A-Rank Dungeon【Blue Orchid Lake】Strategy

――A cluster of dungeons rising up outside the royal capital.

――Ignoring the surrounding dungeons, I rode my Dark Horse straight toward the A-Rank Dungeon【Blue Orchid Lake】.

Vanargand’s interdimensional movement can only go to places I’ve marked.

Right now, the furthest I can instantly move with Vanargand is to the outer wall of the capital; from there it’s travel by horse.

“Finally, it’s coming into view.”

After riding for about an hour without slowing down, I arrived at【Blue Orchid Lake】.

“Shadow Manifestation—don’t pick up Magic Stones, just find the stairs.”

I summoned the main Shadows—Goblin Lord and Dullahan—that I had left at the mansion, scattered them out, and began the search.

Of course, I joined the search this time too, trying to reach the lower levels as quickly as possible.

“—Get out of my way!”

“Prya!?”

I pushed forward, cutting down the fairy-type monsters blocking the path.

I didn’t forget to check the board that showed the sightlines of the Shadows deployed around me.

“The Minotaur found the stairs—this way.”

Even though it’s an A-rank dungeon, the monsters along the way were no match for me.

My Level is 78.

They weren’t opponents I’d struggle against, given my stats that already put me among humanity’s upper echelon.

――Two hours after I began exploring the dungeon.

“Alright, have we reached the lowest floor?”

“There probably aren’t many adventurers who’ve run through an A-rank dungeon this fast.”

“It was a bit of a forceful search, but this time not a second can be wasted.”

“Desperate over a single young girl, are we—kuhahaha.”

“Say whatever you want.”

I opened the door.

The main chamber inside was considerably large compared to the other chambers I’d entered so far.

Water covered the floor up to about ankle depth, and small waterfall-like streams flowed from the upper parts of the walls.

“So that’s Windine—it’s huge.”

An otherworldly space.

At the far end was the monster I was after.

The floating Windine was a blue-skinned beauty.

However, she was about four meters tall and her lower body resembled a fish’s tail.

“――――!!”

Windine cried out upon spotting the intruder.

She let out a high, brass-instrument-like cry, and from all over the chamber there were popping sounds as small monsters appeared.

They were blue fairy-type monsters, Blue Sylphs.

“So she summons minions. In that case, I won’t hold back either—Shadow Field.”

I summoned Shadows to match Windine.

The shadow spread in a radius of about twenty meters centered on me.

Any monsters inside this shadow field get a bonus to their stats.

I summoned combat-capable Shadows like the Minotaur, orcs, Gargoyle, and Goblin Warrior.

I also summoned Goblin Riders—Red Wolves ridden by goblins.

“I’ll leave the trash mobs to you.”

“Bulgah!”
“Gwooo!”
“Gigyah!”
“Gwooo!”

The Shadows answered in unison.

I summoned my Dark Horse, mounted it, and charged straight for Windine, running between the Shadows.

“Get out of my way!”

Blue Sylphs tried to block my path to Windine, but I sliced them in two with my longsword.

Without stopping the Dark Horse’s stride, I launched slashes from horseback, cutting down the spirit-type monsters as I closed in on the boss.

“~~~~♪”

Windine began to sing.

After about ten seconds of singing, I saw the wounds of the Blue Sylphs in the chamber instantly heal.

“A spell that heals all allies within the area!”

None of the monsters I had completely killed seemed to resurrect.

However—any monster that still had even a trace of life had its wounds fully sealed.

The Minotaur and I could kill Blue Sylphs in one blow, so they wouldn’t resurrect, but the other orc and Gargoyle Shadows were having trouble with the healing Blue Sylphs.

“Normally Blue Sylphs are low-grade monsters; orc or Gargoyle-class monsters shouldn’t have trouble with them.”

Probably—she also has an ability that buffs the stats of all spirit-type monsters in the field.

Leaving the Goblin Lord and Dullahan at the mansion for its safety was a mistake.

“If you don’t kill the Blue Sylphs you can’t reach the Boss, and if you don’t kill the Boss the Blue Sylphs keep healing—what an annoying opponent.”

“This is the sort of raid-type boss intended to be tackled by a group—just the kind of nasty difficulty you’d expect from an A-Rank Dungeon Boss.”

Considering corridor widths and share of rewards per person, adventurer parties of four to six are considered ideal.

But when the main chamber is spacious enough, multiple parties sometimes temporarily team up, or guilds throw everything they’ve got at the boss.

The A-Rank Dungeon【Blue Orchid Lake】’s boss was also designed with group battles in mind.

Well—irrelevant to me, who controls countless Shadows alone.

“Hey, I’ve been wanting to meet you!”

I finally reached Windine.

I kicked off Dark Horse’s saddle, leapt, and closed the distance on the floating Windine.

I swung my longsword in a slash, but――――

――――Kiiiin!

“What!? It deflected!?”