Chapter 126: Abyss, Fully Conquered
Though I was clearly nervous about this floor update—the first since rescuing Cornelia-san and the others—when I used Enhanced Hearing, I could hear the sound of normal walking.
Judging from the sound, it was probably a bipedal monster.
It was probably not in the area right where we descended.
Even though I knew that, I proceeded with clearing, my vigilance at maximum.
And so, when we descended into the first room, luckily, there was only one passage leading from that room.
It also had a fair bit of distance.
So, after setting up defensive measures, we decided to lure them with sound.
Using a gong right from the start would be overkill, I thought, so I tapped the wall reservedly to make a sound.
“!? Two nearby ones have increased their walking speed!”
“Yeah. But one of them seems to have taken the wrong path. This is a perfect situation.
Yuri and Ignat, use the laser guns. I’ll aim with the railgun just in case.”
And so, as we waited in the tense situation, a monster that could best be described as a winged demon came into view.
In that instant, their two beams pierced the demon, and it died in a flash.
“Well, we managed to defeat it for now…”
“Yes. At this rate, we don’t need to worry about anything, do we?”
“Hold on, hold on, that kind of thinking is no good. You can’t let your guard down until we at least know its magic and characteristics.”
“Indeed. When conquering the deepest floor, it’s dangerous not to have that level of preparedness.”
Yuri nodded repeatedly, reconsidering.
And so, we continued luring them, but they were all instantly killed, ending before the enemy had a chance to use magic.
“Shall we wait until they get a little closer?”
She probably meant to let them use magic. Honestly, the magic from the Abyss mostly has powerful effects, so I want it, but not enough to risk danger for it.
However, considering unexpected encounters, it’s something I’d like to know about…
It’s a dilemma.
“Perhaps we could wait until they construct a magic circle.
If we repeat it enough times, Your Highness might be able to use it, don’t you think?”
“Ah, that’s it. Let’s go with that. But, of course, prioritize defeating them. Absolutely do not let them get close.”
After confirming their nods, we moved to a new point.
Now that we knew we could defeat them with laser guns, I’d join the fight from now on.
Though, I’ve prepared for both scenarios, just in case.
“But I never thought Enhanced Hearing Magic would be this effective.
This is one of the most useful spells I know.”
“Probably. Ah, wait a sec.”
Saying that, I took out some mithril and made something like earphones, then handed them to Ignat.
“Here. Try these on.”
“!? This is… but distinguishing the sounds is difficult.”
“Yeah, at first. I’m not as good as Yuri, but I’ve gotten quite used to it.”
While saying that, I called out, “Let’s do the next one,” and made a sound.
We swiftly diced up the demons that gathered.
Even when they got somewhat close, no individuals constructed magic circles, and the subjugation ended.
“They didn’t use it…”
“Shhh!!”
At Yuri’s voice, I went full power on my enhancements and braced myself.
The sound of light, quick footsteps approached.
“Yuri, aim for the midsection! I’ll go for the head area!”
“Then I shall take the legs!”
And so, when the three of us fired our laser guns, a demon that suddenly appeared from nowhere tumbled over.
Fortunately, all our attacks hit, and it was diced up, but it had come within a dozen or so meters of us.
“Invisibility, huh… That’s bad.”
“Indeed. It’s very troublesome.”
“Is that so? It doesn’t have the intelligence to launch a surprise attack, and once you know its trick, I feel it’s far easier to deal with than a golem.”
No, but you can’t see it, you know?
While thinking that, I looked at Yuri with a surprised expression, and she tilted her head, saying, “On the contrary, since it makes this much noise, detecting it is easy, isn’t it?”
“Well then, let’s try the next one. It’s alright. If there’s one that’s vanished, I’ll take it down.”
She’s not the type to bluff in situations like this.
In that case, I figured I should trust her and hone my own listening skills, so we moved to new luring points.
And so, as we continued, just as she said, if I consciously focused beforehand, even I could grasp their location.
Thus, the annihilation ended quickly, and we found a staircase leading down.
However, this staircase was built differently than usual.
“A spiral staircase, is it… To think something like this exists in the deep floors.”
Even the knowledgeable Ignat seemed to find this an unexpected development, his eyes wide.
I made three telescopes and handed them to the two of them.
The idea was to split up and check the situation below.
“!? What is that…”
“A boss, I presume.”
“It’s freakin’ huge.”
There’s quite a distance, so I can’t tell precisely, but isn’t it about the size of a mansion?
Can its shape be called humanoid, I wonder?
It’s a monster with a troll-like appearance. It’s continuously walking slowly around the outer circumference of the spiral staircase.
Really slowly. It’s making heavy thudding sounds as it walks slowly.
It doesn’t seem to have noticed us.
We observed it for a while, but it didn’t even look up, so it seems safe for now.
“Wh-what should we do? Wanna try hitting it with one shot?”
Fighting it directly is something I absolutely want to avoid, but I suggested we could at least try a sniper shot from above.
“Yes, that’s true. Even if we fail, if we go back up, it probably won’t be able to follow us.”
Once that was decided, I started creating a giant-sized railgun.
At this size, the recoil would be insane, so as I extended fixed legs to anchor it like roots, a rather ominous-looking thing was completed.
“What about this magic tool?”
Ignat asked, showing his laser gun, but it was obviously too small.
Besides, if a full-power railgun shot doesn’t work, we should just retreat.
