Chapter 67

Chapter 67

I Installed a Dating App and Girls from Another World Became Obsessed with Me.

Episode 67: Master Of The Maze

With Noel, who possessed navigation and trap detection, and me, a monster detector, dungeon exploration was just a repetition of moving, fighting, and resting.

There was no need for tedious mapping, nor did I have to be on edge about traps that might pop out at any moment.

Moreover, after entering the third floor, even combat significantly decreased. This was thanks to most of the appearing monsters being the notoriously slow gargoyles and golems.

The monsters we had encountered so far would persistently chase us if we ran, posing various risks. In contrast, gargoyles and golems were thankfully dumb enough to lose us by just turning a few corners.

Of course, we couldn’t avoid all combat.

Rarely, two or more would appear in a group, and since gargoyles and golems themselves were quite large, dealing with them inevitably consumed a lot of stamina and mana.

As a result, we naturally ended up resting more frequently than on the second floor. Of course, resting itself wasn’t bad. Adjusting our condition was essential to prepare for facing the third floor boss.

However.

“Hng, euuung…!!♡”

Squelch, squelch♡

The slight problem was that I had to consistently give Noel at least three rounds every time we rested.

It was as if she mistook my suggestion to take a break for an invitation to a motel. She would settle on my lap and keep rubbing her hips against me, making it impossible to ignore her.

Of course, I wasn’t tired or anything, but the real problem was with Noel.

“I’m coming…!”

“Inside, please fill me up inside…!!♡ Haaah, euuung…?!♡”

Vrrrm, vrrrt-

While I came once, Noel would go over five times, even with light climaxes included. If she were to suddenly lose strength in her legs while fighting, it would surely be an irreversible major accident.

In the end, having to take separate rest times while engaging for a little over an hour became a hindrance.

However, my self-control wasn’t strong enough to refuse Noel’s advances. Who knew a beast-kin’s pussy would be this tight?

‘…About three times should relieve some stress.’

We were constantly fighting monsters in a sunless dungeon, so wouldn’t this much be considered stress relief?

Having no choice but to rationalize it, I continued to let Noel perform cleaning oral on me.

“Sluuurp, slurp, chomp…♡”

I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had acquired a sex slave rather than a summoned beast, but it was already too late to return her.

Blaming anyone now was pointless since I was enjoying it too.

Letting out a deep sigh inwardly, I released my last shot into Noel’s mouth.

The exploration of the third floor was smooth, as mentioned earlier.

Was it because the option to flee existed even when monsters appeared?

Naturally, the danger decreased, and I ended up lowering my guard. Of course, that in itself didn’t cause any problems, but trouble came directly to our carefree selves.

“Master! Two stone golems at six o’clock!”

While we were fighting two gargoyles earlier, two golems appeared behind us.

Forced to make a choice in a situation where we were instantly surrounded.

Either break through one side or deal with all of them.

Of course, neither option was easy to choose.

Breaking through the gargoyle group was worrying because of the magic they might cast from behind, and running towards the golems was concerning due to their ridiculously wide attack range.

We couldn’t just deal with all of them either.

According to the original plan, we were supposed to advance for about 30 more minutes, then set up a base camp and rest.

Fighting as usual was not going to be easy with our stamina already significantly depleted. Even if it were possible, it was impossible to deal with four monsters without taking any damage.

“Kyaak?!”

“Noel!”

Thwaang!!

Noel, who was keeping the golems in check, tried to block a huge spear blade but was thrown backward by the impact. Normally, she wouldn’t have been pushed back by an attack of that level, which was proof that she was very exhausted.

I approached Noel and checked her condition.

“Are you okay?”

“Ugh… I, I’m okay.”

She didn’t look okay at all, but I couldn’t afford to let Noel rest.

“Can you just draw the golems’ attention for a moment? Absolutely do not fight them head-on.”

“…Yes!”

With a determined look in her eyes, Noel stood up again and ran towards the golems.

There was no more time to hesitate.

As I triggered the lightning element in my mana circle, it immediately began to race along my mana circuits.

My body trembled as if electrocuted by the stinging pain, but I bit my lip and forcibly supported my legs.

While Noel drew the golems’ attention, I kept the gargoyles in check and gathered mana.

Fzzzt-

The single principle that mana governs elements was the foundation of elementalists’ magic.

I forcibly suppressed the rampaging lightning, which didn’t even recognize its master, with an overwhelming amount of mana. Thanks to this, the lightning that seemed like it would burn out my mana circuits temporarily subsided.

If I had even just three circles, I wouldn’t have had to do such a reckless thing. With two circles, there was a limit to the output I could produce no matter how much mana I invested.

Lightning and mana traveled through the circuits, from my heart to my shoulder, from my shoulder to my arm, from my arm to my hand.

[Ball Lightning]

A small, ball-shaped thundercloud rose above my head.

“Over here!”

At my short signal, Noel, who had been drawing the golems’ attention, quickly retreated from the front line and ran to my side.

No sooner had I embraced Noel and deployed a barrier than ferocious lightning burst out in all directions from the seemingly unstable thundercloud.

It was a storm of discharging lightning with the force to shatter the dungeon ceiling, floor, and even the walls engraved with murals. It was impossible for the nearby gargoyles and golems to escape its aftermath.

Watching in real-time as the gargoyles’ heads were blown off by the lightning and the golems’ limbs were shattered, I could only pray that the barrier would hold.

