“Yes, yes. If you need me, I’ll be swimming until we leave. I might as well enjoy it.”
Today, we were planning to continue our delve into Aswarth’s Undersea Ruins. We had some beef to settle with Mr. Death Chariot. If all went well, he could be the key to dealing with the Hadean Rose that had obliterated us last time.
After Emily left yesterday, we’d tried to take one more trip into the dungeon. Despite Akira’s summoning of Akabane making us a full party, there had been a Monster House the moment we entered. We’d been mobbed by slimes and killed almost instantly.
But today, we were starting fresh.
“I’ll do that too! Come swim with me, Ren!”
“Sure! I’ll go change!”
The three of us swam around and rode on the jet ski until everyone else arrived, at which point we departed for Aswarth’s. Today’s party consisted of Akira, Maeda, Yano, Akabane, Shizuku, and me. We were basically the same party as yesterday, except Akabane had taken Emily’s place.
In terms of classes, our lineup was sword dancer, scholar, sky pirate, another sword dancer, martial artist, and symbologist. I loved having that double sword dancer composition.
As Emily was an armor knight, she had the wide-range taunt skill Provoke, which was great for big hordes of weak monsters. Her Crimson Calamity could also kill all the enemies she brought to her in one swoop. She was a valuable tank in both normal battles and in boss chambers. I didn’t care much for good classes, but it did feel safer to have one around.
How would our double sword dancer comp fare? We were just planning to mess around with Mr. Death Chariot today, so I didn’t need to think too much about efficiency.
While I was mulling these things over, we arrived at the entrance to Aswarth’s Undersea Ruins.
“Huh. Not many people today,” I noted.
“Yeah, really. There were way more yesterday,” Akira said.
“What’s it mean?” Yano asked. “Do these people, like... actually go out IRL?”
I shook my head. “Nah, no way. Anyone who came here for the Rainbow Guard is a real, dyed-in-the-wool gamer. I doubt they’d slack off like that. Most likely, they’re all grinding and planning to take down that Hadean Rose. Collecting items, grabbing talents, stuff like that. It’s just a temporary stop while they’re busy with all that.”
“I getcha. Slacking off of video games, though... That’s a funny thought.”
“Yes, it is rather silly,” Maeda agreed. “Even so, I suppose it makes sense.”
“Your zeal and your keeping tabs on the competition reminds me of a sports team on their way to an important match,” Shizuku commented.
“Well, professional gaming is just becoming accepted as a real occupation,” Akabane replied. “That’s what Emily and her friends are doing, no? Our corporation has been considering forming its own team.”
I let out a chuckle. “Heheheh. Just imagine how good it’ll feel to beat pro gamers to the bottom of the dungeon. Aww yeah, I’m getting fired up! Let’s win this!”
But first, we needed to see the chariot of death himself.
We plunged into the dungeon. Our destination this time was B10F, so to get there, we would warp to B6F and clear the next four floors.
I’d like to say things went well along the way, but that wasn’t quite true. Without Emily, our small-fry culling went much slower. In cases where the gate condition was to kill all enemies on the floor, she was the perfect one for the job. She could set them up by pulling them in, then knock them down with her wide-range ult.
I’ve gotta come up with a way to speed things up.
That said, not every gate required that much effort. We cleared each one somewhat slower than before as we approached our destination. Just then, we heard a familiar ping!
Gate Condition cleared!
Head for the gate to the next floor!
Akira cheered. “Woo! Next up is the long-awaited B10F!”
“Heck yeah. Let’s go!”
Leading the pack, she and I ran for the warp gate.
Along the way, Yano asked me, “So why are we going to this guy, anyway? Does he have something we need?”
“Of course! Remember how he gave us this armor called Blood-Dead Robe a while back? I wanna see if he’ll give us more stuff!”
“How do we get it?”
“I’ve got a theory, so that’s what we’re here to test.”
“Eww, he said ‘test’! Every time he uses that magic word, he can make us do whatever weird stuff he wants!”
“Thanks for the compliment!”
“That wasn’t a compliment!”
Still bickering, we entered the warp gate. The scenery before us was replaced with a giant, empty arena-like battlefield. Like before, there was palpable loneliness emanating from the empty stands.
Ping!
Gate Condition: Defeat the boss monster!
Ping!
It has been 28 minutes since you entered. In 120 seconds, you will be booted from the dungeon.
Two system messages in a row? Oh, crap! We’re almost out of time!
Fortunately, our sword dancer duo had way more firepower in boss battles. We would take him down in seconds!
“We’re out of time, so I’m going to kill him in three ults! Back me up, girls!”
Akira nodded. “Okay! I’ll cover for you, Ren!”
“My AP is topped up and at your disposal,” reported Nozomi.
“I gotcha, bro!” Yano flashed a thumbs-up.
“I will support you from afar with offensive magic,” said Maeda.
Shizuku turned toward me. “Do you object to me attacking as I please?”
“Not at all. Punch his lights out!”
Maeda and Shizuku were free to do what they wanted at times like this. They wouldn’t accidentally take aggro, so they could just hit as hard as possible without worry.
Groaning, the gate on the opposite side of the arena lifted. Soon after, I heard metallic grinding noises coming our way.
Skree-ee! Skree-ee!
The creature’s upper body was covered with a black robe, and it wore a mask that looked just like a famous screaming face. Its lower body was composed of wheels with metal spikes, plus a pair of dragon heads. The beast’s arms were bound with spiky chains, and it wielded a massive scythe.