Chapter 73: Shinjuku Dungeon – Boss Battle
When we descended to the 20th floor of the Shinjuku Dungeon, an urban cityscape suddenly spread out before us.
An intersection where a wide road, three lanes on each side, met.
Towering buildings lined the streets.
And across from us, there was a building with “Palace of Astonishing Prices – Dungeon Hote” written in huge letters.
“Wow, amazing! It’s Dungeon Hote! I’m so pumped!! We finally made it!”
Otama-chan was hopping up and down with joy.
Honestly, I was getting excited too.
So this is the Shinjuku Dungeon’s Local Area Floor.
I remember Yamada-san from the Explorer Association telling me about it during the initial survey of my Private Dungeon…
“Hey, Tama. Don’t go out onto the road. The boss will appear there.”
“Yup, roger that!”
“The boss is a penguin, right? What kind of attacks does it use?”
I asked everyone again.
Shi-chan and Hermit-sama answered.
“Okay, let’s all confirm. The boss’s name is Danpen. He’s a penguin, but his specialty is fireballs, so be careful. The attack is called Ennetsu Kakaku.”
“Hmph. We also need to be wary of the debuff-inflicting robots that appear at the same time. Perhaps we should deal with the surrounding enemies first.”
“Debuffs, huh… Thanks, both of you. So, shall we go with Hermit-sama’s advice and take down the surrounding robots first?”
“No objections!”
“Alright…”
We stepped off the sidewalk and onto the intersection.
Just then, something round fell from the rooftop of the “Dungeon Hote” building.
Whoosh, boing! Boing!
It was a red penguin mascot with a large “Da” written on its belly.
It was about the size of a yuru-chara mascot costume.
When the penguin raised one hand, a pyoko! sound effect played, and…
Whoosh, thud, thud! Thud, thud!
Four white robots fell from the sky and positioned themselves at the four corners of the intersection.
Each one looked like a white speaker with a face, arms, and legs attached.
For a moment, the robots’ eyes flashed kiran! and then…
“Popopopopo~♫ Popopopopo~♫”
A rather anticlimactic tune started playing.
Wait, this is…
“Aren’t these the robots you see in the special sales corner of a supermarket…?”
Though they’re about two meters tall!
That music is kinda catchy, though…
“Natsume, don’t let your guard down! The battle has already begun!”
“Eh… Whoa!”
A large fireball shot past where I had just been standing.
“That was close…”
“Natsume-kun! It’s not just your stats, your alertness is being debuffed too, so be careful!”
“You’re right…”
These robots are incredibly high-performance.
“Ko-chan, leave it to me! 【Water User】 Skill: Water Gun!”
Basha!!
“Pi?!”
Bzzzt!!
An electric-like effect ran across the robot’s surface.
“Whoa, it worked!”
Water must be its weakness.
“Tama-chan, behind you!”
“Wawa!”
Shi-chan deflected a fireball launched by the penguin with her shield.
Kaboom!
It hit a nearby building and exploded violently.
In that opening, the white robot used the boosters on its back to escape to another location.
“Those fireballs pack quite a punch… I don’t think I can block them unless I imbue my shield with a lot of mana (MP).”
“Alright… Bug Sumo: Kabuto!”
I used my skill to summon a rhinoceros beetle from another dimension.
“My Kabuto can create both magical and physical barriers! Let’s all support Otama-chan until we take down these debuff robots!”
“Roger!”
“Alright, Ko-chan, leave it to me!”
☆★☆
Once we defeated the four robots, Danpen inexplicably put on sunglasses and started carrying a large boombox on its back.
“Ennetsu, Ennetsu, Ennetsu Kakaku~♫”
“Uwah!”
Fireballs were launched in rapid succession, in time with the music’s rhythm.
Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom!
It was a barrage.
“This is way stronger than the Utsunomiya Dungeon boss… Whoops!”
“Just as expected from the big city… Yah! Ko-chan, this time I’ll support you with my 【Water User】 skill.”
“Mm, Natsume and I will attack. Tama, can you support Natsume? Shi-chan, can you support me?”
“No problem, hya! Hermit-san and I will handle long-range. Natsume-kun and Tama-chan, please take care of close-quarters combat!”
“Got it. Let’s go, Otama-chan!”
“Roger that!”
