Man, that one was rough!
Ping!
Defeat all enemies!
“Woohoo!” I cheered. “Let’s ride, girls!”
Yano was equally thrilled. “Yes, my brain can take a back seat on this one!”
“You two recovered fast, didn’t you?” Akira muttered.
“That they did,” Maeda replied.
Ping!
Gate Condition cleared! The gate has opened!
Upon reaching B76F, we were greeted by another ping!
Defeat all enemies!
“Another, eh? I like not having to think, but this takes up a ton of time!”
“Don’t complain, just move! I’m gonna grab the enemies!”
“Good luck, Yuuna!”
“Go as fast as you possibly can!”
Ping!
Gate Condition cleared! The gate has opened!
Another floor, another ping!
Defeat all enemies!
“Yo, cool it with this one! We’re almost out of time!”
“Hurry!”
“Yeah, we gotta go!”
“I’m starting to worry about the time limit!”
Ping!
Gate Condition cleared! The gate has opened!
We descended to B78F. We were really getting close now!
Ping!
Defeat all enemies!
“Aaaargh, cut it out! What kind of stupid joke is this?!”
“Bad luck! Maybe somebody jinxed us by coming in!”
“Haha, yeah. Ren does have bad luck with items and other RNG stuff.”
“Hurry! We barely have ten minutes left!”
Ping!
Gate Condition cleared! The gate has opened!
I was feeling tense. Just one more floor, and we would see the Hadean Rose! We were short on time, but we should still make it! We had to hurry.
Gimme something easy! C’mooon, easy! How about another giant monster, something as weak as that Island Bunny before? Please!
I downright prayed as we warped to B79F. Alas...
Bwop, bwop, bwop!
“Grrrrr!”
Shaka-shaka-shaka!
Right when we entered, I heard the sounds of countless monsters. They were crammed in the big chamber together like passengers on the subway.
What brought them all here? Some kind of party? A mosh, maybe? Oh, of course. It’s a monster mosh, here to bring down a graveyard smash upon us!
“Aaah! Why now?! Whyyyy?!”
Who controls this awful dungeon?! I mean, I know nobody’s actually pitting it against us, and it’s all bad luck—but it just feels so intentional, so malicious!
Then came the ruthless ping!
It’s a Monster House!
Monsters are spawning in huge numbers all over the floor!
Thanks! I hadn’t noticed! Oh, whoops! Everyone’s already being beaten to death!
This is a rare occurrence. Bad luck for you!
The gate is already open!
Hurry and escape through the gate to the next floor!
Yeah, yeah, I know already!
“Agh! Tortoise Guard!”
To start, I had to immediately use my protective art. Enemies battered me from all directions, but most of them dealt zero or single-digit damage. We had to deal with them while I tanked. This made me a brick wall, but I couldn’t move.
We need that breakthrough right now! I can’t just sit here and wait to die!
However, something truly lamentable was happening right beside me.
Dealt 181 damage to Kotomi.
Dealt 225 damage to Kotomi.
Dealt 202 damage to Kotomi.
Dealt 234 damage to Kotomi.
Dealt 262 damage to Kotomi.
Dealt 249 damage to Kotomi.
Dealt 255 damage to Kotomi.
Dealt 278 damage to Kotomi.
Dealt 263 damage to Kotomi.
Kotomi is exhausted...
“Sorry! I didn’t have a chance!”
Maeda, our party member with the lowest defense, fell first.
“Nobody told me this would happen!”
Nozomi is exhausted...
Nooo! There goes Akabane too!
“See?! You are bad luck!”
“This is horrid!”
Yuuna is exhausted...
Shizuku is exhausted...
Our shield-bearing Yano and our bare-handed brawler Shizuku fell at the same time. Shield or not, you couldn’t stop enemies who attacked from behind.
Akira activated Healing Dance.
Ren recovered 250 HP.
Amid the terror, I noticed another log message. Is Akira safe?! She was about as frail as Akabane, so I had just assumed she’d fallen while I wasn’t paying attention.
“Ren, are you okay?! Can you hold out?”
When I turned to look, I saw that she was surrounded just like me! It was hard to spot her through the crowd, but she wasn’t in the usual yukata. Instead, she was wearing her sword dancer gear, although this time it was metallic and shiny. Other than that, it seemed unchanged.
Ooh, that’s the gear that got the metal suit treatment!
Dealt 11 damage to Akira.
Dealt 16 damage to Akira.
Dealt 7 damage to Akira.
Dealt 21 damage to Akira.
Dealt 16 damage to Akira.
Dealt 14 damage to Akira.
