We kept going deeper in the dungeon with little issue, as well as little conflict. There were a few straggling monsters here and there, but while my formation was set up to take on the more challenging and difficult fights, the secondary one took care of the small fry as they walked in front of us. As I checked back with my [Intuitive Mapping] skill, I noticed that I can only see from as far as the floor ahead of us to the one we were in previously. Even when I changed my secondary classes around to be more magic-focused, that range hasn’t changed. What’s peculiar was that as we transitioned between floors through the stairs, they didn’t seem as deep as what this [Intuitive Map] was showing me.
From this finding, I came up with two theories for why. One, like how there’s a limit to where I can fast-travel in the dungeon with the [Portal] Null Spell, the dungeons in this world have some magical effect that limits how far ahead and back we see in our [Intuitive Mapping] skill, regardless of how strong our magic may be. Two, that there’s some strange space-time magic taking place in the dungeons as we move between floors. Just seeing how huge the first couple floors are so far, if I use Earth as an example, we wouldn’t have reached its core, but really walked past it already. Either there’s some strange magic that’s distorting space to where each cell, or even each floor have their own dimensions separate from the one outside the dungeon, or Raiza’s so much bigger than I realized, but the spaces these dungeons take drastically reduces the world’s overall density. This would make Raiza much more hollow as a world, which would also affect its gravity, but I can’t shake the feeling that if there’s even a space as big as my apartment from back home underneath this earth, it would have already collapsed in itself a long time ago if there wasn’t construction that prevented it. I couldn’t even imagine how this world would stay intact if it’s more hollow than I feared.
It could also be possible that there’s a mix between my two theories, as well, but it’s not like anything would change if I questioned this world’s physics this late in the game. This was really a thought experiment that came to me as I observed our surroundings, but since it’s the Immortals that built this world, they should know what to do if something happened that’s beyond mankind’s capabilities. I just have to hope that they’re maintaining Raiza to some degree. Maybe that’s part of what the Immortal’s Monuments scattered around the world are used for?
After some time later, we finally reached where I stopped in the dungeon yesterday, the fifth floor. Since it was only me and my Familiars yesterday, our small group that moved at a sprint got here much quicker. Here, we had to coordinate in a large group, and we moved at a leisurely walk’s pace. Our quest originally stated that we clear the dungeon as fast as possible, but since it was Rowling who arranged it on Noire’s behalf and is now trying to kill us all off, we’re basically flipping a fat middle finger to that preference. The noble lady Vampire pretty much forced the reins away from him and has become the main client for this quest.
“If memory serves, there should be stronger and more aggressive monsters with increased numbers at this point,” Kalline said with a hand resting on her sword handle, “From here, we should anticipate the floors suddenly going pitch black. It will happen without warning, and there’s no telling how long that darkness will last. It will also be harder to spot traps under such conditions.”
“That sounds about right, going by our own experiences,” Ren added, of which Erizora nodded.
“Huh, so the floors up to now actually don’t go dark?” I asked.
“It does, but it happens so rarely that the chance of it happening is near nonexistent,” Kalline said, “From what I’ve read, the chances of a floor going dark in this cell once per hour increases at every fifth floor, that also means that not all of the floors go out at the same time. The only exception is the Lesser Boss’ room, where it’s pitch black all the time.”
That might explain why that hadn’t happened with me the first time around. Still, since this was where I stopped, and I can’t believe I’m the one thinking this, but me and my Familiars must have gotten lucky for that to not happen when we were here.
“And none of you ever went past the first cell, right?” I asked.
“Correct, I’ve never encountered the Lesser Boss that guards this cell, but the last time I was here was a few years ago with Dear Uncle Eugus,” Kalline confirmed, “Granted, I was still a fledgling adventurer who overestimated her abilities at the time, especially with how well I was clearing Dondegarm Dungeon, but that has less floors compared to this, and there art major differences in the cells between them. That trip down Palocaesy Dungeon was more of a way for Dear Uncle Eugus to give me a reality check, and I am grateful for that.”
Huh, there’s a dungeon in Dondegarm, too? Dang, guess I’ll have to come back and check it out once all this is over.
“The last time Eri and I were here was for a Demon client, who was closely acquainted with Ms. Carmen’s father, Mr. Bouba Todoka, while we were still under their ownership,” Ren explained, following Kalline’s experience in Palocaesy Dungeon, “He and his party members rented our services for the day, but when we got closer to the cell’s boss room, we got ambushed in the dark, and the party who hired us got mortally wounded. We had to leave with the Escape Feather I had on hand to get them treated. Everyone survived, but Eri and I haven’t been back to that dungeon since. That was probably a year and a half ago, but the both of us have gotten much stronger since then, so we definitely won’t let anything bad happen to you, Master.” Ren pumped her arms and wagged her tail with determination.
So even with a powerhouse like Erizora around, they barely got away with their lives, huh? I guess when you’re flustered enough in the dark, your vitals would get vulnerable enough for the ambushers to take advantage of.
