Shinka no Mi

Chapter 123: Five Headed Serpent

This mysterious reward of a head pat I gave to Louis somehow sparked something within Saria and Al, as from there forwards, any monster we found would end up lifeless in the next second.

The only saving grace was that we no longer encountered any human loving monsters after Mr. Bear.

Yeah… just the guilt itself can kill my heart off…

Let’s never repeat the same tragedy, ever again… No, really.

「Seiichi! Look, I defeated it! So pet me!」 (Saria)

Saria smiled innocently as she showed her head to me.

「Seiichi! Look how I defeated it! That’s why, em…. look, just pet me already…」 (Al)

Al whose sentence got narrow as it went had her face simmered red whilst still showed her head.

「Sensei. This time, again, I dealt with it promptly. …Please.」(Louis)

Whilst Louis’ expression didn’t change, her cheek was pinkish.

……What kind of situation is this?

We’re inside a Dungeon, right? Why are we so lax, then?

As I was seriously pondering why we were her, I heard Olga-chan and Rurune talking with each other.

「…Glutton, you’re not going?」 (Olga)

「Mu? No… I can’t possibly take over Saria-sama and the others’ participation, so…」 (Rurune)

「…Hmm. Then, I’m going.」 (Olga)

「Wh, what!?」 (Rurune)

……Yeah, another head to be patted.

As my face stiffen, Lutia asked something to me.

「Do Dungeons always feel like this?」 (Lutia)

「Not at all!」 (Seiichi)

Yes, it’s not possible! Shouldn’t be! I think! …I’m losing my confidence now!

However, just like how Mr. Bear had a high level, this dungeon’s difficulty was rather high after all. In fact, Louis only managed to land an attack after some struggle.

「Haah!」 (Louis)

「GRRrrrrrr… Awwoooo!!!」

The monster was 『 Blood Dog Lv: 621』, its characteristics were its 2 meter length, its dark red hide, and its bloodshot eyes.

By the way, I didn’t have to worry for the same tragedy that befell Mr. Bear.

After all…

『Yahuud! It’s meat, meat! I’ll eat y’all!』

……just like that, it was already extremely belligerent against us. If only Mr. Bear was just as hostile…

The Blood Dog was agile, it used the dungeons’ passage and walls that were by no means wide to swoop on us from various angles.

Even now, its sharp claws were pouncing on Louis’ rapier.

「Kuh!」 (Louis)

「Ora, I’m here too!」 (Al)

As Louis stopped the Blood Dog on its track, Al went to attack it, but it escaped right after.

However, Saria with a head of a gorilla, aka Goria was already waiting on its escape path.

「One blow, smash!」 (Saria)

「Kyan!?」

Having met with Saria’s extremely fast punch, the Blood Dog was blown far into the distance.

Then, as though she wouldn’t let it escape, Louis went to pursuit it immediately and diced it with her rapier before it even managed to collect itself.

The Blood Dog that had lost its life from that attack disintegrated into particles of lights and vanished.

Since it’s Louis and the other two, there wasn’t any drop item from any the monsters defeated so far. But, if I was the one who defeated all of them, Mr. Bear included, then I’m sure my body would’ve evolved more by now.

「Phew… The enemies are getting stronger. It would be a harder fight if I was alone. Saria-san, Altoria-san, thank you very much.」 (Louis)

Said Louis as she bowed her head.

Yup, Louis’ a good kid, isn’t she.

However, just because she couldn’t understand monsters, such a tragedy happened…

Like that, just like how Louis aimed, she trained herself whilst fighting against various monsters.

If she met with an opponent that was too much for herself, Al and Saria would lend their hand to defeat it, so it was still okay to continue.

However, monsters didn’t always come one by one, at times a herd of strong monsters would come to attack and Louis had no way to handle it alone.

However, somewhere along the way, Rurune and Olga-chan joined the fight, and everyone managed to come out unhurt.

「…Un, I knew Seiichi was out of norm from his aura, but watching at them now, I can tell that Saria-san and the others are quite abnormal as well. Is this also because of your influence on them, Seiichi?」(Lutia)

「I-, I don’t know?」(Seiichi)

All I could do was shaking my head to her question.

No, I want to believe that it’s not my fault, but the one who can’t completely disclaim it, is also me.

With low tension amongst our group, we traversed the dungeon until we reached a wide, open room.

「What is this place? So, a dungeon doesn’t only consist of narrow passageways?」(Lutia)

「Let me see… If you think about it, it’s either a trap or a boss room, but…」(Al)

Lutia was looking around the room with great interest while Al raised her vigilance as she answered.

