Two days later, the eleven members of “Thor’s Guidance,” including Marishielle and Dorozitte, were in a room in the basement of the Imperial Castle.
Led by His Imperial Majesty, the Prime Minister, and Marquis Dominate, the Knights Order Commander, they passed through multiple heavily guarded doors to reach a room filled with cold, stagnant air. At the far end, a pair of majestic, seemingly orichalcum double doors, about five meters in height and width, stood imposingly, loudly proclaiming the extraordinary nature of this room.
Before the faintly golden-glowing doors, the Emperor, with a slightly tightened expression, addressed us, who were somewhat tense.
“This is the entrance to the Empire’s only Classless Dungeon, ‘Dragon’s Cradle.’ To be precise, the cave beyond these doors is the dungeon’s entrance, and these doors themselves were created by the Emperor three generations ago. Once opened and adventurers enter, these doors are bolted from the outside. Therefore, they cannot be opened from the inside. To exit the dungeon, you must use the ‘Transfer Magic Tool’ located every five floors to return directly to this room. Please be aware of this.”
“Understood,” I replied.
“Marishielle has already reached the 20th floor, and I believe that will not be a problem for the members of ‘Thor’s Guidance.’ You mentioned going as far as possible in three days, but please do not overexert yourselves. Though, with Lord Soushi present, I doubt there will be any issues.”
Having gained some composure, the Emperor smiled faintly and instructed Commander Dominate to “Open the doors.”
The orichalcum doors were firmly sealed by a bolt, also made of orichalcum, as thick as a utility pole.
Commander Dominate, a former A-Rank adventurer, slowly slid the bolt, which no ordinary person could move, out of place.
“Then, we await your safe return. I am very much looking forward to seeing what treasures you will find.”
“Thank you. We will definitely return, so please wait for us,” I said, turning to look at the members. After confirming everyone’s nods, I declared, “Alright, let’s go.”
“Then, we shall be off.”
After greeting the Emperor, I and the eleven members of “Thor’s Guidance” passed through the orichalcum doors that Commander Dominate had opened and stepped into the “Dragon’s Cradle.”
After walking for about five minutes through a natural cave-like passage, the surroundings suddenly changed.
The floor and walls of the passage were now made of polished, high-quality marble-like stone, giving it a luxurious feel.
It had the atmosphere of a high-class dungeon, exactly like the “Foundation of the Royal Family” we had previously explored. In fact, after talking to Marishielle, who had experience with it, the monsters that appeared up to the fifth floor, including the fifth-floor boss, “Cerberus,” were exactly the same as in the “Foundation of the Royal Family.”
As the Emperor had mentioned, Marishielle had already reached the 20th floor, so today’s plan was to reach the 10th floor. The 20th floor was said to be the deepest record reached in the “Dragon’s Cradle.”
Anyway, as the eleven of us walked through the marble passage, which was about 10 meters wide, I immediately sensed something with my “Presence Detection.”
Walking towards us from the front were hulking ogres carrying greatswords, “Ogre Adepts.” Their trained upper bodies were masses of muscle, and each one possessed the strength of an A-Rank adventurer. In the “Foundation of the Royal Family,” there were only three or four of them in a single battle, but this time, with the full “Thor’s Guidance” team, there were over 30 of them. They were a force capable of destroying not just a town, but perhaps even a small country’s army.
“I’ve already felt the uniqueness of ‘Thor’s Guidance,’ but I’m still surprised to see so many Ogre Adepts!”
Marishielle said, sounding rather pleased, as she drew her longsword, “Fate Whisperer,” and took a stance.
“Alright, let’s start with magic as usual. Frei, I’ll need ‘Divine Halo.'”
“Yes, Lord Soushi, ‘Divine Halo’!”
The Ogre Adept formation was enveloped in a faint light, and we could hear faint groans of weakening.
In the meantime, the vanguard group—me, Larni, Karma, Sakurahime, and Marishielle—moved forward. Mariane was in the mid-guard. Freinir, Sfenia, Shizuna, Geshura, and Dorozitte were in the rear guard. The rear guard was surrounded and protected by four iron dolls, “Spirits,” summoned by Shizuna. That made a total of 11 people plus four. However, 15 against 30 was a battle that didn’t seem like it belonged in a dungeon.
First, the rear guard began their magic. Freinir was concentrating after her initial spell, so Sfenia and Geshura launched lightning magic first.
“‘Lightning’!”
Two bolts of lightning, released with Sfenia’s voice, struck five or six Ogre Adepts each, instantly killing those who were hit directly. Those struck by the side lightning fell to the ground, barely alive.
