episode_0181

third time.

The slime storm, which was hoped to end once, was repeated twice.

A dark purple tsunami that gradually grew in size as new slimes appeared in addition to the chasing slimes.

During the third attack, there were so many people that they could not even dare to pass through the sacred barrier alone, so they had to use Arine’s other sacred miracles without hesitation.

In other words, I somehow managed to break through it and enter the 5th floor.

“Whew…I guess the slime guys are here too.”

And, after continuing to sprint for a while after coming down to the 5th floor, we were finally able to shake off the slime army’s persistent pursuit.

“I don’t think I have any intention of chasing you any further, so let’s rest here for a moment.”

After putting Arine down on the ground, I wiped the sweat running down my cheek and announced that I would take a short break.

“Whoops… whoops…! I’m alive, I’m alive…!”

Reed, who had been running with his teeth clenched in order not to fall behind, sat down and took a deep breath.

His entire body was covered in sweat, and his face was pale, as if he had stretched his physical strength to its limit. The two half-bent legs were also shaking as if they were convulsing.

Umm… This person, for a silver patch, is a bit lacking in stamina.

Is it because he is a rear-guard position rather than a front-line position? If he is the type who only shoots from behind, he would have trained with a focus on strength and concentration rather than stamina.

The choice to let others know what you are lacking and to focus on training only the abilities that are absolutely necessary.

It was an efficient method. If you spend time reducing your shortcomings, you will not have enough time to develop your strengths.

Of course, if you encounter a situation where there is no potential, you will spend the next morning in the afterlife.

Still, as far as leads were concerned, the situation was a bit better than that of Ariene.

Unlike Reid, who was getting better quickly, Ariene was still unable to control herself due to the subject she had been holding on to as comfortably as a piece of luggage.

“Guh-eh…! I almost met the goddess… wow, gu-eh… I almost met the goddess…!”

Am I getting motion sickness? As soon as Arine lands on the ground, she sprinkles a lot of slime food on the ground.

The waterfall of filth was scarier than poison, and I took a couple of steps back from her for fear that it might splash on my clothes.

“Guweeeek…!”

… You ate a lot of this and that. It’s almost like go away slime.

Naturally, I took two steps back to secure a safe distance from the toy’s chemical weapon.

◆◆

The view on the 5th floor was not much different from the upper floors.

Half-broken, winding passages and luminescent crystals everywhere. Stalactites and stalagmites larger than people, and a stream flowing under the collapsed ground.

A lizard with eight legs that jumps like a flying fish in the waves of underground water and eats the lizard.

Three-legged bats flying between stalactites, and giant spiders that capture the bats with their webs and suck them up.

Translucent giant centipedes writhing around large stalagmites like piles, and even carnivorous plants around the stream that grab the centipedes with their tentacles and chew them.

Various monsters were killing and eating each other, forming a slightly extreme but natural ecosystem.

Monsters that don’t show much interest in us because they prey on themselves. There seemed to be no better class for relaxing.

“…Even if you take a break, you should first move your seat. Wouldn’t it be better to rest in a place with fresh air?”

Of course, except for the area where Arine had stained the place with soggy vomit.

“Well, I think that would be good too…!”

Following Reed’s suggestion, we walked again for a few minutes, then sat down and took a break, breathing in the fresh air instead of the sour smell.

It was awkward and boring to just sit there without saying anything, so we talked about various things to each other during the break.

“This is the first time in my life I’ve encountered so many slimes. What on earth did I grow up with to have that many…”

“Isn’t it a luminous crystal? It was propagated by absorbing the magic contained within it….”

“Aha, that might be true. There’s no way a monster that can melt steel can’t digest something like crystal.”

The topic, of course, was the story about slime that we had barely escaped from a little while ago.

A tidal wave of slime swept over the entire area, covering the ceiling. How common is it to encounter such a sight?

It was a scene so hideous that even I was a little sick of it, so it was natural that even if I wanted to say something, that would be the first thing that came to mind.

“More than that… I’m talking about the first search party that went in first. Could it be that they all melted on the upper floor? I think that number would be enough.”

