ch261-ch280 · 274-ch274

Chapter 274: The Manticore's Head

"It won't come down, will it."

We've returned to the spot in front of the 'Gate to Floor 39' where the greatshield stands—our starting point—and the Manticore is coming toward us, slowly.

It holds its altitude, staying outside 【Presence Detection】 range for now.

"No, up to here it's been almost too convenient."

MP: 869→760 (charging 110)

The MP in the charge has passed 100.

This much should be plenty.

【Presence Detection】's range is just over a hundred meters.

【Scouting】's is about the same.

A thrown spear with 【Scouting】 + 【Charge・Spear・Aiming】 is a guaranteed hit even with my eyes shut.

The conditions are set.

The next moment it enters 【Presence Detection】 range will be its last.

"Watanabe-san, I'll set the extra spears here."

Soushi takes throwing spears—Orc Knight spears—out of the warehouse.

For the record, what I'm equipped with today is Mia-san's custom throwing spear.

No blade—just a stick with a sharpened tip.

A grip in the middle so it won't slip, front-weighted with a thin rear—a javelin-event spear, in other words.

Since a throw might mean losing it for good, the jumonji spear is sitting this one out.

Besides, its shape was never made for throwing to begin with.

For this attempt, I told Mia-san the truth about challenging Floor 40.

She had to make all sorts of things for the assault, after all.

'Nothing is worth a life, so as for the surprise, we shall lure her out under the pretext of leveling.'

—Kasumi-san, on the record......

Of course, all of that is contingent on this Floor 40 attempt succeeding......

"Dancing while we can!...... Haru-kun?"

"I'll pass. And don't buff me, Soushi—not unless I ask."

Buffs could throw off the spear's accuracy.

I'll throw on spear super mode alone.

I set up behind the greatshield, ready for magic attacks to come flying at any moment.

"Got it. 【Prima Dance】【Weapon Enhancement・Prima】【Strength Up・Prima】【Endurance Up・Prima】【Agility Up・Prima】【Magic Up・Prima】, 【Weapon Enhancement・Dance】【Strength Up・Dance】【Endurance Up・Dance】【Agility Up・Dance】【Magic Up・Dance】. Here we go—【Dance・Let's】!"

The full-buff, full-power dance begins.

I poke my face out from the edge of the greatshield and keep watch on the Manticore.

Still a ways off......

By the way, even without holding the handle, the skill stays active as long as I'm touching the shield somewhere—anywhere.

MP: 760→745 (charging 125)

"Right! 【Strength Up・High・Bestowal】【Endurance Up・High・Bestowal】【Agility Up・High・Bestowal】【Magic Up・High・Bestowal】! Watanabe-san, you're good!"

Soushi's buffs are on, it seems.

Fully primed......

"【Weapon Enhancement・Spear・High】【Weapon Enhancement・Spear】【Weapon Enhancement・Naginata】. Haruki-san, I will keep it in check. 【Javelin】【Aiming】!"

The spear Kasumi-san looses flies straight for the Manticore.

But the distance is simply too great.

Whether it dodged or not, the Manticore changed its course and the spear missed.

"My turn~! 【Partial Beast Transformation】, 'ALL' of it! And 【Body Enhancement】! Oryaa!"

Aikawa, panda-transformed, hurls a spear as well.

Her monstrous strength is enough to reach it, but it sails far over the Manticore's head......

And that's fine.

With shots arcing over its head, climbing higher stops being an easy option.

"Next, take it. Come on, Aikawa."

Soushi feeds the two of them spears.

Quietly good work out of him!

'U-nyuu-nya-u-nyou-nya......'

Hm?

The Manticore weaves right and left around the incoming spears.

The grandpa face is saying something......

"Magic attack, incoming!"

Whoa—a chant!?

Hurry, hurry!

The three of them duck behind the shield's shadow.

MP: 745→738 (charging 132)

"【Charge・Shield・Armor Enhancement・Shield・High】【Charge・Shield・Magic Shield】!"

MP: 738→728 (charging 132)

Yes—I did, in fact, learn 【Magic Shield】.

The ice chunks that didn't hit the shield punch into the ground—dos, dos, dos.

Live, the sound is deafening.

The chill running through me—is that from the shattered ice?

No feedback from the shield at all.

【Magic Shield】 erases magic the instant it makes contact—but I don't even get the sensation of contact.

Well, we'd verified that with Soushi's water magic, so I knew already.

MP: 728→725 (spear 133, shield 2)

Now that I'm running the shield's charge alongside, MP drains 3 per second.

And here, at last, the Manticore enters 【Presence Detection】 range.

I'll wait for the instant this ice magic breaks off......

"It's sooo long! How much longer does this go on!?"

MP: 725→545 (spear 193, shield 122)

The magic attack went on for a whole minute, unbelievably.

But whether her shout reached it or not, the attack cut off right at that moment......

The Manticore, which had kept casting while hovering at about fifty meters, starts climbing again.

(Like I'll let it! 【Scouting】......)

MP: 545→541 (spear 194, shield 124)

It takes about one second for 【Scouting】's effect to reach the Manticore.

The surrounding scenery floods into my head, vivid.

Through the shield I shouldn't be able to see past, my eyes meet the Manticore's.

