Not a Magician but a Photographer

The Tower, a massive structure that emerged from a deep pit of unknown depth and finally reached the sky.

At the same time, a dangerous dungeon that must be conquered as soon as possible, as it spews out all kinds of monsters and disasters almost every day.

But well… it had been going smoothly so far.

I briefly wondered if a situation filled with dull explosion sounds, strong shockwaves, and the terrible howls of all kinds of monsters could be called smooth, but I didn’t particularly think there was a problem.

Not only Diaz’s own Lunatic Guild but also the main forces of the other three major guilds were doing their utmost to conquer the Tower.

Moreover, even that — much-talked-about and troublesome — battle maniac had joined them recently.

“W-What… Why are you here, Lier?”

“My daughter asked me to. To go to the Tower.”

“…Daughter? Were you married?”

“Well… That’s not important right now, is it? Just stay put and be protected, flame thrower.”

“W-Who are you telling to stay put? Get out of my way, you’re being a nuisance!”

As expected, there was a brief minor argument between Asha, who was puzzled by the battle maniac’s joining, but that was about it.

Thanks to him, the damage to the Lunatic personnel had greatly decreased compared to before the battle maniac’s appearance.

It was still a mystery why that ruffian wouldn’t leave their side, but trying to understand him in the first place was meaningless.

“Weak, weak, weak! What kind of monsters are you with punches softer than a kid’s—!!”

For now, it was enough to just watch him rampaging in the middle of the battlefield with eyes filled with madness.

Well, either way. Up to this moment, there hadn’t been any particular problems.

News had come that areas assigned to other guilds had also been cleared without issues. As always, they just needed to continue their journey to make the Tower subside by proceeding to the next floor, but.

Twitch

“…Huh?”

Just as he was about to enter the warehouse at the base for maintenance, he felt a chilling sensation enough to make his hair stand on end.

The problem was that not only Diaz himself but also other guild members around him.

No, everyone deployed in the Tower felt the same sensation.

At this, with a face that was stiffening by the second, he hurriedly headed to his position and waited for instructions, but.

KWAGWAGWAGWAGWAGWAGWAGWANG!!!

“What the hell?!”

What came was not instructions but a thunderous sound that made the whole world vibrate.

Moreover, within just a few seconds, the Tower itself suddenly shook greatly, as if an earthquake had occurred.

Greatly puzzled by the sudden anomaly, he at least raised his massive shield.

Usually, only huge monsters like elder dragons could emit such a sense of pressure.

Although he didn’t know why a huge monster like an elder dragon would appear at this point, preparing for it was the most urgent matter.

However, no matter how long he waited, not even a single goblin, let alone an elder dragon, appeared.

Why was that?

Previously, such widespread anomalies in the Tower only occurred when higher-tier monsters appeared.

“Arita, what’s going on?”

“…It’s external. Not from inside the Tower.”

“What?”

“Someone has punctured a hole in the Tower’s barrier.”

“T-Talk sense!”

“No, it’s true! The barrier really has been punctured!”

The story eventually heard from a hunter who specialized in detection magic was a rather unexpectedly odd kind of story.

The guild leaders of the three major guilds, who were receiving the same report, also found it hard to believe what they had just heard.

However, not long after that, because the huge gate leading to the next floor descended to the ground while emitting a faint light.

No, come to think of it, the gate to the next floor had been gradually descending even before the world-shaking vibration.

“What on earth is going on…”

Without knowing anything properly, they could only head to the next floor and eliminate monsters as they had done so far.

Even veterans who had conquered the Tower several times before were puzzled by this unexpected situation.

Among them, only one person, the battle maniac Lier, belatedly realized the true nature of the vibration that had hit the Tower and shook his head.

When he first heard the child’s reckless plan to puncture a hole in the Tower’s barrier a few weeks ago, he had snorted — and was almost simultaneously scolded by his secretary, Sinia — but now it could no longer be called reckless.

Well, because they had really punctured it.

The Tower’s barrier, which no one had been able to penetrate since the Tower first appeared in the world until this moment.

