21-40 · 032
Chapter 31: Victory
Shinjuku Station front, First Defense Line.
The battlefield, dominated by the terror of death just moments ago, had transformed into a stage of jubilation and roars as the explorers now held the upper hand.
“Push them back! Don’t give an inch!”
The A-Rank shield-bearer at the front line raised the Legendary Level silver greatshield he had been loaned and charged. Collision. The King Ogre, a deep-layer monstrosity, swung its black steel club with full force, meeting the greatshield. A tremendous shockwave blew away the surrounding rubble. But the tank didn’t budge an inch. More than that, the shield’s overwhelming repulsive force threw back the Ogre’s massive body; the beast, towering as high as a three-story building, was sent flying ungracefully through the air.
“A-amazing… is this really my power!?”
“Don’t let up! Press the attack!”
Seizing the huge opening created by the tank, the rear-guard mages moved. In their hands were Mythic Level and Legendary Level staves just transferred by Master_Eye. The boundless magic pouring from the jewels in their staves not only instantly restored their depleted MP but also elevated the power of their spells to an unprecedented level.
“Grand Blazing Array!”
A strategic-class spell normally requiring dozens of mages performing a ritual incantation was unleashed without any chant from a single mage’s staff. A colossal firestorm that covered Shinjuku’s night sky erupted, reducing the surging monster horde to ashes in an instant without even a chance to scream.
Swordsmen wielded magic swords crackling with purple lightning or radiating absolute zero, slicing through deep-layer monsters with tough carapaces like hot knives through butter. When someone was injured, healers raised sacred medals, and a rain of light poured down, regenerating even severed limbs in moments.
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“…Unbelievable. Just three hundred people are unilaterally crushing an army of tens of thousands of monsters.”
In the secure office deep underground, Rin, watching the battle unfold on the massive multi-monitor setup, swallowed hard and murmured.
“Yeah…”
I replied, feigning calm, but inwardly I was sweating a little. I’d never tested the performance of the restored items before, but seeing ordinary explorers wield them with such absurd power sent a chill down my spine. If these had fallen into the hands of malicious terrorists… I shuddered to think. I might need to be more selective about who I did business with in the future…
—GYAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
At that moment, a piercing roar echoed across Shinjuku, so powerful it seemed to shake the air even through the monitors.
“Wh-What!?”
◇
The news helicopter’s camera showed the collapsed entrance gate of Shinjuku Dungeon. Crawling out from it was a pitch-black evil dragon with eight heads, easily over thirty meters long—a calamity-designated monster known to inhabit only the deepest depths: the ‘Abyss Hydra.’
Its overwhelming pressure and the hint of corrosive breath leaking from its eight mouths made even the explorers, who had been rampaging with their cheat-level weapons, stop momentarily in fear. But before that colossal embodiment of despair, a single small figure clad in silver light stood in its path.
“Everyone, fall back! I’ll handle this!”
It was Japan’s strongest S-Rank explorer, Seira Jinguji. She thrust the ‘Aegis Shield’ on her left arm forward, meeting the torrents of corrosive flame unleashed simultaneously from the Abyss Hydra’s eight heads head-on.
CRAAAANG!!
Magic reflection rate: 100%. The breath, powerful enough to obliterate an entire city district, was completely deflected off the Aegis Shield’s surface and rebounded onto the Hydra itself. Scorched by its own breath, the Hydra let out a howl of agony. That was its greatest opening.
Seira raised the ‘Holy Sword Excalibur’ in her right hand high toward the sky. The silver magic erupting from its blade manifested as a colossal blade of light piercing the night sky.
“Holy Sword Release… Excalibur!!”
The descending silver blade, sharp enough to cut through space itself, struck the Hydra. There wasn’t even a sound. The eight massive heads of the over-thirty-meter creature were severed cleanly at the base in a single stroke.
THUD…!!
The headless colossal body crashed down with a rumbling, staining the asphalt with black blood. Witnessing the pathetic demise of the deep-layer king, the remaining monsters lost all will to fight and began fleeing back into the depths of the dungeon with terrified shrieks.
“We… we did it…! Abyss Hydra, defeated! The monster horde is retreating! The defense line has been maintained… no, the defense of Shinjuku has been a complete success!”
The anchor aboard the news helicopter shouted, her voice almost a sob. The explorers on the front lines raised their weapons to the sky, shouting cries of victory.