Battle Preparations

Three days had passed since we entered the dungeon. So far, it seemed that the God of Earth and the servant had not discovered our presence, and without any major problems we had managed to reach the twenty-ninth floor.

“Lady Seremees, please show us the situation on the thirtieth floor.”

“Of course.”

Right now we were inside the Divine Domain, and we had just taken a few hours of sleep earlier to fully recover our condition. From here… we would challenge the Servant of the God of Earth.

“This is what it looks like now.”

Reflected in the water mirror we peered into… was a massive gem embedded in the wall. From a Dungeon Core so large that I couldn’t embrace it even with both arms spread wide, monsters were continuously being produced.

Perhaps because the Dungeon Core shining white looked so beautiful, the monsters created from it seemed even more ferocious.

“A Dungeon Core this large is pretty rare, right?”

“Yes, only a dungeon that has developed considerably would reach that size.”

“So we have to destroy that… do you think my arrows can break it?”

At Rebecca’s question, Lady Seremees thought for a moment, then pointed toward one of the warehouses with an expression as if she had remembered something.

“In there remains items used by the servant from two generations ago. That child’s main weapon was a bow. So why not choose one from there? There should be some powerful ones.”

“…Is that really okay? Aren’t they important items?”

“It’s fine. If they aren’t used, they’ll just remain stored forever. You’re free to use everything in the other warehouses too. Of course, you too, Luca.”

Really? That was… actually very interesting. I couldn’t look around now, but next time I had the chance I should explore them. There might be some extremely valuable items there.

“Thank you very much. I’ll make use of them.”

After watching Rebecca run toward the warehouse with sparkling eyes, I turned my gaze back to the water mirror.

“The thirtieth floor is just a large open space, right?”

“Yes, and it isn’t a particularly wide one either.”

The viewpoint of the water mirror shifted to show the entire thirtieth floor. Indeed… the oval-shaped thirtieth floor seemed to be only a few hundred meters from one end to the other.

So this was where we would fight the Servant of the God of Earth… seeing the actual place made my hands tremble with tension, and I tightly gripped the hem of my pants.

It would be fine. Rebecca was with me. And I had worked desperately hard until now. There was no way I would lose.

“Lady Seremees, the Servant of the God of Earth is using a special ability to flood monsters from the Dungeon Core, right?”

“That’s right. It’s an ability similar to the temporary peace you can use.”

“Does that ability have other uses?”

“If I remember correctly… the ability was called Crustal Shift. The important ability during battle is the power to move the ground. The wider the area affected, the smaller the change that can be made, but in a narrow area it can cause large changes.”

Crustal Shift… being able to move the ground would be extremely troublesome.

“For example, could it extend the ground sharply like a spear, or raise it up to act as a wall?”

“That’s correct. It can also slightly depress the ground or instantly create small pitfall traps.”

That might be extremely troublesome. Not being able to rely on stable footing was a serious handicap in battle, but at the same time I couldn’t keep staring down at the ground.

“I’ll support you as much as I can, so do your best and value your life above all. …Though it may not be something I should say when I’m the one asking you to eliminate the Stampede.”

“No, that’s very reassuring. Thank you very much.”

When I thanked her, Lady Seremees smiled beautifully, and seeing that expression helped me steel my resolve once again.

After that, Rebecca test-fired several bows and found one stronger than her previous one that fit comfortably in her hands, so she changed her weapon.

I didn’t change my weapon, but I carefully polished my sword so that it would be as sharp as possible.

With that… all that remained was to fight.

“Alright, let’s go back.”

“Yeah. Please.”

After signaling to Lady Seremees, who was peering into the water mirror, we returned to the dungeon and landed safely with no monsters around. The staircase leading to the thirtieth floor was right nearby.

“Rebecca, once we go down the stairs we’ll run straight for the Dungeon Core, so follow me. As soon as the Dungeon Core enters your bow’s range, shoot immediately. I’ll also cast magic right away.”

First and foremost, we would aim to destroy the Dungeon Core. Ideally, the God of Earth and the servant would still be careless in the Divine Domain, giving us an opening.

“Understood. First we target the Dungeon Core.”

“Yeah. …Let’s go.”

Rebecca and I tightened our grips on our respective weapons and leapt from the side passage into the open area where the stairs were.

The real battle began here.