episode_0130

Frankly, my energy is all out, so there’s nothing I can do.

That’s just how mages are. It’s common practice to rest after using one big spell.

Following that common practice, I watch my allies and wait for the next turn.

No, I’m not watching, I’m assessing the battlefield situation.

Currently, the number of remaining Jewel Soldiers is 13.

Kairek and I killed 7 at once.

And more than half of the remaining 13 were half-destroyed, so we achieved truly great results.

Honestly, it would be ideal if I didn’t need to step forward anymore.

Furthermore, the Jewel Soldiers were not regaining their composure.

Normally, they would quickly form a formation or shoot arrows at the vanguard rushing in, but.

As expected, they weren’t machines either; they were flustered.

『Until the next Draw: 45…』

While checking the remaining time.

The vanguard who rushed forward charges at the Jewel Soldiers.

First and foremost, Grace.

Entering the center of the enemy formation in an instant, she quickly unleashes her power.

[Repulsion Field]

A powerful force erupted around her body, pushing away everything in the vicinity.

It wasn’t strong enough to shatter the Jewel Soldiers’ bodies, but it was sufficient to make all of them crash into the walls, floor, and ceiling.

Even considering the 7th floor Jewel Soldiers’ greatest strength is their organic movement and teamwork.

Each Jewel Soldier without that is manageable.

Immediately, Luca and Noah began to eliminate the scattered Jewel Soldiers one by one.

Luca’s savagery cut through the hard bodies of the Jewel Soldiers.

Noah defeated the Jewel Soldiers with simple, brute specs.

Kairek eliminated one by one in between, and finally Grace froze one Jewel Soldier.

Finally, the battle was over.

However, it felt a little awkward since the status window that always announced victory didn’t appear.

『Until the next Draw: 21…』

And now, the quick-witted party members quickly noticed the change that had occurred in me.

“Is something wrong?”

“The Lord Deity gave me an ordeal. Says I absolutely have to become a high-floor explorer.”

“Well, it’s something we had to do anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”

“That’s right. But I have to revise the strategy we’ve set so far.”

“…That’s true.”

Since we’ll already be entering combat judgment throughout this exploration, it would be best to use good power cards in advance before going.

“Shall we take a short break?”

“No, already?”

Noah stared blankly at me with a face full of questions.

And Grace, as if agreeing with that opinion.

“We find the monsters first anyway. I think it might be good to just keep going for now.”

“Is that so.”

Anyway, the chance of the Jewel Soldiers finding us first is very low, and we usually find them first.

This is all why a guide is essential.

Even if there’s a loss in combat power. The advantage of finding monsters first and striking first is too great.

“For now, I don’t sense any Jewel Soldiers nearby. Let’s just go.”

After quickly gathering the rewards obtained from defeating the Jewel Soldiers, we moved forward again.

Maze 7th floor, Jewel Cave.

As its name suggests, no matter where you go, you’ll think, ‘Haven’t I been here before?’

All the spaces have a similar structure, making it easy to get confused.

Furthermore, it’s mostly composed of long passages, and the terrain has extreme elevation changes, going up and down.

I originally thought that exploring a cave just meant walking on flat ground that continued smoothly.

This time, the terrain is particularly annoying.

“Hold on tight.”

We jumped down high parts of the cave while held in Grace’s arms.

We froze rapidly flowing water using [Freezing] to cross.

We also passed through dark passages where there were no glowing jewels in between.

“The terrain is a bit tougher than last time.”

“Well, maybe that’s a good thing.”

“Also, the scale has gotten much larger. What could be happening?”

However, even if there are suspicious circumstances, we know nothing about the 7th floor.

For now, we just have to proceed cautiously.

Anyway, I’ll leave the exploration to Grace.

I should do my part.

『It is your turn. Draw 5 cards.』

『White Storage Box – Preserve 1 card at the end of turn.』

[Mist Rain (0)] [Terrain Manipulation (3)] [Archmage’s Grimoire (5)] [Water Splash (0)] [Meteor (7)] + [Mana Overload (0)]

Hmm. I finally got power cards, but.