“…I’ve adopted one formidable child.”

“Hang in there, Lua. We can’t turn back after coming this far.”

“Y-You’re saying that while sitting down too, Adrian!”

A huge magic circle spread out in the air.

And literally dizzying scenery all around.

Even though I knew I wouldn’t fall down there, I just couldn’t look down.

Of course, to penetrate the Tower’s barrier, we needed to be positioned as close to the Tower as possible, that’s right.

And to teleport to near the top floor after penetrating the barrier, we needed to be in as high a place as possible, that’s also right, buuut…

Lurch

“Aaahhh!!”

With every strong gust of wind, with every flutter of the robe I was wearing, strength went into my toes.

How many meters above ground was this?

It looked like it was easily over 1km in height.

Thanks to my near-infinite health stat, there was a possibility I could survive falling from this excessively high place, but scary is still scary.

So, could they stop rushing me? I’m doing my best to concentrate in my own way.

“Haah, haah…”

And so, finally, laboriously raising my hand, which was shaking not at all because of fear but because of the wind.

Stretching it out with all my might toward the huge structure right in front, then ding.

[You use If Words Come Bad (A) at maximum capacity.]

[Total damage: 9620316]

[Remaining damage: 0]

I released at once the damage I had accumulated solely for this moment.

When I inflicted damage in the hundred thousands in the scorpion monster lair, it deeply sank the surrounding land, probably.

So, if I pumped in damage close to ten million at once, even the Tower’s barrier wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

There should at least be a slight gap created to enter from outside the Tower to inside.

As expected, crack.

Huge cracks, visible even to the eye, appeared floating in the empty air.

Honestly, I had thought about accumulating even more damage and trying to blow away the entire Tower…

But it was hard to guess exactly how much damage would be needed, and the Tower might start going berserk before I could accumulate that much damage.

For now, I had to be relieved that my shortcut had worked properly.

“S-So. Sh-Shall we g-go?”

“J-Just go instead of talking. I’m going to freeze to death at this rate.”

At Adrian’s criticism, who was trembling wrapped in something that might be either cold or acrophobia, I finally went swish.

I activated the improvised teleportation stone while embracing Rea, Iris, and Adrian.

The destination was the highest floor among those currently reachable by the improvised teleportation stone.

Not even a few seconds after that, lights of various colors enveloped all around.

However, even that completely disappeared before long.

The familiar feeling of floating that I had been feeling somehow gradually changed to a feeling of falling, and finally landed on something like a sandy desert.

Poof

Poof

Poof

Tap

“…Wait. Why is Rea’s landing sound a ‘tap’?”

“Because I haven’t turned off my levitation spell yet.”

“…………….”

After silently staring at Rea, who had a slightly shameless face, I was then grabbed by the hand and pulled out by the person who burst into laughter at my sand-covered appearance.

“Be honest, Rea. You took a photo of that too, didn’t you?”

“W-Well~?”

“…I’ve brought a photographer, not a magician, as my companion.”

I wonder if it’s just my imagination that she probably took a photo of me trembling on the thin magic circle earlier.

Even though I don’t know which floor we’ve arrived at yet, for some reason, I felt like similar things would happen every time we went to a new floor.

Either way, regardless of what anyone says, where we are now is inside a dungeon full of all kinds of dangerous monsters.

“Everyone get ready. They’ll probably rush in soon.”

I began to act according to what I had learned with both body and mind while rolling and rolling under Ord for the past few months.

Adrian and Iris, who had been stuck in quite deep sand, also shook off the sand and came out, then went to the positions I had asked for to prepare for the monsters we would soon face.

The problem was the magician who wouldn’t leave my side for even a moment.

Come to think of it, Rea doesn’t have anything to do right now, and since the surroundings are a wide-open sandy desert, it is indeed safest for her to be beside me, the tank, but…

“Do you really have to hold my shoulder?”

“Just in case, just in case.”

“…In case of what?”

“This and that.”

She seemed to just want to be next to me, regardless of safety or anything else.

…It’s already hot enough in the desert.

Do we have to be this close?