episode_0020

A dungeon like usual!

The heart of a dungeon like usual!

But this dungeon where we are now, more than any heart…

It’s hot!

“Ugh… That was dangerous. The lava just now splattered next to my shoe.”

Barely keeping my balance on the splashed lump of lava, I checked my shoe.

“Don’t make such a fuss, Yuan~ I even gave you the grace of defense, didn’t I?”

“Does that apply even to shoes?”

“Hmm, I don’t know. Want to try?”

“You’re really going overboard just because you have cure magic, Alice.”

Even though I said that, she too was drenched in sweat.

Still lively even while wiping away the sweat lightly stuck next to her horns, the Demon King-nim.

“It’s hot~”

Lilien slightly pulled down her chest and slightly frowned.

“Arte, can you activate the cooling function a bit?”

“I am sorry. As a lot of energy is consumed just by maintaining the temperature, I must refuse.”

“Hing… Yuan~ I was shot down. Comfort me~”

Saying that, Lilien naturally stuck snugly to my side.

“Please don’t cling. I’m telling you it’s really hot! With the lava boiling fiercely and volcanic ash flying around.”

“But~ the fact that it’s hot, that means Yuan’s body temperature has also risen, right?”

“Please don’t say strange things again, Sir Knight~”

This place is a volcanic terrain dungeon.

Countless volcanic ash is floating in the sky, and under our feet, steadily flowing lava is surging.

With the fiercely boiling liquid hell as a backdrop, we were currently climbing the mountain.

“I’ll pick up the pace a bit more. Because it might start soon.”

Lilien, who was leading the way, said while increasing her speed.

“It’s truly a strange world. Not even among humans, but among animals, there’s such a culture?”

“I’m telling you there is~ If you see it yourself, Yuan, you’ll find it truly absurd, you know?”

Ah, you’re asking what I’m talking about?

We are now going to collect ‘cotton candy’.

And what’s more, from the ‘cotton candy sheep flock’ living on the land near the volcano crater where the lava is boiling fiercely.

Huh? You’re telling me not to lie?

Perhaps you’re asking if your brain didn’t get cooked by diving into the lava once while coming here?

Haha… That could be the case.

But I’m telling you, it would be strange to be surprised now.

If there’s cotton candy on a volcano, then there is.

I decided to believe that.

Don’t think, just accept it.

Because that’s the way to protect your mental health in this party.

“You clearly said they were a sheep flock living in the crater, right, Arte?”

“Yes, that is correct. Unlike normal sheep, they are individuals that have evolved into monsters and generate fur like cotton candy. You can actually eat it too.”

“Because it’s information given by that grandma Baphomet Yubaha, the reliability is certain. Believe it!”

“But what do these guys eat to live? Let alone grass around here, not even moss is visible…”

Lilien tilted her head and looked around.

“Well, about that~ I definitely learned it when I was 10… Like they eat mineral components in the heat? No, perhaps they dig the ground and lick the lava?”

“Alice, if it’s 10 years old… that was tens of years ago for you, right?”

“…”

I closed my mouth in the middle.

Because, Alice very slowly turned her head towards me, you see.

Seeing the corners of her thinly slit eyes and her mouth slightly go up…

“Yes. I will be quiet.”

Very quickly, I raised my hand and covered my mouth.

Because a Gehenna magic circle was slowly rising from her fingertips, you see.

Of course, by demon standards, even Alice is considered ‘the recent ones’, but if you look at her absolute age…

Mmhmm, let’s not mention it.

It won’t end just by dying.

Anyway, today’s gourmet target is the cotton candy sheep living on the volcano!

And for me, it will definitely be yet another difficult and sweet day.

“Huff… huff… Finally, it’s the summit… Ugh, I’m out of breath…”

Heavily breathing out, I put my hands on my knees.

Stinging sunlight, damp volcanic steam, and terribly hot air.

I feel like my soul would truly leave my body if I walked just one more step, I’m telling you.

At that moment, a hand was lightly placed on my shoulder.

“You worked hard, Yuan.”

Lilien gently smiled and stood next to me.

“Exactly, when we said let’s split the luggage and carry it, why didn’t you hand it over?”

“It’s fine~”

Shaking my head from side to side, I took out a water bottle and put it to my mouth.

The moment the cool water went down my throat, it felt like the vitality inside my body was slowly reviving.

Ah, this is it! As expected, people must drink water!

“Phew… I can finally live a little now. You guys even fought. It’s right for me to carry the luggage.”

A dungeon was indeed a dungeon.

This place is the heart of the volcanic terrain.

On the path leading to the summit, monsters were teeming.

But more than anything, the most terrifying thing was—

“Of all things, an earth dragon pops out from the lava sea, you know…”

A giant earth dragon that suddenly popped out saying ‘Peekaboo!’ above the peaceful sea, above the burning lava.

“It’s a lie, isn’t it?”

But reality was always one step above imagination.

The earth dragon’s tail suddenly wrapped around my leg, and I literally flew up into the air.

Meanwhile, the earth dragon below had its mouth wide open and was ready to swallow me just like that.

Very, its eyes were even sparkling, it looks like it’s about to chew me up thoroughly.

