Volume 8 Chapter 7 Departure To Nilfheim
On the day of our scheduled departure, we stood at the entrance of the Great Dungeon.
As I faced the dungeon entrance, my body always tightened up. It was the feeling of 'returning'. Nostalgia and tension. It was a place of death, yet it was also my home. That's what the dungeon meant to me.
"Did you say your goodbyes last night?"
Alex, who had come to see us off, asked. I nodded, readjusting my heavily packed clothes and luggage.
"Yeah, of course. ...I wanted to bring Moruru too, but this time I felt like it would be too much of a burden..."
"Hahahaha! You're really being a good parent, Wade. Don't worry, I'll take care of Moruru and Ridge too. I'll make sure they're well trained, so don't worry."
"...What do you mean by 'trained'?"
Alex said with a sly grin.
"Ancient draugr magic and curse techniques. I'll train Moruru to the point where she can at least fight, even if she can't match up to you guys, and Ridge will become the assistant of the genius curse master, Regit Birk, next to me."
"Alex, are you planning to use the 2 of them in the Roman Emperor Battle?"
"Hahahaha! Those 2 have a lot of potential. Besides, you know what I mean by raising them, Wade?"
Alex's smile made me think of the people Alex had raised.
Sieg would probably be the first one to join. All the members of the Wade Party, including me.
I frowned.
"Please don't turn them into monsters...?"
"I don't have any plans to turn them into monsters. You guys turned into monsters on your own."
I was speechless.
"Anyway, the rest of you, keep it up. You've gotten strong enough to follow Wade. I, Alexander, the first emperor of the Great Alexander Empire, recognize that."
Encouraged by his words, everyone's eyes sparkled with pride. Alex, who had been so disregarded when we first met, had won over everyone's hearts to this extent.
"And Sur. These guys are all monsters, as you can see, but they're also brats. I'll ask you in case of emergency."
"As you command, Your Majesty."
"Alright, and I've prepared some backup for you guys. Most of them will be familiar faces. Defeat the guardians of the 100th floor of the Great Dungeon and join them."
"Backup? Who?"
"Oh, Sandra. It's Backup. Tell them I said hi."
Alex didn't seem to want to say the name here, just smiling mysteriously. However, there are not many people in the world who can meet up on the 100th floor of the Great Dungeon.
Our party looked at each other. Everyone had a face that said 'It's probably him'. Yeah. No doubt about it. Anyway, I can tell everyone is thinking of the same person.
Anyway, the preparations are complete. Both in terms of supplies and in terms of preparation.
We stand at the entrance of the Great Dungeon. Then I turned to Alex.
"Well, we're going."
"Yeah. Go kill the Demon King."
"We're going..." "We're going, Alex-san." "We're going!" "See you later."
"Then, Your Majesty. Excuse me."
Seen off by Alex, we stepped into the Great Dungeon.
Now, the Great Dungeon much darker than the ruins the other day. I take out a familiar torch from my luggage and rub it against the wall. The fire lights up with a sound.
"Wow, it's been a while. I love this torch. It's great that I can light a fire with it anywhere in a dungeon."
"It's been a while since we've been to the Great Dungeon, right... And it's a different Great Dungeon from Karditsa's...! I'm so excited...!"
Ice and I chattered excitedly. Then, as if sensing our presence, a monster appears from the depths of the path.
"Growl..."
"Oh! There's something I've never seen before! What is that!"
Toxy is the one who explains.
"That's called a Draugr, apparently? It's like a zombie from Norse mythology. They appear with goblins on the shallower floors."
"Huh! I guess there are regional differences in dungeons too... Interesting."
I swung my sword and attacked the draugr, using my gravity magic and Durandal's gauntlet to quickly jab at it. With a light "bang" sound, the draugr's head burst open and disappeared into particles.
The others didn't react much, as if they were used to it. Only Sur looked surprised and lost for words.
"...You guys, I've heard rumors, but you're really strong."
"No way, we're not that strong. We're just getting started, right?"
"Yeah...if we're going to take on Queen Hell, we need to be stronger than this."
Sur nodded in agreement, seeming to know about Queen Hell. If we had time, I might ask him more about it.
"So, are you ready, Wade-kun?"
Clay asked me, and I nodded. Then I turned to Sur and said,
"Hey, Sur, we're not planning to conquer this huge dungeon honestly. We're just going to take it easy."
"...What do you mean?"
"It's just that it's too much trouble, so we'll just take it easy. We've got a team that can do it, anyway. And right now, our strongest plan is..."
Clay and I exchanged a look and smiled mischievously.
""The 'Drill Through the Floor' plan!""
"...What's that?"
"Just be careful not to get too close to the edge, okay? So, Clay, let's do it!"
"Of course, let's start!"
Clay put his finger in his mouth and bit down hard, causing blood to drip onto the floor. The floor opened up like a mouth, and Clay's blood was sucked in.
"Typhon, show us your power!"