“You shall taste ‘Hell Flare.'”
Shizuna followed up with the advanced fire magic, “Hell Flare.” A fireball about one meter in diameter flew at high speed, landed in the middle of the Ogre Adept group, expanded, and turned three of them into charcoal.
“I guess this is the first time I’m using this in actual combat. ‘Laser’!”
The name of Dorozitte’s light magic came from when I had seen her magic and blurted out, “It’s like a laser.” Of course, that word didn’t exist in this world, but Dorozitte seemed to like the sound of it. Anyway, the pale blue beam emitted from her short staff bisected three Ogre Adepts as if they were cut by an extremely sharp blade.
More than ten Ogre Adepts had been eliminated by the rear guard’s magic attacks, but the rest charged forward with “Swift Run,” wielding their greatswords.
However, the vanguard of “Thor’s Guidance” dealt with their high-speed movements with ease.
“Aren’t they slow for A-Rank?”
Larni charged in with “Swift Run,” moving twice as fast as the enemy, and instantly decapitated two of them with her longsword, “Purple Wolf.” Her movements were so fast that even my Dynamic Vision could barely keep up.
“Eat my special attack!”
Karma countered by swinging her “Beast King’s Fang” horizontally. In an instant, a blade of light three times the size of the actual blade appeared, cutting three Ogre Adepts in half from the front. It was her special skill, “Tiger Fang Slash,” which seemed to expand the attack range and maximize cutting power.
“My power is not to be underestimated.”
The moment Sakurahime swung her naginata, “Blizzard,” she appeared to split into three. In reality, the Sakurahimes on the left and right were her so-called clones, but this skill, “Riot,” was exceptionally mysterious among the many skills.
When the three Sakurahimes attacked the Ogre Adepts simultaneously, even the A-Rank monsters seemed momentarily bewildered, and they were cut down without being able to do anything.
“Is it just me, or are Ogre Adepts this fragile?”
Marishielle, with her usual “Declared Fate” skill and exceptional swordsmanship, dodged all the Ogre Adepts’ attacks while gracefully flashing “Fate Whisperer,” taking down the ogres one after another.
Mariane, without making a sound, circled behind the Ogre Adept group and used her short sword, “Dragon Tail Cutter,” to finish off those who had been knocked down by the earlier lightning magic. Her movements were like an assassin, making my spine tingle just watching her.
As I watched the battle unfold, only two Ogre Adepts managed to reach me. Of course, they were blown to pieces, greatswords and all, with a single swing of “The Great Equalizer.”
“As expected, this one battle alone makes it clear that this dungeon is completely different from when I entered it before. I’m very much looking forward to what lies ahead!”
Marishielle said with an excited voice as she collected the Magic Stones and the “Ogre Greatswords” that were dropped. She seemed to have been unsatisfied with the previous battles, and she had high expectations for this exploration of the “Dragon’s Cradle.”
“At the very least, the number of monsters won’t disappoint us. There should be some irregularities with the bosses as well, so it shouldn’t betray our expectations. Whether that’s good or bad is another matter.”
“I believe that this characteristic is what made ‘Thor’s Guidance’ the party it is today, so it’s a wonderful thing.”
“Right? I think Marishielle will get even stronger from now on. But I’ll win someday!”
Larni said, giving her usual thumbs-up, and smiles spread across the party.
Even after annihilating 30 A-Rank monsters with ease, we still had this much composure.
Whether I should call it reassuring or terrifying… For me, it’s definitely the former, but from an outside perspective, it would probably be fifty-fifty.
Apology
I am very sorry to inform you that the update schedule for both “Ossan Isekai Saikyou” and “Yuusha Sensei,” which is currently “once every two days,” will be changed to “once every three days” starting in February.
The reason for this is the increased workload from my main job and the work involved in publishing the books. Of course, another reason is that I recklessly increased the number of series I’m working on without thinking ahead (I bow my head in apology).
As for “Akuyaku Koushaku,” I will continue to update it daily as long as I have a stockpile of chapters, but once that stockpile runs out, it will also be changed to “once every three days.”
I sincerely apologize to those who have been looking forward to the updates.
I hope you will continue to support “Ossan Isekai Saikyou.”
As a side note, the first volume of “Ossan Isekai Saikyou” will be released on February 10th, so please check that out as well.
I was surprised to see how much effort was put into the Amazon product page (lol).
Also, the second volume of “Tsukinami Ossan” will be released on February 17th, and the second volume of “Yuusha Sensei” will be released on February 25th.
It’s a miracle (or perhaps a reckless act?) that three books will be published in February, which also surprised me.