Suicide Squad

As you go toward the upper floors of the Tower, the number of monsters decreases, but their average level of strength increases by one stage each time. Sometimes by two or three stages.

This is the one common sense that applies in the special environment called a dungeon.

In the harsh ecosystem of the Tower, relatively weak monsters can only survive by forming groups, and conversely, noticeably strong monsters see each individual as a competitor. Maybe this was natural in a way.

However, if even such powerful monsters move not to eliminate each other but for a common goal.

If they try to take the lives of those who challenge the Tower, regardless of their own will, due to the compulsion imposed by the Tower.

“…Hey, Iris. Don’t tell me those are.”

“Yes, I’m afraid that is exactly what it looks like…”

It would be enough to make you doubt your eyes with the tremendous pressure and the fear that makes your fingertips tingle.

It’s not for nothing that the three major guilds and other powerful forces and strong individuals join forces.

However, having already invaded the interior of the Tower through the child’s shortcut.

Regardless of the situation or circumstances, now they had to get through everything with just four people.

“Will we be okay?”

“The president said the world would end if we don’t make it, right? So, we should trust Lua for now.”

They had to move according to the words of the child who had led them here and do their best.

If they failed, a scene where literally everything ends would come to the whole world.

“…When I read fairy tales as a child, heroes seemed so cool. But now that I’m in a similar position, the pressure is no joke. I guess fiction is fiction after all…”

“You never know. We might look cool to others right now.”

“Ahaha… I hope so.”

“Yeah, so don’t be too tense. If you get tense, Iris, I get tense too.”

After even the light conversation with Adrian ended, what they faced more clearly was the sand dust rushing in like a tsunami.

And beyond that, huge armadillo-shaped monsters.

They weren’t just charging forward, but rolling and emitting an imposing presence that would crush everything in their path.

At this, inevitably, their gazes went to the child who was preparing to face the monster army with Rea at the front.

To be honest, a little.

No, quite a lot worried.

No matter how extraordinary the child was, having powers far from ordinary and having already once completed everything in the Tower.

Unlike having equipped Iris herself, Adrian, and Rea with equipment such as a holy sword, mana bullet gun, and staff, the child didn’t have any notable equipment.

Of course, the child hadn’t come completely empty-handed and had brought a rather large umbrella from the Academy… but isn’t it a bit of a stretch to call a mere umbrella a shield?

She hadn’t forgotten that the child had blocked a dragon’s breath with an ordinary shield, but even so, it didn’t seem like the child could block the charge of those huge monsters with just an umbrella.

Wouldn’t it have been better to be right next to the child to reduce the child’s burden slightly, rather than guarding Adrian the sniper in case of any unexpected situation, as the child had said?

…Or so she thought.

Until she witnessed the strange sight of the child blocking armadillo monsters rolling at tremendous speed from far away with just an umbrella.

Thud

Thud

Thud

“That… works?”

“Y-Yeah, it does.”

Adrian beside her was equally surprised at the surreal scene.

It looked just like playing tennis, with the monsters as the ball and the umbrella the child was holding as the racket.

Come to think of it, targeting the weakest-looking one first was a natural habit of monsters.

So, it might have been natural in a way that they targeted the child first, who had fearlessly come out to the front despite having the smallest build.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud…

“…Looking at it now, they’re just like bowling balls.”

She still couldn’t understand why massive monsters that were at least three or four times the size of the child were being blocked by a single small child.

Considering the speed at which the monsters had been rolling so far, it wouldn’t have been strange at all if the child had been flung far away.

Instead, the monsters themselves were thrown back whenever they just barely touched the child’s umbrella.

Nevertheless, the monsters that charged at the child became increasingly violent and faster as time passed.

But as much as they became more violent and faster, the impact the monsters received in return also gradually increased.

In addition, from Rea, who had been hiding behind the child all this time, an ominous flow of magical power began to be felt.

“Phew…”

Adrian, realizing that his turn to act was approaching, steadied his breathing.

Although it wasn’t exactly the same as the situations they had practiced with the child in the Academy’s spacious training ground, it was roughly similar.

Above all, at the moment, only Adrian himself, the sniper, could attack the small weak points of monsters covered from head to toe with thick shells.

Not long after that, the gun barrel aimed at the monster positioned at the very front among the various monsters charging at the child.

