episode_0006

The dungeon as usual!

The heart of the dungeon as usual!

But,

“…It’s humid.”

Lilien complained and pushed her hair back.

“…It smells salty.”

Arte checked her body with a blank expression.

“…It’s sticky.”

Ellis made an unpleasant face while slumped.

“……”

While each of us grumbled complaints, we advanced through the dungeon.

I also felt a stronger sense of discomfort than usual because of the humidity and saltiness.

I kept feeling like my clothes were wet, and my skin was sticky too.

What on earth is this…

I frowned, feeling like I could taste saltiness even while breathing.

“Lilien, are you sure you can find gourmet food in a place like this?”

“Of course. The being that lives here is someone who has been famous since I was in the Knights Order?”

“What, but you’ve never been here even once?”

“Yes. This was one of the top-tier dungeons. Plus, I didn’t know the environment would be this screwed up.”

At that moment, Ellis sighed and muttered in a tired voice.

“What is that darn Cthulhu~”

“…Wait a minute. What is it that we came to eat right now?”

Lilien smiled brightly and declared.

“Cthulhu~”

In this salty, humid dungeon, what we are looking for as gourmet food is…

Cthulhu, of all things.

“Seriously… this is crazy.”

The representative of cosmic horror, Cthulhu.

Literally a being that transcends human understanding.

A god that can lightly blow away humans like flies.

…You’re saying you’re going to eat such a god from an otherworldly demonic realm as gourmet food now?

That’s not gourmet food, that’s bizarre food itself!

Isn’t it at the level where we should rather be praying not to be eaten?

No, no! It could be different from the Cthulhu I know from Earth.

Yeah, yeah, that’s definitely it! In fact, it’s just a slime-level monster, and the nickname Cthulhu was just attached to it!

This is it! I knew I was a genius, didn’t I?

Rationalizing arbitrarily to myself, I nodded confidently.

And then, I looked at Ellis, who was walking beside me, and asked.

“Hey, Ellis.”

“Huh? What is it, what is it, Yuan?”

“About Cthulhu… you’re not talking about a super strong and bizarre god, right?”

Hearing my words, Ellis paused for a moment, then tilted her head and spoke with an innocent expression.

“Oh? Yuan. You know Cthulhu?”

“…Of course I know.”

“Most people usually know it as a monster? Lilien didn’t know Cthulhu was a god at first either.”

“Ah, damn it! It’s the Cthulhu I know!”

I shouted with a despairing look.

“Hey, are you guys crazy?? You’re saying you’re going to catch an Outer God like that right now?”

However, Lilien and Ellis merely replied with calm smiles.

“That’s right. The spirit of challenge is humanity’s romance and privilege.”

“It looks fun, doesn’t it? It might even be delicious!”

No, what on earth are this crazy knight and demon lord?!

“This won’t do. Arte, you’re my last hope! Please stop these two!”

Looking at her with desperate eyes, I placed my last hope.

Let’s just say Lilien and Ellis have been a bit loose in the head from the start.

But Arte is different.

Because she’s an Automata who makes logical and rational judgments.

She’ll definitely realize the danger of this crazy plan and dissuade them!

Muttering desperately to myself, I looked at Arte.

However—

“According to Ellis, Cthulhu is close to a squid.”

Arte nodded as if it were nothing and said.

“I have never eaten squid, so I would like to try it.”

At that moment, my brain showed a blue screen.

“No, that’s not the problem!”

Even Arte is like this, should I really run away right now?

Just as I was glancing behind me to look for an escape route,

“Ah, Yuan.”

Lilien caught my gaze and said calmly.

“For your information, if you run away alone, you’ll die within 5 seconds.”

“…Huh?”

“Right~ You have to remember this is a top-tier dungeon, don’t you?”

Ellis said that from the side too?

“…What?”

“Actually, we are being attacked right now.”

“…Huh? Wait, what does that mean?!”

“I was deliberately expanding it wide, but should I shrink it a bit?”

Ellis made a slight gesture with her hand, and the barrier began to slowly narrow.

And at that moment—

Tuk.

Something that had approached our surroundings.

But, those beings couldn’t cross because of the barrier.

I carefully turned my head and looked.

“Whoa!! What are these tentacle friends!”

An instinctive revulsion washed over my entire body.

There were monsters intertwined with wriggling tentacles and all sorts of alien forms.

Cthulhu’s Retinue.

Beings too bizarre and incomprehensible in form for humans to handle.

Just by seeing that in real-time, I could feel my mental strength being eroded.

SAN! Pinch! SAN! Pinch!

Sanity level crisis! Sanity level zero!

The feeling that my Enlightenment level was rising several stages in real-time.

Shweeeeeeek—!!

An alien sound echoing from somewhere.

Just that sound alone made my head spin.

