chapter03 · 078-ep78

Episode 75: Beyond Deep-Layer Level

Karin's advance showed no sign of stopping after her defeat (?) of the Double Shadows.

""""GUGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!?!?!?""""

More Double Shadows appeared throughout floor 3, but each burst spectacularly the moment it copied Karin's power. Far from defeating or even delaying her, they had become props to amuse chat.

【COPY MONSTEEEEERS! (laughs)】

【L m a o, it's a whole forest of lmaos】

【With nobody but the ojou-sama to copy, they're doomed to explode the second they meet her lmao】

In fact, every exploding Double Shadow made other monsters freeze with a "Huh!? What!?" or "What happened all of a sudden!?" Karin immediately defeated them during the opening. Black Tiger's great hope had become the ojou-sama's assistant in more ways than one.

Karin cleared floor 3 nearly as fast as floor 2 and charged straight into its boss room.

"GRUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!"

CRACKLE CRACKLE!

A giant golden lion barred her path, the king of beasts wrapped from head to toe in powerful lightning. Like the Storm Dragon, it wore a thick layer of elemental magic over its entire body, a vicious ability. Attacking it without a top-grade insulated weapon with a long reach meant electrocuting yourself, and it knocked aside even Gatling magic bullets as the Storm Dragon had. Worse, its powerful lightning armor seemed to warp space: even Mongolian Desu-Worm's delicate flying slashes, which extended the sword's reach, barely failed to get through.

An outrageous defense and offense in one. But not even that cheating deep-layer boss stood a chance against an ojou-sama who had brought out her <Divine Artisan> weapons.

"This calls for an Elegant brute-force approach, desu waaaaa!"

Karin used <Mongolian Desu-Worm> to cut up the dungeon walls, not the lightning lion. She slashed the ceiling, cut the falling stone columns further, and produced giant square blocks like those in a quarry. After creating countless 'bullets' while dodging the lion's attacks, she switched weapons—to the enormous hammer she'd made from dungeon wall—and struck them at incredible speed.

"HYAAAAAAAH!"

DOGOGOGOGOGOOOOOOON!!

"GRAAAAAAAH!?"

The lion took a barrage of stone blocks weighing several tons. Its lightning armor couldn't block a purely physical bombardment. Karin ran around carrying that huge hammer and smashed it from a distance with one home run after another, pulverizing its whole body.

"And the floor 3 boss monster is safely defeated, desu wa!"

Karin declared her victory cheerfully, the collapsed lion dissolving into the dungeon behind her. She had now fully cleared floor 3 of the deep layers without a scratch.

【FLOOR 3 BOSS DOWNNNNNNN!!!】

【And she's unharmed AGAINNNNN!】

【The strongest, strongest ojou-sama! The invincible thug ojou-sama!】

【Congratulations, desu waaaaa!】

【She matched Black Tiger's exploration record SOLOOOOO!】

【All the major TV networks put out breaking news almost at once lmao!】

"Th-thank you, everyone, desu wa!"

Karin managed a smile despite the frightening flood of congratulatory comments and expensive red superchats. Clearing floor 3 was clearly a major milestone. Viewers' excitement showed no signs of easing even while she took a quick cup of tea to settle her nerves.

【This ojou-sama really reached the frontier opened up by one of Japan's strongest clans... alone...】

【They said she couldn't be Japan's strongest because the top explorers hide their power, but she might be stronger than the combined strength of a top clan...】

【She reached this point unharmed! She's definitely stronger!】

【Unharmed, in a dress, on stream, with no prior knowledge, and she didn't even save her strength because she did a tea conquest of the lower layers... I can't stop laughing at how absurd this is lol】

【Hasn't she revealed ALL Black Tiger's hard-won intel on Okutama Dungeon now? lmao】

¥10,000

So, after reassessing the details of Black Tiger's lost information assets, it looks like they're up to ¥4 billion.

【PFFFFFFFFT LMAO】

【Monster intel plus the fact she's charging straight along the proper route without detours lol】

【How does she know how to go straight through a dungeon she's never seen before? lol】

【If it affects the revenue from the deep-layer materials they supplied exclusively, their losses over the next few years could easily exceed ¥10 billion lol】

【Don't worry! Black Tiger's strong. If they dive every day without a break to collect materials, they'll make that back in no time!】

【The smear operatives have been real quiet for ages lol】

【The allegations don't even seem relevant anymore, but go all the way, ojou-sama!】

【Just one more step to an indisputable world record!】

【Clear floor 4 and it's a world record!】

【At this rate floor 4 will be a breeze too, desu wa!】

"Then it's finally time to conquer the last area!"

Karin finished her tea break and headed past the boss room, her dress fluttering. Her goal was floor 4, which her long-range detection had revealed as the last area in Okutama Dungeon's deep layers.

