On The Honeymoon (8)

And so, this was the plan we came up with.

A war against the ones who forced the innocent Kuns to work, threatening them with weapons, and killing them if they didn’t obey.

These hulking monsters attacked us on sight, treating us like lower lifeforms—who knows what they’re capable of?

When those monsters come down to switch shifts and notice something strange, the Kuns will surround them and throw roasted Sekun.

Once we confirm the Sekun works on them, we’ll head to the second floor. They said the number of monsters up there is about two-thirds of what’s down here, so we’ll need to help each other out.

Judging by Sekun’s power, I’m not too worried.

“Rurin.”

So I woke Rurin. She had slept deeply, and I figured it was well past morning—probably lunchtime.

Besides, we couldn’t pull this off without her.

“Mmmh…!”

What was that? That noise was weird.

I shook her again.

“Rurin, wake up! You gotta protect your husband! If you don’t get up, you’ll end up a widow!”

Last time I explained what ‘widow’ meant, she freaked out and said she’d rather die first.

That did the trick—Rurin’s eyes popped open.

“Huh? I don’t want to be a widow!”

Then she got up and looked around frantically.

“Where? Where’s the enemy?!”

“No, they haven’t shown up yet…”

“…Then why would I be a widow?”

Rurin blinked with a confused face and started yawning again.

“I’m sleepy…ugh.”

“Drink some water. Wake yourself up.”

I gave her my best drill sergeant face.

And not long after—

Boom, boom, boom!

The wide mushroom field shook as the kin of yesterday’s monster pushed through the Kuns standing at the exit.

They started panicking when they didn’t see the shift replacement—and that’s when our operation began.

The Kuns began throwing Sekun mushrooms at the monsters.

“Grrraaaagh! Krrrrrrrr!”

The big monsters growled, trying to fight back.

But about half were hit and turned to stone instantly.

It was confirmed once again—these things work great on monsters. So far, so good.

Just like I ordered, the Kuns pounced the moment the monsters turned to stone, shattering them completely.

Kun-kun! Kuuuun!

The noises they made as they ran were kind of cute—but we were heading to the battlefield. As I glanced around, I saw the second floor had a similar layout to the first.

A long hallway led to an enormous open space. This ruin really was huge and stretched out.

As we stormed their base, a battle broke out naturally.

Just like how the Kuns had a wide territory on the first floor, this floor was the domain of the big monsters.

There was a team to throw mushrooms, a team to attack petrified monsters, and a team to supply roasted Sekun carefully. After a few practice runs, the Kuns moved in perfect coordination.

I guess that’s expected of monsters who were naturally cooperative and united.

“GRAAAHH!”

Of course, there were casualties. The mushrooms didn’t hit 100% of the time.

But the Kuns never stopped fighting for their freedom. Every fallen comrade only made them fight harder.

And Rurin stayed glued to me, using her breath attacks to protect me.

She was holding back—if her breath was too strong, it could hit the Kuns or bounce back at us. So while she couldn’t wipe out dozens at once, I was completely shielded.

“You’re sweating, Rurin.”

“It’s fine. I like protecting you, so I don’t mind.”

As I wiped her sweat, she gave her usual answer. Before long, the Kuns had the upper hand, and the big monsters were down to just a few—cornered and desperate.

It was at the point where all that was left was a clean sweep.

“Krrruuuhhhhuuuuuaahhh!”

Suddenly, the big monsters triggered something, and a massive door behind them began to open.

“Huh?”

Rurin stopped in front of me, tilting her head. I did the same.

Then the big monsters all bowed toward the huge door.

THOOM—!

THOOM—!

A monster several times larger than the big ones appeared in front of the Kuns.

Seeing how the others bowed and how it looked similar, that thing was clearly the boss of the big monsters.

“Kuooooooonkuooon! Kunkukukunkuooon!”

“They say they had no idea such a leader even existed since they’re always the ones being bullied. They’re asking what to do.”

“We’ve still got Sekun mushrooms left. Tell them to attack. Focus fire!”

“Understood.”

As Rurin shouted my message loudly, the Sekun mushroom assault resumed.

But the monster was just too massive. It did get petrified where hit, but its fist alone was the size of a whole Kun. So even if it got hit, only that part turned to stone.

“Rurin, try attacking at full power.”

Rurin nodded and unleashed her breath.

KWAHHHH—!

With a burst of intense light, Rurin’s breath shot out. It blew through the monster’s shoulder, and its massive left arm fell off, paralyzed.

“GRAAAAHHH!”