“Well we know what to do should things get dark, right?” I asked everyone, who nodded in confirmation, “The worst thing to do is stray from the group, so keep tabs of the positions of everyone in your group, stay calm, and react accordingly when the floor goes black.”
“Our ‘B Formations’, yes?” Ume asked while shrugging, “While I know what it stands for and its intent, I feel you could have come up with a better name than that.”
“Hey, I thought it was clever! ‘B’ for ‘blind’?! And the formation is for us to cover our ‘blind’ spots! Ren, help me out here! You think it’s neat, right?!” I exclaimed.
“... Ah, I smell some monsters approaching, bigger in numbers than what we’ve faced so far, too,” Ren informed the rest of us, ignoring my plea.
“Don’t leave me hanging! Agh, dammit, now I’m frustrated! I don’t care what it is, I’m venting this out! Everyone in Group A, let’s move!” I exclaimed before moving to the front, pulling out my tanto and using [Shadow Manipulation] to make it into a bat.
“Yes, Milord,” Mametama said.
“Right behind ya!” Sue exclaimed.
“Pathetic,” Gabriella chided, but lowered the visor of her helmet and followed along despite her misgivings while drawing her sword and shield.
Stolen story; please report.
“I thought it was kind of cute, if it’s any consolation,” Noire said as she ran beside me.
“Don’t call it cute!” I retorted.
When we got to our battle formation up front, I used [Size Up] to appraise our first opponents since coming to this dungeon, at least for those of us in our group. There’s a surprising number of Dire Bats, at least seven of them, with one large red one that’s leading the flock as they’re screeching with predatory hunger.
“Oooh, we struck a good group here! Nice sniffing, Ren!” Noire praised with a thumbs up.
“... Hmm? This other scent I smell …” Ren muttered, but I heard it enough to try and quickly confirm it myself with my [Werewolf’s Olfactory Senses] ability.
… Something stinks. With that in mind, I kept my guard up and prepared for any surprises, “Let’s get them flustered for now! Mametama!”
“Way ahead of you, Milord! Just get ready!” Mametama exclaimed as she hopped in front of me.
“Everyone shield your eyes!” I yelled while blocking my vision with an arm, the others quickly followed suit.
“[Blinding Flare]!” Mametama roared before a bright white flash illuminated the area briefly. As the name suggests, [Blinding Flare] is a [Holy Magic] spell that sets off a burst of light that afflicts *Blind* to everyone who got caught in it. Unless you prepare yourself quickly ahead of time, even your own party members could get affected, as well.
The Dire Bats screeched in shock and possibly pain from having their eyes burned from the bright light. When the floor dimmed back down enough, I peeked over my arm and saw the giant bat monsters flapping and flying in different directions, sometimes even colliding with each other, having no way of telling left from right.
“They’re open! Let’s take them down!” I exclaimed before I led the attack with a huge jump, raising my shadow bat high and swinging it to slam one of the flying Dire Bats plummeting down to the ground. A gross ‘splat’ sound when it made impact, like a rotten tomato hitting a wall, but I hardly flinched as I followed-through the momentum of my swing to make a somersault. Once I fell back down, I landed softly on my feet with flawless dismount.
“Amazing! That stunt gets a ten out of ten!” Sue cheered.
“Showoff,” Gabriella growled frustratingly before yelling [Slash], swinging her dark sword to send a wave of mana to another one of the Dire Bats that gets cut cleanly in half.
“Oh, lighten up, will you, Gabriella? Why not get some fun out of it?” Noire asked before casting [Flare Burst], shooting a larger than normal ember of fire at another Dire Bat before it exploded, catching two more in the blast.
“You’re not the one being held prisoner here!” Gabriella exclaimed in anger, blocking and bashing the Dire Bats’ flailing in the air away with her shield, “You didn’t get subjected to cruel and unusual punishment while being tied down to a chair for days because of following orders! You aren’t on death row for failing said orders and counting down the innumerable days until you’re snuffed by your superior without warning! How could I possibly have ‘fun’ in a situation like this?!”
“Huh, you know, that’s scarily similar to how I left my previous employer,” I said before batting away a few incoming Dire Bats, “Granted, I didn’t really ‘fail’ anything, but I left them because I couldn’t work under their … ‘ethics’, for any longer, and since they wanted to keep their ‘activities’ hush-hush, I guess I was ‘punished’ for leaving them by having a hundred or so guys after my life. I was on the run for days until I wound up here.”
“Sounds like you should follow Jinma’s example, Gabriella,” Sue said, “You should know well enough what kind of character Rowling is after working for him, and yes, you may very well be on death row for failing him. If you wish to live, you may want to consider your options for the future.”
“True, I’ve got all the info I needed out of you and we branded Tyvera as Jinma’s slave, the worst you’ll get at the end of this quest is a paycut, your reputation as an adventurer is still practically clean,” Noire said, shooting another [Flare Burst] at another Dire Bat.