“That’s probably not true. There were several wizards among them, and unlike us, they entered the dungeon early in the morning.”

There is speculation that the first exploration party was wiped out by slimes. However, Arine shook her head and denied this in a very categorical tone.

“Well, what does morning have to do with it…? Do slimes sleep too?”

Before I knew it, Friede, who was clinging to me, turned to Ariene and asked cutely. Ariene smiled and revealed the reason for denying my guess.

“Didn’t you know? Slime doesn’t sleep, but it is a nocturnal monster. When the sun goes down, it becomes more ferocious. Just like before.”

When the sun is up, slimes move slowly and are less aggressive, but when night comes, they become vicious monsters that prey on everything nearby like before?

“I see. This is my first time knowing that too.”

Even as someone who has read the original, this was the first time I heard this information.

Well, the main character of the original had no interest in anything other than becoming stronger as quickly and efficiently as possible.

I wouldn’t know if it was special information like ‘The Grand Duke of Demon World’s secret storage of treasured items’, or I wouldn’t have tried to keep unnecessary information like the ecology of slimes in my head.

Since the main character of the original work shows no interest in it, it is inevitable that there will be no description of it. The original novel I read was from the first person point of view of the main character.

Well, anyway, if it was as Arine said, it would be safe to say that the first search party also safely passed the slimes on the fourth floor.

“After everyone has rested, let’s move again. There are about four hours left until midnight, so I think we can just go down to the next floor and prepare for camping.”

A temporary break of about twenty minutes.

After chatting and filling our bellies with water and dry food, we got up again and explored the rest of the 5th floor.

It was a careful search.

Even though I was able to escape safely from the horrible horde of slimes, I couldn’t just relax.

If I had let my guard down, I could have ended up in a more dangerous situation than before.

The fact that the slime guys gave up on coming down here meant that there was a monster stronger than them lurking somewhere on this fifth floor.

“Mr. Reed, from now on, if you think something is strange, just shoot it. No matter what comes out, it will be more dangerous than slime.”

“Well, as long as you don’t have physical immunity, there won’t be any problem.”

Reed, who was finally allowed to shoot an archery, joked confidently. The tone was that no matter what came out, if they weren’t physically immune, they could all be shot and killed.

Well, it’s a good thing to be overflowing with confidence. Unless it goes too far and you’re completely caught off guard.

“Arine, how many miracles do we have left to use?”

“The attack, barrier, and purification aspects have all been used up. The blessing and healing aspects are still intact.”

Unlike Reed, who kept his arrows intact, Arine’s power was drastically reduced as she broke through the 4th floor.

Its role as a healing shuttle is intact, but the sacred barrier has been used up, and the only direct means of attack left is swinging the ax with a buff.

After midnight, he would become fine again, but until then, it was safe to say that he was the weakest member of the party.

‘I’ll probably lose even if I fight a swordsman of the same rank.’

I was really weakened… Still, in the end, all you have to do as a healer is be good at healing.

The lack of a sacred barrier was a bit disappointing, but if I made a mistake, I could just deploy the sacred barrier instead, so it wasn’t a very serious problem.

◆◆

And so the exploration of the 5th floor resumed.

After walking through a winding passageway carved out by underground water for a long time, we finally encountered the culprit who had chased all the slimes to the fourth floor.

– Howling!

Flames brightening up the dim dungeon. Wolf-shaped monsters engulfed in blazing flames glared at us and bared their teeth.

“Krrr….”

Rake-like claws and crocodile-like teeth. A pitch-black body burned by flames and ashes flying. It had four eyes and a forked tail.

“…I understand why slimes are concentrated on the 4th floor.”

A pack of wolves engulfed in flames that could burn even themselves. It was a monster called the Burned Wolf, a magical creature created by demons imitating the spirit of fire.

‘Why do troublesome people like that come out even if I come out… .’

I clicked my tongue quietly and pulled out Edelmut.

As you can tell just by looking at their appearance, they are living fireballs.

It was a troublesome monster that wielded fire, spewed fire, and would self-destruct if mortally wounded.