Basically, a mage has strong resistance to magic deployed with their own mana. By the same principle, the ‘Ball Lightning’ created with my mana wouldn’t tear apart the barrier also created using the same mana.

…Probably.

It felt like an instant, yet an eternity, before the lightning storm subsided. Beyond it, all that could be seen were gargoyles turned into stone fragments and a golem that was barely moving.

Actually, it was hardly moving at all. Not only were its limbs blown off one by one, but even the core at its center was completely exposed.

If we were to compare it to a human, it was equivalent to a critical injury that could lead to death at any moment.

We couldn’t help but be taken aback by that sight. No matter how much lightning boasted the strongest firepower among the elements, golems were also known to be monsters with strong magic resistance.

For a mere 2-circle mage to reduce such a golem to that state with a single spell, it was only natural to have such a reaction.

However.

“Ugh?!”

“M, Master?”

Without realizing it, my legs gave out, and I collapsed to the floor.

With a single spell, an intense burning sensation as if my mana circuits were being scorched spread through me, my vision spun, and my head became dizzy.

Only then did I realize that power beyond one’s limits doesn’t come for free.

“Master!!”

My limbs wouldn’t move properly.

Rebound – it was the price for forcibly suppressing the elements with mana.

But if I hadn’t done that, it would have been impossible to unleash lightning magic of that power.

“N, Noel…”

I struggled to look towards the golem. As if Noel understood my intention with just that, she immediately ran towards the golem, destroying its core and finishing it off.

But that was the end of it.

If I had known this would happen, I would have given Noel some potions. That way, it would have been useful now when I didn’t even have the strength to take something out of my inventory.

Regret came too late, and the price came too early.

And the price always came back exceeding our imagination.

Thump-

A vibration was felt from the ground. But it wasn’t just one or two. At least five or more could be felt right now.

Probably, due to the aftermath of the previous battle, all the monsters in the vicinity were gathering here.

“Master, hold on tight!”

“…I can’t put any strength in my hands right now.”

As a beast-kin with keener senses than me, Noel immediately hugged me and ran towards the area where the vibrations were relatively weaker.

Before long, a bear golem appeared.

‘Bears are the last thing I need…’

Naturally, there was no room to fight. Noel used every last bit of her strength to dodge the bear golem’s attacks and attempted a forced breakthrough.

In the process, Noel’s arm was injured.

The number of monsters chasing us had somehow increased to five, but even so, Noel didn’t stop.

It was a strange thing no matter how I looked at it.

The golems and gargoyle-type monsters we had encountered so far were all just rock-headed things that would easily lose us by just turning a few corners.

But these weren’t like that.

No matter if they were classified under names like bear golem or poison gargoyle, they ultimately fell under the theme of golems.

There shouldn’t have been such a dramatic difference in intelligence.

Moreover, even those golems that had appeared to target our rear earlier were strange.

To avoid facing a situation like this again, I had constantly kept mana detection active even during the fight. But those golems appeared behind us like invisible beings without being caught by the detection.

“You can put me down now.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’m much better than before.”

Without even a moment’s hesitation, Noel put me down and ran again. I diligently followed behind her.

My legs still felt a bit weak, but I made up for it with mana.

Thanks to that, my mana circuits ached again, but I could endure that much. No, even if it was hard to endure, I had to force myself to.

“To the right.”

To shake off the monsters chasing us, I activated mana detection and guided the way. Of course, since my mana circuits weren’t normal, the detection range had decreased to nearly half of what it usually was.

Still, it was much better than nothing.

After traversing the inside of the dungeon for quite a while like that, we were finally able to shake off the monsters.

I squeezed out the last bit of my mana to activate mana detection.

Intense pain accompanied it, but I barely managed to expand the detection to its usual maximum range. Only after realizing that there were no monsters nearby were we able to rest.

Just in case, we took turns keeping watch and catching short naps. We didn’t have the time to eat leisurely, so we had to gulp it down almost like drinking.

‘…Drinking a potion instead of water doesn’t feel too good on my stomach.’

Noel seemed to feel the same way; her expression didn’t look good at all.

Anyway, after a rough patch, we each rested for five hours and recovered a bit of our fatigue when a huge vibration once again echoed throughout the dungeon.

Thump!!

It was a vibration that couldn’t even be compared to the golem-type monsters we had encountered earlier. As soon as I activated mana detection, something was detected not far away.

And that something was rapidly approaching us.

“Noel!”

It was too late to run now. At that speed, we would surely be caught up quickly even if we tried to escape.

In that case, it was much better to face it now while we were prepared to fight. Noel wielded her massive hammer, and I drew Gillenium, our fighting spirit burning.

Thud!!

Then, the vibration grew larger and closer.

Instinctively, my legs began to tremble slightly, but I slammed my fist into my thigh to stop the shaking.

Crash!!

Finally, what emerged from the corner right in front of us wasn’t a golem or a gargoyle, but its size was comparable to them.

Tough-looking and sharp horns, skin with prominent blood vessels, and nostrils emitting hot steam.

The axe it held was so massive that it made the hammer Noel used look like a child’s toy.

“M, Master… that, could it be…”

The thing above its head was the head of a bull, and the thing below its head was the body of a monstrous being.

The absolute ruler roaming the labyrinth.

The apex predator inhabiting the dungeon.

An A-rank monster, the Minotaur, revealed itself.