'Wait for it, Clay! Today's going to be fun!'
The floor's mouth replied in a friendly tone. Clay grinned and said,
"We're going to dig through the dungeon vertically!"
'HAHAHAHA! You're crazy Let's do it'
The floor's mouth disappeared, and suddenly the ground beneath us began to rise. It was like we were on the palm of a giant hand. I knew it was Typhon's hand.
With a loud crash, I sat down on Typhon's giant palm. Everyone else did the same, except for Sur, who looked worried. Sur was shocked by our calm attitude.
The first floor of the dungeon was destroyed, and Typhon's massive body rose up, looking down at us from high above. And right in front of us was Typhon's enormous head.
'Oh, it looks like we're ready to go! Let's do it!'
Typhon carried us to the edge of his palm and flipped his hand over. As we landed, I used my gravity magic to jump up and call out to Typhon.
"Don't get me wrong, but I want to move faster. Can you let me add gravity magic to your fist and increase its power?"
'Long time no see, Wade! Do as you like I just want to go wild'!
Typhon stomped his foot, causing the floor to collapse. The ground shook, and Typhon's height decreased. He aimed his fist at the ground, ready to strike.
I grinned.
"Leave the timing to me. I'm good at this. Object Weight Increase, Object Weight Reduce."
I used [Weight Reduce] to increase Typhon's speed and then switched to [Weight Increase] at the right moment.
"Let's go, Typhon!"
'WOOHOO!'
Typhon's fist struck the ground, causing a massive destruction sound. With just one hit, a hole opened up all the way to the third floor underground.
The ground crumbled, and Typhon sank down, causing a loud rumbling sound. I covered my ears and called out to Typhon.
"Whoa, that's amazing! Keep going, Typhon!"
"Typhon, keep going! We're going to be the first ones to dig through the entire dungeon! We'll make history!"
'WOOHOO'
Typhon roared, and the people on his palm cheered. Typhon's opposite fist rose up to the sky.
'Here we go'
Typhon laughed.
'We're not stopping'
Typhon's rampage began.
His fists punched through the dungeon floor, and with my gravity magic, each hit was like a powerful drill. The monsters on the floor died instantly, buried under the rubble.
Up, down, and smash! Up, down, and smash! Typhon started using both arms to punch and swing at the same time, increasing his speed.
The rhythm of his punches got faster and faster. With each hit, his gaze dropped lower.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom! The sound of his punches echoed through the dungeon.
'HAHAHAHA! Wade, this is amazing! My fists are light, but their power is incredible'!
The giant Typhon destroyed the dungeon floor, sinking down with incredible speed. The environment and even the boss monsters were all destroyed in an instant.
Typhon's entire body was now buried in the dungeon. His descent accelerated, and he was no longer just falling - he was drilling through the ground.
Typhon was unstoppable.
'HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!'
"Amazing! Typhon's speed is incredible!"
"Whew, whew, whew... Huff!"
"Wow, this is crazy! Too fast! Too loud!"
"This is fun...I didn't know falling could be so fun."
"―――――."
"Whoa, Typhon's speed is too fast We're going to get left behind!"
Clay was excited, Ice was shocked, Toxy was screaming, Sandra was enjoying herself, Sue was stunned, and I was panicked, clinging to Typhon's palm as we descended into the depths of the dungeon.
As I looked on, Typhon continued to dig through the ground, the rubble forming a wall that disappeared from my view. The feeling of weightlessness in my body was like being on a bungee jump.
Typhon's power was like a drill, digging through the ground without stopping. He wouldn't stop, couldn't stop, and didn't want to stop.
Just as I thought that, Typhon fell into a massive empty space.
"Whoa!?"
I took a closer look. It was a space that resembled the grand hall where Eiosnight had been stationed. It was a vast space that extended both vertically and horizontally, far too spacious for a human to navigate.
But even that was only up to Typhoon's chest height. With a deafening "Boom!", Typhoon landed safely.
As if on cue, Typhoon's clenched fist came down on something small ―― probably something the size of a normal human.
Pfft.
I froze, breaking out in a cold sweat.
"...Clay, now!"
"Typhoon! Stop! This is our destination! Typhoon!"
'Gwahahaha! ...Ah? Is this the end?'
Hearing Clay's shouts, Typhoon finally stopped. Then, he let out a loud laugh.
'I wanted to keep going a bit longer. It was fun! Summon me again! Gwahahaha!'
Typhoon disappeared from the giant golem. It collapsed to the ground, crumbling into a mound of dirt. We landed as if thrown to the ground.
Then, we exchanged glances. Ignoring the frozen Sur, we gathered around the mound of dirt that was once Typhoon's fist.
"...Object Weight Reduce."
I cast [Weight Reduce] on the mound of dirt, secretly lifted it up, and looked underneath.
...Oh no...
"Wade-kun, that..."
"Clay."
I smiled brightly and said.
"Let's move on."
"...Yeah."
This grand dungeon had no guardian. We decided it was so.
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