Chapter 20: “Dragon’s Cradle,” and to the Beastkin Village 13
While one Behemoth was defeated by the rear guard, Marielle and the four vanguard members, along with Mariane, were engaged in battle with another Behemoth.
Since all the members here possessed “Swift Run,” they were employing a hit-and-away tactic, moving at high speed around the Behemoth.
In particular, Larni and Mariane were making full use of “Jump” and “Space Jump” to launch three-dimensional attacks from the air, completely bewildering the Behemoth.
The Behemoth swung its massive body and attacked with its tusks and long nose, but none of them managed to hit Marielle and the others. Furthermore, at key moments, Marielle used her “Declared Fate” skill to deflect and nullify the Behemoth’s attacks, creating a significant opening. At that moment, the remaining four launched a simultaneous attack, causing the fur that protected the Behemoth to scatter one after another.
“It’s here,” Mariane said.
Mariane threw darts one after another, aiming for the slight gaps in the fur. After several hits, the Behemoth’s movements clearly became heavier. Was it the poison from “Status Ailment Infliction”?
“Nice one, Mariane!”
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Karma unleashed her special move, “Tiger Fang Slash.” The greatsword “Beast King’s Fang,” clad in light, deeply slashed more than halfway through the Behemoth’s hind leg.
“Tch, I was aiming to cut it off!”
Karma shouted, taking a large step back with “Swift Run.” The axe attached to the tip of the Behemoth’s nose passed through the spot where Karma had been a moment before.
“Now it’s my turn!”
Larni “Jumped” and thrust the tip of her longsword “Purple Wolf” into the exposed part of the fur. The blade, extended by the “Blade Extension” skill, deeply pierced the Behemoth’s flank.
“Bumo!”
The Behemoth, trembling with anger, twisted its body, but Larni had already jumped away.
Next, Sakurahime used her tremendous number of attacks with the “Riot” and “Dance” skills to shave off the Behemoth’s fur.
After fighting like that for a while, the Behemoth, battered and bruised, completely stopped moving.
“Let’s finish this,” Marielle said.
Finally, Marielle thrust her longsword “Fate Whisperer” into the Behemoth’s forehead, and the subjugation was successfully completed.
The one I was in charge of rushed straight at me, so I slammed my mace into its nose with all my might. In front of “The Great Equalizer,” the defensive power of the fur was meaningless, and the front half of the Behemoth was blown away.
The Behemoth looked quite intimidating, but when the battle was over, it was a one-sided victory with almost no damage to our side.
“It was an easy win because it didn’t have any ranged attacks. But that defense was a bit of a pain,” Larni said, putting her hands behind her head and stretching as she returned to us.
Sfenia, who had come to my side unnoticed, nodded in agreement.
“I think we were able to break through that fur’s defense because it was us. Without Soushi-san’s ‘Vessel of the Commander’ and Frei’s ‘Spirit Fury,’ we would have had a hard time.”
“Ah, maybe. Thinking about it that way, it was a pretty strong boss after all, huh?”
“If we were unlucky, our attacks might not have worked at all, and we could have lost,” Sfenia said.
Dorozitte, who was taking notes, agreed with Sfenia’s assessment.
“I think you’re right. In fact, if Shizuna’s ‘Spirit’ hadn’t done such a good job, most of the magic might not have worked.”
“Hmm. Well, it’s a boss that exceeds A-rank, so I guess that’s to be expected. More importantly, which one is the treasure chest? Things change depending on whether it’s gold or silver, you know.”
“That’s right. It’s important to know whether that Behemoth was a Rare Boss or a normal boss, but…”
As she was saying that, three treasure chests appeared. All of them were gold chests, but Dorozitte looked complicated when she saw them.
“Gold means the Behemoth was a Rare Boss. It’s a problem that we don’t know what a normal boss is. I never thought there would be such a trap in ‘Thor’s Guidance.’ I didn’t even think of that,” she said.
“But it’s lucky that we got a gold chest, so it’s fine, right? Hey Soushi, it’s okay to open them, right!”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
With my permission, the usual Larni and Shizuna, and unusually Sfenia, went to open them.
What came out were a white short bow with elaborate decorations, a short mantle made of jet-black fur, and the fur material itself. This time, Dorozitte did the “Appraisal.”
