Chapter 20: “Dragon’s Cradle”, and to the Beastkin Village 05
The first and second basement levels were just a constant battle against hordes of Ogre Adepts.
Dorozitte said, “It’s like, A-Rank monsters are being treated like Goblins, it’s amazing,” and I felt exactly the same way.
Especially on the second floor, up to 40 Ogre Adepts would attack in formation, but the magic from the backline, which had gained momentum, was so devastating that more than half of them would be annihilated before the frontline even made contact.
The ‘Ogre Greatsword’, which had a 50% drop rate, I’ve tossed into my ‘Item Box’, and I’m sure there are well over 200 of them. The ‘Ogre Greatsword’ itself is a pretty powerful weapon and seems to trade for a decent price, but if I put this many on the market, the price might crash.
Now, from the third basement level, the long-awaited ‘Titanoboa’ appears. In my previous life, it was the name of an ancient giant snake, but in this world, it’s a giant boar-type monster. More than 30 of these small elephant-sized creatures charge at us all at once with ‘Swift Run’. Normally, this would be a terrifying, even hopeless situation, but even if the members miss some, my ‘Provoke’ skill just draws them in, and they crash headfirst into my ‘Immovable Fortress Wall’ and self-destruct.
It’s an extremely unfair battle for the Titanoboa, but the drop item, ‘High-Grade Pork’, is a favorite of Larni, Karma, and Shizuna, so we mercilessly hunted them. We probably got more than a year’s worth on the third and fourth floors.
“It would be a great help if you could distribute some to the Imperial Household and the city,” Marishielle asked, so I plan to sell some. No matter how much food there is, it’s consumed in an instant in the Imperial Capital, so even if we released all of this meat, the price wouldn’t drop at all.
On the fifth basement level, the ‘Small Dragon’ appears. The passageways are incredibly wide, but even so, the sight of more than 10 small dragons packed together is like a bad dream.
“Lord Soushi, wouldn’t it be better to just break through this place with your power?”
We tried fighting normally once, but Shizuna said that after seeing the chaotic battle. The other members agreed, so from then on, I used my ‘Crushing Wave’ to turn them all into meat pieces as we advanced. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the small dragons, who were crushed, breath and all, without being able to do anything.
It took about four hours, including breaks, to reach the door in front of the boss room. It’s a bit slow for ‘Soul’s Guidance’, but considering the number of monsters we’ve defeated so far, it’s an abnormal speed.
When I ordered a break before the boss battle, Marishielle approached with a slightly excited look on her face.
“The boss is a ‘Cerberus’, but Sir Soushi has fought a Rare Boss before, hasn’t he?”
“Ah, it was a black one. I thought it was a pretty strong opponent, but in the end, it was no match for me.”
The ‘Black Cerberus’ we fought in the Kingdom’s Classless Dungeon, ‘Foundation of the Royal Family’, should have been a strong opponent objectively, but in the end, it was an opponent that was almost decided by my single blow. I honestly don’t think it would be a match even if it appeared this time.
“That’s just like Sir Soushi,”
“Marishielle, you wouldn’t have been a match for a normal Cerberus, would you?”
“Fufu, that might be true.”
“Then leave this to those of us who haven’t fought it before!”
Larni jumped in from the side, and while agreeing with that, we entered the boss room.
As expected, it was a large space made of marble-like stone, and what appeared were three three-headed giant dogs with gray fur, ‘Cerberus’. In my previous life, they were called ‘Hellhounds’, and the sight of a total of nine ferocious dog heads glaring at us would normally be enough to make you despair and accept death.
“I’ll take the one in the middle. Larni and Karma, take the right, and Sakurahime and Marishielle, take the left. Mariane, you’re on standby, and Sfenia, I’ll leave the rear to you.”
“Understood!”
“Leave it to us.”
Since it’s a monster that breathes fireballs, Freinir constructs a thin, glowing defensive wall with ‘Absolute Barrier Magic’.
After that, Sfenia and Geshura each stun one with lightning magic, and while Shizuna and Dorozitte are dealing damage with rock spears, the frontline members approach and engage in close combat.
I used ‘Provoke’ on the one in the middle, and when it carelessly approached while breathing fireballs, I blew it away with ‘Crushing Wave’. It didn’t end with just that because of the distance, but thanks to that, I was able to use my ‘Plunder’ skill after a long time. I can’t help but feel a little guilty about finishing them off after stealing their treasure.
As for the remaining two, Larni and Karma were showing off their well-coordinated teamwork.
“Over here!”
Larni jumped up with ‘Jump’ and sent out slashes with ‘Flying Blade’ to draw the Cerberus’s attention.
“Got it! Take this!”
Taking advantage of that momentary opening, Karma severed its front leg with ‘Tiger Fang Slash’.
Once its mobility was taken away, it was one-sided. I almost felt a sense of pathos for the Cerberus as it was being cut to pieces.
