Chapter 20: “Dragon’s Cradle,” and to the Beastkin Village 12
From the 26th floor underground, a tiger-type monster with antennae on its head called “Hypno Tiger” appeared. According to Mariane’s “Appraisal,” it seems they show hallucinations to confuse their prey before attacking.
It seemed like a dangerous opponent if the “Hallucination Resistance” Skill was at a low Level, but fortunately, it had no effect on the members of “Thor’s Guidance.” Other than that, they were just giant tigers, so even when 30 of them appeared, they were quickly exterminated.
The dropped item was tiger fur. It seemed like it could be used for clothing or interior decoration, but according to Mariane’s “Appraisal,” it had a mental stabilization effect. Of course, it was a newly discovered material, and we didn’t know how much value it would have when put on the market.
“Considering the effect, the nobility will be very interested. In the first place, just being a Dungeon material is valuable, and if it’s from the ‘Dragon’s Cradle,’ you know… It might not be something to sell at the guild.”
“I hesitate to say this, but it would be appreciated if these could be presented to the Imperial Family. Such rare items help enhance the prestige of the Imperial Family.”
It seemed like Dorozitte and Marishielle were right, so we decided to present some to the Imperial Family, but since the amount we obtained was so large, there was a possibility that even the Imperial Family couldn’t accept it all. If it’s a gift to the Imperial Family, they can’t just accept it for free. This is also a troublesome aspect of “Thor’s Guidance.”
From the 28th floor underground, a large gorilla-type monster with thick arms like a mass of muscles called “Great Arms” appeared. Surprisingly, it possessed the “Jump,” “Space Kick,” and “Swift Run” Skills, and it was a highly mobile physical monster that attacked by leaping through the air.
I was almost overwhelmed by the sight of 30 large gorillas dodging magic spears with incredible reaction speed and approaching from the air, but in reality, it wasn’t much of a problem because we could attract them with “Provoke” and wipe them out with “Crushing Wave.” It seemed like a good opponent for Larni and the other vanguards to fight.
The material was something I, as a man, recognized as “testicles.” They seemed to be raw materials for tonics, but since this was also a new material, we didn’t even know if the technology to make such medicine existed. Naturally (?) the women hesitated to touch them, so I went around picking them up by myself.
And then, the 30th floor underground. This was also the type where the boss room was immediately after descending.
A vast space about twice the size of a soccer field. As we advanced, a black mist appeared in the center of the room, and three giant boss monsters emerged.
In a word, they were monsters that resembled mammoths. However, their bodies were about the size of dump trucks, and their heads were more than 3 meters above the ground. In addition to the two sharp tusks extending forward, the tips of their long noses were shaped like axes, giving them an obviously weapon-like appearance. Their entire bodies were covered in long, reddish-brown hair, but each strand of hair seemed thick and hard, suggesting very high defensive power.
Mariane whispered the results of her “Appraisal.”
“They are monsters called ‘Behemoths.’ They seem to have very high resistance to both physical and magical attacks.”
“As expected from their appearance, I want to avoid them charging into the rearguard. I’ll give them an initial blow, so Shizuna, please restrain one with her ‘Spirit.’ I want the vanguard to engage one under Marishielle’s instructions. I’ll take on the one in the center.”
“Understood. We’ll restrain it and focus our attacks with magic, then.”
“Understood. We shall counter with speed.”
Freinir created a barrier with “Absolute Barrier Magic,” and then I stepped forward. The three Behemoths looked at us with eyes that seemed to be assessing our worth, and slowly walked towards us. That alone was quite intimidating, but considering we had already fought two Chaos Flare Dragons, it wasn’t enough to make us flinch.
Freinir further activated “Divine Halo,” but immediately after, the Behemoth’s fur took on a strange glow.
“I don’t think it had much effect.”
From Freinir’s words, I could tell that the glow was a sign that it had repelled the magic. It seemed like a more troublesome opponent than I had expected, but the 30th floor was the lowest level of an A-class Dungeon. Naturally, they wouldn’t be weak monsters.
Still, the Behemoths seemed to have judged that they had been attacked by the “Divine Halo.” They started to dash furiously. The Dungeon shook with vibrations and footsteps, and I stood in front of them and activated “Provoke.”
“Well, let’s hope it works. Hmph…!”
I swung “That Which Equalizes All Things” horizontally and slammed “Crushing Wave” into the noses of the three Behemoths.
An ordinary boss would have been blown away by that alone and rendered incapacitated at the very least, but the Behemoths were only pushed back about 10 meters and didn’t fall. However, their tusks were shattered, so they must have taken considerable damage.
“Go!”
As the Behemoths’ momentum was reduced, Shizuna’s “Spirits,” six mithril dolls, formerly iron dolls, now 3 meters tall, began to restrain one of the Behemoths. One was blown away by the Behemoth’s nose, but the remaining five grabbed onto the Behemoth’s massive body. When the blown-away one recovered and joined the other five, even the mighty Behemoth couldn’t resume its charge.
Then, Freinir’s “Divine Breath” was activated, raising everyone’s abilities by one level.
“Attack!”
As Sfenia gave the order, lightning strikes, beams of light, and spears of fire were fired at the Behemoth’s massive body over the heads of the “Spirits.” However, as far as I could see, it didn’t seem to be taking much damage. The Behemoth’s fur was glowing each time the magic landed, so it seemed that the fur was weakening the power of the magic.
“Tear off its fur!”
Perhaps Shizuna had noticed that as well, as she gave a new order to the “Spirits.” The mithril dolls followed her instructions and began to grab and tear off the Behemoth’s fur while restraining it.
The Behemoth was supposed to have high resistance to physical attacks as well, but it seemed that the act of tearing off its fur was a blind spot. The seemingly hard fur was being pulled out in clumps by the “Spirits.”
“Uboooooh!?”
Surprised by the unexpected development and attack, even the mighty Behemoth roared in anger and began to struggle.
At that moment, Dorozitte’s light beam magic pierced the exposed skin where the fur had been torn off, as if being sucked in. The skin was scorched, and a hole was instantly opened, allowing the beam to damage the interior. The Behemoth writhed even more violently. Three of the “Spirits” couldn’t withstand it and were blown away, but that resulted in even more fur being torn off.
“Now!”
Sfenia and Geshura’s lightning strikes were accurately aimed at the exposed skin. Even the mighty Behemoth twitched and buckled. But that was only for a moment. The Behemoth straightened its collapsing body and began to charge towards Sfenia and the others, dragging the three “Spirits” along with it.
“Frei, please.”
“Yes! ‘Absolute Barrier Magic.'”
But that charge was stopped by Freinir’s “Absolute Barrier Magic” barrier that had newly appeared in front of it. It might have broken through if it had been at full speed, but it was at the perfect timing before it gained speed.
The “Spirits” rushed in again. The ones on the Behemoth’s head pulled out a bunch of fur from near the top of its head, and then were blown away again by the struggling Behemoth.
“Good work!”
Dorozitte fired a beam of “Light Attribute Magic” with “Charge.” The aim was perfect, piercing the fur-torn area near the forehead and penetrating the Behemoth’s head.
Perhaps due to the effect of “Vital Strike,” the Behemoth convulsed all over its body, rolled its eyes back, and collapsed sideways with a thud. Its body began to melt, so it seemed that one of them had been defeated.