As soon as it was wounded, the huge monster let out a deep roar and started rampaging even more violently.

“Good. Keep attacking.”

“Got it!”

Rurin launched another breath attack, and the Kuns kept throwing Sekun mushrooms despite casualties. Some started fighting the surviving big monsters too.

The result was complete chaos.

Rurin fired another breath at the gigantic monster. But unlike when it lost its left arm, this time it just grunted, looking annoyed, and blocked the breath with its remaining right arm.

The breath bounced right off, and the giant monster took no damage.

“Wait…is its arm made of the same material as the walls?”

“Watch out! Love, be careful!”

The deflected breath bounced between the ceiling and floor, becoming dangerous.

Luckily, the space was so vast that it didn’t rebound like a bouncy ball the way it did in the corridor—it took some time to travel up and down.

So dodging was easier, but with the giant monster, big monsters, Kuns, mushrooms flying everywhere, and now the breath too—it was turning into a complete mess.

The problem was that arm—his right arm, glowing like the walls of the ruin.

Why the hell was just one arm made of the same material as the walls?

The arm that got blown off was normal. But for some reason, the other arm was like those mystical bricks.

Just like the walls and ceiling deflected breath attacks, that thing used its arm to do the same.

What do we do?

After a brief pause, I came up with a brilliant idea—and told Rurin immediately.

“Rurin! Tell the Kuns to throw all the remaining Sekun mushrooms at that thing’s remaining arm!”

“At its arm? But only the arm will turn to stone—and only for a short while.”

“It’s fine!”

“Got it!”

Rurin shouted to the Kuns, and then I whispered to her.

“If the Kuns throw Sekun mushrooms at its arm and it turns to stone—hit that exact spot with your breath.”

“With my breath?”

“Yeah. That weird magic brick arm is the problem. But if we turn it into regular stone with roasted Sekun, it won’t be able to do anything.”

Sekun mushrooms explode on impact and turn things to stone—even inanimate stuff like the floor or walls within the blast radius.

So this was the best plan we had.

“Now!”

Thanks to the Kuns’ efforts, the monster’s arm turned from glowing brick to plain stone, and Rurin was able to hit it with her breath with no problem.

KWAHHHH—!

As a result, its proud right arm—its shield—was blasted apart, and it began charging at us on its two legs, kicking Kuns wildly as it came.

“Alright. If we just repeat the same method—”

Right then, the Kuns shouted frantically toward Rurin.

“Kuuuuun! Kuuuuuuun!”

“They said there’s not much Sekun left—maybe five.”

“What?!”

“Rurin, back off! Fall back now!”

“Waaaahhh!”

“Tell the Kuns to retreat too—everyone, fall back!”

With things like this, there was only one option left. A bit of a gamble, though.

If its feet were made of the same brick as its arm, then this was our only shot.

The supply of Sekun mushrooms the over-100 Kuns had was being handled by those in the rear—they were the ones who carried, guarded, and distributed them with great care.

Since the mushrooms petrify on impact, they were never part of the battle force—only the supply unit.

If there were only five left, it meant just five roasted Sekun were left in the barrel.

Then there was only one way. Why I hadn’t thought of it sooner—I’d question that later.

While retreating, I told the Kuns to throw all the remaining Sekun at the surrounding walls.

They weren’t even aiming at a moving target.

It wasn’t hard to throw mushrooms at a wall—just like I ordered, the glowing bricks of the walls turned into ordinary stone.

“Rurin! Breathe—right there!”

“There?”

“Yeah. Aim at the dark spot in the glowing bricks. Focus all your fire there!”

Nod, nod.

Rurin nodded and fired her breath at the wall—the glowing bricks that hadn’t even budged earlier.

The same surface that had bounced back her breath like a bouncy ball in the corridor had now turned into fragile stone.

KWAHHHHH—!

With a thunderous crash, cracks spread across it like dried earth in a drought.

“One more time! Full power!”

“Ugh… I’m tired.”

Rurin said that, then breathed again. Her breath hit the already-cracked, petrified wall once more.

KWAHHHHHHHH—!

With a massive crash, the wall exploded open, and fresh outside air began pouring in.

We were high up—so high that all we could see were clouds and sky.

Luckily, this wasn’t some separate dimension—the outside air was full of mana, just like the world we came from.

Even without all that mana, just getting fresh air in would let Rurin polymorph.

Polymorph doesn’t require much mana. So she could end this in dragon form if needed.

Now that the mana levels matched our home world, there was no longer any issue.

My strength—nearly surpassing ten classes, so immense in mana that it might as well be infinite—had returned.