“I’m going too! Sorry, I know we’re in Shinjuku and all, but I’m changing it to Iwate Prefecture (Ihatov)! 【Fable Magic】: Kaze no Matasaburo!”
“Oh…!”
When Shi-chan used her magic, the surroundings transformed into grasslands and mountains.
I’ve never read it, but it must be the setting of a fairy tale by Kenji Miyazawa.
“Doddo do, dodou do, dodou do, doo!”
Shi-chan, getting into it, raised one hand and, while chanting a mysterious spell, used the wind to change the direction of the fireballs.
Hermit-sama began preparing to cast a spell.
“Tama-chan, please support Natsume-kun! The fireballs are too strong; the wind can’t deflect all of them!”
“Okay!”
“Natsume, Tama, create an opening for just a moment. I’ll hit that thing with my special move. After that, it’s the finishing blow.”
“Leave it to us!”
Fireballs scattered in time with the pop theme.
Those…
“Yah, sei!”
Otama-chan cut through them with her katana, leading me towards the penguin.
“That cuts well.”
“Hehe, I’m using my 【Water User】 skill to wet the blade and cancel out the fire attribute. It’s the same principle as the Summer Rain Blade.”
“I see…”
It’s impressive, alright, but she’s still mistaking ‘Musasame’ for ‘Murasame’. It’s stuck now, so I don’t intend to correct her.
“Ko-chan, it’s almost time…”
“Yeah, I know.”
The music flowing from Danpen’s boombox paused for a moment as it looped.
The fireballs also stopped at the same time, creating an opening to attack.
“Ennetsu, Ennetsu, Ennetsu Kakaku~♫ Jyan!”
“Now!”
I drew my sword from its sheath and lunged at Danpen.
Then, a tag with “!!” written on it appeared above Danpen’s head…
—Pyon!
It made a comical sound as it performed a huge jump.
“Ah, it got away!”
Danpen jumped to a height of seven meters.
“It’s too agile…”
Maybe there was hesitation in my attack, but for it not to even graze him…
However.
“Natsume, well done. I’ll strike the moment it lands. Follow up.”
“Eh, Hermit-sama…”
Hermit-sama had nocked an arrow of light onto a jet-black bow.
Black energy, like a serpent, coiled around the arrow of light.
In front of the bow, a magic circle of intricately intertwined, seven-colored geometric patterns floated.
“This is my ultimate attack, which also applies a debuff before dealing damage. Here I go… 【Light】 and 【Dark】 Magic Combination! O Fallen Star of Dawn, strike down the enemy beneath the Gekkou! Lucifer Moonbow!!”
Dooown!
The arrow of light Hermit-sama unleashed struck Danpen the instant it landed.
Kaboom!
Rolllll!
Danpen took a direct hit and rolled backward.
Eventually, its rotation stopped with its head on the ground, its feet flailing.
“Natsume, now!”
“Roger!”
Before Danpen could get back on its feet, I summoned my Kabuto and poured all my mana into it using 《Cheer》.
“This is the end! Bug Sumo: Kabuto! Holy Lance Flash (Longinus)!!”
The Kabuto became a shooting star and charged at Danpen.
DOKAAAAAAAN!!
Danpen rolled over and over again, then plopped down into a sitting position.
And then…
A tag with ‘Surrender’ written on it appeared above its head.
“Ah…”
In an instant, the surroundings returned to the original Shinjuku.
Danpen’s eyes were swirling like in a manga, and it was now wearing a sash that read, ‘You Win’.
“Did we… win…?”
As I approached Danpen…
Bwoan!
Danpen transformed into a single card.
“Whoa!”
I picked it up and took a closer look.
On the front, there was a picture of Danpen and the word “magical”.
On the back, the following was written:
・Basic Points …… 5000
・Max Damage Bonus …… 5628
・All Guard Bonus …… 3000
・Defeated 4 Yowarase-kun (Debuff Bots) …… 2000
・Rolled Danpen 5+ times …… 5000
◎Total …… 20628 Points
※Next Point Charge Available …… After 180 days
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
Don Quijote-san, Yobikomi-kun (Gunma Denki-san), I’m sorry!
【Supplement】
We could have used the Fable Magic 《Yamanashi》 to submerge the area in water, but we avoided it because there was a chance it might actually buff the penguin.