【Is this the stream with the high school girl who matched a top Japanese clan's deep-layer exploration record SOLO!?】

【What? Is that a dress? Am I watching the wrong video?】

【I came because of the breaking news. What do you mean, EIGHT MILLION concurrents!? lmao】

【I feast on new ojou-samas' confusion, desu wa~!】

More newcomers arrived after the coverage of her feat—and of the world record for a minor's solo deep-layer conquest now nearly within reach. Concurrency shot past the impossible figure of eight million and kept growing by thousands every time Karin glanced over.

(E-eight million is an incredible number, desu wa... Eight million... That means it's about eight million...!?)

The figure was too big for her to grasp. But numbers mattered most to her goal of clearing her name.

(I must give it everything I've got on the home stretch, so our new guests won't get bored and leave, and so even more people will watch!)

She skipped down the corridor, which descended like a natural staircase. Then something struck her as odd.

"This passage seems awfully long, does it not...?"

Viewers had noticed too.

【Isn't this long?】

【About twice as long as a normal corridor?】

【Floor 4 when?】

Karin hurried down the stairs and finally reached an open space. Too open. It was as if every wall on the floor had been demolished to make one room. Faint phosphorescence kept it from being pitch-black, but she couldn't even make out the ceiling or the hall's far edges.

"What is this place...?"

【Eh, what's this?】

【It's HUUUUUGE!?】

【Is this really underground?】

【I heard space warps deeper in dungeons, but this is ridiculous】

【Is all of floor 4 just this one room?】

【Did she clear it already?】

【Surely there's something here】

【It's creepy... But our ojou-sama can handle anything after all this!】

【Let's clear it in one go, desu no!】

"Oh my, they have floors like this too?"

Karin looked around the vast space, which she'd never seen the like of before.

Then—

GROOOAN...

This was the area where Kuroi's <Advance Danger Sense> had foretold the deaths of Black Tiger's principal members, forcing him to halt not only their conquest attempt but even serious reconnaissance. At its center, something mountain-sized rumbled, breaking the dim silence.

And—

DOGAGAGAGAGAGAGA!!!!

DOGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

DADADADADADADADA!!!

"!"

The battle began without warning. A deluge of fire cut through the gloom. Streaks of light made it seem as if sunlight had suddenly reached underground. A massive simultaneous bombardment rained down on Karin.

【Huh!? What's that!?】

【Where'd that come from!?】

【What, is this a war!?】

【What's happening!?】

【Is the ojou-sama okay!?】

【Can't see a thing through the explosions and light!?】

【Is this a MONSTER's attack!?】

"I see."

The whine of bullets and thunder of bursting shells shook the hall. Karin raced around in her dress to evade a barrage and explosions that filled the space, and spoke with certainty.

"This entire hall is both floor 4 and its boss room."

Her extraordinary vision and detection skills had found the enemy. A moment later, the floating camera, which had retreated high above the barrage, caught it too.

"GIGOGOGOGOGOGOH!"

There in the boss room that made up floor 4 of Okutama Valley Dungeon's deep layers, the camera showed a moving fortress. It was so immense that at first glance one could mistake it for a wall of the vast chamber. Its overall shape was literally mountainous, roughly triangular. Weapons and cannons of every size sprouted across its enormous 'shell' like gravestones. Massive, thickly armored legs supported its mountain-fortress bulk. The distorted fusion of machine and living creature—a colossal hermit-crab-type monster—occupied the far end of the room and fired on Karin with everything it had.

【Wait!? What the hell is that!?】

【It's as big as the mountain near my house!?】

【It's way too big...】

【That's a fortress, not a monster!】

【Even fortresses don't have this stupid amount of firepower!?】

【What IS it? Even for the deep layers, that's absurd!?】

【I can't see the ground through all the explosions. Is Karin ojou-sama alive!?】

DOGAGAGAGAGAGAGA!!!!

DOGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

The giant hermit crab, later named <Gigant Fortress>, was the boss of the deepest floor of the deep layers. Its barrage was beyond anything normal. Main guns blasted heat rays to rival the Dragon Cannon's breath; countless other muzzles produced a storm of bullets that made the Elegatling guns look puny. It had enough firepower to reduce a major city to ashes in less than a day if it appeared aboveground, and every shot was aimed at Karin alone.

"Everyone, fear not! As you can see, I'm perfectly fine!"

Her Elegant voice rang through the rain of fire. Karin was sprinting at full speed through the barrage, dodging everything. She switched to the high-performance bone-conduction microphone Mitsuki had given her just in case, so the viewers could hear that she was alive.

"But, hmm... This is rather troublesome."

She used her detection skills to track every projectile. Among the endless volleys were a great many homing shots that pursued her doggedly, following her everywhere much like the magic bullets she herself fired.

"Hah—!"

Karin raced across the floor and walls, leading the homing shots into other bullets or obstacles to make them detonate and barely keeping them at bay. Her acrobatic evasion was so brilliant that apparent veteran explorers commented, 【What IS this!?】 and 【I don't understand how she's doing it!?】

"You're quite good!"