“And you don’t need to get permission to leave a party,” Sue added, sidestepping away from an acid spit one of the Dire Bats shot toward her, “You can go to the nearest adventurer’s guild and unregister your alignment with the Duke of Demons’ Disciples at anytime and go solo for a while.”
Gabriella stood there aghast as she took it all in. It seems she didn’t think that was an option for her to do. Incidentally, I’m pretty sure more Dire Bats had just blended into the flock, and that stench I smelled earlier got stronger, like it went up in quantity. Is that smell the reason why these Dire Bats are drawn here?
Suddenly, the current Dire Bats and their reinforcements let out loud screeches that reverberated through the dungeon walls. Everyone covered their ears under cringing pain from the high-pitched sounds. I quickly cast [Soundproof] to create a field that surrounded the Dire Bats, keeping their screeches from going out. Normally, the spell would break the moment something gets in or out of the field if left alone. As long as I maintain focus on it, though, I can make it last for a while, regardless of what crosses the amorphous bubble of magic. This made the dungeon totally silent once again, save for the ringing that’s likely in everyone’s ears like my own.
“Let me make this clear! I will not apologize for enacting my brand of punishment on you! You signed up for this, so you should have expected what was coming to you!” Noire yelled over the ringing, using [Blood Manipulation] on some of the blood that’s leaked out from the Dire Bats to form into a spear, “But as far as what information I can get out of you involving Rowling, you are no longer needed, so I will not torture you further! You can even run away from this dungeon now, if you’d like! None of us will stop you, but you won’t even get the remainder of your pay cut and we will report your desertion that could affect your records at the end of our quest! Unless you have a bad history, I doubt one penalty will be the end of your Undead life!”
“There’s no shame in running away, or making a ‘strategic retreat’, if you want to sugarcoat it!” Sue added, “Alive or Undead, everyone has their own lives to look after! You have to decide what’s best for you, and take responsibility for your actions that come with those choices!”
Gabriella fell silent … or not, I couldn’t tell with the visor of her helmet lowered, and the ringing made it hard for us to hear under our normal speaking volumes. Still, despite how condescending and bleak it might sound, I guess they were trying to uplift her spirits? Which really said something since Noire had no issue of executing her a few days ago. Maybe her mood improved a little after meeting the Demon King yesterday and learning about me being a Champion earlier.
Just as the setting was getting weirdly good, though, my LUCK had caught up to me. The entire floor went pitch black like someone flicked the lights off with a switch, and warning signals were blaring in my mind. I’m not sure if that’s my instincts or Sango’s doing, but I put my [Hyper Thought Processing] and [Hyper Perception] skills into overdrive and looked out for anything out of place. Time seemed to slow down, and despite the place going black, my [Night Vision] quickly kicked in to clearly see my surroundings like I was out in the sun.
At Nyra’s warning, I shifted my gaze over, and though it looked like nothing was there, I noticed a strange distortion in space. It was like a part of a backdrop in a play that shifted a little before it aligned itself back in place with the rest, and it was made of cloth.
With a quick check with my [Size Up], I couldn’t identify it, but I got a bad feeling that it was directing a malevolent gaze toward a particular target.
I shifted my gaze in its direction and found that, in the midst of the surprise from everyone getting lost in the dark, a Trap Hole was opening up below Noire and Gabriella. They were already ankle-deep down as they couldn’t process what was going on quick enough.
I couldn’t think. I had to act fast.
I dashed in a sprint, racing to get to Noire while dispersing my [Shadow Manipulation] to sheathe Nyra in her original tanto form. In the corner of my eye, I saw Erizora, Tyvera, and Kalline falling through another Trap Hole that appeared below them. They were just as confused about what was going on, but I couldn’t change my direction quick enough, and my body was already committed to its next action already. Ume, Ren, and Kenaka seemed to have processed what was going on quicker than the rest, but their bodies couldn’t move fast enough. I could only hear them calling out to me in slow motion as I moved.
Shifting my focus back to the Trap Hole Noire and Gabriella falling in, leg-deep now, I saw Sue and Mametama sprinting toward it, as well. It seems they noticed it just as fast as I had and were moving with the same idea, but not without the former aiming a murderous glare at the mysterious figure, the cause of those Trap Holes forming in the ground. Since those two are closer, they’re more likely to reach them.
With Noire and Gabriella already past waist-deep, I couldn’t reach them quick enough from where I was. There was only one thing for me to try to reach her, something I haven’t attempted in my experiments with my Familiars in the dungeon yesterday, but I’ve done it a few times to win fights and move meters ahead of me within seconds by sequence already: what I called [Portal] Jumping.
If I can’t sprint fast enough to where they are, I just have to dive downward.
“[Portal]!”
I screamed as I opened up a path, where I simultaneously dived into the hole in front of me before I exited right above the Trap Hole where Noire and Gabriella fell. The momentum was enough for me to catch Noire in my arms before Sue and Mametama followed close behind, and just as the Trap Hole closed behind us, it was at that moment that I realized …
Oh fuck … I’m falling … again? That was my last thought before my life flashed before my eyes.