episode_0080
by admin
How many days has it been since you left the royal capital?
If you stay in a dungeon without sunlight for several days, your sense of time becomes strange.
Even when I looked at the clock, I couldn’t tell whether it was morning or afternoon, so there were times when I felt like I was isolated in another world rather than a dungeon.
The place we are now is the Deep Sea Sanctuary, one of the dungeons called Geumyeok because the return rate is lower than that of the Demon World.
It is a dungeon inside a whirlpool that can be accessed by boat from a certain beach, and is virtually abandoned as it cannot be accessed through normal means.
As you can tell from the names, all of the monsters that appear here are fish-type monsters, with mainly fishmen-like monsters appearing.
The fish-men had no human-like appearance except that they had arms and legs, and their heads seemed to have been copied from fish heads.
The production team must have been impressed by Innsmouth’s shadow, and to put it bluntly, these kids were the complete Deep Ones.
Considering that the dungeon’s name is Deep Sea Sanctuary, it was clear that the production team took the Cthulhu mythos as a motif.
Of course, even if you are aware of the Cthulhu mythology, such absurd monsters that would drive you into madness just by looking at them do not appear.
The Cthulhu Mythos is popular, but it also has a lot of antipathy, so the production team seems to have been conscious of that.
I’m not particularly against the Cthulhu mythos, but I hate this dungeon.
The floor was covered with an unknown slime like a carpet, and every time I walked, a disgusting sensation followed me like a stalker.
Around them, a terrible fishy smell that you couldn’t even smell at the fish market was floating around like a ghost, obscuring Sarah and Woo’s body odor, and it couldn’t have been more terrible than this.
But this is something that cannot be helped.
At my current level, there is no other place where I can level up as efficiently as this dungeon.
Since there were mostly attribute monsters, it was easy to attack them, and since most of the monsters were not intelligent and only showed simple movements, there was no need to worry about traps or ambushes.
Perhaps because the monster’s movements were monotonous, Serra easily defeated an enemy of a higher rank than her.
To be exact, it was the spider demon Prince she summoned who defeated him, but wouldn’t his credit be that of his owner, Sera?
“Hmm… !”
After clearing out the hordes of monsters running from the front, we waited for Sera to absorb the soul as always.
I asked about the taste of the monster’s soul to see if it would be any different, but the monster’s soul was also said to feel like eating jelly made of water.
After all, a monster that looks like a fish doesn’t have a soul that tastes like mackerel.
Unlike before, Sera became stronger day by day, perhaps thanks to absorbing a large number of high-quality souls.
Sometimes the level goes up, but there doesn’t seem to be any rules to the status or experience points that go up every time you get a soul.
To begin with, I have only consumed the souls of one student and a few fish-man monsters so far, so the sample is too insufficient to produce any statistics.
At least for now, there were no signs that Sarah would awaken into a terrifying demon and imprison me in a dungeon.
Something might change if the Empire consumes large quantities of human souls, but that is still in the distant future.
I was very excited to see how she would grow up.
Eventually, as time passed and the dungeon boss, the Deep Sea Priest, was defeated, I reached level 58 and Sera reached level 54.
Serah clenched her fist as if measuring the new power she gained by consuming the boss’s soul. She nodded and said with a satisfied expression.
“… It’s only a little, but I think I know what kind of blood flows inside me. What should I say? Actually, I had wings on my back, but would it be easier to understand if I said that I didn’t know that fact until now, and now I’m just realizing it?”
“Umm… . It may seem easy to understand, but it may not seem like it. I knew what you were trying to say.”
It seems that the time of awakening is still far away, but she is steadily becoming stronger.
Moreover, the speed is not slow at all.
Even taking into account my assistance, her growth rate was unusual.
“Then where are you going next?”
“Next, I plan to level up to 65 in the Sick Man’s Village, level up to 73 in Memories of the Old King, and then level up to 85 in Pluto’s Garden.”
Originally, it would have taken longer, but thanks to the items and money I received from Lang, I was able to drastically shorten the time.
If you go at this pace, you will probably be able to raise level 85 within two months, or over 90 if you overdo it a bit.
“… That’s an unrealistic number. At least I’ve never heard of a human being of such a high level.”
“Now that the priest is like that, everyone is worried. It is said that in the past, wars were frequent and there were more because priests used revival magic. Right? ”
“Yes, perhaps because the priests have weakened, humans are strangely passive about hunting now. In the old days, there were many nobles who did not think it was a big deal to die once.”
“… It’s a story that’s somehow unbelievable.”
“Even if the environment is provided, most people do not have a high threshold level to begin with. Although it’s not as bad as it was in the past, it’s a world where people’s lives are light these days.”
It’s a meaningless story, but if they had grown up in a good environment, there might have been a talented person somewhere who would have blossomed with talent and risen to a high level, if not 100.
However, this barren world does not even wait for flowers to sprout.