Honestly, both are bittersweet.

First, [Terrain Manipulation] seems like a great card in a cave like this, but.

Didn’t a special monster appear when I moved the terrain significantly in the canyon on the 3rd floor last time?

There’s no guarantee that something similar won’t happen on the 7th floor.

So I guess I can only use it to change the battlefield to my advantage.

Also, I’d rather not have a scenario where we get wiped out while clearing a path by moving the terrain.

[Archmage’s Grimoire] is also very good.

But that’s only a good card when staying in one place.

Of course, by using the effect of [Cat’s Paw], I can engrave magic circles on my body, but.

Should I try using it with [Charge] once?

Just as I was running simulations back and forth to figure out the most efficient method.

Grace tapped her hand.

“…Monsters are on the left.”

Hearing that, I looked ahead.

Two paths lay before us.

If we go left on one of these paths, there are monsters. The right is an unknown space.

Honestly, since it’s best for us to avoid combat as much as possible, going right is the standard play, but.

“Want to go take a look to see if our target, the Diamond Jewel Knight, is there?”

One of the requirements for promotion is the Diamond Jewel Knight. So we at least need to confirm what kind of monster it is.

Immediately, Grace entered the left passage.

We took a short break for a moment.

At that moment, Kairek, looking puzzled, stroked his chin and spoke.

“There seem to be fewer monsters than last time.”

“Right? Besides, that was a time when the maze initialization was approaching, so it should have been fewer then.”

“…We need to be careful.”

“Shall we just leave and come back later?”

“That’s not bad, but Ivan, you received some kind of revelation, didn’t you?”

“Ah, that’s the problem…”

Normally, when challenging a floor for the first time, you should gauge the situation and flee if it seems too difficult.

So I was planning to flee this time as well if it was dangerous.

Putting aside my regret, just as I was waiting for Grace to return.

Suddenly, a strange sound began to be heard.

Koooooo-

Ah, I’ve heard this sound somewhere.

The other party members, like me, seemed to be thinking the same thing and instantly began to search their memories.

Then, finally, one thing came to mind in my head.

“Isn’t that a horn sound?”

“It is.”

However, it was quite a while later that we learned what this horn meant on the 7th floor.

“Run…”

Just before I, who had grasped the situation fastest, could speak.

The ceiling collapsed.

Stone fragments raining down.

And a large amount of dust spreading from something that hit the floor.

“What?!”

“…Grrr.”

Before I could even figure out what had happened, Luca dashed out.

And with the savagery he unleashed, he swung his arm towards something that had fallen.

However, as it also parted the dust and revealed its form.

A Jewel Knight with a body of blue light revealed its majesty.

“A Jewel Knight out of nowhere?!”

“I don’t sense any Jewel Soldiers!”

That was at least a relief.

I quickly chose a card from my hand.

I originally wanted to use a power card, but I didn’t have time for that right now.

One card disappeared from my hand.

[Mana Overload (0)] – Energy is doubled. Energy for the next turn is reduced by 1.

『Energy 10/5』

Confirming that my deck energy had become 10, I immediately threw two cards.

[Terrain Manipulation]

[Meteor]

In an instant, a feeling of omnipotence filled my body, and simultaneously, a subspace opened above the cave and a star fell.

That star immediately crushed the Jewel Knight’s body with a crunch-smash.

A dust cloud incomparable to before spread around.

The Jewel Knight was annihilated with a single blow.

‘As expected of a 7-cost attack card, the performance is reliable.’

But that wasn’t the end.

All sorts of footsteps could be heard through the broken ceiling.

They would definitely drop down here in large numbers.

“Run to where Grace is!!!”

“The Jewel Knight dropped a magic stone?”

“…I’ll pick it up.”

While Luca was charging in alone, we started running towards the passage Grace had gone into.

『Until the next Draw: 0』

『It is your turn. Draw 5 cards.』

『White Storage Box – Preserve 1 card at the end of turn.』

The card to keep is [Mist Rain].

Excluding 1 card, all were sucked to the bottom of the deck, and 5 cards were quickly drawn.