I told him it would be dangerous to press on recklessly, so we’d go with just this.
“Aim for the magic stone. If it doesn’t break, we retreat. Use all your magical power. Got it?”
After confirming their nods, I took aim.
Then, I put up a magic barrier and activated it, and as expected, with an explosion powerful enough to shake the ground, a giant projectile was fired.
Immediately after, the three of us peered through our telescopes to check the result.
“W-we did it! It’s properly broken!”
“Yes. One half has fallen, so it likely won’t move anymore.”
“Alright! Well then, let’s head down the stairs, staying vigilant just in case.”
And so, while descending the stairs, we checked the areas that had been blind spots until now as we went down.
“…There are no passages. Could it be that we’ve conquered the bottommost floor?”
Ah, come to think of it, the First’s words did say something like “don’t conquer the bottommost floor.”
I thought, breaking into a cold sweat as we continued down.
“Is something amiss?” Ignat asked, and I told him the reason.
“I see. However, it’s probably alright.
In principle, the process of mana essence accumulating, monsters spawning, and the mana essence thinning out as a result remains unchanged.
This is just speculation, but perhaps it was assumed that a monster this powerful would destroy the dungeon in battle?”
Ah, I see.
Now that he mentions it, that makes sense.
If a monster of that size rampaged with all its might, the dungeon would most likely collapse.
The thought sent a shiver down my spine.
I shouldn’t have tried that test shot.
Yeah. I’ll stop venturing down here from now on.
Though, it probably won’t respawn for years, anyway.
While we were idly chatting like that, we reached the front of the boss.
“It’s huge… Will it fit in storage?”
“It looks like it would fit if it were standing, but it seems difficult if it’s lying down.”
“Eh, this would fit if it were standing…?”
Ah, come to think of it, I went with Kai to store the mansion, didn’t I?
And when I took it out, Ignat probably wasn’t there due to dungeon surveys or something.
While thinking about such things, I tried to dismantle it and swung my sword at its leg, but there was a strange ‘GAKIN’ sound, and my sword broke.
“Eh… wait, is it metal?” I retorted internally. I changed my weapon to its hammer form and struck it, and it made a ‘GANGAN’ sound.
“Cutting this off seems like it would be a lot of work…”
“Would it be faster to make it stand…”
So, I climbed to the top of the spiral staircase, hooked it with a rope with a hook made from Maso, and built and assembled three winch-like mechanisms.
I made the gears large so it would be slow but powerful, and with my enhancements at full power, I could turn it normally.
After the three of us worked hard to hoist it up, I alone went down and activated the storage, and then, when they lowered it, it barely fit into storage.
And what remained was an incredibly giant magic stone.
It was so large that if I hugged it, I wasn’t sure if my hands would even meet behind it.
“What do we do with this?”
“Why don’t you absorb it, Rui?”
To Yuri, who tilted her head, Ignat replied, “No, it would be better to leave it as is.”
When used for magic tools, the maximum output changes depending on the size of the magic stone, so giant magic stones are said to be more valuable than just their stored magical power.
And apparently, even if it’s just split in two, the maximum output doesn’t change.
“With this, one could probably cast Greater Magic, unusable by ordinary people, one after another with ease.”
“Oh, then we can use it for the village’s defense.”
“No, it can be used for the country’s defense.”
…Well, yeah. That’s true, but.
It doesn’t matter which one we use it for, does it?
I thought, my face flushing a little, as I picked up the magic stone that had split in two.
Putting it in storage seemed like it would lead to it breaking when taken out, so I fashioned a rucksack using Maso and had Ignat carry it.
Then, just like with the flower monster, I lightly looked around the vicinity to see if one hadn’t fallen, but as expected, there wasn’t a Giant Magic Stone just lying around.
Well, that one was because it got into a fight with the Ape and was subjugated, after all.
Just as I started thinking about heading back, Yuri discovered something far too unexpected.
A hidden staircase leading down.
It was probably because no one had used it for a long time; it was completely buried.
She said she noticed it by the sensation when she walked over it.
Moreover, the inside was coated with something like Slime Jelly.
Even Ignat, who was knowledgeable and rarely flustered, was wide-eyed and frozen at the appearance of such an obvious artificial structure.
“I wonder if Dungeons were made by people from long ago?”
“I’ve heard that they were bestowed by God, but could it be that it was a great figure who was referred to as God…?”
As the three of us gazed at the stairs leading down, Yuri looked at me as if to ask, “Shall we go and see?”
Naturally, I hesitated. Was there any meaning in going further?
“Your Highness, if we are to turn back now, would it be alright if I went to check the depths first…?”
It seemed he wanted to know what lay ahead.
“It might be dangerous, you know?”
“Yes. But I want to know what this thing called a Dungeon truly is.”
I nodded at his words, and when I turned my gaze to Yuri, she also nodded, saying, “Let’s go.”
And so, we descended with maximum caution, but after continuing down for a while, there was nothing; it was a dead end.
“What an anticlimax… Hey, this is…”
“These are clearly marks from where something was pulled out once.”
Having come this far, I decided to use my Maso to once again hollow out that wall.
When I pulled it out with all my might, it came out cleanly with a zuzuzu sound, and beyond it, a far too unexpected space spread out.
“What… is this…” Ignat stood there, dumbfounded.
We too were similarly speechless.
But I—only I—had seen the scene that lay beyond.