Eventually, after briefly turning his head back and meeting eyes with the child, who was sweating with a slightly pale complexion, kwagwang.

A wide shockwave suddenly erupted from the child, who had only been blocking until now, sending the monsters flying into the air momentarily.

Right after that, red electric currents leaking from Rea’s staff began to penetrate between the monsters.

“This is going to be super electrifying—!!”

For some reason, an excessively confident voice burst out from Rea, who had become elated, filling the surroundings…

But since the monsters couldn’t understand Rea’s words anyway, they just let it be this time as well.

And so, taking advantage of the gap when the monsters that couldn’t withstand the sudden attack were momentarily sprawled unconscious on the sandy ground, click.

And, bang.

Bullets that advanced smoothly in a straight line without any trembling accurately pierced the monsters’ red eyes.

At this, the monsters began to howl and suffer one by one.

However, even that didn’t last long before they froze in their suffering postures due to the freezing magic that covered the surroundings.

“Iris sister!”

At the child’s signal that was heard almost simultaneously, with the sound of footsteps rushing toward the frozen monsters.

Within less than a second, a sword blade swung widely horizontally cut them into pieces, completely ending their existence.

Eventually, the corpses turned to ash and scattered somewhere.

And, not long after that, a huge gate that gradually began to descend from the high sky.

In other words, it meant that they had truly conquered the floor they were currently on.

And that too, a floor that corresponded to quite a high level.

“It’s… a different feeling from, dungeon practice…”

“Definitely. I think I’m just starting to realize it now. Good job.”

Being bewildered by the feelings and emotions of a form they had never experienced before might have been a predetermined sequence in a way.

Coincidentally, the same was true for the child.

Even though the child was trying hard to act calm and unaffected, it was clear they had been quite nervous.

It wouldn’t have been an easy task to somehow block the assault of huge monsters several times the child’s size.

“Wah!”

“Aaaahh! W-What?!”

“No, you seemed too tense. Just trying to help you relax.”

Look. How nervous must they have been to not even notice the presence of footsteps approaching stealthily?

“Th-These were monsters that I was supposed to dodge, not block. How can I not be tense when I have to forcibly block instant death patterns?”

“Instant death patterns?”

“Ah, that, well… Anyway, I mean it was really hard.”

But well, they had saved an enormous amount of time, so when thinking only about the result, the child’s not-quite-muttered muttering that it had turned out well was met with a momentary pat from Adrian.

It was just a brief gesture conveying that the child had done well too, but from the child’s perspective, it seemed they hadn’t been expecting it at all, as they noticeably blushed and hastily lowered their gaze.

However, within just a few seconds, Rea’s quite elevated voice captured the child.

“How was it, Lua? It was good that I stayed right beside you, right?”

“Ah, yes… Thanks to Rea sister, I was a bit less scared.”

“And?”

“A-And… You also hit the magic spells I asked for well, and you informed me of the monsters’ positions throughout.”

The child’s mouth was literally left without a break due to Rea artificially demanding a shower of compliments directed at herself.

Iris’s awkward laughter at seeing this was an added bonus.

Eventually, after Adrian shook his head a couple of times, their footsteps moved into the huge gate leading to the next floor.

Meanwhile, near the middle floor of the Tower.

Inside a certain main base.

“…Why do I have such a bad feeling.”

“What kind of intuition is it this time?”

“I can’t explain it well in words. But… I don’t think things can continue like this.”

A faint sigh was exhaled from Tana at the sight of her superior and guild leader, who seemed to have firmly resolved something.

She knew that this Tower was unusual in many ways.

Judging by the tremendous vibration that had recently covered the entire Tower, it seemed like something fishy was happening, but even so.

“What do you mean by suicide squad?”

“We don’t necessarily need to bring everyone up the Tower anyway, right? It should be enough to extract just some of our main forces.”

“There’s no need to rush to the point of creating a suicide squad.”

“No, there is. We need to find out exactly why the barrier in the upper part of the Tower broke. If the Tower has gone berserk, it’s serious.”

Was she planning to do things her own way even in the Tower?

Naturally, she tried to calm down the guild leader with mad eyes once again while trying to dissuade her, saying it was a reckless act.

Yes, she tried.

She just couldn’t handle someone who wouldn’t bend her will and opinions only at times like this.

Thus, seeing Asha finally starting to put her words into action, she desperately missed her resignation letter in the office drawer.