Happy New Year! Thank you for your support this year as well.
I updated at midnight since it’s New Year’s Day!
Aria, Kitty, and I are continuing to conquer the large dungeon.
The conquest itself is going smoothly… I guess you could say.
The deeper you go into a large dungeon, the more complex it becomes, and the conquest speed should decrease unless you know the route, but on the contrary, the progress speed was increasing.
The number of monsters is decreasing noticeably. I think, as we expected, the monsters in the lower levels are heading to the lowest level.
“Snow.”
“…There are corpses left.”
For a moment, I didn’t realize I was being called and my reply was delayed, but I understood what Aria wanted to say.
In dungeons, monster corpses don’t remain. There’s a theory that the dungeon absorbs them, but in reality, other monsters eat them, leaving not even bones behind, right?
The further we went, the fewer monsters we saw, and instead, we started seeing monster corpses.
But, why are there monster corpses? Why are the monster corpses left uneaten? That is…
“As expected, the culling has begun.”
Let’s review our monster knowledge.
Monsters are the result of animals that have mutated from absorbing too many Mana Particles. Even so, it is said that some monsters have mutated so much that they don’t seem like ordinary animals because they have repeatedly reproduced and evolved while remaining monsters.
Some are mutated by ancient Elven magic, and some are creatures from the Mana-rich fairy realm, but aside from those, ordinary monsters are inherently aggressive and attack and devour other creatures.
It is said that monsters attack humans because it is efficient to prey on humans, who are numerous and absorb a lot of Mana Particles, but I think it’s because humans are more likely to have “Magic Stones.”
Confirming that assumption, all the monster corpses lying around in the dungeon had their hearts devoured.
Perhaps by eating the Magic Stones in the heart, the monsters are trying to evolve themselves?
“In that case, will humans also become stronger if they eat monster Magic Stones?”
“I don’t think that’s possible. Humans are animals, not monsters, and monsters don’t even look at dead Magic Stones (………) extracted from the heart.”
That’s too much gluttony. I think you can’t absorb the power unless you devour the Magic Stone along with the still-beating heart. But…
“…Could we do it with a rabbit-level monster?”
“…………”
“Gaa.”
–Stop–
–Idiot–
Oh dear, Kitty got angry at me. Did he think we might actually do it? After all, it seems impossible to directly absorb it unless you’re a monster.
However, I don’t think humans aren’t absorbing it at all.
The Magic Stone extracted from the heart of a dead monster is already dead. I don’t know what the difference is, but I think that “something” dissipates when a monster dies, and the person who defeated it unconsciously absorbs it.
Otherwise, there’s no reason why a Rank 5 human could fight on par with a Griffon or a Wyvern.
Well, it’s just my speculation. Just like daily meals, I think it’s meaningless unless you take the right amount.
If you mistake the right amount… maybe Ogres and Orcs are mutated species that became monsters from the human race in that way.
–Idiot–
That day… we happened to encounter a monster (rabbit) and tried to dissect it alive, but we were counterattacked, and Kitty got angry at us again.
The next day, we rode on Kitty and dashed through the dungeon again.
We didn’t encounter any more monsters. There were some traps and mazes, which were troublesome, but we got through them with Kitty’s physical abilities alone.
However, not encountering monsters also means we can’t procure food.
Aria and I still have food left in our Shadow Storage, but Kitty doesn’t. We gave all the monster meat we had hunted and saved to Kitty, and we were getting quite tired of the simple barley porridge with just beans, dried vegetables, and a small amount of dried meat when we finally saw the end of the dungeon.
“Is this the deepest part?”
“Probably.”
We descended a long staircase and entered a slightly larger space.
Beyond the plaza, which was probably just for preparation, there was a huge double door made of metal.
Aria and I were speaking even less than necessary. Kitty also narrowed his eyes, and his fur stood on end as if slightly electrified.
The intimidation we felt from beyond the door… As we got off Kitty’s back and approached on foot, we were wondering how to open the huge door when–
Doooon!!
With a deafening roar, something collided from the other side of the door, and the door buckled outward.
” “—!” ”
At the same time as we jumped back, the buckled door creaked open, and a huge humanoid shadow appeared from inside.
More than twice our height. I don’t know how many dozens of times our weight, it was…
“Goblin King…!”
The highest-ranking species of the Goblin family. Rank 6, comparable to a Minotaur Murderer.
The giant, with a combat strength exceeding 3000, glared at us with bloodshot eyes from the darkness of the door and took a step forward.
But…
“Guaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
A black spear that had pierced the already blood-soaked (….) Goblin King’s abdomen from the other side. The moment we realized it was a “snake,” the Goblin King, reaching out to us as if seeking help, was easily dragged back into the depths as if being reeled in by “something.”
The Goblin King, who had been reeled in like a fish on a line, was crushed and killed by huge multiple jaws.
“…Snow.”
Aria probably doesn’t have it in her knowledge. Called, I quickly gave up trying to recall from my normal knowledge and remembered the contents of the Lester family’s forbidden books that I had read since I was a child.
As a result of the culling of monsters, the goblins who survived from the original humanoid monsters evolved into Goblin Kings after cannibalism.
But at the same time, they also culled the beast-type monsters, and probably due to the dungeon’s intervention, a distorted life that should not have been born was created.
A bear-like torso with scales, six legs of various beasts.
Distorted black wings and black horns.
Multiple heads like a lion, wolf, and monkey with a long, extended snake’s tail.
A blasphemy against life that should not have been born naturally… that is…
“…Chimera…”
[Chimera] [Race: Magical Beast] [Magical Beast Rank 7]
[Mana Capacity: 307/350] [HP: 1034/1180]
[Overall Combat Strength: 7306]
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”
The monster in the deepest part is a Chimera.
The image is like the Chimera Howl by Baku Yumemakura-sensei.
Volume 5 of this book has also been successfully released. If it’s still at the bookstore, please pick it up.
Volume 2 of the Devil Princess’s book will be released on 2/2, and Volume 1 of the comic adaptation will be released on 1/6!
Thank you for your support as well.