“Well… this fur seems to be a material that can reproduce the Behemoth’s defensive power. This mantle is called ‘Sage of the Extremes’ and has the effect of ‘+5 to All-Element Magic Resistance, +5 to Adamantine Wall.’ Wow, this is amazing too. And this bow is the ‘Moon Heaven Bow,’ with the effects of ‘+3 to Penetration (Extreme), +3 to Sure Hit, +5 to Holy Attribute.’ It’s an amazing weapon that can’t be summed up with just ‘strong against Undead.'”
Dorozitte started taking notes with a sparkle in her eyes.
Sfenia, who was standing next to her with the same sparkle in her eyes, glanced at me.
“That ‘Moon Heaven Bow’ is for Sfenia. Try it out.”
“Thank you very much. With this, my bow will finally be worthy of my rank.”
Sfenia took the “Moon Heaven Bow” in her hand and began to check it out, holding it up and lightly pulling the string. It seemed to be satisfactory, and after a while, she lowered the bow and gave me a smile.
“It’s a bow that fits my hand in a mysterious way. I also feel a holy power from it, so I think I’ll be able to help Soushi-san and the party even more than before.”
“I’ve always been helped by Sfenia’s magic and bow. I’m counting on you in the future.”
“Yes. But this bow is a masterpiece that would be a treasure for the elves, just like this ‘Bifrost.’ If I receive these from Soushi-san, I think the ‘Holy Tree Hollow’ will have no choice but to acknowledge it.”
Sfenia said, gazing at the short staff “Bifrost” and the “Moon Heaven Bow” with a dreamy look in her eyes. The “Holy Tree Hollow” that she mentioned is the government office in “Aadorf Inner Village,” where the High Elves, the ruling class of the elves, live. I wondered what she meant by “have no choice but to acknowledge it”… well, I had a feeling I knew, but I just replied, “I see.”
Now, about the other fur mantle, Sfenia is the only one wearing a mantle right now. However, elves traditionally dislike fur accessories, and she, as a High Elf, wanted to avoid wearing it if possible.
So, I asked if anyone else wanted it, and surprisingly, Geshura raised her hand.
“This is a rather beautiful fur. It’s also perfect for wearing in the winter in the ‘Garden of Twilight.'”
So, it was unanimously decided that it would be hers. She originally wore so little clothing that it was hard to look at her directly, so I was relieved that she would wear the mantle.
As for the fur material, it was definitely excellent as a material, but it didn’t seem suitable for making adventurer’s equipment.
So, Dorozitte said, “This would be perfect for making His Imperial Majesty’s mantle. I think it would be an excellent piece of protective equipment to protect His Majesty’s life. I think it would probably become a national treasure.”
With those words, it was decided to present it to the Imperial Family.
Now, with the defeat of this boss, the time limit for this “Dragon’s Cradle” exploration had arrived. Honestly, even the 30th floor doesn’t have the same severity as the A-class Dungeon in the Royal Capital of the Vermilian Kingdom, so this Dungeon seems to have many more deep layers.
But somehow, this is just my intuition, but I feel like this Dungeon is made in a way that can’t be cleared. It has the same atmosphere as the end content of the game I used to play. Of course, I can’t explain that to everyone.
“Soushi-sama, are we going back to the surface now?”
While I was thinking about strange things, Freinir came to my side and looked up at me. Her face looked strangely lonely, which worried me, but I realized that Freinir’s staff hadn’t appeared after all.
“Let’s stop here this time. It’s okay, Freinir’s staff will definitely be found somewhere new. Until then, I’ll go into the Dungeon with you.”
“Soushi-sama… Yes, thank you very much. But if Soushi-sama is with me, I might not need a new staff.”
“Even if you get a new staff, I’ll be with you forever, so don’t worry.”
As I said that and stroked Freinir’s head, I noticed that Larni and Karma were giving me strangely warm looks.
Well, it’s true that I might be a little soft on Freinir.
I apologize for the interruption in the serialization of “Old Man is the Strongest in Another World.”
As I mentioned in my activity report, my main PC is currently being repaired, and I will be unable to update the parts I had saved up, starting from the part I updated this time, until the PC is returned.
I am continuing to write the parts that come after that, so please rest assured that the serialization of “Old Man is the Strongest in Another World” itself will continue.
By the way, the reason I was able to update this time is because I happened to find this data remaining in an old backup.
I am very sorry for those who are looking forward to it, but please wait for a while.
Also, thanks to you all, the release of the second volume of “Old Man is the Strongest in Another World” has been successfully decided.
I will report the release date and other details later, but I would appreciate your support for that as well.