She could dodge, but that was all. Even with her physical and detection abilities, evasion took everything she had. She couldn't get close to the boss firing the limitless barrage.

(I think it's a cannon-crab-type boss, but I've never seen one this big or heavily armed.)

DOGAGAGAGAGAGA!

She fired her Elegatling guns in an attempt to cancel the incoming fire, knowing it would slow her down somewhat. It was a drop in the bucket. She remained on the defensive, unable to approach the boss.

【This is no joke! What the hell IS this!?】

【The barrage is insane, and heat rays are going through the floor, leaving her less ground to stand on!?】

【Wait, isn't this boss suddenly way too strong!?】

【It could kill every monster she's fought so far at once!?】

【This is on another level from the copy monsters exploding!?】

【Karin ojou-sama dodging this nonsense is incomprehensible too, but the monster is just wrong!?】

【Is it an irregular boss!?】

¥10,000

Ojou-sama, that one might be seriously dangerous! I heard the final deep-layer boss in a dungeon that reaches the abyssal layers isn't so much the ruler of the deep layers as the guardian of the entrance to the abyss... You probably can't read this right now, but there's a chance it's above deep-layer level! Seriously, consider retreating! You've already set more than enough records!

【What!? How does that work!?】

【It might be abyssal-layer class!?】

【Not NOW. You're joking!?】

【Given how ridiculous it is, I can believe it... High-difficulty dungeons are terrifying...】

【Mitsuki-sama's staring at the stream so hard she looks like a still image lmao... No, this isn't the time for jokes!】

【High-difficulty dungeons are way too insane...?】

【What can she even do!?】

【Unlike the monsters with special tricks, this thing's raw power is nuts. Where's the weakness or strategy!?】

【Can she even retreat with that much fire raining down!?】

Even Karin was struggling against this abnormal barrage. Combined with the information in the red superchat, viewers couldn't see an opening and cried out in fear.

They could hardly be blamed. The moving fortress on screen was unlike any deep-layer monster she'd faced before. No clever magic tricks, just the embodiment of pure destruction and slaughter. There was no secret strategy: to beat it, one would have to slip through an inhuman storm of bullets and shells and smash its mountainous body. An impossible task.

But surely Karin ojou-sama could still find a way—

As everyone held that hope somewhere inside them, Karin murmured, as if hesitating a little, "It can't be helped. It's not very Elegant, but—"

DOGOOOOOOOOOOOOON!

As if that instant of hesitation had sealed her fate, an enormous explosion nearby engulfed her in flames.

【Eh?】

Before the viewers could even react properly to Karin taking a hit—

DOGOGOGOGOGOGOOOOOOOOOOON!!

A merciless, overwhelming follow-up barrage slammed into the flames around her.

【Eh?】

【Huh!?】

【No way!?】

【Karin ojou-sama!?】

【You're kidding, right!?】

【Wait wait wait wait!】

【What!? Is the ojou-sama dead!?】

【Even she couldn't solo a high-difficulty dungeon after all!】

【She's alive, right!? She's the ojou-sama!?】

【OJOU-SAMAAAA!?】

Perhaps most viewers were too shocked to write. The few comments were anguished screams, but those cries couldn't help her. <Gigant Fortress> didn't stop its bombardment.

"GIGOGOGOGOGOGOH!"

The moving fortress aimed its main guns at Karin as if determined not to leave so much as dust of her. Then—

"I hadn't planned for this exact situation, but I'm so glad I modified my item box for Elegant dressing and undressing!"

Her energetic voice shook the stream. FWOOOOOOOSH! A tremendous wind scattered the flames filling the boss room.

【Eh!?】

【Huh!?】

【What!?】

"You're invincible during a transformation sequence! It's a basic rule of combat, desu wa!"

Karin emerged unhurt, proclaiming nonsense in her usual tone. Strange objects unfolded around her, whipping up wind. Magical equipment had protected her from the explosions with the gales it generated. Greaves, shoulder guards, a jet-black skirt—pieces like the separate components of a woman's Western armor from an anime—shot out of her item box, flew through the air, and equipped themselves on Karin automatically.

It looked exactly like an anime transformation scene. Then an extraordinary storm born of vast mana raged around her once more.

【Huh?】

【What!?】

【Karin ojou-sama's alive!? And unharmed!?】

【What are those!?】

【Armor to match her dress!?】

【Seriously, WHAT'S been going on this whole time!?】

The magically charged light armor had equipped itself over her beloved dress like an ornament. It didn't cover every part of her body: only her shoulders, legs and skirt were layered with those black pieces. Yet this magical battle outfit possessed tremendous power.

It was the second of three magical weapons she'd made for this day: armor crafted from a deep-layer boss's materials that could command the wind. Forged with <Divine Artisan>, its name was—

"Demonic Dragon Armor: Storm Style."

Her long golden hair streamed in the rising wind. No one could keep up with the gale that now clothed Karin.