“What’s wrong?”
Tennoji was perplexed. He had entered the battle to stop the monster’s movements, but the monster was standing upright and not moving.
For some reason, it was standing stock-still, staring at Rui.
Rui himself seemed bewildered by the staring match, but this was an opportunity.
Tennoji looked around and saw a Seeker with a Mana Measurement Device pointing the device at the Black Monster.
Taking advantage of the monster’s immobility, they emitted electromagnetic waves from three directions. The waves struck the Black Monster’s body and intersected.
The automatically calculated numerical values were immediately transferred to the PC at Headquarters.
◇◇◇
Central Management Center – Headquarters—
A female operator monitoring the device readings widened her eyes at the numerical value displayed on the monitor.
“Measurement successful! Mana Index obtained!!”
Honda immediately reacted to the woman’s words, “How much is it?!”
“W-well, that’s…”
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“It’s off the charts! M-Mana Index over 10000!! Estimated to be Lord-class!!”
“Lord…? A Lord?!”
Honda stood up abruptly and shifted her gaze to the large monitor at the front of the conference room.
She looked at the image of the “Black Monster” displayed there. A humanoid monster clad in jet-black armor, with sharp fangs and horns.
—That’s a Lord…? According to the International Dungeon Research Organization’s report, it’s a supernatural monster that would cause a major disaster if it appeared on the surface. And one is here, in Japan…?
Unpleasant sweat trickled down Honda’s temples. If they let it escape here, it would be a disaster.
As she felt a maximum sense of crisis, another female operator reported in.
“Chief! The analysis results for the ‘Black Monster’ are in!”
Honda gasped. She had ordered her subordinates to investigate whether there were any similar monsters. Even if the monster had few reported cases, it might be found in the international database.
“Well?! Did you find anything?”
“There are no reports of the exact same monster. However…”
“What is it?”
Honda swallowed hard and urged her to continue.
“The AI has determined that the Black Monster’s outer skin is similar to that of the Iridescent Jewel Beetle!”
“Iridescent Jewel Beetle?”
That was a monster known to possess magical resistance, and it was known to reduce the effects of fire, water, wind, and lightning magic. However—
“That’s a monster from the Black Dungeon, isn’t it?!”
Honda frowned, and the female operator replied with downcast eyes.
“Y-yes. According to the AI’s judgment… it is highly likely to be a monster from the Black Dungeon.”
Honda was speechless. That was impossible. This was the Red Dungeon, and the only Black Dungeon in Japan had been confirmed to have disappeared the other day.
However, with that monstrous strength and impenetrable “exoskeleton,” and on top of that, the same magical resistance as the Iridescent Jewel Beetle, it was reasonable to consider it a monster from the Black Dungeon.
Honda looked again at the monster on the monitor.
“Black Lord…”
With trembling fingers, Honda pressed the keys on the computer and connected the line to Tennoji.
◇◇◇
The battlefield where the Red Ogre was fighting—
Yuma was surprised that Rui and the others had suddenly attacked, but now everyone had retreated and was keeping their distance. Did they still only see him as a monster?
Thinking about that, Yuma approached the collapsed building.
Then, flames erupted from his feet, and the Red Oni jumped out from under the rubble. It struck at Yuma with a right backhand.
“Whoa!”
Yuma instinctively guarded with his right hand, but the impact was so great that his posture was broken, and he took a few steps back.
The Oni infused its left hand with “Flame Magical Power” and unleashed a fist toward Yuma.
It wasn’t within reach. Yuma thought so, but swirling flames erupted from the Oni’s fist and headed straight for him.
He braced himself with both arms, taking the flame attack head-on.
—Guh… I don’t feel the heat, but the force is incredible.
Yuma somehow endured it and looked at the Oni. Perhaps because it had used a powerful technique, it was panting and had stopped moving.
He would settle things here. With that thought, Yuma extended a Longsword from the back of his right hand.
He took a step forward, closing the distance with the Oni. He held the Longsword horizontally and swung it in one motion.
The Oni guarded with both arms, but the Longsword severed both arms. —Yes! Yuma felt a response, but the wounds only sizzled, and the arms were not cut off.
“What?!”