“Hey~?! If I stay like this, it looks like I’m about to have a deep kiss with a lava worm?!”

Without even being able to scream ‘Ack’, my life’s highlight was scheduled to end like that—

“Kroooaaar!!”

The earth dragon’s tail was instantly blown away.

A dazzling trajectory.

The halberd that Lilien projected had exactly split the center of the tail.

My restraint was released, and I became a liberated body.

And at the same time, I also came to experience the fear of freefall.

“Uwaaaaaah!! I’m falling, I’m falling, I’m falling, I’m telling you!!”

At that moment, my body was hugged—snugly—into someone’s embrace.

“Hehe, we’re getting this close again, aren’t we?”

It was Lilien.

Warm body temperature being conveyed through the gaps in the cold armor.

While feeling strangely relieved, this embarrassing situation.

“Exactly, I don’t even get flustered anymore. But Lilien. You can’t fly in the sky either, can you?”

“Right? I have a long jump distance, but I can’t fly.”

“But, right below us is the lava sea, you know.”

“That’s true~ It would be a bit hot, wouldn’t it?”

“Why are you just staying still! I’m falling, you know! I’M FALLING!!!”

“Kya~ Don’t thrash around like that. That’s because—”

Waves of blue magic power spreading out from below us.

The sensation of space warping rose from my feet.

Chwaaaak!

A magic circle formed under my feet, and space warped as if folding.

It was Alice’s teleportation magic.

“We’re, a team, you know?”

Instantaneous transition to a different place.

We fell onto a rocky area, having avoided the lava by a hair’s breadth.

“Gasp, gasp… I really thought I was going to die!”

This is ground! Yes, people should live on ground like this!

Flopping down onto the ground, I breathed heavily.

“Aw~ There’s no way we would let you die, is there, Yuan? In the worst case, I’ll save you even as a skeleton~”

“Truly, I’m shedding tears because I’m so grateful…”

Leaving her behind, who was lightly patting my back, this time I looked towards Arte.

She was still in a standoff with the earth dragon, with a calm face.

The earth dragon approaching, twisting its huge body and gliding as if flowing above the lava.

“Kroooaaaraaaah!!”

While opening its mouth wide, it launched fiercely blazing hot fireballs in succession.

Three fireballs leaping up towards Arte, burning the ground.

“High heat reaction confirmed. Evasion route secured, counter-fire initiated.”

Arte sprayed her thrusters, drawing a curve, and moved quickly.

Simultaneously with the evasion maneuver, the pulse gatling guns on both arms started operation.

Cutting through the flames, energy bullets left a trail of light.

Concentrated fire accurately sticking to the earth dragon’s body.

“Exposed area analysis complete. Outer shell weak point exposed.”

Simultaneously, a scope came down over Arte’s eyes.

“Sniping mode, activated.”

Fixing one leg to the ground, she changed the magazine and quietly held her breath.

Piiing!

An energy sniper bullet flew and pierced straight through the only gap where there was a crack among the earth dragon’s curved outer shell.

The lava worm swayed greatly and let out a monstrous cry.

“Rupture confirmed. Let’s finish it.”

A dimensional gate opened from behind, and one giant assault spear was summoned.

“Firing. Bang.”

Thrust.

That trajectory crossed above the lava and pierced straight in towards the heart, between the earth dragon’s broken outer shell.

“Kroooaaaraaaah—!!”

Leaving behind a huge roar, the earth dragon splashed into the lava, coiling its body, and disappeared.

While watching that sight, Lilien made a genuinely regretful expression.

“That’s too bad~ I won’t be able to retrieve the meat by going into the lava…”

The fact that she kept licking her lips was a bonus.

“Anyway, because we arrived safely.”

While wiping sweat, I slowly raised my head over the crater.

And—

“…Wow.”

That scenery was truly fantastic.

A space that is absolutely unbelievable as the center of a volcano.

That place which should be boiling with flames and ash was instead colored with warm and soft hues.

Fluffy flat ground as if someone had laid out a cotton comforter.

The spread-out ground above the crater looked like a fluffy steam pillow, and,

it was a texture that felt like my foot would sink in just by taking one step, *poof*!

“Look over there, Yuan! It’s sheep! It’s sheep, I’m telling you!”

Alice couldn’t contain her admiration and shook my shoulders violently with both hands.

As she said, large sheep covered fluffily in pink fur.

Their bodies, soft and round, just as if made by rolling up cotton candy.

We came to the right place!

[Eyecatch!]

Today’s Monster—Earth Dragon

Prince of the Lava Region, a giant dragon that swims in the lava although it cannot fly.

Although it cannot fly, if you think about the fact that it can swim freely in the lava, it’s a minor handicap!

Normally, it hides its body in the lava and just waits for prey to pass by.

Sometimes it shoots out fireballs, and sometimes it snatches with its tail and chews heartily in one bite.

Although it is a powerful monster treated as a considerable named monster even in volcanic region dungeons…

Today, of all days, the poor lava worm that was pierced straight through by Arte’s ultra-precision strike as punishment for bothering Yuan.

“Wings are something that exist for those who cannot live without clinging to them.”

ㅡA certain adventurer from the guild who really likes earth dragons