Tuk— me as I instinctively stepped back—

Lilien gently held me.

“Don’t worry too much, Yuan.”

She said, smiling calmly.

“We came to eat, not to be eaten.”

But, before I could retort to those words—

Kooooooraaaaa—!!

Something roared in front of us.

A bizarre cry of a different dimension from the retinue seen until now.

Just from that sound, I felt as if the senses of my entire body were being denied.

Lilien, Ellis, and Arte also simultaneously raised their heads and looked up.

A gigantic silhouette appeared before our eyes.

Squid-like tentacles and scales, alien flesh and deformed forms.

A being that was incomprehensible just by itself, stood before us, emitting an oppressive aura.

“You finally appeared, Mr. Cthulhu~ Then shall we go, kids?”

Ellis lightly rotated her wrist, displaying the Demon Lord’s aura overflowing with ominous energy.

“Yuan, I recommend you stay still inside this barrier. You mustn’t go out, okay?”

“Would I go out if I were sane, Arte!”

At that reply, the three women simultaneously smiled with satisfaction and advanced fearlessly towards the gigantic Cthulhu before their eyes.

“It’s hunting time for a meal.”

Lilien firmly gripped her greatsword and began her first attack with a beautiful projection.

The surroundings shimmered darkly.

Cthulhu’s retinue wriggled and swarmed from all directions.

Alien forms.

A scene of grotesque tentacles and twisted flesh intertwined, endlessly multiplying and approaching.

However, what blocked their path was—

“Heh heh~ Shall we clean up now?”

(Former) Demon Lord, Ellis.

She lightly raised her hand with a playful smile.

“Burn them, smash them, shatter them to pieces~♪”

Red flames swirled around her as if dancing.

“I’ll clean it all up with this!”

“Inferno Carnival!”

Kuooooooooh!!!

The surroundings turned red.

A vast magic circle of flame was generated, and a giant vortex of fire formed in an instant.

Ellis’s flames spreading explosively to the retinue.

The massive flames surged, and the retinue were instantly engulfed in the blaze.

The grotesque forms screamed as they burned, but even their voices were swallowed up by the flames.

“With this, the path is cleared!”

Ellis flicked her fingers and glanced back slightly.

“Arte, finish them off~”

“Order confirmed.”

Simultaneously with those words, something moved from the rear.

Chiiiiiiik—!

A white light energy aiming line spread out.

(Former) Watcher Automata, Arte.

“Artillery pattern applied. Firepower concentration commencing.”

She activated her precise aiming system and instantly targeted the enemies before her eyes.

“Fire.”

Luminous shells were fired one after another from the dimension portal she deployed.

Energy shells sliced through the sky, precisely destroying the remaining retinue who survived even in the flames.

Pong! Pong! Pong!

With a giant flash, the bodies of the retinue were sliced off, broken, and evaporated.

“As of this time, front area situation terminated.”

Arte declared coldly.

Around her, the afterglow of shells that were still emitting light and disappearing remained.

Amidst that afterglow, the shadow of one person was rushing towards the front.

“Now… it’s my turn.”

(Former) Knight, Lilien.

She was holding her greatsword in her hand, looking straight at Cthulhu.

Into the gap in the battlefield created by the artillery and flames, Lilien threw herself without hesitation.

“Advancing. Simply moving forward for Tangtangi.”

Her footsteps kicked the ground, and she instantly charged to the front line.

Cthulhu also began to move.

Its gigantic arm came crashing down towards her.

Kuang!

An immense impact struck with the force to split the ground.

“Slow.”

Tilting her body to the side in an instant, Lilien dodged the tentacle attack here and there.

With the sound of air tearing, she didn’t miss the chance.

Dozens of swords projected in the air.

Blades that rose tinged with sky-light circled in the air, reflecting light.

“Ppang.”

Simultaneously with that word, swords shining like tiny starlight in the air rapidly rotated and rushed towards Cthulhu’s body.

Chwaaaak—!

The sword blades sharply dug in.

But the wounds healed immediately.

Even so, while it was distracted with healing its wounds, she was able to approach Cthulhu’s front instantly.

“Shall we prepare the ingredients now?”

Her shining sword blade emitted a blue flash and radiated intense energy.

[Eyecatch!]

What is Cthulhu?

The poster child and civil servant of cosmic horror.

A being that had been sleeping for an eternity in the deep blue sea.

It is said that just by properly looking at its form, one’s sanity can collapse.

“Humans are but beings like mere dust.”

…it thought, but one day it was suddenly attacked by the Gourmet Association.

“I… am not food ingredients. I… am a god!”

“Now, would you please die for the sake of gourmet food?”

It didn’t know that the strongest beings in the world would attack like this.

Unlike on Earth, in this other world, it is treated completely differently, and is currently facing the crisis of being forcibly turned into fresh Tangtangi.