(【Charge・Spear・Weapon Enhancement・Spear】【Charge・Spear・Magic Up】【Charge・Spear・Endurance Up】【Charge・Spear・Strength Up】【Charge・Spear・Agility Up】)

Super mode, active—the Manticore's climb feels slower too.

I release the shield and burst from its shadow.

MP: 541→538 (spear 195)

195!

My target: that spot between its brows......

"'Aiming!'"

A full-power super mode throw......

A Kashaan! like shattering glass reaches my ears a beat late.

The Manticore pitches headfirst.

The thrown spear was so fast I only saw a line flash for an instant......

But that line passed, without a doubt, through the Manticore's brow.

"Did you get it?"

Aikawa, who poked out from the other side of the shield to check, asks me.

That is a didn't-get-it flag!

Then a DOSH!—the vibration of the Manticore hitting the ground rolls through......

"The job screen...... isn't showing......"

Soushi's murmur......

No job-selection screen.

Which means the Manticore is still alive.

"The head is gone. It doesn't appear to be moving, either......"

Looking at the fallen Manticore—just as Kasumi-san says, everything above the neck is gone.

The face alone had to be a meter or so, and it got blown clean off.

Such is a 195-MP 【Charge・Spear】.

"The presence has shrunk, but it remains...... It does seem to be alive."

【Presence Detection】 still shows it.

The red presence, once so enormous, has gotten much smaller.

A flame about to gutter out, perhaps?

But despite falling from that height, the magic stone doesn't seem to be broken.

In that case, I want it collected......

"It's alive even without a head?"

"Its HP must not be at zero. Probably counts as alive until it hits 0. I doubt it'll move with no brain in there, though......"

Even the Ogre King sometimes doesn't set off the Forest Ogres' frenzy right away with its head blown off, after all.

More than that, it's easy to accept that a Manticore, sitting this much deeper in the dungeon, would have even higher HP.

"Let's collect the magic stone and withdraw. Several golems already seem to have vanished, so let's not let our guard down."

When did they vanish? The remains of the golems we downed early on are gone.

All five of us advance carefully.

Oh, I should grab one of the Orc Knight spears rolling around, just in case.

I'd love to go back to the warehouse for the jumonji spear, but if the Manticore dies the instant I'm gone, that's another run.

A dungeon is exactly the kind of place where "this is a comedy skit, right!?" is entirely possible.

I won't fall for that.

"Ah."

Who was it that made a sound......

In the depths of the Manticore's body, a lump of clearly different color—a lump of metal, rather.

A metal golem.

It thinks it's 【Mimicry】ing, but the sun is fully up now, and its glinting metal body isn't hiding anything.

"I will take it."

Kasumi-san circles around the Manticore and heads for the golem.

"All things considered, it went as planned...... no, I guess not. The ground battle was supposed to come after this, huh...... Still, 【Charge・Spear】 is unreal. It's a one-shot, man."

Not "planned"—"anticipated," I'd say.

We knew this is what would happen on a direct hit.

"That's 200 MP right there."

I may have been wearing a smug face......

My current MP is 527.

The max MP of a Level 44 【Charge Shielder】 is 880, so total consumption across this fight comes to 353......

Could I do another one?

"You always fight all sneaky-like, but is Haru-kun actually strong? Shouldn't you quit Hiramatsu-ryu? Oh—could I reach the magic stone if I stick my hand in there?"

Being unable to talk back when she calls my fighting sneaky stings......

The Manticore never saw this coming either—it was basically a treacherous surprise kill.

Sneaky is the best, I tell you.

Aikawa sprints up to the Manticore and, without a moment's hesitation, sticks her arm into the wound at its neck.

Seriously......

But looking at it again, the Manticore really is big.

Would her arm even reach the magic stone from there?

It's over five meters from nose to tail-tip.

If it stretched its tail out......

(Dammit—【Charge・Spear・Weapon Enhancement・Spear】【Charge・Spear・Magic Up】......)

Will it make it in time?

A body without a head can't move.

But the Manticore had one more head.

The tail with a snake's head......

Aikawa has her arm buried in the Manticore and can't move.

No—she hasn't even noticed.

Soushi spots the snake moving too and dashes toward Aikawa—but the snake's target is......

"Kasumi-san!"

The snake bears down from the side of Kasumi-san, who is facing off against the golem.

But here, the world slows again.

Super mode, activated.

It's fine—the 'Left Eye Gate' will make it in time.

(【Gate】)

The snake, unable to kill its momentum, slams straight into the 'Left Eye Gate.'

Maybe riding the rebound, it wheels around and comes for me as I sprint toward it.

The snake's mouth gapes wide—a serpent, rather?

Its open maw is bigger than my head.

I'm about to be swallowed whole.

In refusal, I ram the spear straight into its mouth.

Splatt—backwash of blood showers me.

Whether because the spear pierced through its upper palate and its head, or because Aikawa just gave the magic stone a hard yank—snap—the snake's movements stop completely.

"You saved me, Haruki-san."

Kasumi-san seems to have brought down the metal golem too.

Oh, the job-selection scree—

"Hh!?"

Ow—no, it's burning......

The blood that ran off my helmet......

I yank the helmet off in a panic—but it's searing......

"Haruki-san? Haruki-san!!"

This is bad......

It's poison.