Dealt 5 damage to Akira.
Dealt 8 damage to Akira.
Dealt 17 damage to Akira.
“Whoa, sick! You’re tanky as heck!”
Akira wasn’t going all-in on VIT like I was, but the damage was about the same as what I was taking under the effect of Tortoise Guard. Though she was being beaten to a pulp, the damage was low enough that she had plenty of time to react.
“Yeah! If not for the metal suit, I would’ve died the moment we got in here.”
She really resembled a metallic slime in that ensemble. It was still the normal sword dancer gear, however, so it was super revealing. How could it have so much defense when it exposed more skin than it covered?! Classic video game cliché; in real life, that exposed skin would be wide open to attack. I for one welcomed the sexy yet effective gear! It was wonderful!
Akira activated Healing Dance.
Akira recovered 188 HP.
Sword dancers’ recovery cost AP, and whenever enemies attacked her, she would get more. The healing-to-AP-consumed ratio of her dances was higher than the damage-to-AP-gained ratio of enemy attacks, so her HP didn’t fall. Akira was an eternally healing, unsinkable battleship.
“Can you heal me in time?!”
“Yeah, I can! I’ve actually got too much AP on my hands, haha!”
This time, Akira healed me. When she did, some enemies crowding around me peeled away and made a beeline for her. By healing me, she had generated healing aggro, causing them to prioritize her. If this went on, soon enough, they would all go to her.
As long as I was maintaining Tortoise Guard, I couldn’t move. Once it wore off, I wouldn’t be able to survive. Similarly, while Akira was wearing her Lead Silk Dress, she couldn’t move either. It was essentially like she was forever using Tortoise Guard.
From that point of view, it was pretty awesome equipment—aside from the fact that you had to pick the perfect spot to pop it on and stand your ground. While the two of us stood there, immobile and nearly invulnerable, we risked running out of time. We had to be careful.
Akira taking aggro with her heals was a lifesaver. Once they all focused on her, I would be able to move again.
“Ren! I’m good to take all the aggro. Once you think you’re safe to move, go ahead!”
Akira and I were on the same page.
“Yeah, thanks!”
She sent another heal my way, prompting more monsters to go to her. After two or three more, I was free and the enemies were all on Akira.
“Now’s your chance, Ren! Run to the next gate!”
“Okay!”
As more enemies crowded around Akira, they started pounding on her like a machine gun. Is this it? Are there just too many enemies?! Well, as long as I can safely move, I have one trick up my sleeve!
“Draco, let’s do this! Enervating Circle!”
I cast my movement-slowing circle magic! I spread it out wide, targeting Draco as usual. Thanks to his Target Marker, he could move my circles around for me.
“Akira, jump!”
“Okay! Equipment Set B!”
She changed into Angelic Charm. Then, wasting no time, she readied a jumping slash.
“Hawk Strike!”
Her attack allowed her to soar over the horde of monsters. The enemies would normally just run after her to crowd her landing spot, but they were being slowed down by Enervating Circle. Running as fast as we could, the two of us just barely escaped their clutches.
“Thanks, Ren!”
“No problem! Let’s go find that gate.”
“Yeah!”
We ran with a huge train of monsters following behind us. If we could just get to the gate, we would be safe.
“It’s just the two of us right now! Are we gonna be okay?”
“Yeah. As long as you and I are together, we can manage!”
“Really?! Now I’m getting excited!”
Ping!
It has been 57 minutes since you entered. In 180 seconds, you will be booted from the dungeon.
Three more minutes! We still have a chance.
We sprinted around a corner and, at the end of the long corridor, we saw it.
“Ooh, there’s the gate! We found it!”
“That we did! It’s in the perfect spot.”
“Let’s dive right in! We’re almost out of time!”
“Actually, no. Akira, stop right in front of the gate and change back into your metal suit. Then, just hang on for a bit.”
“Huh?! But we’ve only got—”
“This is important!”
“Um, okay! If you say so, then I’ll believe in you. Just know I’m not convinced!”
“That’s not believing in me! That’s doubting me!”
“But all my past experience... Bleh, never mind. Here goes!”
Akira came to a grinding halt in front of the gate to the next floor. As she did, she changed into her Lead Silk Dress.
“Come at me, monsters!”
The enemies all fell on her at once and started whaling on her yet again. No matter how tanky she was with that metal suit, she probably wouldn’t last long against so many enemies. I stayed at a distance and watched. With all the aggro focused on Akira, the enemies outright ignored me.
As the hallway was so thin, almost all of the enemies were bouncing off the walls between Akira and me.
Perfect. The time has come!