It’s not that they’re fighting for that particular reason, but the longer the conflict between the warrior faction and the prime minister faction continues, the more people will die such miserable deaths.
‘Actually, I can’t say it’s all their fault.’
The empire is not as big as the kingdom, but the common people are gradually withering away due to factional strife and the tyranny of the nobles.
The goddess knew that this would happen and did not take away all the power from the priest.
That gloomy feeling of suffering just a little longer was mixed with the air and spread throughout the continent.
“… It’s surprising, but it’s a world where it’s better not to be born.”
“If the Prime Minister’s faction wins, will things get a little better?”
“Well… . I hope so, but those guys are nobles too. It may be better than it is now, but it may go back to the way it was in a few decades.”
It is questionable whether the nobles of the Prime Minister’s faction have any good intentions, but even if they do, those intentions will decline as time passes, and descendants who have forgotten the will of their predecessors will act arrogantly as if they had changed the times.
The people who rule the world now are idiots who don’t even know that they are descendants of fraudsters, but it remains to be seen whether replacing those idiots will change the world.
“Let’s end this dark story and quickly move on to the next dungeon. If you go to Pluto’s garden, everything afterward will be much easier.”
“Pluto was definitely the god of the underworld, right? Why is it getting easier?”
“He’s a good match for me. I have a lot of money now.”
If you somehow manage to get to Pluto’s garden, what happens next will be a fire fighting game.
Our victory is virtually guaranteed.
*****
‘… uncomfortable.’
Kasumi couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable as she walked down a rough mountain path overgrown with nameless grass.
The unfamiliar mountain path was not uncomfortable.
Even though it was rough, I quickly got used to the road itself because it was not a remote area completely uninhabited.
However, no matter how much time passed, I didn’t seem to get used to the stuffy atmosphere, as if the air had gained weight, as if I was breathing in mud.
After witnessing the construction of Medea’s dungeon, the two acted together, but the two did not become friendly even with empty words.
There was no conversation at all between the two other than those that were absolutely necessary, and the same was true for Kasumi and Elise, who served as hosts.
If Kasumi had to choose the most uncomfortable position in the world, she would choose this position without the slightest hesitation.
Unlike Elise and the other two, Kasumi had no purpose for being here, so the time she spent here was only painful.
As well as Elena’s plan to create an ideal world by turning felt into something similar to a god.
Ami’s plan to die at Felt’s hands and remain in his memory forever was something that was far beyond what Kasumi could understand.
No, it was barely possible to resist wanting to go beyond that level and criticize it as the idea of a madman.
In particular, Ami’s goal was for Kasumi to die as well, so Kasumi could not remain silent as she was caught up in someone else’s suicide.
Ami seemed to have recognized those feelings, and spoke to Kasumi, who was depressed.
[Kasumi, don’t think too badly.]
“… Is there even one element to think positively about here?”
[Yes, because remaining in your memory is no different from having that person forever.]
“What?”
[Remaining in the memory of a loved one means having that person forever. No matter what kind of relationship that person creates or what enemy they fight in the future, the battle with me will be engraved in their mind. If you leave a big scar, you’ll think of me every time you see that scar.]
“… … .”
[Even after I die, I will live forever in that person’s heart. Elena criticized this as a madman’s nonsense, but isn’t this true love?]
“No, if you say so… .”
[Anyway, we can never go back to the same relationship as before. Then, what’s strange about wanting to remain in that person’s heart?]
Kasumi felt extreme self-loathing at the fact that she had been seduced by such an arbitrary desire for a moment, but she also thought about how ecstatic it would be if that were the case.
I can’t stay with Felt anymore.
Memories are diluted and will eventually fade, and what happened with Kasumi will one day be relegated to just one of the good stories of the past.
However, if it can remain in Felt’s mind for the rest of his life, even in the form of a trauma, isn’t that the same as having that person forever?
A sharp look came from in front, as if scolding them for what nonsense that was, but Kasumi and Ami didn’t care at all.
Because it was the same way over there.
[It looks like you have a cold heart.]
“… It’s noisy.”
Even though she denied it, in Kasumi’s mind she thought, ‘If only that could happen…’ .’ The same thought was sprouting.
As a warrior, Ami was skilled at digging into her opponent’s weaknesses, and she used that know-how to gradually step into Kasumi’s heart.
[There is no need to hide it. We are the human beings whose souls match the most in this world. It’s not strange that we have similar thoughts. My wish is your wish. My wish is your wish. What’s strange about that?]
“It’s strange enough for me.”
[Okay, let’s leave it at that for now. Because there are other problems now.]
“… That’s right.”
The top priority now is to defeat Medea and get her away from Felt.
If what she is trying to do is true, it must be stopped.
To that end, Kasumi cooperated with Ami and Elena and traveled to a remote area far from the royal capital.
To obtain the Sword of Tindalus, which is said to be able to stop Medea.
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