ch381-ch400 · 389-ch389

Chapter 389: The Dango Three Brothers, Again

"Still light out, but what do we do?"

Floor 19 conquered—we've reached the 'Gate to Floor 20.'

It's just before 4 PM.

Right about when you'd say "the sun's setting now"—and despite Soushi's words, everything around us is dim.

The rain is heavy enough to call a downpour, and the sky is smothered in thick cloud.

Fortunately, the World Tree stands opposite the sunset, so it won't block our light.

If anything, it practically looks like it's glowing.

"Let's decide after a look inside...... For now I'll go in alone—you two head back to the warehouse. 【Gate】."

I produce the 'Left Foot Gate' and urge the two of them through.

"Don't go killing it all by yourself, okay?"

"Get your skills prepped, and come straight back once you're in, got it?"

Floor 20 might not have any footing at all, after all.

That said, Gates come from the feet now too, so it should be fine?

I'll make sure to go in left foot first.

......Does 【Gate】 even work underwater?

Wondering that, I proceed to Floor 20.

"A river, huh...... Back first, then. 【Gate】."

There IS footing.

And before me, a broad river.

Three hundred, maybe four hundred—quite a way to the far bank.

And so, back to the warehouse for now.

No telling where the boss will spawn, after all.

"So? How was it?"

"Came out on the riverbank—take a look."

"Let's see, let's see."

The two of them stick their faces into the 'Right Foot Gate,' and then Aikawa piles on top of Soushi and wedges her own face in as well.

Three faces lined up vertically......

Didn't something like this happen before?

"That's far. The 'Gate to Floor 21' is on the far bank? Wait—even after we beat the boss, there's no way across, is there? Don't the 'Eye Gates' only reach about a hundred meters?"

"No—that's just how far I can place one at an aimed spot. In daylight, I think they'd reach clear across."

Precisely: a hundred meters is the limit for accurate, no-delay placement.

There's the one-eye constraint, but I can place one anywhere my eye can focus.

Concretely: the range where one eye can make out text.

My eyes are stat-corrected now, so I should manage quite some distance.

Incidentally, only focus matters—text size is irrelevant.

If I can read the letters on a big signboard, I can place a Gate right there, using it as a marker.

Someone please install a signboard on the far shore.

"The boss? Not a minute yet, huh...... Think it'll spawn like this?"

"It should. With the Orc General, I ran up the hill and Gate'd back to the warehouse before it spawned—and when I checked later, it had, so......"

"A bit longer, then? Still, that current is BAD news. It's all murky—underwater combat is a no-go."

It always rains here, so "the river's swollen" is a strange thing to say—but fighting, let alone swimming, would be impossible.

Even the crocs here can only handle it because they're Level-20-equivalent.

Nearly all the crocs along the way were up on the islands; only the blue ones, the strong swimmers, were in the river.

"Time, then. 【Scouting】...... Nothing nearby. What about the far bank?"

【Scouting】's range is wider than 【Presence Detection】—about a hundred meters.

At least within that range, no promising reactions.

Also, this river is DEEP......

"Doesn't look like it. Want to go in and call for it?"

"You mean making noise at the riverbank? Then let's do it from here with the long spear."

Adopting Soushi's idea: Soushi and I take the right side of the 'Right Foot Gate,' while Aikawa, from the left, splashes the water with the long spear—splat, splat.

I'm on scout duty, so I keep watch.

That said, the long spear is TOO versatile.

I want to stock up on a few more.

Why don't we all just attack through the 'Gate' at this point?

"Well? Anything coming?"

"Ah, here they come. One, two, three, four—four of them. Can you see the surface?"

"No—two more coming ahead of them, underwater. They're about to reach the spearhead."

Just as Soushi spots croc shadows on the surface, my 【Presence Detection】 picks up reactions.

Two underwater, four on the surface—six in all, closing in.

"Whoopsie. Orya-orya! Ah—HARD! C'mon, c'mooon!"

The first two metallic crocs to burst out have a bluish tint—slimmer and more streamlined than the silver Armor Crocodiles we saw on Floor 18.

A hybrid of blue croc and armor croc—the strong-swimming type of Armor Crocodile, I'd say.

But they haven't lost any hardness either—the unenhanced long spear can't seem to pierce that hide.

"【Water Pressure】! —Ngh, no good. Too far."

"Looks like we stack buffs and fight them in there. Let's bait them in this close, so we don't get dragged into the river."

Soushi's 'Water Magic' is out of range too, its effect unconfirmable—so we go in and fight on Floor 20 itself.

"Okaaay, here comes the 'Dance'! Grab your weapons!"

Aikawa reels the long spear smoothly back in, draws her sword, and urges us to get ready.

"Whoa, hold it, hold it. Haruki, you're over THERE."

"No—it's cramped over here. Aikawa, more toward the middle, please."

Soushi and I scramble to grab our weapons and jockey for positions where we won't trip each other up.

Incidentally, the 'Right Foot Gate' has lately been parked at the edge of the warehouse for long-spear in-and-out duty, so there was no dancing space for me by the wall......

"【Prima Dance】【Weapon Enhancement・Prima】【Strength Up・Prima】【Endurance Up・Prima】【Agility Up・Prima】【Magic Up・Prima】! Aaand! 【Weapon Enhancement・Dance】【Strength Up・Dance】【Endurance Up・Dance】【Agility Up・Dance】【Magic Up・Dance】! Aaand! 【Dance・Let's】! Box step—here we go!"

Aikawa recites the skill names in rhythm, like chanting a spell.

But it's LONG......

With 'Dance,' it's not just the dancing—there are so many skills to trigger that even getting them all up takes time.

Two sets of the box step, and the moment they finish, Soushi's 'fujutsu' buffs come flying in.

These I feel rising one stat at a time, in order.

Unlike 'Dance,' which restarts from the top if interrupted, 'fujutsu' goes one at a time, so even when interrupted it resumes right where it left off.

Which makes re-casting mid-battle easy, too.

"......All set. Let's go."

Soushi announces he's finished casting.

No chant...... no wait—he WAS chanting, inside his head, wasn't he.

But receiving buffs from two people at once is something else.

It has to beat spear super mode.

Super mode feels like stats ×1.5......

If 'Dance' is about ×1.1, and the upper-rank 'Prima' and 'fujutsu' are ×1.2 each, then multiplied together that's 1.1 × 1.2 × 1.2 = 1.584, right?

Without me doing a single thing, we're already past super mode.

"【Scouting】. ......They're there. The two of them in the water? Looks fine."

Checking Floor 20's situation: the crocs have come up onto land, but with us on the near side of the 'Gate,' they seem to have lost their target—they've gone still at the water's edge.

With that much distance left to the 'Gate,' I give the two the go-ahead and enter first.

"Four silvers, huh? Did the blue ones go back into the water?"

Just as Soushi says, arriving on Floor 20: four Armor Crocodiles wrapped in gleaming silver hide that practically announces "I am made of iron," plain to see.

The swimmer blues have apparently gone back into the water.

"Yeah, but they're right there. Don't charge in, got it?"

I warn them, just in case.

"Heyyy, crocssss! Come get me—I'll turn the whole lot of you into BAGS!"

Aikawa's provocation skill (homegrown) activates, and the Armor Crocodiles, noticing us, close in.

Even so, their hide would only ever make an iron bag—too heavy to carry around, no?