Could it have healed in an instant? Yuma was shocked. Unable to believe it, he decided to try again. He dodged the Oni’s fist and slipped into its guard.
“How about this!!”
This time, he slashed the torso, cutting it in half. It should be a massive blow.
But as soon as he thought that, the torso did not split in two; flames danced, and the wound healed.
So, slashes weren’t effective after all?
The Oni spat flames from its mouth, so he took a step back and dodged it.
“Then…”
This time, he extended a Longsword from the back of his left hand and closed the distance with the Oni. Before the opponent could defend, an arc-shaped slash cut off the Oni’s head.
But again, flames erupted and rapidly regenerated. Yuma sheathed the Longsword from his right hand and clenched his fist.
“This attack—”
He punched the Oni in the face. The still-regenerating wound tore open with a squelching sound, and the head flew off the body.
“Yes!” Yuma was convinced of his victory, but he witnessed an unbelievable sight.
Flames rose from the neck of the headless torso, writhing like a snake, and connected with the flying head.
The flames quickly returned the head to the torso, healing the neck in an instant.
“Seriously? No way! Its Regeneration is far superior to that burning mutt!”
He was surprised and at the same time, he was convinced that the wounds inflicted by slashes were easy to regenerate.
“Then, I’ll just have to beat it down until it’s defeated!”
Yuma stopped fighting with the Longsword, clenched his fists, and took a fighting stance. The Oni also grinned maliciously and spewed flames from its body.
The evil Oni took a stance and edged closer to Yuma.
◇◇◇
“The Black… Lord… that monster is?”
Tennoji frowned upon hearing Honda’s story. Rui and the others, who were also listening to the radio through their earpieces, couldn’t hide their bewilderment.
“Are you sure, Honda-san?”
“Yes, unfortunately, it’s the worst-case scenario.”
Tennoji raised his face and shifted his gaze to the monster. The Red Ogre stood up again and clashed with the Black Monster.
The Black Monster showed no signs of faltering even under the Ogre’s fierce attacks.
As expected, it was definitely stronger than the Duke of Red.
—If that’s the case, it’s a big problem. The Lord that appeared before was defeated by the American Seeker Clan led by Flame Emperor Albert… but I heard that they lost half of their members, and Albert, who was called the strongest at the time, was almost killed.
Is that kind of monster in front of me…? Tennoji bit his lip.
Even though they were struggling with the Duke of Red, if the Black Lord appeared on top of that, it would be difficult to deal with.
As he was thinking that, Honda’s serious voice entered his earpiece.
“Tennoji… change the highest priority target to the Black Lord.”
“Honda-san, that’s—”
“I know. It’s more difficult… but if we let him loose, Japan could face a disaster-level crisis. We absolutely must stop him.”
“Yes.”
“At worst, even if the Duke of Red escapes, don’t let the Black Lord escape! I’m counting on you, Tennoji!”
“…Understood.”
The line was cut, and Tennoji exhaled and looked at Ishikawa and Rui.
“As you heard, the situation is bad, but we have no choice but to do it.”
“But… how? The opponent is a Lord. Can’t we at least wait until he defeats the Duke?”
Ishikawa said with a stern expression, but Tennoji denied it.
“If he defeats the Duke, his attention will be completely focused on us. If that happens, we have no chance of winning. We’ll strike while the monsters are fighting each other!”
“…So, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and we’re going to use the Duke.”
“That’s right. It will certainly be more difficult than defeating the Duke of Red. But there is one thing that is in our favor.”
“What is it? What’s in our favor?”
Taizen leaned forward and asked. Tennoji answered the question while watching the monsters clashing violently.
“If he’s a monster from the Black Dungeon, there’s a high possibility that he doesn’t have Regeneration.”
“B-but… Tennoji. Even among the monsters in the Black Dungeon, there are some that regenerate!”
Ishikawa denied it, but Tennoji shook his head.
“A monster with a shell like that probably doesn’t have Regeneration. Its defense is so high, it doesn’t need it.”
“Th-Then…”
Ishikawa gulped.
“Yeah, if we can destroy it, we can definitely win! We’ll hit it with our trump card… ‘Release’!!”