「You’re right. An open room like this is not rare for Dungeons. If we’re lucky, we might find a treasure chest laying somewhere…」 (Louis)

「And there’s food in it!?」 (Rurune)

「…Unfortunately, I don’t think food goes there. In addition, there’s no treasure chest in here either.」 (Louis)

Rurune snapped at Louis’ supplementary explanation, but she soon fell to a fiasco after she learned that there was no treasure chest.

「…Glutton, you’re eating food inside a treasure chest too?」 (Olga)

「Isn’t that obvious? Why are you asking something so stupid.」 (Rurune)

「…Nn. She’ll definitely wreck her stomach.」 (Olga)

Upon hearing Rurune’s answer, scowls formed on Olga-chan’s face as she held her own belly.

「Well, Rurune being a glutton isn’t something new. Rather than that, if there’s no treasure chest, it means it’s either a boss room or a trap…」 (Seiichi)

『Exactly, intruders.』

「Eh!?」 (Seiichi)

Suddenly, a growl resonated inside the room.

After which, the entrance leading to the passageway behind us was closed as a new, massive door appeared.

「Tch… Seems like it’s both a trap and a Boss room.」 (Al)

「…Ah, Seiichi! Look there!」 (Saria)

Everyone directed their sight to where Saria pointed, and we found a door as massive as the one on our back, as well as a giant pair of human 【Eyes】 on the dungeon’s wall sandwiching the door.

『You did well for coming here, intruders. I am this Dungeon itself…. I shall welcome you.』

I didn’t know where the voice came from, but the giant pair of eyes said so with a deep voice.

「W, welcome?」

『Yes, welcome——Now, receive my gift.』

The moment the giant squinted, our surrounding was filled with a great number of monster all in an instant.

From dogs to dragons, there were also some zombies, all kinds of monster attacked us at the same time.

「Fuck it, it’s a 【Monster House】!」

「【Monster House】?」

As I showed my ignorance of the term Al spewed, Louis explained it to me in her stead.

「【Monster House】 is, as its name implied, a trap room that houses monsters in great number. However, in any normal case, giant eyes and low voices shouldn’t show up. As long as we keep defeating the monsters that keep gushing forth, we can continue on, but… this situation is not a normal case.」

Apparently, the voice and the giant eyes weren’t a common occurrence.

Either way, the only way to get out of this situation was to exterminate all the monsters here.

「This must be another training to overcome. 【Water Laser】.」

Louis added a Water attribute magic, 【Water Laser】 as she wielded her rapier.

However, unlike the normal 【Water Laser】 spell, the magic clad the her blade and changed the rapier into a long sword.

「——Haat!」

One swing from Louis and the monsters’ frontline easily turned into chopped meats.

「Well then, I’m off.」

「B, break a leg.」

Reported Louis before she plunged herself into the flock of monsters with tremendous speed.

Yeah… if you look at it like that, Louis is by no means weak.

The matter with those 【Demon God Cult】 lot was that they have a mysterious power with them…

However, as the clash with those lot was inevitable, the need to get strong was something even I could understand.,

Watching Louis mowing down the monsters, Saria and Al had changed gear into their battle mode.

「Al, we go」

「O, ou! …No, I’m telling you that I’m not used with your Gorilla face!」

「【Flash Fist】」

「Wait, she’s fighting already!」

With Saria activating her 【Flash Fist】skill, she threw a punch the nearest dog monster with her human-state fist.

Her fist dug deep into the monster’s stomach and the shockwave that came after it swept the monsters behind it altogether.

It has been a while since I’ve seen 【Flash Fist】, but was it always that powerful?

Some of those monsters had their body shredded just by her shockwave alone… If I received that before the evolution, I wouldn’t be alive today.

Al was just as surprised when she saw Saria’s battle, but she soon switched mindset and start to swing her axe.

「Even I… won’t stay being weak!」

When Al’s axe hit a racoon dog monster’s stomach….

「Blow away! 【Ice Shock!】!」

In that instant, a sharp cold air jet out from her axe, stabbing through the monster’s belly.

That cold air also affected other monsters, with their feet frozen over and their movements dulled.

「That’s a good one, Al-san」

Louis didn’t miss such an opportunity; she defeated the monsters from the ones with limited movements.

Thanks to their contribution, the monsters’ amount gradually hitting a new low, so even if I and the rest were just standing still, no harm was shown.

Really, why am I even here?

As I mulled over my reason here in spite of myself, I sensed Lutia pulling on the hem of my sleeve.

「Nn?」

「I did believe that being with Seiichi is the most reassuring. But, seeing these girls… un, I feel more reassured.」

「Is, is that so.」

Well, in the eyes of the demon folks, I am literally taking custody of their most precious person.