[Fire Dragon (4)] [Ifrit (4)] [Rock Barrage (5)] [Wooden House (5)] [Typhoon (5)] + [Mist Rain (0)]

My hand isn’t bad, but.

The problem is.

『Penalty – Mana Overload』

『Energy 4/5』

The fact that my energy for this turn was reduced by 1 due to the effect of Mana Overload.

It’s a drawback I hadn’t often felt because using Mana Overload to increase energy and cast one large spell usually ended the battle.

Thanks to this, my options were greatly reduced. Why are there so many 5-cost cards?

Of course, I did farm based on usable cards from my available energy this time, but.

So, in the end, I can only choose between two, Fire Dragon and Ifrit.

Naturally, the choice narrowed down to one.

[Ifrit]

As the card melted away and disappeared, a small fire spirit popped out from within my embrace.

After injecting mana into it beforehand so I could use it anytime, as I continued to run forward.

“Everyone!!!”

Grace appeared from the opposite direction.

“Was that a horn sound just now? Did something happen?!”

“A Jewel Knight came out of the ceiling where we were, so we defeated it.”

“They didn’t blow the horn because of us, did they?”

“Right.”

“Then they’ll probably go towards their target, won’t they? Or maybe coincidentally come this way…”

Grace quickly focused, observing the direction we came from.

“Oh no, they’re all coming this way!!”

If we had gone right, it would have been easy. As expected, I have no luck, no luck at all.

“It’s impossible to break through the Jewel Soldiers drawn by the horn. Let’s go the way I came!!”

Making a quick decision, we ran to where Grace had come from.

“There are no Jewel Soldiers directly ahead, but instead, it was full of Jewel Turtles.”

“Then isn’t that more dangerous?”

“It’s better to escape by breaking through among the dumb Jewel Turtles who just gobble up jewels than having a whole bunch of Jewel Soldiers or Knights rushing in.”

“…Meaning they aren’t in a combat situation, right?”

Then there’s a way.

Fortunately, I had used it beforehand.

“I’ll move the terrain to create a path. If it’s just creating footholds instead of breaking through the cave wall to make a path, nothing should happen.”

“The path I saw has a total of 3 ways. Then let’s try the upper path.”

As soon as she finished speaking, we reached the end of the passage.

A giant cavern welcomed us.

It was a sight I had never seen before.

In the center, a gigantic jewel was emitting a brilliant light.

And Jewel Turtles were gobbling it up.

Perhaps the jewel was their main food.

However, if they just stayed put by the central jewel, it might not be noticed, but they were needlessly orderly.

Jewel Turtles who had broken off just enough jewel to eat were gobbling it up in every corner of the cavern.

So there weren’t many empty spaces.

But if there isn’t an empty space, you can just create one.

I quickly began to lift the terrain to create a path.

‘Please, don’t let them notice.’

I extended the terrain straight towards the exit at the tip of Grace’s pointing finger.

And ran across it.

However, the inside of this cavern was so bright because there were so many jewels.

Could it be that none of these many turtles would spot us?

I immediately used one card.

[Mist Rain]

White mist coming from around my body quickly obscured vision.

However, since it couldn’t block my allies’ vision, I cleared the mist only towards the front.

Now I felt a little relieved.

‘I’ve used every available move.’

As carefully and quickly as possible, I ran along the extended path.

“I can see the end…”

Grace spoke cautiously.

The exit was before our eyes before we knew it.

“……?!”

But at that moment, in a glance I happened to turn, my eyes met with something.

A Jewel Turtle clinging to the wall, eating a jewel.

“Grrrrr…!!!”

Slam-

Immediately, that Jewel Turtle kicked off the wall and threw itself towards us.

The turtle that flew faster than expected broke the path I had created and sent everyone on it flying.

“…Dangerous!”

Immediately, Luca summoned a clone and threw her body to reach me.

Thanks to her, I was able to land safely.

And my party members also landed safely beside me with a ‘thud, thud’.

“…………..”

All the Jewel Turtles’ gazes were directed towards us.

Ah, are we screwed?