arc3 · 191-ch191

Chapter 191: Kokushi Musou & Queens ③

The moment they entered the room, the Possession Phantoms possessed the Wonder Armors. Normally you'd want to take them out before the possession happens, but Mikey's little suggestion might be having an influence.

"Ryuga, sync up!"

"Honestly..."

Nishikyo-san was the first to charge the nearest Possessed Wonder Armor. And despite his grumbling, Kitora-san seemed happy to play along.

"The strongest duo!"

"Soraku and Ryuga... my heart can't take it."

"Don't lose to Queens!"

"We're going too! Vivvi, sync up! Whoa!? Close one!?"

When Mikey headed for the Possessed Wonder Armor on the far side, an arrow came flying from behind him. It very nearly skewered the back of his head. Nice one, Vivvi!

"As for you, no goofing off. Shut up and take 'em down."

Vivvi's arrow grazed Mikey's head and buried itself in the Possessed Wonder Armor's skull. That arrow, too, seemed to have been made with Weapon Creation — it vanished the moment it struck. A thoroughly pointless thought crossed my mind: at least I wouldn't have to worry about the cost of buying arrows.

"Nice one, Vivvi-sama!"

"Mikey is seriously freaked lol"

"Punishing Mikey and still landing hits on the monster at the same time — that's skill."

"Orryaaah!"

Nishikyo-san's spear punched through the Possessed Wonder Armor's chest.

"Sei!"

Kitora-san's fist shattered its torso.

"Soraku, Ryuga, scatter!"

On Shinonome-san's signal, the two of them leapt apart, and the Stone Shot he loosed in that same instant smashed the Possessed Wonder Armor to pieces. Holes riddled its armor, and it came crashing down with a clatter.

"How's that!?"

"Fast!"

"And Gaia takes the finisher!"

"But Queens, though..."

Sure enough, they had been minding the competition after all — when Nishikyo-san glanced toward Queens, Jim had already finished beheading his Possessed Wonder Armor and was sheathing his sword.

"They really are fast."

"Heh heh!"

Nishikyo-san wore a slightly frustrated look, and Mikey, seeing it, was looking awfully smug. Seriously, is this guy a child?

"So Queens really are the stronger party, huh?"

"Are Mikey and Soraku, like, similar or something?"

"Racing each other against Possessed Wonder Armors — way too bold."

From there the clear kept rolling along smoothly, and we reached floor thirty-two without the slightest trouble.

"It's reassuring to have nothing to do."

"I was thinking the very same thing myself."

I caught that exchange between Kannami-san and Elsie while they rested on the stairs up to floor thirty-two. This might actually be the first time I've heard Elsie speak. She's the soothing type, just like Kannami-san. In more ways than one.

"Ahh, so soothing."

"An oasis inside a dungeon."

"One beauty... and now there's two."

"You're all pretty decent yourselves. Go on — you have my leave to call me Mikey."

Snack in hand, Mikey was holding court at the Kokushi Musou members like that. What a cheap name to be handing out.

"This far in was Terror's Symbol territory, as I recall. If it shows itself, we will deal with it. The small fry are entrusted to you."

Once the break was over, just before they set foot on floor thirty-two, I heard Jim give Shinonome-san those instructions.

"Hey now, whatever are you saying?"

"Pretty full of themselves, huh."

"Confidence befitting the world rank 3, I suppose."

"Pardon me, but wouldn't it be better to face the Terror's Symbol all together? Underestimating that thing will cost you dearly, you know?"

Whoa — for Shinonome-san, that's a firmly-worded objection. Well, given how much they struggled against it last time, I can see wanting to lodge a warning or two.

"No problem. You are A-rank. We are S-rank. That is all there is to it."

But Jim deflected Shinonome-san's near-provocative rebuttal without a flicker of expression.

"Gaia's being unusually assertive."

"Now that's a leader doing his job."

"Gaia-sama with that fearless face... simply lovely."

"Now, now, Gaia. The man's sayin' he'll take it, so let him. If things get hairy, my heroic self will come save ya!"

Their conversation was within earshot, so Nishikyo-san stepped in to calm Shinonome-san down... or so it looked — he was totally egging him on, wasn't he.

"Hey, hey! Like we'd ever be in a pinch! We'll cut down the thing that gave you trouble, easy as anything — just watch!"

The one who bit at that was Mikey. With floor thirty-two right in front of them, is that much slack a good thing or a bad thing? Trading banter like that, Kokushi Musou led the way onto floor thirty-two.

(Hmm, so the first enemies we run into are a Dead Wizard and Skeleton King pairing. A fairly nasty combination.)

Thanks to Search, I know what we're about to run into. That should keep Terror's Symbol from blindsiding us. Last time we met it head-on on a one-way path with nowhere to run — the question is whether Queens can actually handle it.

And what about me, for that matter? Could I take it with all three — Hayate, Shiden, and Gekkou? Part of me wants to give it a try, but in front of Queens, I'll pass.

"Dead Wizard and a Skeleton King. Whaddya wanna do, Gaia?"

Nishikyo-san, walking point, spotted the two monsters first. Judging by the mood, Mikey had noticed them well before that.

"A Dead Wizard and a Skeleton King — an ordinary party would turn tail and sprint away."

"A knight-and-wizard kind of pair, huh."

"Now then, who takes which, I wonder?"

"We will take the Skeleton King. May we leave the Dead Wizard to you?"

Shinonome-san was making the request to Jim very politely.

"Of course. If need be, we could take both on ourselves."

"No, that won't be necessary. Just the Dead Wizard, please."

You could practically see sparks snapping back and forth between the two leaders.

All the same, both parties shifted properly into combat readiness — the mark of top-rank explorers. Kokushi Musou and Queens each began moving toward their opponent.

"Here I come."

The first to actually attack was Vivvi. She loosed an arrow at blinding speed.

"Wooooon!"

But the Dead Wizard conjured a stone shield right in front of itself and blocked the silver arrow.

"Their level is high. Stay sharp."

This was the first time since we entered this dungeon that one of Vivvi's arrows had been blocked. At that fact, she urged everyone to be on their guard.

"First time I've ever seen Vivvi-sama's arrow get blocked."

"I see, so they're high level. Fair enough."

"Is everyone okay?"

"Ryuga, I'll keep it pinned. You're on main duty!"

"Got it."

Skeletons are weak to blunt strikes. Putting Kitora-san in the main attacker role was the right call. Nishikyo-san kept the Skeleton King at bay from mid-range while Kitora-san slipped through the gaps to land his blows. But like Vivvi said, this one was a level above too, and it was taking some time.

Queens, meanwhile, had Vivvi firing arrow after arrow to keep the Dead Wizard from using its magic. It's a tactic only possible because of her skill — but it's a clever one.

While the wizard was tied up completely with defensive magic, Jim and Mikey attacked from either side in a pincer. The Dead Wizard has high magic but nothing special otherwise. Outpaced, it was carved apart by Mikey's daggers and Jim's one-handed sword and vanished.

"Stone Shot!"

On the Kokushi Musou side too, Shinonome-san joining the fray swung the battle hard their way, and they finished off the Skeleton King a few minutes behind Queens.

"I forgot to breathe!"

"Strong as advertised!"

"Rock steady, huh."

With eight explorers of A-rank or above on the field, a couple of A-rank monsters barely register. With this lineup, they might even manage floor thirty-three. Provided they can beat that Lich.

How would we fare against that stationary gun platform with its high-speed chanting? Could these eight win? We do have Kannami-san and Elsie, so if we can hold out until its mana runs dry, then maybe...

Filming the two parties all the while, I let myself imagine how a fight between the Lich and these eight would go.