The fact that she feels reassured is the best of outcome.

There upon, different than us who weren’t burdened by the tension, the giant pair of eyes that was just watching the stage unveiled roared as though showing its anxiety.

『Wh, what in the world are you people!? You’re not normal!』

It’s mean to call someone as not normal. Well, we are not normal though.

『Eei, if so, how about this one!』

Just as the monsters reduced to some number left, suddenly the bulky door that stood between the giant eyes opened.

After which, a giant snake with five heads came out of it.

It had an atmosphere that said it was distinctly on a different level than the other monsters we had faced thus far.

As I inspected it without thinking, this was what showed up.

『Five Headed Serpent Lv: 893』

It’s really strong, huh.

Almost twice the level of the monsters we met along the way.

Is it this dungeon’s boss?

As my head went there, Louis who had done dealing with the other monsters immediately struck one of the serpent’s neck until it fell.

「Ueeh!? Fast! You cut it already!?」

Her act to loop off its head was too instantaneous that I couldn’t help but raise such a voice.

But…

『Fuhahahaha! You insolents! This guy won’t die unless you kill all five heads at the same time! Now, can all of you even perfectly cooperate to such a minute detail!?』

Just as the pair of eyes said, the looped off head soon vanished and a new head grew from its stem.

Looking at such a sight, thinking that it would be a tough fight, Lulune and Olga-chan entered the battle.

「 …Glutton, can you do it?」

「That snake… so you’re saying I can keep eating it!?」

「…She’ll do fine.」

Ignoring Rurune’s idiotic remark, with her and Louis, Saria, Al, and Olga, there were five people up against it.

Simple calculation told me it should be possible to defeat it as long as each one of them kill each head at the same time.

However, it was easier said than done, matching your breaths in the middle of a fight was never a simple thing.

「…Seiichi, will they be okay? Are you not going to help them?」

Lutia asked me with a heartfelt worry …for some reason, I felt like they would be okay.

Of course I’m worried they’d get injured.

But before that, my trust in them won over me.

In addition, Louis herself said that this kind of situation was what she sought. After all, she followed me to get stronger, and if things turned dangerous, I would absolutely save them.

That being said, the Five Headed Serpent was by no means weak.

Even now, when Saria and the others were timing out their attacks, it spewed a violet sludge on them.

The moment that sludge touched the floor, it made the whole thing melted with incredible noise. Which only meant that touching it was a no-no.

However, what was even more annoying than that attack was the moment the serpent’s eyes shined.

Everyone avoided that light no matter what, as anything that it touched gradually turned into stone over time, so getting caught by it meant your movement getting dulled and death as a result.

I had the skill 【Complete Resistance】 so I would do fine, but it wasn’t the same for them.

The give and take went for a number of time, and both side couldn’t grant the other any significant damage, until Saria and the other four were suddenly enlightened of something.

『I see!』

「Eh?」

All five said so at the same time with their face bright with smiles. I was wondering what they were going to do, but to my surprise they backed away from the Serpent.

The serpent looked wary of them and each of its heads was locking on each of them, but then——.

「【Flash Fist?Scatter】!」

「【Tearing Wave】……!」

「【Fall Disaster】」

「……【Shadow Clone Arts?Assassination】」

「FFFOOOOOOOOODDDDD!!!!!」

One of them was raising a questionable war cries, but what everyone did was basically an ultra wide indiscriminate attack.

First was Saria, she unleashed 【Flash Fist】 with both of her arms, making the range of her shockwave even wider than ever.

Al brandished her axe widely, and the moment her foot touched the ground, she shot an enormous flying slash through her axe.

To my surprise, Louis used the magic I used 【Fall Disaster】 on her rapier atop of the 【Water Laser】, morphing it into a thick, violent rush of water torrent and slashing it across the horizon.

Olga-chan, to an even bigger surprise, cloned into five and shot Kunai-like weapon towards the serpent all the same time.

Rurune was… I couldn’t understand her, but it seemed like she gave a ridiculous kick.

In other words, the idea behind their action was…

『It’s all the same if we all attacked on our own at the same time!』

An unexpected tacit understanding between them.

All at the same time, the five attacked all five heads with their own super powerful wide range techniques.

The Five Headed Serpent that received all those attack was caught in a daze and——vanished without a trace.

『Im, impossib——GYAAAaAaaaaaa!?』

Moreover, that wasn’t the end of their attack, as it also blew away the wall where the eyes resided.

A cloud of dust raised due to that attack.

After the dust settled, what we could see was a room clean of monsters and a passage to lead further in.

「…Seiichi. Your companions are something else, too.」

「…I think so too.」

I gave a deep, honest nod to Lutia’s words.

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