Volume 1 Chapter 28 Lower Layer Of Dungeon
The next day, we set out a little later and arrived at the Emerald Green Dungeon in the afternoon.
We have come to the place where the golem has fallen. There are no other adventurers nearby.
The door to the lower layer is open, and the stone staircase leading to the next place is brightly lit.
Ryuin and the others were just staring ahead.
Probably, from here on is an unexplored place.
Moreover, in this dungeon where the common sense so far does not apply, even an S-rank party like ours must be bewildered.
"Finally... Let's proceed carefully while checking for traps."
Ryuin spoke to all the party members as if to remind us, and then looked at Leoness.
And then, just like always, the Holy Knight Leoness took the lead and slowly descended the wide staircase.
And for how long did we continue moving our feet?
Compared to the stairs from the upper layer to the middle layer, there were quite a few steps.
Eventually, the long staircase finally ended, and light overflowed from the exit ahead.
Everyone walked towards the light.
"Th-this is the lower layer of the Emerald Green Dungeon..."
"This place is amazing!"
Ryuin and Leoness exclaimed in awe.
What awaited us at the bottom of the staircase was a space so vast, one could forget that this was a dungeon.
"...Nothing but grass."
As far as the eye could see, there were plains and overgrown vegetation.
It seemed as if the safe zones from the upper and middle layers had expanded here.
There was barely a path made of cobblestones, but this lower layer was completely dominated by fresh greenery.
(This might be the true form of the Emerald Green Dungeon.)
There is no doubt that somewhere in this lower layer, the culprit who created the Shadow Chimera and something that controls the nature of this dungeon exists.
"Perhaps, there are no monsters here either. If that's the case, how easy would it be..."
As soon as Leoness said that, a rumbling sound began to be heard in this lower layer.
'Rrroooaaarrr!!'
And the roars of multiple beasts can be heard.
It was something I had never heard before.
"Darn it, it seems things won't go so smoothly!"
"This voice...could it be..."
Ryuin locked eyes with Leoness and unsheathed his sword. Fatina also seemed to sense something unusual and looked towards the direction where the voice was heard.
Eventually, a horde of monsters appeared, roaring loudly.
In their hands, they held a massive battle axe that seemed unfit for any human to wield, and no one knew who had prepared it.
The head of the axe had a twisted horn that jutted forward, resembling that of a raging bull.
And the axe itself was larger than any Ogre or Killing Bear, with a muscular body covered in pitch-black fur.
This was the A-Rank monster lurking deep within the dungeon, the Minotaur.
There were a total of ten of them.
The Minotaurs trampled over the grass that sprouted from the ground as they headed straight towards us.
"Mi-Minotaurs... t-there are too many..."
"A-and there are ten of them!? That's insane!"
Leoness exclaimed in shock at the sheer number.
A-Rank monsters like the Minotaurs were not usually found in such large quantities, even in the deepest dungeons.
Even if Leoness were to use [Provocation] to draw the enemies towards him, it seemed unlikely that he could withstand the onslaught of all the attacks.
(This is the famous monster known as the Minotaur that I've heard about before.)
I stare at them as they charge forward, their eyes glowing red.
The Minotaurs are also known as the guardians of the dungeon by adventurers.
The fact that they appear here must mean that there is something ahead.
──I start running towards the charging Minotaurs.
"Hey, what are you doing!? Get back right away!"
"No── I will take them down here."
These Minotaurs are all living creatures.
They are neither undead nor creations of magic.
In other words, my Instant Death Magic should work on them.
"(Quadruple Death)"
I unleash the Quadruple Death on all of the Minotaurs.
Multiple Death spells appear in the air and are unleashed towards the Minotaurs.
'Uuurrrgghhh!!!'
The pitch-blackness enveloped their body, and suddenly seven Minotaurs lost their strength and fell forward or sideways to the ground.
The impact caused the ground to tremble slightly.
I defeated seven of them, but three managed to escape my attacks.
It seems they have some resistance to Instant Death Magic.
'Your skill level has increased. Please allocate your points.'
It's been a while since I've seen a message about my skill level going up.
(...As expected, A-Rank monsters give a lot of experience points)
After defeating the Killing Bear and Shadow Chimera, my skill level increased significantly.
It should be possible to level up quickly by defeating monsters in the lower layers.
'Rrroooaaarrr!!!'
The Minotaur, screaming, reached me with its huge axe swinging down.
I barely dodged it by moving slightly to the side.
The Minotaur's attack felt quite slow.
The remaining three beasts continued to strike with ferocious blows using their weapons, but their every move was anticipated.
"(Quadruple Death)"
Once again, I unleashed (Death) upon the remaining three.
'Groooaaannn"!'
The minotaurs dropped their weapons and collapsed.
'Your skill level has increased. Please allocate your points.'
My skill level has risen once again.
"Status"
I checked the level-up message and displayed the status screen.
======================================
[Basic Status]
Name: Ark
Occupation: Magician
Level: 1★
HP: 9000/9000
MP: 9000/9000
Attack: 4000
Defense: 4000
Stamina: 4000
Speed: 4000
Intelligence: 4000
[Owned Skills]
- Instant Death Magic Lv37
[Owned Abilities]
・Half Magic Consumption Reduction Lv1
・Range Increase Lv2
・Success Rate Increase Lv2
・Coffin of the Dead
・Soul Retrieval
・Quadruple
・Multiple Chant
======================================
The status and Abilities List board are displayed.
By defeating the Minotaurs, all of the stats had increased at once.
"Wha- Is this... not a lie? We couldn't defeat the Minotaurs so easily, but in an instant..."
"You mean to say that he single-handedly defeated all those Minotaurs..."
"...Impossible"
Ryuin and the others are speechless as they look at the motionless Minotaurs.
"Is that really true?"
"That's not just true, it's unbelievable!"
It seems that they were surprised by the sudden defeat.
"From here on, I will mainly defeat the enemies. I want to minimize the consumption of everyone's magic power as much as possible."
In the party, Veronica's magic power is particularly important.
If her magic power runs out, she won't be able to use Healing Magic (Holy Magic).
If that happens, each person will have to use the potions they have, and when those run out, it means the end of the exploration.
Therefore, it would be better to defeat all the monsters that can be defeated with my [Instant Death Magic] to save magic power.
"I understand. But if an enemy with magic defense appears, I will fight with you as well."
"Thank you. It would be a great help if you could do that."
When I replied to Fatina, who said that, she smiled.
"Ark, you really helped us. If it were just us, we would have been in big trouble."
Leoness bowed his head.
"No, please don't worry about it."
"I see... Well, let's continue like this then. But if you think it's impossible, please let me know right away. We are comrades who share the same goal."
When Leoness said that, the other members smiled slightly.
"Thank you."
"Well then, let's regain our focus and keep going!"
Leoness carefully looked around and started walking towards the depths of the lower layer again.
(...Huh?)
Suddenly, I felt a sense of unease when looking at the status screen displayed. So, I looked at it again.
All the values of the stats were stuck at '4000'.
(The stats haven't increased as much as I thought... No, all of them are stuck at the same level?)
If I calculate it from the point of defeating the Shadow Chimera, I should have gained stats equivalent to ten Minotaurs with 'Soul Retrieval'.
As I was wondering, a new message suddenly appeared in my field of vision.
'Status value has reached its current limit'
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