magicians had taken a hit, neither had been neutralized.
Both seemed to be at high levels, as they were not taken down easily.
Members of the Nightcrawler Squad hastily reloaded their crossbows and bows.
The two fallen magicians, wavering, also picked themselves up to prepare their magic again.
Our side's tanks had their shields ready, and Damian's next aim was set. Junior too, had readied her next spell.
"..."
"..."
An eerie silence flowed between the two factions.
Was it because they had exchanged blows once, and the turn had passed?
Both sides had stopped their assault as if by an agreement, only glaring at each other.
That was true for both Crown and me, the leaders of each side.
We had remained motionless, locked in a fierce stare-off while the intense exchange of offense and defense was happening.
"..."
"..."
My party members and the members of the Nightcrawler Squad began to glance subtly at their respective leaders.
Both of us remained rigid, so it was only natural that our subordinates would feel anxious.
But we remained still, as if engaged in a battle of egos.
How long had we stood like that?
"...It wasn't that long."
Crown was the first to speak.
"Have you prepared this much in that short span of time? You exceed my expectations, Player."
"Call me Ash."
"Ah, right. Prince Ash."
Crown let out a low chuckle in his husky voice.
"All this hustle in the pits of hell."
"Hm?"
"I tend to meet quite a few exceptional and talented folks like you. And every time, I can't help but feel a bit sad."
"Why?"
"I wonder what it would be like to meet not as enemies, but in another relationship."
I was listening to this masked man's nonsense with a frown.
"Have a drink, chat about the outside world, share old stories... It could be possible."
"I'd be willing to do so if you'd give up hostility now."
"Hahaha!"
"You're a bard, aren't you? I'll buy the drinks, and you just have to sing me a song."
Crown shook his head vehemently.
"Regrettably, that's impossible. I too, have a position to uphold."
"Position?"
"Adventurers like you trying to uncover the darkness of this city... I have to stop them."
"I see. Is that so."
I brandished the staff in my hand.
Three swords of magic power floated behind me.
"Well then, what can we do? Shall we kill each other again?"
"Yeah..."
Crown also pulled out an ashy flute from his possession.
"The final player. Once you're gone, this hell can finally fall into eternal darkness."
"I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen."
I gave an evil grin, lifting the corner of my mouth.
"Instead, I'm going to remodel this dark hell into a blazing inferno."
"What?"
"A carpet bombing is about to fall. It'll be quite bright."
As Crown was confused by my words,
Tututututu!
Thud-!
A sound like a machine gun firing rang out. It was coming from behind the Nightcrawler squad.
At the same time- Hundreds of arrows endowed with explosive properties rained down on their heads.
"What?!"
"From the rear...?!"
"Take cover!"
The flustered Nightcrawler squad tried to take cover hastily, but they were already cornered.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
A literal fiery carpet bombing swept over the Nightcrawler squad.
Crown yelled out sharply.
"Put up the shield!"
The wizards quickly scattered magic to fend off the attack, but the damage was inevitable.
Nightcrawler squad members, pierced by arrows or suffering burns, groaned in pain.
Clink! Clink!
Simultaneously, two wizards and three archers appeared from behind them, weapons raised.
The Shadow Squad.
My sub-party led by Godhand.
"A diversionary force?"
Crown stammered.
"Are you saying that the diversionary force broke through the dungeon's third sector and came here overland?"
"Ding dong dang. That's correct, bro."
Several hours before our infiltration here, the Shadow Squad had already teleported to the base in the [North] of the third sector.
They traversed the entire third sector, walking all the way to our base camp.
They laid low and waited until our main force had drawn the enemy's full attention, then they ambushed from the rear.
Crown still seemed unable to comprehend.
"But we detected no movement in the third sector. How...?"
So they had been tracking our movements in the dungeon after all.
This is why they could attack our base camp as soon as we arrived.
'The answer lies in the unique abilities of the Shadow Squad.'
The Shadow Squad was composed of former members of the Aegis Special Forces Team 8, the empire's covert unit.
They're highly skilled in covert operations.
Moreover, Bodybag, the sub-leader, is a psychic mage. She can make the party members float, enabling pseudo-flight.
The entire third sector is surrounded by walls.
The Shadow Squad didn't even touch the walls but floated outside, drifting through the dungeon.
'This was the purpose of our previous free exploration.'
In advance, the monsters were cleared away, and I had Bodybag check if secret flight was possible.
The result was a splendid success.
There was no movement detected from the dungeon, so the enemies must have thought that the teleport gate was their only route of attack. They had completely lost their rear.
"I'm not so kind as to explain the principles of magic to you."
With a smirk, I held up my staff.
"So, what now? You're totally surrounded."
"..."
"You wouldn't be so shameless as to beg for mercy now, would you? If you have any last words, let's hear them."
Crown slowly raised his hands.
"Remarkable, Prince Ash. You've got us cornered."
"Do you concede?"
"I do. However... there's one thing I must inform you."
Crown stared at me intently, then murmured slowly.
"You can't kill me."
"Is that so?"
I tilted my head.
"I don't see it that way."
I lifted my hand, then swiftly dropped it.
Thump-thump-thump-thud!
Shoot-!
The Shadow Squad, all five of them, released their arrows and spears in unison.
"Cough!"
"Aaargh...!"
The members of the Nightcrawler squad who were skewered by arrows and spears coughed up blood and collapsed.
Even the two magicians who had resisted till the end were finally turned into porcupines by the shower of arrows.
The same was true for Crown. His body was pierced with arrows and spears as he stood motionless with his hands raised.
"Cough!"
Crown, who had coughed up a mouthful of blood, slowly kneeled on the ground.
As I prepared to release my magic blade, I walked towards Crown, step by step.
"Are you still going to say that I can't kill you?"
"Ha ha..."
Crown, who had laughed bitterly, nodded his head.
"That's correct."
"What?"
"Look around you, Prince Ash."
Look around? Around where?
In bewilderment, I lifted my head to look around.
And my eyes widened.
One of the dying Nightcrawler squad members... his body was turning jet black and then slowly melted away and disappeared.
"…?!"
In shock, I looked at another dead body of the Nightcrawler squad.
The same was true for him. All that was left were the arrows and spears that had pierced their bodies, their corpses were vanishing like a mirage.
"What the…?"
"Wha... What is this...?"
Like me, my party members were also flustered by this strange phenomenon.
"Much deeper than you think, the darkness of this Lake Kingdom."
Crown chuckled and let out a self-mocking laugh.
"The humans of this country are not even allowed to die."
"Not allowed to die...? What the hell are you talking about!"
"I mean it literally. The last player."
Crown, lifting his blood-stained mask, slowly looked around.
"And this hell, it's the end for this foolish country that accepted their curse as a blessing."
"Damn it, at least explain it in a way I can understand!"
"But...yes. I'll concede."
Crown, who had been spouting his words till the end, slowly fell forward.
"You might be able to touch the deepest darkness of this hell..."
I, who had rushed over, grabbed Crown by the collar.
"Hey, stop with the cryptic words! Explain properly before you die! Hey!"
"If we meet again, we'll have more to talk about."
The vigor rapidly disappeared from Crown's voice.
"Then, in deeper darkness, we'll meet..."
The next moment, the strength drained out of Crown's body. He breathed his last.
Immediately afterward, his body turned into a black mirage and dissipated.
"..."
I, who was grasping at thin air as if holding a collar, slowly spread my hands.
Not a single drop of his blood remained in my empty hands.
"What the..."
I muttered in a defeated tone.
"What more is this dungeon... hiding...?"