On the other hand, Sakurahime and Marishielle’s team had a clear division of roles.
“Your power is not enough to break my defense.”
Marishielle deflects all of the front leg attacks and fireball breaths with her ‘Declared Fate’ skill. Being able to deflect the attacks of a giant monster without taking a single step back is due to her own outstanding physical skills.
“This is my full power!”
While the Cerberus was distracted by Marishielle, Sakurahime launched a fierce attack from the side. The simultaneous activation of the continuous attack power-up skill ‘Dance’ and the clone skill ‘Riot’ seems to have an astonishing amount of attack power. The sight of the Cerberus’s flank being torn to shreds in an instant is so powerful that a weak-hearted person would faint.
It seems that the Cerberus tried to counterattack Sakurahime along the way, but it was rendered helpless by Mariane’s attack from behind, which inflicted ‘Status Ailment Infliction’ of Action Stop.
“Everyone is so strong, my barrier was completely meaningless.”
Looking at everyone, Freinir smiles and looks up at me.
“Everyone can fight freely because of Frei’s barrier. Apart from that, it’s true that everyone is strong. ‘Soul’s Guidance’ might be the strongest adventurer party now.”
“It’s not ‘might be’, it’s definitely the highest rank. And overwhelmingly so.”
Dorozitte pats me on the shoulder with a wry smile.
“By the way, that was the ‘Plunder’ skill, right? It’s the first time I’ve actually seen it used, but considering the characteristics of the skill, I guess Soushi-san is the only one who can use it against an A-Rank boss.”
“That might be true. Even I feel quite a bit of resistance.”
The ‘Plunder’ skill is a skill that forcibly steals items from the opponent’s ‘Item Box’, but it’s also a muscle-brained skill that requires strength to pry open the ‘Item Box’. Moreover, the required strength changes depending on the opponent’s strength, so I’m probably the only one who can use it against an A-Rank boss.
“What did you get, Lord Soushi?”
Freinir peers at my hand.
What was there was a necklace… or rather, an accessory that looked like a dog collar. It was something that Cerberus would likely have.
Mariane approaches and ‘Appraises’ it.
“It’s the ‘Hellchain Collar’. It has an effect of granting Adamantine Strength +2 and Adamantine Body +2. It’s a national treasure.”
“An accessory with two high-level skills is amazing. It’s definitely the first one found. Oh, this is fun! Soushi-san, keep plundering like this!”
Dorozitte is holding the collar and grinning like a child looking at a toy.
Now, of course, the question is who will wear it, but for some reason, Larni and Karma have shown an unusual amount of interest.
“Hmm, considering the effects, I think a frontline fighter should wear it, but considering the effects, I think it would be best for me to wear it, right, Soushi?”
“No, no, I think it’s more appropriate for me, who goes out and does the heavy lifting. Right, Soushi-san?”
For some reason, I take a step back from the unprecedented pressure.
But this accessory looks completely like a collar. I’m quite reluctant to have a girl wear it.
“You two, don’t you have any resistance to wearing this?”
“Why? I think it looks really cool to me.”
“That’s right. The moment I saw it, I felt like I wanted something like this.”
I feel like the two of them have a different kind of intensity than usual, but maybe there’s some special meaning to collars for them, the Beastkin race. To humans, it’s something that doesn’t have a very good image.
“Then, why don’t you two decide with a lottery or something?”
“If possible, I’d like Soushi-san to decide.”
“Isn’t this the kind of thing a leader should decide?”
They said things like that, but I somehow managed to avoid being the one to decide. Though, for some reason, it was on the condition that I would be the one to put it on.
In the end, after a game of rock-paper-scissors, isekai style, it seems Larni was the one who would wear it.
“Okay, Soushi, put it on me!”
Larni, wagging her tail fiercely, handed me the ‘Hellchain Collar’ with a beaming smile. Karma, behind her, had a face that looked like she was about to cry, which was strangely concerning.
Since it was a promise, I put it on her, and as Larni moved away, she whispered, “Now you’re mine, Soushi.” At that moment, a premonition that I had done something irreversible flashed through my mind…
After that, when we opened the three silver treasure chests that appeared, we found two ‘Elixirs’ and an ‘Orichalcum Sword +2’. Both were items that would normally make one groan with desire, but as far as ‘Soul’s Guidance’ was concerned, they weren’t particularly surprising. Or at least, that’s what I wanted to say, but even Dorozitte was surprised.
“This Orichalcum longsword is something that even A-Rank adventurers would pay a fortune for.”
“We’ll put it up for sale at the guild, so someone will use it.”
“Haha. If something like this were presented, the guild staff would flip out.”
We gave one ‘Elixir’ each to Freinir and Sakurahime, who both had ‘Item Boxes’. It’s important to be prepared for emergencies.
After that, we moved from the boss room to the safety zone, had lunch, and then headed to the 6th floor.